"Shrinking" Cities and Stress

Here's another index, this time not of sustainability but of America's most troubled cities developed by a consortium of business journals, with percentage of vacant homes one of the key indicators of city stress:
http://buffalo.bizjournals.com/buffalo/stories/2005/02/07/daily39.html

The seven factors included in ACBJ's study were:
Percentage of people living below the federally designated poverty level
Ratio of households with low annual incomes (below $25,000) to those with high incomes (above $100,000)
Unemployment rate
Percentage of adults (25 or older) who didn't graduate from high school
Percentage of households defined by the Census Bureau as "linguistically isolated," meaning that no one older than 13 speaks English well
Percentage of families headed by one adult, with no spouse present
Percentage of homes sitting vacant (not including vacation homes)

Hartford ranked 1st among large cities, followed by Newark, Brownsville, Miami, and Buffalo.
Experts cited in the article claim that stressed cities are there because of undealt-with, long-term problems:

""Typically, the cities at the worst end of the scale have been there for a long time," says Montiel, one of the authors of the institute's report. Four cities with the highest stress levels in ACBJ's study -- Hartford, Newark, Miami and Buffalo -- have consistently done poorly on the Rockefeller Institute's index. Each has ranked among the nation's 15 most-troubled cities ever since the institute began its rankings in 1970. Their fate, says Montiel, can serve as an object lesson for cities everywhere. "When we study urban hardship, we're giving a warning," she says. "We're saying that there are certain factors that cities need to pay attention to. If they don't, they could have serious problems in 30 or 40 years."

Based on this information, do you think San Diego might become a "stressed city"? Why or why not?

GREENPEACE Training Program Opportunity

Invitational Message from John Passacantando, Executive Director, Greenpeace USA

Dear Students,
I am writing to personally invite you to apply for the Greenpeace Organizing Term. The Organizing Term is a semester-long training program for students who want to learn the skills necessary to become one of the countrys leading environmental activists. Students in the program will receive trainings from the nations best and most experienced campaigners and acquire hands-on experience working on a Greenpeace campaign. Students will also travel to Europe for a weeklong training with leading international environmental organizers and share skills with students working on similar issues around the world. In most cases students are able to receive credit at their school for participating in the program.

We are currently accepting applications for the summer and fall sessions.
The Summer Session is: May 31st August 5th
The Fall Session is: August 29th December 16th

Greenpeace knows that students have played an integral role in every major social movement in recent history and that we cannot win the fight for a green and peaceful world without working with and training the next generation of environmental leaders. We are looking for the best college students primarily freshmen or sophomores who are passionate, bold, smart, visionary, strategic, savvy, and ready to stand up and join us in the trenches.

You can learn more about this program at www.greenpeaceusa.org/got/ . Better yet, give Marie a call at (202) 319-2413 or e-mail her at marie.bergen@wdc.greenpeace.org.
The first deadline to apply is March 4th. The second deadline to apply is March 25th.

Mike Davis on the future of the world's megacities

PLANET OF SLUMS
New Left Review 26, March-April 2004
Future history of the Third Worlds post-industrial megacities. A billion-strong global proletariat ejected from the formal economy, with Islam and Pentecostalism as songs of the dispossessed.

http://www.newleftreview.net/NLR26001.shtml

LIVING WAGE Ordinance under discussion, add your voice

LIVING WAGE LIVE initiative
San Diego Living Wage Coalition

Amidst the many problems facing the City, we need to let the Council know that the Living Wage Ordinance is still a priority. The workers who perform City services for poverty wages and no benefits cannot be left out once again.

During Monday's budget discussion, we intend to remind them of the workers, and how they have to go without although they are not responsible for financial mess. Then on Tuesday, we intend to ask the Council to docket the Living Wage Ordinance. Please come for both if you can. Then, for one last action to finish the week, let's rally in solidarity at the Justice for Janitors action. Details are below. Thanks.

I. Monday, February 28
Budget hearing: Review and Status of current year
2 pm, City Hall 12th Floor (202 C Street)
Why do some workers who perform City services continue to get left out? There never seems to be enough money for them to earn a living wage or have health insurance. Participation in the City's budget discussions will be important this year as we search for solutions to improve workers' jobs and lives.

II. Tuesday, March 1
Living Wage: Docket the Living Wage Proposal!
10 am, City Hall 12th Floor (202 C Street)
We will ask the City to docket the Living Wage Ordinance during the public comment portion of the Council meeting (This will still be at 10 am. The time change takes effect after 30 days). We want to come out in force to demonstrate that we refuse to let these workers continue to be left out.

Friday, March 4
Justice for Janitors: Picket & Community Action
12:00 Noon, 8680 Balboa Avenue, San Diego (Free Parking)
The workers of Professional Maintenance Systems (PMS) receive poverty wages, no health care benefits, no sick days, and no vacation days. They have been trying to unionize despite threats and intimidation by PMS. Let's join in solidarity with the janitors in a rally for decent wages, benefits and respect.

Measuring the performance of Regional Plans

The State of the Region project team at the Institute for Local Governance and Regional Growth, University at Buffalo, announces 22 indicator updates now available for viewing, downloading and printing online at www.regional-institute.buffalo.edu/sotr
These 22 online indicator updates represent the initial phase of the State of the Region project’s transition to a more dynamic, web-based format that will help the project team measure Buffalo Niagara’s performance more effectively, more efficiently and more often.

The Student Conservation Association

www.thesca.org

Expense paid internships... free travel, free housing, weekly stipend for food, Americorps education awards. Tons of opportunites available! Go to the website for more info. Also see Valerie in the main USP office (SSB 315).

City of San Diego General Plan Update - Workshop

The City of San Diego Planning department has scheduled a workshop for

the Land Use & Housing Committee and the Planning Commission on:

Date: March 9

Time: 2:00PM

Place: City Administration Bldg

Where: Council Chambers Floor 12

The topic will be the City of San Diego's General Plan update which

is scheduled to be presented to the public for review in April of this

year. Discussion will surround elements of the General Plan including:

<>Economic Prosperity, Recreation, Public Facilities and Safety and
<>Land Use. Click here to learn more (pdf file)

The City wants your input. You may choose to comment via email or written

comments, or you may choose to comment through participation in various

public forums and meetings. Please see our website for more information

on community participation opportunities and other news related to the

General Plan update <http://www.sandiego.gov/cityofvillages>. A draft

of the complete General Plan is anticipated to be available in April2005.

If you need special arrangements for the meeting, please call the

City Clerk's office at 619-533-4000.

<>Thank you, General Plan Staff, City of San Diego,

Planning Department

Amory Lovins talks at UCSD, Monday, Feb. 28

AMORY LOVINS
Co-Founder, Rocky Mountain Institute
Co-Author, Natural Capitalism, Winning the Oil Endgame

FEBRUARY 28, 2005

9:30 10:30 Integrative Design for Radical Energy Efficiency
Location: School of Engineering, EBU2 RM. 479

11:00 12:15 Green Buildings for Fun and Profit
Location: Eucalyptus Point Room B

2:30 3:30 Natural Capitalism A Campus-Wide Public Talk
Location: The Meridian Room Eleanor Roosevelt College

4:00 5:30 Roundtable Discussion, Topic: Sustainability and Education
Location: The Meridian Room Eleanor Roosevelt College
Panel members: Amory Lovins, Sol Penner, Mark Thiemens, Peter Cowhey.
Moderator: Lisa Shaffer
Discussion Sponsored by Scripps Institution of OceanographyFor more information, contact:Lisa Shaffer, Director of Policy Programs and International Relations858-822-2489 lshaffer@ucsd.edu

Shaping Human Nature, Barry Lopez Lecture/ Tues, Feb 22

Public Lecture Information
DATE: Tuesday, February 22, 2005
TIME: 7:30 p.m.
PLACE: Price Center Ballroom, UCSD
TITLE: "Leaving Lascaux: Shaping Human Nature"
http://www-muir.ucsd.edu/barrylopez/publiclecture.html

Barry Lopez's interest in human culture has taken him to nearly fifty countries. He has traveled in remote parts of the world with indigenous guides and worked alongside biologists, anthropologists, and other scientists on more than a dozen expeditions. In his talk, he will draw on his field experience and on the knowledge of these guides and researchers to illuminate the long road of human cultural development. His purpose is to show how certain transcendent human qualities give us reason to be hopeful about the human condition.

Saskia Sassen on Crossborder Issues, Thursday 2/24

Saskia Sassen will be delivering the keynote address this week at a UCSD conference that may be of interest to USP2 students. See below for information:
WHEN: Thursday, February 24, 2005, 5-6:30pm
Keynote Address by Saskia Sassen:
"Territory, Authority and Rights: Towards New Crossborder Assemblages"
WHERE: Meridian Room at Café Ventanas, ERC, UCSD
RSVP REQUIRED: Please RSVP to lasmail@ucsd.edu or 858.534.6050

Conference website and more about the conference:
http://cilas.ucsd.edu/current/ConferenceAgenda.htm
Homelands, Borders and Trade in Latin America: Freedom, Violence, and Exchange After 911
While some observers view globalization as opening up markets and expanding trade in Latin America, critics condemn globalization, citing growing social inequality and the privatization of vital services. Have borders become more porous to goods and capital but more punitive to people? How has 9-11 and the specter of violence changed this equation? Noted scholars holding diverse perspectives will debate the issues at this multidisciplinary conference.

2005 summer fellowships for environmental work

The Environmental Careers Organization announces 2005 summer fellowships
offered through the Boston Environmental Justice Leadership Program

The Environmental Careers Organization (ECO) is soliciting applications
from current undergraduate and graduate students as well as recent
graduates for the 2005 summer Boston Environmental Justice Leadership
Program (BEJL). This year's program offers nine paid internships in
Boston-based environmental justice organizations. The BEJL Program
helps promote a greater understanding of environmental equality,
economic prosperity and equity for all people.

As part of the program, the fellows take part in several workshops that
have the following goals in mind:
- Understanding the history of the environmental justice movement and
how it pertains to Boston.
- An environmental justice tour of the neighborhoods affected by
environmental and public health problems
- Understanding the importance of diversity in the workforce and
developing their leadership potential
- Developing a joint project involving all the fellows in the BEJL
program that assists Boston area environmental justice organizations in
raising the awareness of the EJ issues that are affecting the population
of Boston.

The deadline for BEJL applications is Feb. 28, 2005.

For more information about this summer's sponsor organizations and
projects, and to apply online, please visit ECO's website at:
www.eco.org

California Student Sustainability Coalition (CSSC)

The California Student Sustainability Coalition (CSSC) is a UC wide organization that is working to increase the sustainability of the UC campuses. Several students (graduate and undergrad) just started CSSC here at UCSD and we are having our kickoff meeting for the club Tuesday, Feb. 22, at 6:30pm at the GSA Lounge in the Old Student Center. We are working on three campaigns at the moment, although state wide there are 5. We are trying to bring local and organic food to the cafeterias, attempting to minimize waste in the food places by providing reusable plates and mugs students can use for a discount, and working on alternate transportation systems to and around campus. If you're interested in being part of CSSC, come to the meeting Tuesday or contact Lisa Mertens at sparklefly2@yahoo.com.

Our love of Suburbia

Washington Post: Sunday, February 6, 2005; Page B01
<>Rule, Suburbia: The Verdict's In. We Love It There

By Joel Kotkin

The battle's over. For half a century, legions of planners, urbanists, environmentalists and big city editorialists have waged war against sprawl. Now it's time to call it a day and declare a victor.

The winner is, yes, sprawl. go to the story

Presentations by AMORY LOVINS, Monday Feb 28, 2005

AMORY LOVINS
Co-Founder, Rocky Mountain Institute
Co-Author, Natural Capitalism, Winning the Oil Endgame

9:30 10:30 Integrative Design for Radical Energy Efficiency
Location: School of Engineering, EBU2 RM. 479

11:00 12:15 Green Buildings for Fun and Profit
Location: Eucalyptus Point Room B

2:30 3:30 Natural Capitalism A Campus-Wide Public Talk
Location: The Meridian Room Eleanor Roosevelt College

4:00 5:30 Roundtable Discussion
Location: The Meridian Room Eleanor Roosevelt College
Panel members:
Amory Lovins, Sol Penner, Mark Thiemens, Peter Cowhey.
Moderator: Lisa Shaffer
Discussion Topic: Sustainability and Education

Sponsored by Scripps Institution of Oceanography
For more information, contact:
Lisa Shaffer, Director of Policy Programs and International Relations
858-822-2489
lshaffer@ucsd.edu

GIVE US SUGGESTIONS FOR THE FINAL EXAM

Please click on the comments link below and jot down some key terms you'd like to see on the final exam. We also encourage you to make some suggestions for short answer questions and full-length essay questions.

Is Sustainable Capitalism Possible? What about sustainable city-regions?

This is a good place to register your comments about these admitedly big questions? Do you think such questions are too big (i.e., an academic waste of time). Or do you think such questions are worth pondering? Why? Why not?

$5,000 Udall Scholarships available, APPLY FOR ONE

The Morris K. Udall Scholarship and Excellence in National Environmental Policy Foundation awards 80 merit-based scholarships of up to $5,000 to: College sophomores and juniors who have demonstrated outstanding potential and a commitment to pursuing careers related to the environment;
Native American and Alaska Native college sophomores and juniors who have demonstrated outstanding potential and a commitment to careers related to tribal public policy or health care.
The Foundation will also award up to 50 Honorable Mentions of $350 in 2005.
LEARN MORE: http://www.udall.gov/p_scholarship.asp