Spring Term '11: Course Preview

Trafton B.

March 31, 2011 - 10:30 AM

Here we go; the beginning of the end is officially underway! I'm actually in the basement of McKenzie Hall at the moment sitting at the Information Technology Help Desk waiting for a IT student to help me wipe and reboot my laptop. I think it might be mad at me for using it so much last term, so I guess it's time I gave it a little TLC. Anyways, this gives me a free moment to tell you all about the classes I'm taking for the final quarter of my undergraduate career. As always, I'm extremely excited for this term to get underway.

Introduction to Planning (PPPM 399). At this point you may be thinking, "Why is he taking an intro class during his final term of college?" Well, that's a great question. The short answer is because it's my last required PPPM course, and it's the only core course that fit with my schedule. Also, the course is taught by a professor I've had twice before, Prof. Schlossberg, so there's that added bonus of knowing the professor already and not having to figure out his teaching style. The other two classes I've taken from Prof. Schlossberg were smaller discussion-sized classrooms, though, and this is a 100-person lecture, so it might be a little odd getting used to the new dynamic.

Even though this is an intro class, I'm sort of excited to take a step back to understand the full scope of the planning field. I've had a good amount of experience with transportation planning and I've at least been exposed to the theories of other types of planning, like environmental, housing, urban development, energy, etc., but it will still be nice to have a broader understanding of the entire field. One of my tasks in the next few years after I graduate is to find out which field I'd like to go into, so this might help me in that regard. If nothing else, I know a bunch of students in the class so it will at least be a planned time to hang out with my fellow PPPM nerds.

History of Chinese Literature: 1900 - Present (CHN 307). This one might catch you off guard, but it will help to tell you that this is the final course to finish my Chinese minor. After taking the 100-level Chinese sequence my Freshman Year, studying abroad for the following summer in Shanghai, and taking the 300-level sequence my Sophomore year, I've put off finishing my Chinese minor until my final term. Go figure, right? The course should be pretty interesting actually. Chinese literature isn't my favorite topic, but there aren't any big essays to write so I can't complain. I suspect that I'll take the course Pass/No Pass so I don't have to worry about my GPA dropping just because I misinterpreted Patrick Hanan's translation of The Sea of Regret. Also, for those of you who don't know this, spring time in the Pacific Northwest makes focusing on school work exponentially more difficult at the University of Oregon. The nice weather plus senioritis might make this a very interesting term.

Community Planning Workshop (PPPM 608). No surprises here. Just the second round of the same class from winter term. My team and I are still working on creating a construction and demolition waste ordinance for the City of Eugene. We had our first class Tuesday morning, so it was the first time our team was back together after not seeing each other for two weeks. We sat down around the table ginning from ear to ear because we were happy to see each other again. Let me tell you, the work we're doing is downright grueling at times, but having a team that you enjoy working with makes things so much more enjoyable. I honestly don't think I would still be doing this work if it weren't for my fantastic team, and I cannot stress that enough. We have a few mini projects on deck. I'm compiling a list of stores or organizations that accept different types of demolition debris so we can create web-based search engine for contractors that need to recycle these materials. My teammates are working on other projects, such as conducting an economic market analyses, and updating policy measures for procurement. I'm very excited to see what we'll be able to accomplish in the next two and half months.

Disc Golf II (PEI 102). To continue my streak of senior year PE courses I switched from billiards to disc golf, and this was probably the best decision I made so far this year. Why? Well, my teacher is the #1 ranked disc golf player in the WORLD!! Check it out, David Feldberg is his name, and he's awesome. I can't wait for our next class already. Thankfully the weather is getting nicer as well, so it looks like I might be playing a lot of disc golf this term. Can't wait.

Urban Farm (LA 390). A while back I blogged on my 'honorable conundrum' about whether or not to write an senior honors thesis. One of the pros to not writing a thesis was that I would be able to take a class in the spring time that I'd been dying to take since I first heard about it my freshman year. Well, this is the class I was talking about. The Urban Farm is a one-and-a-half acre plot of land on the north side of campus between Franklin Street and the Willamette River, and the courses teaches students everything from the basics of farming and gardening to the intricacies of being an urban homesteader and the agricultural implications of growing your own food and eating local. I feel like a broken record when I say this, but I can't wait. Our classes are from 4:00 to 6:00 PM on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and about ninety percent of our time will just be working in the farm, planting vegetables, weeding plant beds, tilling the soil etc. My group is already planning out our first dinner together at our group leader's house. I'm finally going to understand how I screwed up my compost bin. One option for our final project is to design a garden for an actual place and develop a 12-month growing calendar, and I think I'm going to design a garden for my backyard in Eugene. When my roommates and I first looked at the house last spring, I looked at the backyard and thought, "Hey, this would be a great place for a garden." I never really followed through with that thought though. Not until now at least. I highly doubt I'll have the time to build the garden itself, but at least I'll know how to build a garden by the time this term is over and that's really what I want to get out of this class anyways.

Well, my computer is just finished rebooting and I have to get to work pretty soon here. That's what my the academic part of my term looks like so far, and there will be more to say about Duck's Track & Field and intramural sports in the coming week or two, so stay tuned for that.

Until next time, good night and Go Ducks!!