...keeping up with Civitas
We now have an RSS ("Really Simple Syndication") feed that keeps you up to date with Civitas happenings. You can subscribe by clicking on the icon above or the one on our home page. You'll receive information on upcoming events as well as helpful reminders. |
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Pulitzer "Fragile States" Project This Week |
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The third and final Pulitzer Global Gateway project of 2009-2010 is on the topic of "fragile states." So many global issues are wrapped up in the issues that face nations that struggle for their own survival and to meet basic needs of their populace.
Journalists Lisa Armstrong, Andre Lambertson, and Jason Motlagh are in St. Louis this Tuesday - Friday. They will be visiting nine high schools, three middle schools, and three universities. You can access the schedule of their visits by clicking here. |
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Middle School Model U.N.s Resume This Week |
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Our third Middle School Model U.N. session is this Thursday, April 29. As with all sessions, it will be held at the Creve Coeur Government Center; 300 No. New Ballas Road; 63141 (map) from 9:00 AM - Noon. Participating schools for Session #3 are Lift for Life Academy, North Kirkwood Middle School, Ritenour Middle School, and Solomon Schecter School.
It is extremely helpful to all teachers and students in the program if resolutions are submitted well in advance. The earlier the resolutions come in the more attention Civitas staff can give to critiquing them.
The final four sessions are on Tues., May 4; Wed., May 5; Fri., May 7 and Tues., May 11. Resolutions for next week's session should be submitted no later than this Thursday, April 29. If you have any questions, contact Lisa Granich-Kovarik at granichkovarik@sbcglobal.net or (314) 865-4704. |
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"City to River" Field Trip this Saturday |
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At the same time that the Gateway Arch was completed (1965), Interstate 70 opened between the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial site and downtown St. Louis. Although intended to bring people into the region's center, the interstate disrupted the city's street grid and isolated the new national monument and the river from the activity of downtown. A two-hundred-year-old connection was lost. Now, St. Louis has a momentous opportunity to revisit the unintended consequences of the interstate. The time has come to reopen the region's front door.
With the help of Rick Bonash of the "City to River" program, we'll take MetroLink from Crossroads to Busch Stadium, walk along the fragmented area between downtown and the Arch grounds to Laclede's Landing. Mr. Bonasch will describe the history of how downtown and the river became separated and proposed plans to address the problem by 2015, the 50th anniversary of the completion of the Arch. We'll take the MetroLink back to Crossroads from Laclede's Landing. It's essential that students be at Crossroads (map) by 9:00 AM. We'll return by Noon.
You can sign up on the Civitas web site by clicking here or on Facebook by clicking here.
More information on plans to link downtown to the Arch grounds and Mississippi River is available by clicking here. |
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Initial Polling Results from Soulard |
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Five students (Margaux Bavlsik, Julia Epplin-Zapf, Micha LeNeave, Lucy Short, and Sam Zoole) interviewed shoppers and passers-by at Soulard Market on Saturday, April 17 as part of ActiveCitizen360's summer urban studies program. They collected sixty-nine completed responses. Thanks to Margaux for entering the data and preparing it for tabulation.
Here are a couple of highlights from the polling (which we do not represent to be scientific since the sample was both small and not random):
- 77% of respondents feel that St. Louis is "moving in the right direction" as opposed to 23% who don't.
- There is overwhelming support to spend more on schools.
- Citizens are evenly divided on reducing taxes.
- 71% of respondents think that racial and ethnic issues in St. Louis are serious.
- 68% of respondents think that it's important to improve public transportation.
- Those surveyed were almost evenly split on whether it would be a good idea to re-merge the city of St. Louis and St. Louis County.
- 87% think that it's very important to help new businesses get started.
You can access more results by clicking here.
As previously mentioned, students worked with Emily Haight, director of the Channel 9 "NineVoices" program. Using flip cams, students interviewed one another about the morning's activities and their own personal views on how St. Louis is doing. This is part of the beta (trial) stage of Channel 9's NineVoices program which will give more opportunities to St. Louisans to discuss issues that face us both on line and on the air. Special thanks to Lucy and Micha for editing the film so that Emily and her staff can process it.
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Wash. U Hosts "Great Coal Debate" Tonight
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Thanks to Adam Shriver at Washington U., we have learned of debate on the very current issue of coal as a primary energy source. It will be next Tuesday, April 27 at 5:00 PM in Graham Chapel:
St. Louis is a good place to talk about coal. According to the US Energy Information Administration, 83.5% of the state's energy comes from the black rock, making it one of the nation's brownest states. St. Louis is home to the corporate headquarters of the two largest American coal extraction companies, Peabody Energy, and Arch Coal.
With the CEOs of both Peabody Energy and Arch Coal on Wash U's board of trustees, as well as a heavily-funded coal energy research group, Washington University in St. Louis is a good place to talk about coal as well.
To continue campus dialogue on the role of coal in our future, Student Union will be hosting a debate between Fred Palmer, VP of Governmental Relations at Peabody Energy and Bruce Nilles, director of the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal campaign. They will be debating the role of coal in our future in a discussion moderated by Bryan Walsh of Time Magazine. The event will take place at Graham Chapel on Wash U's Danforth Campus. Following the debate there will be a reception in the nearby Danforth University Center's Tisch Commons. |
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Black: High School Blue: Middle School Date | Time | Place | Activity | | | | | | 04/27/2010- 04/30/2010 |
Varies | Varies | Pulitzer Global Gateway Program | Thurs.,
04/29/2010 |
9:00 AM
Noon | Creve Coeur Gov't Center (map) | Middle School Model U.N. #3 | Sat.,
05/01/2010 |
9:00 AM -
Noon | Crossroads
(map) | Urban Go-Team Spring Field Trip #2
Downtown "City to River" Tour | Wed.,
05/05/2010 |
9:00 AM -
Noon | Creve Coeur Gov't Center (map) | Middle School Model U.N. #4 | Fri.,
05/07/2010 |
9:00 AM -
Noon | Creve Coeur Gov't Center (map) | Middle School Model U.N. #5 | Sat.,
05/08/2010 |
9:00 AM -
Noon | Crossroads
(map) | Urban Go-Team Spring Field Trip #3 | | | | |
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