Nexus<\/em>).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nProfessionally, Finkleman has dabbled in just about every aspect of the visual arts. He was a high-school teacher and taught children\u2019s programs on animation and photography at various schools. He\u2019s also had a 20-year career as a commercial photographer, as well as a stint owning an ad agency for about five years.<\/p>\n
Finkleman has had his photography and painting shown at over 100 exhibits in museums and galleries, and he has always written on the side. At an art show of his in 2015, it was suggested to him that he try combining pictures and words. So he did, and he liked it a lot right from the start. That started him on a path toward graphic novels.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe odd thing is that I\u2019ve never read a graphic novel,\u201d says Finkleman when I first sit down with him on Tuesday, January 16, \u201cstill, to this day. Amongst my colleagues, that is about as close to heresy as one can possibly get.\u201d<\/p>\n
Once the writing bug got him, there was no looking back. Finkleman says he started by looking around for courses in North America, at first in the United States.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll of the instructors were qualified,\u201d says Finkleman, \u201cbut not necessarily in the industry.\u201d<\/p>\n
He wanted to find the right fit, so Finkleman expanded his search to include other options abroad.<\/p>\n
\u201cI came across [Camosun instructor] Ken Steacy,\u201d says Finkleman, \u201cwho is a real big deal, and he also happens to be a very fine instructor, which is usually not the case. I came up here to interview him last February, to see if we were going to be a good fit. I was very impressed with him personally, and I was very impressed with his work. It was a simple decision to come up to Victoria.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI took to Joseph right away,\u201d says Steacy, \u201cmuch due to the fact that he had done his due diligence. He had looked at schools all over the place, he had extensive experience in the arts and communications and advertising, but he had decided that he wants to be a visual storyteller, to put words and pictures together. He works so hard at doing that. He goes so far above and beyond what\u2019s required. He will redo things that he isn\u2019t satisfied with or if he doesn\u2019t think he\u2019s satisfying course requirements.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Steacy, being a freelance artist is one of the most difficult careers out there. Students in the Comics and Graphic Novels program \u201care making a huge investment of time and treasure,\u201d Steacy says. As a teacher, he found it very interesting to have someone who brings as much experience as Finkleman does to his classroom. Steacy was amazed by Finkleman\u2019s desire to learn.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe see that in most of our students, but it is rare to see such eagerness combined with his experience,\u201d he says. \u201cJoseph has an extremely sanguine disposition. He gets on famously with the other students. They look to him as a grandfather figure. I make it abundantly clear that this is an environment of mutual respect. Everyone has something to offer. We are all storytellers, and here at the college we aren\u2019t necessarily looking for people who want to be great writers. I am looking for people who are passionate about something, because when we are passionate, the words just come\u2014especially with people like Joseph, who have the desire to share their life experience. He has been a joy to work with.\u201d<\/p>\n
Finkleman and his wife Susan, who is taking Religious Studies at UVic, packed up and left San Francisco to begin a new chapter here in Victoria. The couple, along with their five cats, found an apartment in Oak Bay and settled in in time to start school last September. Finkleman says that Victoria seemed to be the perfect place to continue with his studies.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a wonderful place,\u201d says Finkleman, who is here on a student visa. \u201cI love Victoria, and I would live here if they would let me. People are wonderful; the school is great. It\u2019s well run, but there are a few problems that most people would never notice\u2014one of which is that there is a dearth of handicap parking spaces\u2014and the other weird thing is that part of our student fees allow us to have a supplementary medical program.\u201d<\/p>\n
Camosun College collects student fees with tuition and remits them to the CCSS, which has a contract with insurance agency Great-West Life Assurance Company. The benefits plan, which is very similar to most plans for post-secondary schools across the country, states that students are no longer eligible at age 70. Finkleman turned 70 on December 17 of last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cI got an email [from the CCSS] that said, \u2018You\u2019d better come in and talk,\u2019\u201d says Finkleman. \u201cI went down and they were very kind, and perplexed as to what to do. They\u2019re stuck with the results of the contract. They refunded half of my fees. Nevertheless, once I turn 70, I no longer have benefits. I have not really experienced a great deal of discrimination in my life, so it\u2019s quite a shock at this point in my life to be discriminated against strictly on age. There is a lot of PR about how everyone is to be treated equally, which I think is a great idea. Apparently, not exactly equally.\u201d<\/p>\n
Finkleman understands that if the insurance agency had a lot of people utilizing the benefits, premiums would have to go up, because the agency has to make a profit. He\u2019s part of a very small demographic\u2014only two Camosun students currently meeting the course requirements have been excluded due to age\u2014and Finkleman says the economic impact of including people over 70 should not be high. Finkleman doesn\u2019t see any unfairness in writing a clause into the contract that states that the insurance agency can raise premiums if the cost of benefits starts getting higher.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere can\u2019t be a lot of 70-year-old students, but it doesn\u2019t really matter,\u201d says Finkleman. \u201cIf you have even one\u2026 As soon as the student society says, \u2018I\u2019m really sorry, you\u2019ve just turned 70, and you\u2019re no longer eligible for our benefits; everyone else is eligible, but you are not because you\u2019re over age,\u2019 things have to change.\u201d<\/p>\n
PRESCRIPTION PRACTICALITIES<\/strong><\/p>\nFinkleman says he had not even thought of the possibility of an age cap when he was contemplating possible schools, but it would not have affected his choice.<\/p>\n
\u201cKen Steacy is who I wanted to study with,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Finkleman, who is required by immigration to be a full-time student, is covered by the provincial Medical Services Plan. He still has his medical coverage in the USA, but Finkleman says it\u2019s very awkward to get prescriptions across the border. He can only bring back 30 days\u2019 worth, so he brings an empty pill bottle, and they count them on the way back at customs. When he was faced with losing his student medical coverage, Finkleman and Susan were prepared for one of them to have to go over to Port Angeles to get his prescriptions every 30 days; otherwise, he would have to pay full price for his prescriptions here.<\/p>\n
\u201cI pay more for medical care than I did before.\u201d says Finkleman, \u201cby a lot, actually. Prescriptions are expensive. On my medical plan in the states, prescriptions are $5, regardless of what they cost. It\u2019s just a paperwork expense. Here, I\u2019m paying the full rate, and it\u2019s eye-watering: $400 to $500 for myself, and about the same for my wife. That\u2019s every 90 days; that is a significant amount of dough.\u201d<\/p>\n
Getting his medication without his student insurance would have been an ordeal for Finkleman. He would take the ferry over to Port Angeles; in the winter, the number of sailings on the ferry get reduced, so it isn\u2019t possible to get back to Victoria in the same day; Finkleman would have had to stay in a motel overnight, which would have caused him to get behind on schoolwork.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can only get three continuous months at a time [on a prescription] before I have to see the doctor again,\u201d he says. \u201cThat\u2019s exactly how it is here, but the difference is I have to fly to Woodland, which is near San Francisco, to see my doctor. That\u2019s a couple of days, just by the nature of airline schedules, and then going through customs both ways is always an adventure. I\u2019m going to be here for several years while my wife is in school at UVic. There is nothing convenient about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Finkleman stresses that despite all this, he\u2019s fighting the student society\u2019s insurance plan\u2019s policy not because of the cost, but because he feels it\u2019s discriminatory.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe issue is, how can they discriminate against age? I don\u2019t get that,\u201d he says. \u201cI would love to have someone explain why I can be singled out because I\u2019m over 70. I resent that. For me, there\u2019s an impact, but it\u2019s not a fatal impact. But there will be someone somewhere who will utilize the services of the school, or any school for that matter, and it will become an issue, and it will be expensive. It can be solved today, before it\u2019s a problem, or you can wait until it\u2019s a problem.\u201d<\/p>\n
CHANGES AFOOT<\/strong><\/p>\nThe first health and dental benefit plan for Camosun students was negotiated in 1999; current CCSS executive director Michel Turcotte was present for the negotiations. He says that the age cap of 70 was built into the initial plan. I caught up with Turcotte on Thursday, January 18 <\/b>to discuss Finkleman\u2019s concerns.<\/p>\n
\u201cSimilar language was written into every student plan in the country,\u201d says Turcotte. \u201cThe first plan was just sort of accepted. That was in the early days for student plans in British Columbia. Those plans were based on employer plans and modified for the student market. All employer plans had retirement-age language built in to keep their costs down. At that time, there was a mandatory retirement age in British Columbia and most other provinces. Since 1999, mandatory retirement has been eliminated in most jurisdictions, and a lot of employers have modified their plans to accommodate this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Historically, Camosun hasn\u2019t had a huge issue with the benefits age cap. Turcotte says the college has in recent years been getting a few more mature students who have been advocating in relation to this. Turcotte says that in previous years, the student society made some exceptions; he says some students were reimbursed for their costs, which was essentially the same as providing benefits.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t just cut them off,\u201d says CCSS Lansdowne health plan administrator Christine Desrochers. \u201cWe notify them and let them know that this is the way the plan is designed\u2014at this age we can no longer offer these benefits. I go above and beyond to make sure they know and understand in advance. I go through the list every year to find if there is anyone who will be facing this, and if we do discover anybody, unfortunately, I have to let them know that at 70, they will be cut off.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, when I met with Turcotte on January 18, some steps had been taken to change this policy.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn light of Joseph\u2019s story,\u201d says Turcotte, \u201cI reached out to our broker to inquire about the matter. We try to treat all students equitably. Whether you are on a student loan or not, or if you\u2019re an international student, it doesn\u2019t matter. As long as you\u2019re a member, you should expect equal treatment.\u201d (\u201cAt least they\u2019re looking at it,\u201d says Finkleman when I reach him to update him on Tuesday, January 23. \u201cI think that\u2019s a cool thing.\u201d)<\/p>\n
There is an annual renewal process with the insurers and the broker, which, according to Turcotte, is usually completed by June. He says it would likely be quite feasible to lift that ceiling in terms of the health and dental plan, but it may not be possible to provide equitable coverage in all four areas for students\u2014health, dental, accidental death or dismemberment, and travel insurance\u2014above an age ceiling.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are a few established networks for health and dental plan providers in the country,\u201d says Turcotte, \u201cand [broker] Gallivan [and Associates, which the CCSS uses] is one of the larger ones. They have one school in their network that has actually lifted the age cap\u2014Ryerson Polytechnic in Toronto doesn\u2019t have the age limit. Now we have the opportunity to look into the plan, and the freedom to change that, at least in terms of the health and dental plan.\u201d (Ryerson did not respond to multiple requests for comment for this story.)<\/p>\n
During this intitial interview, Turcotte told me that the CCSS had formally requested that Gallivan seek a quote from Great-West Life Assurance in relation to lifting the cap on the health and dental plan.<\/p>\n
\u201cI look forward to considering a quote that includes members of all ages in our health and dental insurance plan,\u201d says Turcotte. \u201cPerhaps others like us will examine the issue and try to modify it in some way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Finkleman says that the basic problem with all this is the age discrimination; he says that maybe the way around it is not to change policy but for the CCSS to ensure that it\u2019s always willing to help out students one way or another.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey may find that, on the rare occasions that it actually happens, that it\u2019s cheaper to pay it out of their reserve fund,\u201d says Finkleman. \u201cThey might just conclude that there is no viable way to go forward and people over age will continue to be discriminated against, and that\u2019s just the way it is.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
On Monday, January 29, after this story had been written and was being edited, Turcotte told Nexus<\/i> that the CCSS was officially changing its insurance policy so that students over 70 would be able to get medical\u00a0 and dental coverage. (At press time, he couldn\u2019t confirm when the new policy would be official, but he said that he had requested that the change take effect for February 1, 2018 and that it be backdated if it takes longer than that for the paperwork to go through.)<\/p>\n
\u201cNow we can add \u2018activist\u2019 to his resume,\u201d says Steacy after hearing about the age cap being lifted. \u201cGo, Joseph!\u201d<\/p>\n
I caught up with Finkleman on Wednesday, January 31 to tell him the age cap had been lifted. We walked to his car across campus together as we discussed the policy change. Finkleman\u2019s smile cut through the rain as he chuckled, saying, \u201cIt was the right decision that they made.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m really glad that the glitch has been cleaned up,\u201d he told me. \u201c[The age cap] wasn\u2019t life threatening, but it was an irritant that shouldn\u2019t have been. How often does that happen in life? We see it in the news all the time that the people in power say, \u2018This is a problem. I think we will address it next year.\u2019 I\u2019m really very heartened by the fact that we just took care of it. That is quite an achievement, in my experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
Finkleman says he\u2019s pleased to see that the CCSS is representing its students.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s generally very difficult to have a structured organization respond in a human manner,\u201d he says. \u201cIt isn\u2019t typical.\u201d<\/p>\n
We arrived at his car and exchanged a smile and handshake. As we parted ways, Finkleman said, \u201cWhat a wonderful experience this has been.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Camosun College Student Society (CCSS) advocates for Camosun students, negotiating with the government and the college. But who advocates for students who are in a dispute with the CCSS? Joseph Finkleman found himself asking that question late last year when he received an email from the CCSS informing him that on December 17, 2017 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":15380,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,206],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-february-7-2018"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15379"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15379\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15381,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15379\/revisions\/15381"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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