Carolyn Classen

Carolyn Sugiyama Classen, a life long Democrat, was born & raised in the State of Hawaii, was a Legislative Aide for U.S. Senator Daniel K. Inouye on Capitol Hill, and practiced law for a while. In Tucson she worked as a tribal staff attorney for the Pascua Yaqui Tribe and later was the Interim Executive Director of the now defunct Domestic Violence Commission. In 2008 she became a “My Tucson” guest columnist for the Tucson Citizen newspaper, then continued blogging for Tucsoncitizen.com for over four and a half years. Her blogsite was entitled “Carolyn’s Community” about community events and some political news, until Gannett Publishing shut down the site on January 31, 2014. She started with Blog for Arizona on Feb. 11, 2014. Part time she sat as a Hearing Officer in Pima County Consolidated Justice Courts Small Claims Division since April, 2005 for 15 years. She is married to University of Arizona Distinguished Professor Albrecht Classen, a native of Germany. They have one son, who lives in Seattle, WA with his wife and daughter. She is also the Editor of the Southern Arizona Japanese Cultural Coalition website, www.southernazjapan.org (since Jan. 2013).

Japanese Speech Contest in 13th year, now at UA

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Odaiko Sonora taiko drummers will be performing at 3:15 p.m.. Our Southern AZ Japanese Cultural Coalition (of which I am the website Editor) will have a table. I’ll be teaching how to play a Japanese card game called hanafuda (flower cards). Please drop by to say hello & learn about our Japanese culture and listen to the speech contest.

This event is organized by the SAAJE:  Southern Arizona Assn. for Japanese Education, www.saaje.org. Previous contests have been held at various PCC campuses.

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Historic tour of Josias Joesler homes

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Home Tour 2015: Josias Joesler
25 April 2015, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

“Join the Tucson Historic Preservation Foundation for an exceptional 2015 Historic Home Tour Featuring the Romantic and extraordinary design of Tucson’s most famous and celebrated architect of the 20th century: Josias Joesler. This tour is a rare opportunity to venture inside some of Joesler’s best homes and experience the design that has defined Tucson style for generations. Explore the legacy of Tucson’s architecture.

Click here for more information and to purchase your tickets

Tickets are $40.00 each. 

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Dine Out for Safety

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Dine Out for Safety is a community outreach and fundraising event for Southern Arizona Center Against Sexual Assault (SACASA). Dine Out for Safety unites local restaurants, businesses, organizations and individuals in a unique and fun community-wide experience. On April 22, 2015 participating restaurants will generously donate up to 20% of their dinner proceeds to support … Read more

UA Confluencenter Showcase on April 21

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UA Confluencenter for Creative Inquiry Research Showcase Tuesday, April 21: 2-5:30 p.m. Memorial Student Union South Ballroom, 1303 E. University Blvd. in Tucson.

Download an app to learn Nahuatl on your smartphone; watch scenes from a new documentary to learn how “play” shapes the lives of social mammals like gorillas, dogs and dolphins; find out why some songs get stuck in your head, and more, at Confluencenter’s first Research Showcase.

During an afternoon of presentations, exhibits and a reception, the public can interact with several interdisciplinary projects that the center has funded since its inception in 2011. The UA faculty and graduate funding recipients – from the Colleges of Fine Arts, Social and Behavioral Sciences, and Humanities – will be available to discuss their work.

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Why I ride the Sun Tran bus

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Recently at a Sustainable Tucson meeting someone asked how many of us ride the bus in Tucson, and out of about 30 people, only 2 raised their hands (including me). So here’s my thoughts on riding Sun Tran:

  1. No worries about driving in town: it’s actually fairly relaxing to just sit on a bus and let the bus driver worry about the changing lights, pedestrians, motorcycles, traffic signs, construction, etc.
  2. No worries about parking the car/truck: looking and finding parking downtown, plus worrying about having enough $ for the meter or time expiring on the meter are eliminated with bus riding
  3. Environmentally friendly: to ride public transport with lots of other people; supposed to save gas emissions for each car/truck not in use.
  4. Sightseeing: enjoy the sights along the bus route without being distracted by driving
  5. Exercise: walking. It’s easy to leave your house & just get in the car parked in the garage/carport, but it’s definitely better exercise to walk to the bus stop, and walk again to your destination when you get to the end of your bus trip. I definitely walk a lot more when I ride the bus to downtown.
  6. Inexpensive: only $1.50 each way, with a 2 hour transfer. And you can use the Sun Link modern streetcar as well, if you can transfer to that 4 mile route (or vice versa).

For more info on Sun Tran, call 520-792-9222, or go online at www. Suntran.com.

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