Tuesday, October 13, 2009
The Legends in Phoenix
For all rock lovers this past Friday (10/09/2009) was a night to remember. Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger from “The Doors” performed live with the Phoenix Philharmonics in Dodge Theater in Phoenix. Brett Scallions, their new singer, was just phenomenal. Well, I guess no one can replace Jim Morisson, but still the concert was an unforgettable experience.
Monday, June 29, 2009
When student's work is being valued...
There is no greater pleasure than working with professors who value your work. Since I came at ASU, I’ve been fortunate to work for (with) many wonderful professors, who supported me in any possible way. They were the reason why I considered only one PhD Program, the one at the ASU School of Public Affairs.
Working as a research assistant while at the Master program, and later as a research associate as a doctoral student, I was given the opportunity to learn from people who are widely recognized experts in the field. Moreover, due to their dedication for student excellence, I was able to write articles with some of them and see my name as an author of a published piece.
The first article with my name included appeared in January 2009, as part of The Foundations of Public Administration Series, published on the American Society for Public Administration Association (ASPA) web site. I am the third co-author of the Administrative Behavior and Organization, an article written with Dr. Robert Denhardt and my dear colleague Margaretha Warnicke.
Encouraged by another professor, Dr. Afsaneh Nahavandi, I sent a paper (that was written as a class assignment) to our valued school journal Perspectives in PA (PiPA). After it was peer reviewed in a process of a blind review, my paper was published in the same journal.
Dr. Janet Denhardt was the first professor to invite me to work with her on another piece, which for me was an incentive to demonstrate hard work and a great honor at the same time. Two other professors also worked with her (Dr. Edgar Ramirez and Dr. Larry D. Terry, Jr.) and the product of this work has recently been accepted for publication by the International Journal of Public Administration.
The other professors that I had the chance to work with, including Dr. Larry D. Terry, Dr. Barbara McCabe, and Dr. John Hall are true inspiration for me. I feel blessed to (have) work(ed) for all of them because from them, I could only learn what does it mean to be an excellent researcher and professor. They say that I am a great help for their work, but I say that I could only hope to contribute at least a small portion from what they have thought me.
I came to realize that being a doctoral student is challenging because becoming a PhD is not only about classes and grades. It is about doing a research, being passionate in what I am doing and last but not least, being persistent in my work. All the professors that I worked for and all of them that I took classes from trusted my work and by that they fostered my growth as a future academic. I could only hope that I will be able to prove their trust.
Working as a research assistant while at the Master program, and later as a research associate as a doctoral student, I was given the opportunity to learn from people who are widely recognized experts in the field. Moreover, due to their dedication for student excellence, I was able to write articles with some of them and see my name as an author of a published piece.
The first article with my name included appeared in January 2009, as part of The Foundations of Public Administration Series, published on the American Society for Public Administration Association (ASPA) web site. I am the third co-author of the Administrative Behavior and Organization, an article written with Dr. Robert Denhardt and my dear colleague Margaretha Warnicke.
Encouraged by another professor, Dr. Afsaneh Nahavandi, I sent a paper (that was written as a class assignment) to our valued school journal Perspectives in PA (PiPA). After it was peer reviewed in a process of a blind review, my paper was published in the same journal.
Dr. Janet Denhardt was the first professor to invite me to work with her on another piece, which for me was an incentive to demonstrate hard work and a great honor at the same time. Two other professors also worked with her (Dr. Edgar Ramirez and Dr. Larry D. Terry, Jr.) and the product of this work has recently been accepted for publication by the International Journal of Public Administration.
The other professors that I had the chance to work with, including Dr. Larry D. Terry, Dr. Barbara McCabe, and Dr. John Hall are true inspiration for me. I feel blessed to (have) work(ed) for all of them because from them, I could only learn what does it mean to be an excellent researcher and professor. They say that I am a great help for their work, but I say that I could only hope to contribute at least a small portion from what they have thought me.
I came to realize that being a doctoral student is challenging because becoming a PhD is not only about classes and grades. It is about doing a research, being passionate in what I am doing and last but not least, being persistent in my work. All the professors that I worked for and all of them that I took classes from trusted my work and by that they fostered my growth as a future academic. I could only hope that I will be able to prove their trust.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Macedonian evergreens
Having some spare time might be fun, sometimes… I spent some time looking for old songs that I like, and fortunately I found what I was looking for. I am posting few Macedonian evergreens that one could only enjoy.
Slave Dimitrov "Cija si" (Whose you are)
Dragan Mijalkovski "Idi" (Leave)
Slave Dimitrov "Cija si" (Whose you are)
Dragan Mijalkovski "Idi" (Leave)
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Hugh Jackman in Tempe
The premiere for the latest film X-Men Origins: Wolverine was in Tempe. I just learned about the event right before the premiere; probably because I am not watching TV a lot these days. However, I am so happy that I could be there around 7 p.m. last night, right on time. Although I could not actually see Hugh (maybe my camera did, I should check), I could feel the whole premiere atmosphere. The fans were around, some of them waiting whole night. Once Hugh and the movie crew appeared, I could hear the women screaming. As Hugh was moving, I could hear different parts of the crowd screaming and trying to take a better position to see some of the actors at least for a second. It was exciting.
The decision for Tempe to be a city for the World premiere of X-Man, was based on a competition among U.S. cities. I don’t know the criteria upon which this decision was made, but I think Tempe would increase its popularity after this event. Even Hugh Jackman said that he liked the city so much, he wanted to move here. Well, of course, this is a good marketing trick, but still it is flattering to hear that.
The decision for Tempe to be a city for the World premiere of X-Man, was based on a competition among U.S. cities. I don’t know the criteria upon which this decision was made, but I think Tempe would increase its popularity after this event. Even Hugh Jackman said that he liked the city so much, he wanted to move here. Well, of course, this is a good marketing trick, but still it is flattering to hear that.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Budget cuts in time of economic downturn
We are all aware for the financial crisis that might well be the biggest in the last 30 or 40 years (if not in the last 90 years). Some of the consequences could immediately be seen only by walking in a mall, where one can find many stores offering sales, and unfortunately, many others that have the sign "closing all stores" or "final sales". While we could find 'good deals' for items that we wanted to buy long time ago, what we also know is that once the stores are closed, people will lose their jobs, and even more frightening, it will be very difficult for those people to find new jobs.
Virtually everyone is affected by this crisis, if not directly, certainly indirectly, by the grim expectations, the fear for their future or the future for their children.
And the future (not just for the individuals, but for a state) is seriously jeopardized when the money for education is severely cut. Budget cuts in education, as we know, mean that education programs are reduced, tuition goes up, and ultimately, the educational services deteriorate to a degree which would reduce the potential for future growth.
As a former budget analyst (not in the U.S., though), I could not resist to write on this topic. I would only try to roughly describe some the reasons and the consequences associated with the budget cuts, which at this point, with limited information on hand, I could perceive.
What usually happens in economic downturns is that budget gets cut. However, when the problem is on the demand side (such as it is now), cutting public expenditures shrinks GDP even more. People are reluctant to spend their money because of the perceived unstable future, and the government cuts its spending because revenues go down. On the other hand, the need for public services in times like this is even more acute. Mandates, that frequently are in absolute amounts or apply for certain population groups take most of the budget share, and other services, such as education are the ones that suffer. Public investment that may 'refresh' the economy are absent, so that the consequences associated with the negative government spending multiplier affect the whole state.
I was recently reading that during the period 1994-2001, AZ together with nine other states, had significantly reduced tax rates (on average for this period and for the 10th states around 16%). Those reductions came during a period of continuous growth and more significantly, those tax cuts were permanent. I would not like to sound critical, especially when I do not know the facts, but the pure logic tells me that tax cuts should not be done on a permanent basis during economic growth. The reason is simple, every (relatively stable) economy follows economic cycle, which includes not just growth, but times like this one as well. This is especially important for AZ because to the best of my knowledge, according to the tax payer protection initiative, the tax rates could increase (in difficult times) with a majority of 2/3 of the AZ residents' votes on referendum. This makes it almost impossible to raise taxes in order to keep public services.
I am not implying that AZ should raise taxes right now, but I am almost certain that it should not cut spending so severely either. What I am saying is that additional $10 per family will not determine the decision of the family to spend or not to spend money, (additional $100 per company may as well have the similar effect) but may well translate in millions of dollars that will contribute to keeping important public functions.
As tax raise is not an alternative, the possible alternative might be other form of collecting public money (as a remedy on short run). This should be transparent, time limited and for programs that are important for the residents of AZ. I do not believe that anyone would object funding public university programs, for example. At the same time, public managers should foster innovation, which would mean designing or redesigning some of the public programs in a way that will reduce the redundancy, but will keep programs that are important.
Certainly, what was written is not at all any sound analysis based on available data and information, but only a reflection based on my experience. However, I do believe it opens room for at least thinking about alternatives which will not be reflected so much in cutting the finances, but more likely in raising money and fostering innovation.
Virtually everyone is affected by this crisis, if not directly, certainly indirectly, by the grim expectations, the fear for their future or the future for their children.
And the future (not just for the individuals, but for a state) is seriously jeopardized when the money for education is severely cut. Budget cuts in education, as we know, mean that education programs are reduced, tuition goes up, and ultimately, the educational services deteriorate to a degree which would reduce the potential for future growth.
As a former budget analyst (not in the U.S., though), I could not resist to write on this topic. I would only try to roughly describe some the reasons and the consequences associated with the budget cuts, which at this point, with limited information on hand, I could perceive.
What usually happens in economic downturns is that budget gets cut. However, when the problem is on the demand side (such as it is now), cutting public expenditures shrinks GDP even more. People are reluctant to spend their money because of the perceived unstable future, and the government cuts its spending because revenues go down. On the other hand, the need for public services in times like this is even more acute. Mandates, that frequently are in absolute amounts or apply for certain population groups take most of the budget share, and other services, such as education are the ones that suffer. Public investment that may 'refresh' the economy are absent, so that the consequences associated with the negative government spending multiplier affect the whole state.
I was recently reading that during the period 1994-2001, AZ together with nine other states, had significantly reduced tax rates (on average for this period and for the 10th states around 16%). Those reductions came during a period of continuous growth and more significantly, those tax cuts were permanent. I would not like to sound critical, especially when I do not know the facts, but the pure logic tells me that tax cuts should not be done on a permanent basis during economic growth. The reason is simple, every (relatively stable) economy follows economic cycle, which includes not just growth, but times like this one as well. This is especially important for AZ because to the best of my knowledge, according to the tax payer protection initiative, the tax rates could increase (in difficult times) with a majority of 2/3 of the AZ residents' votes on referendum. This makes it almost impossible to raise taxes in order to keep public services.
I am not implying that AZ should raise taxes right now, but I am almost certain that it should not cut spending so severely either. What I am saying is that additional $10 per family will not determine the decision of the family to spend or not to spend money, (additional $100 per company may as well have the similar effect) but may well translate in millions of dollars that will contribute to keeping important public functions.
As tax raise is not an alternative, the possible alternative might be other form of collecting public money (as a remedy on short run). This should be transparent, time limited and for programs that are important for the residents of AZ. I do not believe that anyone would object funding public university programs, for example. At the same time, public managers should foster innovation, which would mean designing or redesigning some of the public programs in a way that will reduce the redundancy, but will keep programs that are important.
Certainly, what was written is not at all any sound analysis based on available data and information, but only a reflection based on my experience. However, I do believe it opens room for at least thinking about alternatives which will not be reflected so much in cutting the finances, but more likely in raising money and fostering innovation.
Monday, December 29, 2008
Christmas Lunch with our host family
This year my husband and I were invited for a traditional Christmas dinner with our (former) host family. This gave us the opportunity to see how American families celebrate Christmas and to have relaxing holiday time. We had a turkey, potatoes, and some other things for the main meal, and delicious homemade pumpkin and apple pies for dessert. After we had the dinner, we played ‘family games’, including a jigsaw puzzle. We had a lot of fun talking and playing. We are so grateful that we could enjoy with our dear friends for Christmas.
Dave and Cathy Puckett were the first people that we met in Arizona. Almost three years ago, they came to the airport and took us in their home. We stayed with them for about three weeks until we found the apartment (with their help). Having a host family was a wonderful experience for my husband and me for many reasons. It was our first time in Arizona and we did not know much about Arizona, the University and many other things. I was lucky to contact a professor (Dr. Heather Campbell), who with the help of a PhD student (Charlene Roach, now an alumn) found Dave and Cathy to help us with everything. We were still in Macedonia, and we knew that a family will take care of us. It was a comforting feeling that we will have a help and we will not have to worry about finding an apartment while we are still in Macedonia.
Once we met Dave and Cathy, they immediately became our friends. They are so nice and we feel blessed to have them as our friends.
Dave and Cathy Puckett were the first people that we met in Arizona. Almost three years ago, they came to the airport and took us in their home. We stayed with them for about three weeks until we found the apartment (with their help). Having a host family was a wonderful experience for my husband and me for many reasons. It was our first time in Arizona and we did not know much about Arizona, the University and many other things. I was lucky to contact a professor (Dr. Heather Campbell), who with the help of a PhD student (Charlene Roach, now an alumn) found Dave and Cathy to help us with everything. We were still in Macedonia, and we knew that a family will take care of us. It was a comforting feeling that we will have a help and we will not have to worry about finding an apartment while we are still in Macedonia.
Once we met Dave and Cathy, they immediately became our friends. They are so nice and we feel blessed to have them as our friends.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Holidays and traditions
It is Christmas time and people are busy shopping. Malls are full and everyone is trying to ‘catch a holiday deal’. But most importantly, families gather and celebrate.
Although, we the Macedonians do not celebrate Christmas now, I still feel the spirit. We are among the Christians (Orthodox) that celebrate Christmas on January 7th, instead December 25th. Since we are here, our season begins now and ends January 14, when according to our customs and beliefs, the Old New Year comes.
There are so many customs in Macedonia associated with Christmas and Old New Year. Although there are some differences from town to town, some traditions are common to most of the towns.
On the morning before Christmas, children go in houses and sing so called “Kolede” songs. Families give them fruits, cookies, and money (usually small amounts). On the Christmas eve, a special dinner is cooked. Before the dinner begins, the smallest member (usually if there is a child in the family) goes outside and ‘invites’ God to the dinner table. The dinner includes a pita with a coin inside. The oldest member of the family cuts the pita (no use of knife), and gives each member a piece. Every member looks at the piece and the one that finds the coin is believed to bring the happiness in the family for the year to come. If the coin is in the middle, than it is said that the coin is ‘in God’, and he blesses the family for that year.
Old New Year is January 14th, and in addition to New Year’s eve, Macedonians celebrate Old New Year. However, there are somewhat different traditions. On January 13th, many people light fires and gather around the fire. They prepare grill, some drink ‘rakija’ (a very strong alcoholic beverage), and many sing folk songs and play the traditional dance 'oro'. On the Old New Years’ night, some people prefer to gamble, in fact friends would gather in a home and they will play cards.
These are only few most 'practiced' traditions in Macedonia that go along with the holiday spirit.
Although, we the Macedonians do not celebrate Christmas now, I still feel the spirit. We are among the Christians (Orthodox) that celebrate Christmas on January 7th, instead December 25th. Since we are here, our season begins now and ends January 14, when according to our customs and beliefs, the Old New Year comes.
There are so many customs in Macedonia associated with Christmas and Old New Year. Although there are some differences from town to town, some traditions are common to most of the towns.
On the morning before Christmas, children go in houses and sing so called “Kolede” songs. Families give them fruits, cookies, and money (usually small amounts). On the Christmas eve, a special dinner is cooked. Before the dinner begins, the smallest member (usually if there is a child in the family) goes outside and ‘invites’ God to the dinner table. The dinner includes a pita with a coin inside. The oldest member of the family cuts the pita (no use of knife), and gives each member a piece. Every member looks at the piece and the one that finds the coin is believed to bring the happiness in the family for the year to come. If the coin is in the middle, than it is said that the coin is ‘in God’, and he blesses the family for that year.
Old New Year is January 14th, and in addition to New Year’s eve, Macedonians celebrate Old New Year. However, there are somewhat different traditions. On January 13th, many people light fires and gather around the fire. They prepare grill, some drink ‘rakija’ (a very strong alcoholic beverage), and many sing folk songs and play the traditional dance 'oro'. On the Old New Years’ night, some people prefer to gamble, in fact friends would gather in a home and they will play cards.
These are only few most 'practiced' traditions in Macedonia that go along with the holiday spirit.
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