Jon's Blog

Student Radio: Goin' Underground (and online!)

Hello!  My name is Jon Jay and I am a 4th year International Studies student at the University of Denver.

There are a lot of really cool things here at DU that go unnoticed.  One thing that I discovered a while ago was the fact that DU has an active student-play radio channel available online.  

KVDU, as it is called, plays live via iTunes or Winamp, and anyone who thinks that their music is cool enough to listen to can DJ.

My roommates for the last three years, Sven and Cory, still have a radio show going strong.  It is known as "Mauled By Bears" and plays indie/alternative music on Tuesday evenings.  But my favorite radio show right now is definitely "2 Deep," usually feature Jack, who was in my orientation group 2 years ago, and Sam or Marshall, two very good skiers.  They usually play hip-hop and reggae, and have more than once given yours truly a shout-out.  "2 Deep" plays every Monday from 10pm-12am, which is tonight, so I recommend checking them out!

Click here for the KVDU webpage for more info and learn how to listen!

Advising with Advisor(s)

Hello!  My name is Jon Jay and I am a 4+1 International Studies undergraduate/graduate student with minors in French, Leadership and I am in the Honors Program.

Holy smokes, I sound like an overachiever!  (Don't even get me started with my extracurricular activities).  But, for all this academic mumbo-jumbo, I definitely have a bunch of advisors here at DU.  Around this time of the quarter (week 8, as we call it in the "lingo"), I have a lot of meetings I have to plan to make sure that I can graduate with all of those things listed above, including meeting thesis paper deadlines, transfer credits from studying abroad, knocking out independent studies and internship credits, and not to mention taking required classes for my degree and the general DU requirements.

Luckily for me, the professors here are super accommodating.  Believe it or not, it is not uncommon for anyone at DU to have 2 majors, 3 minors, 4+1 graduate classes, and honors things as well.  So, when I tell my International Studies Advisor that this class conflicts with this class that I have to take for my French minor, she doesn't look at me like I'm a crazy person, but instead she helps me find a class I can take that fits in my schedule and my requirements.  It's pretty awesome.

Remembering back to high school, I used to think that it was pretty overwhelming trying to choose which PE class to take or whether or not I would need AP Biology.  Now, looking back, it was extremely simple compared to choosing whether I want to take a Shakespeare Honors Class or do a Leadership Independent Study or take a Graduate level microfinance development class that will only be offered once here ever.  But, thanks to my awesome advisors, it's a piece of cake to sign up for classes when I finally make my mind up over Hamlet or to study which President was the best leader.  Hopefully, where ever you end up going to college, you have good advisors as well.  I highly recommend DU for that!

I Don't Get Out That Much Anymore

Hello! My name is Jon Jay and I am a 4th year International Studies student here at the University of Denver. I also have an addiction to skiing.

So I made the realization yesterday that I have only left the State of Colorado once since I was in Washington, DC for an internship this summer. In fact, this past weekend, I barely made it out to my backyard to do some skiing, and a few days later I made it to South High School (about half a mile from my house) for some urban skiing with my buddy Jon. Of course, of these two "trips," I got pictures of the lesser of the two cool things, and that was the jib in my back yard.


Tail press!
Photo: Jenny Nelson

But, in case you were wondering what the rail looked like at South High, check out this video of Tom Wallisch from last year. The rail he hits at 1:10 is the rail we sessioned for an hour on Halloween. I slid the whole thing twice, but never got it super-clean, and I definitely did not 270 out like T-Wall.

With all the snow in Denver this past week, I did get my first real taste of urban rail skiing, and I have to admit it was super, super fun and I will be back out there when it snows again in Denver. Colorado is amazing for skiing: the mountains, the parks, the rails in cities, you name it. It's all here.

An Awesome School Newspaper

Hello! My name is Jon Jay and I am a 4th year International Studies student at the University of Denver.

Because I live off campus, I find it very hard to keep up with a lot of "going-ons" on campus.  So, every Tuesday, I make sure to pick up the DU Clarion Student Newspaper to catch up, and learn what I should be on campus for.

When I was a freshmen, the Clarion resembled something of a middle school-esque newspaper: the photos were blurry and rarely even capable of showing what was happening, the writing was terrible, and 90% of the paper consisted of advertisements.  Needless to say, it wasn't very popular on campus.

Over the past 4 years, though, the paper has made great strides, so much so that I think it looks better and has comparable articles to my old hometown newspaper in Glenwood Springs, Colorado.  Plus, the staff actually cares about making it look good and making sure the writing and photography come out professionally, so it looks way better.

If you are interested in journalism, communications, photography, or even just want to make your opinion heard across campus, I highly recommend checking out the programs here at DU, and also making sure you get involved with the awesome DU Clarion.

For a sample of some of the writing, photos, and a webpage that rivals The Denver Post's, check out the DU Clarion webiste here.

First Ski Turns of the Season

Hello! My name is Jon Jay and I am a 4th year International Studies Student at the University of Denver.



This past weekend, I had a chance to go for a little "hike 'n' tour" up to St. Mary's snowfield(?) (Not a glacier, I guess) for my first turns of the 09/10 ski season with my roommate Anna. The snow quality was terrible, seeing how it was either ice or wind-pack, but we had a ton of fun nonetheless!


Anna, stoked to be on skis, even if she is only going uphill

St. Mary's glacier (?) is pretty cool, there is about 400 yards of skiable terrain this time of year, with the bottom half consisting of what appeared to be a frozen river (sun-cupped ice) and the top half being stiff, windblown Styrofoam. It would be really fun in June and July, however, seeing how it would be a sunny slush-bucket and prominent swimming opportunities just below the snow.


Anna dropping the knee on the upper section

We took a few laps on the upper section, and then held on for dear life on the chattery ice of the second section. There was a metal bench and a booter I hit a couple of times on the lower section, however, and even hip-checked my first 360 of the season. My camera is falling into more and more pieces every day though, so I was only able to get a few shots of Anna, but, as this picture shows, she (and I) were pretty darn stoked to get the ski season started!

Catching Up on the Fall, Part 1

Hello! My name is Jon Jay and I am a 4th year International Studies Student here at the University of Denver.

Way back in September of this year I went up to the Centennial Cone with the Alpine Club and had my first chance to try out a super cheap POV camera I purchased from my current place of employment. I tried the handlebar mount, and low-and-behold, 99% of the footage came out terrible. But, this past weekend while I was waiting in the airport, I had a chance to find that little 1% of "OK" footage. Throw in a little Windows Movie Maker and some Zion I and I just realized how terrible and stupid it is. But hey, you probably will still watch it if you've already read this far!

Centennial Cone POV from Jon Jay on Vimeo.

Midterm-tastic!

Hello, my name is Jon Jay and I am a 4th year International Studies Student at the University of Denver.

We're halfway through week 5 here at DU, meaning everyone is just passed, in the middle of, or about to have a bunch of midterms.  I am towards the latter half of the population this week, I took one today and will have a few more next week.  Tests are more plentiful for me these days now that I am focusing more on economics, as opposed to papers.  I still have a bunch of papers too, but the tests are pretty different than what I experienced the last few quarters.

But, no matter what you want to study in college, there should be a good combination of both tests, like math and science and multiple choice, as well as qualitative reports about what you have learned or started to learn through the year.  They help you use both sides of your brain, no matter which you prefer.  It's always good to use both.

One thing I don't really have this quarter are group projects.  Usually, around week 7 and 8, you'll see all sorts of people working together in order to create presentations, but I don't think I'll be doing too much of that year (statistics and economics 101 don't usually allow too much group exploration).  But, in my required CORE class, we are actually creating a permaculture garden on campus.  It's similar to a project, but much dirtier.  Hopefully, next week or the following I'll be able to show you what class is like here at DU when you have to focus on drip irrigation and nitrogen-fixing plants in a very literal sense.

More pictures in the next post!

Intro to Backpacking

Hello!  My name is Jon Jay and I am a 4th year International Studies student here at the University of Denver.

You're probably wondering by now, "jeez, Jon, you sure do go on a lot of those Alpine Club trips!"  Well, you are correct!  I am actually the President of the Alpine Club, and I have been on every trip they have done since the last weekend of winter quarter in 2009.

But, of all the trips I have been on, this Fall has been one of the coolest Fall line-ups since my freshman year.  Take, for instance, the fact that three of the trips we have done this fall (14er, Independence Pass, and Backpacking) have not been done since I was a freshman (if you must know, that was in the Fall of 2006).  But, this past weekend backpacking was really cool for other reasons.

The best reason, without a doubt, was the fact that we woke up to a sub-30 degree day in Denver with snow and wind howling early in the morning. The plans to go backpacking in Lost Creek Wilderness made my stomach sink quite a bit considering the ground was fairly well covered with white and the temps were far from enjoyable. But, after picking up the crew and driving, we discovered that the snow line was below 8000 feet, and that all the area near Bailey, Colorado, was quite dry and much warmer (which is relative this time of year...) 

Frost, but no snow!

We hit up the Payne Creek trail system, which stays north of the Colorado Trail. The crew was super rad, and despite the brisk temperatures, made the best of the short hike in. Once we cleared the pass, the clouds toyed with us, visually frosting the trees before our very eyes.


Playing with B&W

We made camp quickly, and because no fire is allowed in Wilderness areas, we packed a bunch of people into a tent to stay warm and play some cards and reflect about our best experiences over the past 4 years (there were mostly seniors in the tent). The next morning, the sun popped, and made for a beautiful, but windy, hike out.


Some of the Crew warming up in the morning

The overnight wind had completely stripped the aspens, meaning the Fall color season is officially over (let the whiteness come, and be deep!)


One of the crew enjoying a seat, notice no color in the trees!

The rest of the hike out was quick and painless, but still far from "warm," as it would have been defined a month ago.


One frosty, peaceful creek

We were out in no time, and ready to go down to the Boardwalk in Bailey, Colorado. This is, without a doubt, the best picture I have taken this year.

It's Never Too Late For Camping

Hello!  My name is Jon Jay and I am a 4th year International Studies student at the University of Denver.

This past weekend, I went with a bunch of Alpine Club members to the highest paved highway in the lower 48: Independence Pass.  This beautiful road is just south of Aspen, Colorado, and features some of the best hiking, mountain biking, and rock climbing in the state.  I was able to go on two mountain bike rides I have wanted to do since I got back into the sport a few years ago as well: Pearl Pass Road and Lincoln Creek Road.

The first, Pearl Pass, is know to be one of the hardest 4x4 roads in the state, and also one of the premier mountain bike rides if you start in Crested Butte.  The Aspen side, however, is much more difficult to ride, but has some amazing views of Castle Peak.

Spencer Starting Out

Grahm Coming Down

The next day, after a chilly night of camping and waking up to a fresh dusting of snow on the ground, we biked up to the top of Lincoln Creek Road, to Anderson and Petroleum lakes.  These lakes are super hard to get to except for maybe 3 months out of the year, and it was definitely worth it to ride up there and see a pretty desolate part of Colorado.

Just starting out...

View from Anderson Lake (Pretty Cool, huh?)

Anyhow, the trip was a complete success despite the snow and cold weather, and was just another reason why hanging out with the Alpine Club is so cool!

The Things You'll Learn

Hello! My name is Jon Jay and I am a 4th year International Studies student at the University of Denver.

When I first came to DU, I loved to ski.  I had experience hiking and mountain biking, so I decided to join the Alpine Club, specifically for skiing, but I ended up hiking and biking with them too.  One thing I was introduced to through the Alpine Club, was the sport of rock climbing.  I was initially resistant to the sport (there were too many failures at birthday parties in elementary school), but I realized the more I stuck with it, the more I could do.  I also met a lot of people who were absolutely crazy for the sport, such as Vinny here.

Well, I started to get into it eventually buying shoes and a harness.  Then, this past summer in Washington, DC,  put my head down and climbed 2-4 times a week in a gym close to the subway.  Now, 2 years after I figured out a figure 8 knot with the Alpine Club, I was able to climb a 5.10 last night.  I am super stoked, and can't help but be thankful I came to DU so I could develop an entirely new skill which introduced me to a lot of people, and got me outside even more than before.  Who knows what you might find in University, but whatever it is, it will probably be awesome, and it's always something you least expect.

Yours Truly, upon a slab last weekend.