College Town Shuttle, and All That Jazz

As I was coming out of the Bergen Street Pathmark this evening around 9pm, a van pulled up and stopped right in my path, to let someone out. I looked at the lettering and logos for several Newark institutions of higher education on the side of the van, and noted the words "College Town Shuttle", operating on the "C.H.E.N. Route". I made mental note to find out what that is, then loaded my groceries into the car and headed home.
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On the way, I turned on the radio, which I don't always do. In part, I wanted to see if WQXR could be heard in that vicinity. QXR, the classical-music station of The New York Times, is clear in most parts of Newark, but somewhere in the middle of the city runs into interference from (an)other station(s). Nothing comes in clearly in the conflict zone. QXR is clear to the east and west of the blackout area, but something knocks it out mid-city. I don't know what, nor how large the area is.
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Instead of music, talk came on. As I listened to determine which of my pushbutton stations I was on, I heard WGBO asking for money: "Listen, folks. We need $400 in the next four minutes to make goal." Apparently BGO was running a begathon, that annoying thing ("pledge drive") that public broadcasters do several times a year to raise money, by offering memberships and thank-you gifts. In case you're not familiar with WBGO, it is based in Downtown Newark and modestly calls itself "The World's Premier Jazz Radio Station". Its website, which has streaming audio, appends to that self-description, "NYC and NJ". "NYC" first. Then the state, NJ. Not "Newark", which would go better with NYC, the "C" standing, after all, for a city, not a state. Logically, "NYC" should be paired with "Newark", another city, not the state of NJ.
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It's not that BGO is ashamed of Newark. No. You can hear them refer to Newark often. It's just that it serves the whole metropolitan area, and appeals to the whole region for support. As thru begathons, tho this is the first one I have been annoyed by.
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OK, I was hooked, for four minutes at least. I'm in no position to be sending off "$50, $100, $125 — or $1,000" as the male announcer urged of listeners, but I have mentioned here that Newarkers inclined to support public broadcasting should give to NJN or BGO rather than to WNET. The hosts implored, "Two minutes left to make goal." Then, "One minute. Come on folks, all we need now is $350 to make goal. We hate to miss goal, as I'm sure you hate to miss your goals." Then, music. They didn't make their goal for the hour 8-9pm Friday nite. One must learn to live with disappointments. Onward and upward!
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I was annoyed earlier today when CNN Headline News spent (wasted) something like 3 minutes on the Monterey (California) Jazz Festival. So it's the oldest continuous jazz festival in the world, so what? I'm in New Jersey. If I wanted to go to a jazz festival, I'm sure there's one closer. The Newport Jazz Festival moved many years ago from Rhode Island to New York City, and now the JVC Jazz Festivals organization, which took over, runs programs in both NYC and Newport. At worst, then, to see a major jazz festival I would need to travel 20 miles from home, not 2,600. I thought maybe Newark might have its own jazz fest, so searched for "newark jazz festival" online and found one — in Newark-on-Trent, England! I also found that there was a jazz festival ("second annual") in our Newark in November 1992, with Tony Bennett and Nancy Wilson. I even found that "Craig, the Jazz Singer" would be appearing at this year's Nwk-o-T jazz festival (last May). Different Craig. No, I don't scat. In any sense, except maybe skedaddle.
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I find no current references to a jazz festival in Newark, presumably because most people around here have the same view of jazz as I have: nice enuf background music, as when driving in the car, but that's about it. I regard jazz as the classical music of the United States, and most Americans (including me, most of the time, except when driving) don't much care for classical music. But when driving, I don't want to be distracted by sounds from the radio, so the two radio stations I most listen to (if I listen to radio at all) are both, in my view, classical-music stations, QXR and BGO.
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In any case, how many of CNN Headline News's viewers care to see 3 and more minutes of coverage of any jazz festival out of 21 minutes for a summary of all the news of all the world? I often wonder about the news judgment of Headline News.
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When I got back to my computer, I looked up the "College Town Shuttle" and found this info at a UMDNJ website:

The Council for Higher Education in Newark (CHEN) has existed as an informal association for thirty years without formal/legal relationships. In the early 1970's, CHEN was formed to foster cooperation among the schools and to make Newark a significant American University Center. [That is, it works to promote the image of Newark as a "College Town", which, with some 48,000 students in higher education institutions within city limits, it surely is.] * * *

The CHEN College Town Shuttle, an inter-campus shuttle service serving the University Heights area in Newark, is a result of the longstanding‚ collaborative relationships between the CHEN institutions. The shuttle is available for use by faculty, staff and students from Essex County College, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Rutgers University-Newark and UMDNJ. The CHEN Shuttle operates Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m. In addition to transporting University-bound passengers at each institution, the Shuttle also allows individuals to board or exit the shuttle at the Broad Street Train Station (formerly called Lackawanna Station) and at the CHEN Building (corner of Warren and Lock Streets), which is in close proximity to International Center for Public Health.

Specific pick-up/drop-off locations are designated at each institution ....

So why was a van in the Bergen Street Pathmark parking lot tonite? Shouldn't there be wider service, to the various dormitories now in service? Are there in fact more routes and stops now than indicated on the schedule webpage? If dorms are now being served, students there should bear in mind that UMDNJ is directly across the street from the Pathmark, in case they want to use the van to carry heavy grocery bags back to the dorm. Indeed, why not a shuttle stop at Pathmark? Kids have to eat.
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CHEN is supposed to have its own website, but there is a placeholder page there now saying it is "under maintenance". I think I visited months ago and it was "under maintenance" then too. How much maintenance does it need? And with all the technosavvy students at member institutions. shouldn't it be running like a top? Is Berkeley College a member now too?
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Today's foto is of the new parking structure at UMDNJ from the Pathmark Shopping Center (the latter of which also has offices of various NCC (New Community Corporation) programs in what used to be a Mailboxes, Etc. store).

I know that most readers won't find that foto particularly interesting, but parking for the multiple facilities at UMDNJ was hard to find four years ago, and UMDNJ then added three entire new buildings. People who used to have to wind their way up level after level of the one parking structure, and maybe head down again, before they could find parking, will be glad to know that such a large and well-lited additional structure, out of rain and snow, is now available. I used to have to go to UMDNJ every couple of months for followups to my knee surgeries, and I can tell you that we dreaded having to hunt for a parking space. This additional garage will make UMDNJ a more acceptable choice for people deciding where to have elective surgery done.