[source: azcentral.com] METRO Light Rail will expand testing across all 20 miles of the line starting next week.
Until now, tests have been limited to the track south of McDowell Road, in downtown Phoenix, along Washington Street and through Tempe and Mesa.
Vehicles will now begin regular testing on Central Avenue. In addition, some trains will go all the way to the end of the line in Phoenix at 19th Avenue and Montebello.
Testing primarily occurs during the day; however, in coming weeks, testing will also take place at night to simulate service.
Expect a train anytime, from either direction, according to Hillary Foose, spokeswoman for METRO. She says testing will continue to ramp up and become more recurring in the weeks leading up to the system’s grand opening on Dec. 27.
Testing will become so regular, in fact, it will appear as though METRO is in service, she said.
Each train is required to travel 1,000 miles during testing before it can be placed into regular service. Testing also helps Metro coordinate the various systems needed for light rail to run.
With trains testing at such a regular pace, Metro offers these guidelines to staying safe around light rail:
Light rail is quiet; look and listen for the train.
Obey the traffic signals; stop on red.
Use the crosswalks and obey all signals.
Stay off the trackway; never drive, bike, walk or skateboard on the tracks.
Stay clear of the overhead wires; they are energized.
So far, Metro has not had a serious accident. For more on how to ride and ways to be safe around light rail, visit www.metrolightrail.org.
Monday will mark 61 days to the grand opening of METRO on 27 December 2008. Stay tuned to this blog for more information as we get it in.
At the top of this hour (4.00pm Phoenix time), The Arizona Republic released their recommendation for who they believe should be the 44th President of the United States.
Surprised? I’m not. If memory serves, the paper generally has endorsed incumbents to be reelected; if there isn’t an incumbent, then the Republican candidate gets the nod. It endorsed the then Gov. George Bush in 2000 and endorsed his reelection campaign four years later. Conversely, it endorsed (I believe) Matt Salmon (R) for governor in 2002 over the then state Attorney General Janet Napolitano but the Republic endorsed Napolitano in 2006. For all of the state’s ballot propositions that it has issued a recommendation, it has recommended “no” save for one: Proposition 300 (legislators’ pay raise).
But something above this history: what would the reaction have been if the Republic didn’t endorse their hometown candidate? What would have happened if they endorsed Barack Obama, and in the style of the Friday endorsement by The New York Times?
As of tonight, we’re 64 days out to METRO’s grand opening festivals and things down here are getting exciting. Tonight’s the first night where my station, Central/Encanto, has been lit up.
Something that’s been bothering me over the course of this election is the way in which the religion card has been played. Essentially, candidates have tried to out-Christian others. There have been those who have accused Obama of being Muslim, and then there are those who still believe that Obama is Muslim.
This raises the question: so what if he was? Why have we become complacent with setting up an unConstitutional system saying that to run for public office, you must be Christian? A survey of the Constitution’s Article VI clearly states otherwise.
The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States. [emphasis mine]
It is a direct affront to Jews, Muslims, and other non-Christians in our country. The more our candidates perpetuate – rather than challenge, rather than change (to use Obama’s word) – the faith-based myopia of national identity, the harder we make it for religious minorities – or for Christians who do not want to play the faith-based game of identity politics – to claim their rightful place in the American democracy. (from “‘Barack Obama is a strong, Christian family man’”, 11 October 2008)
This leads to the next point: on a recent edition of her namesake show, Campbell Brown offers commentary on this unconstitutional setup that has been created but not challenged.
When did it matter? Why does it matter? It shouldn’t, but perhaps this is just being too idealist.
Cheers- Edward Jensen
PS In the coming days, I’ll post a blog entry offering my opinions on why some use the term “liberal” as if it’s one of the Seven Words (homage to the late George Carlin).
As reported in this blog in September, METRO Light Rail has been back in downtown Phoenix since 15 September 2008. Here is a collection of pictures of the first few weeks of METRO’s testing here in downtown Phoenix:
[Author's note: This entry is a part of the "Blog of the Week" series that my colleagues and I are writing. This week, we focus on how we are preparing for midterm examinations.]
Ah, yes, the dreaded midterm examinations. Since this is the seventh week of courses here at Arizona State University, they’re due up. The interesting thing with taking 300- and 400-level courses (read: junior & senior) is that there aren’t that many examinations. I’m taking four actual classes (the fifth is an independent study course), two of which are at the 200-level (sophomore) and the other two in the 400-level. For instance, I’m in STP226, or Elements of Statistics. This morning, I had my second midterm examination for that course. Since I like mathematics (I know, it’s my vice), and also since I’ve had exposure to this in high school, there wasn’t a lot of preparation. Generally, I consult briefly (read: 20-30 minutes total) the notes of the material that is eligible to be on the exam, try some practice problems, and then move on.
But one course that I’m not looking forward to the midterm is my other 200-level course, ECN211 (Macroeconomic Principles). Since I have not had previous exposure to the material, it’s considerably more time-consuming and more challenging. What I have done in situations like this (to some degree of success) is merge the notes that I have taken in class with what the textbook says. By doing this, you reinforce what you have learned in class with what the book says. This is because instructors rarely just teach from the book. Let me reiterate this: INSTRUCTORS RARELY JUST TEACH FROM THE BOOK. They supplement the book with their take. (This is also why reading the book before class is helpful.)
The exam for the latter is Monday the 13th (is this bad luck?) but I should be ready for it.
Few works in the entire repertory of Classical music have achieved such notoreity as Joseph Haydn’s oratorio The Creation. Composed in 1796 during Haydn’s most productive and famous years (The Creation was the first work to be published in two languages at the beginning, it was also written in German as Die Schöpfung), this oratorio explores the first days of earth as recorded in Genesis beginning with a musical representation of chaos up through the first few happy hours of Adam and Eve.
The Phoenix Symphony Orchestra (PSO) has just recently established itself as a master of large but nimble symphonic works under the batons of Robert Moody (who is now at the helm of the Winston-Salem Symphony Orchestra in North Carolina and the Portland Symphony Orchestra in Maine) and present music director Michael Christie. But The Creation should not be regarded as a small chamber piece: it calls for full complements of strings, woodwinds, brass, and tympani as well as a chorus. Soloists Celena Shafer (soprano), Gregory Kunde (tenor), and Philip Cutlip (baritone) complete the ensemble for the performance.
The three soloists were on top of their game Saturday evening. Their dynamic with Maestro Christie was fantastic. They were free to add their own cadenzas whenever the parts fit and Christie was receptive to that. Their dynamic with each other in trio sections was sublime. Even with supertitles projected above the stage, hearing what they were singing was easy, despite being in the back of the house with a lot of coughing going on from my fellow concertgoers. Mr. Cutlip, playing the role of the angel Raphael, manipulated his voice to imitate the different things that were being created.
There were a couple of movements that Maestro Christie took simply too fast to accommodate the orchestra and chorus. Typically this was during some of the contrapuntal sections. A good example of this was during the finale to part II, “Achieved is the glorious work”. Both the orchestra and the chorus were having difficulties keeping up with Christie’s tempo. Articulation by the orchestra was sub-par and so was the chorus’s diction. Having played and sung this movement, the proper articulation and diction conveys the jubilation that Creation is complete.
All in all, the PSO and the Symphony Chorus presented a tour de force and only further proved that Phoenix and the Southwest are incredibly lucky to have such a fantastic orchestra in the region. If I had to rate this, I would give it 8.3/10.
Cheers- Edward Jensen
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