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JerseySmarts.com

Looking for a New Car – Any Ideas?

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Over the last week, I’ve been researching new cars – I think it’s about time that I get a new one. My current 1999 Chevy Blazer has served me well for over five years now, but it’s breaking down slowly. I’ve spent some $6,000 keeping the truck on the road this year alone.

I’ve been looking at the Equinox from Chevrolet, so if anyone knows anything about that vehicle, please let me know. At first, I was convinced that I would get a hybrid, but the added cost for a hybrid is beyond my pay grade! My price range is somewhere between $20,000 and $25,000. Sure, I could afford much more, but I don’t think that a vehicle should cost you any more than that…I’m not in it for the luxury or the style, I’m in it to get from Point A to Point B!

That being said, I’m looking forward to enjoying some modern features in whatever new vehicle that I purchase. For instance, I’d like to be able to play my iPod as well as have a navigation system – maybe even heated seats! I’m also looking forward to having a high-quality audio system in the car, which I’ve never really had before.

Anyway – any one have any ideas? I’m looking for an affordable SUV with decent gas mileage (something better than the 17 miles per gallon that I get now)!

2007 NJ Province Fall Workshop a Success!

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On Sunday, September 23rd, over 110 undergraduates and more than a dozen alumni volunteers from Sigma Pi Fraternity gathered on the campus of Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey. These undergraduates represented some 37% of the total undergraduates in the New Jersey Province of Sigma Pi Fraternity.

The purpose of the annual fall workshop is to focus on the various keys to success for each of the chapters in the province. While we generally have a broad array of presenters speaking on a variety of issues, this fall we took a different approach. We invited Josh Orendi from Phired Up Productions, LLC to come in and run the entire workshop.

I’m pleased to say that Josh and Phired Up hit a home run in New Jersey!

Some of the feedback regarding Josh and his outstanding Phired Up presentation:

He really had an effect on the chapter here at FDU and we’re already putting into effect his recruiting methods. Also his methods turned the little wheels in our heads and we are tweaking some of our previous ways of doing things into a combination of his system and our own to make it work best for the chapter.

This is just one of the bits of feedback that we’ve gotten from our undergraduates. From an alumni advisor’s perspective, the Phired Up team is easy to work with and presented no problems in setting up this workshop. And while I’m going over the workshop, the team from Rowan University’s conference services was great to work with, too. I highly recommend working with both Rowan University and Phired Up!

Holy Smokes! The Giants Win!

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Yesterday afternoon I was driving back from a workshop in Southern New Jersey and I had the Giants game on in the truck. I was absolutely shocked that the Giants won! I thought for sure that they were going to have one of those seasons where they play great games but lose every one of them.

Thank God I was wrong! I haven’t gotten a chance to see any of the updates from the game yet, but I’ll be looking for them tonight. Whew! What a relief!

Is Nothing Sacred in New Jersey?

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The Daily Record printed an article yesterday that talked about the possibility that up to 25% of the protected land up in the Highlands area of the state may be up for development. For those of you that don’t know, the Highlands are comprised of North and Northwest New Jersey. It’s a beautiful area of the state that blends nicely into Pennsylvania and does NOT resemble the rest of the images that this nation has of New Jersey. In other words, we have no high-density industrial sites in this part of the state; we’re blessed to have such great forests and green-space instead.

Here is what the Daily Record wrote:

About 100,000 of those acres eligible for development are in the preservation area, that half of the region where nearly all large-scale construction was banned by the 2004 Highlands Act, according to a report released by the council. The rest are in the planning area, where lawmakers envisioned development continuing, where appropriate.

The developable acreage is contained in about 22,500 parcels that fall into one of the four major exemptions written into the law. There are 17 exemptions in all, but the four studied are the ones that would permit the most development. They allow for the construction of a house on a lot in existence at the time of the act or for the reconstruction or addition to an existing home.

What is of most importance is the last sentence. Once again, we have legislation in New Jersey that publicly is touted to end a practice that we would otherwise find to be repulsive (knocking down wildlife areas to build more McMansions), yet in reality it does nothing to solve the problem at hand.

This state needs a strong Chief Executive who will look at this problem and look at the potential of ruining the communities in North and Northwest New Jersey. Yes folks, the type of development that could be allowed in the Highlands will ruin that part of the state – no doubt. This is a part of the state with many rural areas. Rural areas, not suburban areas, though there are some great suburban areas, too. Opening up 100,000 acres of this beautiful protected land for development is just asking for those rural areas to suburbanize.

After watching the Mount Arlington, Landing, and Roxbury areas of Morris County go from rural to suburban areas over the last 20 years, I don’t want to see this happen to other areas in neighboring Sussex and Warren counties. The over-development of these parts of Morris County have pushed families out of home and communities that they literally built with their own two hands. It’s been disgusting to watch.

If there is anyone with any sense in Trenton (HA!), they’ll open up the coffers and buy these parcels – making them protected land.

An Update on the Professor Job

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As most of you know, I’ve been an Adjunct Professor for 3 weeks. At this point, the job is a whole lot of fun and really something that I can seem myself doing well into the future. I will repeat what I said in a previous post about the job – it takes a hell of a lot of prep time for each course and I’m surprised that being on this side of the classroom is so much different than being on the other side.

The biggest difference for this career student-turned-Professor? Well, I’ve already said that I’m shocked at the preparation time for each class, but I now know the feeling that my Professors had when they would throw a question to the group and get nothing but blank stares. A million and a half things run through your mind at that moment! You’re wondering whether you’ve not explained the subject matter correctly, if you asked the question the right way, if everyone is asleep, or if the students just despise the lecture!

Thankfully, my students are good at answering questions when I throw them out there. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that my students are an exceptionally bright group of young minds that really get engaged in the subject matter, so I must be lucky or something!

Anyway, the whole Professor thing has been a lot of fun and I’m looking forward to it continuing to be that way!