Dear Arthur,
Most of our work this past week has been with the
Urban Studies Seminar that we are doing collaboratively
with students and a wonderful teacher (Carolyn
Jackson) from the Maplewood-Richmond Heights School
district. You can read about it in this newsletter.
In addition to reading our newsletters, you may also
want to visit our
web site by clicking here. We have a good deal of
current information, and during this summer we will be
working on building up our archives from previous
years.
Civitas Associates is working with six students from
Maplewood-Richmond Heights High School and the
Model U.N. faculty advisor, Ms. Carolyn Jackson, to
conduct on one-week seminar on the rich and poor in
St. Louis.
On Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of last week, we
did the following:
* Visited the poorest town in Missouri (Kinloch) and
spoke with its mayor and president of the board of
aldermen.
* Visited the wealthiest town in Missouri (Huntleigh)
and were surprised when a very humble and modest
woman invited us into her 22-room mansion and gave
us a tour (including the private movie theater with its
own concession booth).
* Toured and interviewed citizens in the area of
Richmond Heights that is the proposed site of a
massive buy-out that would displace current residents
(mostly elderly and African-American) and replace them
with people who could afford condos priced at
$300,000 to $700,000.
* Toured and interviewed citizens in the area of
Maplewood where a massive buy-out is occurring that
will displace current residents (many elderly and African-
American) and replace their homes with a WalMart and
SAM's.
* Met with Anthony Traxler, assistant city manager of
the city of Maplewood.
* Met with Theresa Fuchs, acting head of the
Maplewood Chamber of Commerce.
* Had a one-hour interview with Ms. Monika Kleban,
managing editor of the West County Journal
and a frequent writer of issues is Mid-County. She
gave us considerable information on the Richmond
Heights and Maplewood developments. She also
discussed the unique nature of problems with suburban
sprawl in St. Louis.
* Met with Cheri Jost and Paul Alegnani of U.S. Bank in
Clayton to discuss the roles that financial institutions
play in urban and suburban developments. We also
discussed how students can save and raise capital for
purposes such as funding a college education, starting
a new business, or preparing for retirement.
* Met with State Rep. Joan Bray (candidate for
Missouri Senate in Nov., 2002) on issues facing inner
suburbs such as Maplewood and Richmond Heights.
Ms. Bray discussed how the fragmented nature of
government in St. Louis County makes development
very random and often results in the displacement of
home-owners, particularly in naturally integrated area.
The students in the seminar have been taking copious
notes on their experiences and have begun writing
reflections on what they have seen. We have
considerable photos as well as video. Some is now
posted on the web; more will be available in coming
weeks.
This Monday and Tuesday, we will be meeting with Blair
Forlaw, director of East-West Gateway Coordinating
Council as well as with Ken McCoy (director of ACORN
[Association of Community Organizations for Reform
Now]). We will also be interviewed by Cathy Cohn of
the West County Journal and possible Hilary
Wicai of KWMU-FM (90.7) -- NPR Radio in St. Louis.
The calendar of events for the project can be viewed
by by
clicking
here. You can follow daily events by using the link
below.
To Web Pages on M-RH Urban Studies Project
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Cartoon of the week! |
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This week's cartoon is once again controversial. Take a
look at it and consider whether you are comfortable
with it. Once again, the two questions that
we have for you are (1) Is it in bad taste? and (2)
What does it say about our tendency to
demonize individuals or groups of people? You
can join the dialogue at our discussion forum.
Please feel free to E-Mail us cartoons that you find of
interest or ones that you draw. We would like to make
this a real participatory section of the weekly
newsletter.
Discussion Forum Home Page �
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