Life as Edward Jensen

Here’s a video from the National Science Foundation and NBC Sports explaining the science behind my favorite Winter Olympics sport, curling.

if you cannot see the video, click here

Don’t be knocking my sport!

-Edward Jensen

30 years on, that answer is still yes.

-Edward Jensen

For what it’s worth…this was on the PBS NewsHour’s 19 February 2010 broadcast.

-Edward Jensen

[author's note: Yes, this is the third theme for the Blog of the Week series.  But whereas my colleagues, I'm sure, are going to interpret this prompt as what physical place makes Downtown Phoenix special, I'm taking it a bit more in the abstract.  How is this possible? Read on, friends; read on...]

There are hundreds and thousands of places in Downtown Phoenix that are intriguing.  The last time I was approached with this writing theme, I discussed the Phoenix Symphony and the amazing things that they do.  But this time around, I’m taking it from a different lens.  Downtown Phoenix is special because of the people of Downtown Phoenix.  It’s special because of the memories I have made in the area.  It’s special because as I have grown and learned more about myself, Downtown Phoenix has grown and learned more about itself.

Consider Fair Trade Café at the Civic Space.  It’s special not just because of the fact that they serve amazing coffee and have amazing food.  It’s special because of the people that are there behind the counter.  I know them, they know me, and they know what my favorite coffee drink is and that I always want a bit of room left in the cup for some cream.

Or consider the greater entity that is the Civic Space Park.  There are people from the community that sit and chat, there are students studying for classes, there are kids playing football (or football), and there are just people being there enjoying the park and its surrounding urban environment.

Or consider the people at the ASU Downtown Phoenix campus.  When I had to first talk to a staff person on the campus, I was immediately surprised at how friendly they are.  Coming from the sea of humanity that is the Tempe campus, where one is not a name but a number, this was a huge culture shock.  Stepping inside to a classroom, one would be surprised that it’s not a lecturer preaching from the altar in a lecture.  There’s discussion, discourse, and even disagreement happening in those classrooms.

What’s special about Downtown Phoenix?  It’s the people.  It’s the memories.  It’s what you make it to be.  Downtown Phoenix is that blank canvas on which one paints one’s memories.

-Edward Jensen

[source: Trinity Episcopal Cathedral Center for the Arts] The season of Lent is a particularly important time in the life of the church.  Lent gives each of us pause in our yearly pause in our yearly cycle for a period of reflection and meditation within the Christian community.  The arts, and music in particular, have frequently been used to enable and enhance these two disciplines.  This season, Trinity Cathedral in Downtown Phoenix offers a special Lenten series of musical events to mark this important season of the church year.

Concerts:

• Friday 26 February, 12.15pm: William Barnett  (past interim organist, Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, Phoenix)
• Friday 5 March 12.15pm: James Gerber (director of music and worship at St Francis Xavier Catholic Church, Phoenix)
• Friday 12 March 12.15pm: Ilona Kubizczyk-Adler (music director, Episcopal Church of the Nativity, Scottsdale)
• Friday 19 March 12.15pm: Skye Hart (director of music and liturgy, St Maria Goretti Church, Scottsdale)
• Friday 26 March 12.15pm: Erik Goldstrom (Canon Musician, Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, Phoenix)
• Sunday 14 March 4.00pm: Choral Evensong for Mothering Sunday

Trinity Cathedral is at 100 W. Roosevelt St., in Downtown Phoenix.  It is readily accessible from the Roosevelt/Central Ave light rail station and the Downtown Phoenix DASH.  All these concerts are free of charge.  For more information, visit azcathedral.org or call 602.254.7126.

So for some, the benefits of being car-free are enough to take public transportation.  There’s that feeling one gets that one is helping the environment.  There’s also that feeling that one is contributing to creating walkable cities.  But if that isn’t enough incentive, there’s a contest with prizes to ASU sporting events, whose stadia are located close to the light rail line.  More details:

This February, Valley Metro is asking residents to “Try 1 in 5” , share the ride via carpool, vanpool, bus or light rail at least one day a week. It reduces pollution, eases traffic congestion and saves money. They also want to help residents find a commuting partner using their new Share The Ride ride-matching system.

As a thank you to residents who are sharing the ride, Valley Metro will be giving out pairs of ASU Baseball and Basketball tickets to their fans and followers this month. They will announce via Twitter (@ValleyMetroRPTA) and Facebook (Valley Metro RPTA) ways that fans can win the tickets, and where they will be to give them out. Valley Metro staff will look for people with transit passes on hand or who are tweeting pictures of themselves on the bus.

I’ll be seeing you on either the light rail or the bus!

-Edward Jensen

As preface, my fellow Student Ambassadors and I are, over the course of this term, having a “blog of the week” series of posts.  In essence, we are given a weekly theme on which to write and you’ll get six different perspectives on that theme.  In theory, it works well.  My colleagues have been fantastic.  Not so much for me, though.  With my apologies to them, to Kirsten Martin (the coordinator of the project) and to you, here’s a blog of the fortnight.

In no particular order, I’ll be talking about my hopes, dreams, and fears for my penultimate semester of my undergraduate career as well as some course highlights.  Enough preface. Here goes…

For this term, I have a lot on my plate.  Managing my time will be my highest priority because, as I’ve explored in an earlier post, the number of hours in the day remain fixed.   I’m working on three research projects:

1. Finishing out research on learning objectives for the twenty-first century student (technology in service to learning)
2. Working with the ASU Center for Urban Innovation on new trends in citizen engagement in governance on the different levels
3. Seeing how Social Network Analysis has evolved into the Social Media age (read: Web 2.0 and beyond) and how that is used to generate political and social capital

In conjunction with my College’s Spirit of Service Scholars initiative, I’m working (independently at the moment) on drafting a white paper that addresses the importance of theoretical IT (read: the research of emerging and emergent technologies) for the next generation of public service workers.  The College and its Dean, Dr. Debra Friedman, have correctly identified that there is a need for public servants to fill the shoes of those that will be retiring in the next decade or so.  The common criticisms of government are that it is ineffective and inefficient.  One could also argue that contemporary governance is based around 1960s-era technology.  Sure, governments have incorporated the Internet and computers into their daily operations; however, are these technologies truly embraced into governance’s day-to-day operations?  My research shall see…

Academically, I’m enrolled in six classes.  The most interesting is a graduate seminar on public art.  Taught by Dr. Betsy Fahlman, the course takes a look at the evolution of public art in the United States, especially looking at Phoenix and its metropolitan area.  It’s been a lot of work thus far: I’ve had to read four books and write a three-page précis on that book.  The last book will be read and the last précis will be written for Tuesday’s class, and then the fun begins.  There are field trips planned to see public art in situ in Downtown Phoenix (a walking tour led by Ed Lebow, the City of Phoenix’s director of public art is in order), Sky Harbor International Airport, Tempe, and Scottsdale.  The course has been a blast and I certainly, as an Urban & Metropolitan Studies student albeit whose focus is on policy and governance, have enjoyed it immensely.

I’m one of those weird social scientists who likes the natural sciences.  I started off for a year in the Civil Engineering program, but as I’ll explore in a later post, my interest all along has been in policy and not actual construction.  I’m taking a chemistry course (because I want to!) and it’s been absolutely wonderful.  I took a couple chemistry classes on the Tempe campus but whereas those were the instructor preaching from the altar, this is completely not like that.  It might have to be that the Tempe campus courses had 120 students and on the Downtown Phoenix campus, there are only 35 or so.  And yes, I’m getting the content, too: win!

I have no idea what Kirsten’s going to pick for the next topic. We shall see…

-Edward Jensen

Dear fellow Barrett Downtown students:

As most of you are aware, last week, I stepped down as the President of BLAST’D, the Barrett Leadership and Service Team on our campus.  It was not an easy decision to realize that I had to make, nor was it a decision that I took lightly.

Being that I never had a chance in which to say farewell and thank you in person, I’m hoping that this open letter in this public forum will suffice just as well.

Let me be clear: My departure had nothing to do with the people that were serving alongside me.  I have tremendous admiration and respect for the Executive Committee and the staff of Barrett Downtown.  These individuals–volunteer and professional staff alike–tirelessly have advocated for us all and have worked to promote Barrett Downtown to the other ASU campuses.  None of our events since Barrett Downtown’s inception would have been nearly as successful as they have been if our staff was not involved in the process.

Why, then, did I step down?  It boils down to that the number of hours in the day remain fixed.  My commitments–academic, professional, and service–keep growing.  I cannot be all things to all people, and I quickly came to the realization that I needed to take an honest and objective look at all of my commitments.  I have a lot on my plate with three simultaneous large-scale research projects, a continually-evolving job with the Dean’s Office for my College, the College of Public Programs, and the requisite coursework so I may graduate in December 2010.  In addition, I’m starting to create my graduate school application for the Master of Public Administration program at ASU’s School of Public Affairs, where I’ll start in August 2011.

I think that the first thing that we, as students, forget is that we are students first when we’re in college.  We try–and especially we as honors students–to do so much résumé-building that we truly forget why we’re here in the first place: to go and learn things so that we may become successful in whatever we choose to do.  And especially as honors students, we have even more on our plate.  Yes, résumé-building is good, but as the number of hours in the day remain fixed, we need to have our priorities.

For the club going forward: Give Caroline Porter her due respect.  Ms. Porter is a wonderful person and she is equally committed to this club’s success.  My decision to leave was made easier because I know that the club would be in capable hands.

Finally, I finish with these words: Thank you all so much for the support that you have given to me, to the club, and to the Barrett Downtown community.  Keep that spirit alive as your relationship with Barrett Downtown continues to grow. Keep your support and enthusiasm for BLAST’D as alive as ever.

Oh, and by the way, this isn’t my goodbye from Barrett Downtown.  Far from it.  I’ll still be at some of the events and I’ll still be helping Jill, Jenn, and Dr. Peck on some projects and initiatives, still advocating and fighting for BLAST’D’s success and due recognition along the way.  Consider me the new Goodwill Ambassador for Barrett Downtown.

And I’ll still see you around the campus.

-Edward Jensen

[source: Corey Schubert, media manager, ASU College of Public Programs] ASU’s College of Public Programs is accepting applications from ASU undergraduate, graduate, and professional students in any field of study dedicated to careers in the public and nonprofit sectors who want to join the Spirit of Service Scholars program.

The program addresses the present and future workforce needs in the public and nonprofit sectors by awarding prestigious $5,000 scholarships to 15 outstanding students, and providing them with extraordinary intellectual and practice experiences, a lifelong interdisciplinary network, and committed, effective mentors.

More information is available at http://spiritofservicescholars.asu.edu/; contact soss.info@asu.edu.

The deadline for applications is April 2 for the Fall 2010 semester. Applicants need not demonstrate financial need, but must show seriousness of purpose.

From the Downtown Phoenix Partnership:

The National Weather Service is predicting a large storm to descend into the valley tomorrow, 1-21-10, bringing up to 5″ of rain, possible thunderstorms and gusty winds. The prediction calls for light rain to begin to fall after 11pm tonight and pick up around 11am tomorrow. The Downtown Phoenix Partnership is working closely with police and city staff, and will provide current information throughout the day based on the severity of the storm.

Please be aware of unscheduled road closures put in place due to flooding, debris in the roadway, and traffic signals that may be out due to a power outage.

Contact the Downtown Phoenix Ambassadors at 602-495-1500 to report power outages or debris – we will contact the correct department at the City. Also – call if you have questions about travel conditions in the downtown area – they are your Go-To-Resource!! Remember – the Ambassadors provide Umbrella Escorts – so if you need to go out during the day…they are equipped with large umbrellas and can escort you to your destination.

Stay Dry!

Terry

More forecast info: http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=85003

Stay safe and stay dry!

-Edward Jensen