Life as Edward Jensen

[source: Corey Schubert, media manager, ASU College of Public Programs] Dr. Ann Nichols doesn’t sleep.

That’s how many people describe the mother of Arizona State University’s School of Social Work Tucson component, which Nichols essentially started from the trunk of her car.

Her retirement this summer will give Nichols time to reflect on a 39-year career at ASU, where she has trained more than 1,700 social workers and tirelessly worked to advance social justice and human rights across Arizona.

As the nation faces unprecedented shortages in the human and social service sectors in the coming years, her lifetime of accomplishments is a testament to the widespread impact one social worker can make.

“She has inspired hundreds of students to go out and make a difference in the world,” says Dr. Kathy Norgard, an ASU faculty associate who was a student in Nichols’ first graduating class.

Prof. Nichols joined ASU in 1970 as an assistant professor in the School of Social Work, then housed on the Tempe campus. When she realized a handful of students drove from Tucson to attend her classes, she began teaching a course in Tucson and “people came out of the woodwork,” Nichols says.

Nichols kept a stock of student applications and financial aid forms in her trunk, ferrying the completed materials to Tempe. She helped ASU realize the need to establish a Tucson component to meet the growing demand of students in Southern Arizona.

Since 1978, the faculty, students and graduates of the Tucson component have offered leadership in the health and human services community through clinical practice, community development, agency evaluation, program development, case management, educational supervision, advocacy and grant development.

“The fact that we have had such collaborative relationships in the community and within our faculty, staff and student body has made working here a joy,” says Nichols.

Nichols has advocated for issues such as universal health care, death penalty abolition, and prison and immigration reform. As the national director of the Society for Spirituality and Social Work, she brings together human service providers interested in exploring the connection between spirituality and healing.

Her teaching areas have included social services and policy, initiating change in communities and organizations, social work and criminal justice, and strategies against discrimination.

Nichols has received the Jefferson Award for Community Service; Federal Bureau of Prisons Volunteer Service Award; Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Association of Social Workers-Arizona Chapter; and the YWCA Woman on the Move Award.

She is the mother of three natural children, five long-term foster children and grandmother of eight.

The Ann Weaver Nichols Scholarship/Fellowship Endowment has been established with the ASU Foundation, using donations from Nichols and other donors. The annual scholarship will provide financial support to Tucson-based students in the Master of Social Work program, especially those who are raising children as single parents or grandparents and who have a commitment to promoting social change to benefit vulnerable populations.  To make a gift to this scholarship endowment, visit www.asufoundation.org/nichols or make a check payable to “ASU Foundation” and reference “Ann Nichols Scholarship” (account # 40003040). Please send the check to the College of Public Programs, Attn: Mina Hernandez, Scholarship Administrator, Mail Code 3520, Suite 600, 411. N. Central Ave., Phoenix, AZ 85004-0685.

The ASU Foundation is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that facilitates and manages private gifts to ASU. Contributions to the scholarship endowment may entitle donors to a charitable gift tax deduction under current tax law.

For information about the School of Social Work Tucson component, visit http://ssw.asu.edu/portal/tucson.

Last Thursday (April 23), I took in my third performance of the Phoenix Symphony this season.  On the concert order was Jennifer Higdon’s Concerto for Orchestra and Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana.

As I mentioned in my review of the Creation concert back in October 2008, the Phoenix Symphony have established themselves as a “master of large but nimble symphonic works.”  Ms. Hidgon’s Concerto is one of those works, and the orchestra performed it brilliantly.

The fourth movement of Higdon’s Concerto was a true percussion soli, and as a percussionist (in high school and for a couple years at the Phoenix Symphony Youth Orchestra), I was ecstatic.  Higdon exploited percussion in ways that I have not seen in a while.  For a moment, the Symphony’s percussionists ran bows across cymbals, mallet percussion instruments, crotales, and quite possibly other instruments, too.

Carmina Burana was simply a treat to hear.  The Phoenix Symphony Chorus, the orchestra’s all-volunteer chorus, was at the top of their game.  All three soloists were fantastic, as usual.  They even got into the moment and acted the parts that there were singing (i.e. schwungvoll).  Truth be told, it was unique, and something I had not heard before.

Something on which I have commented before (see my review of the PSO’s performance of Haydn’s Creation) about Maestro Christe is how he likes to take some things too fast.  Having performed Carmina Burana before and familiar with the work, there were some moments that Christie simply too fast.  Unlike in the Creation concert, the choir and orchestra seemed able to keep up with Mr. Christie, but it still seemed rushed and hurried.

There will be those that argue that Carmina Burana is an overplayed piece of the Classical repertory.  True, its first and final movements might be, but the twenty-three in the middle are a delight to hear.

-Edward Jensen

A couple of friends from my high school are putting together a summer choir, and as such, they’ve asked me to put a plug in on my blog.  So, here goes:

Are you wanting a summer experience singing in a choir with two of the hottest composers/conductors music has ever seen?

Join celebrated Eric Choate and Sean Colonna for a summer project called The Camerata Choir in which you will participate in weekly rehearsals, a final concert, and the world premiere of two works by Choate and Colonna.

If you are interested, sing well and are willing to commit to rehearsals, contact Eric Choate (choate [at] stolaf [dot] edu) or Sean Colonna (sc647 [at] bard [dot] edu).

Rehearsals are Sunday evenings at the First Congregational Church (1407 N 2nd St, Phoenix) from 7.00-9.00pm.  If taking the Metro, your stop is McDowell/Central Ave.

-Edward Jensen

Friend and colleague Kirsten Martin has written yet another exceptional post that applies her fantastic way of looking at things, this time it’s through the medium of sock puppets.  In her latest post, “The Theory of Sock Puppets“, she proposes using sock puppets as a way to alleviate stress and discontent in one’s work.

When I was in the first semester of my internship I found myself really struggling with the new organizational environment and specifically one of the other interns. I was in a bad position because as an intern I did not want to voice my opinions and concerns and “rock the boat” so to speak, so I chose to instead to bottle everything up and search for a more appropriate release. While in the StAR office one day an idea popped into my head while I was on a (sadly) usual rant about my struggles dealing with these conflicts. I was so frustrated that I just could not say the things I really wanted to say and felt almost stifled that I was not able to say what was on my mind. So my idea was this, if I had a sock puppet of this individual I could say everything I wanted to in the safety of my own home while inducing laughter rather than perpetuating my upset emotions.

Read more “The Theory of Sock Puppets” at her blog, Social Work at ASU.

-Edward Jensen

As preface/context, I went to a performing arts middle- and high school in central Phoenix.

Stephen Schermitzler, one of my classmates, good friends, and an up-and-coming composer is taking part in a composition recital later today at the Phoenix Art Museum.  He wrote a string quartet inspired by “Upside Down, Inside Out”, a piece currently on display in the Katz Wing of the museum.  Come for all the fantastic music, poetry, and art on display.

Details: 1.00pm later today (Saturday 18 April), tickets are $10/adults and $8/students.

The Phoenix Art Museum is at the northwest corner of Central Ave and McDowell Road, easily accessible from the McDowell/Central Ave light rail station.  I’ll see you there!

-Edward Jensen

Without further ado, here are some pictures from today’s opening of the new Downtown Phoenix Civic Space:

-Edward Jensen

We’re pretty excited for the opening of the Downtown Phoenix Civic Space park tomorrow.  The festivities get underway tomorrow at 11a with the lighting ceremony of Janet Echelman’s “Her Secret is Patience” at 7.30p.  Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon and other dignitaries will speak at 3pm for the formal dedication ceremony.

ALSO! I’m working on putting together a photo timeline of various phases of park construction.  It won’t be complete until the park is open, no?

-Edward Jensen

As if you needed to be reminded, the economy is bad and cities need to save money. Sadly, most of the cost reductions come through service cuts of much-needed programs.  Policy studies would show us that now is the time to cut duplicate items.  The DASH Downtown Loop, as I am prepared to argue, is one of those duplications.

For those familiar with Downtown Phoenix, there are two free shuttles that connect various parts of the area: the Downtown Area Shuttle, or DASH. One travels from Central Station to the Arizona State Capitol (Government Loop) and the other meanders around the area, traveling to the two stadia and up to Roosevelt St (Downtown Loop). Both shuttles operate from 6.30a-6.30p. For the Government Loop, this may make sense since that’s when state offices are open. But it doesn’t make sense for the Downtown Loop: the areas served by the Downtown Loop start to come alive after that shuttle service is finished for the evening.

Here’s the proposal: get rid of the DASH Downtown Loop and replace it with a free-ride zone on the Metro Light Rail that extends from the Roosevelt St/Central Ave station to the 3rd St/Washington & Jefferson St stations.  Most major downtown areas have a free-ride zone to encourage people to take public transport to get from one part of the downtown to the other.  Phoenix should not be different.

It would work by not having fare enforcement officers check between the Roosevelt/Central Ave station and the 3rd St/Washington & Jefferson St stations.  There would still be ticketing machines at those stations so people who need to go outside of the free-ride zone can buy their tickets.

-Edward Jensen

We’re just one day out from the opening of the new Downtown Phoenix Civic Space park.  Over the weekend, Janet Echelman’s “Her Secret is Patience” was installed.  Our friends from the City of Phoenix took this photo of lighting tests on the Echelman artwork that is too good not to share:

The grand opening is Thursday.  See you then!

-Edward Jensen

Since November 2008, I’ve been going to church services at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, located at Central & Roosevelt just north of Downtown Phoenix.  It is a great congregation featuring an incredible music program.

Easter Sunday took away any doubt of the Trinity Cathedral’s music program. Aside from three spectacular Easter hymns (EASTER HYMN, TRURO, and ELLACOMBE), the Cathedral Choir sang Russell Nagy’s “He Is Not Here!”, which was absolutely spectacular (so much so that I saw Canon Licia Affer, at the 9am service, go ‘wow!’ afterward).

The Cathedral has a photo album from Easter services, and I encourage you to check it out. The photo below is from that album.

Special thanks to The Very Rev Nicholas Knisely, Dean of the Cathedral, and all his staff for making me and my family feel welcome at Trinity.

-Edward Jensen