Friday, December 17, 2010

December 17th Presidential Roundup

The entire UPPSA board wishes you a relaxing winter break and happy holidays. The Presidential
Roundup will be taking a much-needed vacation to San Diego until after the first of the New Year. Feel
free to email UPPSAinfo@gmail.com with any concerns or questions in the meantime.

• Update on Meeting with CUPPA Dean Pagano Friday, December 10th- On the Friday of finals week representatives from the CUPPA student associations met with CUPPA dean and College of Business Administration (CBA) acting dean Michael Pagano to discuss the ongoing efforts to evaluate a potential CUPPA-CBA merger. We were joined by professors Karen Mossberger and David Merriman, CUPPA faculty serving on the CUPPA-CBA committee to explore this change. Based on conversations with students in the weeks preceding this meeting the multi-association representatives asked Dean Pagano and the committee members questions regarding the ultimate goal of any such merger, the status of research centers and how this will affect the university’s Great Cities Commitment. Professor Perry assured us that building a stronger academic environment, improving the school’s reputation and further refining its mission are paramount to any possible financial savings a merger might produce. Dean Pagano supported this, noting that savings resulting from a merger would most likely be marginal.
The work of the CUPPA-CBA committee has just begun. UPPSA and our partners in the other student associations will continue to work to ensure student voices are heard throughout this exploratory process. Please send any questions, suggestions or concerns to uppsainfo@gmail.com
• Graduate Employee Organization update on Assistantship Taxation Changes- Many people with assistantships noticed a recent change in their level of withholding on their pay. The following is the GEO’s explanation of the situation.
The waivers that come with Teaching Assistantships and Research Assistantships are, and will remain, tax free. Graduate Assistants however fall under another tax code and do pay tax on their waivers- at a rate of 25% Federal and 3% State. In the past that hasn't been a real issue as the first $5250/ year was tax-exempt and for amounts exceeding the $5250 the university used other IRS codes available to graduate students to claim exemptions.
That changed this Fall semester for a number of reasons and over 100 GAs saw paychecks of between $0 and $300. Some of those of those small paychecks were attributed to a series of errors in the Payroll department - however more than 40 mostly out of state GAs received paychecks that left them almost nothing to live on. We now know that the University of Illinois is currently being audited by the IRS and that it is taking a very rigid approach to withholding- essentially allowing nobody to be tax-exempt above the $5250.
Another issue is that after December 31st it is likely that the ruling which allows the $5250 exemption will expire- meaning every dollar of the value of a waiver will be taxable. In-state tuition rates for 6-11 credit hours are $3238/ semester. Out of state rates are $7237/semester. That will mean that in-state students will pay over $800/semester in tax and out of state will owe over $1800/semester.
GEO recently filed a demand to bargain with the UIC administration over this- while we cannot bargain that the university does not withhold tax at all we can have a say in how the university does that in order to make the effects on GEO members as small as possible. One way to do that would be to have all graduate employees have in-state tuition assessed and waived, regardless of their actual residency. Another way would be to have the withholding spread out over the whole term of the appointment. GEO will also be demanding that the university notify all GAs in their letter of appointments as to possible taxation of GA positions so that GAs know in advance of the affects this may have on their paychecks
We hope to start bargaining early next semester and we need input from as many graduate employees as possible. Please contact GEO at geo@uic-geo.net to get involved!
• New MUPP Orientation- On Wednesday, December 8th several dozen new MUPPs attended departmental orientation. Following the orientation, UPPSA members welcomed these new students during a social at Jak’s Tap. The new group includes a fantastic mix of locals, people new to Chicago, experienced planners and folks joining us from other professions or right out of undergrad. Both new and veteran MUPPs are encouraged to join UPPSA at our next General Assembly Meeting and Transit Oriented Dining social in January. Watch your email for news on the date and location of this meeting!
• UPPSA Membership- For those students new to the program, those who have been around for a while but haven’t become members and students who became members last spring, enrollment in the Urban Planning and Policy Student Association is open during the first month of the spring semester. Visit http://www.uppsa.org/uppsa-documents.html to download the membership form. Return it and your check for $15 to Ann Barnds or any UPPSA board member to enroll or renew your membership. Membership benefits include higher reimbursement rates for approved conference travel, the annual UPPSA gift, and the satisfaction of being a part of one of UIC’s most dynamic and good-looking student associations. Email us at UPPSAinfo@gmail.com with any questions.
• Retirement of Atanacio Gonzalez from GCI- The Great Cities Institute announced the retirement of Atanacio "Nacho" Gonzalez from his position as Associate Director of the UIC Neighborhoods Initiativewith GCI. After 16 years of service to the University of Illinois, Nacho will be starting a new chapter of his life on January 1, 2011.
Before starting at the university Nacho worked as a Journeyman Rotary Collator Operator in the printing industry, a community organizer, and an organizer trainer. At UIC, he has worked on an astonishing variety of projects: first at the Center for Urban Economic Development, then at the
Natalie P. Voorhees Center for Neighborhood and Community Development, and finally with the Neighborhoods Initiative at the Great Cities Institute where he was a researcher, community development specialist, and fellow. In his capacity as Associate Director of the UIC Neighborhoods Initiative, he managed projects and raised over $3.745 million from foundation and federal agencies. Author and co-author of numerous participatory research studies, Nacho has also taught non-profit management classes for GCI’s Professional Education program.
For his extensive contributions to UIC and to Chicago communities and beyond, we are grateful. For the passion that he applies to his work and to the other activities and people in his life, we are inspired. His leadership and camaraderie have made a lasting impact. We warmly wish
Nacho the best of everything in the new adventures that will surely follow his retirement.
• Process Over Outcomes: Blog Your Masters Project- UPPSA gets a lot of questions about how students formulate their masters projects, organize themselves to get the work done and stay sane while working on their masters projects. If you would like to blog about your masters project experience contact us at uppsainfo@gmail.com and let us know what your particular take is and whether you would like your own thread or would like to contribute to more of a discussion.
• Mayoral Candidate Forum, December 14th- The Jewish Council on Urban Affairs is convening a forum of candidates for the first open mayoral race in Chicago since 1989. Join us at the UIC Forum Tuesday, December 14th from 6:30-8pm. To reserve a seat visit www.jcua.org/townhall
• Mentorship Program Comments and Feedback- If you are currently participating in either the APA-IL or CUPPA Alumni mentorship program, we would like to know what you think about your experiences in the program! Let us know what is working well, what is not, and any recommendations or other comments you may have. Please visit http://www.uppsa.org/contact-uppsa.html and leave your feedback using the appropriate form. Your comments are important and will help to improve the future of both programs, so please share your thoughts!
• UPP Accreditation Student Participation- In the coming months the Urban Planning and Policy department will undergo its self-study as part of the work to be accredited. Be on the lookout for opportunities to provide the department your feedback and help with the study. In partnership with the department, UPPSA will help disseminate surveys, host focus groups and help analyze how the department tracks outcomes. For more information about accreditation take a look at http://www.planningaccreditationboard.org.
• Book Exchange- As this semester is ending, a new one is going to begin shortly. Don’t forget to sell your books for some extra holiday cash, or rent them out, if you are attached to them. UPPSA book exchange in online! Go to http://www.uppsa.org/forum.html to post your books.
• Masters Project Forum- Based on a past UPP Next event during which UPP faculty and former students presented on the MUPP masters project, we thought it would be a good idea to begin an on-going discussion board for students to put their ideas out into the MUPP community, learn about resources and find people for collaboration. One of the ideas that came up was the disconnect between completing a solely individual masters project and then working in careers that will almost never involve purely individual work. Us this thread as a forum for collaboration. Feel free to post 1) your idea for a masters project 2) requests for information, sources or people to connect with 3) provide feedback to others and 4) begin the process of pursuing a collaborative masters project. To view it go to http://www.uppsa.org/forum.html
• Academic or Assistantship Advocacy- Any MUPPs with concerns about department-wide academic issues are encouraged to contact UPPSA at UPPSAinfo@gmail.com with your feedback about the program. The Board of UPPSA meets regularly with the UPP department and the Dean of CUPPA. Let us be your advocate. Also, for those students with assistantships, UPPSA President Bob Fuller is also the Graduate Employee Organization (GEO) steward for CUPPAH. If you feel you have been treated unfairly in your assistantship (Teaching, Graduate or Research) feel free to contact him at rfulle5@uic.edu to get connected with the GEO’s grievance resources.
• If you have important news for fellow MUPPs and you would like it included in the President’s Weekly Roundup and/or on the UPPSA website email UPPSAinfo@gmail.com by 2 p.m. each Sunday.
Have a great week,
Bob Fuller
President- UPPSA

Monday, December 6, 2010

Presidential Roundup- December 5, 2010

• New Student Orientation on Wednesday, December 8th- Come meet UPP students joining us in January at 8pm at Jak’s Tap this Wednesday. They will just have finished their orientation and will surely like to meet their future classmates. Look for the group of cool people hanging out by the bar talking about planned unit developments.
• Meeting with CUPPA Dean Pagano Friday, December 10th at noon, CUPPAH rm 110- Join your fellow students from Public Administration and the undergraduate program for an open forum with Dean Pagano. On the agenda are questions regarding university reorganization and the tuition differential, but please bring your other questions as well.
• American Planning Association- Young Planners Group Meeting on Monday, December 6 at 6:30pm at 134 N. LaSalle St. #1100 (Houseal Lavigne)- Hear from Leslie Kirchler of Environmental Resources Management and Todd Vanodilok of Teska and Associaties about “What to do and NOT do as a planner new to the field.” RSVP at www.uppsa.org.
• Process Over Outcomes: Blog Your Masters Project- UPPSA gets a lot of questions about how students formulate their masters projects, organize themselves to get the work done and stay sane while working on their masters projects. If you would like to blog about your masters project experience contact us at uppsainfo@gmail.com and let us know what your particular take is and whether you would like your own thread or would like to contribute to more of a discussion.
• Mayoral Candidate Forum, December 14th- The Jewish Council on Urban Affairs is convening a forum of candidates for the first open mayoral race in Chicago since 1989. Join us at the UIC Forum Tuesday, December 14th from 6:30-8pm. To reserve a seat visit www.jcua.org/townhall
• Mentorship Program Comments and Feedback- If you are currently participating in either the APA-IL or CUPPA Alumni mentorship program, we would like to know what you think about your experiences in the program! Let us know what is working well, what is not, and any recommendations or other comments you may have. Please visit http://www.uppsa.org/contact-uppsa.html and leave your feedback using the appropriate form. Your comments are important and will help to improve the future of both programs, so please share your thoughts!
• UPP Accreditation Student Participation- In the coming months the Urban Planning and Policy department will undergo its self-study as part of the work to be accredited. Be on the lookout for opportunities to provide the department your feedback and help with the study. In partnership with the department, UPPSA will help disseminate surveys, host focus groups and help analyze how the department tracks outcomes. For more information about accreditation take a look at http://www.planningaccreditationboard.org.
• Book Exchange- As this semester is ending, a new one is going to begin shortly. Don’t forget to sell your books for some extra holiday cash, or rent them out, if you are attached to them. UPPSA book exchange in online! Go to http://www.uppsa.org/forum.html to post your books.
• Masters Project Forum- Based on a past UPP Next event during which UPP faculty and former students presented on the MUPP masters project, we thought it would be a good idea to begin an on-going discussion board for students to put their ideas out into the MUPP community, learn about resources and find people for collaboration. One of the ideas that came up was the disconnect between completing a solely individual masters project and then working in careers that will almost never involve purely individual work. Us this thread as a forum for collaboration. Feel free to post 1) your idea for a masters project 2) requests for information, sources or people to connect with 3) provide feedback to others and 4) begin the process of pursuing a collaborative masters project. To view it go to http://www.uppsa.org/forum.html
• Academic or Assistantship Advocacy- Any MUPPs with concerns about department-wide academic issues are encouraged to contact UPPSA at UPPSAinfo@gmail.com with your feedback about the program. The Board of UPPSA meets regularly with the UPP department and the Dean of CUPPA. Let us be your advocate. Also, for those students with assistantships, UPPSA President Bob Fuller is also the Graduate Employee Organization (GEO) steward for CUPPAH. If you feel you have been treated unfairly in your assistantship (Teaching, Graduate or Research) feel free to contact him at rfulle5@uic.edu to get connected with the GEO’s grievance resources.
• If you have important news for fellow MUPPs and you would like it included in the President’s Weekly Roundup and/or on the UPPSA website email UPPSAinfo@gmail.com by 2 p.m. each Sunday.

Sunday, November 28, 2010

UPPSA Presidential Roundup- November 28th

• CUPPA Alumni Party- All current graduate students in Urban Planning and Public Administration are invited to the CUPPA Alumni Association Holiday Party- Wednesday, December 1st, 6pm at Jaks Tap, 901 W. Jackson. Meet MUPPS and MPA’s from years past who are out working and may be a great connection. Great networking opportunity!
• Meeting with President Hogan- You are invited to an Open Forum with President Hogan on Monday, November 29 from 11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. in Room 302 of Student Center East. All UIC students are welcome to attend, so bring your study partner, roommate, or student organization peer. Participants will have chances at door prizes and will receive co-curricular credit for The UIC Experience http://www.uic.edu/depts/ovcsa/uicexperience.html. Plus, the first 75 students to RSVP will be treated to free lunch after the meeting. What are you waiting for? RSVP by Monday, November 22 to ovcsa@uic.edu.
• CUPPAH Turkey Bowl Results- The Turkey Bowl was awesome. More than 50 people participated and we collected many meals worth of canned goods for the Greater Chicago Food Depository. While UPPSA lost our first game, we assisted SUPA with a win and then we took on all the undergrads and won, but that didn’t count towards the standings. Pictures (and they are awesome) will be posted to the website tonight www.upppsa.org. Thank you to Eden Sabala for organizing the event and thank you to Sara Amaral for coaching the UPPSA team.
• Process Over Outcomes: Blog Your Masters Project- UPPSA gets a lot of questions about how students formulate their masters projects, organize themselves to get the work done and stay sane while working on their masters projects. If you would like to blog about your masters project experience contact us at uppsainfo@gmail.com and let us know what your particular take is and whether you would like your own thread or would like to contribute to more of a discussion.
• Mayoral Candidate Forum, December 14th- The Jewish Council on Urban Affairs is convening a forum of candidates for the first open mayoral race in Chicago since 1989. Join us at the UIC Forum Tuesday, December 14th from 6:30-8pm. To reserve a seat visit www.jcua.org/townhall
• Mentorship Program Comments and Feedback- If you are currently participating in either the APA-IL or CUPPA Alumni mentorship program, we would like to know what you think about your experiences in the program! Let us know what is working well, what is not, and any recommendations or other comments you may have. Please visit http://www.uppsa.org/contact-uppsa.html and leave your feedback using the appropriate form. Your comments are important and will help to improve the future of both programs, so please share your thoughts!
• UPP Accreditation Student Participation- In the coming months the Urban Planning and Policy department will undergo its self-study as part of the work to be accredited. Be on the lookout for opportunities to provide the department your feedback and help with the study. In partnership with the department, UPPSA will help disseminate surveys, host focus groups and help analyze how the department tracks outcomes. For more information about accreditation take a look at http://www.planningaccreditationboard.org.
• Book Exchange- As this semester is ending, a new one is going to begin shortly. Don’t forget to sell your books for some extra holiday cash, or rent them out, if you are attached to them. UPPSA book exchange in online! Go to http://www.uppsa.org/forum.html to post your books.
• Masters Project Forum- Based on a past UPP Next event during which UPP faculty and former students presented on the MUPP masters project, we thought it would be a good idea to begin an on-going discussion board for students to put their ideas out into the MUPP community, learn about resources and find people for collaboration. One of the ideas that came up was the disconnect between completing a solely individual masters project and then working in careers that will almost never involve purely individual work. Us this thread as a forum for collaboration. Feel free to post 1) your idea for a masters project 2) requests for information, sources or people to connect with 3) provide feedback to others and 4) begin the process of pursuing a collaborative masters project. To view it go to http://www.uppsa.org/forum.html
• Academic or Assistantship Advocacy- Any MUPPs with concerns about department-wide academic issues are encouraged to contact UPPSA at UPPSAinfo@gmail.com with your feedback about the program. The Board of UPPSA meets regularly with the UPP department and the Dean of CUPPA. Let us be your advocate. Also, for those students with assistantships, UPPSA President Bob Fuller is also the Graduate Employee Organization (GEO) steward for CUPPAH. If you feel you have been treated unfairly in your assistantship (Teaching, Graduate or Research) feel free to contact him at rfulle5@uic.edu to get connected with the GEO’s grievance resources.
• If you have important news for fellow MUPPs and you would like it included in the President’s Weekly Roundup and/or on the UPPSA website email UPPSAinfo@gmail.com by 2 p.m. each Sunday.

Sunday, November 21, 2010

UPPSA Presidential Roundup- November 21st

• University Reorganization and Tuition Differential Discussions- You may not know it, but there are serious discussions in the university administration to reorganize the structure of UIC colleges. UPPSA and the 3 other CUPPAH student associations met with Dean Pagano this past week to learn more and express our desire that students are included in this conversation. We will hold 3 discussion sessions Monday, November 22nd at 12pm, 3pm and 5:30pm in the Graduate Student Lounge. You need only attend one session during which student association leaders will give a brief overview of the current debate, record how you feel about the situation and take notes on your suggestions. All are encouraged to also join us for a roundtable discussion with Dean Pagano on Friday, December 10th. RSVP for this event and read about the debate at www.uppsa.org.
• CUPPA Alumni Party- All current graduate students in Urban Planning and Public Administration are invited to the CUPPA Alumni Association Holiday Party- Wednesday, December 1st, 6pm at Jaks Tap, 901 W. Jackson. Meet MUPPS and MPA’s from years past who are out working and may be a great connection. Great networking opportunity!
• Meeting with President Hogan- You are invited to an Open Forum with President Hogan on Monday, November 29 from 11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. in Room 302 of Student Center East. All UIC students are welcome to attend, so bring your study partner, roommate, or student organization peer. Participants will have chances at door prizes and will receive co-curricular credit for The UIC Experience http://www.uic.edu/depts/ovcsa/uicexperience.html. Plus, the first 75 students to RSVP will be treated to free lunch after the meeting. What are you waiting for? RSVP by Monday, November 22 to ovcsa@uic.edu.
• CUPPAH Turkey Bowl Results- The Turkey Bowl was awesome. More than 50 people participated and we collected many meals worth of canned goods for the Greater Chicago Food Depository. While UPPSA lost our first game, we assisted SUPA with a win and then we took on all the undergrads and won, but that didn’t count towards the standings. Pictures (and they are awesome) will be posted to the website tonight www.upppsa.org. Thank you to Eden Sabala for organizing the event and thank you to Sara Amaral for coaching the UPPSA team.
• Process Over Outcomes: Blog Your Masters Project- UPPSA gets a lot of questions about how students formulate their masters projects, organize themselves to get the work done and stay sane while working on their masters projects. If you would like to blog about your masters project experience contact us at uppsainfo@gmail.com and let us know what your particular take is and whether you would like your own thread or would like to contribute to more of a discussion.
• Mayoral Candidate Forum, December 14th- The Jewish Council on Urban Affairs is convening a forum of candidates for the first open mayoral race in Chicago since 1989. Join us at the UIC Forum Tuesday, December 14th from 6:30-8pm. To reserve a seat visit www.jcua.org/townhall
• Mentorship Program Comments and Feedback- If you are currently participating in either the APA-IL or CUPPA Alumni mentorship program, we would like to know what you think about your experiences in the program! Let us know what is working well, what is not, and any recommendations or other comments you may have. Please visit http://www.uppsa.org/contact-uppsa.html and leave your feedback using the appropriate form. Your comments are important and will help to improve the future of both programs, so please share your thoughts!
• UPP Accreditation Student Participation- In the coming months the Urban Planning and Policy department will undergo its self-study as part of the work to be accredited. Be on the lookout for opportunities to provide the department your feedback and help with the study. In partnership with the department, UPPSA will help disseminate surveys, host focus groups and help analyze how the department tracks outcomes. For more information about accreditation take a look at http://www.planningaccreditationboard.org.
• Book Exchange- As this semester is ending, a new one is going to begin shortly. Don’t forget to sell your books for some extra holiday cash, or rent them out, if you are attached to them. UPPSA book exchange in online! Go to http://www.uppsa.org/forum.html to post your books.
• Masters Project Forum- Based on a past UPP Next event during which UPP faculty and former students presented on the MUPP masters project, we thought it would be a good idea to begin an on-going discussion board for students to put their ideas out into the MUPP community, learn about resources and find people for collaboration. One of the ideas that came up was the disconnect between completing a solely individual masters project and then working in careers that will almost never involve purely individual work. Us this thread as a forum for collaboration. Feel free to post 1) your idea for a masters project 2) requests for information, sources or people to connect with 3) provide feedback to others and 4) begin the process of pursuing a collaborative masters project. To view it go to http://www.uppsa.org/forum.html
• Academic or Assistantship Advocacy- Any MUPPs with concerns about department-wide academic issues are encouraged to contact UPPSA at UPPSAinfo@gmail.com with your feedback about the program. The Board of UPPSA meets regularly with the UPP department and the Dean of CUPPA. Let us be your advocate. Also, for those students with assistantships, UPPSA President Bob Fuller is also the Graduate Employee Organization (GEO) steward for CUPPAH. If you feel you have been treated unfairly in your assistantship (Teaching, Graduate or Research) feel free to contact him at rfulle5@uic.edu to get connected with the GEO’s grievance resources.
• If you have important news for fellow MUPPs and you would like it included in the President’s Weekly Roundup and/or on the UPPSA website email UPPSAinfo@gmail.com by 2 p.m. each Sunday.

Monday, November 15, 2010

UPPSA Roundup- November 15th

• University Reorganization and Tuition Differential Discussions- You may not know it, but there are serious discussions in the university administration to reorganize the structure of UIC colleges. UPPSA and the 3 other CUPPAH student associations met with Dean Pagano this past week to learn more and express our desire that students are included in this conversation. We will hold 3 discussion sessions Monday, November 22nd at 12pm, 3pm and 5:30pm in the Graduate Student Lounge. You need only attend one session during which student association leaders will give a brief overview of the current debate, record how you feel about the situation and take notes on your suggestions. All are encouraged to also join us for a roundtable discussion with Dean Pagano on Friday, December 10th. RSVP for this event and read about the debate at www.uppsa.org.
• Mentorship Program Comments and Feedback- If you are currently participating in either the APA-IL or CUPPA Alumni mentorship program, we would like to know what you think about your experiences in the program! Let us know what is working well, what is not, and any recommendations or other comments you may have. Please visit http://www.uppsa.org/contact-uppsa.html and leave your feedback using the appropriate form. Your comments are important and will help to improve the future of both programs, so please share your thoughts!
• Urban Innovation Symposium- There is lots to do before the symposium in January. Interested in helping out? There will be a meeting on Monday, November 15th, in the grad student basement lounge, at 3pm. RSVP at www.uppsa.org
• UPP Accreditation Student Participation- In the coming months the Urban Planning and Policy department will undergo its self-study as part of the work to be accredited. Be on the lookout for opportunities to provide the department your feedback and help with the study. In partnership with the department, UPPSA will help disseminate surveys, host focus groups and help analyze how the department tracks outcomes. For more information about accreditation take a look at http://www.planningaccreditationboard.org.
• Green Building Council Event- The Emerging Professionals of the USGBC are putting on a huge event Tuesday night Nov. 16th after Greenbuild and they would love to have any interested MUPPs attend to network and have a fun time. Cost is about $10.00 for the event, open bar, and food. Here is the link to the event website. http://take5greenbuild.eventbrite.com/
***Additionally they're looking for 10 responsible and enthusiastic volunteers to help staff the event (they would also get free admission)!***
If you are interested in volunteering or if you have any questions, please feel free to contact Candis Queen, candisq@gmail.com.
• GCI Lecture Series "Building the Speculative City" with Faculty Scholar Rachel Weber- Associate Director of CGI & Associate Professor for UPP, Dr. Weber will discuss her work on periods of rapid change in the physical fabric of the city, from construction booms to financial systems, to public planning. November 16th, 2pm at CGI, 4th floor of CUPPA. RSVP atwww.uppsa.org
• Wanna play some flag football and help out the local food bank for Thanksgiving?? PASA (public administration grads), UPA (urban and public affairs undergrad), UPPSA , the history department, & Student National Pharmaceutical Association (SNPhA) are teaming up for a flag football tourney on Nov 20th, all to benefit a local soup kitchen. Each team needs at least 5 people, of which 2 have to be girls and everyone needs to bring a valid icard and a canned or boxed good for charity to be eligible. Good, cold, clean fun will ensue. Dress appropriately. When: Nov 20th at 1:30pm, Where: The field at Harrison and Halsted, right next to the Highway, Who: Teams of 7(have to have 2 girls) with a canned or boxed good item for each player. RSVP at www.uppsa.org
• Book Exchange- As this semester is ending, a new one is going to begin shortly. Don’t forget to sell your books for some extra holiday cash, or rent them out, if you are attached to them. UPPSA book exchange in online! Go to http://www.uppsa.org/forum.html to post your books.
• Masters Project Forum- Based on a past UPP Next event during which UPP faculty and former students presented on the MUPP masters project, we thought it would be a good idea to begin an on-going discussion board for students to put their ideas out into the MUPP community, learn about resources and find people for collaboration. One of the ideas that came up was the disconnect between completing a solely individual masters project and then working in careers that will almost never involve purely individual work. Us this thread as a forum for collaboration. Feel free to post 1) your idea for a masters project 2) requests for information, sources or people to connect with 3) provide feedback to others and 4) begin the process of pursuing a collaborative masters project. To view it go to http://www.uppsa.org/forum.html
• Academic or Assistantship Advocacy- Any MUPPs with concerns about department-wide academic issues are encouraged to contact UPPSA at UPPSAinfo@gmail.com with your feedback about the program. The Board of UPPSA meets regularly with the UPP department and the Dean of CUPPA. Let us be your advocate. Also, for those students with assistantships, UPPSA President Bob Fuller is also the Graduate Employee Organization (GEO) steward for CUPPAH. If you feel you have been treated unfairly in your assistantship (Teaching, Graduate or Research) feel free to contact him at rfulle5@uic.edu to get connected with the GEO’s grievance resources.
• If you have important news for fellow MUPPs and you would like it included in the President’s Weekly Roundup and/or on the UPPSA website email UPPSAinfo@gmail.com by 2 p.m. each Sunday.

Sunday, November 7, 2010

November 7th UPPSA Presidential Roundup

Hello,
Now that you are refreshed from an extra hour of sleep (be sure you changed your clocks back to standard time) take a gander at this week’s UPPSA announcements.
• UPPSA Board Leadership: American Planning Association First Year Representative- The UPPSA board is excited to announce that the new First Year Representative to the APA-IL is Meredith Klekotka. Meredith will serve an 18 month term beginning in January, during which time she will represent UIC Planning students as a voting member of APA-IL’s executive board. Her responsibilities also include publicizing APA events and initiatives at CUPPAH. She was chosen from a strong pool of candidates and will work with Sara Amaral, current APA-IL representative until her term expires in May. Thank you Meredith for taking on this responsibility and thank you to all the great candidates who took the time and energy to apply for this position.
• GA/TOD- The next UPPSA General Assembly/Transit Oriented Dining will be Friday, November 12th starting at 6pm. The meeting will take place at the TOD location in the Pilsen neighborhood- Nuevo Leon 1515 W. 18th St. Chicago, IL 60608 (312) 421-1517 www.nuevoleonrestaurant.com
Directions from UIC: Cycling/Driving -- Take Van Buren west for about 3/4 mile until Ashland Ave. Take a left onto Ashland Ave. and go south for 2 miles until 18th St. Then make a left and go east for 1 block.
CTA -- Walk west on Van Buren for about 3/4 mile until Ashland Ave. Take the Ashland bus (#9) south until the 18th St. stop. Then take a left and walk 1 block east on 18th St.
To RSVP for the social event, please go to www.uppsa.org before Wednesday, November 10th so we can get a rough headcount to make our reservation. Please let me know if you have any other questions. We hope to see you there!
• CUPPAH Gridiron Challenge- On Saturday, November 20th at 1:30 pm the combined athletic abilities of UPPSA, SUPA (undergrads), PASA (Public Administration) and CUPPS (Phd’s) students will create an unbelievably awesome flag football game. Email UPPSAinfo@gmail.com if you are interested in playing, cheering on or coaching for the game. The game(s) will take place at Harrison Field (just across the expressway from CUPPAH). We are asking all participants to bring a canned good or non-perishable item to be donated to a local food pantry.
• UPP Next: Informational Interviews as a Networking Tool- Learn about networking and informational interviews and also practice conducting them at this UPP Next event! Find out how to develop a plan for informational interviewing that will help you learn more about what interests you in planning, identify how your interests fit into a possible career path, and begin to build your own professional network.
Marva Boyd, the Acting Chief of Staff at the Illinois Department of Transportation, will be presenting on this important career development tool. Participants will have the opportunity to put what they learn into action during the session--you'll leave prepared to use what you've learned to expand your networks well before you need a job! Join us Friday, November 12th @ 12 PM in the Great Cities conference room, 4th floor of CUPPA Hall.
• Masters Project Forum- Based on this past Friday's UPP Next event during which UPP faculty and former students presented on the MUPP masters project, we thought it would be a good idea to begin an on-going discussion board for students to put their ideas out into the MUPP community, learn about resources and find people for collaboration. One of the ideas that came up was the disconnect between completing a solely individual masters project and then working in careers that will almost never involve purely individual work. Us this thread as a forum for collaboration. Feel free to post 1) your idea for a masters project 2) requests for information, sources or people to connect with 3) provide feedback to others and 4) begin the process of pursuing a collaborative masters project. To view it go to http://www.uppsa.org/forum.html
• Academic or Assistantship Advocacy- Any MUPPs with concerns about department-wide academic issues are encouraged to contact UPPSA at UPPSAinfo@gmail.com with your feedback about the program. The Board of UPPSA meets regularly with the UPP department and the Dean of CUPPA. Let us be your advocate. Also, for those students with assistantships, UPPSA President Bob Fuller is also the Graduate Employee Organization (GEO) steward for CUPPAH. If you feel you have been treated unfairly in your assistantship (Teaching, Graduate or Research) feel free to contact him at rfulle5@uic.edu to get connected with the GEO’s grievance resources.
• If you have important news for fellow MUPPs and you would like it included in the President’s Weekly Roundup and/or on the UPPSA website email UPPSAinfo@gmail.com by 2 p.m. each Sunday.
Have a great week,
Bob Fuller
President- UPPSA

Sunday, October 31, 2010

UPPSA Presidential Roundup- October 31st

Happy Halloween!
Take a look at this week’s announcements as you excite and inform your trick or treaters by handing out candy wrapped in excerpts of Lefebrve’s “Right to the City.”
• GA/TOD- The next UPPSA General Assembly/Transit Oriented Dining will be Friday, November 12th starting at 6pm. The meeting will take place at the TOD location in the Pilsen neighborhood- Nuevo Leon 1515 W. 18th St. Chicago, IL 60608 (312) 421-1517 www.nuevoleonrestaurant.com
Directions from UIC: Cycling/Driving -- Take Van Buren west for about 3/4 mile until Ashland Ave. Take a left onto Ashland Ave. and go south for 2 miles until 18th St. Then make a left and go east for 1 block.
CTA -- Walk west on Van Buren for about 3/4 mile until Ashland Ave. Take the Ashland bus (#9) south until the 18th St. stop. Then take a left and walk 1 block east on 18th St.
To RSVP for the social event, please go to www.uppsa.org before Wednesday, 3-NOV so we can get a rough head count to make our reservation. Please let me know if you have any other questions. We hope to see you there!
• CUPPAH Gridiron Challenge- On Friday, November 19th the combined athletic abilities of UPPSA, SUPA (undergrads), PASA (Public Administration) and CUPPS (Phd’s) students will create an unbelievably awesome flag football game. Email UPPSAinfo@gmail.com if you are interested in playing, cheering on or coaching for the game. Most likely the game will take place the afternoon of the 19th. We’ll finalize that once we have a better idea of interest.
• Great Cities Institute Forum, Friday November 4th from 3-4:30pm- GCI will host Manuel Albers for a discussion on the Production of the Financial Crisis in New York City. This event will take place in GCI on the 4th floor of CUPPAH. For more information search for Great Cities Institute on Facebook.
• The Illinois Student Environmental Coalition (ISEC) is holding its Annual Fall Conference on Saturday, November 6th, 2010 at Columbia College. This conference will feature State Senator Heather Steans as the keynote speaker, student led workshops, and opportunities for students to share ideas and inspiration for environmental projects on campus. I wanted to personally invite the Urban Planning & Policy Association to the event as a way to get to our organization. To RSVP for this event visit www.GreenStudents.org
• Masters Project Forum- Based on this past Friday's UPP Next event during which UPP faculty and former students presented on the MUPP masters project, we thought it would be a good idea to begin an on-going discussion board for students to put their ideas out into the MUPP community, learn about resources and find people for collaboration. One of the ideas that came up was the disconnect between completing a solely individual masters project and then working in careers that will almost never involve purely individual work. Us this thread as a forum for collaboration. Feel free to post 1) your idea for a masters project 2) requests for information, sources or people to connect with 3) provide feedback to others and 4) begin the process of pursuing a collaborative masters project. To view it go to http://www.uppsa.org/forum.html
• Academic or Assistantship Advocacy- Any MUPPs with concerns about department-wide academic issues are encouraged to contact UPPSA at UPPSAinfo@gmail.com with your feedback about the program. The Board of UPPSA meets regularly with the UPP department and the Dean of CUPPA. Let us be your advocate. Also, for those students with assistantships, UPPSA President Bob Fuller is also the Graduate Employee Organization (GEO) steward for CUPPAH. If you feel you have been treated unfairly in your assistantship (Teaching, Graduate or Research) feel free to contact him at rfulle5@uic.edu to get connected with the GEO’s grievance resources.
• Halloween Critical Mass- Get your bike on and show your style: Halloween Critical Mass (http://chicagocriticalmass.org/about/whenwhere). Like always, Critical Mass takes place on the last Friday of the month and in October it is all about Halloween. Celebrate everyone’s favorite holiday and bring awareness that bicyclists are traffic too. This month’s critical mass is the most fun. Riders will gather down at Daley Plaza (around the Picasso Sculpture) and leave at 5:30pm. Yes, 5:30. So try not to be late. And don’t forget your costume. If you are interested in attending, email Sara Amaral @ samara2@uic.edu.
• If you have important news for fellow MUPPs and you would like it included in the President’s Weekly Roundup and/or on the UPPSA website email UPPSAinfo@gmail.com by 2 p.m. each Sunday.
Have a great week,
Bob Fuller
President- UPPSA

Sunday, October 24, 2010

October 24th UPPSA President’s Roundup

Hello,
Below are this week’s announcements from UPPSA. If you enjoy interesting lectures, this is the week for you.
• MPA Sponsors Annenburg Speaker and Reception-The Department of Public Administration is excited to sponsor several events on campus to heighten student awareness and interest in careers with the Federal government. On Tuesday October 26th, Kimberly Ainsworth, Executive Director of the Federal Executive Board for the Greater Boston Region, will be the featured speaker throughout the day in various locations. There will also be a webinar for all interested students on how to apply for jobs in the Federal sector. The day will culminate with a reception featuring Director Ainsworth and her fellow directors from the Chicago and Minneapolis regions of the Federal Executive Board. For further information contact Margaret LaPorte at mlapor1@uic.edu
• SUPA Lecture Series- Please join us for the first installment of the SUPA Lecture Series, where speakers from three different field of planning will be speaking about any past or present projects, as well as professional work with their respective organizations. The speaking time will be 10 minutes each followed by a short Q/A. The panel is focused on city planning, and the theme is "Diversity in Planning." It is scheduled for October 28th(Thursday) at 4:30pm in CUPPAH room 110, sandwiches and snacks will be provided. Please RSVP by emailing sviran3@uic.edu the 25th (Monday) to RSPV for the event.
• Great Cities Institute Forum, Friday November 4th from 3-4:30pm- GCI will host Manuel Albers for a discussion on the Production of the Financial Crisis in New York City. This event will take place in GCI on the 4th floor of CUPPAH. For more information search for Great Cities Institute on Facebook.
• Real Estate Group Real Estate in Real Life Series- Come hear Rux Currin, Senior VP of Mesirow Financial, talk about the experience of building a skyscraper. The event will take place in Lincoln Hall (the cool one) room 210 from 4-6pm on October 27th. To learn more and RSVP visit www.UPPSA.org
• Masters Project Forum- Based on this past Friday's UPP Next event during which UPP faculty and former students presented on the MUPP masters project, we thought it would be a good idea to begin an on-going discussion board for students to put their ideas out into the MUPP community, learn about resources and find people for collaboration. One of the ideas that came up was the disconnect between completing a solely individual masters project and then working in careers that will almost never involve purely individual work. Us this thread as a forum for collaboration. Feel free to post 1) your idea for a masters project 2) requests for information, sources or people to connect with 3) provide feedback to others and 4) begin the process of pursuing a collaborative masters project. To view it go to http://www.uppsa.org/forum.html
• Academic or Assistantship Advocacy- Any MUPPs with concerns about department-wide academic issues are encouraged to contact UPPSA at UPPSAinfo@gmail.com with your feedback about the program. The Board of UPPSA meets regularly with the UPP department and the Dean of CUPPA. Let us be your advocate. Also, for those students with assistantships, UPPSA President Bob Fuller is also the Graduate Employee Organization (GEO) steward for CUPPAH. If you feel you have been treated unfairly in your assistantship (Teaching, Graduate or Research) feel free to contact him at rfulle5@uic.edu to get connected with the GEO’s grievance resources.
• Halloween Critical Mass- Get your bike on and show your style: Halloween Critical Mass (http://chicagocriticalmass.org/about/whenwhere). Like always, Critical Mass takes place on the last Friday of the month and in October it is all about Halloween. Celebrate everyone’s favorite holiday and bring awareness that bicyclists are traffic too. This month’s critical mass is the most fun. Riders will gather down at Daley Plaza (around the Picasso Sculpture) and leave at 5:30pm. Yes, 5:30. So try not to be late. And don’t forget your costume. If you are interested in attending, email Sara Amaral @ samara2@uic.edu.
• Early Voting/Grace Period Voting- In case you are busy on Election Day, Tuesday, November 2nd, you can vote ahead of time at locations throughout the City of Chicago starting Tuesday, October 11th. To learn more and find the closest early voting polling place visit http://www.chicagoelections.com/page.php?id=9,
If you didn’t already register to vote, you still can by visiting the Chicago Board of Elections where you can still register until October 26th, but you’ll have to vote when you register. For more information visit http://www.chicagoelections.com/page.php?id=14
• If you have important news for fellow MUPPs and you would like it included in the President’s Weekly Roundup and/or on the UPPSA website email UPPSAinfo@gmail.com by 2 p.m. each Sunday.

Have a great week,
Bob Fuller
President- UPPSA

Friday, October 15, 2010

UPPSA Notes from Community Development and Economic Development Concentration Meetings

Below are notes taken by UPPSA representatives at faculty concentration committee meetings this month. UPPSA has a welcome seat at the table for faculty meetings. Let us know at uppsainfo@gmail.com if you would like further information or are interested in representing students in your concentration.

October 12, 2010 Community Development Concentration Meeting

Main focus of the meeting was confirming classes for next semester and planning for summer classes and the 2011-2012 academic year. Some highlights:
• Classes confirmed for Spring 2011 as posted on CUPPA’s website with the addition of Professor Gills teaching 547 Community Organization Practice on Wednesday night from 6-9
o Teaching assignments for 506 were not discussed
• In addition to UPP 543 Health Communities, Professor Winkle will likely also teach a course on food system planning in Spring 2011
• Expecting two new faculty by Spring 2011, especially looking for people with methods skills who could teach 502
• Possible elective courses:
o Health and food system
o Public participation
o Banking
o Grant writing, more hands on practical experience

Tossed around ideas for seminar courses, particularly for PhD courses
• In the past have analyzed dissertations
• Ann Barnds noted that PhD students are interested in methods classes, need both qualitative and mixed method
• Professor Kawamura noted that they are planning on restructuring the PhD program generally

There was also discussion of restructuring the summer class structure
• Professor Betancur is concerned that classes suffer when students take two at a time
• Proposed a shift from the 4 week/8 week structure to 6 week courses
o This would mean meeting more frequently than an 8 week class
o Professors think it would mean students could be more invested in each class by eliminating any overlap
• Ann pointed out that more students are taking more classes in the summer, and overall
o Professors are concerned that learning, and readings in particular, get slighted when students try to overload
o Some professors are concerned that students are just trying to get a degree, understand economic pressures
• Ann is investigating with summer school options with the University, though they have to commit by the end of the month
o Looking for input

Classes have been affected by changes in student demographics
• This falls community development cohort had almost 35 students
• Students have also been younger with fewer practitioners
• Short discussion about increase attempts to draw in part-time students and practitioners in the future.


October Economic Development Concentration Meeting Notes
Minutes:

Oct 11th fall classes will go online for students to see in the 2 year plan
For Spring 2011
New adjunct faculty -Bridget Lane, owner of Business Districts, Inc.- will be teaching Commercial Strip Revitalization with Ivan Baker
Rachel Weber will not be teaching any courses
Nik Theodore will be teaching Planning for the Informal Economy
Phil Ashton will be teaching Development Finance

For Year 2011/2012
2 new faculty members, possibly taking on some of the core classes which would free up Econ profs to teach more classes
Possibility of bringing on Tom Snyder to teach a budgeting course, he is currently teaching UPP 514. It's his first year teaching here, and he is getting good responses.

CGI working with undergrad college to put on Cinema in the Cities, which could possibly create scheduling problems for Ashton and Weber
Possibility of offering Deal Making & Negotiation Strategies - best taught by practitioner
Ashton interested in teaching Community Reinvestment Course

Possible new courses in the future
Regional economics course
Innovation course
Effects of new Environmental concentration on ED
Environmental Economics course will be renumbered in the 570s, but will still also count as an ED elective.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Environmental Planning Curriculum and Goals Proposal - OPEN FOR REVIEW

The Urban Planning and Policy Department is adding a new concentration: Environmental Planning.

The department has asked for student feed back on the Curriculum and Goals. Please post your comments to the forum at uppsa.org. We will gather them all at the end of Business on November 1st and offer them to the Dean.

You can find the documents under the resources page, here. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Monday, October 11, 2010

October 10th UPPSA President’s Roundup

Good morning,

Happy Columbus Day/Canadian Thanksgiving! Before you pour gravy from your gravy boat, the Santa Maria, onto your Poutine, check out the news for this week. Mmmmmm.
Below are important news items for the coming weeks:

· GA/TOD- The next UPPSA General Assembly/Transit Oriented Dining will be Friday, October 15th starting at 6pm. The meeting will take place at the TOD location-
Marrakech Cuisine- 1413 N. Ashland Ave. Chicago, IL 60642 (773) 227-6451 http://www.marrakechcuisine.com
Directions from UIC: Walking/Cycling/Driving -- Take Halsted north for about 1 mile until Milwaukee Ave. Take a slight left onto Milwaukee Ave. and go until Ashland Ave. (just past Division). Hang a right on Ashland for 2 blocks.
CTA -- Take the Blue Line northwest (towards O’Hare) until the Division stop. Then walk 2 blocks on Ashland Ave.
To RSVP for the social event, please go to www.uppsa.org before Wednesday, 13-OCT so we can get a rough head count to make our reservation. Please let me know if you have any other questions. We hope to see you there!

· UPP Next: Professional Development Series
The second "UPP Next" event of the year will be on the topic of Planning Your Master's Project. Professors and past students will provide tips on how to successfully plan and complete your final master's projects. UPP Next: Planning Your Master's Project-- CUPPA Hall, room 110
Friday, October 15th, 2010 from 1:00pm-2:00pm

· Bike Tour- Saturday October 16th, 11am - meet at Buckingham Fountain and enjoy a casual ride along the blvds of this fair city, with adequate stops for rest and drinks. Dress accordingly, and bring a packed lunch. To RSVP and check out the bike route visit www.UPPSA.org

· CUPPA Intramurals- UPPSA member Ian Ludwig is organizing intramural Dodgeball and Volleyball teams for the upcoming season. All levels of skill and commitment are welcome. To learn more and sign up visit www.UPPSA.org

· APA-IL First Year Representative- There is still time to submit your application to become UPPSA’s representative to the American Planning Association of Illinois. Not only is this a great networking and leadership opportunity, but the First Year Rep has a voting membership on the APA-IL board and the UPPSA board (put that on your resume). For further information reply to this email with “First Year Rep” in the subject line, and the application can be found at http://www.uppsa.org/uppsa-documents.html .

· Dues and Membership Extension- UPPSA dues and membership forms can still be submitted until the October 15th General Assembly meeting. Those who missed the October 1st deadline are still welcome to association membership. The membership document is available at http://www.uppsa.org/uppsa-documents.html and checks or money orders should be written to UPPSA. Those who already paid their dues, please note there will be a mass-deposit of checks on the 16th so be aware of that for your accounts.

· MPA Sponsors Annenburg Speaker and Reception-The Department of Public Administration is excited to sponsor several events on campus to heighten student awareness and interest in careers with the Federal government. On Tuesday October 26th, Kimberly Ainsworth, Executive Director of the Federal Executive Board for the Greater Boston Region, will be the featured speaker throughout the day in various locations. There will also be a webinar for all interested students on how to apply for jobs in the Federal sector. The day will culminate with a reception featuring Director Ainsworth and her fellow directors from the Chicago and Minneapolis regions of the Federal Executive Board. For further information contact Margaret LaPorte at mlapor1@uic.edu

· SUPA Bake Sale- The Students of Urban Planning and Public Affairs (SUPA) will be holding a bake sale in the SCE: by the student resident halls between the food shop and elevators on Oct. 18th from 1 pm to 5 pm. The funds raised through this bake sale will support a lecture series in CUPPA’s undergraduate program.

· Academic or Assistantship Advocacy- Any MUPPs with concerns about department-wide academic issues are encouraged to contact UPPSA at UPPSAinfo@gmail.com with your feedback about the program. The Board of UPPSA meets regularly with the UPP department and the Dean of CUPPA. Let us be your advocate. Also, for those students with assistantships, UPPSA President Bob Fuller is also the Graduate Employee Organization (GEO) steward for CUPPAH. If you feel you have been treated unfairly in your assistantship (Teaching, Graduate or Research) feel free to contact him at rfulle5@uic.edu to get connected with the GEO’s grievance resources.

· Early Voting/Grace Period Voting- In case you are busy on Election Day, Tuesday, November 2nd, you can vote ahead of time at locations throughout the City of Chicago starting Tuesday, October 11th. To learn more and find the closest early voting polling place visit http://www.chicagoelections.com/page.php?id=9, If you didn’t already register to vote, you still can by visiting the Chicago Board of Elections where you can still register until October 26th, but you’ll have to vote when you register. For more information visit http://www.chicagoelections.com/page.php?id=14

· If you have important news for fellow MUPPs and you would like it included in the President’s Weekly Roundup and/or on the UPPSA website email UPPSAinfo@gmail.com by 2 p.m. each Sunday.
Have a great week,
Bob Fuller
President- UPPSA

Monday, September 27, 2010

UPPSA President's Weekly Roundup- September 26th

Greetings from "the new" Normal! This past week 11 UIC MUPPs attended the American Planning Association Illinois Chapter state conference in Normal, IL. It was a great chance to network, learn about what’s hot in Illinois planning, match wits in a geography-heavy pub quiz and explore many of Normal’s interesting features, such as the extensive Constitution Trail. Conference presentations should be posted to http://www.ilapa.org/ by Monday, September 27th.

Please peruse this week’s UPPSA news and action items:·
  • APA-IL conference attendees should submit related receipts to Jackie Scanlan jscan14@uic.edu as soon as possible.
  • Applications to become the new APA-IL student representative are due on October 15th. Further information about the position and the application are available at http://www.uppsa.org/uppsa-documents.html
  • UPPSA dues and membership forms are due to Ann Barnds by October 1st. This document is also available at http://www.uppsa.org/uppsa-documents.html and checks or money orders should be written to UPPSA.
  • A 30-mile bike tour of Chicago is planned for Saturday, October 16th. Join UPPSA members on a fun way to see the city and enjoy that fall air. RSVP at www.uppsa.org
  • MUPPs involved in UIC’s chapter of Engineers Without Borders were featured in the UIC Alumni Magazine http://www.uiaa.org/uic/news/uicalumni/1009c.html
  • Great Cities Insitute is hosting a speaker event: New Urban Development Looking Back to See Forward, with Claude Gruen from Gruen Gruen + Associates. This Friday, October 1, 20102:00pm – 3:30pm at The Great Cities Institute, 412 S. Peoria St, 4th FL, CUPPAH 400. Please RSVP at www.uppsa.org
  • Friday, October 1st, UPP and UPPSA bring you the first event in "UPP Next: A professional development series" with a mentorship roundtable with APA-IL and CUPPA Alumni, from 12-1 in Room 110 of CUPPA Hall.

If you have important news for fellow MUPPs and you would like it included in the President’s Weekly Roundup and/or on the UPPSA website email UPPSAinfo@gmail.com by 2 p.m. each Sunday.

Have a great week,

Bob Fuller

President- UPPSA

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

President's Roundup- September 14th

Happy September!

This new semester is off to a busy start. The UPPSA board hopes to keep all MUPPs well informed. We will institute a weekly update of all UPPSA news and as always our http://www.uppsa.org/ is your one-stop shopping for association news, documents and discussions. If you miss a General Assembly meeting, notes from each meeting will be posted on the websited.

UPPSA Membership-
UPPSA Membership Applications, Renewals, and Dues are due by October 1st, 2010. You can download an application from www.uppsa.org (it is attached to this email too) and turn in your application and $15 check (made out to UPPSA) to Ann Barnds' or directly to Jackie Scanlan or any UPPSA board member. If Ann's door is closed, you can slip your documents under the door.
UPPSA members will recoup their $15 dues when they apply for reimbursement for any APA Conference. While all MUPPs who apply for reimbursements receive funds, depending on the amount of applicants, UPPSA members may receive additional reimbursements on top of the total determined for all MUPP applicants!

APA-IL Conference -
Just because the conference registration date has passed, doesn't mean you have to miss out on the event! You can sign up for the event on the day of, by paying cash, check or credit card, either for the individual day or for the whole conference! There are a bunch of great events planned, such as a 5k on Thursday morning, economic development with promotion a wineries, bike tours, an international film festival, and a wind farm tour. If you are still interested in attending the conference AND have not already sign up, please email uppsainfo@gmail.com so that we can get a head count

And if you are worried about the cost of the conference, dont be! UPP has agreed to pay for the student's registration cost(up to $90). In addition, UPPSA will be giving up to $50 to students who have paid their membership dues by the date of the conference, and APA-CMS has offered some more money to offset the costs, is you are an UPPSA member as well. So get your dues in on time!

First Year Representative Application -
The APA-IL 1st year Student Representative application is now online (http://www.uppsa.org/uppsa-documents.html). Applications are due to UPPSA by October 15th electronically. If you need more info about what the APA-IL rep does, you can download UPPSA's Constitution at the same link, or contact Sara Amaral at samara2@uic.edu .

Park(ing) Day –
On Friday, September 17th students from the Department of Urban Planning and Policy, the Urban Planning and Policy Student Association (UPPSA), and the Office of Sustainability will collaborated to transform 4 metered parking spots into miniature parks on the UIC Campus. Students and passersby are invited to use the parks located in Parking Lot 4 at the corner of Halsted Street and Polk Street to the east of Student Center East. Take the time enjoy an urban sustainability brown bag lunch discussion at noon, toss some bags, or just lounge in the landscaped setting while enjoying bike valet or a basic maintenance provided by your local campus cycle shop, Rapid Transit.

PARK(ing) Day is an annual, worldwide event that inspires city dwellers everywhere to transform metered parking spots into temporary parks for the public good. PARK(ing) Day was first conceived of by an art and design studio named Rebar out of San Francisco to invite civic participation in shaping our public space, and to question how we are using our public streets. In particular it intends to get people thinking about how much of our public landscape is dedicating to parking and automobile use. More info can be found at http://parkingday.org
We are looking for volunteers to help organize, set up, clean up and man the site during the day as well. If you are interested, please visit UPPSA's website at www.uppsa.org, or send an email to samara2@uic.edu

In addition, MUPPs and community volunteers from the Edgewater community will be having a satellite PARK(ing) Day at 5838 N. Broadway on Friday from 11am-1pm and Saturday from 9:30am-12 noon. The focus of our PARK will be on-street bicycle parking and will feature a bike valet. Stop by and join us if you are in the neighborhood.

General Assembly/Transit Oriented Dining-
Following PARK(ing) Day we will hold the September GA meeting and TOD at the Twisted Spoke, 501 N. Ogden Ave, at 6pm. Join us for further discussion of UPPSA events and news, and to have a good time.We hope you can join us for the General Assembly, the TOD or both.

See you there,
Bob Fuller- President

Monday, September 13, 2010

Sept 17th - General Assembly meeting & TOD - In one location!

Hello everyone.

We hope your first few weeks of class are going well. Please come out to the 2nd general assembly of the year for all MUPP students, hosted once again by your favorite graduate student board, UPPSA.

You will be receiving another email shortly about the terrific Parking Day event happening on Friday afternoon. After the event, the student assembly meeting will start at 6:00 at a nearby bar/restaurant in the upstairs patio:

Twisted Spoke
501 N. Ogden Ave.
Chicago, IL 60642
(312) 666-1500

Directions: Walking/Cycling/Driving -- Take Halsted north for about 1 mile until Grand. Go West on Grand for a half-mile until the intersection with Ogden Ave.

CTA -- Take the Blue Line north until the Chicago stop. Then walk 3 blocks southwest on Ogden towards the intersection with Grand Ave.

To RSVP for the event, please go to www.uppsa.org before Thursday 9/16 so we can get a rough head count to make our reservation. Please let me know if you have any other questions. We hope to see you there!

APA-IL Reimbursement

As the APA-IL State Conference approaches, many of you may be curious as to how the reimbursement process will work. The Conference is September22-24. In short, it will be necessary for you to either scan in or forward your conference receipt showing your payment on or before **SEPTEMBER 15, 2010** to uppsainfo@gmail.com. After the 15th, no more receipts will be accepted! UPPSA will then be able to assess how many students have requested reimbursement against the exact amount of funding for reimbursement, at which time we will calculate the amount that will bereimbursed per student.

Anyone interested in volunteering should contact Sara at samara2@uic.edu
Urban Planning and Policy Student Association
2010 APA Illinois State Planning ConferenceReimbursement Policies and Procedures
Reimbursement Guidelines

a ) Funding for reimbursement of conference-related expenses is being provided by theChicago Metro Section of the APA and is being supplemented by UPPSA funds. UPPSAhas agreed to take on the responsibility of administering all reimbursements.
b ) The amount of subsidy that an eligible student will receive will depend on the amount offunds available as well as the number of students submitting receipts. Therefore, finalsubsidy amounts will not be known until at least two weeks after the final date of theconference.
c ) Where UPPSA funds are used to supplement reimbursements, the subsidy amountallocated to UPPSA Members will be greater than that allocated to non-members. Thedifferential will be $15 at a minimum, which is the cost of UPPSA membership.
d ) It is not anticipated that there will be sufficient funds to cover the full cost of registration.
e ) Sufficient funds are not available to cover any other cost of attending the conference (forexample, food, incidentals, etc.).

Eligibility
f) All MUPP students who have submitted a receipt for 2010 APA Illinois State PlanningConference registration by the deadline of September 15th to uppsainfo@gmail.com willbe considered eligible for reimbursement.

Additional Notes
g ) Receipts can be submitted as soon as they are available. Please use “APA-IL ConferenceReceipt” as your e-mail subject line.
h ) Receipts as well as questions and concerns should be sent to the UPPSA Board atuppsainfo@gmail.com.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

"Transportation Design: Expanding the Frontiers" Conference

Transportation sector is a BIG part in the new world equation, where everything is in a state of change, local and global. All the facets in this world of motion share this space, the trucks, the railways, the ATV's, the buses, the bicycles, the metros, the motor homes, the motor bikes... But can they work together? Can they build upon each other, are there any overlaps?
Let’s see the future of mobility. How things may evolve for transportation. What might be the needs of the emerging cities? Let’s see the world from the people, who are designing the next of these mobile worlds, let’s see how they perceive the future. Let’s see how they study the next trends and how vehicles are designed and developed to cater to the unmet needs of the end users, let’s see how the world can be greener and sustainable.
Let’s see how we can, together, strive for a better world…

Conference micro site: www.midesignexchange.com When: 2010 Sept 17, Friday, Full day event Where: Michigan State University, Troy, MIExpected Audience: About 300Mix: Designers, Students, Educators, Creative Professionals, Design Studio Vendors...Conference Chair: jeevak.badve@ascglobal.com

http://midesignexchange.com/Please register by sending an email to : jeevak.badve@ascglobal.com

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Graduate Student Oppotunities!

Graduate Student BBQ:

*GSC & GC 2nd Annual Graduate Student BBQ*
*Date/Time: *Thursday, Sept 16 2010, 4pm-6pm
*Location:* SEO Field (corner of Taylor + Morgan St.)
Sponsored by the GSC and the Graduate College.
Mark your calendars for an afternoon of food, fun and games!
Open to ALL graduate students but you *must* show a print-out of this
ticket http://www2.uic.edu/stud_orgs/gsc/documents/GSCBBQ-ticket.png

2) Call for Student Participation:

*SIGMA XI Annual Meeting and International Research Conference: Call for
Student Participation*

The 2010 Annual Meeting will be held at the Raleigh

Convention Center in Raleigh, North Carolina on November 11 - 14 with
Student

Conference events on Friday the 12th and Saturday the 13th.

Registration is currently online at www.sigmaxi.org. Abstracts should be
submitted by October 15, 2010.

Awards will be given for outstanding student poster presentations in all
fields of science and engineering.

Monday, August 30, 2010

APA-IL Conference - Update - RSVP for Thursday's cocktail reception

What a great opportunity to meet other planners and network?
Hurry though, sign up closes on September 1st and you need to be pre-registered for the conference!!

Thursday Evening, September 23, 2010
Cocktail Reception Hosted by Houseal Lavigne Associates

Metropolis-level sponsor, Houseal Lavigne Associates, will host a cocktail
reception for conference attendees at Medici's in Uptown Normal on
Thursday, September 23rd. Join us for appetizers and beverages in what
promises to be a memorable evening of connecting and reconnecting with
friends and colleagues. Medici’s is a one-of-a-kind space that has been a
vital part of the redevelopment of Uptown Normal.

Medici’s façade is a recreation of the historic storefront destroyed by a
fire in the 1980s. The interior of Medici includes a two-story tree,
Amish-made tables, and amazing brick work. The reception will occur in
their private banquet area complete with bar and outdoor patio. Medici’s
is within walking distance of the conference hotel.

The event is complimentary for conference attendees but pre-registration
is required. To reserve your space, please email your name to Debi
Nechleba at dnechleba@hlplanning.com by September 1, 2010.

Hope to see you there!

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Join UPPSA & SUPA and Active Transportation at the Boulevard Tour!

On August 29th, SUPA & UPPSA will be volunteering for Active Transportation Alliance, working their lakefront tour bike ride. It will be relatively easy work, as in most likely guiding bikers or passing out water. We're doing this to help build a relationship between ourselves and Active Transportation. But not only that, if we get 15 volunteers by Friday, August 13th to commit we could get $150 dollars donated to our student groups! What a great way to help your student organization!

The Boulevard Lakefront Tour is a fundraiser for the nonprofit Active Transportation Alliance, Chicagoland’s voice for better biking, walking and transit.


To sign up and receive your free T-shirt please go to www.uppsa.org and scroll down on the first page to RSVP!

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

2nd Annual CUPPA New Student Orientation Block Party

You are cordially invited to attend the CUPPA Block Party on August 19th, from 5-9pm, right outside of CUPPA Hall.

The event is sponsored by CUPPA and will include live music, games, bike maintenance classes with Rapid Transit and free food!

Come and mingle with new students, alumni, staff, and current students from all departments.

For more info check out the attached flyer or www.uppsa.org

Hope to see you there!

Thursday, July 29, 2010

APA-IL Conference, Bloomington/Normal, September 22nd-24th, 2010

MUPPS,

As you probably know, the APA-IL conference is coming up in September in Bloomington/Normal. I went on the conference website today to look at all the options and sign myself up for the full event as there seem to be so many great mobile workshops lined up, such as biking around Normal-Bloomington’s Constitution Trail, Canoeing the Mackinaw River, going to a cheese farm and vineyard, and touring a wind farm! To see the schedule of events, go here.

As you can see, so much is planned! There will also be events with other student organizations and young planners groups, as well as movie night for the international film festival and a pub quiz! Unfortunately, there will not be an opportunity for free or discounted admission to the conference for volunteering this year. However, we still encourage student to offer up volunteering for opportunities to network with other professionals in the field. Who knows, this might even lead to an internship, as it has for others in the past!

Attendance
I have signed up for the conference ($90) and have also signed up for the bike ride, the vineyard and the wind farm tour (total another $85). I encourage all of you to attend the conference, even if you do not attend any of the mobile workshops. You do not need to sign up for everything and the conference has student discounts if you want to attend for just one day, instead of all 3. New MUPPS, if you do not have an APA account yet, have no fear! Hazel sends an email to APA for your free 1 yrs student membership once everyone has been accounted for. You might have to wait to sign up for the event, but you can certainly plan ahead and book your transportation and lodging in the interim.

Transportation
In addition, I have contacted Amtrak to see about taking my bike to the conference. The cost for the train there, including return is $36, with the bike cost being another $20, however, there are certain trains bikes are allowed on during rush hours and you need to reserve a spot. If other people are planning on bringing their bikes, we should plan a night ride through the city, or out to the fields! Call 1-800-USA-RAIL to book your trip and reserve the space for your bike. Some seats on the train are already filling up.

Hotels
The conference is being held at the Marriott in Bloomington, with a room cost per night of $119 for a double. I did a quick hotels. com search and found rooms as low as $51 for the 21st-24th, 2 miles away from the site (Bring your bike!) If we get a group together for the event, we might be able to get a cheaper deal at one of these hotels. Also, please access the UPPSA website forum to put down your dates, logistics, and find a room mate!

Costs
As you can see, things start to add up very quickly for the event. As a member of UPPSA, you will get some of your costs for the conference reimbursed; the amount depends on how many students attend, which we will not know until closer to the date. If you are not a member of UPPSA, or need to pay your new semester dues, please check out the form on the website.

Action items:
-sign up or pay for your dues to UPPSA. The form can be handed in electronically with a bill pay sent to UPPSA , or a paper copy and check to Ann Barnds in UPP.
-sign up for the conference here
-book your transportation options early, here
-add a post for room mates and lodging on the forum here
-send your receipts to uppsainfo@gmail.com once EVERYTHING has been paid and closer to the conference date

Please let me know if you have any other questions or need anything from me!

Sara F. Amaral
samara2@uic.edu

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Friday - July 9th General Assembly meeting and TOD

Hello returning MUPPs and welcome to the newest MUPPs!

Join us for the first UPPSA event of the year.


We will be gathering to discuss goals and initiatives for the upcoming year, and to introduce you to the new executive officers on the UPPSA board. The event will be Open House style, so please drop in whenever you can and stay for as long as you would like!

The meeting itself will be from 6:00-7:00 at Charlie's Ale House bar in Andersonville (5308 N. Clark St.) A quick introduction to our new board members, followed by a presentation of the board's ideas for the upcoming academic year. Afterwards, we'll walk over as a group to Chase Park:


When: Friday, July 9th 6:00pm-10:00pm (maybe later??)

Where: Movies in the Park -- "The Neverending Story" (Chase Park, 4701 N. Ashland Ave.) [movie starts at 8:30]
http://www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/events.results/object_id/b85d63cb-6aec-45f0-8cdb-9c38d0a57e19.cfm

Why: To mingle with fellow MUPPs, of course! For our newest MUPPs, this provides you a great chance to make new friends with people you'll be sharing classes and the computer labs with.

Monday, May 3, 2010

Benefit Show for Natasha McShane and Stacy Jurich

Chicago punk band The Lawrence Arms (http://www.myspace.com/thelawrencearms) will be playing a benefit show for Natasha and Stacy on May 19 at Subterranean at 9 pm. Subterranean is located at 2011 W. North, right next to the Damen blue line.

Ticket information is here:
http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?dispatch=loadSelectionData&eventId=2010085

They may go fast because it's a small place, and this band has some really dedicated fans. And, even if this kind of music isn't your cup of tea, it's great that they're taking the time to do this for two girls that they have never met.

Hope to see you there!
Sarah Sherburn

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Chicago Care's Serv-a-thon, June 12th! And Pub Quiz, May 16th!

ATTENTION MUPP STUDENTS!!

CHICAGO CARES NEEDS OUR HELP!!

Please join your fellow MUPP students as we come together to revitalize Chicago’s public schools and raise money for Chicago Cares, Chicago’s leading community service organization. We are seeking various students who want to show the City of Chicago how dedicated Urban Planning Students are to improving the quality of our communities. The UPPSA Board is dedicated in assisting with the 17th Annual Chicago Cares’ Serv-a-thon, but we can’t do it alone. We need your help to reach our fundraising goal and in joining us on the day of action!


When: Saturday, June 12th 2010

What: Serve-a-thon volunteers will:

o Add fresh coats of paint to classrooms, transforming bland spaces into vibrant ones.

o Organize libraries to provide environments conducive to learning.

o Transform indoor and outdoor spaces with bright, colorful murals.

o Paint bright, colorful line games on playgrounds to encourage activity.

o Plant flowers and create landscapes to beautify the schools.

Where: Various Chicago Public Schools (location based on size of volunteer team)

How: Fundraising will occur through several activities planned up until June 12th (If you would like to help with fundraising ideas/activities please let us know. We would love to work with you!)

Visit http://uppsa.org/ to

register as a volunteer and/or help with fundraising activities.

FIRST FUNDRAISING ACTIVITY – INVITE ALL YOUR FRIENDS

PUB QUIZ - Sunday, May 16th 2010 @ 5pm

Participant Suggested Donation - $5

Free Pitchers of Beer to Winning Team

Location: Rocking Horse (in Logan Square)

2535 N. Milwaukee Avenue @ Sacramento Avenue

RSVP at www.uppsa.org

Thursday, April 15, 2010

A Plan to Spur Growth Away From Haiti’s Capital - NYT article

Found Here


By NICOLAI OUROUSSOFF
Published: March 30, 2010

Even as outsiders feel sympathy for Haiti’s suffering, they tend to look upon it as a country beyond saving.

Now there is a plan to do just that, and it is surprisingly convincing. The lucid, far-reaching reconstruction guidelines that the Haitian government is scheduled to unveil on Wednesday at a donors’ conference at the United Nations should give all who care about Haiti’s future cause for hope.

Prepared by a group of urban planners from the Haitian government agency responsible for the country’s development, the plan is built around a bold central idea: to redistribute large parts of the population of Port-au-Prince to smaller Haitian cities, many of them at a safe distance from areas most vulnerable to natural disaster. In the process the plan would completely transform Haiti from a country dominated by a single metropolis to what the planners call a network of smaller urban “growth poles.”

The guidelines are still in a nascent stage, and Haiti’s fate will ultimately have a lot to do with economic and political developments beyond the scope of planners. But the guidelines already surpass any of the early reconstruction plans for post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans or for the parts of Asia affected by the tsunami in 2004. The guidelines’ well-reasoned thinking about environmental threats and the history of urban development in Haiti suggests that they could become a reliable blueprint not just for reconstruction, but also for solving many of the urban ills that have plagued the country for decades.

The causes of those troubles can be traced back a century. Haiti was once primarily rural, with its major economic activity distributed among several ports along the northern, western and southern coasts. But after the United States invaded in 1915, the Americans began to concentrate most trade operations in Port-au-Prince, the site of their military headquarters. The port was dredged to make room for big new steamships; other major ports, to the north and west, began to lose their importance. By the middle of the 1960s, François Duvalier had shut down the other ports entirely as part of an effort to concentrate his power base in the capital.

The growth of Port-au-Prince accelerated in the political turmoil after Duvalier’s son and heir, Jean-Claude, fled the country in 1986. Over the next 20 years, the city’s population nearly doubled, to close to three million people, according to some estimates.

The effect of this shift was an urban disaster — one that has put more and more pressure on the capital while draining the provinces of economic opportunity.

“You need to restore a balance,” said Leslie Voltaire, an urban planner and a special envoy to the United Nations, in an interview on Tuesday. “If we don’t do anything, Port-au-Prince is expected to grow to 6,000,000 in the next 15 years. It will become an incubator for further crime and violence. Our economic advantage is in agriculture and tourism, and these are by nature decentralized.”

The notion of shrinking the capital and reviving provincial cities dates back to 1987. It was enshrined as a goal in the post-Duvalier constitution by a government seeking to redistribute political power and has been brought up periodically by urban planners ever since, to little effect.

The environmental and geological concerns raised by the earthquake have made this approach seem all the more critical. Geologists point out that the dangers posed by the fault line running across Port-au-Prince are compounded by others, like landslides and flooding.

In essence, the guidelines treat the recent disaster as an opportunity. Thousands of public buildings in Port-au-Prince were destroyed by the earthquake, including schools, hospitals and markets. Around 600,000 survivors have since fled the capital for cities like Cap Haitien, in the north, and Hinche, in the central plateau. The population of Gonaïves, a port city on the west coast roughly midway between the country’s two major fault lines, has swollen to 300,000 from 200,000 in less than three months.

By relocating many schools and hospitals to smaller cities, planners hope to create an economic incentive to keep people from returning to Port-au-Prince once reconstruction begins. The new buildings could be organized around public squares and parks to provide civic centers to communities sorely lacking in them.

Planners have outlined a similar approach for rural villages, with farms encircling a communal core containing a market, a school and health-care facilities. The public structures would be built by the government; much of the housing could be put up privately by Haitians but under stricter building regulations. (Mr. Voltaire even imagines a prototype for basic shelter that could be transformed into a more permanent house over time.)

“This will only work if these poles become magnets of attraction — with agriculture, tourism, industry and especially jobs,” Mr. Voltaire said. “Otherwise, these people are going to come back.”

If they do return, it will be to a Port-au-Prince that was already stretched beyond capacity before the quake. International aid organizations invested heavily in the city’s infrastructure in the 1970s, building sewers and expanding the electrical network, but there has been almost no investment since. Sewage treatment facilities are more or less nonexistent. The city’s building code is barely two pages long.

The guidelines could lead to new zoning regulations that would at least begin to segregate residential from commercial activities in some of the densest downtown areas. A light rail system, running on a north-south axis through the city center, would help relieve traffic congestion. The millions of cubic tons of debris resulting from the earthquake would be used as landfill at the water’s edge, creating room for a waterfront park in a city in dire need of public space. Sites that were once occupied by schools and hospitals that have been moved out of town would be turned into other parks and public squares.

“The best thing that could happen is to insert public spaces — new parks, squares, exchange centers, markets — into these voids,” Mr. Voltaire said. “We should think in terms of the city’s urban evolution rather than large-scale development.”

More than a few of the renderings at this early stage suggest conventional planning formulas found in Southern California, suburban Boston or Beijing. But what matters is the underlying principles that inform the guidelines and that treat the reconstruction effort as an opportunity to build community.

What Haiti’s planners will need next is not just money, but also access to ideas. Mr. Voltaire and a group of Haitian planners spent several days last week refining their plan at the University of Miami, for example. The institution’s faculty and students provided much-needed logistical support, helping to produce maps and renderings. It was also an opportunity for the university, a stronghold of New Urbanism, to promote that movement’s small-town planning philosophy.

In New York the architect Steven Holl recently completed a proposal for urban reconstruction, though he has had no direct contact with the Haitian government. In contrast to the New Urbanist model, his proposal, though few have seen it, favors urban density over suburbanization.

I’ve had reservations about New Urbanist theory in the past. But the point is that those who are planning Haiti’s reconstruction should have access to the widest range of talent and ideas. International development authorities could set up such a framework. Haiti can then determine the best fit for itself.

This will not be an easy task. Americans may remember the good will that swirled around New Orleans in the months after Hurricane Katrina. Architects and planners, moved by what they saw, churned out plans for the city’s recovery. Some of these plans — environmentally sensitive, rooted in a knowledge of New Orleans and its racial and social tensions — could have formed the foundation for something of genuine value. But a connection between good urban planning ideas and political realities on the ground was never made. The best plans went nowhere. Let’s pray that doesn’t happen in Haiti.

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Join the fun and be active in your planning careers!

It's back! Mark your calendars for Friday, April 9th for the second
(annual?) "I Love Logan Square" Party, a fundraiser for the mighty
Logan Square Neighborhood Association (www.lsna.net). See attachment
for official invitation.

Who: You and all your friends (it's a great group outing!)
Must be 21+ or with a parent

What: "I Love Logan Square" party, a fundraiser for Logan Square
Neighborhood Assoc.

When: Friday, April 9th 8pm- 1am

(Salsa lessons at 8:30pm; Live Auction at 9:30pm; DJ at 10:30pm)

Where: Elastic Arts, 2830 N. Milwaukee, a hidden spot upstairs from
Friendship Chinese

How much: A mere $10 gets you in the door, and additional donations
will get you drinks, prizes and photo ops with SUPER-LSNA, the
official superhero of Logan Square.

The action-packed, thrilling Liiiiive Auction, which starts at 9:30pm, includes one-of-a-kind prizes such as:
- Garage (or other wall) mural consultation by Marcelo Ferrer
- A Day on the Farm with Radical Root
- An opera serenade at the time and place of your choosing by a professional opera singer
- Custom bike painting by Chester Cycles www.chestercycles.com
- Gift certificates for massage and stress relief yoga
- Neighbor-to-neighbor lessons in beer-making, meat-curing,
tamale-making, poker, guitar, drums and more!
- Laughter and merriment for all provided by our two auctioneers--Raul Islas and Sarah Mathers

Cash, check and credit card accepted. Roughly 90% of money donated will go directly to LSNA. Show some love for Logan Square, and forward along this invitation to your friends. Please RSVP to bmurphy@lsna.net or rwalz@lsna.net so we can get a sense of our head count.

See you April 9!

P.S. Let me know if you have any talents/skills/services to auction
off OR if you would like to volunteer--we could always use more help
greeting people, serving drinks, printing SUPER-LSNA's photos, etc.

P.P.S. If you don't take our word for it, check out the rave review of
last yea's party in New City, Not Just for Squares: Everyone Loves
Logan Square
http://newcity.com/2009/04/21/not-for-squares-everyone-loves-logan-square/

Call for Papers

This year the Upper Midwest Regional Planning Conference held in Mankato, MN on September 22 through September 24 will include a Student Presentation session that will allow you the opportunity to showcase projects you have completed as part of your curriculum. As you complete projects or prepare for final projects please consider presenting them at the conference. Presentation format for this session may vary from a presentation and Q&A session to an informal booth session with visuals that showcases work completed.

This should be a terrific opportunity to display your talents and skills to professionals and spark dialogue on planning issues important to you and central to this conference’s topic: “Planning in a New Decade.” To submit a project or for more information please contact Alex Conzemius at AlexCo@Bolton-Menk.com

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Frank Gehry presents the Cindy Pritzker Lecture on Urban Life and Issues


Date: Tue. April 06, 2010

Time: 6:00 pm

Location:
Harold Washington Library Center
Cindy Pritzker Auditorium
400 S. State Street
60605

About this event:
The Board of Directors of the Chicago Public Library annually honors its former President, Cindy Pritzker, by presenting the Cindy Pritzker Lecture on Urban Life and Issues. This year's lecture features renowned architect Frank Gehry, interviewed by Tom Pritzker, Chairman and CEO of the Pritzker Organization.

More information at http://www.chipublib.org/events/details/id/42162/