Dear Friends and Colleagues,

Welcome back UIC students and faculty! We are eager to begin an exciting academic year at GCI and UIC.

The Institute will be exceedingly busy in the coming weeks-with not only the return of students but also the introduction of eight new faculty scholars and new research programs. Please stop by and become a part of the activities of GCI. Let us know how we may work together now or in the future or just drop us a line at gcities@uic.edu or 312.996.8700. All the best to you.

David Perry Professor and Director	Lauri Alpern Associate Director

Chicago Public Radio to Broadcast Ninth Annual Great Cities Winter Forum -
THE OPEN CITY
The theme of the Ninth Annual Great Cities Winter Forum is The Open City. The forum will be held on Friday, December 6 at the Chicago Circle Center from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The morning plenary, The Open City - Defining Where We Stand Today, will be moderated by Steve Edwards, Host, Eight Forty-Eight, Chicago Public Radio and will be broadcast live on WBEZ, Chicago Public Radio, 91.5 FM at 9:30 a.m.

As cities have taken on renewed importance in the 21st century, they have also become centerpieces for new economic relationships and unexpected levels of violence. In the face of globalization and calls for new levels of security, there is also a need to recognize and reaffirm the role of the cities as sites of inclusion, centers of civic culture and imaginative openness, and the drivers of social and economic change. Speakers and participants from diverse backgrounds in government, the nonprofit sector, business, and academia will discuss and debate the Open City as a site of democratic governance and leadership, immigration and opportunity, cultural and technological innovation, and housing access and educational progress. Registration and additional program information will be available at www.uic.edu/cuppa/gci.

Contact: Lauri Alpern, Associate Director, 312-413-3377, lauri@uic.edu.

Renewing Public Housing: Private Sector Principles for the New Millennium
GCI is pleased to announce a new, national online certificate program specifically designed for public housing officials who want to improve their professional skills. The certificate program, Renewing Public Housing: Private Sector Principles for the New Millennium, offers four six-week classes on a range of topics including development finance, property and asset management, and managing change. Registration is now open for classes beginning October 24 and January 16. To register or obtain more information, visit the website at http://rph.cuppa.uic.edu.

Contact: John Mudd, Program Coordinator, 312-996-9257, jmudd1@uic.edu.

Young Women's Leadership Charter School Partnership Kicks Off
The school-based clinic at the YWLCS opens with funding from the Polk Brothers Foundation and the American Academy of Pediatrics. The YWLCS is an all girls school that focuses on science and math. The UICNI partnership will introduce primary care, health education, and mentoring opportunities for students. One goal of the initiative is to inspire students and familiarize them with UIC departments and colleges. The program will provide internship opportunities at UIC in the future.

Contact: Cynthia Barnes-Boyd, Director, UIC Neighborhoods Initiative, 312-996-4656, cboyd@uic.edu.

New Health Promotion Partnership Targets Chronic Disease Prevention
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is providing multi-year support for The Chicago Partnership for Health Promotion (CPHP). The goal of the program is to provide nutrition education and health promotion services to children and families in predominately low-income communities in Chicago. The CPHP is a coalition of community, government, and academic organizations that is devoted to the dissemination of information on healthy eating, physical fitness, and food safety directed at preventing chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases. Services will be provided primarily through home visits that will be supported by social marketing, school-based programs, and programs in community sites such as hair and beauty salons and churches. Additional programs will be hospital or clinic-based and target families of children with chronic diseases.

Contact: Dr. Charles Baum, Project Director, Division of Community Health, UIC Neighborhoods Initiative, 312-996-4656, baum@uic.edu.

Calendar
Are We Capable Yet? Assessing and Building Organizational Capacity
Thursday, October 10, 2002
Save the date for this one-day conference for and about non-profit organizations. The conference is sponsored by the UIC College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs along with Spertus College. More information will be available soon at http://cnm.cuppa.uic.edu.

Contact: John Mudd, Program Coordinator, 312-996-9257, jmudd1@uic.edu.

Looking at Built Environments
Tuesday, October 15, 7:00 P.M. - 8:30 P.M.
The events of September 11 shifted our ideas about the urban environment, mobility, and the very meaning of urban citizenship. This program, featuring noted experts such as Steve Edwards from WBEZ Radio, Evan McKenzie, professor in UIC's department of political science, and Jane Ramsey, director of the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs, is co-sponsored with the Center for Public Intellectuals, UIC's Great Cities Institute, and the Chicago Architecture Foundation. It will present an in-depth analysis of new ways to look at urban planning, architecture, and how Americans from various cultures and backgrounds inhabit public space in cities. The program will be held at the Chicago Historical Society. For more information, visit http://www.publicintellectuals.org/events.html

People

Public Administration Professor and GCI Faculty Fellow Michael Pagano was appointed to the Transportation Research Board's (TRB) Steering Committee for the Third National Conference on Transportation Finance. TRB is a unit of the National Academy of Sciences, which was chartered by the U.S Congress to provide scientific and technical advice to the federal government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities.

This year's scholarship recipient of the Trkla Scholarship is urban planning student and GCI and UIC Neighborhoods Initiative research assistant Elvira Reyes. The scholarship was established in 1997 in memory of Nick Trkla, an Urban Land Institute (ULI) trustee and the first Chairman of the ULI Chicago District Council. The award is given to graduate students with a commitment to high quality development that is sensitive to human and environmental concerns. Elvira is specializing in Physical Planning and Community Development and expects to complete her coursework in December. Congratulations Elvira!