Alumni News - August 2005

August Alumni Update:

DCRP alumna spends summer helping to build community pride
LandDesign promotes senior planner to partner
FEMA grant will help disadvantaged communities prepare for disasters
David Moreau returns as WRRI Director
Endowed professorship awarded to William M. Rohe
An industry trying to land on its feet
New faculty publication: "Emerging Land and Housing Markets in China"
Revival of 'Elm Street, U.S.A.', begins one tree at a time
New East exterior masonry and stucco restoration

DCRP alumna spends summer helping to build community pride
Located in Asheville, N.C., the Design Corps Summer Studio is an independent training center for community
service that promotes and practices designing and building to meet local needs. The studio provides the benefits
of quality design to communities through inspired built form while training future architects in the methods of
community visioning, organizing, and leadership.

During the eight week summer course, students worked closely with the residents of a low-income community
called Shiloh using a participatory design process to design (and build) a bus shelter. Students gained experience
using innovative materials such as, sanded Lexan (stronger than plexiglass and glass) and Alucabond (a silicon
sandwiched between two pieces of aluminum). The columns and all connection hardware were fabricated out of
steel and welded by the students.

More importantly, students gained experience working with the community. “It's more than just a place to get out
of the rain,” says project T.A. Kelly Lowry (MRP ’04), “ideally it will stand as a symbol of community pride and
identity. The residents of Shiloh have been great to work with and they seem very excited about the project.”

Learn more about Design Corps

LandDesign promotes senior planner to partner
LandDesign, an urban planning, civil engineering and landscape architecture
company, has promoted a senior planner, Meg Nealon (MRP '98) to partner
in its Charlotte office.

“Meg Nealon has contributed greatly to our success,” said Brad Davis, Land
Design partner in Charlotte. “She has grown with us and, along the way, she’s
helped us grow, as well. Rewarding her dedication and effectiveness is only
natural. We hope it shows others that there is plenty of opportunity here for
those with merit.”

As a senior planner, who has worked for LandDesign for 12 years, Nealon
focuses on regional planning with an emphasis on balancing competing objectives
of economic development and natural resource conservation. Though most of her
work is outside Charlotte, her recent projects include the Strategic Regional Open
Space Framework for the Charlotte region.

A native of West Palm Beach, FL, Nealon joined LandDesign in Charlotte in 1991 after earning her bachelor’s degree in
Landscape Architecture from the University of Georgia. She left the company in 1996 to pursue a master’s degree in
Regional Planning from DCRP. Shortly after, she returned to LandDesign.

Nealon, who lives in Charlotte, is a member of the Urban Land Institute and the American Planning Association. She holds
an at-large seat on the Charlotte Historic District Commission, and gives presentations on land planning issues to local civic
groups and volunteers for environmentally-oriented initiatives.

FEMA grant will help disadvantaged communities prepare for disasters
DCRP alumnus teams with CURS to protect communities

With the 2005 hurricane season quickly in full effect, MDC Inc. and the University
of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have received a $1.5 million grant from the Federal
Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to help disadvantaged communities in
six states and the District of Columbia prepare for disasters.

The Emergency Preparedness Demonstration Program will be conducted through a partnership between MDC,
an independent nonprofit research organization based in Chapel Hill, and the Center for Urban and Regional
Studies (CURS) in UNC's College of Arts and Sciences. MDC will be the lead partner for the two-year program,
which will alert residents to the hazards of natural, technological and manmade disasters and communicate
what they can do to be better prepared.

"FEMA wanted to engage the community in this process, which is a strength of MDC," said Dr. John Cooper,
who received his doctorate from DCRP in 2004. Cooper, who worked for the state Division of Emergency
Management for two years, will be the project manager and lead researcher at MDC. "We'll be looking at how
better equipped communities are after the demonstration projects to not only take on emergency preparedness
and response, but other issues as well. Have we created new leaders? Is there an organization in place that
has taken on the role of community awareness?"

"We'll be looking at why the message about emergency preparedness is not getting through to these disadvantaged
communities," said lead UNC researcher Dr. Philip R. Berke, DCRP professor and faculty fellow at CURS. "We
want to use communities' knowledge and leadership to build their capacity to take self-directed, disaster-reduction
initiatives. The action plans developed by the communities will focus on reducing the harm of future disasters."

Read more...

Endowed professorship awarded to William M. Rohe
William M. Rohe, DCRP professor & director of the Center for
Urban and Regional Studies, has been awarded the title of Boshamer
Professor. Professorships are permanent funds, invested to produce
income that can be awarded to the named professor as a salary
supplement. Carolina has more than 200 different professorships,
supporting almost 300 faculty members in all areas of the University.
The Boshamer professorship acknowledges in a tangible way the
extraordinary teaching, service and research that Dr. Rohe has
contributed to UNC and the field of planning.

Dr. Rohe’s research focuses on understanding the social processes involved in neighborhood hood change
and revitalization and the impacts of homeownership on self-perceptions and social behavior. He has taught
at UNC since 1978 and teaches courses focusing on community development planning and neighborhood
revitalization. Last year Dr. Rohe was awarded a postdoctoral Fulbright grant to conduct research in
Barcelona, Spain. In Spain he was affiliated with the Department of Urbanism and Regional Planning at the
Technical University of Catalonia in Barcelona. He spent the spring semester of 2004 studying Barcelona’s
very successful urban revitalization program.

The Cary C. Boshamer Professorships were established in 1969 by Cary Carlisle Boshamer, a member of the
Class of 1917 and an aggressive tackle on the football team. Boshamer was a native of North Carolina in the
1920s and engaged in a series of successful business ventures, primarily in the textile industry. Boshamer
served as a trustee of the UNC system from 1969 until 1972 and was a trustee of the University the following year.

Learn more about Dr. Rohe's research

Visit the Center for Urban and Regional Studies Web site

An industry trying to land on its feet
How North Carolina textiles can survive the import flood.
by Neil Caudle
endeavors
Spring 2005

Small companies such as DeFeet, which makes bicycle
socks in Hildebran, North Carolina, are finding niche
markets where know-how and flexibility mean more than
large-scale production.

But no matter how successful companies might be at
exploiting those niches, no one expects the textiles and
apparel industries to replace tens of thousands of jobs.

Meenu Tewari, assistant professor at DCRP, has studied workforce changes in traditional industries in North
Carolina. She finds some hope in organizations such as Bionetwork, an effort of the N.C. Community College
System. “Bionetwork saw a way to recruit and retrain workers displaced from North Carolina’s traditional sectors —
textiles, apparel, and furniture — workers who were solidly embedded in the ethic of shop-floor manufacturing,”
Tewari says. “With short training courses, from a few months to a year in length, they found that they could
channel some traditional-sector workers who’d earned thirty thousand dollars-plus into good jobs paying forty-five
to fifty thousand a year.”

But many thousands of displaced workers probably will never have access to such jobs, Tewari says. Workers
who are older, poorer, and less educated are being left out of the high-tech job market, especially in isolated rural
areas. So rural towns once dependent on textiles, apparel, or furniture are pursuing other options, she says,
including a multitude of businesses associated with the growing health-care industry.

New faculty publication: "Emerging Land and Housing Markets in China"

Editor(s): Yan Song and Chengri Ding
Publication Date: March 2005

Land and housing policies are of fundamental importance to sustainable
economic growth and the well-being of the rapidly growing Chinese population.
Therefore, research on land and housing policy reform has long been of
interest to many scholars and institutions around the world.

The very title of this book — Emerging Land and Housing Markets in China —
reflects an important strategic shift in China’s recent history. Since 1949 China
has been pursuing a centrally planned economy and for many years was reluctant

to inject market mechanisms into its policy framework because of debates over socialist orthodoxy or other political
issues. Today, much has changed. China’s reform efforts since 1978 have been considered a successful example
of addressing land and housing policy issues, and a careful analysis of these reforms may pertain to other countries.

This book organizes current research on China’s land and housing policy reforms in a way that is accessible to
a wide audience of decision makers, nongovernmental organizations and academics; it is one of the few records
of this kind available in English. Most of the chapters are based on the proceedings of sessions sponsored by the
Lincoln Institute of Land Policy at the World Planning Congress held in Shanghai, China in July 2001. The chapters
have been edited and updated to incorporate a review of the history of China’s reforms, evaluations of the present
situation and outlooks for the future.

Published by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy To order this book
(278 pages) Tables, figures, maps, bibliographic references, glossary, index.

Learn more about Dr. Song's research

Revival of 'Elm Street, U.S.A.', begins one tree at a time
University Gazette

BUDDING FUTURE Thomas Campanella, assistant professor of city and regional
planning and author of “Republic of Shade” (left), stands with Thomas Bythell,
University arborist, next to a newly planted disease-resistant elm tree between
Old East and New East.

The Great Depression produced powerful images that still linger in American
consciousness — from soup lines to apple stands to train-hopping hobos to
the drought that turned the once-green heartland into a Dust Bowl.
But when Tom Campanella thinks of the devastation wrought in that decade,
the first thing that comes to his mind is the blight called Dutch elm disease
carried by a burrowing beetle.

Read the complete article

Learn more about Dr. Campanella's research

New East exterior masonry and stucco restoration
UNC has received funding from the State’s Renovation
and Repair Appropriations to restore the exterior stucco
finish of New East and repair or replace any rotten trim
members on the building. Repairs will mimic New East’s
existing appearance, restoring it to the current 1923
period of significance.

The scope of the work does not interfere with DCRP’s day
to day activities, and both building entrances will remain
open and protected as specified by OSHA Standards.

Learn more about New East’s historic past


	RELATED LINKS: Alumni Resources Past Listserv News 2005 New East News & Report (PDF) Alumni Association By-Laws Department News Community Engagement Graduated Ph.D.s Directions to DCRP Campus Vistor Parking CONTACT: Sue Edwards Alumni Assoc. President Emil Malizia Chair Terri Gault Administrative Manager Carolyn Turner Student Services Manager Udo Reisinger Information Specialist		August Alumni Update: DCRP alumna spends summer helping to build community pride LandDesign promotes senior planner to partner FEMA grant will help disadvantaged communities prepare for disasters David Moreau returns as WRRI Director Endowed professorship awarded to William M. Rohe An industry trying to land on its feet New faculty publication: "Emerging Land and Housing Markets in China" Revival of 'Elm Street, U.S.A.', begins one tree at a time New East exterior masonry and stucco restoration DCRP alumna spends summer helping to build community pride Located in Asheville, N.C., the Design Corps Summer Studio is an independent training center for community service that promotes and practices designing and building to meet local needs. The studio provides the benefits of quality design to communities through inspired built form while training future architects in the methods of community visioning, organizing, and leadership. During the eight week summer course, students worked closely with the residents of a low-income community called Shiloh using a participatory design process to design (and build) a bus shelter. Students gained experience using innovative materials such as, sanded Lexan (stronger than plexiglass and glass) and Alucabond (a silicon sandwiched between two pieces of aluminum). The columns and all connection hardware were fabricated out of steel and welded by the students. More importantly, students gained experience working with the community. “It's more than just a place to get out of the rain,” says project T.A. Kelly Lowry (MRP ’04), “ideally it will stand as a symbol of community pride and identity. The residents of Shiloh have been great to work with and they seem very excited about the project.” Learn more about Design Corps LandDesign promotes senior planner to partner LandDesign, an urban planning, civil engineering and landscape architecture company, has promoted a senior planner, Meg Nealon (MRP '98) to partner in its Charlotte office. “Meg Nealon has contributed greatly to our success,” said Brad Davis, Land Design partner in Charlotte. “She has grown with us and, along the way, she’s helped us grow, as well. Rewarding her dedication and effectiveness is only natural. We hope it shows others that there is plenty of opportunity here for those with merit.” As a senior planner, who has worked for LandDesign for 12 years, Nealon focuses on regional planning with an emphasis on balancing competing objectives of economic development and natural resource conservation. Though most of her work is outside Charlotte, her recent projects include the Strategic Regional Open Space Framework for the Charlotte region. A native of West Palm Beach, FL, Nealon joined LandDesign in Charlotte in 1991 after earning her bachelor’s degree in Landscape Architecture from the University of Georgia. She left the company in 1996 to pursue a master’s degree in Regional Planning from DCRP. Shortly after, she returned to LandDesign. Nealon, who lives in Charlotte, is a member of the Urban Land Institute and the American Planning Association. She holds an at-large seat on the Charlotte Historic District Commission, and gives presentations on land planning issues to local civic groups and volunteers for environmentally-oriented initiatives. FEMA grant will help disadvantaged communities prepare for disasters DCRP alumnus teams with CURS to protect communities With the 2005 hurricane season quickly in full effect, MDC Inc. and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have received a $1.5 million grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to help disadvantaged communities in six states and the District of Columbia prepare for disasters. The Emergency Preparedness Demonstration Program will be conducted through a partnership between MDC, an independent nonprofit research organization based in Chapel Hill, and the Center for Urban and Regional Studies (CURS) in UNC's College of Arts and Sciences. MDC will be the lead partner for the two-year program, which will alert residents to the hazards of natural, technological and manmade disasters and communicate what they can do to be better prepared. "FEMA wanted to engage the community in this process, which is a strength of MDC," said Dr. John Cooper, who received his doctorate from DCRP in 2004. Cooper, who worked for the state Division of Emergency Management for two years, will be the project manager and lead researcher at MDC. "We'll be looking at how better equipped communities are after the demonstration projects to not only take on emergency preparedness and response, but other issues as well. Have we created new leaders? Is there an organization in place that has taken on the role of community awareness?" "We'll be looking at why the message about emergency preparedness is not getting through to these disadvantaged communities," said lead UNC researcher Dr. Philip R. Berke, DCRP professor and faculty fellow at CURS. "We want to use communities' knowledge and leadership to build their capacity to take self-directed, disaster-reduction initiatives. The action plans developed by the communities will focus on reducing the harm of future disasters." Read more... David Moreau returns as WRRI Director David Moreau has been named director of the Water Resources Research Institute (WRRI). WRRI is a unit of The University of North Carolina system established in 1965 and is authorized by the Water Resources Research Act of 1964 to administer and promote federal/state partnerships on water-related issues. WRRI identifies and supports research needed to help solve water quality and water resources problems in North Carolina and the region. Dr. Moreau also served as WRRI director from 1983 to 1995. Learn more about Dr. Moreau's research Learn more about the Water Resources Research Institute Endowed professorship awarded to William M. Rohe William M. Rohe, DCRP professor & director of the Center for Urban and Regional Studies, has been awarded the title of Boshamer Professor. Professorships are permanent funds, invested to produce income that can be awarded to the named professor as a salary supplement. Carolina has more than 200 different professorships, supporting almost 300 faculty members in all areas of the University. The Boshamer professorship acknowledges in a tangible way the extraordinary teaching, service and research that Dr. Rohe has contributed to UNC and the field of planning. Dr. Rohe’s research focuses on understanding the social processes involved in neighborhood hood change and revitalization and the impacts of homeownership on self-perceptions and social behavior. He has taught at UNC since 1978 and teaches courses focusing on community development planning and neighborhood revitalization. Last year Dr. Rohe was awarded a postdoctoral Fulbright grant to conduct research in Barcelona, Spain. In Spain he was affiliated with the Department of Urbanism and Regional Planning at the Technical University of Catalonia in Barcelona. He spent the spring semester of 2004 studying Barcelona’s very successful urban revitalization program. The Cary C. Boshamer Professorships were established in 1969 by Cary Carlisle Boshamer, a member of the Class of 1917 and an aggressive tackle on the football team. Boshamer was a native of North Carolina in the 1920s and engaged in a series of successful business ventures, primarily in the textile industry. Boshamer served as a trustee of the UNC system from 1969 until 1972 and was a trustee of the University the following year. Learn more about Dr. Rohe's research Visit the Center for Urban and Regional Studies Web site An industry trying to land on its feet How North Carolina textiles can survive the import flood. by Neil Caudle endeavors Spring 2005 Small companies such as DeFeet, which makes bicycle socks in Hildebran, North Carolina, are finding niche markets where know-how and flexibility mean more than large-scale production. But no matter how successful companies might be at exploiting those niches, no one expects the textiles and apparel industries to replace tens of thousands of jobs. Meenu Tewari, assistant professor at DCRP, has studied workforce changes in traditional industries in North Carolina. She finds some hope in organizations such as Bionetwork, an effort of the N.C. Community College System. “Bionetwork saw a way to recruit and retrain workers displaced from North Carolina’s traditional sectors — textiles, apparel, and furniture — workers who were solidly embedded in the ethic of shop-floor manufacturing,” Tewari says. “With short training courses, from a few months to a year in length, they found that they could channel some traditional-sector workers who’d earned thirty thousand dollars-plus into good jobs paying forty-five to fifty thousand a year.” But many thousands of displaced workers probably will never have access to such jobs, Tewari says. Workers who are older, poorer, and less educated are being left out of the high-tech job market, especially in isolated rural areas. So rural towns once dependent on textiles, apparel, or furniture are pursuing other options, she says, including a multitude of businesses associated with the growing health-care industry. Read the complete article on-line at endeavors.unc.edu Learn more about Dr. Tewari's research New faculty publication: "Emerging Land and Housing Markets in China" Editor(s): Yan Song and Chengri Ding Publication Date: March 2005 Land and housing policies are of fundamental importance to sustainable economic growth and the well-being of the rapidly growing Chinese population. Therefore, research on land and housing policy reform has long been of interest to many scholars and institutions around the world. The very title of this book — Emerging Land and Housing Markets in China — reflects an important strategic shift in China’s recent history. Since 1949 China has been pursuing a centrally planned economy and for many years was reluctant to inject market mechanisms into its policy framework because of debates over socialist orthodoxy or other political issues. Today, much has changed. China’s reform efforts since 1978 have been considered a successful example of addressing land and housing policy issues, and a careful analysis of these reforms may pertain to other countries. This book organizes current research on China’s land and housing policy reforms in a way that is accessible to a wide audience of decision makers, nongovernmental organizations and academics; it is one of the few records of this kind available in English. Most of the chapters are based on the proceedings of sessions sponsored by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy at the World Planning Congress held in Shanghai, China in July 2001. The chapters have been edited and updated to incorporate a review of the history of China’s reforms, evaluations of the present situation and outlooks for the future. Published by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy To order this book (278 pages) Tables, figures, maps, bibliographic references, glossary, index. Learn more about Dr. Song's research Revival of 'Elm Street, U.S.A.', begins one tree at a time University Gazette BUDDING FUTURE Thomas Campanella, assistant professor of city and regional planning and author of “Republic of Shade” (left), stands with Thomas Bythell, University arborist, next to a newly planted disease-resistant elm tree between Old East and New East. The Great Depression produced powerful images that still linger in American consciousness — from soup lines to apple stands to train-hopping hobos to the drought that turned the once-green heartland into a Dust Bowl. But when Tom Campanella thinks of the devastation wrought in that decade, the first thing that comes to his mind is the blight called Dutch elm disease carried by a burrowing beetle. Read the complete article Learn more about Dr. Campanella's research New East exterior masonry and stucco restoration UNC has received funding from the State’s Renovation and Repair Appropriations to restore the exterior stucco finish of New East and repair or replace any rotten trim members on the building. Repairs will mimic New East’s existing appearance, restoring it to the current 1923 period of significance. The scope of the work does not interfere with DCRP’s day to day activities, and both building entrances will remain open and protected as specified by OSHA Standards. Learn more about New East’s historic past