:UT Arlington Student Planning Association

The UT Arlington Student Planning Association (SPA) would like to initiate a planning and design study for a hub-and-spoke UTA-Metroplex shuttle system. This study would result in a proposal to the UTA administration, including financing options. SPA invites participation of students and faculty from the wide variety of disciplines (including, but not limited to, planning, engineering, environmental sciences, and business) necessary to form a project team capable of addressing the myriad challenges inherent in this undertaking. SPA anticipates undertaking high-level project planning during the Summer 2007; the project will be launched early in the Fall 2007 semester with an anticipated completion date in December 2007 or early January 2008.

Participants will be encouraged to use this project as a platform for ongoing coursework requirements.

If you are interested in participating in this visionary transportation project, please contact Kent Hurst on klhurst AT uta DOT edu.

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The UT Arlington Student Planning Association (SPA) would like to initiate a design and engineering study for UTA’s first green roof. This study would result in a site, design, and financing proposal to the UTA administration. SPA invites participation of students and faculty from the wide variety of disciplines (including, but not limited to, planning, architecture, engineering, environmental sciences, and business) necessary to form a project team capable of addressing the myriad challenges inherent in this undertaking. SPA anticipates undertaking high-level project planning during the Summer 2007; the project will be launched early in the Fall 2007 semester with an anticipated completion date in December 2007 or early January 2008.

Participants will be encouraged to use this project as a platform for ongoing coursework requirements.

If you are interested in participating in this visionary project, please contact Kent Hurst on klhurst AT uta DOT edu.

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Introducing … The Book!

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While I’m less enamored of Tom Friedman after reading his The World is Flat, I very much liked his New York Times editorial today assessing the turn in environmental activism symbolized by the endorsement by well-respected environmental interests of the KKR/Texas Pacific buyout of TXU. (Marching With a Mouse) While not discovering anything we haven’t seen coming for quite a while, Friedman recognizes that the days of environmental activism by the sit-in and the boycott may be ending. The preliminary negotiations between the prospective buyers and Environmental Defense (in the person of Fred Krupp) and the Natural Resources Defense Council set the stage for a new, and potentially more effective, approach to securing an environmentally sustainable future.

In early 2006, Michael Shellenberger and Ted Nordhaus wrote a controversial obituary for traditional environmentalism in an analysis of the ineffectiveness of its inability to effectively confront the manifold threats of global warming. (The Death of Environmentalism) In Ecocritique: Contesting the Poltics of Nature, Economy, and Culture, Tim Luke took a more critical route in his deconstruction of various ecological advocacy movements. While it’s more than a little disheartening to realize that the most productive strategy against the inexorable environmental destruction of globalizing capital may be “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em,” it is encouraging to see that ED and NRDC have been listening. I’m a process kind of guy, but you can’t argue with the results. And the irony of TXU being beat at its own capitalist game is delicious!

All of this, though, begs the question: Can we effectively fight the ravages of late, fast capitalism from within the belly of the beast? Perhaps so, but the leviathan has a big head start.

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Midwest APA Networking Luncheon - March 23, 2007

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Planners Network E-Newsletter, March 2007

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The North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG), in partnership with the North Central Texas Chapter of the Congress for the New Urbanism (NCTCNU), is pleased to bring the SmartCode OnSite Workshop to our region on Monday, March 5th, 2007 at the Grapevine Convention Center in Grapevine, TX.

To register for the workshop, please go to www.nctcnu.org. There is a registration fee of $24 (lunch included). Registration ENDS February 28, 2007.

Questions? Please contact Lyndsay Krodel at (817) 704-2505 or lkrodel AT nctcog DOT org.

You don’t want to miss this great opportunity to learn more about how to recreate the traditional neighborhoods and sense of community from our past. We look forward to seeing you at this exciting event!

PS Don’t miss the great deal for early graduate student registrants!!

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With regard to today’s New York Times article on Texas’ looming energy deficit in the wake of the TXU buyout and scuttling of at least eight of the proposed eleven coal-fired power plants (see http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/08/business/08energy.html) …

Nary a mention is made of the opportunity for Texas legislators to bridge this “energy gap” by encouraging (or, dare I propose, imposition of) more creative and greener changes in consumer behavior. On the heels of recent local discussions of the Trans Texas Corridor, why aren’t our fearless leaders proposing that we use some of the same financial tools enacted to encourage automobile travel and air pollution (e.g. bond funds) to promote the creation and expansion of renewable energy sources and transmission infrastructure. I never cease to be amazed at how one-dimensional our thinking is regarding energy futures!

Let’s abandon our entrenched business-as-usual mindset and strike out on a new, sustainable future that we can imagine surviving the next two hundred years.

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As previously reported, the AICP Commission is considering requiring certification maintenance through continuing education starting in January 2008. The Commission received more than 1,400 comments in response to the first draft proposal for a certification maintenance program released in early December. Overall, members expressed strong support for some form of certification maintenance.
The revised program now posted responds to many of the concerns that were raised during the first comment period.

Please review the certification maintenance program and submit your comments to AICP-CM AT planning DOT org no later than Wednesday, March 21. You may also participate in a virtual town hall meeting by logging onto http://ecommunities.planning.org using your APA ID.

The Commission is expected to vote on instituting certification maintenance at its next meeting in April.

(Taken from APA Plannernet posting, 2 March 2007.)

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Mark your calendars for 5.30-7.00pm, Monday, 5 March, University Hall 532! SPA presents John Hall, Vice President for Administration and Campus Operations, for a presentation of the status of the UT Arlington Campus Master Plan. Mr. Hall is custodian of the master plan and has been working closely with President Spaniolo to enhance our physical facilities and environment, and with the City of Arlington to integrate the University with the surrounding community.

This is an open meeting, so please feel free to invite your friends or anyone else you know who might be interested. We’ll provide a little something on which to nosh beginning at 5.30pm; Mr. Hall will begin his presentation at 6pm.

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