Off and running!

Classes start tomorrow, but that doesn't mean that we haven't already started our activities related to this quarter. Students in Dr. Winchell's PLAN 261 class (Community Development) received their first assignments through the "Blackboard" online application. On Blackboard, documents associated with a class can be posted so that they are accessible from anywhere.

The first assignment was to post a web page within Blackboard which has a photo, an introduction and some personal details. This was pretty easy since the fields were already set up for us.

The second assignment was to read other people's web pages, and introduce ourselves to our fellow students in the discussion boards. In effect, we're taking the actions necessary to start building our little planning community. Dr. Winchell seems to be pleased with the ongoing comments so far.

I'm also sensing (though, with a very small sample of n=2) that there could be a high correlation between members of the PLAN 261 (CD) and PLAN 201 (U&RP) classes. Additionally, there was a note from Dr. Winchell that indicated that there should be many of the CD students in the Friday-Saturday class this weekend. I was talking to a friend this evening and we realized that in a way, these are the people who I will be with class after class after class for the next two years. And so far, I've enjoyed the interaction, and I'm hopeful that it's true.

I've been reading the first textbook for community development ever since I bought it yesterday around noon. Well, calling it a textbook seems strange because it's actually Stephen R. Covey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. I'm about 90 pages in at the moment. My intent is to read straight through, then go back chapter by chapter as the class goes through it. Of course, this might be sidetracked by any reading assignments coming from the statistics and Intro to Urban and Regional Development classes, but at least at the moment and until I get data to the contrary, I have an interim plan. Of course, Covey would say that I should be proactive, cleave to my principles, and do what should be done in the natural order of things.

Now, a note to current and prospective EWU students. I went to a meeting during orientation yesterday and met several of the members of the student government (ASEWU). The president mentioned that there was a discussion underway to build a new student union building. I wanted to know how much progress there was, so I spoke today with the facility building director, K.C. Traver. (I'm not sure what his exact title is, but if it's important to anyone reading, let me know and I'll run that down sooner rather than later.) He said that the first he heard of it was a few months ago. He told me that there are some issues with the current facility (the Pence Union Building, or PUB), including some life safety issues. My impression is that this is a worthy conversation for the student body to be having, and that it's at the very early stages, so any participation in the planning process could be pivotal at this point. Students could very well have their ideas integrated into the facility which would be part of the daily life of future students of EWU for a generation. Something to think about.