Mass transit part 2

There are many options that will improve the system. All of them will cost money and most will not support themselves. Mass transit needs to be thought of as infrastructure just like roads and bridges. We are the 5^th largest metropolitan area in the US and we have one of the worst mass transit systems. If are to attract major high tech companies to the valley we need to improve this system. 

It was just announced that the City of Tempe has approved a streetcar system from Southern Ave. along Mill Ave. to Rio Salado Pkwy. Construction will start in 2013 and be funded by monies from Prop 400 and Federal Grants. This system will connect more bus routes to the light rail. We also need to implement a commuter rail system that uses the existing freight rail tracks. MAG has just finished a study on the feasibility of this system. They have put forth several great plans on how this could be achieved. Unfortunately it all goes back to having a legislature who will fight for it.

Mass transit part 1

One of my passions is mass transit. I am a huge fan of mass transit. I use it for over 75% of my traveling. I use an express bus every morning and three nights a week, I use a combination of light rail and bus for my other trips. But I am fortunate to live in an area that the system works for me. Unfortunately for a vast majority of the Metro Phoenix area the Valley Metro system does not work for them. If you live west of 75^th Ave, east of Power Rd., or in the far north or south valley there is very limited to no service available.

In my research this semester I found a study that was done in 2008 that found the State of Arizona spends an average of 3 dollars per capita. In comparison California spends 43 dollars and Utah spends 22 dollars. The only way we will achieve a functioning mass transit system is if we can elect politicians who see this first as a problem and secondly are willing to fight for it.

Concerts

I was fortunate to attend several concerts this fall at the Mesa Arts Center (MAC). The MAC is a great venue to attend concerts and musicals. They also have a gift shop, museum, and education center. They offer a full line of classes in a multitude of classes in everything from glass blowing, ceramics, and jewelry making to blacksmithing.

The first concert that we attended was for an Irish Pub Band called Gaelic Storm. You may know them from the movie Titanic, they were the steerage band. Well after that performance they were signed to a record deal and have been touring and recording albums ever since. This group is a fantastic group to see live, they are true performers. They are a great mix of good music, great chemistry among the members and a very tongue and cheek sense of humor.

The next concert we attended was for Straight No Chaser, which is a 10 person, all male A Cappella group that started at Indiana University. One of their members posted a video of them doing their version of ’12 days of Christmas’ on YouTube. It went Viral to say the least. These 10 guys have so much fun on stage that it is contagious! This was an awesome concert and one heck of a show. I will catch them whenever I can.

The last concert we attended was last night. We saw King’s singers perform.  The king’s Singers is one of the oldest A Cappella groups in the UK. They do humorous takes on all types of music. Last night’s concert was there Christmas special, so all of the music was Christmas related. I could not believe that that 6 guys could produce such awe inspiring music. They did a variety of music, from medieval to contemporary, from Latin to German, to Dutch and in The Queen’s English.

Career services part 2

There was a series of forums that I wanted to attend. They were on getting hired by the federal government. The first forum was on busting the myth of it being impossible to get hired by the feds. The second was on which majors were in high demand by the feds. The last one was on how to work your resume and the application process.

I attended the first one and got there about half way through as I had a class that was at the same time. I had thought that it was going to be like a job fair where you could walk around to each agency and ask questions and such. This was actually a lecture/presentation, so I had missed most of the speakers. I was unable to attend the other two lectures due to scheduling conflicts. I seriously hope the do this series again in the spring.

Career services part 1

The first job fair that I attended this semester was held at the A.E.England building. It was well advertised and there were a fair number of employers. The employers were also very diversified. But I noticed that there were very few government agencies. There was DES and BLM, neither of which are interested in UMS majors.

There are several agencies that I think would have better served SPA. A recruiter from any of the Municipalities here in state or from out of state would have been awesome.. Someone from MAG or any of the other regional planning authorities also would have been a plus. There are also a ton of federal agencies, departments, and commissions who would be interested in our SPA Graduates. Overall I was not impressed with the number of fast food, retail, and credit card recruiters that were there. The health field seemed to have the most diverse recruiters.

Food part 1

If you happen to look at my profile picture you will notice a rather cherubic face looking out at you. Yes I am around guy! I like to eat! I have been a round fellow since high school. Food, good food that is, has always been a passion of mine. I thoroughly enjoy finding a small hole in the wall eatery. I love finding Mom and Pop joints that serve excellent food from their Grandma’s recipe. I also have a very worldly palette. I love Mexican, Thai, Indian, Ethiopian, and all of Europe!!!

Being located at the Towers in Tempe afforded me the opportunity to frequent some of my favorite eating establishments and to try some new ones. Hardy and University is one of my favorite corners to eat at. It has The Cornish Pasty Company, Rosita’s Mexican food, Café Lalabela which is Ethiopian, Cheba Hut, and Harlow’s. You can not go wrong with any of these resturants, they all are excellent in what they do. I was also able to try several new places. Smash Burger, jimmy Johns, and Five Guys. Jimmy Johns is by far my favorite sub shope now. They are quick inexpensive and deliver an excellent product. Smash Burger and Five Guys do not even come close to the Chuckbox. Although one friend did say that Chuckbox Burger with Five Guys fries would be Heavenly!!

There was also a great return of an old favorite of mine. Stan’s Metro Deli returned to Mill Ave in the location that was previously occupied by the Spaghetti Company. This is an awesome deli and very friendly!! Do not go there if you do not have a huge appetite. Their meals and sandwiches are enough to feed a linebacker.

Random Musings

I have to say one of the most in enjoyable aspects of my internship was getting to travel around the Tempe campus by foot, on a bike, and in a golf cart. I discovered parts of campus I didn't even know existed. I saw them very remarkable and some very disturbing sites.

And did you know that there is a ceramics graduate studio over by rural and university: Or that there is a motorcycle only parking lot just north of discovery hall? I also discovered that half of Lot 59 N. is fenced off as it was sold to a developer. I also discovered that there is a Baha’I information Center at the north side of the USB building. I also saw some truly beautiful landscaping and gardens located throughout campus. I always make sure that the time to smell the flowers.

Electrical Vehicle Survey

The most exciting project that I had was the last project I worked on. It was decided that PTS needed to know what other leading universities were doing in the way of accommodating electrical vehicles. Now I do not mean golf carts and such, I am referring to cars such as the volt, the leaf and the electric Mini Cooper. Yes I did say that electric Mini Cooper. The city of San Diego has seven of them that are used for meter reading, parking control, and several other city departments have access to them. Ray gave me a list of universities and contacts that he wanted me to reach out to and find out what they were doing.

The first thing that I did was create a questionnaire that asked all the pertinent questions that Ray wanted answered. I then created an updated the contact list into a single document that included full contact information such as extension numbers and e-mail addresses. The next step was the hardest part; I called each person on the contact list and tried to get the questionnaire answered. This led to several rounds of phone tag, e-mails back and forth, and finding out that this person is not involved with this you need to talk to so-and-so and department Y. who says that you need to speak to department X. was on vacation for the next two weeks. Getting the questionnaires answered was very frustrating but in the end I had a 90% completion rate. Next I created and filled in a matrix with all of the information received. I then compiled a report for Ray with all of the information received. I also researched and found various companies and government agencies that are working with universities to increase this infrastructure.