Life as Edward Jensen

Proof. Yesterday, I sent out this tweet (if you’re on Twitter, I’m @edwardjensen):

I guess some tweet-seeking robot latched on to the words old and computer and thought I was talking about the age of my computer and not the age of the professor (we had computers 97 years ago?):

Turing test fail.

Oh – my guess is that some robots will latch onto the word robot and inundate me with useless Twitter replies.  We’ll see…

-Edward Jensen

This semester is ASU’s first real semester trying out the new ASU on Facebook application. As this blog reported, it was launched at the close of the Spring 2009 semester by Inigral, a company that develops software for the Facebook platform.

We encourage you to try out the software (go to facebook.asu.edu and follow the instructions). Do note that you’ll be presented with the ASU sign on dialog similar to what you get when logging into your My ASU or Blackboard as this is what connects your Facebook account with your student account.

When you’re not in classes or studying, take some time and explore the system. Let us know what you’re discovering – we’re looking for positives and negatives. And, if you need any guidance, then check out “7 Things You Should Know about ASU on Facebook” at copp.asu.edu/facebook.

-Edward Jensen

“For me, a few hours ago, this campaign came to an end. For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die.” [Sen. Kennedy, 12 August 1980]

Join Career Services at the ASU Downtown Phoenix campus tomorrow, August 26th, as over 20 ASU departments and local employers bring their part-time job opportunities to you!  For more information, check out the event page on ASU Events.

-Edward Jensen

Thank goodness for xkcd:

-Edward Jensen

[author's note: In my capacity as the President for the Barrett Leadership and Service Team at the ASU Downtown Phoenix campus, or more colloquially known as BLAST'D, I penned a welcome-back letter for the Barrett Downtown community. Learn more about what we do in Barrett, the Honors College at the ASU Downtown Phoenix campus through our blog, Twitter account, and Facebook fan page.]

Dear fellow Barrett Downtown students:On behalf of the entire Barrett Downtown community, I welcome you to the Fall 2009 semester and the 2009-2010 academic year. With the hard work and dedication of Jill Johnson, Dr. Laura Peck, and numerous Barrett Downtown students, Barrett’s inaugural year on the Downtown Phoenix campus far exceeded everyone’s expectations. True to Barrett fashion, however, we are not going to rest on these laurels: we are going to have an even better year this year.

We are delighted to welcome to the Barrett Downtown community students from programs that have recently moved to our campus. We are excited to have you here and we look forward to working with you in this and future semesters. You join a community of scholars who have embedded themselves into this vibrant urban laboratory that is Downtown Phoenix. The programs that are here on our campus share professional counterparts within a mile’s radius from the campus and you may take an internship with one of these organizations.

As both Jill and Dr. Peck mentioned in their letters, there are several Barrett-associated student organizations here on this campus. All clubs share a common purpose: to foster a sense of community among those in Barrett Downtown. From the Book Club to B-Town D-Town (our residential college), these clubs are great ways to meet people who share common interests and passions in a unique setting. And if there is a club that you want to create, I remind you that it takes three students and a faculty/staff advisor to create and register a club here at ASU and the Downtown Phoenix campus.

This leads me to the club I help to run, the Barrett Leadership and Service Team at the ASU Downtown Phoenix campus, or BLAST’D. For this semester, we are planning several signature events, including a social in the A.E. England building at the Civic Space Park, a light rail progressive dinner with our Tempe campus friends, and other unique events. We are also in the process of partnering with various nonprofit and nongovernmental agencies to provide opportunities for you to help make our shared community a better place.

BLAST’D’s meetings will be on the first Friday of each month. While we are still figuring out the exact time and place of our meetings, we do know this: we want you to join us! Do you want to help plan our events or service opportunities? Do you have ideas for events that we’ve overlooked? We are a small program here on a small campus, and so we want to hear from you. I strongly encourage you to join us at our meetings and in our work.

So once again, welcome to this new year. We have a lot of activities planned and we’re excited for what is to come. And as always, if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact Jill Johnson, Dr. Peck, or me.

With all best wishes for a fantastic semester and year–

Edward C.H. Jensen
President, Barrett Leadership and Service Team at the ASU Downtown Phoenix campus
echj [at] asu [dot] edu, edwardjensen.net, facebook.com/edwardjensen

Those who know me know that I am a big fan and student of Classical music. As we approach the start of the Fall 2009 semester, I thought I’d post one of my favorite orchestrations: Maurice Ravel’s Le tombeau de Couperin, which was composed in 1919. As is wont in Ravel’s orchestrations, tonal color and __ are used rather effectively.

I hope you’ll agree with me in these two videos by the BBC Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Esa-Pekka Salonen at the 2007 BBC Proms. The first video has first two movements and the final video is the final two movements.

movements I (Prelude) and II (Forlane)

movements III (Menuet) and IV (Rigaudon)

-Edward Jensen

Join Trinity Cathedral interim organist Dr. William Barnett and Mark X. Hatlfield as they present a duet concert on two of Downtown Phoenix’s greatest and most celebrated instruments: the Cathedral’s 71-rank Schantz organ and Bösendorfer concert grand piano.

The concert is in a week’s time, 7PM, Friday August 21st, at Trinity Cathedral (100 W Roosevelt St, Phoenix). It’s free and open to the public, with a free-will retiring collection taken to support the Cathedral’s fantastic music program.

See you there!

-Edward Jensen

Friend and colleague Kirsten Martin is embarking on a 30-day blog post series that chronicles a daily adventure in her life.

In her words:

I heard my friends recently talking about this project that they were doing where they were supposed to take a picture a day for 30 days and post it with a caption to share with their friends. I’ve decided to take on this project and start my own 30 day adventure.

Good luck, Kirsten, and we look forward to a fantastic series!

[Her blog is http://mssocialwelfare.blogspot.com/.]

-Edward Jensen

The College of Public Programs has entered the social media frenzy. The guiding principle behind our adventure is that our presence should be continuous, engaging, updated frequently and that it should foster discussion. This push into new media is being done for many reasons, but mainly to keep the College visible to students by fostering a sense of connection, belonging and identity. Research evidence is great that 1) this sense of connection aids in recruitment and retainment, and that 2) the next wave of public relations and outreach will be through the use of new social media.

A number of outreach methods are being implemented through the Office of the Dean as a means to this end. Through the Student Ambassadors (StARs) program, current students maintain blogs offering their unedited perspective on student life in the College, at the Downtown Phoenix campus, and even in Downtown Phoenix. The StARs are working on a video series that will introduce new students to their advisors, the campus, and the community in which they will study.

We’re asking your participation to create effective presence in a number of other applications. If you have news, events, deadlines or thought-provoking issues related to life at CoPP, please pass your ideas to any Facebook administrator. The more often we post, the more connected our “fans” will feel to their College.

Want to learn more? Check out http://copp.asu.edu/socialmediaguide.

-Edward Jensen