Night in the Park

Dear Readers,

Tonight I went with a friend to listen to Mayor Gordon's speech about the State of Arizona. It was quite a fun outing as Edward Jensen, a fellow StAR for the College of Public Programs and I walked through the park packed with people from all walks of life to sample the food from different restaurants around phoenix and wait for the mayor to come.

During the speech that was supposed to reflect the State of the Union speech given by the president, I was highly disappointed to find that he was more interested in the State of ASU rather than Arizona as a whole. He was more than complimentary to the downtown extension of ASU calling a "goldmine" and joking that at ASU we "strike the real gold, we have struck a little maroon" as well.

Later went on to comment how as a city (finally something about the city of Phoenix) has helped build the facilities of education, and we are storing our students their with bright hopes to move on to the future. At the end of his speech he reminded us all that Phoenix is a community of vision, "focused on designing smarter and greener cities, and to improve the lives of the citizens".

His unwavering focus on ASU as being a huge part of the downtown Phoenix left me questioning if Mayor Gordon does see a separation between the city and the school. We have integrated ourselves, but there is a separation that although permeable, shows that there is a specific difference. Our lives, although always in contact with those professionals around us, are very different. We are in a time of transition and education, our thoughts are broadening, and our minds are being educated, rather than working out in our individual fields as the actual workers of downtown.

This however was only my take on the speech he gave and I am sure that he has seen a big difference in the school entering into the downtown area and would like to add that to the list of successes for making the downtown area "the place to be".

Signing Off,

Amyann

A most memorable Social Work Class

Dear Readers,

Last week I had something very interesting happen in my SWU 295 Social Work Class. First, I must say that my teacher is absolutely amazing because she herself is a social worker currently in the field and has so much information, and wisdom to impart on her students.

• If you get the chance, take a class by Carol Colmenero because you will never want to miss a class, and you will learn so much about being a social worker.

We were going over a couple chapters last week, and Professor Colmenero asked if anyone had questions on the chapter about defusing an angry client. Personally I had several questions because the chapter was very short and did not seem to say anything at all. When I expressed this to her, she immediatly suggested a demonstration.

The first demonstration was very calm with two women both talking unemotionally through the issue of one being "furious" about a cheating boyfriend. This was helpful because the entire class could really listen to the suggestions of the teacher, and understand the diologue going on between the two students.

After this first demonstration Professor Colmenero was really looking for someone who was willing to scream and shout in order to get the full effect of the procedure we were learning to clam others down. Considering that I was working on the group project that I have previously blogged about, and did in fact go to a performing arts school for 7 years, I volunteered for this second demonstration where I was able to scream amply about the students in my group project.

I found this class as usual, very entertaining, while finally really understand what the chapter of the text book was talking about. I do hope that someday I will be able to experience that kind of situation from the other side in a safe environment like a classroom.

Signing Off,

Amyann

Farmville

Dear Readers,

I have been hooked into this game on facebook that I am sure many of you know. I can not claim that I have not always had a great appreciation for games such as Sims and now Farmville for somehow trapping people into this fake world that was purposely made like the real world only people can experience something new, try out things without real consequences to failure, or even just to succeed over and over again in these virtual worlds.

It blows my mind that games like these exist, and even more so that I get hooked into them just as easily as anyone else. I will say, the pattern usually is that someone, or some people that you know start playing it, and you become curious, or you see them playing it and having fun, and you think, "oh, I will just try it out." Then you suddenly find yourself checking on your game before other important tasks, or even dreaming about it through the night.

My personal experience with farmville has been very entertaining so far, and if you are already playing, I encourage you to ask me to be your neighbor. If not, I beg you to stem your curiosity till the end of the semester!

Signing Off,

Amyann

Group Projects

Dear Readers,

I just thought that I would throw one more post out about group projects this semester. I think some of you might remember before when I mentioned them and that they were a struggle in most cases. Well, recently in my Gender Communication class I experienced the group from Nadar. Not only were they incapable of following a deadline, they also were completely incompetent writers.

• Side note: if you are thinking of pursuing a college career of any kind, start by obliterating the words "don't" "didn't" "couldn't" "haven't" "arn't" and other such contractions from your writing. A red light should go off in your head any time you see these words in any written context (these words also show you how professional any sources are). Also, proof read your writing to make sure that everyone can tell what you are writing about, so do not drop your proper nouns. Also, even if you think you might be the best of all writers, read your writing out loud. It will do one of two things, show you that you were right or that you were wrong. Lastly, there is a writing center on campus that even I tend to frequent as a way of making sure I am getting whatever point across that I want.

So I did complain to the teacher, and then I complained to the teacher again, and lastly, I complained to the teacher telling her that I was so stressed out from this group project that I was in tears over the fact that I would have to share a grade with these people who obviously put in no effort, and whose portions of the paper I wrote for them. After this the professor did indeed listen to me, and offered to let my writing be graded separately; however, this was not after she checked blackboard and saw that I had been the only person putting in valid information, emailing group members, and putting up notices.

Moral of this story: Do your work in your group projects, refuse to do anyone's work but your own in group projects, and if all looks like it might fail, contact the teacher immediately.

Signing Off,

Amyann

Tunnel of Oppression

Dear Reader,

I thought this might be a really interesting way to get involved downtown! This Thursday in the park across from the Downtown campus is a really cool event:

Downtown Tunnel of Oppression Student Organization Presents:

Tunnel of Oppression

Thursday November 19th

2:00pm to 10:00pm

Civic Space Park AE Building

424 N. Central Ave

Phoenix, AZ 85004

Do you believe that students should learn about social justice, oppression and privilege?

We are currently seeking VOLUNTEERS!

Please fill out this survey to sign up for a time:

http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/?p=WEB229SNC8JPXZ

All volunteers are requested to attend a volunteer orientation either on

Thursday, November 12th, 2009 or Wednesday November 18th , 2009 at the Civic Space Building 424 N. Central Ave, Phoenix, AZ 85004.

Signing Off,

Amyann

Downtown Popularity on the Rise

Dear Readers,

If you were thinking that the elevators to go to the second floor were crowded now, you should be warned that the amount of students that will be taking classes downtown in the spring semester has just gone up by two percent. That means that this semester (Fall of 2009) there has been just over seven thousand students taking at least one class here at the downtown campus. The previous fall semester (Fall 2008), had almost five thousand students. This little campus is really starting to grow with over eleven thousand students being affiliated with it, meaning that their major or minor is based here, and/or they are taking classes here.

Want to learn more about this information: Visit the Arizona Republic Nov. 12th News page Online

Signing Off,

Amyann

2016

Dear Readers,

An Article from the Arizona Republic was sent to me recently, and I really got into while reading it so I figured other's might find interest in it too. The article mentions how "Among the nation's full-time federal workforce, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management reports that nearly 61 percent will be eligible to retire by 2016" (Friedman 2009), meaning that for those who are ready and willing to retire, they might want to have a replacement to train up and be prepared to take over their job. This of coarse will not be true for all people who are of age to retire, but many will be considering it.

By that time, I am assuming that the people who are now interested in a college career that includes a major in Social Work, or for those currently in the program, there will be a lot of opportunity in the near future for us to start entering into the workforce.

On that positive note, I hope you all have a wonderful Saturday.

Signing Off,

Amyann