On Monday, students, faculty and administrators started to consider what their “quick fixes” are as the Quick Fix team began its four-day invasion of campus to provoke discussion about addictive behaviors.
The Quick Fix team is a group of five cast members, a director and a stage manager from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts who stage interactive theatrical performances to encourage students to vocalize their concerns about alcohol and drug use, eating disorders and other behaviors that can interfere with students’ lives.
“They do not come in and say this is right or this is wrong,” EMU marketing coordinator Lee Latour said. “This is not a cookie-cutter approach to these issues. They are trying to help give a voice to those who do not usually get it.”
Dr. Richard P. Keeling , a leading authority on health care issues for young adults, helped create the Quick Fix team, which has been traveling to universities and colleges across the country for the past two years.
Quick Fix team members have been corresponding with University of Oregon professors and students for the past two weeks, and they have also established a “liaison team” –a group of 14 University students who will inform the team about issues on campus. The team is meant to be a diverse sample of the student body, and their level of involvement in campus activities varies, Latour said.
“We are the heart of the campus. Our job is to tell the Quick Fix team what really happens here from the student perspective rather than the administrative,” liaison team coordinator Mitra Anoushiravani said. “Truth be told, we all have different ideas about what’s goes on, but we give them the general idea.”
The Quick Fix team will be sponsoring 14 workshops at various locations throughout campus, which will include both theatrical performances and interaction exercises with students. Each workshop will be different and tailored to the group involved.
“This is a revolutionary approach to addiction. It is not like the ‘Just Say No’ campaign that our generation has grown up with,” Anoushiravani said. “They are presenting a true, honest and real interpretation of these issues.”
The University’s Substance Abuse Prevention Program is looking to learn new preventive techniques from its Quick Fix workshop today.
“This program can help generate a conversation about addiction to integrate into the fabric of our campus,” Associate Director of Student Life Sheryl Eyster said.
To acquire a greater understanding of the issues on this campus, the Quick Fix team has been living in student residences. The men from the team are staying in the resident halls, while the women are staying in the Sigma Kappa sorority house.
The team has also been talking to drivers from Project Saferide and the Designated Driver Shuttle, as well as interviewing randomly selected individuals to discover the prevalent issues on this campus.
On Wednesday and Thursday, the Quick Fix team will present a final theater performance to show what they have learned from students, faculty and administration during their four-day stay. Many of the student interviews conducted earlier in the week will be included in the final performance.
The Quick Fix team will also be leaving behind some type of student installation, which could take the form of an art piece or a video, as a reminder to students about the discussion. The student installation is meant to help foster an honest, open dialogue among students, faculty, administrators and the community.
“The creation will depend on what the people want and what the Quick Fix team sees is happening on our campus,” Latour said. “It will touch everyone differently.”