Dear Friends and Colleagues,

Let's begin by wishing you a happy and healthy New Year. As you can see, GCI begins 2002 on an especially high note, with strong recognition for the Voorhees Center planning efforts in Highland Park, the Guggenheim Foundation grant to GCI Fellow John Hagedorn and the increasingly successful reach of our online education efforts.

If you have timely information that you would like to share with others in the GCI community, please 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

Violence, Gangs and the Redivision of Space in Chicago
With support from the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation in New York, GCI Fellow and Associate Professor John Hagedorn will begin a study on public policies and neighborhood processes of social control that can lead to segregation and thus reinforce violence. While not comparative in design, it looks at city-specific factors in Chicago to better understand the pattern of high rates of violence. Through field work and interviews, the study will describe how legitimate processes like gentrification, the displacement of gangs, the tearing down of public housing developments and the release of former inmates may lead to violence. By joining criminology with urban political economy, Professor Hagedorn expects to shed new light on the trends of urban violence in the information era and what we can do about them. For the full text of the project proposal, please go to http://www.uic.edu/orgs/kbc/Archives/Guggenheim/GugProposal2.htm.

Contact: John Hagedorn, Fellow, GCI & Associate Professor, Criminal Justice, 312-996-8361, huk@uic.edu.


Examining Gentrification in Chicago's West Town Community
The Nathalie P. Voorhees Center, in partnership with Bickerdike Redevelopment Corporation, has released a study entitled "Gentrification in West Town: Contested Ground." This study spans four decades and traces real estate investment patterns and population change in the West Town community, including the Wicker Park, Bucktown, Ukrainian Village and Humboldt Park neighborhoods on Chicago's Near Northwest Side. The study documents a progressive increase in property values over the decades including a doubling of the median home price between 1990 and 2000. For a copy of the study, please go to http://www.uic.edu/cuppa/voorheesctr/gentrificationabstract.htm.

Contact: Yittayih Zelalem , Senior Planner, Nathalie P. Voorhees Center, 312-996-6674, yittazel@uic.edu.

Voorhees Center Affordable Housing Plan Recognized by State of Illinois
Governor Ryan recently recognized the City of Highland Park's Affordable Housing Implementation Plan, developed by the Natalie P. Voorhees Center, as one of the first recipients of the Illinois Tomorrow Award. The plan, which was also recognized by the Housing Commission of Lake County, includes a Trust Fund, Land Trust and Inclusionary Zoning strategies to increase affordable housing. To review the plan, please go to
http://www.uic.edu/cuppa/voorheesctr/highlandparkabstract.htm.

Contact: Yittayih Zelalem , Senior Planner, Nathalie P. Voorhees Center, 312-996-6674, yittazel@uic.edu.

First European Resident Graduates from Online Certificate Program
The Online Certificate in Nonprofit Management, a program offered to nonprofit practitioners around the globe, is pleased to announce three new graduates: Patricia Weaver of Rome, Italy completed the six courses to become the first European resident to graduate from the program; Ann Duel and Andrea Rossi, both of Chicago, also earned certification. To learn more about CNM Online go to http://cnm.cuppa.uic.edu.

Contact: John Mudd, Program Coordinator, 312-996-5167, jmudd1@uic.edu.

Calendar
Building Capacity in Cyberspace: Strengthening the Nonprofit Sector through Online Learning
Thursday, January 17, 2002
This Great Cities Institute lecture series for January will feature Kate Pravera, Director of Professional Education. The lecture will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Great Cities Institute, 412 South Peoria, Suite 400.

The Engaged University: Evaluating and Rewarding Engaged Scholarships
Friday, February 8, 2002
The UIC Academic Senate is sponsoring the conference, which is open to UIC faculty and staff and is free of charge. The conference will examine the challenges associated with creating and maintaining an engaged university. It will be held at the Chicago Circle Center, 750 S. Halsted. For more information, please see http://www.uic.edu/depts/oaa/tfse/conference.html.

People
Professor of Public Administration and GCI fellow, Michael Pagano was a presenter at the "Luncheon Series" of the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy in Cambridge, Massachusetts on December 3. The presentation titled, "Cities' Strategic Land Behavior" summarized four years of work on vacant urban land, cities' policies directed toward use and re-use of vacant land, and the influence of social, fiscal and developmental factors in structuring vacant land policies. The study was co-authored by Ann Bowman, from the University of South Carolina. A portion of the study was published as part of the Survey Series of the Brookings Institution Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy. It is available at http://www.brook.edu/es/urban/pagano/paganofinal.pdf.

GCI Director of Professional Education Kate Pravera and Associate Director Lauri Alpern were presenters at the "Seventh Sloan-C International Conference on Online Learning: Emerging Standards of Excellence in Asynchronous Learning Networks" in Orlando, Florida on November 17. They participated on a panel session on Emerging Standards of Excellence for Faculty Development and Participation and gave a presentation entitled: "In Pursuit of Excellence: The Changing Role of Adjunct Faculty in Online Professional Education."

GCI Senior Associate, Debby Mir gave a presentation titled, "Environmental Awareness and Action in Micro Enterprises," on November 30, at the UIC Environmental Science, Health and Policy Research Forum.

GCI Faculty Scholar Spotlight
Each month we are pleased to introduce you to one of the GCI faculty scholars spending the year with us.

Dr. Marcia Farr, Professor of English and Linguistics in UIC's Department of English, is a sociolinguist, focusing on cultural variation in the use of oral and written language and the ways this effects teaching and learning. Her current research is a long-term ethnographic study of culture, language and identity among a transnational social network of Mexican families in Chicago and in their village-of-origin in Michoacan, Mexico. This research included a year as a Fulbright Scholar in Mexico. Dr. Farr is working on two forthcoming books: Rancheros in Chicagoacan: Language Ideology and Identity in a Transnational Mexican Community and Ethnolinguistic Chicago: Language and Literacy in Chicago's Neighborhoods. From 1976 to 1982, Dr. Farr directed funding of research on writing at the National Institute of Education. She edited Written Language, a research series, and currently serves on the Editorial Board of the Written Communication Journal. In addition, she has received grants from the Spencer Foundation and the National Science Foundation. Dr. Farr holds a Master's degree in Linguistics from American University and a Ph.D. in Linguistics from Georgetown University.