from:"UNIVERSITY\*CITOYEN"


Al Krigman wrote:
Since the formation of the sweetbarkingcheese.com list, we've been 
blessed by the absence of pejoratives such as ranting to describe 
measured discussions involving differences of opinion. (Other than 
when the sweetbarkingcheesers have deliberately tried to trash the 
purple list and bait its denizens.)



Elliot M. Stern wrote:
Yet we are still plagued by sneering references to 
sweetbarkingcheese.com list!



Frank Carroll wrote:

And I hope we continue to be.

WE'RE HERE! WE SNEER!! GET USED TO IT!!!

Frankus
Sleek. Edgy. Infinitely flexible.





[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
I think it is more indicative of the biology of aging, wherein older 
males - like you three, regardless of their political persuasions, tend 
to get cranky and persnickety as the summer doldrums linger.
 
That is not to suggest sweetbarfingcheese doesn't have a few cranky 
self-envisioned young bucks.





I think al (and earlier, sharrieff) gets it right, about a 
band of folks who tried to trash this list, with their 
deliberately inflammatory posts and steady, gratuitous 
rudeness (not mentioning any names). it brought about all 
kinds of reactions, from people who tried to fight fire with 
fire by flinging it right back in the same style (not 
mentioning names), to people wringing their hands and 
lecturing (still not mentioning names), to people just 
ignoring it or running away from it (no names) -- but 
everyone was affected by it. I see that now -- now that it's 
over, now that they're gone.


I think it's so cool that the list is so much more normal 
now, even when the topics are uncomfortable or contentious. 
for a few weeks now it's been possible to have discussions 
-- not without the occasional jab or dig, of course, but 
certainly without the sustained extremist mudslinging and 
namecalling and doorslamming.


ah.





..
UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN
[aka laserbeam®]
[aka ray]
SERIAL LIAR. CALL FOR RATES.
  It is very clear on this listserve who
   these people are. Ray has admitted being
   connected to this forger.  -- Tony West
  Ray's falsehoods are more sophisticated,
   more believable -- Tony West








































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Re: [UC] When you add it all up, people just can't pay it, Blackwell said


[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:


Maybe Penn's two day upcoming urban planning colloquium will...




do you have links/info for this? thanks.



..
UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN
[aka laserbeam®]
[aka ray]
SERIAL LIAR. CALL FOR RATES.
  It is very clear on this listserve who
   these people are. Ray has admitted being
   connected to this forger.  -- Tony West
  Ray's falsehoods are more sophisticated,
   more believable -- Tony West











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Re: [UC] When you add it all up, people just can't pay it, - Cranky Old Men


[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
While this may not be the appropriate venue to discuss our local 
positions on national peace policies, not all of us agree as Roger waxed 
on about Clinton's budget disciplines and Bush2's barbarism. I suggest 
two alternate views:





from my starbucks cup this morning:


   THE WAY I SEE IT #258

   Because true conservatives are

   pessimists, they are happier than

   liberals, for three reasons. First,

   pessimists are rarely surprised.

   Second, when they are wrong they

   are delighted to be so. Third,

   pessimists do not put their faith in

   princes -- in government. They

   understand that happiness is a

   function of fending for oneself.

   Happiness is an *activity*; it is

   inseparable from the *pursuit*

   of happiness.


  -- George F. Will
 Pulitzer Prize-winning
 author and columnist.


   - - - - - -

   This is the author's opinion, not necessarily that
   of Starbucks. To read more or respond, go to
   www.starbucks.com/wayiseeit.



..
UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN
[aka laserbeam®]
[aka ray]
SERIAL LIAR. CALL FOR RATES.
  It is very clear on this listserve who
   these people are. Ray has admitted being
   connected to this forger.  -- Tony West
  Ray's falsehoods are more sophisticated,
   more believable -- Tony West











































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Re: History shows again and again... (was RE: [UC] When you add it all up, people just can't pay it, Blackwell said)


Mike V. wrote:

Revisionist history seems to be a popular hobby 'round these parts.

- Mike V.




maybe because folks keep revisiting it.

:-)


..
UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN
[aka laserbeam®]
[aka ray]
SERIAL LIAR. CALL FOR RATES.
  It is very clear on this listserve who
   these people are. Ray has admitted being
   connected to this forger.  -- Tony West
  Ray's falsehoods are more sophisticated,
   more believable -- Tony West









































































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Re: [UC] List of BID Supporters

2007-08-14 Thread UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN


John Ellingsworth wrote:
Both my name  Kimm's have been removed from the list; still, I wonder 
what motivated them to put them there.



the list, like the online form, isn't currently mentioned or 
linked to from ucd's bid site, so whatever use it had, or 
relevance it has now, seems to be over, at least to visitors 
to the website. it's unfortunate your names were 
misappropriated in the .pdf document, and in any copies 
still in use. :-(



..
UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN
[aka laserbeam®]
[aka ray]
SERIAL LIAR. CALL FOR RATES.
  It is very clear on this listserve who
   these people are. Ray has admitted being
   connected to this forger.  -- Tony West
  Ray's falsehoods are more sophisticated,
   more believable -- Tony West
















































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Re: [UC] And Elsewhere - snapping dogfight sparked by a park's closing

2007-08-14 Thread UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN


[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/20070813_Daniel_Rubin___Yapping__snapping_dogfight_sparked_by_a_parks_closing.html



I found myself enjoying this article, and then I caught 
myself: maybe I was enjoying it too much? in the end, it 
seemed that the columnist was taking a kind of mean pleasure 
in relaying all the juicy gossipy details about the 
neighbors fighting each other -- at the expense of 
illuminating much about the structures and dynamics in the 
neighborhood that began and perpetuated the power struggles 
going on, or any kind of insight into how compromise could 
happen.


and now I want to say something offhand and dismissive about 
light summer reading, but I can't think of anything. so, 
back to me adirondack chair... :-)




..
UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN
[aka laserbeam®]
[aka ray]
SERIAL LIAR. CALL FOR RATES.
  It is very clear on this listserve who
   these people are. Ray has admitted being
   connected to this forger.  -- Tony West
  Ray's falsehoods are more sophisticated,
   more believable -- Tony West











































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Re: [UC] List of BID Supporters

2007-08-12 Thread UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN


[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
However, _http://www.ucbid.net_ (http://www.ucbid.net/supporters.pdf)  -- the 
home page for the list, appears to be a genuine UCD site.



really? I thought the ucbid.net host for this document was 
odd, since all of ucd's webpages are on ucphila.org, and 
none of the bid pages on ucd's website link to anything on 
ucbid.net, nor do ucd's webpages mention/link to this 
list... kimm, how did you stumble on this? and please let us 
know what you find out from wendell lewis.


meanwhile, can anyone (frankus?) figure out where/who hosts 
ucbid.net? so far all I can see is this:


 http://www.ucbid.net/default.html

it seems this host is only being used (by ucd?) to gather 
names of users who fill out the form...


and can anyone learn more about the document [.pdf format -- 
so far all I can see is that the doc. was created 4.26.2007, 
by Chris]




The NID, of course, is a dead issue -- so this is really just an academic 
question anyway.


not to mention the fact that no one knows the difference 
between a bid and a nid and an ssd anyway. it may interest 
you to know that 99.9% of citizens -- educated citizens -- 
don't know the difference. that's 999 out of 1000 in any 
neighborhood. nobody anywhere is familiar with these 
distinctions, and quite frankly they're pretty obscure. in 
fact, it turns out that on uclist only one subscriber has 
learned these distinctions and could explain them accurately.





..
UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN
[aka laserbeam®]
[aka ray]
SERIAL LIAR. CALL FOR RATES.
  It is very clear on this listserve who
   these people are. Ray has admitted being
   connected to this forger.  -- Tony West
  Ray's falsehoods are more sophisticated,
   more believable -- Tony West




































































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Re: [UC] List of BID Supporters

2007-08-12 Thread UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN


Frank wrote:

ucbid.net is hosted by bluehost.com which only means that's who they  
pay to host it. From the IP addresses the two sites I can see that  the 
hosts are different for ucbid.net and ucityphila.org. they are  related, 
though, as the whois info below shows.




thanks (to john also) for the info. so, this means that 
ucbid.net is being used by ucd to gather names of users who 
fill out the form (ie it's not a joke or 3rd-party ruse)... 
right?




..
UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN
[aka laserbeam®]
[aka ray]
SERIAL LIAR. CALL FOR RATES.
  It is very clear on this listserve who
   these people are. Ray has admitted being
   connected to this forger.  -- Tony West
  Ray's falsehoods are more sophisticated,
   more believable -- Tony West












































































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Re: [UC] Letter to the UCReview by Andrew Goodman and response by the Editor

2007-08-09 Thread UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN

 have regularly announced its meetings.


In the past year alone we published the following
front-page stories:

Aug. 30, 2006 - Community Planning for 40th  Market by
Patrick Blair

Sept. 13, 2006 - Community Planning for 40th  Market
Moves Forward by Patrick Blair

Oct. 11, 2006 - Final Plan for 40th  Market Revealed
by Patrick Blair

Feb. 28, 2007 - SEPTA, Penn Facilities  police speak to
40th Street Friends by Daniel Michael

On July 4, 2007 our staff writer, Nicole Contosta, wrote
what I think is a fair and balanced front page article,
titled Friends of 40th Street: Despite Improvements,
Crime Remains a Big Concern.

When you say that you are glad that interest in the
group is rising, I can only assume that you are
referring to your perception concerning the editorial
interest of this newspaper. If I am right, then you are
wrong. We have had a continuing interest in your project
and the news that often flows from it.

You accuse us of poor journalism because in two recent
articles, especially, we focused on what our writers
saw as the main concern of good people at University
Square.

You then comment: I suppose community fear is a more
interesting read than facilitating civic conversations
with newly empowered neighborhood residents, though Ms.
Simons reported on such positive developments in prior
articles for the UC Review.

Anyone who has read this community paper over the past 19
years knows that we do not promote fear. I think this is
a low, unworthy, and uninformed remark by anyone whose
touts their profession as facilitating civic
conversations.

I do think that we have, in fact, underreported crime and
its effects on the community. I want to repent of this
sin of omission. I am happy that the Friends of 40th
Street have given the people of University Square, many
of them elderly, a chance to speak out! We are listening.

A word about Ms. Simons: She has often attended your
meetings as a Community Contributor to our paper, and as
editor of the Powelton Post Newsletter. She has
graciously submitted stories to us on Friends of 40th
Street meetings. In those stories she often focused on a
positive element at the meetings, for instance,
someone's retirement, rather than the main presentation:
Drexel's expansion plans. We were happy with her story,
but it was, by your standard, only half of the story -
incomplete journalism. Not! Perhaps your standard only
applies to stories you don't like.

Your letter then reminds us that Captain Fischer has
done an incredible job in his years with UPPD, and should
be recognized for his work. We agree, and are planning
to interview him in the near future. Nothing in our
stories denigrates Captain Fischer.

Finally, regarding the late, half baked Mark Brakeman:
he did unfortunately arrive late to this meeting. I had
wanted him to be present when that prominent Penn
official, Ed Datz, finally got over to the Friends of
40th Street. Brakeman missed that opportunity, but went
ahead with the story at hand. He is an independent
freelance writer with years of experience and does not
like to be manipulated. We hope to pick up on that story
in the future.

What I am hearing in your letter is the actualization of
a potential conflict brewing in University City between
some Penn-related and funded institutions and
initiatives, which have a tendency to want to manage the
area and its funky vibes (an expensive - if not
insulting - recent marketing term).

There is a tendency to want to control independent news
sources and seemingly almost any independent activity.
This is the corporate outgrowth of what Thomas Sowell
calls self-congratulation as a basis of ...policy. There
is too much taking credit and not enough giving credit.
There is too much management.

A final word: I do not send reporters in my stead to 40th
Street meetings.

University City Review reporters are not there to
recapitulate the approved minutes of your meetings. They
are there to get a story or stories. They have a right to
be there, whether I attend or not.

Sincerely,
Bob Christian





..
UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN
[aka laserbeam®]
[aka ray]
SERIAL LIAR. CALL FOR RATES.
  It is very clear on this listserve who
   these people are. Ray has admitted being
   connected to this forger.  -- Tony West
  Ray's falsehoods are more sophisticated,
   more believable -- Tony West


































































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Re: [UC] Glenn Moyer Eats Crow

2007-08-08 Thread UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN


Elizabeth F Campion wrote:

I think psychiatric analysis is best left to professionals.



from my inbox today:

http://chronicle.com/weekly/v53/i49/49b00201.htm

[worth the read for the punchline at the end]

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


DECONSTRUCT THIS
Lying to Ourselves


Does being president mean never having to admit mistakes? 
The New York Times columnist David Brooks emerged from a 
recent meeting with President Bush marveling at how, far 
from being worn down by the past few years, Bush seems 
empowered. His self-confidence is the most remarkable 
feature of his presidency. But where Brooks sees 
self-confidence, others see self-delusion. In Mistakes Were 
Made (But Not By Me) [Harcourt], Carol Tavris and Elliot 
Aronson anoint Bush the poster boy for tenacious clinging 
to a discredited belief because of his Iraq policy.


The president may be exceptional, but he is hardly alone. As 
Tavris and Aronson point out, none of us is immune to the 
need to justify our actions. Even when confronted with 
evidence that they are wrong, most people do not change 
their point of view or course of action. In recent 
interviews, both authors explained the psychological 
mechanics behind our reluctance to admit mistakes and 
reflected on how that has nurtured a mistake-phobic culture.


Elliot Aronson, professor emeritus of social psychology at 
the University of California at Santa Cruz: The key to 
understanding self-justification is cognitive dissonance, 
which is the state of tension that occurs when a person 
holds two ideas, attitudes, or beliefs that are 
psychologically inconsistent. Dissonance is most painful, 
and most necessary to resolve, when it involves some aspect 
of the self, such as I am a smart, confident, responsible 
person who knows cigarettes cause cancer and I smoke two 
packs a day. That sort of dissonance has enormous 
motivational power. You are forced to do one of two things: 
You have to stop smoking, or you have to justify continuing 
to smoke. If the dissonance is between I am a good, honest, 
competent person and I just did something that was cruel, 
unethical, or incompetent, the motivation to justify the 
latter to preserve the former is even greater. That is how 
cognitive dissonance becomes the engine of self-justification.


Carol Tavris, social psychologist: Cognitive dissonance is 
wired into the brain, but how we think about mistakes is 
not. Our culture is mistake-phobic and 
responsibility-phobic, but that is entirely a learned 
phenomenon. Once we understand how dissonance works, we can 
take steps to correct for it. Just as good drivers are aware 
that they have an optical blind spot, the more we understand 
our own mental blind spots, the better able we are to 
compensate for them.


Aronson: There is a very important distinction between 
self-justification and explicitly lying. When we know we 
have done something wrong, we will lie to avoid punishment. 
There is no surprise in that. Toddlers do it, too -- as soon 
as humans can speak, we lie. Self-justification is more 
dangerous and more insidious because it causes us to lie to 
ourselves -- pulling the wool over our own eyes. We are not 
even aware that a mistake was made, let alone that we made it.


Tavris: Self-justification does serve a protective and 
useful function: It prevents us from spending too much time 
worrying and fretting, and lets us sleep at night. This is 
very adaptive and very functional. Once we have made a 
decision, it is beneficial that we naturally reduce 
dissonance and focus on the reasons that our decision was 
the best and wisest. But the reason self-justification is so 
dangerous is that in justifying the road we do take, we fall 
into the trap of justifying everything that flows from that 
first decision, and this dynamic can take us very far from 
our original goals and intentions. People can become 
entrapped. The mechanics of self-justification see to it 
that they become more and more enmeshed in their decision 
and less and less able to consider the possibility that they 
are wrong. The greater the consequences, the greater the 
harm they cause themselves and others, the greater the 
blindness.


The reason is that we do not perceive new information 
rationally. Rather, the brain is designed to notice and 
remember information that confirms what we already believe 
and overlook, dismiss, or minimize information that is 
dissonant. In fact, probably the central bias in the brain 
is the belief that we ourselves have no biases. Everybody 
else is biased, but we see things clearly and truly. Aldous 
Huxley was right when he said, There is probably no such 
thing as a conscious hypocrite.


http://chronicle.com
Section: The Chronicle Review
Volume 53, Issue 49, Page B2

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


ps: happy birthday, ol' gal.



..
UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN
[aka laserbeam®]
[aka ray]
SERIAL LIAR. CALL FOR RATES.
  It is very clear

Re: [UC] Letter to the UCReview by Andrew Goodman and response by the Editor

2007-08-08 Thread UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN

, AND CRIME IN WEST PHILADELPHIA AND WHAT 
SHOULD PENN DO DEMOCRATICALLY TO OVERCOME THEM?

CPLN 506 401/URBS 403 401 (R 3:00-6:00pm)
Anthony Tomazinis, Ira Harkavy, Richard Gelles, Henry Teune, 
Van McMurtry, and Lee Benson


This seminar will have a unique structure and significant 
resources to study a real and vibrant community. West 
Philadelphia from the Schuylkill River to 63rd Street, to 
Hook Road in Eastwick to City Line in Overbrook, an area of 
about 30 square miles, more than 210,000 residents, and more 
than 55,000 jobs. This research seminar will be 
inter-disciplinary with more than a dozen Departments and 
Programs participating, providing more than twenty-five (25) 
senior faculty members. The seminars will be a mix of actual 
field research work undertaken by the participating students 
under the guidance of experienced faculty members and 
theoretical discussions in the classroom with teams of 
faculty members


- - -

DESIGN, VISUALIZATION, AND CONSTRUCTION FOR COMMUNITY 
DEVELOPMENT

EAS 282 001/ BE 280 001 (MWF 10:00-11:00am)
Norman Badler

This course will examine the various multimedia tools and 
technologies that are used in the design, construction and 
planning professions when designing community development 
projects.  Over the course of the semester, students will 
use the 3D modeling and animation application SketchUp to 
generate a community development project of their own 
design.  This project will serve as a platform for students 
to examine how development projects move from concept to 
reality through the involvement of four significant parties: 
the developer, the design professionals, the community and 
the construction manager.  In addition to multimedia tools 
and technologies, students will examine the socioeconomic 
forces that influence site selection and project function, 
the architects’ and engineers’ design processes from concept 
sketches to detailed plans and building sections, the impact 
a project can have on its community and the environment, and 
finally the construction bid process and the construction 
manager’s handling of the project once awarded the job.


- - -

URBAN EDUCATION
EDUC 202 401/URBS 202 401 (M 2:00-5:00pm)
Cheryl Jones Walker

Through an examination of national and state policy 
formulation regarding public education, and an examination 
of issues, concepts and characteristics of urban public 
school systems, this course is intended to help address the 
question of whether urban public schools as presently 
constituted and conducted can bring about an equitable society.


- - - - - - - - - - - -


..
UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN
[aka laserbeam®]
[aka ray]
SERIAL LIAR. CALL FOR RATES.
  It is very clear on this listserve who
   these people are. Ray has admitted being
   connected to this forger.  -- Tony West
  Ray's falsehoods are more sophisticated,
   more believable -- Tony West




















































































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Re: [UC] Did we miss National Night Out ??

2007-08-07 Thread UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN


[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
With all this gratuitous bickering on what ought to be a forum for 
dissemination of information of interest to the community, did we miss a 
National Night Out block party on the 200 Block of S Melville Street 
yesterday evening?
 
I just noticed in the news that yesterday was the scheduled date 
nationwide -- and that block of S Melville has been a primary venue for 
this event in our neighborhood.




I think I saw some flyers that said it was on the 7th -- today.




..
UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN
[aka laserbeam®]
[aka ray]
SERIAL LIAR. CALL FOR RATES.
  It is very clear on this listserve who
   these people are. Ray has admitted being
   connected to this forger.  -- Tony West
  Ray's falsehoods are more sophisticated,
   more believable -- Tony West










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Re: [UC] Scary People: The Mennonite Godfather

2007-08-06 Thread UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN


Ross Bender wrote:

His name is Enrique Harms. There's an excellent video and slide show about
these Mennonites at:

http://www.knbc.com/news/4232205/detail.html

Keep in mind that us local Mennonites who meet at 9:00am Sunday mornings in
the Calvary Center are much, much nicer. At least, most of us.



haha 'mennonite mob' -- has a nice ring to it!

[for some reason the photos and video don't display for me]

which reminds me: there's an amazing photo in larry towell's 
mennonite show at the arthur ross gallery. it's of a 
mennonite youth, in profile, who looks exactly like one of 
those pre-classic maya faces carved on a temple wall -- only 
he's got straight blond hair. it's quite arresting, and 
makes you wonder how much intermarrying has been going on...



anyway, the opening reception to meet the photographer at 
the arthur ross gallery is on 9/11, and if you go I hope you 
can engage him in a good discussion about how people are 
portrayed in photos and museums and galleries -- but please 
don't throw anything or do anything pickety! I worked hard 
handpainting the signage for this show (only the best for 
the mennonites)!




..
UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN
[aka laserbeam®]
[aka ray]
SERIAL LIAR. CALL FOR RATES.
  It is very clear on this listserve who
   these people are. Ray has admitted being
   connected to this forger.  -- Tony West


btw, there's also a nice exhibit of archival photos about 
philadelphia history down at the art institute (that blue 
deco building, near where filene's basement was, around 17th 
and chestnut.)









































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Re: [UC] How we look, what we need

2007-08-06 Thread UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN


Elizabeth F Campion wrote:



In light of recent posts, I thought I'd share very popular links.


For those who want to give orders that will actually be obeyed:
http://www.idodogtricks.com/index_flash.html
(This one is kid friendly, with quiet background music.)




hahaha

 I typed in: BE CIVIL

it said: I HAVEN'T HEARD OF THAT ONE

   then I typed: PLEASE BE CIVIL

and it said: TRY PUTTING THAT IN MORE DOG-FRIENDLY
 LANGUAGE

so then I typed: PRETTY PLEASE, BE CIVIL, DAWG

it said: I SEE YOUR FINGERS TYPING, BUT I
 DO NOT KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS.

   then I typed: PLEASE DON'T EAT THE DAISIES

and it said: MY TRAINER NEVER TAUGHT ME THAT

so then I typed: OH SHUT UP

and it said: TRY NOT TO USE FANCY WORDS. I'M AN
 OBEDIENCE SCHOOL DROP-OUT.

finally I typed: PLAY DEAD


and it did.



..
UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN
[aka laserbeam®]
[aka ray]
SERIAL LIAR. CALL FOR RATES.
  It is very clear on this listserve who
   these people are. Ray has admitted being
   connected to this forger.  -- Tony West































































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Re: [UC] Philly Historic Photos Exhibit

2007-08-06 Thread UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN


John Ellingsworth wrote:


Philadelphia Stories: The Building of a Great American City

The Art Institute of Philadelphia and PhillyHistory.org are proud to 
announce the opening of Philadelphia Stories: The Building of a Great 
American City, a new exhibit of more than 80 remarkable historic 
photographs pulled from the vast City Archives, managed by the City of 
Philadelphia Department of Records. The exhibit will run from August 3 – 
31, 2007 in the 1622 Chestnut Street Gallery of The Art Institute of 
Philadelphia in Center City.


http://www.avencia.com/pickup/ph_exhibition/postcard/index.htm

http://www.artinstitutes.edu/philadelphia/news_detail.asp?CategoryID=6PressID=5110 






oops -- missed this post.

yes, this is the exhibit I meant.



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Re: [UC] RE: I Respectfully Decline [Was: JOIN UC NEIGHBORS FOR CIVILIZED CONVERSATION]

2007-08-04 Thread UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN


Glenn wrote:


Thanks Ray,

I found myself in almost complete agreement with Mr. Sexton.  I want to 
read the entire essay.


I think I've seen a print version of Currents before in the library.  
This is very relevant to some of the very topics discussed here.




I agree that sexton's essay is relevant -- not only does it 
apply to the kinds of discussions on this list, but to the 
topic of universities in the public realm, in this case as 
champions of civil discourse.


there's more where that came from; stay tuned!


- - - - -


btw, I thought it was funny that as I read sexton's essay, 
this is what was printed on my starbucks coffee cup:



   THE WAY I SEE IT #225

   People don't read enough. And

   what reading we do is cursory,

   without absorbing the subtleties

   and nuances that lie deep

   within -- Wow, you've stopped

   paying attention, haven't you?

   People can't even read a coffee

   cup without drifting off.

   -- David Shore
  Creator and executive producer
  of the television drama 'House'


   * * *
   this is the author's opinion, not necessarily
   that of Starbucks. To read more or respond, go to
   www.starbucks.com/wayiseeit




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Re: [UC] RE: I Respectfully Decline [Was: JOIN UC NEIGHBORS FOR CIVILIZED CONVERSATION]

2007-08-03 Thread UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN

 the offer of and the demand for 
argument and evidence. We must have more than information to 
address our problems; we must have the humility to 
understand that although we may arrive at wise conclusions, 
we will never achieve absolute certainty.


Higher education has a dual role in the civic dialogue, as a 
rebuke to simple-mindedness and as a model of how things can 
be done differently. In preventing the collapse of civil 
discourse, the university simultaneously will safeguard 
itself from the concomitant effects of a society that 
disregards the reflected thought, reduces the interchange of 
ideas to the exchange of sound bytes or insults, and often 
shrinks the arena for discussion to a constricted, 
two-dimensional space.


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


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Re: [UC] Out of the Ivory Tower and Into the Streets

2007-08-03 Thread UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN


Frank wrote:

and this:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/22/nyregion/thecity/22manh.html?ex=1342756800en=8b256b2e1d8e1c13ei=5090partner=rssuserlandemc=rss 




thanks. articles like that are good, but maybe a little 
frustrating -- seems they get more to the heartstrings than 
to the heart of the issue (the changing relationship between 
universities and cities). still a good read, though.


I thought it was interesting how in the new york observer 
article they were already equating penn's ucd with a bid:


   Penn, for example, donated land for a public school and
helped plan and run it. The university set up a
business-improvement district that picked up litter and
brightened street lights.

http://www.observer.com/2007/can-t-we-all-just-get-along?page=0%2C0



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Re: [UC] Out of the Ivory Tower and Into the Streets

2007-08-02 Thread UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN


Ross Bender wrote:
I was just reading an article in the New York Review of Books titled 
The Women and the Gods, a review of Portrait of a Priestess: Women 
and Ritual in Ancient Greece when an ad for books on Urban Studies 
from Penn Press caught my eye. First item on the list was a book by our 
own Judy Rodin titled The University and Urban Revival: Out of the 
Ivory Tower and Into the Streets. I hurried to Amazon.com 
http://Amazon.com and found this synopsis:


In the last quarter of the twentieth century, urban colleges and 
universities found themselves enveloped by the poverty, crime, and 
physical decline that afflicted American cities. Some institutions 
turned inward, trying to insulate themselves rather than address the 
problems in their own backyards. Others attempted to develop better 
community relations, though changes were hard to sustain. Spurred by an 
unprecedented crime wave in 1996, University of Pennsylvania President 
Judith Rodin knew that the time for urgent action had arrived, and she 
set a new course of proactive community engagement for her university. 
Her dedication to the revitalization of West Philadelphia was guided by 
her role not only as president but also as a woman and a mother with a 
deep affection for her hometown. The goal was to build capacity back 
into a severely distressed inner-city neighborhood - educational 
capacity, retail capacity, quality-of-life capacity, and especially 
economic capacity - guided by the belief that town and gown could 
unite as one richly diverse community. Cities rely on their academic 
institutions as stable places of employment, cultural centers, civic 
partners, and concentrated populations of consumers for local business 
and services. And a competitive university demands a vibrant 
neighborhood to meet the needs of its faculty, staff, and students. In 
keeping with their mission, urban universities are uniquely positioned 
to lead their communities in revitalization efforts, yet this effort 
requires resolute persistence. During Rodin's administration 
(1994-2004), the Chronicle of Higher Education referred to Penn's 
progress as a national model of constructive town-gown interaction and 
partnership. This book narrates the challenges, frustrations, and 
successes of Penn's campaign, and its prospects for long-term change.


Apart from the fact that Judy blatantly ripped off the slogan Out of 
the closet and into the streets, I was shocked and appalled that the 
myth of Judy as the savior of West Philly has now been packaged in a 224 
page, cloth-bound book, only $34.95.


Anybody want to go in with me to buy the book so we can have a public 
burning at the Turtle in Clark Park? If ten of us chip in, that'll only 
be about 3 and a half bucks apiece. If twenty of us chip in, even less.


So now Judy is enshrined as a goddess, who rode the winged horse Market 
Forces into our nasty ghetto hood and and built capacity back into a 
severely distressed inner-city neighborhood. Makes me wanna hurl chunks.




some articles have just appeared that relate to all this:


http://gothamist.com/2007/08/01/columbia_may_ta.php

 Columbia May Take Some Expansion Cues From Penn



http://www.observer.com/2007/can-t-we-all-just-get-along?page=0%2C1

 Can't We All Just Get Along?

 Judith Rodin transformed the relationship between the
 University of Pennsylvania and its Philadelphia
 neighborhood. What can she teach Lee Bollinger about
 Columbia and Harlem?



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Re: [UC] My Role with the List Serve

2007-08-01 Thread UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN


Jonathan Herrmann wrote:

3 - There has been an idea publicly floated by Bruce
Anderson to merge the new list with the PFSNI list. I
have no opinion about the PFSNI list, except that it is
significantly less abusive than the UnivCity list, and
therefore I read the PFSNI list. I presume that Penn runs
the list as a service to the community, as PFSNI stands
for Penn Faculty, Students, Neighborhood, Something... I
therefore presume that if the community wanted to take
it over, then people on that list and at Penn should get
together and talk about it.


to my knowledge, the pfsni list is still administered by 
brian spooner. subscribers post to [EMAIL PROTECTED] 
not everyone can subscribe (I think it depends on your email 
address; I once tried to subscribe with a non-penn email 
address but was turned down. no matter, I'm subscribed with 
my penn addy). activity there is very slow, nowhere near the 
activity of uclist. the pfsni website began on penn's 
server, but a few years ago penn instituted a fee for that 
service, and with the consent of the pfsni members the 
website was moved to another server, now maintained by 
andrew diller/sam nicolary (do I have that right, guys?). 
the pfsni website is also very low profile, with perhaps its 
most active feature being [EMAIL PROTECTED], an oline directory of 
goods and services in university city.


pfsni stands for penn faculty and staff for neighborhood 
issues. it is now at:


http://www.pfsni.org/index.html





I will
publicly let you know that I wish there were a better
list in this community, but I do not have any negative
wishes against this list. I will simply unsubscribe when
there is a better alternative. If I can be helpful to
anyone working to create a better community list serve, I
am not embarrassed to offer that help. I don't think it
is called a conspiracy when it is done publicly.



good idea; let's do it publicly, right here!

idea #1: there's a lot of talk about civility onlist. I
 believe one aspect of civility that's not been
 talked about is the importance of careful reading.
 it's so essential for civility -- a prerequisite,
 I'd venture to add.



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Re: [UC] Listserve Reform of the UC list

2007-07-31 Thread UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN



UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN wrote:

hahaha

signed,

Raydian
enhanced vibrancy. first class design.



Frank Carroll wrote:

That's a good one!

Frankus
Sleek. Edgy.* Infinitely flexible.

*Soon-to-be-ivy-covered bells.




[*ivy has a nice ring (ouch), but I think they're actually 
using red roses and japanese honeysuckle.]




btw, a new starbucks will be coming to domus. which makes me 
very happy indeed (I love starbucks coffee, and yes, people 
are shocked I say that, but starbucks coffee is always 
fresh, always strong, and since I only drink one precious 
cup a day, that kind of consistency really counts).



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Re: [UC] Listserve Reform of the UC list

2007-07-31 Thread UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN


David Toccafondi wrote:

I'm surprised this is such a big deal.




I'm suprised as well. kyle was happily posting on this list 
all last week, as he's been doing ever since he started 
posting here, and he posted several times on friday the 27th 
(even while running his new list in test mode,) and then 
suddenly on the 28th he's writing that things seem to have 
boiled over here (??) and it's on the same day that b 
andersen's writing that he's tired of the bad traffic here 
(??) even though b andersen was posting all week as well (??)


and now we hear that sharrieff and b andersen had a run-in 
in clark park a couple of weeks ago about 'listserve 
issues', which to b andersen was now 'the last straw' (??)



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Re: [UC] human resources

2007-07-31 Thread UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN


just checking in -- any minutes, news?




S. Sharrieff Ali wrote:

Yes Ray...still working on minutes..

Will post soon.

Bigger fish to fry!

:-)

S



[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
By the way, one of the complaints was that it took them too long and 
we weren't continually updated.  In response, you've been organizing
a 
task force, but it's been weeks already, and we haven't had updates 
for days, and it doesn't seem to have even finished establishing what



it wants to do!  The list didn't give the UCD the benefit of the
doubt 
when it took them some time to work their way through their 
responsibilities with John - what if the same complaints were being 
leveled at the task force?  Wouldn't that be fair?




UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN wrote:

I'm pretty sure it was announced here that there's a committee meeting



tonight. tony west is chairing it, I believe.




any minutes or notes from last week's meeting?





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Re: [UC] Listserve Reform of the UC list

2007-07-29 Thread UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN


Frank wrote:



Frankus
Sleek. Edgy. Infinitely flexible.




hahaha


signed,

Raydian
enhanced vibrancy. first class design.











































































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Re: [UC] Diddy's Amish Roots


Ross Bender wrote:

Thanks, Tony, but I just need to point out that Mennonites are no longer a
single ethnic group. Historically, we have been Swiss-German, Dutch, Frisian
and Prussian -- The Mennonites being showcased at the Arthur Ross Gallery
are some of the latter who were invited to the Ukraine and are known among
Mennonites as Russian Mennonites, even though they were ethnically German.

But if you look in the Philly telephone book or Verizon Yellow Pages you
will find two Chinese, one Vietnamese, one Hispanic and several
African-American churches (which are not identified as such). We also have a
new Indonesian church in Philly.

Just one more reason not to stereotype The Mennonites.






the title of the exhibit is The Mennonites: Photographs by 
Larry Towell. it is not simply The Mennonites. that 
difference may not seem significant to you, but it is.


consider what is / is not conveyed by these museum gallery 
exhibit titles:



  The Gypsies

  The Gypsies: Metalwork from a Recent Discovery at Cornwall

  The Gypsies: A Near Eastern Scholar Reflects

  The Gypsies: Sojourners of Van Gogh, Rousseau  Chagall

  The Gypsies: Tintypes from the Archivo Histórico Nacional

  The Gypsies: Photographs by Larry Towell

  The Gypsies: Selections from the Collections of the
   Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Athenaeum


- - - - -



anyway, ross, will you be coming to the opening reception 
(sept 11)?



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Re: [UC] Dock Street and other eateries




From Ray:
 
one fun thing to try is google map. go to google and type in

'48th st and baltimore ave philadelphia', and when you see
the map click on it to enlarge it, and once you're at the
big map of 48th and baltimore click on 'find businesses' at
the top. you'll then get a search box where you can type in
all sorts of stuff (pizza, shoes, daycare, offices, plants)
to see what's around 48th and baltimore and what's not
around 48th and baltimore.



Kathleen Turner wrote:

Or -- here's an interesting thought! -- you could turn
off your computer, walk out your door and over to 48th
and Baltimore and see what's there.  Wow.  What  a
strange idea!

I have a funny suspicion that Melanie already has a
pretty good idea of what businesses exist near 48th and
Baltimore, and what might be likely to succeed there.





did you miss the part where I said it would be ONE FUN THING 
TO TRY?  I have a funny suspicion you did!




:-)

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Re: [UC] Penn's rather overpriced view of apartments... did someone here say Wharton ?


Amara Rockar wrote:

Just gonna wonk out here a little. Don't mind me.

The Inky seems to have printed the high end of the one bedroom range
at Domus for effect and ended up distorting everything. (Quick!
Someone hit the staff writer with a rolled-up Inky! Bad reporter!
Bad!)

Anyway, a one bedroom in the luxurious Domus starts at $1,800 and a
two bedroom there starts at $2,800.

I remember a one bedroom at The Hub being something like $1,080 when
it first opened. They may have raised their prices since then but a
one bedroom probably hasn't rocketed up to $2,600.

Penn/Wharton students may not know the meaning of a penny saved but
they don't seem to be THAT far gone. Yet.




Al Krigman wrote:


2) The Inky's article stated, The two other ritzy student apartment
complexes near Penn are the Hub and Domus,




the article left out the stratum (formerly the divine tracy 
hotel). [btw, what's with these latinated names for student 
housing? the domus. the radian. stratum.]


apparently (?) stratum is run by trammel crow. I don't 
understand at this point how all these out-sourced 
student-housing models fit in with the university's college 
house system, which penn spends a lot of time and effort 
developing and promoting.



anyway, according to the dp:


Prices at The Stratum run around $150 to $200 more per 
month than the most expensive housing and meal plan option 
on-campus


Kewish [a senior associate of trammel crow] argued that 
we're not asking just the rich kids to come move in and pay 
a lot of money. We're looking to provide all the students 
with an alternative.



http://tinyurl.com/26l9u4


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Re: [UC] Penn's rather overpriced view of apartments... did someone here say Wharton ?


Isabel Lugo wrote:


$200 a month isn't negligible, and that sentence to me feels like it's
deliberately constructed to hide somehing.  And it seems incredibly
disingenuous to fold the meal plan into the comparison, unless Stratum
is *also* going to be feeding people.



from the article, it sounded like stratum was going to 
'imitate' (compete with?) penn's college house system, with 
hired student resident advisors and programming and whatnot 
(maybe even harry potter logos?) -- all to go along with the 
resort-style amenities like tearooms and tanning beds.


all these comparisons are interesting (and I always get a 
laugh when they say things like how it won't impact the 
landlords in our neighborhood), but the important thing is 
that penn owns the real estate, and needs outfits to manage 
whatever businesses are installed. it doesn't matter whether 
it's lemonade stands or pink lemonade stands or organic 
varietal heirloom lemonade stands -- the onus is on these 
businesses to make it work, and I'm sure they'll do whatever 
it takes (or leave). expect more of the same when the postal 
lands are developed (attracting venture capital, I think 
it's called).



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Re: [UC] Diddy's Amish Roots


Ross Bender wrote:

OK, dude, I'll be picketing that reception, and handing out literature about
the REAL Mennonites.

The title is just ridiculous. It would be as if some jerk had a gallery show
called The Jews and showed photos of Lubavitcher Hassidim from Brooklyn.
That is to say:

Hassidim:Jews :: Old Colony Mennonites: Mennonites

If you have anything to do with this show, I strongly advise you to retitle
it, because I'm gonna be there telling the artist and anybody else who's
listening that this is a ridiculous insult to Mennonites, and maybe breaking
some heads. Just for your information, I can count off on the top of my head
half a dozen Mennonites who have received Ph.D.'s from Penn within the last
20 years, and another dozen who have doctorates from REAL Ivy League
schools. Ahem. Although Mennonites are related to these bizarre backward
splinter groups and even the Amish, who seem to be fodder for every dorky
late night comedian, or so my TV-watching sister informs me, we mainstream
Mennonites are BAD. The Dean of the Harvard Medical School is one, jist for
instance, although I don't like to advertise that place a whole lot.

Damn, the more I think about this, the upsetter I get.

As everybody on this list should know, we have a real Mennonite church right
here in West Philly -- meets at the Calvary Center at 9:00am Sunday
mornings, right after milking time and chores. We're so advanced that we're
installing a lady pastor next month. Admittedly, we're not as up to date as
yer Presbyterians, Methodists and Lutherans -- for example, some of us don't
have cars and TVs, and we're downright backward when it comes to being suave
and debonair about any kind of sex outside marriage - but we plan to have a
seminar this fall on whether the Bible teaches that masturbation is godly or
not.

For more information, check out The Anabaptist Vision on the Columbia
University alumni website, while I go and slop the hogs.

http://www.columbia.edu/cu/alumni/connection/connect/mycu/2666.html




cool your jets, ross! I know you're always dying to point 
out to the class how there are mennonites, and then there 
are MENNONITES, but this show explains all that, and places 
the people depicted in the photos in context (historical, 
geographical, cultural, religious).


the title is larry towell's title, same as his book which 
has been out since 2000 (http://tinyurl.com/24k2km) and his 
traveling exhibit (http://art2art.org/exhibit_towell.htm)


towell's lived with these people and traveled with them and 
has been allowed into their lives to photograph them. I 
think it would be cool if you arranged to have a big public 
discussion with him about the whole issue of photographing 
others, presenting other cultures -- I've been interested in 
that subject for a long long time (I've worked on exhibits 
for any number of anthropological/archaeological museums and 
galleries) and I'd highly recommend:


  Exhibiting Cultures: The Poetics and Politics of
 Museum Display, ed. Karp and Levine (1991; Smithsonian)

it's a subject with no easy answers, and it's why, even 
today, a concert in a park can be political to some, art to 
others.


so if you want to break some heads, ross, go for it (but 
with seminars, not pickets!)



- - - - -

meanwhile, ross, you like to talk about real mennonites here 
in west philly, but you never once told us how linford 
martin, owner of the firehouse, worked out the deal with ucd 
and rosemarie certo to have dock street installed there. did 
he meet with rosemarie certo before or after he told the 
existing vendors to vacate? did this all happen before or 
after ucd stepped into the picture?



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Re: [UC] The Gordon letter and Brook book


Kyle Cassidy wrote:


I'm part of this pre-existing creative, artistic, and
intellectual capitol and I certainly don't feel that
UCD's tried to destroy me or my funky creative vibe.




don't kid yourself kyle! we all saw that photo of you in 
ucd's latest newsletter, and -- well, not for nothing, but 
you do appear as the epitome of a middle-aged bürgermeister, 
a tame play-along shill toasting ucd's dock street brewpub! 
if you ever were creative, artistic, or intellectual, that 
photo shows just what glenn's talking about!




:-D

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Re: [UC] The Gordon letter and Brook book


Glenn wrote:

There is a very interesting letter in this week's UC
Review. Mitchell. Gordon responds to Paul Levy's letter
of last week and follows-up on his original opinion piece
about moderately priced housing. In this letter, Gordon
touches on the problems the rapid gentrification causes
for the young creative class that is the proclaimed focus
of Penn's marketing scheme for Philadelphia. He also
cites Daniel Brook's book, The Trap, Selling Out to Stay
Afloat In Winner-Take-All America.



brook writes: The pace of gentrification has accelerated to 
the point where bohemian communities can no longer take root 
in major cities like new york. the greenwich village bohemia 
lasted for decades, soho for ten years, the east village for 
five, williamsburg for two. the game is over the rising 
cost of living in major cities snuffs out the forms of 
noncommercial intellectual creativity for which our most 
cosmopolitan metropolises have long been known.


- - - - -

and perhaps it's not just the 'noncommercial' intellectual 
creativity being snuffed out.


there is an interesting, ironic detail in the gazette 
article about laurie olin, penn's renowned landscape 
architect who transforms spaces so that 'where once was 
abandonment, there is now vigor and gentrification' -- we 
learn just how he got his start, back in 1976:




we scrambled around and we found some space over a
bar next to a strip club opposite the old Greyhound
station on Market Street.

That seedy block soon became one end of a pipeline fed by
Penn's Department of Landscape Architecture. Dennis
McGlade GLA'69, Lucinda Sanders GLA'89, and Susan Weiler
GLA'83 joined the firm in its first decade Along with
Robert Bedell and David Rubin, they form the leadership
of a firm that has made Olin the landscape designer of
choice by some of the best architects in the world.




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Re: [UC] Diddy's Amish Roots


Ross Bender wrote:

UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

meanwhile, ross, you like to talk about real mennonites here
in west philly, but you never once told us how linford
martin, owner of the firehouse, worked out the deal with ucd
and rosemarie certo to have dock street installed there. did
he meet with rosemarie certo before or after he told the
existing vendors to vacate? did this all happen before or
after ucd stepped into the picture?




If you're curious, I suggest you ask Linford. He can usually be found in the
Mennonite service, BEGINNING AT 9:00AM ON SUNDAYS IN THE CALVARY CENTER --
EVERYBODY WELCOME.



but I'm curious about YOU, ross, telling us about the 
mennonites in west philly! why do you only have some of 
their stories to tell us? do you not attend mennonite 
services regularly or what?






Anyhow, I wrote about this in the prequel Stealth Mennonites, which has
been available on my website since sometime in 2004, but if you can't lift a
finger to click the link, here are the first several paragraphs:



2004? prequel? you need to update your website! your 
firehouse is still stuck in the pre-dock street days, when 
it a was a thriving cross-cultural potpourri and showcase 
of diversity, featuring a Korean greengrocer, Liberian 
fishmonger, Cambodian flower merchant, Polish butcher, 
Japanese masseuse, and Amish Dan the Barbecue Man. I mean, 
we saw how THAT all had to be spun as a failure, and how 
THEY all had to leave in 2005.



get crackin!


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Re: [UC] The Gordon letter and Brook book


Ross Bender wrote:


Dude, here's where I draw the line with you -- insulting Cassidy. I'm aware
that he can speak for himself, but he's got more creativity, artistry, and
intellect in his little finger than you have in your whole body. You know,
Ray, it would really help if you got out more, met the people you diss on
the list, etc etc. While you're obviously a talented gallery show producer
and recorder-player (and I'm sure have many other talents) on this list
you're coming across more and more as a demented Gollum.





CRYING.



[photo available upon request.]

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Re: [UC] The Gordon letter and Brook book


Brian Siano wrote:
Well, this does raise a couple of interesting questions about creative 
communities. The general pattern we're discussing is that there are 
marginal or run-down areas of cities. Bohemians, artists, gays, and 
radicals move in, because it's cheap to live there. Some of them are 
motivated enough to fix the places up, make'em appealing, and suddenly 
affluent people decide they want to live there as well; after all, they 
have some taste, artists need audiences, and maybe they can bring 
something to the community that's not necessarily artistis or radical, 
but useful (grocery stores, coffee shops, boutiques, etc.) Now there's 
more money in the nabe, the demand for housing goes up, and the bohos, 
artists and radicals who _didn't_ get in on the ground floor can't 
afford it anymore. So they move on... maybe to some other place, where 
the next Talented Tenth will do the work to make things more interesting.


There's just one small change I'd make to the above account. Instead of 
saying that the Creative Class moves in because it's cheap to live 
there, I'd add that the areas are also _easily changed_. Which is easier 
to reshape to your own desires-- a fully-preserved Victorian rowhouse in 
West Philadelphia, or a run-down two-story row home in Northern 
Liberties? Which is a blanker canvas-- an unused warehouse, or a 
recently-built set of condos? Which is more fun to customize-- a 
brand-new Lexus, or a vintage '68 Mustang? Where are creative people 
more likely to exercise their creativity for the community-- a 
tightly-regulated and policed Historic District, or a community with a 
laissez-faire attitude towards one's fellow man?


There's a lot that bothers me about this creative-class discussion. For 
one thing, if we cite these nomads of creativity as an engine for urban 
improvement, and wail about their being priced out of neighborhoods, we 
tend to forget about the _really_ poor people that _they_ displaced in 
the first place. For another, it plays up a distinction between 
creatives and non-creatives-- which appeals to a lot of peoples' taste 
for snobbery and self-importance. You know: someone who designs posters 
for metals bands is an artist, while someone who edits commercials for 
an ad agency is a corporate drone. The guy who makes wall mosaics with 
pottery is more an artist than an computer game designer. Thing is, for 
every creative community, you need an audience. So why disparage people 
who have taste merely because they don't create the same kinds of things 
that artists-- real or imagined-- create?


(Which brings up another interesting question. How do we know when a 
community qualifies as creative or not? Apparently, it's when the stuff 
they create is _commercial_ enough.)




I think the way to look at this is the way olin himself 
looks at it:



It's not a law, but it is a generally accepted principle
that more complex environments tend to be richer and more
productive and more stable than simplified environments, he
reflects. Monocultures are unstable. Diversified
environments are more stable -- you can see it in oceans,
you can see it in forests, you can see it in cities.



and mitchell gordon (the urban planning journalist) was 
writing letters to uc review to say this:



Agencies campaigning to bring in more students and the
Creative Class to this city must take initiatives to
preserve and extend affordble housing, no matter how small
the initial stepSo many of the people who kept American
cities alive and creative through dark decades, when capital
abandoned the city, have become victims of capital's recent
triumphant return to the city. Let's give this next
generation of talent a fighting changce to creatively
prosper in this city.



we're all inter-connected here, even if you or I are not 
bohemian and even if you or I are in a position to shrug 
while newcomers who can't afford it need to move on. and I 
think we could all pause and wonder what would have happened 
if laurie olin, back in 1976, had not been able to find that 
space on market street over a bar next to a strip joint 
opposite a bus station.


we may never know -- but there are people (including olin) 
who are saying look, when it comes to cities, one thing we 
do know is that we shouldn't be stacking the deck.



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Re: [UC] Dock Street and other eateries


[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
Speaking of eateries, I'm still looking for just the right one for my 1500 sf 
commercial space at 4800 Baltimore Ave.   Has anyone on the list always had a 
dream of opening a restaurant?   And it would help if you're a good cook, and 
if you have the resources to build a kitchenor maybe you have a friend 
who'd like to do this?   I get phone calls all the time about the space, but 
many folks want to turn it into something that will not be a lively (as in Jane 
Jacobs' Death  Life of Great American Cities) use on our Baltimore Avenue 
main streetcontractor's office, studio space, social services, day 
careall commendable endeavors, but we are looking for a restaurantemail me off 
list.




melani, it may be your wish to have an eatery at your space 
on 4800 baltimore, but I wouldn't be using jane jacobs as a 
reason to exclude other options. what she meant by 'lively' 
is what olin means by complex, diversified environments -- 
streets where different activities are going on at different 
times of the day, where different kinds of activities 
'dovetail' to create a true mix and mosaic of people, a 
dynamic ebb and flo...


given that there are already any number of eateries 
enlivening baltimore ave, you might do well to consider 
other uses that 'fill in the missing gaps'-- if, as you say, 
you're really interested in keeping balitimore avenue 
'lively.' it may be that this other use would bring more 
traffic at different hours than eateries, or different kinds 
of people, or provide functions that would compliment, 
rather than duplicate, those of restaurants. it may be that 
this other use would then bring a need for new businesses 
nearby that otherwise wouldn't come... etc. etc.


one fun thing to try is google map. go to google and type in 
'48th st and baltimore ave philadelphia', and when you see 
the map click on it to enlarge it, and once you're at the 
big map of 48th and baltimore click on 'find businesses' at 
the top. you'll then get a search box where you can type in 
all sorts of stuff (pizza, shoes, daycare, offices, plants) 
to see what's around 48th and baltimore and what's not 
around 48th and baltimore.




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Re: [UC] The Gordon letter and Brook book


Kyle Cassidy wrote:
 
Glenn, whose sole artistic venture, as far as I know, has

been announcing that he'd be drawing a large FUCK UCD
sign and then not following through with it, bought up
properties in our degenerate hizzle when they were cheap,
rennovated them, and rents them to Penn students while
freaking out about gentrification and soaring rents on
the list -- that Glenn?



no, silly, not that glenn. the glenn who posed like a 
sandwich board in a photo promoting ucd. the creative, 
artistic, intelligent glenn!



:-b

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Re: [UC] Diddy's Amish Roots

2007-07-26 Thread UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN

UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN wrote:

here, have another:

http://www.upenn.edu/ARG/archive/mennonites/index.html

[at the arthur ross gallery, penn campus]

Ross Bender wrote:

Thanks for the heads up, Ray. Looks like these are photos of a branch
called the Old Colony Mennonites. Since Amish and Mennonites don't have
anything better to do for excitement, they indulge themselves in a game
called Church Split. The OC Mennos are a very tiny splinter group
found in Canada and especially Mexico, where they have fallen on hard times and
where some at least engage in smuggling marijuana to Canada. There was a

sensational cover article in the Canadian magazine Saturday Night back in
April 2004 titled The Mennonite Mob. They even have a godfather.

http://www.caj.ca/mediamag/awards2005/(Andrew%20Mitrovica)%20Saturday%20Night%20Magazine.htm

For a scholarly article on their background from The Mennonite Encyclopedia:

http://www.gameo.org/index.asp?content=http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/O533ME.html

[this has been a Mennonite History Moment]

well, ross, I got to put the finishing touches on today:

http://tinyurl.com/2679lp

exhibit opens july 31, but the opening reception to meet the
artist is on sept 11. the photos look amazing, as do the
people in them. good explanatory text, too.

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Re: [UC] Photos from the orchestra in the park

2007-07-25 Thread UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN


B Andersen wrote:

Though its not in the online edition 
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local,

did anyone else see the photos of the conductor and the orchestra in
Monday's Local News section of the Inky?



well, I haven't been paying attention to the orchestra 
photos, but I did think it was interesting to see how two 
newspapers handled gutmann and blackwell's first photo-op 
since the ucd scandal:



from the dp:

http://media.collegepublisher.com/media/paper882/stills/q83yo8sz.png


from the uc review:

http://www.ucreview.com/clients/ucreview/7-25-2007-10-59-59-AM-10475212.jpg



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Re: [UC] not true public

2007-07-25 Thread UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN


Anthony West wrote:


Fascinating, Ray. Truly thought-provoking. Thank you very much.

Fond though I am of park planning, and eager though I am to suck up to 
landscape architects in public if it'll shave 3% off their final bill 
... still I suspect one reason Needle Park is no longer a crime-ridden 
vortex is not because it has been renewed as Bryant Park, but 
because the entire island of Manhattan has been relentlessly gentrified 
by overwhelming market forces over the past 15 years, if I read 
correctly between the lines of my New Yorkers. So it may be a case of 
planning following, rather than preceding, demographic changes in the 
neighborhood. Still fasinating, though.



according to the bryant park website:

1974  -  park designated as 'scenic landmark'

1979  -  park overrun by dope dealers

1980  -  masterplan by Heiskell and Biederman
 (founders, Bryant Park Restoration Corp, a BID)

1988  -  city agencies approve BPRC's masterplan (drafted
 by Hanna/Olin Ltd)

1992  -  park re-opened to lavish praise, including that of
 the business community, whose assessments helped
 fund the renewal and now benefit from higher rents
 and property values

late
 90s  -  lunchtime crowds of 4000


- - - - -


this raises an interesting question: given that our cities 
are no longer in a comparable 'abandoned, crisis mode' of 
the 60s and 70s, should these BID models still apply? should 
new ones be developed? why should we consider a BID now that 
we're near the end of the first decade of the 21st century? 
with gentrification abounding, and cities thriving and 
pulsing with all this new life and vigor?




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Re: [UC] not true public

2007-07-25 Thread UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN


Ross Bender wrote:
Public parks, to wax poetic, are the living, breathing hearts of cities. 
But all of them are artificial creations. How can any of them be in fact true

public?



hmm... maybe it's not a question of artificiality, but 
rather who's making the public space the living, breathing 
public space it is, whose public space the living, breathing 
public space belongs to... and based on what george thomas 
was saying, it sounds like people have a strong, almost 
instinctive, sense of that. New York folks are smart, says 
former New York City planning commissioner Ron Shiffman. 
They know where they're wanted and know where they're not 
wanted.




Opponents of the Atlantic Yards project don't really fear
that its open space will be commandeered by heroin
addicts; they worry that a design executed on behalf of a
single developer will tacitly tell average Brooklynites
to stay away. Their frustration is deepened by a
perceived dearth of transparency and public dialogue. In
contrast to the well-received citizen forums that helped
to shape the design for Bryant Park, Ratner has been
accused of riding roughshod over his critics in Brooklyn.
(A recent non-disclosure agreement between his company
and the Olin Partnership prevents the display of site
plans and drawings in this story.)

New York folks are smart, says former New York City
planning commissioner Ron Shiffman. They know where
they're wanted and know where they're not wanted.

Shiffman sits on the advisory board of Develop Don't
Destroy Brooklyn, along with longtime New Yorker staff
writer Philip Gourevitch, former Major League pitcher and
author Jim Bouton, and several dozen other notable locals
who oppose Ratner's plans. Early drawings that depict the
demapping of some streets--the ultimate public space--to
increase greenery and pedestrian corridors inside the
development are part of what has Shiffman and his allies
exercised.

Olin is very talented. I wouldn't in any way want to
diminish his stature or the quality of what he is doing,
he continues, but the open space, while beautifully
designed, it's really courtyards of buildings, not really
public space.

There is a degree of irony here. The newfound confidence
in big American cities is at least partially the legacy
of privately funded successes like Olin's watershed
intervention in Bryant Park--not to mention the design of
Battery Park City, London's Canary Wharf, and Penn's West
Philadelphia campus. Where once was abandonment, there is
now vigor and gentrification. By that metric, Olin has
earned the right to be self-assured--maybe even to the
point of thinking that he and Gehry can make up for their
client's perceived shortcomings. Yet if superlative
design has had a hand in bringing contemporary downtowns
to some kind of tipping point, it now has to respond to a
new set of circumstances.

“You really have to worry about whether what you're
doing, even if it's for a private corporation, is the
right thing for the greater public good, Olin says,
voicing that landscape-architecture melancholy again. And
what that means in terms of publicly accessible open
space is a hard thing to fathom.





I forgot to include the url of the article--

   http://www.upenn.edu/gazette/0707/feature1.html

-- it's definitely worth reading in its entirety. to be 
sure, it does touch upon all those difficult questions 
involved -- when do ends justify means, whose vision is 
superior, should consumerism trump citizenship, when do 
design models become outdated, whose goals/needs are really 
being met -- but I'll leave it to you to guess who wins in 
the end.


the article, btw, is entitled Mr. Olin's Neighborhood

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[UC] not true public

2007-07-23 Thread UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN

the latest issue of penn's alumni magazine (the pennsylvania 
gazette) has a fascinating cover story on laurie olin, 
penn's renowned landscape architect, and the field of 
landscape architecture -- its place in the public sphere.


olin's projects over the years include the barcelona olympic 
village, los angeles' getty center, penn's college green, 
manhattan's bryant park, and philly's independence mall. his 
latest project, his most ambitious and in partnership with 
frank gehry, is to transform 22 acres in brooklyn into a 
mixed use development called atlantic yards, a controversial 
project that would make it 'twice as dense as the most 
crowded census tract in the country' and which is strongly 
opposed by 'half the leading lights in brooklyn' who see it 
as a 'creeping corporate usurpation of the public realm.'


the article goes on to describe the increasingly 
sociological approach to landscape architecture, and how 
that entails growing tensions between the needs of the 
public and the vision of the designer, between elected 
municipalities and corporations, between process and outcomes...


and then I read this passage, which I thought captured what 
so many of us have been talking about wrt ucd, ucd's nid, 
clark park, the vision of the anointed, citizenship as 
consumerism, etc.:





[Olin:] Part of our social obligation is to make places that are
safe and supportive of human activity, and in many cases
are background for other things. Sometimes the people
should be the flowers.

There is no better example of this essentially
sociological approach to design than the renewal of
Bryant Park. Situated in midtown Manhattan behind the New
York Public Library, the four-block courtyard had by 1980
become a crime-ridden vortex of urban abandonment
popularly known as Needle Park.

It was dangerous, Olin remembers. It was run-down.
People weren't putting money into it. People were afraid
to go into it. It was deteriorating. People were killed
there.

It is not often that society turns to a landscape
architect in hopes of preventing the murder of its
citizens, but Hanna/Olin's final design helped to turn
one of the city's most frightening places into one of the
safest and most popular. Their approach struck some as
paradoxical. By stripping away the barriers that
protected the park from the bustle of traffic on its
edges, they aimed to turn what had been conceived as a
peaceful respite from urban life into a busy focal point
of it. Forsaking grand gestures and concentrating instead
on tiny details like balustrades and folding chairs, they
refashioned Bryant Park stitch by stitch.

At first glance, the park looks almost the same, just a
cleaner, fresher version of the old, architecture critic
Paul Goldberger wrote in The New York Times. But the
cumulative effect of small changes is to render it a
dramatically different place, vastly more open than
before, more tied to the street and the city around it.

Here there was another level of paradox, for Hanna/Olin's
success in restoring the urban qualities of Bryant Park
stemmed from the partial commercialization of what had
previously been purely public space. The redevelopment
had been underwritten by the privately funded Bryant Park
Restoration Corporation, one of the first examples of
what are now commonly known as Business Improvement
Districts. By effectively taking over the municipal
government's responsibility for managing the park, the
BPRC won the privilege to use it as a venue for
entertainment programming, restaurant concessions, and
the like. Hanna/Olin's disciplined design was a critical
piece of this new vision.

In a sense, it tells you that it's controlled, that it's
not 'true public,' says George Thomas. It's sort of
like a mall, or the mall as a public space but under
private control. And as a result, people are expected to
behave in a certain way. You could almost make the case
that Bryant Park is a highly corporatized landscape, and
in its lack of freedom it tells you what it expects of
you.





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Re: [UC] human resources

2007-07-23 Thread UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN


[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
By the way, one of the complaints was that it took them too long and 
we weren't continually updated.  In response, you've been organizing a 
task force, but it's been weeks already, and we haven't had updates 
for days, and it doesn't seem to have even finished establishing what 
it wants to do!  The list didn't give the UCD the benefit of the doubt 
when it took them some time to work their way through their 
responsibilities with John - what if the same complaints were being 
leveled at the task force?  Wouldn't that be fair?




UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN wrote:
I'm pretty sure it was announced here that there's a committee meeting 
tonight. tony west is chairing it, I believe.




any minutes or notes from last week's meeting?



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Re: [UC] How park planning really works


Anthony West wrote:
Co-option did not occur in this case, since UCD introduced no agenda for 
the park that FoCP did not wholeheartedly support in the first place.



hahaha thanks for clarifying that the co-option in this case 
was conscious, rather than unwitting.


but we already knew that. from focp's website:



As of this writing (November 25 [2006]), we've had a public meeting to
present the first outline of action. We're still waiting to get
illustrative materials from Simone/Collins and UCD, but here's something
to get started with.

By the mid-1990s, FoCP had been working for ten years on maintenance, and
needed a new Master Plan. UCD was in a position to give us direction, and
a stakeholders meeting was assembled. UCD held small meetings at first
with USP, police. etc. UCD came back, and said You have three challenges:
Maintenance, which is a 24-7 problem. Infrastructure: sidewalks,
playground, trees. And Quality of Life (programming): loose dogs, trash
from events, noise from events, urination, and worse.

With that, UCD also suggested an approach. Clean the place up. UCD
suggested holding a yearly fundraiser for maintenance, and to show major
funders that we can clean this place up. Thus began the Party for the Park
in 2000. This party is held every year, to raise money for maintenance.

Once that was established, UCD helped us write a request to the William
Penn Foundation to do planning process. We asked for $20K, we got $50K. We
put together a bigger group of stakeholders and tried to pull in all
components of community. We chose thd design firm Simone/Collins, and
started the process. S/C collected documentation, hired a consultant to
interview stakeholders. Surveys went out into community.

In Park A, there is an emphasis on how the park brings people together.
Proposals include improvements to the Farmer'Market area, the seating
around Dickens and the Gettysburg stone. We need to create a gathering
chess space in the center of park, and a climbable statue. UCD found funds
to perform tree census by Morris Arboretum. Chris Leswing led this
process.

Clark Park is used more than ever before. Through our combined efforts,
it's in better shape than ever, but there are problems. During rainstorms,
water accumulates because of drainage problems. Electrical systems are
outdated, and the pathways are worn out. It is vital that we take steps
now. The plan presents concepts, but we need to take other steps: thanks
to a grant from UCD and the FoCP. Simone Collins was hired to present a
plan.  



and now, five years later, focp is busy staging meetings 
demonstrating community buy-in for ucd's agenda, and tony 
west, who tells us I know nothing and I judge nobody 
gratuitously smears fenton in the philly record while 
performing as an apologist for ucd and its proposed bid. 
meanwhile, everyone but tony west is befuddled!



..
UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN
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Re: [UC] human resources


[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
By the way, one of the complaints was that it took them too long and we 
weren't continually updated.  In response, you've been organizing a task 
force, but it's been weeks already, and we haven't had updates for days, 
and it doesn't seem to have even finished establishing what it wants to 
do!  The list didn't give the UCD the benefit of the doubt when it took 
them some time to work their way through their responsibilities with 
John - what if the same complaints were being leveled at the task 
force?  Wouldn't that be fair?



I'm pretty sure it was announced here that there's a 
committee meeting tonight. tony west is chairing it, I believe.


also, I believe some of the complaints about ucd's 
'communication' about all this was that ucd wasn't making 
its statements public (not publishing them on its website or 
in its publications), but was instead making statements, 
verbally, at certain neighborhood meetings.




Didn't Ray remind us last week that John, or someone 
claiming to be John, wrote to the list quite a while ago, that he would 
make a statement in a week or two in the UC Review?  I just looked at 
this weeks' issue online - I couldn't find anything. 


yep, I've been keeping a head's up about this johnfenton at 
hotmail.com, who posted here that he'd put out a statement 
shortly, in uc review. I want to see how long we go before 
hearing anything, if ever :-) ... btw, the dp has also been 
silent about this whole story, nothing appears in their 
pages after may 24. and of course we'll just have to wait 
and see how ucd tells the story in their next newsletter. 
stay tuned!



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Re: [UC] How park planning really works


Anthony West wrote:
What are you talking about, Ray? In my article I quoted John Fenton's 
employer's statement, which hardly smears Fenton but does state the 
employer's version of the issue. I also summarized Councilwoman 
Blackwell's account, which differed from UCD's. Finally, I asked Fenton 
in person to comment, and he declined to do so, thus he did not allow me 
to publish his views. A news writer can't just make up stuff to fit his 
conclusions, the way you do.


ucd's statement was: 'UCD has made numerous documented 
attempts to contact John Fenton asking him to respond to the 
matter under investigation. Our calls and letters have gone 
unanswered.' that's a statement of fact.  in your article, 
you state: 'fenton is not cooperating with the 
investigation.' that's a judgement on your part about 
fenton, not a statement of fact.  there are any number of 
legitimate reasons fenton might not have been able to 
communicate with ucd, reasons that you might not have known 
about, reasons that had nothing to do with cooperativeness. 
you might take more care, when writing for public newpapers, 
to avoid the ad hominem.




In that article, I wrote nothing at all about UCD's proposed BID, 
because it bears no relation at all to Fenton's activities or the 
subject of the story. UCD at this time is an SSD, not a BID.


your article was entitled Blackwell Battles Penn Over 
Services District: First in a Series.  at the end of the 
article we learn that it's the first in a series of articles 
about how different neighborhoods tackle the challenge of 
supplementing public services.


your next article, What's in a Bid? More Local Services or 
Just Taxes? makes the case for a 'winning bid' in mt. airy, 
and is an attempt to legitimize bids by presenting them in a 
positive way.  as we all know, the legitimacy of ucd's 
proposed bid took a big hit when the whole fenton affair 
blew up and blackwell publicly voiced her alienation with 
ucd/penn.






Yes, you, Ray Rorke, are befuddled. Q.E.D.


ergo: I can see clearly what you, tony west, cannot. how 
dependent you've become upon ucd and its proposed bid, how 
that dependency is tenaciously defended, how intimately it's 
wrapped up with your personal need to control focp...


as someone wrote earlier, the biggest converts make the best 
apostles!



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Re: [UC] Diddy's Amish Roots


Ross Bender wrote:
On the Letterman Late show on July 11, Diddy reminisced about his 
summers as a Fresh-Air Kid on an Amish farm. Yet another instance of the 
Amish/Mennonite contribution to American culture. [this has been a 
Mennonite history moment]
 
http://www.cbs.com/latenight/lateshow/wahoo/index/php/20070711.phtml  
[Act 3]





here, have another:

http://www.upenn.edu/ARG/archive/mennonites/index.html

[at the arthur ross gallery, penn campus]


..
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Re: [UC] John Fenton Postscript [Was: A UCD world record]

2007-07-16 Thread UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN



[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
Everyone  treats as gospel the spin that John Fenton was a loose cannon 
employee  that was solely respnsible for wrongdoing. 



Al Krigman wrote:

I beg to disagree with the word everyone.
 
Many of us reserved judgement on whether there was any wrongdoing at all,  
let alone who was responsible.
 
There was supposed to be an internal investigation -- of which neither  the 
methodology nor the conclusions have been released. So all we have to go on  
is what Wendell Lewis said in his initial prepared statement and later in his  
e-mail interview with the UCReview. And the statements in the interview  
certainly call into question:
1.  Whether the allegations made had any basis in fact, or -- if they did 
--  to what extent; 
2.  The degree to which any actual blame should have been shouldered by 
the  nominal CEO for an organizational culture and framework that didn't  
provide direction as to what was an wasn't proper -- where there was and  wasn't a 
policy -- and whether the need for such a thing could reasonably have  been 
anticipated beforehand. 
3.  Whether Councilwoman Blackwell, who any thoughtful person would know 
was  in contact with John, could have been called upon to mediate between UCD 
and  John.
So, was there wrongdoing? And if so, who should bear the responsibility?  
Maybe some people who, for their own reasons, want to absolve UCD as an  
organization want to find a scapegoat and let the rest of them walk away clean.  
Many of us haven't distorted the concept of American Justice anywhere near this  
badly.



karen wrote that 'everyone treats as gospel the spin 
that...' -- ie, she was talking in part about the public's 
perception of what's been published in the papers.


and in this situation we have read various people 
contributing--publicly, in the papers--to this spin:


  - gar joseph describing in the may 16 daily news that 
john fenton had directed penn student luke walker to load a 
truck on friday and to set up for a rally in malcolm x park 
the next day.


  - heather schwedel reporting in the may 24 dp that john 
fenton was supervising the community service effort in 
which penn grad students luke walker and jeff doto were 
instructed to set up for the event, which included t-shirts 
and posters supporting knox's mayoral run.


  - nicole contosa in the may 23 uc review reporting that 
according to walker, the director of the ucd, lewis 
wendell, 'said he didn't know anything about it,' and that 
the order to set up the rally had come from john fenton


  - tony west stating in the jun 14 philly public record 
that fenton was not cooperating with the investigation.


  - wendell stating in his interview in the jun 27 uc 
review that john fenton directed the activities of the ucd 
employees and resources as well as the activities of the 
community service and commmunity court workers at the 
malcolm x park event. in addition, the investigation 
determined that he was involved in and directed other 
activities involving a misuse of ucd resources and 
violations of several ucd policies...



etc. etc.


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Re: [UC] How park planning really works

2007-07-16 Thread UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN


Anthony West wrote:
What an odd, and dishonest, way of putting it. More thoroughly and more 
accurately:


Here we are, five years later. Thanks to the Clark Park Partnership's 
Renewal Plan, since 2001 we have been able to get a new tot lot and a 
new older kid's playground installed side by side. Next to to them, 
Labor Day 2007, we'll see a new basketball court replace the beat-up old 
one, which will include state-of-the-art groundwater runoff control for 
43rd Street as an innovative part of its design. These projects 
represent hundreds of thousands of dollars in core infrastructure 
overhaul for a beloved and heavily used, but dilapidated community park, 
that hadn't seen any big investments since 1965. Friends of Clark Park 
holds frequent public meetings whenever any substantive development in 
the Recreation Dept.'s Renewal Plan for Clark Park is afoot; we are now 
amidst a wave of meetings to discuss important changes in the North Park.


Rec Commissioner Victor Richard stated one thing that persuaded him to 
throw his weight behind funding the full cost of the basketball court 
(the Commonwealth grant Rec had wangled came up short) was the existence 
of the Renewal Plan. Big grantors like big plans. Devising the Renewal 
Plan was the smartest thing this community ever did, to try to get its 
fair share of funds from all sources.


Friends of Clark Park Members were disappointed when Fairmount Park 
Commission, responding to Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell's vital 
intercession, took out one tree we didn't want to lose, along with three 
dead trees that were a public danger. But FoCP has planted 100 new trees 
since 2001, so the overall health of the park's urban forest is vastly 
improved.


FoCP members were surprised when UCD reseeded the Bowl. But no sane 
person expects to be in total control of a complex partnership with half 
a dozen major players. Furthermore, nobody is actually *opposed to* 
growing grass in the park, and it wasn't done on the members' dime. So 
the members pitched in to help make the project work.


This year, FoCP will actively facilitate four different groups staging 
concerts in Clark Park, in addition to our own: Best Fest, Clark Park 
Music  Arts, UCD and Woodland Avenue Reunion. We are linked by a web of 
crossover membership, so there is no us vs. them. Then we go and watch 
all the shows and enjoy them.


FoCP went for 30 years without UCD. Adding UCD to the mix has 
strengthened the hand of park supporters and made it possible for them 
to accomplish more of their own agenda.


UC-list just read two FoCP members, Matt and I, testify with great 
clarity and mutual agreement about the climactic park events of 2002. 
Each of us is better informed than Ray and his now-vanished Lois Lane 
from the Daily Penn of that year. We don't recall co-option because 
neither Matt nor I were co-opted and we haven't witnessed co-option of 
FoCP by anybody since 2002.


Anybody who wants to learn more about any of this will find FoCP 
members, directors and officers easy to reach and easy to talk to in 
person. A lot of times we like to hang out around a table at the Green 
Line. So unless you think meeting with someone in the Green Line is part 
of a sinister plot by hidden powers to rule the world, starting at 43rd 
 Baltimore, do it! Call any of us up and we'll arrange it.


When I said you were befuddled on this subject, Ray, I meant it. I don't 
mean you aren't smart, or don't work hard at your writings. But you 
haven't learned the basics of an issue that you still feel a shrill, 
repetitive, angry urge to pass judgement on.




the ucd's co-option of focp, like any co-option, doesn't 
happen in one fell swoop, it's a process. thanks for 
demonstrating that so nicely here!



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Re: [UC] Re-use, Recycle and Rave

2007-07-16 Thread UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN


Elizabeth F Campion wrote:


I had amazing experiences with TRASH this week.

I turned to the computer, to help sort through my altered mental state
and stumbled on a link to some amazing, thought provoking Art.
http://www.chrisjordan.com/current_set2.php?id=?view=XXX_09NNN/ 




awesome find, liz.

reminds me a little of this photographic essay:

   http://tinyurl.com/23xtt3


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Re: [UC] A UCD world record

2007-07-15 Thread UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN


[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
And what about your claim that it took place over two days, Ray?   That seems 
like totally new information to me, also.   Will you please share your source 
with us?




the original story in the may 16 daily news reported that 
ucd workers were used in this incident from friday may 11 to 
saturday may 12, the day of the rally. the may 23 uc review 
story reported the same thing. so did the may 24 dp article.



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Re: [UC] A UCD world record

2007-07-15 Thread UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN


Kyle Cassidy wrote:

So loading a truck with bbq grills is illegal or
unethical? The only thing the Daily News called into
question was: On Saturday, the workers ... were
instructed to set up for the event, which included
T-shirts and posters supporting Knox's mayoral run. So
Lewis is supposed to look in the back of a truck and say
Sweet Barking Cheese! There are BBQ grills in here!
Fenton's gone off the rails! I'd better stop this
madness!





sweet barking cheese, kyle! after reading all the news 
reports, how much imagination do you need to realize that 
fenton didn't need to report to wendell what he'd been doing 
on friday may 11 with ucd workers, student workers, ucd 
trucks, and garages outside of university city; that ucd 
workers didn't need to report to wendell what they'd been 
doing saturday may 12 setting up a knox rally in a park 
outside of ucd's boundaries; that nobody involved needed to 
report to wendell on sunday, monday or tuesday what they'd 
been doing -- so that when the story broke in the daily news 
on wednesday wendell was completely surprised and the may 23 
uc review reported that he 'didn't know anything about it'? 
how much imagination do you need, after all that, to realize 
that something besides your sweet barking cheese was rotten 
over at 3940 chestnut?



btw, do we know the fate of the other ucd workers involved?

fenton's position is now posted on ucd's website, though 
it's not clear who this manager would report to.



http://www.ucityphila.org/about/position

 Director of Operations, University City District

 The University City District, a non-profit, special
 services district in West Philadelphia seeks a motivated
 and experienced manager. The Director of Operations is
 responsible for coordinating and directing the District’s
 cleaning and public safety operations employing 80 to 90
 people covering a 2.2 square mile area of the City.

 The position requires a person with the skills to develop
 collaborative relationships with City agencies, local
 institutions and civic groups in an effort to improve
 public safety and public space maintenance. Community
 outreach and contract management responsibilities are
 equally important.

 The ideal candidate will have a degree in business
 administration, public administration, facility
 management or operations and a minimum of 5 years of
 progressively responsible experience. A combination of
 training and experience may be substituted for a college
 degree.

 Salary range: $55,000 to $65,000 per annum plus generous
 benefits.

 Resume and cover letter to Maggie Langdon, UCD 3940
 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104 or
 Maggie at ucityphila.org by July 27, 2007.

 No phone calls




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Re: [SPAM] Re: [UC] How park planning really works


Glenn wrote:
Thanks for confirming that the FOCP members were told in 2001 that there 
would be opportunities for further participation before the UCD plan 
would be implemented. That is in fact very important.


I'm actually much more accepting of what final outcomes would be 
approved for Clark park than you.  I seem to be much more concerned than 
you about the defective process and the refusal of FOCP/UCD to be 
transparent and include stakeholders.


My opinions about the bathroom and basketball court are very important 
because I'm smart and want what is best for us all.  But I would be 
happy with whatever the community thought best if there was something 
remotely close to a responsible process for community inclusion.


A responsible process would also demand that FOCP/UCD leaders must give 
honest details and information.  It cannot demand that some lucky few 
can have lunch with them instead of producing these details to us. And 
it cannot post false or misleading information publicly and have my 
trust or, I believe, the trust of others.


It can not bar people from participating and attack their character to 
justify it.  It cannot allow leaders to bully some using the 
organization position as a justification. It would demand that FOCP/UCD 
honestly attempt to announce and invite the entire community to its 
meetings, process, and information.  It's not hard, but FOCP/UCD refuses 
a responsible process.


I'm sorry you can't see how contentious recent posts have been and how 
it relates back to the very times we have both attempted to describe.  
This is deliberate UCD divisiveness used to pit neighbor against 
neighbor playing out.  UCD wants its agenda championed and Penn 
operatives know that this divide and conquer strategy is the most 
expedient path. They simply don't care about the effect as it ripples 
through the community..  You saw the seriousness of the process problems 
then, but not now.


No need to reply.  Thanks again.



and here we are, 5 years later, with focp staging meetings 
to demonstrate community buy-in for ucd's park plan, with 
focp members puzzled by big trees being cut down, surprised 
by re-seeding the bowl, with focp watching ucd stage 
concerts in the bowl, with focp unable to go for even one 
year without ucd. meanwhile no one at focp can remember 
clearly how all this co-option by ucd actually happened, and 
everyone inside and outside focp -- with the exception of 
one person -- is befuddled...


focp seriously needs an overhaul.


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Re: [UC] A UCD world record


Anthony West wrote:
If an Amoroso bread truck man is discovered by a newspaper to be selling 
drugs out of the back of his truck without the knowledge or assistance 
of Amoroso higherups, then this is not an act of wrongdoing *by* 
Amoroso. The clock starts ticking on the question of corporate 
corruption after corporate management was demonstrably aware of the 
problem.


Field personnel for UCD are in a comparable position. The clock starts 
ticking on Wendell after he is notified by somebody of a potential 
problem with Fenton. That is the earliest hour at which corruption can 
begin.


The same with the safety ambassador who was busted for burglary. That 
was an act of wrongdoing by the employee, not wrongdoing by the employer.


Was it negligence by the employer? Arguably. But I don't know if there 
are any industry-wide standards in the safety ambassador biz. It is 
*not* police work, you know. It sounds like this agency learned from 
this experience and decided to change its policy.


I have personal doubts about even the wisdom of that, though. A real 
problem in working-class West Philadelphia is a large number of men with 
criminal records who find it hard to get straight employment. I would 
want a community-service agency around here to show some compassion and 
cut people some slack, as that in the long run may do more to reduce 
crime than the crack-down-on-ex-cons policy you are advocating, Ray. 
Things that make sense on Locust Walk may have unintended consequences 
on 52nd St. I'm not even sure Councilwoman Blackwell would agree with 
you on this one. She has a warm heart.


I don't have an answer to this one. Glad I'm not the one hiring them.




the breadtruck analogy above is misapplied. for example, in 
the malcolm x park incident, fenton did not act alone, and 
the event took place over 2 days.


an organization where wrongdoings can happen, repeatedly, 
and under the nose of its administration, has, evidently, 
little in its structure to ensure accountability, little to 
ensure its employees will speak up, little to ensure that 
wrongdoing is addressed BEFORE it reaches the press. that's 
why we say then that the *organization* is corrupt. if we 
want to define corruption as possibly occurring only after 
an employee is caught red-handed by a newspaper or an 
administrator, then we should all be glad we're not the ones 
doing any hiring!


perhaps curio theater could stage a production of hamlet in 
clark park one of these fine summer evenings, so that people 
can see for themselves what a corrupt organization looks 
like and how it works: how everyone in the organization is 
subjected to playing along, wittingly or unwittingly, how 
it's all business as usual -- until a university student 
opens his mouth.



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[UC] Re: Penn


Vincent/Roger wrote:
Oh, and by the way, Penn is also about maximizing revenue for Penn and 
minimizing costs to Penn.
I was just wondering why my credit card bill for a visit to the Vet 
School emergency room for my dog was labelled Educational Expense.   
Just wondering; maybe Ray can tell me.




sorry, roger, I honestly have no idea what 'educational 
expense' means here, I've never taken my dog to penn vet. 
maybe it means that you learned something from your visit? 
or that whoever treated your dog was a student? :-)


[hope your dog's ok. it's true that much of penn operates -- 
internally and externally -- on a business model, not as an 
altruistic charity, and this bang-for-buck awareness extends 
into non-profit academic and community programs as well. 
when it comes to transactions with the neighborhood, I 
believe it's all under the rubric of 'enlightened 
self-interest' -- and you don't have to work at penn to see 
examples of it all around us: the penn alexander school, 
penn's elder care facility, penn's ucd, penn's real estate 
holdings, penn's mortgage program, etc. etc.]



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Re: [UC] A UCD world record


UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN wrote:

the breadtruck analogy above is misapplied. for
example, in the malcolm x park incident, fenton did not
act alone, and the event took place over 2 days.




Kyle Cassidy wrote:

What on earth are you talking about? who else was
involved? The newspaper article, the ONLY source of this
allegation mentions two Penn kids and John -- who were at
a rally / community picnic that Tom Knox was at,
according to councilwoman Blackwell, for fifteen minutes.
Where in the world are you getting two days??? Where
are you getting Fenton did not act alone? Who else was
at the park and what's your source? The article only
mentions John, it doesn't say John called Lewis and said
'I'm taking some kids over to the Knox rally to perform
some illegal campaign work like we do all the time, I'll
be back at 3:00.' It doesn't mention a conspiracy
between John and the rest of UCD. If you have any
evidence to the contrary, what is it? Where did it come
from?




other ucd employees were involved. did you not read that in 
the 23 may issue of uc review? page 4:



According to Walker [the student], UCD employees also
helped set up the rally. The UCD does a lot of
legitimate events, so the workers probably didn't even
know the difference, adds Walker.



http://tinyurl.com/ysac5z


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Re: [UC] A UCD world record

2007-07-12 Thread UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN


Bill Sanderson wrote:

Any organization I've ever been part of that has been around for some
reasonable length of time has had an employee do things they should 
not have done. 
That doesn't make the organization corrupt, unless it covers the 
situation up and does nothing about it.  That isn't what happened here.


what happened here is that the daily news uncovered an act 
of wrong-doing. and wendell went to uc review and said that 
fenton was guilty of that and more -- under his leadership. 
(prior to that, may 23, he had told the uc review that he 
didn't know anything about it.) it's not the first time 
ucd leadership was negligent, not the first time it took a 
newspaper report to expose ucd wrong-doing.



http://tinyurl.com/2ovtoc


9/8/05 Uniformed U. City worker held in string of
burglaries Incident prompts closer look at hiring,
background checks by ANDREW WHITNEY

One of the men arrested in connection with a string of
summer thefts has been identified as an employee of the
local organization responsible for helping clean the
neighborhood and reduce crime.

Crew Warrenton, who was arrested last week, reportedly
has a lengthy criminal record and several convictions.
Penn Police officials say they have tied him to at least
three of the summer's burglaries.

The arrest raises questions about the hiring practices of
the University City District, which had not performed
criminal background checks on its maintenance employees,
which are hired by a subcontractor.

Penn Police Patrol Captain Joseph Fischer said that
Warrenton was caught Aug. 28 after witnesses near the
intersection of 41st Street and Baltimore Avenue saw him
entering a residence and became suspicious. At the time,
he was on duty and wearing his yellow UCD maintenance
uniform




- - - - - - - -


I'll let the IRS decide what is against their policies.  There is some
distance between an organization recognizing that something crossed 
over a line, and the entity who establishes that line taking action on the
transgression.  I doubt that the IRS will take action unless they feel 
that the UCD did this knowingly, and didn't take any action to prevent

recurrence.  And in my opinion, neither of these is true.


it's immaterial whether the irs takes action or not to 
establish, as wendell did in the uc review, that ucd was in 
violation of irs policy. according to wendell in the uc 
review, fenton was guilty of having violated irs policy, of 
using ucd resources to endorse a political candidate, of 
participating in a political campaign. you and I and the irs 
have no need to scratch our heads about that, no need to 
squint and figure out where the line is drawn.




- - - - - - - -


Blackwell has gained an excellent staff member--one who will help her
constituents and get her votes because of the effectiveness of her 
office. I'm sure she doesn't like how that happened, but I doubt that she will 
stay mad for long.  



blackwell has gained a ucd insider, fenton. and wendell 
chose to publicly vilify fenton. I expect people will do the 
math.


http://www.citypaper.net/articles/2007/07/12/an-act-of-war



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Re: [UC] How park planning really works

2007-07-12 Thread UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN


Anthony West wrote:
No, Ray, it's the opposite of your point. When putting together a large 
team of partners, none of which by itself is adequate to the task at 
hand, one always seeks as much money from as many partners as possible. 
No rational agent will exclude any responsible donor for any reason. 
UCD's agenda is just as good as Citizens Bank's agenda or DCNR's agenda, 
provided it can be fit into the park's agenda. FoCP will sock 'em all 
for every penny they're worth, thank them all sincerely, and go out 
looking for more.


But no minority agenda can *change* a consensus agenda like this 
dramatically. So it is impossible for Clark Park's overall agenda ever 
to become UCD's agenda unless UCD's agenda already largely agrees with 
the agendas of the other players.


As for your five-year-old news clipping below, I notice you were careful 
not to tell us it was from ... the Daily Penn! The undergraduate 
on-campus paper. Ray, I gotta ask, what is it with you and the DP? You 
talk more about the college kids' paper than everybody else on UC-list 
put together. Did you work for it when you were an undergrad?


In this case, the college kid seems befuddled, as far west as 43rd St. 
She mislabeled the Revitalization Master Plan UCD's plan. Probably 
that was a common misconception in the neighborhood at that time. The 
renewal plan was only seven months old (that meeting took place in 
January 2002, not November as you report) and most people were as 
confused then by the structure of a complex partnership as you are today.


But it was not UCD's plan then any more than it is today. The plan 
belonged to three partners: the Dept. of Recreation, Friends of Clark 
Park and University City District. It was developed in conjunction with 
18 other organizations. It was paid for by a grant from the William Penn 
Foundation. Eddie R. Battle Assoc. organized the public meetings. Simone 
Jaffe Collins Landscape Architecture developed the plan


Too much for the Penn reporter to get into her story, I suppose. She was 
merely reporting what people who didn't know much about the renewal plan 
thought it was. So it isn't a very good source of information about the 
plan itself, is it? For that, you would have to interview someone who 
helped formulate the plan. Or perhaps even read the thing yourself. You 
still can. It hasn't gone away.




haha -- all this, to convince yourself now that focp members 
didn't protest ucd's park renewal plan!


and everyone is befuddled -- except you, tony west!


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Re: [UC] Update on Free Speech

2007-07-12 Thread UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN


Dave Axler wrote:
(And did anyone besides me notice that in the process of denouncing 
Penn's corporate plutocracy, Glenn was effectively plugging their 
wholly-owned station -- which still operates, courtesy of Penn, under an 
educational license despite its having almost no educational content 
whatsoever?)




penn is all about hearing and airing multiple viewpoints, 
all about sharing values, exchanging opinions, negotiating 
issues. it's all part of penn president amy gutmann's 
championing of the idea -- and the ideals -- of deliberative 
democracy:



http://www.upenn.edu/pennnews/current/2004/100704/also2.html


Arguing for reason in a name-calling culture

By JUDY WEST


As Amy Gutmann acknowledged Sept. 23 at the Penn
Bookstore, deliberative democracy is not a phrase that
trips off the tongue easily. But, she said, It holds out
the biggest promise for making democracy the best it can
be.

Deliberation is difficult. It requires education,
experience and good models, Gutmann said during a talk
and book signing for two of her books, Why Deliberative
Democracy? (with Dennis Thompson) and Identity in
Democracy.

Deliberation is important, Gutmann argued, because too
often we talk about difficult subjects only with people
who hold the same views. We need to be pushed to give
reasons for those views, and powerful people need to
justify their decisions and respond to the objections of
their critics. Otherwise, she said, it's just a game of
power, money and media influence.

Even in a less than friendly environment, such as the
lead-up to the war in Iraq, deliberative democracy still
made an appearance, Gutmann said. The debate wasn't one
that deliberative democrats dream about, she conceded,
but even after the war had begun and President Bush
persisted in his attempts to justify it, his opponents
continued--and still continue--with their reasoned
objection. Deliberative democracy, she said, has the
resources to support continuing challenges.

Education, said Gutmann, is the key to fruitful
deliberation. For an uneducated audience, as the
popularity of reality TV attests, it's a lot more
entertaining to watch people call each other names. The
challenge is to teach people ways of treating others
civilly so that you can further important causes in a
society where people will inevitably disagree.

The university setting, said Gutmann, is an excellent
case study of deliberative democracy at work. In the
end, she said, I'm responsible for my decisions, but
I'd do better in many cases to convene a diverse group to
inform me.

On the ongoing need to keep the discussion going, Gutmann
cited her favorite New Yorker cartoon, which shows a
small boy tugging on Jefferson's coat tails and asking,
If we hold these truths to be self-evident, why do you
keep carping on them so much? Because, said Gutmann, in
a democracy we need to--and we need places like Penn to
educate people to carry on those arguments with reasoned,
deliberative debate.



- - - - - - - - - - - -


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Re: Serial Liar sends misleading allegation [was: [UC] BID and the Public Record]


Melani Lamond wrote:

[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:

HAHA thanks melani! now we see what our neighborhood's
proposed bid looks like, compared to mt. airy's bid. you
couldn't have made my point any more nicely!




And your point was?   When caught providing false information, resort 
to fake laughter and pretend something else occurred?   If this email 
of yours just made any other point, can you please spell it out?




you made my point brilliantly, no need to spell it out!

what's funny (or maybe sad, or pathetic -- depending on your 
pov) is watching you and others continue trying to 
legitimize a bid for this neighborhood. penn's ucd has made 
it publicly clear that ucd has a history of corruption, that 
it is in violation of irs policy, and that it has alienated 
blackwell.



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Re: [UC] A UCD world record


Anthony West wrote:
Still less powerful are the myriad of smaller community agents such as 
UCD and various civic associations. In real life, they seldom act 
entirely in concert with each other. And there is no mastermind, no 
'Dr. No' scheming relentlessly to make every single unpleasant thing 
in town happen to you.




indeed, this is why focp has decided to go for one whole 
year without ucd money or agendas!



ROCK ON, FRIENDS OF CLARK PARK, YOU SMALL AND LESS POWERFUL 
COMMUNITY AGENT SELDOM IN CONCERT WITH UCD!!



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Re: [UC] A UCD world record


Bill Sanderson wrote:

OK - I'll take Melani's cue:  I see that you don't think much of the UCD,
but I'm skeptical about the items you listed:

---
penn's ucd has made it publicly clear that ucd has a history of corruption, 


that it is in violation of irs policy

that it has alienated blackwell.
--

These are all opinions--I don't think I understand the first one at
all--what kind of corruption are you talking about--what did they say that
made what clear?

I know your reference on the second one--has the IRS taken any action?
Opinions are one thing, actual adjudication is another.

The third one is the one I think I come closest to agreeing with you on, and
even there--I suspect that our Councilwoman will, in fact, be reconciled at
some point, when it is important to her, and her view of what her
constituents want.  All of us sometimes posture or take positions that we
later moderate--and politicians seem to do this a bit more than the average
person.  



bill, these are not opinions. they are statements lewis 
wendell made in his front-page interview in the 27 june 2007 
issue of the university city review:


http://tinyurl.com/2zcqxw

in this published interview wendell stated that ucd had used 
ucd employees and student workers to work a political rally, 
and that fenton was involved in this, and additionally in 
other inappropriate activities, activities involving misuse 
of ucd resources and violations of policies, including: 
conflict of interest (using ucd positions for private gain 
or to obtain favors); using ucd vehicles for non-job related 
activities; performing outside work or using ucd resources 
for outside work while on ucd time; violating irs guidelines 
which prohibit 501(c)3 organizations like ucd from endorsing 
political candidates or participating in a political campaign.


as to ucd's alienation with blackwell -- that was made clear 
in the pages of university city review as well. (remember, 
fenton now works for blackwell, and ucd is now in no 
position to posture or take positions, moderate or otherwise.)



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Re: [UC] A UCD world record


UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN wrote:

Anthony West wrote:
Still less powerful are the myriad of smaller community agents such 
as UCD and various civic associations. In real life, they seldom act 
entirely in concert with each other. And there is no mastermind, no 
'Dr. No' scheming relentlessly to make every single unpleasant thing 
in town happen to you.
indeed, this is why focp has decided to go for one whole year without 
ucd money or agendas!


ROCK ON, FRIENDS OF CLARK PARK, YOU SMALL AND LESS POWERFUL COMMUNITY 
AGENT SELDOM IN CONCERT WITH UCD!!




Anthony West wrote:
I believe that's also the reason why Ray Rorke has decided to go for one 
whole year entirely without Penn money or agendas!


In truth, Friends of Clark Park has received little or no funds directly 
from UCD over the years. Like any sensible non-profit public works 
association, it is in the business of encouraging donors large and small 
to put their money into the park. FoCP has partnered with the Penna. 
Dept. of Agriculture, the Penna. Dept. of Conservation and Natural 
Resources, Citizens Bank, the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, the 
City of Philadelphia and University City District, to name just a few.


Each one of these grantors has an agenda, of course. A park support 
group's mission is to bring that agenda into line with the park's own 
agenda.


Precisely because there are so many players in this game, it is 
impossible for any one of their agendas to play the dominant role that 
paranoids crave for UCD. So yes, there is Dr. No for you here, Ray. Sorry!





hahaha thanks for brilliantly making my point, tony west!

it's just as you say: with so many players in this game, and 
with ucd being such a minor player, focp has decided to go 
for one whole year without ucd money or agendas. WOO HOO!



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UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN
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SERIAL LIAR. CALL FOR RATES.
  It is very clear on this listserve who
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- - - - -

http://tinyurl.com/2vk6s3

[november 2002]
The community organization Friends of Clark Park held an 
open meeting last night to discuss the University City 
District's proposed plans to revitalize Clark Park.
The organization's members submitted two petitions to the 
Friends of Clark Park Board in August protesting the UCD's 
plan. The Friends of Clark Park will play a large role in 
conjunction with the UCD in deciding what aspects of the 
park will be changed























































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Re: [UC] John Fenton will respond shortly


John Fenton wrote:

I'm preparing a statement that should be out in the next week or so.

Sincerely,
John F. Fenton
Lifetime resident of Philadelphia




UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN wrote:

(haha -- he's RIGHT HERE, folks!)

john, where will your statement appear? onlist? in uc review?




John Fenton wrote:
 in uc review



UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN wrote:
hahaha




and again: ha


2 weeks after wendell's interview in the uc review, and all 
we've seen are front-page fluff pieces for ucd!


where are you, [EMAIL PROTECTED] ?!


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Re: [UC] BID and the Public Record

2007-07-10 Thread UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN



Doc Baldy wrote:

What I found remarkable was this:
  the Mt. Airy BID won its election without a single dissenting vote

I can't imagine anything ever happening in our hood with complete 
consensus...




Al Krigman wrote:

So, by all indications, this is a true business improvement district and
one that focuses on sidewalk cleaning in front of commercial occupancies.
Nothing at all like the now defunct UCD initiative for UC in which
apartments were arbitrarily and contrary to the stature identified as
businesses.







speaking of apples and oranges, did the article say anything 
about how the mt. airy bid was the brainchild of a large 
nearby university? or about how the mt. airy bid boundaries 
included a large nearby university which wouldn't be 
assessed? or about how those boundaries included 24 acres of 
undeveloped real estate, owned by a large nearby university?



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Re: Serial Liar sends misleading allegation [was: [UC] BID and the Public Record]

2007-07-10 Thread UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN


[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

/
In a message dated 7/10/07 12:03:30 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
/

/speaking of apples and oranges, did the article say anything
about how the mt. airy bid was the brainchild of a large
nearby university? or about how the mt. airy bid boundaries
included *a large nearby university which wouldn't be
assessed? or about how those boundaries included 24 acres of
undeveloped real estate, owned by a large nearby university?*/


If you are suggesting that this is the case in University City, you are 
speaking of apples and cheesteaks, not anything so close as oranges, Ray. 

Under the proposed University City BID, Penn's for-profit operations - 
commercial properties and rental properties - would be assessed the same 
as anyone else's for-profit operations.  When Penn develops the postal 
lands, all for-profit business and rental properties there would also 
pay, bringing additional funds to the BID. 




HAHA thanks melani! now we see what our neighborhood's 
proposed bid looks like, compared to mt. airy's bid. you 
couldn't have made my point any more nicely!



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Re: [UC] John Fenton will respond shortly

2007-07-05 Thread UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN


John Fenton wrote:
 I'm preparing a statement that should be out in the next week or so.


 Sincerely,

 John F. Fenton
 Lifetime resident of Philadelphia




UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN wrote:

(haha -- he's RIGHT HERE, folks!)

john, where will your statement appear? onlist? in uc review?




John Fenton wrote:
 in uc review





hahaha


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Re: [UC] The Daily News strikes (out) again

2007-07-05 Thread UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN

[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
It's almost unbelievable -- The DN took that crap about John Fenton
violatingUCD's code of ethics that Wendell Lewis threw in his recent interview in
the UCReview and somehow considered it gospel.

Al (It must be true, I read it in the paper) Krigman
-

Univ. City official loses post

He used community-service workers for Tom Knox rally
By BOB WARNER
[EMAIL PROTECTED] (mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]) 215-854-5885

The director of operations at the University City District, a nonprofit
community organization, has lost his job after using community-service workers to
set up a pre-election rally for mayoral candidate Tom Knox.

It didn't take long for John Fenton to find another position.

He's now on the payroll at City Council, working for Councilwoman Jannie
Blackwell as director of community activities, at $45,000. Blackwell had formed
a pre-election alliance with Knox and, in an interview with WPVI-TV, took
responsibility for the rally that cost Fenton his job.

Sources say that Blackwell pressured the University City District to give
Fenton six months' pay â€” about $34,000, under his old $68,141 annual salary â€”
in a settlement leading to his resignation.

But the councilwoman is still angry about the controversy, blaming the
University of Pennsylvania, which is the district's biggest source of money.

I am at war with Penn, Blackwell reportedly told a group of political and
community leaders two weeks ago, in a meeting at Turner Middle School. No
one even talked to me about [the district] or John Fenton.

Neither Blackwell nor Fenton has returned calls from the Daily News going
back to May 16, when the newspaper published a story based on the experience of
a Penn graduate student, Luke Walker.

Walker showed up at the district's offices last month to begin 20 hours of
community-service work. After cleaning streets for an hour or two, Walker and
others were assigned to set up barbecue grills, coolers, signs and inflatable
bounce toys at a Knox for Mayor rally at Malcolm X Park in West
Philadelphia.

It was bizarre, Walker told the Daily News. All of a sudden I found
myself working for the Tom Knox campaign and wondering, 'How did I get here?'...It
wasn't even in University City.

The district's executive director, Lewis Wendell, ordered an internal
investigation.

In an interview published last week in the University City Review, Wendell
reported that Fenton had been involved in several other activities involving
a misuse of [district] resources and violations of several [district]
policies.

Wendell said he was barred by Fenton's resignation agreement from providing
any details.

But in general, he told the Review, Fenton had violated the district's code
of ethics; policies forbidding the private use of district vehicles,
equipment or facilities; and IRS guidelines that prohibit charities from
participating in political campaigns.

yikes! what an indictment of ucd. not only have they
violated their own policies and those of the irs, they're
admitting to repeat offenses and alienation with blackwell.
it's amazing how ucd could allow this article's appearance
to follow so closely upon wendell's interview in last week's
uc review. both articles make ucd look corrupt, make
wendell's leadership look inept, expose ucd's rift with
blackwell.

yet another mishandling of the media... maybe the long
silent dp will salvage something from this mess...

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Re: [UC] Re: UCD - Lewis Wendell and His UCD Lashes Out

2007-06-30 Thread UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN


[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:

melani, when wendell was interviewed by uc review, maybe he
could have mentioned, for the readers' benefit, that fenton
works with blackwell now.



Melani Lamond wrote:
How would a statement about John's current employment have improved Lewis' 
response?   Do you think the Review should have made the statement, if 
clarification was needed?



it's simply this: ucd needs to maintain a supportive working 
relationship with blackwell as we all move forward. [you 
snipped that part out of my response above.]


two weeks ago uc review reported a serious rift between ucd 
and blackwell, between ucd and the community. in his 
interview in the uc review this week, wendell does not seem 
to have appreciated that. and now you're asking for positive 
suggestions for change, what wendell could have done to have 
a better outcome. I've suggested that wendell could have 
acknowledged -- candidly and constructively -- that fenton 
is now working for blackwell, and that it would go a long 
way towards mending bridges between ucd, blackwell and the 
community as we move forward.


it's understandable that this doesn't make sense to you if 
you believe that ucd is on bad terms with blackwell and 
fenton, but it's not clear what you do expect of wendell's 
leadership of ucd, or what you think positive suggestions 
for change look like.




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Re: [UC] John Fenton will respond shortly

2007-06-29 Thread UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN


John Fenton wrote:

I'm preparing a statement that should be out in the next week or so.

 
Sincerely,


John F. Fenton
Lifetime resident of Philadelphia





(haha -- he's RIGHT HERE, folks!)


john, where will your statement appear? onlist? in uc review?


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Re: [UC] Re: UCD - Lewis Wendell and His UCD Lashes Out


  Sharreiff Ali wrote:


*Lewis Wendell tries to bury John on the cover of today’s UC-Review*. 
...

You must read it on-line. ... *http://www.weeklypress.com/*



Craigsolv wrote:

His now public commentary reaffirms the utter ineptitude of Lewis 
Wendell's command of the UCD...




this week's uc review interviews lewis wendell in an attempt 
to 'reach out to readers' with 'candor' and 'a forthright 
manner'.  unfortunately, it backfires.


now readers get to see ucd as corrupt, inept and secretive, 
and they get to hear wendell as scripted, defensive and scared.


I wonder how many readers will get to the end of the piece 
and think, 'oh goody, a concert in the park in july! thanks 
ucd, you're so wonderful!'


amazingly, wendell burns a lot of bridges in this interview, 
most especially with blackwell. the shame is that he needn't 
have.


once again, ucd has confused publicity with advertising, and 
has mishandled both.



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Re: [UC] Re: UCD - Lewis Wendell and His UCD Lashes Out


Brian Siano wrote:

[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
 Lewis Wendell's comment, the UCD has only been working on a BID 
scenario for approximately two years is so off the mark, I can only 
assume the current UCD Board treats him as some U.S. Presidents have 
treated their chief press officers - don't give them all the facts so 
their responses will be plausibly earnest, though unknowingly 
incorrect because they don't need to know the whole truth and the big 
picture.


Actually the BID scenario has been in the works for two years. At least.



two years at least?  one might even say, since the start:

from penn's almanc, june 1997
http://www.upenn.edu/almanac/v43/n36/ucd.html



How will these service be paid for?

UCD's service program is estimated to cost over $4.3
million annually. The institutions have already
voluntarily committed to fund over 70 percent of this for
a five-year period. Over time, it is hoped that the
business sector of University City and the residential
sector will see value in the services and help sustain
and improve them as well. The institutions believe the
best way to gain support for this, however, is to prove
the value of the services by beginning in Au gust on the
basis of institutional support.

Will assessments be levied in University City to finance
services?

Some SSD's, like Center City's, are made up of private
property owners who support a property-based assessment
to raise the necessary funds. In University City, because
of the extent of property held by institutions, a
voluntary route of funding was taken. Any long-term
funding plan will involve institutions, businesses and
residents working together in an open and public manner
to develop and approve it.




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Re: [UC] Re: UCD - Lewis Wendell and His UCD Lashes Out


[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
There have been a number of what would YOU do? questions asked on the 
listserv during this investigation.  I didn't see anyone offer up a 
great plan that everyone else endorsed - that ANYONE else endorsed.  
Please correct me if I missed something that Lewis could have done 
during this incident to have a better outcome.  Positive suggestions for 
change could be pressed, but this constant negativity eventually loses 
my attention, and, I'd guess, other folks' attention, too.


Just sayin'



melani, when wendell was interviewed by uc review, maybe he 
could have mentioned, for the readers' benefit, that fenton 
works with blackwell now. [wendell must have known that, no? 
and if he didn't, that's pretty worrisome, no?]


anyway, that's just one small positive suggestion, so that 
everyone -- our neighbors, fenton, blackwell, ucd -- has a 
better chance to work together, to make things better.


more positive suggestions are being assembled, I'd warrant, 
at the committee/community meetings that have been announced 
in uc review.



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Re: [UC] Re: UCD - Lewis Wendell and His UCD Lashes Out


Turner,Kathleen wrote:
If I were to leave my current position and accept a position with 
another employer in the area, I really do not believe that my former 
employer would have the right to make public any information about my 
new employment.
 
I could, my new employer could, but I think it would be unethical, if 
not illegal (Paul?) for my former employer to do so.




in the news it's quite common to read about people working 
in non-profit organizations who resign their positions and 
go on to do 'x y or z'.


yes, it is.


it's even quite common, in the news, for the resigner's 
employer/boss to say a few words about the person resigning.


yep.


and when you DON'T read about these details, in the news, 
when there's a resignation, that, too, is news.



uh-huh.



..
UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN
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SERIAL LIAR. CALL FOR RATES.
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[ps melani: no, fenton's new job was not announced in uc
review. the headlines in its last issue, june
20, were WHERE IS JOHN FENTON? remember? and
shareiff announced to this list on the
evening of the 20th that as of the 20th fenton
was working with blackwell. so john's good news
couldn't have been in uc review until this week.
and in this week's issue, wendell never makes
mention of it.]



















































































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Re: [UC] Re: UCD - Lewis Wendell and His UCD Lashes Out


UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN wrote:
melani, when wendell was interviewed by uc review, maybe he could have 
mentioned, for the readers' benefit, that fenton works with blackwell 
now. 




Brian Siano wrote:

Oh, yeah. Saying that makes all the world of a difference.

Maybe he could have said something positive about flowers and trees, too.






you know it! with CANDOR and a FORTHRIGHT MANNER, he could! 
reaching out to our readers!



..
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Re: Fwd: [UC] Re: UCD - Lewis Wendell and His UCD Lashes Out

Turner,Kathleen wrote: 
  If I were to leave my current position and accept a position with  
another employer in the area, I really do not believe that my former  
employer would have the right to make public any information about my  
new employment. 
   I could, my new employer could, but I think it would be unethical, 
if  not illegal (Paul?) for my former employer to do so. 





UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN wrote:
in the news it's quite common to read about people working in non-profit 
organizations who resign their positions and go on to do 'x y or z'. 
 
yes, it is. 
 
it's even quite common, in the news, for the resigner's employer/boss to 
say a few words about the person resigning. 
 
yep. 
 
and when you DON'T read about these details, in the news, when there's a 
resignation, that, too, is news. 
 
uh-huh. 





[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
  Which if true doesn't address Kathleen's point as to the source of the 
information - the former employer, the employee or the new employer.







the source of the news is the employer.

for example:

http://www.upenn.edu/almanac/between/2004/tr_resign.html


- - -

but all this is nitpicking. the real issue is that wendell 
and the uc review are leaving john fenton and the reader 
hanging with 'WHERE IS JOHN FENTON' -- when he's RIGHT HERE!





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Re: [UC] UCD Related - Whoa


Elizabeth F Campion wrote:
 
I think Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell made a mistake when she backed Knox.
IMHO she gets things right more often than she gets things wrong, and 
she keeps my vote and admiration.
 
John Fenton may (or may not) have put work effort and UCD resources into 
a political rally.
IMHO there should have been clear, written policies and procedures; less 
jumping to conclusions and resounding support (and a second chance even 
if 'guilty') for a guy who gets more things right than wrong.

I am glad he landed on his feet, working on behalf of our neighborhood
 
Lewis Wendell may (or may not) have rushed to judgement on John.
IMHO he is another good neighbor and hard worker who should be given the 
chance to learn from the events of recent days.
I do not want another rush to judgement, especially in the absence of 
clear evidence and the presence of too much emotion.
IMHO Lewis is someone who has gotten a lot right and who deserves a fair 
hearing and another chance.
 
I think Craig is absolutely correct: “In business, as in sports, you 
always go for the very best talent available, even if it is not local”.
With the caveat that the current 'player' be considered as to whether or 
not he may be the best available.
 
Another good aphorism, is fix only the broken.

IMHO it is UCD, not the director, that needs to be fixed.
Like Al, I'd like to see an SSD emerge that gets back to the basics of 
clean and safe and drops the marketing, development, and social 
engineering roles that make it unpopular with me and many other neighbors.
I want it to serve the neighbors of the neighborhood, not trample our 
culture and replace it with something artificially bright.
Also, like Al, I want our SSD to operate in a transparent manner -- both 
functionally and fiscally.
 
 
No one is perfect.

I have few happy thoughts of JOHN FRYE, and feel a sense of good riddance.
I am only moderately sorry he fell up (are FM and the suburbs up?).
 
I have many good memories of hard and effective work by

DL WORMLEY
PAUL STEINKE and
LEWIS WENDELL.
It is easy to forgive and feel grateful to each for the maintenance and 
progress driven by their efforts.
I am not prepared to see Lewis sacrificed to the current passion for 
vengeance or perceived opportunity.
I hope that among the scenarios being considered are all the possible 
consequences of the costs /or benefits of a change at the helm of UCD.

My preference, at least for now, is healing with LW in place.



as always, we need to be careful in public discourse to 
avoid resorting to ad hominem. the issue here is not about 
personalities or personal likes/dislikes but about public 
organizations and the public roles involved, about the 
public actions that were and were not taken while assuming 
those roles within those organizations, about public 
accountability. and in this case a man was suspended, 
publicly, and a seriouis rift of mistrust between ucd and 
blackwell's office, between ucd and the community, was 
deepened, publicly, under wendell's leadership. none of this 
happened as a result of ucd's director acting in a private 
or personal capacity.


as ucd's director, wendell has had years to strengthen and 
improve the relationship between ucd and blackwell, between 
ucd and the community. and he has had over a month to 
account, publicly, for the suspension of john fenton.


so long as wendell remains the head of ucd and bears 
responsibility for fenton's suspension, the rift with 
blackwell, the community's mistrust, the damage to ucd and 
to penn, ucd's ability to move forward will be compromised, 
and it will be impossible for ucd to work credibly with 
other organizations (blackwell's office, penn, neighborhood 
associations).


no one is perfect, but it must be remembered that wendell 
the private man can, as ever, continue to work personally 
with any of these agencies, just like the rest of us.



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Re: [UC] Proof that gentrification has run amok in the hood


Joshua Karstendick wrote:

Speaking of gentrification, there was a hilarious article about it in
the latest Onion: Shitty Neighborhood Rallies Against Asshole
Developer.
http://www.theonion.com/content/news/shitty_neighborhood_rallies

Enjoy!





I don't think what's happening in our hood is 
gentrification, and so the parody's wasted in our case :-(


(unless we've all openly agreed and ackowledged that penn is 
indeed an 'asshole developer'. is that the deal?)



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Re: [UC] So What's New?


Susan Jacobson wrote:

Hello List,

I am back from a month in Italy. Ahh, it was wonderful!  But now I need to 
catch up after about a month of no Internet access. What's happenin' in the hood? 
What's this I hear about Duane from Abbraccio?? And, most importantly, *when* is 
the Farmer's Market at Clark Park?



susan! where were you in italy?

my friends and I are making nocino [no-CHEE-no], the italian 
walnut liqueur, made from green walnuts. you pick the young 
walnuts near the summer solstice, on st. john the baptist's 
day (june 24), steep them in alcohol/spices till the fall 
equinox, at which time you bottle it  adjust for flavors, 
and then you drink it around christmas (winter solstice). 
recipe here:


   http://www.divinacucina.com/code/newsletter7.html


woodlands has THE BEST walnut trees, and lots of them:

   http://tinyurl.com/33pvxc


woodlands also has gentle graceful deer:

   http://tinyurl.com/yohf7z



anyway, susan, we're not here to talk about nuts. we need 
your expertise about journalism around these parts. it seems 
that newspapers are where we'll find service organizations 
making damaging statements about our neighbors, and that 
local listservs are where we'll find an organization's 
official press releases. is this the new journalism or what? 
has the world gone all topsy-turvy, susan?




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Re: [UC] Proof that gentrification has run amok in the hood