Newbie

I recived a bicycle for my birthday in January. It's a fixie and I love it! Although I recived the bike early Feburary I have only recently started to ride it. Over the past two weeks I have enjoyed my various trips on two wheels.

When considering the reasons why commuting on a bicyle is not preferred I do see the challenges. First, the cost. If you have a vehicle why do you need to buy a bike, lock, bag/basket, lights, saftey gear, etc. There is a lot of upfront cost that may turn people away. I do believe I would have boughten a bicylce if I did not recieve one for my birthday, but it would not have been as nice.

Another challenge I ran into was bike policy? If thats a thing. Am I allowed to ride here? What is proper ettiquitte in passing people? Is there a map with bike lines? Is there any laws that say I need lights? How come I don't know any of these questions or where to find out about these questions? I think there could be a lot of people tunred off by these questions.

Effort. I am not talking effort in pushing the pedals forward (although that may be a challenge for people too) I am talking about the amount of effort it takes to get everything packed, ready, unlcocked, packed away, locked up again. Does this matter to people? I've noticed that it matters to me. Or at least I have noticed it. Perhaps I will get a more efficent process of things - one in which my headphones don't get yanked out of my ear and my lunch box choking me.

I do love my bike and I am enjoying the transition in my commuting style. I love the fresh air, using my legs, seeing the city, not paying for gas, and getting close to my location. Are the things I mentioned above challenges or simple factors that anyone would experince when going through a transition?

I think the biggest transition of all is getting my butt use to that tiny seat!

"What Did I Sign Myself Up For"

The Career Service event I attended was a workshop on Public Speaking. I thought this would be a fun work shop that involved a really good public speaker and some pointers and tips on how to speak more clearly, fluently, and effectively.

WRONG.

Very interactive workshop! The attendees were asked to present a 3-5 minute speech about a certain topic of their choice. We then got immediate feedback from seasoned instructors.

At first, like any other student, I rolled my eyes dramatically and thought what is explicitly stated in the title of this blog. I signed up for the workshop because I have had an interest in public speaking ever since high school where I received an award for a speech I had given for the organization Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA). Although, at first I was annoyed, the workshop turned out to be a pretty fun experience. I reminded myself that this was a low-risk environment and to just have fun with it.

I did a quick speech on some research I am doing for a class on edible trees in public spaces. I will have to present my research in class at the end of the semester anyways so it really was good practice. It really helped me pull out the key issues and be able to communicate them, not as clearly as I would have liked. That was the biggest feedback I received. They told me I had great energy, personality, presentation mannerisms, and speech content but the clarity of the KEY points were blurry. I have gotten similar feedback from Professors on some of my writing assignments. I think this stems from my "beat around the bush" approach.

The eye-rolling workshop I attended for my dang blog post ended up being a really good reminder and reflection on my personal weakness to be direct. Say what you mean and mean what you say. Practicing this in subtle ways in everyday conversations will naturally clear up my writing and presentations.

Beloved Balance

I've noticed lately that the most sound solution or answer to a challngeing question is reaching this "balance." Balance the budget, balanced diet, balance between what the people want and what is good for them, a balance between work and play, etc. I'm sure you can come up with some questions or challenges to where the response is to find a balance and we nod in agreement. However, we know very little about this balance that everyone is tlaking about (me being especially guilty). It is answer that does not answer much.

I think that balance is first of all hard to establish and describe since it may look different for any person or situation. For instnace, in regards to health, there are various types of formulas and equations about your height, weight, BMI, activity level, that can be calculted to discover the balanced amount of calories someone should eat. We have also seen some "balance" work in the budget area. Spreadsheets and strategies has helped people on a personal level find their paychecks being spent on priorites and on personal wants. There is also a lot of "balance" discussion in the teachings of Buhdism. Do these societies where there is a large concentration of the practice of blance have a better quality of life or meaning of life?

Here is a simple list of 10 Simple Ways to Find Balance. Can we think about these things when formulating polices that govern people and their habits?

Is there, or could there be, a balance formula for the challenges we face? Can the size of government be balanced? Is it scalable? Do people have the tools and resources they would need to create a balanced life for themselves and loved ones.

If anyone has any articles that relate to this topic of forming balanced policies, balance formulas, stratgies to balance society, etc. please let me know!

The Minimal Consumer

I have been conducting some research about living a minimalist lifestyle. The gist of the research (readings and blog spots like these) make you think about the things in your life that are essential to you. Only the things you need. Freeing yourself up from these "extras" will allow you to free up some time. The minimalist practice is certainly a way to realize spending practices. The time that you now have will enable you to focus on the things that are more meaningful and important to you, rather than the purchased items you may not even need.

To me, these ideolgies go hand in hand with the reasonings behind implementing sustianable solutions. A minimilist will analyze their current situation/ surrounding and take the future in to percepective berofre making a decision. This is what it has in common with sustianablilty. Having a minimilist mind set would create a culture in society that asks themselves what they really need instead of society telling them what they need to be happy.

Although a minimalist lifestyle would in habitually support a sustainable cultural shift, how would it support the economy? If we became a less consumer culture society what would then happen to our economy? Would we face large slow down in growth? Would we (we as in a minimalist society) even realize the slow down and be content with maintenance?


Surely there is a balance in consumerism and minimalism. I think it is up to us to discover where this balance is. It will not occur over night. We may never reach a perfect balance. But we can do a lot better then this.

Change - The Only Constant

The feild that we are all in, Public Affairs, blows my mind because we are mostly dealing with people. I find in common with many peers I talk to within the school that we share a love for people rather than say....numbers. Duh, right! Our goals as Public Servants is to establish systems and norms that are suited for the specific public we are catering too. We solidfy these systems and norms by making them into policies and using various tools to enforce them. Some force is more direct and some indirect. Yet, the more I learn about people, their motives and irational behviors the more I struggle with this impossible goal Public Servants are reaching for. Policy formulation is this art of constructing words that will influence behaviors to create some sort of norm. Yet these norms are always changing because people are always changing. As soon as we implement state of the art software and computer systems they will be irrelevant, or not near as worthy in ten years.

This constant change is wonderful. It allows us to evolve, adapt and be excited about different. Yet it makes things difficult. It makes policy making impossible. Is there a way to make policy making more sustainable? I am not talking sustainable policies, I am talking about frameworks or techniques to use that will make for better policy making. Should policy makers focus more on basing their policies on people's underlying values which do not change as drastically from decade to decade? Or perhaps this will allow for too ambiguous of policies in which people will find MORE loopholes to jump through. Are ambigous policies really as bad as some academics make them seem? Ambigous policies more easily allows people to find ways around the rule towards their goal, ultimatly sparking creativity or innovation.

Since the only thing we know will for sure happen in the future is change, why do we not create policies that allow room for that. Have underlying values in the fabric of the policy and remember that, no matter what, individuals will find their way around. Lets create ambiguous policies that have long lasting values in the fabric while subtly influencing the innovative creation of loopholes.

My day to day acticities at State Parks seem to always change. The position I have was once a full time a position so it had many more responsbilites. However, after the huge cuts State Parks saw in  2009-2010 this position was gone all together. Since then, staff members have managed to fullfill their role in addition to partial duties from several other positions that got removed.

 Anyways, I always climb the one stars instead of taking the elevator that takes double the time, abd set down stuff and get the lights and computers rolling. Since I am only there every other day, I always check my emails first to see what I have missed in the last day. I always respond to emails that regard direct attention which usally regard Advisory Committe activity. Then, I usually have a meeting to listen to. I like to listen to the meetings in the morning because that is when I am the most alert and awake. If I wait until the afternoon I would fall asleep! When I listen to the recording of the meeting I record minutes and listne for action items that the staff or the members said that they would do before next meeting. I enjoy this part because I think it is important to hold people accountable. Unfortuntly the meetings can last up to 3 hours! Add three more hours to that because of stopping and typing and other priotiretes.

I also have to make a lot of agendas for meetings. After I confirm a meeting location and ensure there will be a quormum of members I ask around if anyone wants to add anything to the meeting.

I do enjoy my lunch breaks at the office on the typical break. The ASP office is old, dingy, and has not light. I am also not use to sitting and staring at a computer all day. I know, I do not enjoy that! I like to eat my lunch outside or take a walk to the Capital building - which is gorgeous. Going back to the office from lunch is when I like to put things togeather for future meetings, print out documents, or type up reports. These invovle more movement and brain power which is good for me around 2:00pm.

I really think the windows would help.

Internships are interesting. I like that I am learning new things about organizations, land policy, management styles, and learning about myself.

Positive Changes or a Disruption

The last blog post was titled "Everybody Loves the Parks People!" this title originated from the current - but almost past - Director of Arizona State Parks, Bryan Martyn. When he said this, his grin stretched from ear to ear while he lean back and place his hands at the nape of his neck and responded to my question "Everybody loves the park man!"

His response surprised me. Overall, after leaving his office that day from conducting my interview with him, I still did not know how to react. He had a background in the Air Force and then once retired from there reserved a seat as a Supervisor for Pinal County. Coincidentally, as his elected time was up as Supervisor, the Executive Director of State Parks opened up. With no park experience but loads of leadership skills, Bryan Martyn was appointed by Governor Jan Brewer.

Now, with a new Governor, Doug Ducey, also comes a new Executive Director. Staff at ASP seems nervous more then anything for this transition. I do not think Bryan was a bad Executive Director, he was excited, motivated, and worked well with people. The new Director coming on is a women who has a lot of experience as a Parks Director. Today I found out she is big on innovation. This excites me because that is why I am there. I want to help innovate ASP into an organization that is fiscally responsible along with producing services that the public wants while remaining transparent and legitimate.

However, the transition between the new and old Director's bothers me. For a week it seems as though everyone has been walking on eggshells and waiting to progress in their endeavors until they know the general direction the new Director wants to go. Government agencies are already slow moving in their processes and this only further slows things down. Can any government agency conduct business without their head honcho? What would that look like? How would the decision making process change? Would the organization become more resilient?

Arizona State Paks - Everybody Loves the Parks People!

The organization that I am interning at is Arizona State Parks. This agency is responsible for managing and conserving Arizona's natural, cultural and recreational resources for the benefit of the people, both in parks and partners. There are 31 state parks throughout the western, northern, eastern, and southern parts of the state. All parks vary in what they provide to the public. Some have facilities, wedding venues, camping, lakes, ponds, information sessions, workshops, etc.

Vision: 
ASP is indispensable to the economies, communities and environments of Arizona

Goal:
 Resources) To provide sustainable management of our natural cultural relational economic and human resources.

Visitors) to provide safe and meaningful and unique experiences for our visitors volunteers and citizens

Communications) To effectively communicate with the public, policy makers, our peers and ourselves

My internship is located in the central State Parks office that oversee's the management of these 31 parks. More specifically, my department of Resources and Public Programs is responsible for aiding the land managers in providing the best services to the people while maintaining for the natural areas. A large portion of the department is dedicated to administering grants. The Recreation Trails Program (RTP) federal grant is a competitive grant that funds non-motorized projects such as routine maintenance, signage, safety, etc. The staff that helps administer this grant also puts on a workshop, helps applicants complete documents, and eventually evaluates and scores the applications. The recommended projects then get evaluated/approved by Advisory Committee's and then final approval by the Executive Parks Board. After that, the monies are available to the applicant which they can utilize. There is a typical follow-up process to monitor that the money is being applied to the suggested project.




My job duties with in the department is managing the Advisory Committees. There are four committees that advises the State Parks Board and staff on their specific area of expertise and interests. I help manage and develop Advisory Committee agendas, supplementary documents and attachments, identify action items, record minutes, arrange meeting locations, and aide members in communicating their wants, needs, complaints, etc.





Off-Highway Vehicle Advisory Group (OHVAG) advises the State Parks Board and staff on the planning, development, funding, maintenance, and promotion on off-highway recreation in Arizona.

Arizona Outdoor Recreation Coordinating Commission (AORCC) reviews statewide outdoor recreation and lake improvement plans and establishes criteria and polices for the equitable distribution of funding.

Arizona State Committee On Trails (ASCOT) to promote, develop, and preserve non-motorized trail opportunities throughout the state for mountain bikers, hikers, equestrians, and water trail users.

Natural Areas Program Advisory Committee (NAPAC) provides scientific and natural resource management expertise in efforts to protect, conserve and maintain natural features, biological communities, ecological function, and other aquatic and terrestrial resources.