UAP+Enewsletter

Goal is to provide a quarterly enewsletter that shares news and information with UAP students, alumni, faculty and staff.

Current Status

11/24/2010 Raksha sent the interview with Iqbal and will send the one with Tom soon

11/16/2010 Raksha has two interviews, one with Iqbal (current student) and another with Tom Sheffer (alumni) that we can use in the newsletter

10/27/2010 Beth needs the names and emails for the alumni, student stories and also the faculty person for this issue

10/19/10 Beth sent sample questions for alumni, student features and example of faculty story Tom to suggest folks to interview, other things we need to add

10/12/10 Beth created and sent Tom a first draft of the enewsletter template

10/6/2010 Beth will send Tom a draft format of the newsletter to review for meeting on October 13

10/5/2010 Ideas / draft materials for first issue are included below; additional material is needed

UAP hosted a visit from a group of eight local planning directors (community, economic and physical planning) on Friday 1 October. They met with students and faculty to talk about careers, joint project and studio work. The visit was coordinated by Dr. Ted Koebel. **Tom, is there a photo we can use with this? **
 * UAP Hosts Virginia Planning Directors **

Professor Karen Till has just finished with an amazing conference. ‘Mapping Spectral Traces’ was a week chockful of activities - []. It included two exhibitions – both still running at the Armory and the Experiential Gallery; presentations on sites of traumatic memory in Blacksburg and in Roanoke; presentations by ten international visiting artists; the collaboration of local and regional museum curators and artists; a collaborative meeting with City of Roanoke planners; academic papers; posters by local faculty and students; a video record by students from SOVA; classroom teaching by visitors for Landscape Architecture; and the production of a beautiful catalog. The conference finished with a jazz evening in Roanoke. A whole host of people were involved in what was a genuinely cross-college [SPIA, SOVA and Ladscape Architecture] and cross-university [CLAH, ASPECT, and very many others]. Many thanks to the staff in SPIA, UAP, SOVA and CAUS who made this all possible and congratulations to Karen whose scholarship does so much to animate this network of artists and scholars. (Article courtesy of SPIA Director Dr. Gerry Kearns) **Tom, is there a photo we can use with this? **
 * Report from the Mapping Spectral Spaces Conference**

Members of the Graduate Urban Affairs and Planning Association at Virginia Tech completed a corridor study of Route 8 in Floyd County as part of a planning studio course conducted by Dr. Diane Zham in the Spring of 2010. Current land use data was collected on the ground, as well as through GIS mapping and Floyd's comprehensive plan, while ongoing public participation allowed the students to understand the community's goals. Citizens of the County participated in community mapping sessions, focus groups, and a survey of existing business owners in order for students to understand the resident's desires for future development and preservation. In the final state of the study, students proposed a series of recommendations to be considered as potential "themes" for future land use development along the Route 8 corridor based on all of the information gathered and analyzed. The themes for development considered in the final report included: utility infrastructure (existing and future); rural character preservation (preservation and small-scale development); retrofitting and infill development; and jobs creation.
 * Students Lead Corridor Study of Route 8**

During the Fall 2010 semester, students are continuing their study of the Floyd County Route 8 corridor by examining individual parcels that were recommended for development in the corridor study, as part of Dr. Diane Zham's Land Use Planning course. Students have met with the property owners to obtain information concerning the history of the property, current conditions, as well as the property owner's vision for future development. The remainder of the semester will consist of student's completing an environmental assessment and inventory of current conditions on the property and documenting these in map and graphical forms. Students will then produce multiple conceptual development plans and identify an array of land use planning tools and policies that might be employed to ensure each concept could and would be developed. It is Zham's and the student's hope that some variety in the general development concepts created and evaluated will allow for a broader community conversation regarding what types of development will be appropriate for Floyd County generally and the strategies the County will need to employ in order to get the types of development it desires.

Need suggestions
 * Alumni feature**

Need suggestions
 * Faculty feature**

Need suggestions
 * Current student feature**


 * Recent/new research by faculty, students, alumni**
 * Dr. Elizabeth Morton, Professor-In-Practice, was awarded a grant from the National Capital Planning Commission and the National Park Service to conduct research on Washington’s memorials. She was also elected to the Board of Directors of the McLean Citizen Association and continues her work on pedestrian and streetscape improvements in downtown McLean.
 * Associate Professor Max Stephenson completed work as a guest editor (with James Martin) on a theme issue of the Journal of Emergency Management. The issue is titled “Examining Disaster Dynamics in Networked Environments: Lessons from the Field” and was based on a symposium on the topic conducted in Davos, Switzerland in 2008. Publication is expected in 2010.
 * Dr. Sonia Hirt was awarded a fellowship from the American Councils for International Education to complete research on gated communities and other forms of spatial privatization in post-socialist cities.
 * Dr. Ralph Buehler delivered a talk titled “Promoting Green Modes of Transportation: Lessons from Germany” upon the invitation of the Goethe-Institut and the Heinrich-Boell Foundation in Washington, DC. The talk was part of the Green Living Speaker Series. Dr. Buehler will teach a summer course on sustainable development and transportation in Riva, Switzerland in 2011 along with Dr. Ralph Hall, who is also an Assistant Professor of Urban Affairs and Planning. This course follows a similar summer course on comparative urban and environmental policies co-taught in Riva by Dr. Sonia Hirt and Dr. Kris Wernstedt in 2010. He also has several recent publications, including “Determinants of Mode Choice: A Comparison of Germany and the USA,” Transport Geography, in press; “Making Public Transport Financially Sustainable,” Transport Policy , in press; “Transport Policies, Automobile Use, and Sustainable Transportation: A Comparison of Germany and the USA,” Journal of Planning Education and Research , 30 (2010) 76-93; with U. Kunert “Determinanten und Perspektiven des Verkehrsverhaltens in Deutschland und den USA,” Internationales Verkehrswesen , 62: 6 (2010); Pucher, J., Buehler, R., Bassett, D., Dannenberg, A. 2010. "Walking and Cycling to Health: Recent Evidence from City, State, and International Comparisons," American Journal of Public Health , Vol. 100, No. 10: 1986-1992.

We’ve just launched several new ways for people to keep up with Virginia Tech’s Urban Affairs and Planning program. Please share this information with those you know who may be interested!
 * Keep In Touch with UAP through Social Media**
 * 1) **Facebook Group / VT UAP Alumni** -- join by going to @http://groups.to/vtuap/. The group is open to alums as well as faculty, staff and current students, although we'll focus largely in this group on information of interest to alums. (Current students are also encouraged to join the Urban Affairs and Planning Student Association at Virginia Tech Facebook group).
 * 2) **UAP Blog** – [] Blog featuring news and announcements for students, faculty and staff of the Virginia Tech Urban Affairs and Planning Program.
 * 3) **VT UAP on Twitter** – @UAPVirginiaTech Follow us for news, updates on student and faculty projects/research, announcements and more!
 * 4) **LinkedIn Group** / Virginia Tech UAP Alumni -- [] The group is open to alums as well as faculty, staff and current students, although we'll focus largely in this group on information of interest to alums.


 * News and Notes (short announcements, e.g., who graduated this semester, etc.)**
 * Dr. Tom Sanchez has returned to Virginia Tech as Professor and Chair of the Urban Affairs and Planning Program in the School of Public and International Affairs. He is completing his term as the review editor of the Journal of the American Planning Association and is the new editor of Housing Policy Debate. Dr. Sanchez holds a Ph. D. in city planning from Georgia Tech and specializes in transportation, land-use planning, environmental justice and planning technology.
 * Dr. Derek Hyra, Associate Professor of Urban Affairs and Planning, was invited to speak on a panel about the link between the arts and community revitalization in the Shaw/U Street neighborhood in Washington, DC. His comments were featured in the Washington City Paper.
 * Associate Professor Jesse Richardson was recently elected to the Boards of Directors of the National Cave and Karst Research Institute and the American Agricultural Law Association.
 * Dr. Sonia Hirt was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure. She also was awarded a fellowship from the American Councils for International Education to complete research on gated communities and other forms of spatial privatization in post-socialist cities.
 * Students put the 'park' in parking space / Friday, September 17th was PARK(ing) Day, which is an annual event where people from around the world create temporary parks out of metered parking spaces. UAPSA successfully created a park in a space on College Avenue. In case you missed it, see the coverage in the Roanoke Times! http://www.roanoke.com/news/nrv/wb/260861
 * Virginia Tech among the top 25 recruiter picks / A recent study completed by the Wall Street Journal reveals that big state universities are now favored by big company recruiters. They spend more time recruiting at places like Virginia Tech than they do at Ivy League schools or elite liberal arts schools. Virginia Tech ranked #13 out of 25 in the WSJ ranking, beating out Cornell, Berkeley, Wisconsin, NC State, AND the University of Virginia. For more information on the study and the rankings, use the links below. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703597204575483730506372718.html?mod=WSJ_PathToProfessions_section_Careers or http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704554104575435563989873060.html
 * Dr. Ralph Buehler delivered a talk titled “Promoting Green Modes of Transportation: Lessons from Germany” upon the invitation of the Goethe-Institut and the Heinrich-Boell Foundation in Washington, DC. The talk was part of the Green Living Speaker Series. Dr. Buehler will teach a summer course on sustainable development and transportation in Riva, Switzerland in 2011 along with Dr. Ralph Hall, who is also an Assistant Professor of Urban Affairs and Planning. This course follows a similar summer course on comparative urban and environmental policies co-taught in Riva by Dr. Sonia Hirt and Dr. Kris Wernstedt in 2010. Ralph also presented at conferences hosted by AARP International and the German Goethe Institute in DC and also at Catholic University.

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