Producer’s note: When Daniel Furbish started a bike workshop at a community center in Nashville, he didn’t know that much about building or fixing bikes.
He did, however, know what an important tool a bike can be for a kid with little or no other means of transportation.
We met him to see how this little experiment turned into a full-time program that has helped hundreds.
WASHINGTON |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Under pressure to fight sexual assault, the U.S. armed forces in recent years rolled out education programs about proper sexual conduct through methods like role playing and video games.
The increase in education has nevertheless failed to prevent what the nation’s top general called last week “a crisis” after the Pentagon reported a 37 percent jump in the estimated number of sexual assault cases in 2012.
Moreover, the military suffered deep embarrassment when personnel who worked on preventing sexual assaults were themselves accused of sex crimes this month.
On Friday, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel gave top brass a week to come up with a plan for discussing the problem with all troops and ensuring proper training and credentials for those who deal with new recruits and sexual assault victims.
Education campaigns teach service members basics like how to make sure the other party is a willing participant in intimate contact, or how to step in as a bystander if an alcohol-fueled situation looks like it could lead to inappropriate conduct.
The Army is in the fifth year of its “I Am Strong” sexual assault prevention campaign, under which all new soldiers are drilled on a set of 10 “sex rules.”
All members of the Air Force are required each year to have one hour of face-to-face sexual assault prevention training from a sexual assault response coordinator.
While all the military services have programs on avoiding sexual assault, critics say training may never be enough to do away with the problem. What is needed, says former Marine Captain Anu Bhagwati, is a shake up in the military judicial system.
“The military cannot train its way out of this problem,” said Bhagwati, who is now executive director of the Service Women’s Action Network, which campaigns for women’s issues in the armed forces.
She urges the military to take prosecution of sexual assault cases away from the chain of command, making it easier for victims to seek justice, an idea echoed in a Senate bill last week.
“I think even today the training is not meaningful, certainly not in a significant way that causes behavior change,” said Bhagwati, who helped implement sexual assault prevention training before she left the military in 2004.
General Mark Welsh, the Air Force chief of staff, said it will take time and diligence to see progress from sexual assault prevention training.
“The experts tell me we have to be careful … because sometimes programs that are successful in this area will take a long time to show results,” he told reporters at the Pentagon.
“This is not going to be a rapid fix,” Welsh said. “It’s got to be a constant attention to detail.”
‘BEHEMOTH ORGANIZATIONS’
While more than half the victims of sexual assault in the military are men, women in the services are still more likely to be accosted sexually.
There are nearly 205,000 women in the active duty military, nearly 15 percent of the total, and women will be integrated in frontline combat roles by 2016.
General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said last week the military is losing the confidence of women members because of the sexual assault “crisis.”
Changing the culture in an armed forces of 1.4 million people is an enormous challenge.
“These are behemoth organizations. They are enormous. They have attempted to deal with the very difficult problem of sexual assault,” said Anne Munch, a former prosecutor who has worked as a consultant on sexual assault issues with the military for more than a decade.
“You have to attack the problem in a lot of different ways, and there’s no one answer and there’s no silver bullet.”
The Army has a live, interactive program called “Sex Signals” in which soldiers watch actors role play dating scenarios on stage and discuss whether the participants correctly understand how their actions are viewed.
The Army also makes use of a video game called “Team-Bound” in which players witness a potential sexual harassment incident as it unfolds.
Soldiers and officers receive sexual assault prevention training at all levels. New recruits are drilled on a set of 10 rules, from “sexual assault is a crime” and “no always means no” to “stop sexual hazing, bullying and assault” and “be a leader, not a passive bystander.”
To some, the training can come off as half-hearted.
The Protect Our Defenders victims’ advocacy group said an Air Force officer told them that a course he took consisted of being given two brochures to read and being told to sign a paper saying he had come to the class.
The treatment of victims often leaves a lot to be desired, despite efforts to help those who have experienced sexual assault, said the Air Force’s Welsh.
One story that Welsh says hit him “like a ton of bricks” was that of a service member who had been raped in another country. When she went to a base hospital for testing, a technician came out to the waiting room and said in a loud voice, “OK, now who was the sexual assault victim?”
The Air Force started a program in January in which victims are assigned an attorney to guide them through the process and keep them from having to go over their testimony repeatedly. Welsh said early statistics on the victims’ counsel program show the percentage of people willing to proceed with prosecutions is up substantially.
Among those who initially report their cases only on condition it not be pursued as a criminal matter, only about 13 percent shift and agree to prosecute. But in a group of 300 people with special victims’ counsels, 55 percent of those who did not want to pursue the case criminally have shifted and agreed to prosecute, Welsh said.
(Additional reporting by Phil Stewart; Editing by Alistair Bell, Mary Milliken and Jackie Frank)
Once known as a city of gardens and abundant fruits, Kabul is fighting hard to maintain even a basic level of cleanliness, among its many other problems. Kabul municipality has now recruited a popular cartoon character to encourage children to keep the city clean and green.
Shir Sultan, or the Lion King, has been visiting schools in the Afghan capital to spread the message.
Needless to say, he is a big hit among 400 schoolchildren sitting in the playground of Abdul Ali Mustaghni school in the west of the city, where cheers and claps greet the cartoon character's every move.
The synthetic lion hits it off instantly with his audience when he asks them the question: "Who is a friend of Kabul?"
Hundreds of supportive hands go up in the air. Some children even stand up to express their commitment to the cause.
"I am going to be sending my son, Sher Bachcha, to this school," a pleased Shir Sultan announces to the further delight of his audience.
By pledging to be friends of Kabul, the children join the city's "Cleaning and Greening" campaign, and in so doing agree to be agents of change.
The US Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded campaign was launched last year by Kabul's mayor, Muhammad Yunus Nawandish.
The idea is to encourage students to adopt hygienic habits and help civic authorities keep the city clean and green.
While Shir Sultan is the mascot of the campaign other tactics are also used to generate interest.
Colouring and story books are used to tell the pupils of the best ways to dispose of rubbish, the importance of washing hands and how to water trees.
Last year alone, Shir Sultan was directly introduced to more than 25,000 children, where he distributed about 180,000 story and colour books.
It is a campaign where there is no shortage of challenges – first and foremost Kabul does not have proper sewer systems.
Furthermore, the city's civic system is mostly in decay, eaten up by years of war and the neglect of the authorities.
At the same time the city's rapid pace of construction in recent years has robbed Kabul of much of its green cover, leaving its population of five million with few green spaces.
But the authorities say that things have improved in recent years.
"My aim is to have a dust-free Kabul," says Mayor Nawandish, never a man to avoid the toughest of challenges.
Officials at Kabul municipality hope that initiatives like the USAID one will ultimately help in restoring the city to its past glories.
"We are educating children so that they spread the word in their families, among their friends." says Mohammad Sadiq Sediqi of Kabul municipality.
Because the scale of the challenge is so immense, it is easy to be sceptical about the prospects of such challenges ever succeeding.
But the enthusiasm among the children at the Abdul Ali Mustaghni school is infectious.
"What brings you here?" I ask Farzad, a sixth-grade student.
"I am here to listen and learn," he says with a glint in his eyes. "I want to learn how to keep my home, my school and my city clean."
The Russian exclave of Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea is sandwiched between Poland to the south and Lithuania to the north and east.
Annexed from Germany in 1945, the territory was a closed military zone throughout the Soviet period.
In 2008, Russia threatened to deploy short-range missiles there if the United States went ahead with its plan to build controversial missile defence bases in Poland and the Czech Republic.
Koenigsberg, as the city of Kaliningrad was once known, was founded by Teutonic knights in the 13th century. It became one of the cities of the Hanseatic League and was once the capital of Prussia. The philosopher Immanuel Kant spent all his life in the city and died there in 1804.
The region was part of Germany until annexation by the USSR following World War II when it saw bitter fighting and suffered extensive destruction. The German population was expelled or fled after the war ended.
During the Soviet period, Kaliningrad Region, administratively part of the Russian Federation, was separated from the rest of Russia, more than 300km to the east, by the then Soviet republics of Lithuania, Latvia and Belarus.
Since Lithuania joined the EU it has been impossible to travel between the exclave and the rest of Russia over land without crossing the territory of at least one EU state. There has been friction, particularly with Lithuania, over transit regulations.
Kaliningrad was one of the most militarised and closed parts of the Soviet Union, and the military were the region's chief economic mainstay in the Soviet years. When the USSR ceased to be, that military presence was decimated along with the economic benefits it provided.
Kaliningrad is still of great strategic importance to Moscow. It houses the Russian Baltic Fleet at the port of Baltiysk and is the country's only ice-free European port.
During the Soviet period, agriculture was a key industry. The market for Kaliningrad's produce was largely dismantled with the collapse of the USSR, causing the economy to nosedive in the early 1990s.
Unemployment soared and poverty became very widespread, particularly in rural areas. Organised crime and drugs became increasingly problematic.
In a bid to tackle the region's problems, in 1996 the Russian authorities granted it special economic status and tax advantages intended to attract investors. The region's economy benefited substantially.
Kaliningrad underwent an unprecedented boom, and in 2007 a new $45m airport terminal was opened.
The region began to see increasing trade with the countries of the EU as well as increasing economic growth and rising industrial output.
However, the global financial crisis of 2008-9 affected the region badly, and by the beginning of 2010 unemployment had climbed to over 10% – considerably higher than the Russian average.
Prompted by a sharp increase in the cost of public transport, an estimated 10,000 people attended a rally calling for the dismissal of Kaliningrad governor Georgi Boos, in one of the biggest opposition protests in Russia in a decade.
La confianza de los inversionistas en el euro finalmente podrÃa ceder ahora.
Durante meses, la moneda única recibió el respaldo internacional de las inversiones en bonos de los paÃses altamente endeudados de la zona euro, lo que redujo los rendimientos de sus bonos y les permitió endeudarse una vez más a tasas razonables.
El deteriorado estado de la economÃa de la eurozona ha sido largamente ignorado y el euro se ha mostrado resistente.
En las últimas semanas, por ejemplo, cualquier debilidad del euro frente al dólar se debió principalmente por la fortaleza de la moneda estadounidense más que por otros factores.
Las esperanzas de que lo peor de la crisis de la deuda de la zona euro habÃa pasado se vieron fortalecidas esta semana por las noticias de que los ministros de finanzas de la eurozona estimaban que Grecia y Chipre eran elegibles para sus últimos tramos de rescate.
La decisión de Fitch de elevar la calificación crediticia de Grecia, a “B-” desde “CCC”, hizo caer los rendimientos de los bonos griegos a 10 años a su nivel más bajo desde junio de 2010.
Y esta sensación de alivio también es evidente en los mercados europeos de acciones, donde el Ãndice DAX de Alemania está alcanzando máximos récord.
Pero es discutible si todo esto se debe a que realmente está regresando la confianza de los inversionistas en la zona euro, o si solo se debe a los altos niveles de liquidez mundial.
La verdadera razón podrÃa revelarse pronto, especialmente si, pese a la euforia en otras partes, la economÃa de la zona euro continúa mostrando pocas señales de recuperación.
De hecho, nuevos datos de crecimiento para el primer trimestre sugieren que la región se está desempeñando incluso peor de lo esperado, con una contracción de 0,2% en vez de la caÃda de 0,1% que se anticipaba.
El crecimiento alemán, en particular, ha sido inquietantemente lento, con su economÃa expandiéndose solo 0,1% en los tres primeros meses del año.
Aunque algunos analistas han culpado a las malas condiciones meteorológicas por la debilidad alemana, esto no significa que la región será capaz de protagonizar un repunte en el corto plazo.
Ben May, economista europeo de Capital Economics, lo resume de la siguiente manera: “Aún creemos que las proyecciones de consenso de un retroceso de 0,4% en el PIB de la eurozona para este año son demasiado optimistas, y esperamos algo más cercano a -2%”.
En el más largo plazo, esto no será una buena noticia para el euro por más de una razón.
Para comenzar, los datos incrementarán la presión sobre el Banco Central Europeo para volver a reducir las tasas de interés, una medida que bien podrÃa implicar llevar la tasa de los depósitos hacia territorio negativo a medida que el banco central trata de estimular el crecimiento.
Debido a que las cifras de inflación en Alemania fueron revisados a la baja a comienzos de esta semana, el banco central difÃcilmente pueda usar la inflación como excusa para no relajar aún más su polÃtica.
El otro aspecto negativo de los datos para el euro es la sugerencia de que pese a todos los esfuerzos del BCE para fomentar los créditos bancarios, el mecanismo de transmisión para ayudar a las empresas más pequeñas y los consumidores de muchas de las naciones deudoras está fallando. Si ese es el caso, las posibilidades de una recuperación anticipada de la eurozona se harán mucho más remotas.
Otro foco de preocupación para la moneda única fue el fracaso esta semana de los ministros de finanzas de la región para alcanzar algún progreso significativo en las negociaciones sobre una unión bancaria.
La creación de un organismo regulador para promover la uniformidad sigue siendo vital para la seguridad del sistema financiero de la eurozona en el más largo plazo, y mientras más tiempo tome su conformación, más tiempo el sistema permanecerá vulnerable a contagios.
Pero, en lo que respecta al euro, muchas de estas cosas aún no lo han afectado.
La fortaleza del dólar, asà como algunas preocupaciones iniciales sobre la eurozona, tal vez hayan ayudado a que la moneda única se debilitara a un mÃnimo de cinco semanas frente al dólar esta semana.
No obstante, con el fin en los próximos dÃas de la reciente caÃda de los rendimientos de los bonos de los paÃses deudores, la confianza de los inversionistas tal vez comience a disminuir, y la moneda única podrÃa comenzar a sufrir las consecuencias del débil estado económico de la región.
Miao Lingquan costumava pagar os agricultores de pimenta que compareciam em massa à frente da sua porta no tempo de colheita com dinheiro guardado em caixas empilhadas até a altura da sua cintura. Mas agora o escritório do empreendedor, que faz pasta de pimenta do tipo malagueta para exportar para o Japão, está surpreendentemente vazio.
No ano passado, Miao começou a comprar todas as pimentas usando uma linha de telefone fixa que o Banco AgrÃcola da China, o AgBank, deu a ele. O telefone de cor verde garrafa lê cartões de banco e pode processar pagamentos.
“à mais rápido e mais conveniente para os clientes e promove a segurança pública”, disse Miao, observando um fornecedor que tinha dirigido por seis horas para trazer suas pimentas de uma provÃncia vizinha passar seu cartão para aprovar a transferência de 70 mil yuans (US$ 11.200) para a sua conta bancária. “Você não corre o risco de ser esfaqueado por causa do seu dinheiro.”
![[image]](http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/OA-BA709_wsjamb_NS_20130110184906.jpg)
O interior da China carece há muito tempo de serviços financeiros básicos, com os bancos se recusando a construir agências em áreas menos desenvolvidas. A consequência é que os agricultores chineses e os negócios rurais estão famintos por crédito, o que retarda o crescimento econômico das áreas mais pobres da China.
O AgBank, o terceiro maior banco da China em valor de ativos, espera mudar isso colocando em marcha um sistema eletrônico de pagamentos em partes da economia chinesa que são completamente baseadas em dinheiro vivo. A meta é atingir clientes que estão horas de distância da agência bancária mais próxima â e uma vez que estejam conectados ao sistema financeiro, promover a concessão de crédito.
A chave tem sido a distribuição gratuita de “telefones de transferência” nos vilarejos do paÃs, uma inovadora fusão entre um telefone normal e uma máquina de ponto de venda usada para processar pagamentos com cartões de bancos. Eles parecem telefones normais, exceto por um sulco em um dos lados para passar os cartões, o rolo de papel dos recibos empoleirado no topo e a pequena tela de LCD usada para a navegação do processo de transação.
O AgBank começou a provar informalmente seu telefone nas áreas rurais em 2008, cinco anos após ele ter sido originalmente desenvolvido por uma divisão urbana do banco. O banco distribuiu mais de 1,47 milhão de telefones para áreas rurais até o fim de junho do ano passado.
Para empreendedores como Miao, o equipamento permite pagar rapidamente fornecedores e ser pago pelos compradores. Para as famÃlias rurais, os telefones permitem que os pais remetam fundos para os estudantes que se mudaram para cidades afastadas em busca de educação sem ter de fazer uma viagem até o banco â e para trabalhadores migrantes enviarem regularmente dinheiro para casa.Â
Os telefones também permitem que as pessoas acessem seu dinheiro quando for conveniente â estabelecimentos com esses telefones podem oferecer dinheiro de volta como ocorre em qualquer supermercado do ocidente â ao invés de guardá-lo todo debaixo do colchão.Â
Outras companhias em economias em desenvolvimento têm evitado a necessidade de instalar infraestrutura fÃsica para pagamentos em áreas rurais ao usar SMS, serviços de mensagens curtas, em telefones celulares. Mas o pagamento via celular tem demorado para decolar na China.
Quando o AgBank começou primeiro a instalar sua rede de telefones em áreas rurais, o pagamento bancário via celular estava ainda engatinhando na China e a segurança dos pagamentos era a maior preocupação. A regulamentação chinesa tinha também restringido instituições não financeiras de oferecer serviços bancários, o que significa que companhias como as de telecomunicações â que têm sido fundamentais na condução do serviços bancários móveis em outros paÃses em desenvolvimento â não estavam envolvidas na concepção inicial das soluções financeiras para a zona rural.
A consultoria McKinsey & Co. estimou o volume total bruto das transações na China via pagamentos por celular em cerca de US$ 9 bilhões em 2012, ante US$ 2 bilhões em 2010. à um valor pequenino comparado aos US$ 716 bilhões em transações realizadas via telefone fixo pelo AgBank durante a primeira metade de 2012.
O banco distribui o telefone gratuitamente para os clientes rurais e não cobra pelas transações. O AgBank espera que os telefones ajudem a gerar receita ao fornecer uma base para a concessão de mais crédito para as áreas rurais.
Betty Wilkinson, uma especialista em finanças do departamento da Ãsia Oriental do Banco de Desenvolvimento da Ãsia, diz que a medida real do sucesso dos telefones será se o volume de empréstimos para as áreas rurais aumentar uma vez que a infra-estrutura seja instalada.
“O que o AgBank está fazendo não é um pré-requisito para o sucesso das atividades bancárias [na China] rural, mas é um passo técnico crÃtico para a frente”, diz.
(Colaborou Paul Mozur.)
Editor’s note: Margaret Hoover is the author of “American Individualism: How a New Generation of Conservatives Can Save the Republican Party.”
Ever the centrist, my beloved husband John questions whether the hearings are an earnest search for the truth or a hyperpartisan GOP political witch hunt aimed at embarrassing the Obama administration while derailing Hillary Clinton’s potential 2016 presidential bid. Dean and I duke it out from opposite perspectives, and we all agree on a surprising point at the end.
Then, on to a discussion of the dramatic fractures within the GOP on immigration reform — a split between former Sen. Jim DeMint’s Heritage Foundation and his protégé Sen. Marco Rubio — which give Dean cause for celebration. But I’m not sure he will ultimately like the outcome of these GOP growing pains, which I suspect reveal a realignment of Republican reformers from old guard thinking.
Cracks in what had been GOP monolithic thinking on issues ranging from immigration to gun control to gay rights — in a week where Delaware became the 11th state to pass marriage equality with a genuine bipartisan majority — could reinvigorate the GOP brand and lead to a more competitive party nationally.
John thinks renewal and competition in any party orthodoxy is healthy for America, but Dean is clearly rooting for DeMint’s success, even if it means the end of the Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act. To be fair, Dean’s a comedian, so maybe his partisanship is good for laughs, but it will give way to a desire for good policy to win the day — even if the Republicans get some credit. We’ll let you decide.
Finally, was Gov. Chris Christie’s lap band surgery motivated by political ambition or personal health? One of us thinks Americans are too obsessed with weight to elect an obese president. Another worries that the act of losing weight will obscure Christie’s record in New Jersey if he decides to challenge Hillary Clinton in 2016. Is it possible for aspiring elected officials to make decisions independent of their political future?
We hope you have as much fun hearing us analyze these issues as we had laughing it out over them.
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The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Margaret Hoover.
Eighteen months on from launch, the Middle East’s number 1 mother, baby and child website, Mumzworld.com, announced results of a stellar growth year. Recorded 23 times growth in sales and 6 times growth in registrations and a 40% consumer loyalty rate, the company is well positioned to anchor its leadership in this vertical of mother, baby and child in the region.
In addition, global brand names such as Medela, Danone, Chicco, Fisher Price, Disney and Pampers were part of the 50,000 products that have been added in the last 12 months and have benefited from online exposure and increased sales. Based on current increases, the company is forecasting doubling its registered users from 100,000 to 200,000 and a tripling in top line sales within the next twelve months.
Mona Ataya, CEO and Founder of Mumzworld.com, said: “We have had a remarkable one and a half years with significant growth across all key metrics and a satisfied, loyal customer base as reflected in our lowest return rates compared to industry averages and strong repeat purchase. We have always focused on getting the consumer equation right ensuring that all touch points to the consumer are bullet proof and our supply chain is strong. The result of this focus has been a very satisfied consumer, a loyal consumer and a viral consumer. This is our greatest achievement as our consumer is our most important priority and driver – we focus all our efforts, values and commitment to delivering on exceptional service and products each and every time. We ourselves are parents and so understand firsthand the importance of exceptional service and best rated products to this unique target.”
We have expanded to all key markets in the GCC including KSA where we have a second hub, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman as well as Jordan. While our focus is the GCC, we have fulfilled over 40,000 products to 20 countries in the past year.
The foundations to achieve our dream have been laid; from being called the ‘Amazon for Moms’ to being the largest catalogue of leading baby and kids brands online as well as the largest database of mothers and fathers – we continue to raise the e-commerce service bar in the region.
“Securing a first round of funding from a leading bricks and mortar investor just over a year ago was instrumental in allowing us to achieve all we have achieved today. Now we have a firmly established base in the Gulf, and are poised for expansion. We’re targeting multiple new market entries across the wider MENA region to meet a clear demand from mums for the service and products we provide. We know just how difficult it is to shop with young children, especially if you are juggling the demands of home and work life, as many women are, so we know the value and time savings we can deliver to the hard pressed mum. The next phase in our evolution is a significant second wave expansion – not just into new markets but also expanding our capacity, enhancing our user experience and delivering an even better service to mums across the Middle East and North Africa.”
The annual growth figures make Mumzworld.com the undisputed and largest online shopping site for mothers in the MENA region; with more than 70,000 products, 400 brands and 3,000 new products added every month, offering access to the largest catalogue of products for newborns, toddlers and children aged 0-12 years in a single location.
More than 50 tonnes of products have been shipped by Mumzworld.com since launch, and the site has grown in no small part thanks to satisfied customers, repeat visits and strong word of mouth recommendations. Based on post-purchase surveys, over 90 per cent of those customers ranked its service as ‘excellent or outstanding’, and more than a third of them made repeat purchases on four or more occasions.
“As an ecommerce pioneer for the Middle East, Mumzworld.com enjoys first user advantage and now is the time to build on our hard-earned head start,” said Ataya.
“Our theme for the next 12 months is ‘Accelerate and Dominate,’ as we set out on the path of becoming a household name not just in our home markets in the Gulf, but right across the MENA region. We have set out an ambitious plan that will further grow our market share while anchoring our leadership in the mother, baby and child market.”
Release Date: 04/22/2013Contact Information: Phillippa Cannon, 312-353-6218, cannon.phillippa@epa.gov (news media only)
Chicago — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced that the Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, won first prize among small institutions in the Agency’s first Campus RainWorks Challenge. EPA created the challenge to inspire the next generation of landscape architects, planners and engineers to develop innovative green infrastructure. The student team will receive a $2,500 cash award and IIT will receive $11,000 for faculty research on green infrastructure.
“EPA’s Campus RainWorks Challenge encourages the use of green infrastructure to manage stormwater — to improve water quality and to prevent the type of flooding caused by the heavy rains that hit Illinois last week,” said EPA Region 5 Administrator Susan Hedman, who presented the award today at an Earth Day ceremony at IIT. “The concept and technical quality of the IIT team’s design is truly impressive.”
The IIT team designed a plan to redevelop a 1,200-foot section of Dearborn Street on the IIT campus. The plan incorporates green infrastructure design elements, including rain gardens that double as outdoor seating areas and permeable walkways. Once implemented, the project will reduce stormwater runoff by more than 70 percent and reduce water used for campus landscaping by 3 million gallons annually.
The project will serve as an ongoing stormwater management design and research site for IIT’s campus and the city at large. IIT’s team was composed of a faculty advisor and 14 graduate and undergraduate students from various disciplines including landscape architecture, business and engineering.
“This is a really great moment for the IIT Master of Landscape Architecture program, for the College of Architecture and for the University, because it brings focus and attention to an increasingly vital urban landscape infrastructure issue: a great design problem for design education,” said Mary Pat Mattson, Studio Assistant Professor, Illinois Institute of Technology. “The award gives us an opportunity to build on our ideas through further research and coursework. And we look forward to seeing how this impacts the campus landscape in very real ways.”
More than 30 expert judges from EPA, the American Society of Landscape Architects, the Water Environment Federation and the American Society of Civil Engineers reviewed submissions from 218 teams. The winners were selected based on six criteria: analysis and planning, preservation or restoration of natural features, integrated water management, soil and vegetation management, value to campus, and likelihood of implementation.
Stormwater is one of the most widespread challenges to water quality in the nation. Large volumes of polluted stormwater degrade our nation’s rivers, lakes and aquatic habitats and contribute to downstream flooding.
The Campus RainWorks Challenge engages students and faculty at colleges and universities to apply green infrastructure principles and design, foster interdisciplinary collaboration, and increase the use of green infrastructure on campuses across the nation. Green infrastructure filters and captures pollutants by passing stormwater through soils and retaining it on site. Green roofs, permeable surfaces and rain gardens are some of the most common types of green infrastructure.
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Mexico is a nation where affluence, poverty, natural splendour and urban blight rub shoulders.
On a more positive note, Mexico has recently been emerging from its deepest economic slump since the 1930s, with foreign companies pouring billions of dollars of fresh investment into the country. Foreign direct investment climbed nearly 30 per cent in the first six months of 2010 from a year earlier.
Violent crime though remains a major concern; Mexico has one of the highest rates of kidnappings in the world, and over 35,000 people have died in drug-related violence since December 2006.
Powerful cartels control the trafficking of drugs from South America to the US, a business that is worth an estimated $13bn (£9bn) a year.
Mexico's northern border towns are experiencing the worst of the violence. Ciudad Juarez (just across from El Paso in Texas) is the city suffering the most. There are also high levels of violence in Michoacan and Guerrero states.
However, Mexico is a large country, and there are still many areas which do not experience high levels of serious crime. The overall murder rate is lower than several other countries in the region, including El Salvador and Honduras.
Native rights
Another persistent issue has been the pressure for greater rights for Mexico's indigenous people. A law passed in 2001 fell short of giving Mexico's Indians political autonomy.
However, demands for indigenous rights have been largely peaceful since 1994, when at least 150 people died during an uprising in the southern state of Chiapas, led by the Zapatista rebel movement.
Writers such as Octavio Paz and Carlos Fuentes, the mural-painter Diego Rivera, and popular ranchero and mariachi music mean that Mexican culture is known throughout the Spanish-speaking world and beyond.