Think Mag by Emily Barger

SPRING 2010

THE STATE OF URBAN AMERICA Challenges facing today’s cities

THE GEOGRAPHY OF WASTE INSIDE A TRUCKER’S WORLD POSTVILLE, IA: AFTER THE RAID

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2010 Editor in Chief Matt McGuire Managing Editor Mallory George Art Director Emily Barger Senior Editors Danny Akright Rachel Vogel Associate Editors Liana Blum Matthew H. Smith Copy Chief Lindsay Fullington Business & Production Manager Whitley Kemble Photo Editor Nicole Salow Photographer Zachary Polka Senior Designers Blake Kermode Olivia Lansing Writers Kimisha Chambers Eric Kipp Logan Weeks Logan Whelchel Publisher Jill Van Wyke

THINKDSM.COM Executive Producer Stacey Wilson Editorial Director Norah Carroll Art Director Allison Quick

FROM THE EDITOR Living in the information age has its drawbacks. Yes, we have more collective knowledge than ever—and all at our fingertips—but that’s not always helpful. Sometimes, it’s kind of scary. There’s too much we’ll never know. The truth is out there somewhere, but it’s buried beneath a mountain of data, theories, and opinions. No one can conquer it alone, but it’s hard to know whom to trust. So we retreat, put on our blinders, and construct a little world of our own. I’m as guilty of this as anyone. I stick mostly to my list of bookmarked news websites. If I so choose, I can sit undisturbed in my own information bubble. If that bubble leads me astray, there’s no Walter Cronkite to shake up my perceptions for me—either that or there are too many, and I’ve already tuned them out. We choose what information we see and don’t take kindly to unexpected intrusions. That means it’s your responsibility to leave your comfort zone. You can’t go wrong stepping back and thinking a little more. You don’t have to track down the homeless by the Des Moines River like our writer Matthew H. Smith (page 36), but reading about it is a start. That goes for the rest of this issue—it’s a good step toward a more thoughtful conception of the world in which we live. Think offers no grand unified theories, but we’ve sifted through that mountain and pulled out a few things we think are important: the impacts of a prison on a small Minnesota town (page 14); the phenomenon of “grocery deserts,” where inner-city residents have no access to affordable, healthy food (page 33); or a combat school in Georgia that is a flashpoint for protesters of American foreign policy (page 38).

photo by Nicole Salow We’ve challenged ourselves in making this magazine. I hope it challenges you, too. On the following pages, you’ll find a wealth of things you didn’t know were so complex and a few things you didn’t realize mattered so much. Of course, you don’t have to agree— but if you’re thinking, we’ve done our job.

Matt McGuire, Editor in Chief

Special thanks: Meredith Corporation, Drake University School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Lori Blachford, Jeff Inman, Sarah McCoy, Patricia Prijatel, and David Wright. Think magazine and THINKDSM.COM are produced by Drake University senior magazine and news/ Internet majors through a grant from Meredith Corporation and the Meredith Family ©2010. Drake University, 2507 University Ave., Des Moines, IA 50311; www.drake.edu Cover photo: The picture, altered using a process called tilt-shift, shows a view of Manhattan many of us haven't seen before: one of the world's largest cities made miniature. This photo editing technique draws the viewer away from the big picture and into the details, just like the stories in our State of Urban America package, starting on page 28. Courtesy of Stuart McLeman.

FEATURES 28 THE STATE OF URBAN AMERICA 30 CONSTRUCTING THE MODEL CITY Neighborhood revitalization efforts can have unintended consequences.

33 URBAN WASTELANDS

Many city dwellers live in “grocery deserts.”

34 A PLACE TO CALL HOME

Des Moines’ homeless population struggles to survive on the fringes of society.

38 CROSSING THE LINE

An American combat school for Latin American soldiers attracts thousands of protesters.

44 TAKING OUT THE TRASH

From New York City to the Pacific Ocean, we’re just beginning to deal with our own garbage.

48 THINK TWEETS

NATION HOME 04 SIGNS OF RECOVERY

Checking in on Postville, IA.

08 MINDING THE MENTALLY ILL

A day in the life of a mental health worker.

09 CLOSING THE DOOR

Iowa’s future as a haven for refugees is threatened.

16 THE SEVEN DEADLY SALES 18 INSIDE THE CAB

HEARTLAND 10 DRAINING THE PLAINS 12 DWELLING ON OUR FAULTS 13 ALL FLIGHTS CANCELED

A new Illinois airport remains largely unused.

21 THE AIR WE BREATHE

Dangerous pollutants and the efforts to reduce them.

22 HOW TO CONTACT YOUR GOVERNMENT 23 IF YOU BUILD IT…

How much are sports teams worth to a city?

WORLD 24 CROSSROADS OF HISTORY: AFGHANISTAN 25 SLUMS IN THE SPOTLIGHT 26 SHOPPING FOR CHARITIES 27 FEARING THE FAITHFUL

European countries crack down on forms of Muslim expression.

14 THE PRISON’S TOWN

HOME

SIGNS OF RECOVERY

Two years after an immigration raid, Postville, IA, is moving on. by Logan Weeks, photos by Nicole Salow

Two signs greet visitors to Postville, IA. One sign, battered and rusty, reads, “Welcome to Postville, Boyhood Home of Dr. John R. Mott, Nobel Peace Prize Winner 1946.” The other, in pristine condition, reads, “Postville: Hometown to the World.” The first sign represents what Postville once was. The second represents what Postville has become. Postville is uncharacteristically diverse for a small town of 2,300 in northeast Iowa. Hasidic Jewish families from Brooklyn walk together on the Sabbath. Hispanics from Guatemala and Mexico sit together and drink coconut juice outside a local food store. A white family shops at John’s Hardware Center. To a longtime resident of Postville, this is just a typical day—as stereotypical as it seems. Postville is the kind of place where an average person could run two laps around town and barely break a sweat. So it’s strange that so many cultures have united here, of all places. Many of the town’s minority residents were recruited to Postville to work at the Agriprocessors plant, which was the largest kosher meatpacking plant in the country. Much of the town’s vitality was dependent upon the large illegal immigrant population working at Agriprocessors—and two years ago, Postville’s house of cards collapsed. �

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Brian Chipix, Arnoldo Xajpot, and Camaney Tixac sit outside Tienda Tonitas, a local food store. T HIN K DSM.CO M

Fractured families

On the morning of May 12, 2008, Postville became the site of the largest immigration raid in U.S. history. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents swarmed the town, converging at the Agriprocessors plant. The ICE agents arrested 390 people—290 Guatemalans, 93 Mexicans, four Ukrainians, and three Israelis, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa. These immigrants, many of whom couldn’t speak English, were detained on charges of identity theft and unlawful use of a Social Security number—even though the managers at Agriprocessors told them their papers and work permits would be taken care of. Many of the people arrested were parents picking up an early shift at the plant—leaving children on their own. The next day, one-third of the students in Postville schools didn’t attend classes. Following the raid, more than 400 people sought shelter at St. Bridget’s Catholic Church. Other local churches offered food, organized transportation, and became a place for families to come together and figure out who had been arrested. “It separated a lot of families,” says Juan Pablo Perez, 13. “They took my uncle.” The vice president and CEO of Agriprocessors, Sholom Rubashkin, was arrested along with two other managers, and each was charged with more than 9,000 misdemeanors. Rubashkin was eventually convicted on 86 financial fraud charges, though he avoided charges related to harboring illegal immigrants and aiding in identity theft. Agriprocessors also went bankrupt. But the deportations were what rocked the town to its core—hundreds of those arrested were sent back to their home countries. Now Agriprocessors is back—under new ownership and renamed Agri Star Meat and Poultry—but many of the immigrants aren’t, and some still have families in Postville. Since the raid, Postville’s immigrant community has been in flux. Many of the Guatemalan families, in particular, were separated, but with the re-emergence of Agri Star, new immigrants have taken their place. “Everybody from the outside immediately thought, ‘They took everybody, and now Postville is nothing but a white town again,’” says Chad Wahls, principal of the Postville Community School District. But that’s not the case.

Lasting effects

Although the opening of Agri Star has employed more people, there are still people in the town unemployed, in jail, and waiting for their court dates. Monica Vasquez has lived in Postville for 16 years. Her husband was taken during the raid and has been in jail for two years. “I have four kids, so they suffer a lot,” she says. Even two years after the raid, families look toward community leaders and organizations for help. The Postville Response Coalition was founded shortly after the raid and is guided by response coordinator Maryn Olson. The coalition, which served about 150 to 200 people a day when it first opened, continues to help families with housing, food, medical care, and other expenses like transportation costs. Olson also puts people in contact with government agencies for help with health care, food assistance, child support, and child care. The coalition is funded by donations from people all over the country. “It’s not an easy process to find operating money,” Olson says. “We have been blessed so far.” Ron Wahls, Chad’s father and the guidance counselor at the elementary school, has helped some of the many new families that moved to Postville. “I probably moved in 500 to 700 mattresses,” Wahls says. He has also helped families get basic household appliances whenever he could. He takes a great interest in the new students who enroll in classes, too. “When somebody gets sick at school, our first call is to a parent,” Wahls says. “If a parent is working and can’t get off work, they just say, ‘Take my student home,’ and we do that.” Postville still struggles to regain its balance after the raid, but community involvement has helped many families continue their lives. And as the existing residents—both native Iowans and legal immigrants—adjust to the newest influx of immigrants to the town, Postville’s story is far from over. Although many faces have changed, Postville still stands by its slogan: “Hometown to the World.” •

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1) Alejandro Nuñez is comfortable with the new people moving to Postville. “It really doesn’t bother us. When we came, they accepted us, so why can’t we accept them?” he says. 2) Maryn Olson runs the Postville Response Coalition. 3) Agri Star (formally known as Agriprocessors) was the location of the immigration raid on May 12, 2008, during which 390 immigrant workers were arrested. 4) Tololin Rivera enjoys a Saturday at Sabor, a local restaurant. 5) Agriprocessors went bankrupt after the raid and was renamed Agri Star following a change in ownership. Former vice president and CEO Sholom Rubashkin was convicted on 86 financial fraud charges. 6) Antony Fernandez is a cook at Sabor. Like many Postville residents, he gets by without speaking much English. 7) “Garden of Hope” was a program hosted by the Postville Response Coalition for the children affected by the raid. Each student wrote a wish on a flower to compile the “garden.” 8) Chad Wahls is the principal of the Postville elementary and high schools. 9) St. Bridget’s Catholic Church provided refuge for hundreds of people after the raid. The community came together to help by donating food and by busing the immigrants back and forth to the local YMCA to take showers.

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MINDING THE MENTALLY ILL

Janet Hansen works with the state’s most marginalized people. by Matthew H. Smith, photo by Matthew H. Smith The alarm rings at 5 a.m. Janet Hansen rolls out of bed before the sunrise. She lets her Shih Tzu, Preston, out to do his business as she begins getting ready for work. She skips breakfast—usually opting for a soda instead—and drives the mile to the Cherokee Mental Health Institute in Cherokee, IA. She’s clocked in by 6:30. Hansen works in a locked-down ward with as many as 12 mentally ill adults. Some of her patients suffer from bipolar disorders, schizophrenia, or severe depression. The resident treatment worker also helps patients who had criminal charges brought against them but were deemed incompetent to stand trial. Her job seems draining, but Hansen’s attitude is positive. Her favorite part, she says, is seeing the progression of her patients as they become healthier, happier individuals through treatment. “The mental health institutes take patients that no one else wants,” Hansen says. “We take patients that have no insurance. We’re sometimes the last chance for people.”

“The mental health institutes take patients that no one else wants. We’re sometimes the last chance for people.” — Janet Hansen

Before coming to the institute, Hansen wanted to be a teacher. But when she was young, out of work, and needed a job, she noticed an opening at Cherokee and figured it was worth a shot. Without any previous experience in the field, Hansen applied for the job, and she got it. That was 32 years ago. Hansen is now an institution at the institute. She’s also the vice president of her local union, and Dan Gillette, Cherokee’s superintedent, says Hansen’s leadership role

makes her an influential person. “She’s very relaxed and natural with the population she usually works with,” Gillette says. Over the past three decades, Hansen has seen dramatic changes in the field of mental health that have had huge effects on her patients. For example, the use of restraints and seclusion on patients at the institute went down by almost 99 percent over 10 years. Cherokee was one of 10 hospitals in the country recognized for this achievement. “It says a lot to be able to stay at the forefront of a field where things have been changing continuously over the years,” Gillette says. Hansen doesn’t claim to have an easy job. But recent budget cuts have created tensions within Iowa’s mental health institutes. There are only four such institutions in the state, including Cherokee, and in the early months of 2010, legislators began talking about downsizing and closing facilities. Hansen is no stranger to the Iowa Capitol, where she spends time lobbying with other union members for funding for the institutions. She says all four should stay open to best serve the patients. Hansen’s hope is that legislators will start taking a realistic look at the mental health care system in Iowa. She’d like to see more state administrators spend time with the workers and the patients to witness the service institutions provide. “I don’t think the majority of the legislators truly understand the mental health system and what we do,” she says. Some of the realities of Hansen’s job include patients who curse at her, call her names, or assault her. She says she has learned over the years not to take these things personally. “You have to have empathy,” Hansen says. “They are all someone’s relative or friend, and they deserve the respect.” After a hard day’s work, her shift ends at 2:30 p.m. Hansen drives the mile home from work. She maybe sneaks in a quick smoke on the way, although she’s trying to quit. She comes home to Preston. He curls up on her lap while she flips through the TV channels, usually settling on “Dr. Phil.” The next morning, the alarm goes off at 5 a.m. again. These are the routines of Hansen’s life. Even amid budget cuts and lobbying, she still makes time for her patients—five days a week, eight hours a day. •

LEFT: Janet Hansen at the Iowa Capitol, lobbying for funding for mental institutions. 8

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Nang Lam Thang fled Burma and now works for the Iowa Bureau of Refugee Services, which faces impending closure.

CLOSING THE DOOR

Iowa’s tradition of welcoming refugees is coming to an end. by Blake Kermode, photo by Nicole Salow For the past 35 years, Iowa has been a safe haven for refugees from around the world. The state’s refugee resettlement agencies have welcomed thousands, graciously providing homes, jobs, and other essentials. Now two of these agencies must discontinue their services because of inadequate finances, casting doubt on Iowa’s future as an asylum.

“When we stepped up and provided our services to these people, it was a commendable effort that showed others the kind of people Iowans are.” — Former Gov. Robert Ray

Iowa’s tradition of resettling refugees began at the end of the Vietnam War in April 1975. In response to multiple resettlement requests from Southeast Asians in need of a new home, former Iowa Gov. Robert Ray took action, welcoming nearly 600 refugees to Des Moines. “Our purpose was to save these people’s lives,” Ray says. “When you see things like I have, it makes you realize how

important life is. When we stepped up and provided our services to these people, it was a commendable effort that showed others the kind of people Iowans are.” Since the war, the number of refugees resettled in Iowa has continued to grow. Iowa is home to three resettlement agencies: the Iowa Bureau of Refugee Services, the Lutheran Services in Iowa, and Catholic Charities. Together they’ve resettled nearly 30,000 refugees who fled their countries to escape persecution. The resettlement agencies provide housing, connect refugees to resources, and help them seek employment, all to help each refugee achieve self-sufficiency. The Iowa Bureau of Refugee Services and Lutheran Services in Iowa have carried most of the load. They were responsible for resettling 86 percent of the refugees placed in Iowa during fiscal year 2009. But now, these two agencies are shutting down. The refugee program at Lutheran Services resettled 354 new refugees in the last fiscal year but stopped resettlements on January 28. It will continue to provide full services and support to families who are already resettled in Iowa until July, though. The Iowa Bureau of Refugee Services, which resettled 426 people in fiscal year 2009, will also continue to provide employment support and other services. It will stop resettlement by June 30. This threatens Iowa’s entire tradition of refugee resettlement. “The most obvious

impact this will have will be less new arrivals coming into Iowa,” says John Wilken, bureau chief at the Iowa Department of Human Services. “If there are no agencies here doing resettlements, this jeopardizes the ability for these refugees to return to their families.” One of Iowa’s recently resettled refugees, Nang Lam Thang, agrees with Wilken. Thang, who arrived in Des Moines three years ago, fled Burma and is now working as a refugee specialist caseworker for the Iowa Bureau of Refugee Services. “Helping people is my spirit,” he says. “When I came to the U.S., I got the right job. A lot of new things happened to me after being resettled. I never envisioned this life.” For all they’ve done for him and many others, Thang didn’t expect the refugee resettlement services to come to an end. “I am worried most for the refugees who came two to three years ago and for those still coming,” Thang says. “I am worried about future employment for these refugees. They’re still working on the new language and have no experience. These refugees can’t compare to someone who finished college in America.” Thang’s uncertainties are common among the refugees resettled in Iowa. With only Catholic Charities remaining to provide resettlement services to current and future refugees, stories like Thang’s will become less common in Iowa. • T HIN K DSM.CO M

HEARTLAND

DRAINING THE PLAINS

Depleting a major water reserve could mean trouble for Midwestern farmers. by Lindsay Fullington, illustration by Emily Barger, photo courtesy of SLV Native

It’s hard to imagine a world without water. We buy it in fancy plastic bottles, take ridiculously long showers, and use it to nourish our crops. But thinking of water as an unlimited resource could lead to the depletion of the world's largest underground water reservoirs—the Ogallala Aquifer. The Ogallala covers 174,000 square miles and stretches across eight states: South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas. The aquifer, formed 10 million years ago from streams that flowed from the Rocky Mountains, supplies almost all the water for residential and industrial use in the Great Plains region. Most of it, though, is used for

crop irrigation. The aquifer supports onefifth of the wheat, corn, and cotton grown in the U.S., which together value $20 billion a year. Every year, Plains farmers pump 6 trillion gallons of water to grow crops in the arid soil. Julene Bair’s family was no exception. Bair, author of Where Rivers Run Sand, a story of the depletion of the Great Plains’ groundwater, grew up on a western Kansas farm before irrigation became widespread. Her father combated dry climates by raising winter wheat, a type of dryland farming crop that retains moisture from the snow. In the 1960s, the new center pivot sprinkler system made it easier to deliver water to the fields.

Irrigation exploded. Bair’s father installed an irrigation well, which allowed him to grow new crops, such as corn, soybeans, and beets. Even though these crops were harder to grow, more demanding of the soil, and not suitable for the desert-like conditions of the Plains states, farmers couldn’t resist the gains. “There was a lot of money in it,” Bair says. This money came in the form of government farm subsidies. The U.S. Department of Agriculture pays a certain amount of money to farmers every year to supplement their incomes and manage the supply of agriculture commodities—more than $5 billion total in 2009. This turns

river or lake

water table

permeable rock

The Ogallala is a confined aquifer, which means it lies below a layer of rock. This keeps the water levels stable until wells drain the water.

confine

d aquif

bedrock

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food crops into cash crops. Corn prices, in particular, have doubled in recent years. In 2009 alone, corn acreage increased 20 percent to 87.5 million acres. More than half the water pumped from the aquifer is poured into corn. In states like Iowa, corn can grow without much irrigation because the crops get enough rain. In fact, 85 percent of U.S. corn is grown in wetter regions. But the drier states to the west want a piece of the action, too, and more of them are switching out their native crops for this yellow gold. Using water to hydrate crops that can successfully be grown elsewhere is depleting the aquifer faster than it’s being replenished. Since irrigation became popular, the aquifer has lost 82 trillion gallons of water— nearly 9 percent. The Ogallala is a confined aquifer, which means there’s not a lot of water coming in—mostly just rain. “The geology of each region is somewhat different, meaning certain areas of the aquifer enjoy recharge in the northern section and virtually no recharge in the southern section,” says R. Gary Pumphrey, assistant professor of geography at Texas Tech University. The average recharge is half an inch a year—nothing compared to the 2.7 inches being used annually. While some estimate that the aquifer will be depleted by the end of the century, many believe that a change in farming habits and a little government help can save it for future

generations. Pumphrey is working with a research group funded by the National Science Foundation to study changing regional attitudes toward water scarcity. While no federal policy has been implemented to address the water shortage, local efforts are under way. Many of these laws limit the number of wells a farmer can have on his or her land, although that doesn’t limit the amount of water they can draw from that well. “It’s awfully hard to get a permit because they don’t want the water to be used up,” says Wayne Allen, a farmer in Pender, NE, who grows corn and soybeans. “They’ve been pretty strict about it.” Water conservation practices, such as crop rotation, more efficient irrigation methods, and reducing the area under irrigation, have slowed depletion of the aquifer. In fact, since the 1980s, water levels have actually risen in the central region, especially in Nebraska, because of its conservation methods and connection to rivers. “Depending on which state you are focusing on, the rules, regulations, geology, and the chance of recharge are going to differ,” Pumphrey says. But levels are generally still dropping. The aquifer will continue to be the lifeblood of the region, but only if it’s protected and managed properly. If the water runs out, farmers across the U.S. will face a big problem. “They would shut down the irrigation system,” Allen says. •

HOW THE CENTER PIVOT CHANGED FARMING In June 1976, Scientific American magazine called center pivot irrigation systems “perhaps the most significant mechanical innovation in agriculture since the replacement of draft animals by the tractor.” Earlier irrigation methods involved a complex series of pipes and pumps to deliver water to the crops, which was time-consuming and inefficient. The center pivot can water large areas of land quickly without much help from the farmer. A center pivot disperses water through a long, segmented arm that revolves about a deep well. It covers a circular area from a quarter of a mile to a mile in diameter, creating round green spots that can be seen from airplanes. The pivot is generally powered by an electric motor. Wayne Allen uses a center pivot on his 1,200-acre farm. His pivot can water 160 acres at a time and uses an inch of rainwater from his well every time it makes a full circle. He waters once a week depending on the weather.

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Columbus Pingree Grove Terre Haute

Broughton

Vincennes

Charleston New Madrid

DWELLING ON OUR FAULTS Earthquakes shake up the Midwest. by Kimisha Chambers, illustration by Olivia Lansing When it comes to natural disasters, Midwesterners expect tornadoes and floods. The last thing we prepare for are earthquakes. But the Midwest is home to several fault lines, and earthquakes do happen. Missouri won’t be splitting away from Illinois anytime soon, but over the past 200 years, the region has seen its share of tremors: • The two largest Midwest earthquakes hit New Madrid, MO, in 1812. On January 23, a 7.0- to 7.8-magnitude earthquake shook up the small, developing town. Two weeks later, another 7.4- to 8.0-magnitude earthquake stirred the town. This earthquake had the same strength as the recent quakes in Chile and Haiti. • In 1877, a 5.1-magnitude earthquake ripped through Columbus, NE, causing the courthouse’s walls to split in nine places. This earthquake sent two severe shockwaves rippling throughout parts of Kansas, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Missouri, and Iowa. • The second largest earthquake in the Midwest happened in 1895. With a magnitude of 6.6, it hit Charleston, MO, breaking windows and chimneys and crumbling brick walls of churches, schools, and homes. • A 5.1-magnitude earthquake near Terre Haute, IN, in 1909 caused minimal damage in the surrounding areas, although it is the largest recorded earthquake in Indiana. • In November 1968, a 5.4-magnitude earthquake hit southern Illinois, near Broughton. People felt the quake—considered the strongest Midwestern earthquake in more than 70 years—in 23 states. Older homes sustained the most damage, while other buildings lost bricks and chimneys. • In April 2008, another 5.4-magnitude earthquake hit 20 miles from Vincennes, IN. Rumbles were felt from Kentucky to Iowa, which saw minor structural damages. 12

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• In the early morning of February 11, 2010, a 3.8-magnitude earthquake occurred near Pingree Grove, IL, 40 miles from Chicago. Several residents in that area awoke to their houses shaking. No damage was caused in the surrounding areas. •

WHEN WILL THE NEXT BIG ONE HIT? While earthquake tremors happen regularly in the Midwest, a major earthquake (7.5 or greater on the Richter scale) occurs every 200 to 300 years. With the last big hit in 1812, seismologists estimate that there’s a 25 percent chance of an earthquake of this magnitude occurring by 2040. A quake this size would cause billions of dollars in damages. The Midwest is entirely unprepared for a large earthquake, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. No plans are in place to renovate buildings to more up-to-date building codes or even use low-cost fixes to strengthen infrastructure. And some cities haven’t held earthquake drills for more than 10 years. However, some progress is being made. Government research has identified key danger zones, and some areas have received grants to strengthen buildings.

ALL FLIGHTS CANCELED

St. Louis residents had big plans for this airport, but they never took off. by Zachary Polka, photos by Jonathan Quinn and courtesy of jmtimages Every week, a cargo flight touches down at MidAmerica St. Louis Airport near Mascoutah, IL. The plane carries fresh flowers from Colombia and Ecuador. A staff of 13 employees, including one janitor, supervises arrival and departure. It’s the airport’s only commercial flight. This wasn’t supposed to happen. In the late 1980s, St. Louis’ Lambert International Airport was congested and crippled by delays. So MidAmerica was built in rural St. Clair County, about 40 miles east of Lambert. The Federal Aviation Administration hoped the airport would alleviate some of the traffic from the St. Louis hub. But the project had skeptics from the start. Mike Boyd, an airline analyst from Evergreen, CO, warned the FAA that its plans might not pan out. “My firm did a cost analysis and we warned St. Louis it wasn’t cost effective, but they said they were

building it anyway,” Boyd says. The airport looked promising at first— boasting 10,000 feet of runway space and a $250 million terminal, constructed with federal assistance—but things soon fell apart. By the time the airport was finished in 1997, Trans World Airlines, the main airline operating as a hub in St. Louis, had declared bankruptcy. And after September 11, 2001, demand for commercial flights plummeted. Since then, MidAmerica officials haven’t been able to persuade airlines to fly through the airport—though they’ve tried. Because Scott Air Force Base sits nearby, the airport at least sees a little bit of action. The base uses MidAmerica for about 70 percent of its flights, in addition to jets that use the airport to refuel in between coast-to-coast flights. But the flights aren’t consistent. “They could have five flights one

day and none the next,” says Craig Hubbard, a member of the St. Clair County Board. All in all, it has cost about $15 million to keep the empty airport operational over the past decade. But the airport can’t just shut down, either. There are federal loans that still need to be paid, and it’s also available as an overflow destination if something were to happen to Lambert. The county is still looking for potential suitors—maybe more South American cargo shipments, maybe smaller, regional airlines—and is contemplating investing further in the airport to make it more appealing. The future of the airport is uncertain. But, for now, the janitor will still clean and maintain the airport, even though the airport remains a runway to nowhere. “Who’s going to want to take over management if there are no passengers there?” Boyd says. •

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THE PRISON’S TOWN

After a century, a penitentiary has become part of life for a small Minnesota town. by Stacey Wilson Tracey Peymann looked up from her reception desk to see three men standing in the doorway of her office. Two were police officers and the other wore shackles on his wrists and ankles and a jumpsuit marked “Security.” She wasn’t surprised. At the time, Peymann worked for the only optometrist in St. Peter, MN, so she saw her share of prisoners in to see the doctor. St. Peter, with 10,000 people and a liberal arts college, isn’t your average Midwest town. It’s also home to the St. Peter Regional Treatment Center, a facility for sex offenders who chose to seek treatment instead of go to jail. The center has been a staple in the community since 1886. Since opening, it has undergone many changes—it has been home to a state prison, a substance abuse facility, and a place for the mentally ill. Although the people of St. Peter joke about the “Nut Hut,” they don’t fear it. And while other small towns across the region struggle to retain many of their jobs, the center is a source of stability for St. Peter. Tim Lokensgard, a supervisor of the security counselors at the center, isn’t afraid of the prisoners he sees every day. “The ones that we monitor, I know those guys. I know what they are,” Lokensgard says. “It’s the ones that haven’t been caught that are definitely out there—those are the ones that I’m more worried about.”

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The goal of the center is reintegration. As prisoners make progress in their treatment, they earn different privileges—from leaving the secure grounds to making trips into town to residing in the nonsecure part while working in St. Peter. “I think that there are people out there that come to work and feel we only handle life sentences,” Lokensgard says. “I truly believe there are a certain amount of guys within our facility that can function outside without reoffending.” People like Lokensgard help St. Peter maintain a willingness to accept criminals into their community. He knows the lives of his prisoners will always be hard, even after being released—though no one has been in the past eight years. The prisoners will always be monitored and deal with the stigma attached to sexual predators. Tim Strand, St. Peter’s mayor, doesn’t see a negative effect on the community. “St. Peter has been known for the Regional Treatment Center, especially from a city standpoint,” he says. “A lot of people don’t like to have sex offenders or criminally insane, but this community has learned to deal with it, and a lot of our friends and families work out there.” The mayor is proud of the assistance the center is providing to the state. When visitors question the center and react in shock to housing criminals in their town, he simply says, “We do it, and we do it well.” •

The St. Peter Regional Treatment Center is nestled between two highways. This aerial shot shows the extensive grounds. Photo courtesy of Aaron Landry.

PROVING THE RULE

While St. Peter thrives with its prison, most towns stagnate. by Stacey Wilson

Employees of the St. Peter Regional Treatment Center in 1910. Photo courtesy of the Nicollet County Historical Society.

The St. Peter Regional Treatment Center has contributed to the economic vitality of St. Peter, MN, for decades. And though many small towns throughout the country have angled for their own large prisons, St. Peter seems to be the exception, not the rule. The buildings have been in St. Peter for more than 100 years, and the existing infrastructure seems to make all the difference. Terry Besser, a sociology professor at Iowa State University, examined the economic impact of new prisons in small towns. When towns invest in new prisons, they hope it will bring in revenue and create an economic boom. But the costs outweigh the benefits, Besser says. Building a new prison is expensive, and in small towns, it usually means new roads, a hospital, and increased utilities costs for the local government—and that’s just the start. Besser’s 2004 study found that towns with new prisons did not see an economic improvement compared to non-prison towns of the same size and with similar economic conditions. The job market in the towns did not improve, there was little increase in tax revenue after opening, and the housing market didn’t expand as expected. Besser points out why the expectations of these new prison towns often differ from the result: “The prison will not be hiring local residents at first because they aren’t qualified,” she says. “If those employees are not living in local towns, the town is not going to gain business from them. And the town will lose business in other sections. Businesses may leave or will be less likely to bring business to the community because of the stigma attached to prisons.”

St. Peter Regional Treatment Center in the early 1900s. Photo courtesy of the Nicollet County Historical Society.

Besser is hoping the 2010 U.S. Census will provide additional data. However, the current economic downturn and subsequent budget cuts show prisons aren’t as recession-proof as people once thought, so towns might want to think twice before lobbying for one.

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NATION

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THE SEVEN DEADLY SALES by Mallory George, illustration by Emily Barger

It’s no secret that America is a consumer-driven society. We buy anything and everything—spending billions of dollars on extravagant goods and services that have become essential to many of us, from beauty products to video games. In a world of easy credit and disposable income, it’s easy to succumb to our vices and commit the “seven deadly sins” of consumerism.

Gluttony

On average, Americans eat out four or five times a week where they shove down three hamburgers and four orders of fries a week, according to Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation. And we can’t get enough sweets, either. In 2008, per capita consumption of high fructose corn syrup was 37.8 pounds, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In our 24-hour, fastpaced society, junk food is easy, convenient, and inexpensive. It’s no coincidence that our country suffers from an obesity epidemic.

Many of us watch MTV’s “Cribs” in awe and jealousy as famous athletes, actors, and musicians give us tours of their lavish homes, complete with elevators, movie theaters, and indoor basketball courts. Celebrities boast spending more than $200,000 on luxury vehicles—the same amount the American Red Cross initially pledged to Haiti following the devastating earthquake in January.

Wrath

The video game “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2” encourages gamers to plan attacks on civilians and even open fire in an airport to infiltrate a terrorist cell, among other violent simulations. Whether we simply find these games fun or as an opportunity to get some anger out, companies make a killing on them. In 2008, Americans spent $11.7 billion on computer game and video game software, according to the Entertainment Software Association.

Greed

Lust

Pornography is a billion-dollar industry— anywhere between $4 billion and $10 billion, according to the PBS special “American Porn.” Porn has become mainstream and accessible through hundreds of websites, TV channels, and sex stores. Not only are filmmakers and actors scoring big on (or in) the films, but so are major corporations that distribute them, including video-on-demand channels.

We fork over our hard-earned cash for the privilege of watching hours of cable or satellite TV instead of enjoying the outdoors. In 2009, individual Americans spent an average of 4 hours and 49 minutes every day parked with their butts on the couch and a remote control in their hands, according to Nielsen ratings.

Envy

Pride

Hollywood has created a standard of beauty that’s impossible for men and women to live up to— although they certainly try. According to the World Resources Institute, Americans spend $8 billion on cosmetics each year. And in 2007, 11.7 million cosmetic procedures that cost $13 billion were performed in the U.S., according to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. In comparison, universal access to basic education would only cost $6 billion annually, according to the World Resources Institute.

Sloth

Thanksgiving weekend is about spending time with family, being grateful for what we have, and, of course, buying things. Black Friday is the biggest shopping day of the year, and the sales from the entire four-day weekend—$41.2 billion in 2009—make retailers very thankful. Last year, 195 million consumers flocked to jam-packed malls and spent an average of $343.31 per person, according to the National Retail Foundation. •

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INSIDE THE CAB

Truckers drive our economy, but life on the road is tough. by Mallory George, photos by Nicole Salow, illustration by Emily Barger

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Fred Nye didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know what hit him. Nye, a driver for TransAm Trucking, was cruising along Interstate 35 near Perry, IA, this January when whiteout conditions forced him to pull over to the right side of the road. The six-year driver was immediately hit from behind, sending his tractor sideways into the left lane. As his 18-wheeler blocked the road, the Ohio native saw headlights beaming directly toward him. Startled, he scrambled to the passenger seat to avoid the blow of the approaching vehicle but struggled with his seatbelt. He made it to the middle of the cab before the impact knocked the truck back straight along the right side of the road. And then he was hit a third time from behind. Nye was uninjured, but his truck was totaled. A harsh winter is just one thing truck drivers contend with in the course of their careers. We see them daily, driving on interstates, parked in rest areas, and attempting to maneuver tight city curves. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve all been frustrated with semi drivers, perhaps even flipping them off (a major pet peeve of many truckers). But for most of us, truckers seem to lead foreign lifestyles.

“We’re pretty much treated like the scum of the earth.” — John Burkey Trucking is a job that allows for some freedom, but with greater flexibility comes greater responsibility. Nye, 45, was a leased driver. He still belonged to TransAm, which determined his trips—but he owned his truck, so the accident hurt him more than it would’ve hurt some other drivers. Nye paid TransAm $500 a week for the truck, and before the accident, he’d already paid $141,000—with only $12,000 left to go. Nye, a husband and father of four, also paid maintenance costs and his own insurance, about $150 a week. He bought his own gas, too, which averaged between $1,500 and $2,000 a week. In all, Nye had at least $2,200 a week in expenses. “If you don’t run enough miles to cover all your overhead and all your fuel, come payday, you may owe the company $600 or $700,” Nye says. To cover the extra expenses, leased drivers are paid around 86 cents a mile, plus a fuel surcharge when the driver is carrying freight. In February, the surcharge, determined by the Department of Energy,

was 30 cents. Ultimately, leased drivers can profit much more than other truckers. And while they enjoy a good deal of freedom, the most flexible class of drivers are owneroperators, who own their trucks and find and broker their freight. Nye says owneroperators can make even more money, but the process can be stressful and expensive. Thirty-five-year-old TransAm driver John Burkey, on the other hand, is a company driver. His truck belongs to TransAm, which pays him 32 cents a mile, reimburses him for gas, and pays insurance. TransAm determines the trips the New York native makes and, often, the routes. Additionally, the company has much more control over his schedule and his home days than it does for leased drivers. After Nye’s accident, he became a company driver again. For Burkey, a seven-year driver, owning a truck is too much responsibility. “This is an easier lifestyle,” Burkey says. The trucker lifestyle includes sleeping in the back of trucks, talking to other truckers over radios, and eating on the road. Most truckers keep mini refrigerators in their trucks to avoid the cost of eating out. Burkey also has a cooler for drinks that plugs into the cigarette lighter and a propane grill for cooking burgers on the road. Truckers frequent truck stops, where they get points on a card for each gallon of fuel they buy, which they use for showers, snacks, or gift shop items.

Sources for illustration: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, and Road and Travel Magazine.

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On the road, Burkey sometimes gets to stay in a location for a couple of days between delivering and picking up loads. To fill the time, he keeps his golf clubs in his truck and plays a few rounds. Once in Florida, he went on a deep sea fishing trip. Burkey says these mini vacations are a big perk of the job. Even though the job is profitable and allows drivers a sense of freedom, it has its downsides and can leave drivers very lonely—and bored. “It’s a love-hate relationship,” Nye says. “You miss your family, you miss school plays, you miss birthdays, you miss everything.” Truckers also have to deal with their trade’s reputation. “We’re pretty much treated like the scum of the earth,” Burkey says.

“You miss your family, you miss school plays, you miss birthdays, you miss everything.” — Fred Nye Despite all that, truckers are critical to the nation’s economy. Philadelphia’s Cabrini College marketing professor Scott Testa says the industry doesn’t get nearly as much respect as it should—without it, the country’s economy would be at a standstill. “I mean, the amount of goods that move via

trucks and the interstate highway system … you’re talking a significant effect on the economy,” Testa says. In 2002 alone, trucks carried $6.7 trillion worth of goods, more than 60 percent of the value of all goods shipped in the entire commercial freight industry, which includes rail, air, pipeline, water, and trucks, according to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Regardless of the nasty looks and middle fingers, truckers keep on truckin’, ensuring that we can buy anything and everything imaginable in grocery stores, malls, furniture showrooms, and car lots. Keep in mind Burkey’s favorite bumper sticker: “If you bought it, a trucker brought it.” •

THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT TRUCKS AND THEIR DRIVERS Many company trucks are governed at a top speed of 62 mph to save fuel. When they pass other trucks that may be governed at 60, it takes a while. While it may only take a car a few feet to come to a complete stop, an 18-wheeler carrying 80,000 pounds of freight takes a couple hundred. The cardinal sin of trucking is being late, Nye says. The only thing a trucking company sells is on-time service. Truckers are allowed to drive 70 hours in an eight-day period. They can drive 11 hours at a time (with another three hours for loading), then have to shut down for 10 hours. Once their 14-hour window starts, it doesn’t stop. So if a trucker drives six hours and gets tired, too bad. He has to keep going to optimize the driving time. Maintaining a truck is expensive. However, a truck is usually good for 750,000 to a million miles before it needs to be rebuilt. A rebuild can cost anywhere from $10,000 to $15,000.

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THE AIR WE BREATHE

by Olivia Lansing, illustration by Olivia Lansing

Six of every 10 Americans—about 186 million people—are endangered by the air they breathe, according to the American Lung Association. Each year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency evaluates pollution levels in cities by studying six primary pollutants. Each one poses health hazards—everything from deterioration of lung tissue to abnormal sperm and birth defects. The EPA is charged with lowering the level of these pollutants in specific cities across the country. Emissions trading, otherwise known as cap and trade, is the most publicized program. It attempts to limit global warming by lowering air pollution levels.

THE SIX PRIMARY POLLUTANTS

OZONE: High levels of ozone damage lung tissue, reduce lung

function, and sensitize the lungs to other irritants. PARTICULATE MATTER: Particulate matter is a mixture of dust and other airborne irritants. Exposure can affect breathing, aggravate existing respiratory and cardiovascular disease, alter the body’s defense systems, and damage lung tissue, potentially contributing to cancer and premature death. CARBON MONOXIDE: Health threats are most serious for those who suffer from heart disease. Exposure to elevated carbon monoxide levels can impair vision, manual dexterity, learning ability, and performance of complex tasks. NITROGEN OXIDES: Low levels of nitrogen oxide causes nausea, irritated eyes and nose, and fluid formation in the lungs. High levels can cause shortness of breath, rapid, burning spasms, and swelling of the throat. SULFUR DIOXIDE: High concentrations of sulfur dioxide effect breathing and may aggravate respiratory and cardiovascular disease. LEAD: Lead can cause serious damage to the nervous, reproductive, digestive, and cardiovascular systems. In men, reactions include abnormal sperm. In women, effects include reduced fertility or miscarriage. Children’s developing nervous systems put them at increased risk for lead-related harm, including learning disabilities.

CAP AND TRADE

THE CAP: The government sets a regional limit on emissions to reduce the amount of pollutants released into the atmosphere. It covers emissions across the board, including transportation, natural gas, power generation, and large companies. Every year, the cap is lowered at a predictable rate, making it in the best interest of a company to plan ahead for the allowance of fewer and fewer emissions permits. THE TRADE: Each company is then allotted a specific number of carbon allowances that add up to the cap set by the government. This creates a market for carbon allowances. If a company is able to cut its pollution easily, it will have excess allowances, which it can sell for a profit to large companies that typically generate more emissions. On the other hand, companies that can’t cut their emissions as easily can simply purchase the allowances from a company that pollutes less. THE DEBATE: Proponents of cap and trade argue that the system is an efficient and effective method for reducing emissions. Their opponents, however, argue that cap and trade lowers emissions— rather, emissions come to a standstill while energy prices skyrocket to compensate for the money large companies need to spend in order to purchase their necessary carbon allowances. •

1) Bakersfield, CA 2) Pit tsburgh, PA 3 ) L os Angeles, CA 4 ) Visalia, CA 5 ) Birmingham, A L 6 ) Hanford, CA 7) Fresno, CA 8 ) Cincinnati, OH 9 ) Detroit, MI 10 ) Cleveland, OH Information from w w w.epa.gov

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HOW TO CONTACT YOUR GOVERNMENT by Kimisha Chambers, illustration by Emily Barge

@ f

le, for the people—is government— designed by the peop We all want our voices heard. And esentation, is stretched thin . A Cong ress, the people’s direct repr supposed to hear our voices. But to make your two cent s count. spea k for 300 million, and it’s hard few hundred people are asked to ent. Your representatives step one is cont acting your governm If there’s an issue you care about, ding what to say and how to say don’t tell them . But step two— deci won’t know what you thin k if you munication is created equa l. it—is the trick y part . Not all com

ral offic ials’ cont act be heard. It’s easy to find your fede E-mail is the mos t effic ient way to encourage visitors to le search. Mos t legislator s’ websites infor mation online with a quick Goog ll-time elected offic ials receive omplete forms. However, even sma write them and prov ide easy-to-c sage will get you more attention out an interesting, thoughtf ul mes a lot of e-ma ils ever y day. Typing

than a form letter. nels to cont act the Twit ter, have opened up new chan Social media, such as Facebook and Many elected offic ials have al methods simply can’t prov ide. government with benefits tradition if they ’re not on Twit ter. But @2gov send tweets to offic ials, even Facebook fan pages, and apps like lost among a sea of comments. beware that your message can get enough to get one. a big impression—if you’re luck y Direct conversations can make nts and college campuses offer cons titue Open forums at town halls, libra ries, that Use s. ussions with their legislator an opportunity for face-to-f ace disc remember. opportunity to tell a stor y they ’ll send mixed bag. Many Americans still a are Snail mail and phone calls ess is and their statehouse, but the proc old-f ashioned letters to Cong ress sure e Mak ugh security screenings. very slow and the letter mus t go thro e’s y to tell if you call a representativ you have a compelling personal stor er staff be spea king with a low-level office—a lthough it’s likely you’ ll offic ials themselves. • or an answering machine, not the

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IF YOU BUILD IT…

Constructing a sports arena may do more harm than good. by Logan Weeks, photo by Danny Akright When mayors and businesses try to bring a professional sports team to town, visions of cheering crowds, painted faces, and teamemblazoned jerseys dance through their heads. Job opportunities and a boosted economy arrive in a neatly packaged dream right along with team streamers and flags. But two economists have set out to prove that this scenario is fantasy, not reality—that pro sports teams might even do more harm than good. Conventional wisdom dictates that sports franchises boost cities’ economies. Dennis Coates, a professor of economics at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County, and Brad Humphreys, an associate professor of economics at the University of Alberta, have evidence that counters the hype. They studied every city in the U.S. that supported a professional baseball, football, and basketball franchise since 1969 and sought to isolate the effects of the franchise on the city. Their conclusion: sports teams don’t do much for local economies. “In terms of income, they don’t help at all,” Coates says. Two reasons stand out. The majority of the franchises they studied relied on public subsidies to build their massive, new stadiums—65 percent public financing was the average figure. Not only do these communities use tax money to build massive stadiums, but the money community members spend purchasing tickets and merchandise goes back to the stadium, too. Humphreys says the local government can find better uses for public taxes. “Much of that

money that pro sports teams spend on facilities could go elsewhere,” he says, “like on schools, roads, and bridges.” What’s worse, the money these franchises bring in from the outside isn’t put back into the local economy, the study found. A large portion goes to the team owners, players, and coaches, who often don’t live—or spend as much money—in the cities in which they play. Regardless, many cities are taking initiative and building arenas with the hope of someday landing a professional sports franchise. The Sprint Center, an indoor arena in Kansas City, opened in October 2007 and has hosted many events like NBA and NHL exhibition games—but not a major professional team. A large majority of the arena’s income actually comes from concerts and other large non-sporting events. The total cost to build the Sprint Center was $276 million, 80 percent of which was publicly funded. Shani Tate, spokesman for the Sprint Center, says that the arena wasn’t created to attract an NBA or NHL franchise, “but if there were interests, we would listen,” she says. Of course, Coates and Humphreys’ study doesn’t account for the emotional impact a team can have on a city. Professional sports teams can give a large city a sense of legitimacy—often a signal the city has “arrived.” And to some tax bases, that feeling alone might be worth a few hundred million dollars. • The outside of Kansas City’s Sprint Center, which opened in 2007.

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WORLD

CROSSROADS OF HISTORY: AFGHANISTAN

by Logan Whelchel, illustrations by Alexandra Doffing

For a small, landlocked country in the mountains of Central Asia, Afghanistan has had an oversized impact on the world. But most Americans knew nothing about this country until very recently, and though it’s in the news, we still don’t know as much as we should. With President Obama increasing America’s military commitment in the region, Afghanistan is as relevant as ever. But we need to know where the country has been to know where it’s going.

329-326 B.C. The Greeks, under

the rule of Alexander the Great, invade northern Afghanistan. Alexander and his forces bring a new language and customs to the area, but his legendary army falters soon after.

642-1187 A.D. Arabs invade Afghanistan to teach Islam, which catches on in the region. Islamic officials start governing the land.

1219-1221 The Mongols, led by Genghis Khan, invade and destroy the nation after Afghanistan turns down their offer of an alliance. The attack is brutal, eliminating entire populations in many cities. The country’s rich culture is set back after this decimation. 1838-1842 After years of fighting between Britain and Russia over territory in India, Britain decides it needs a trusted ally on India’s western frontier. In the First Anglo-Afghan War, Britain conquers but is eventually defeated by the Afghan people. In the Second Anglo-Afghan War 30 years later, Afghanistan is not so lucky. It loses five territories to the British, and Britain retains the right to control Afghanistan’s foreign relations until 1921.

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1979-1989 Following a year of civil war between the pro-Soviet Democratic Republic of Afghanistan and the anti-government rebels, the Soviet Union invades Afghanistan to broaden its Communist sphere by helping the Democratic Republic. After years of struggle, the U.S. assists the rebels in defeating the Soviets in 1989, contributing to the breakup of the Soviet state. The decade of fighting weakens the foundation of Afghanistan, causing political instability. 1994 The Taliban, a fundamentalist Muslim political group, is born. The lack of government during the previous decade forced citizens to form their own groups to fight the Soviets, leaving a power vacuum when the war ended. Nearby Pakistan supports the Taliban’s efforts to take control to establish security in Afghanistan.

1996-2000s Working closely with the Taliban, Al-Qaeda rises to power. The Taliban begins to severely limit human rights, and Al-Qaeda uses Afghanistan as a base of operations for its worldwide terrorist attacks. 2002-2009 The U.S., under the Bush administration, invades in response to the September 11, 2001, attacks. The Taliban falls, but the country remains mired in violence throughout the decade. In 2009, President Obama sends more troops to reestablish Afghanistan as a peaceful and productive nation. Troop withdrawal is expected to begin by summer 2011. •

Favelas like these house much of Rio de Janeiro’s population.

SLUMS IN THE SPOTLIGHT

The selection of Rio de Janeiro for the 2016 Olympics has exposed the city’s sprawling squatter communities to the rest of the world. by Allison Quick, photo by Nicole Salow Thousands of Brazilians gathered on Copacabana beach to celebrate the announcement that Rio de Janeiro will host the 2016 Summer Olympics. Over the next three years, approximately $140 billion will be invested in infrastructure projects in Rio, including new stadiums, facilities, housing, and a transportation system that will circle the four main Olympic zones. But right now, the city doesn’t look too glamorous. Hastily assembled concrete and brick buildings crowd the steep hillside overlooking Rio. One-fifth of the city’s 6 million residents live in illegal squatter communities called favelas. Rio’s largest favela, Rocinha, spans the southern region of the city and houses 150,000 people. The 2014 World Cup and the Olympics two years later will turn the world’s attention to Rio, creating a push to hide the favelas or uproot some of the dwellers. The favela communities are built on top of each other with no true ownership of the land. Within the communities, people live relatively peacefully, but crime rises when rival gangs or police enter the favelas. For many in the favelas, life revolves around drug trafficking, gang violence, and poverty. Derek McIver, a student at Boston University, toured some favelas after attending a program about Brazil’s rising economy. As he walked down the winding narrow

roads, he was shocked to run into a 13-year-old boy carrying a rifle. “We would hear these organizations talk about their ‘big picture’ ideas of building hospitals and new streets, then literally right outside of the building there would be people sleeping in the streets underneath ATM machines to hide from the sun,” McIver says. The revitalization plans for Rio’s Olympics will bring billons of dollars to the city, but dealing with the swaths of slums will force change and displacement for many favela dwellers, who will likely get nothing in return. “There may be more jobs, but then again, it’s a three-week event. To be able to say, ‘Six years from now I’m going to have a job for three weeks’ is not really a shining star,” says Adam Carter, a chairman of the Cause and Affect Foundation. This nonprofit distributes money and helps impoverished people around the world. Its latest project built sports fields in Rio and established a program to give youth an outlet outside of the drug cartels that run the favela communities. “As far as any of these billions of dollars trickling down to improve these people’s lives, I think it’s agreed upon that there’s nothing to expect,” Carter says. •

For more, visit THINKDSM.COM

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Red Cross volunteers take part in relief efforts in Haiti.

SHOPPING FOR CHARITIES

Make a difference without breaking the bank. by Norah Carroll, photo courtesy of Talia Frenkel/American Red Cross The past year may have been tough for many Americans, but our giving spirit remains strong. Financial support for nonprofits actually increased in 2009, according to the Better Business Bureau. But with wallets feeling lighter, it’s important to find a charity that will do the most with your hard-earned money, whether you’re giving $20 or $200.

BE PROACTIVE

Don’t wait for charities to fill your mailbox pleading for donations— make your own decision on your time. Think about which causes are most important to you, then find organizations that support those causes. An organization that supports cancer research may provide direct support to patients, fund research efforts, or focus on cancer prevention. Choose one that fits your priorities.

DO YOUR RESEARCH

BIGGER ISN’T ALWAYS BETTER A large, well-known charity doesn’t always do the best job of serving its cause. Big charities are great at operations like disaster relief, for example, because they already have resources and programs in place. But in other situations, smaller organizations have the flexibility to assess individual needs and provide more specific aid to communities, something big organizations can’t do as well.

TAKE YOUR TIME

Don’t let a charity pressure you into donating on the spot. Good charities aren’t as desperate for immediate donations—they know they’ll be around for a while. The charity will appreciate your donation just as much next month as it would right now.

Once you’ve decided on a charity to support, find out how that charity operates. Browse its website for its mission and recent accomplishments. Look through its annual report. See if it’s recognized by evaluators like CharityNavigator.org or the Better Business Bureau’s Standards for Charity Accountability. If an organization doesn’t make this information easily accessible, it’s probably not one you should support.

CUT OUT THE MIDDLEMAN

You’d go on a few dates before committing to a relationship, so do the same when choosing a charity. Attend a fundraising event sponsored by the charity. Drop in on one of its regular programs. Or better yet, volunteer to help with an upcoming program. You’ll get an understanding of what the charity actually does, so you’ll know where your money would go.

FOLLOW UP

OBSERVE IT “IN ACTION”

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A lot of money that goes through telemarketers stays with telemarketers. Text-to-donate programs often use part of your donation to pay the companies that process them, and it can take as long as 60 to 90 days to get your donation to the charity you’re supporting—you often have to pay your cell phone bill first. Give your money straight to the source by donating on the organization’s website, over the phone, or through the mail. After you’ve made your donation, check back in on the charity. Some organizations grow less effective over time. If it’s still doing a great job at meeting its mission, stick with it. Your donation will have a larger impact as you contribute to a charity’s sustainability over time. •

FEARING THE FAITHFUL

Switzerland and France pass laws that restrict Muslims’ free expression. by Lindsay Fullington, illustration by Olivia Lansing The influx of Muslims from Africa and Asia to western Europe has unnerved many Europeans, who fear the deterioration of some ill-defined European “identity.” To be sure, Europe is absorbing Muslim immigrants, drawn by jobs and a better standard of living, at an astonishing rate. Philip Jenkins, a professor of humanities at Pennsylvania State University, projects that Muslims will make up 25 percent of Europe’s population by 2100, compared to the current 4 percent. Although America also has an uneasy relationship with its Muslim population since September 11, 2001, Europe’s unease has mushroomed into Islamophobic hostility. That hostility is now being codified in laws that restrict Muslims’ freedom of expression. In the past year, both Switzerland and France have taken legislative steps against their Muslim populations—320,000 in Switzerland and 6 million in France. “While the developments in both France and Switzerland reflect a broader concern about the Muslim presence in Europe, each case has its own back story,” says Peter Mandaville, author of Global Political Islam. In November 2009, Swiss voters approved a constitutional amendment banning the construction of minarets. Minarets are towers on mosques from which Muslims are summoned to prayer. The ban was passed largely based on fears of Islamic extremist tendencies, which some people associate with the religion. The Swiss government opposed the amendment as being inconsistent with the Swiss constitution. But it couldn’t do anything to stop it. Two Swiss political parties proposed a federal popular initiative, which are not subject to judicial review. Promoters of the initiative needed 100,000 signatures before it was put up for a national vote. They got the signatures, and the Swiss population voted in favor of the ban. But that’s not the only European law

designed to suppress traditional Islamic expression. Wearing niqabs, veils worn by Islamic women to cover their faces, has been banned in French public schools since 2004. This was part of a law prohibiting students from wearing any visible religious symbols. Now another tightening is in the works: a proposed ban on wearing the niqabs in places that require an uncovered face for security reasons, such as banks, airports, and government buildings. Differing from Switzerland’s direct political target against its Muslims, France’s proposed ban stems from a long-standing belief that religion should be separated from state—they want all religion kept in the private sphere, not just that of Muslims. People in support of the ban, including French President Nicolas Sarkozy, say it’s not just an issue of cloth—it’s an issue of women’s rights. While the niqab is worn because the Quran, the Islamic holy book, tells women to dress modestly, many believe it’s holding these women as prisoners subservient to men. Muslim women may not agree with this. “Muslim women see this as an attempt to discriminate against them, marginalize them, and ostracize them,” says Merve Kavakci, a former Turkish politician who was prevented from taking her parliamentary oath because she wore a hijab, or headscarf. “The coercive process of banning the burqa, veil, and the headscarf is about not giving a choice to the women,” she says. In March, Belgium proposed banning the veil in all public places, not just those where security is an issue. Though they come from two vastly different points of view, these laws are being met in the same fashion—with outrage. The minaret ban and the proposed niqab ban, if passed, are both expected to be taken to the European Court of Human Rights in order to preserve democracy and religious freedom in these countries. •

FREEDOM FOR ALL

In 1998, President Bill Clinton signed the International Religious Freedom Act to promote religious tolerance as a foreign policy of the U.S. Its goal is to advocate on behalf of those being persecuted in foreign countries because of their religion. As part of this act, the Office of International Religious Freedom was established, which makes an annual report on religious tolerance for Congress to review. On the basis of these reports,

the secretary of state designates any country that commits systematic and ongoing violations of religious freedom as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC). These countries are subject to economic sanctions by the U.S. The 2009 report named 13 countries as CPCs: Myanmar, North Korea, Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, China, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.

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THE STATE OF

URBAN

AMERICA Cities in the U.S. are at a crossroads. Some are doing quite well, growing and gleaming, while others languish and decay. Within almost every major metro is a tale of two cities: parts that thrive and parts that crumble, often right next to each other. Our cities aren’t going anywhere anytime soon—we’ve moved earth, held back the sea, and built toward the sky to make room for them. Despite the old myth that real America is small-town America, the 21st-century U.S. is unquestionably urban. More than 80 percent of U.S. citizens live within the economic orbit of a large city, and almost a third of the population resides in those cities themselves. From New York to Los Angeles, Detroit to Dallas, and Des Moines in between, our individual fortunes rise and fall with that of our cities. The following pages offer an assessment of our cities today: a look at the successes and failures of urban revitalization campaigns and a discussion of the challenges that face our cities’ most disadvantaged residents. These are stories that aren't told often enough. Because the soul of America lies as much in its steel and asphalt as in its soil and open sky.

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photo by Nicole Salow

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A wrecking company attempts to salvage a Victorianera building in San Franciscoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Fillmore District in 1980.

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THE STATE OF URBAN AMERICA

CONSTRUCTING THE MODEL CITY America’s cities search for ways to eliminate the human costs of revitalization.

by Liana Blum, photos by Dave Glass

Think of the lyrics to “America the Beautiful.” Chances are you can recall at least a few lines. The song’s musical legacy instilled an appreciation for “purple mountain majesties” and “amber waves of grain,” but most noticeably, the way our “alabaster cities gleam.” The song has been around since 1895, and it is still revealing of how Americans perceive urban areas. Bigger and shinier is better. But they don’t stay big and shiny forever. As groups of people move in and out of cities, they depend on people like Dan Biederman to keep them gleaming. Biederman, who owns his own urban renewal business, Biederman Redevelopment Ventures, helps develop cities into aesthetically pleasing urban areas. People in cities like Boston, Atlanta, Dallas, New York, Miami, and Providence, RI, have depended on Biederman to create desirable neighborhoods. He spends $20 million a year installing lampposts, street plantings, trees, signs, and all the things that give the visual impression of a thriving neighborhood. But the physical renewal is the easiest part for a city. While urban revitalization efforts can stimulate the neighborhood economy and draw tourists and new residents to the area, their effects can also be damaging. Redevelopment often prompts tax increases, displaces people from their homes, raises crime levels, and further widens the gap between the rich and the poor. “Revitalized” areas destroy businesses and leave lots vacant for decades. But we will do anything for those gleaming cities.

The problem

Deindustrialization has been a persistent problem for American cities since the turn of the 20th century. Manufacturing jobs that once held cities together—especially in the industrial Northeast—left decades ago, first for rural areas and then overseas. “Jobs are leaving these communities, or these people don’t have access to these jobs anymore,” says Elijah Anderson, an urban sociology professor at Yale University.

In many neighborhoods, jobs are replaced by service-based jobs that don’t pay enough to live comfortably. “Companies that leave these communities leave pockets of poverty,” Anderson says. “It’s not because people chose to live this way.” Anderson cites New Haven and Bridgeport, CT; Providence, RI; Philadelphia; and Camden, NJ, as just a few cities where job loss has led to urban decay. A lack of jobs leads to poverty-stricken cities—certainly not the gleaming cities we desire. People in cities don’t want to see their neighborhoods decay, and that’s where the renewal efforts come in. But renewal usually doesn’t benefit the current residents in the long run. Eventually, wealthier people move in and wash away the area’s culture, which is called gentrification. And urban renewal efforts often directly cause gentrification. “Economic revitalization has implications for the social structure of communities and has implications and consequences for people’s lives,” Anderson says. One of those consequences may be homelessness, says Lisa Dyas, events and communications manager of Compass Community Services in San Francisco, a group that works with homeless families. Dyas helps families who were displaced from their homes in the city’s Fillmore District after redevelopment. The Fillmore was a vibrant African-American community— often considered San Francisco’s Harlem— that fell on hard times during the ’70s and ’80s. A recent redevelopment effort has tried to revitalize the area, but there were unintended consequences. “A lot of families were displaced, and it broke up these communities,” Dyas says. For these families, life outside the Fillmore was not an easy transition. The families were given vouchers to find housing elsewhere in the city, but most were unsuccessful in their hunt, leading them to Compass. In the past three years, Dyas has seen the number of families waiting for housing increase from 75 to 215 families. � T HIN K DSM.CO M

Some people may say that the residents of these communities don’t have to leave when the area is cleaned up, but Anderson says that’s basically what happens. When urban centers are revitalized, young professionals move to these areas and find inexpensive housing. The area becomes a hot spot, even more parts of it are redeveloped, and taxes—and housing prices and rents—rise. The original tenants—often AfricanAmericans—can no longer afford to live where they once did and are forced to move. And when large populations are displaced, entire cultures and communities can be lost. “People are frustrated, and people are alienated,” Anderson says. “It can lead to violence and even more crime.”

The opposition and the turnaround

Urban revitalization, gentrification, and displacement are often thought to go handin-hand. But some people argue that the relationship is merely a myth—something that has been fabricated to find a reason for resident displacement. Adam Sternberg is one of these proponents of revitalization. In his December 2009 New York Magazine article “What’s Wrong with Gentrification?,” he writes: “For a neighborhood, or a city, abandonment is a death sentence. Gentrification—especially when coupled with intelligent urban policy—can serve as a reprieve, even if it arrives in the form of guilt-wracked hipsters and yoga studios.” Biederman agrees with this view. He has modernized and updated parts of the Chelsea

neighborhood in New York City and says that people on the residential side of Chelsea are delighted with the effect it has had on their community. “They’d be the first to claim gentrification if it was the case and if it were bothering them,” he says.

“They were thinking, ‘We’ll just kick people out of the land and then we’ll build something new and wonderful,’ but that didn’t really happen. — Jeff Eichenfield Some American cities, such as Boston, St. Louis, and Des Moines, have begun urban revitalization projects in much different ways than others. These cities are working on turning their streets into visually appealing economic hubs without displacing any tenants. Other cities, namely New York City, experienced large amounts of urban revitalization in the ’70s and ’80s. They were successful through efforts of the government and redevelopers in lowering crime rates and promoting a sense of safety in tourist-heavy areas. Biederman himself helped to restore

areas in midtown Manhattan. “Bryant Park had so many people mugged or assaulted in it or shot, and we know there are people who would not be alive if we hadn’t done the project,” he says. But sometimes change takes a few tries. First named a redevelopment area in 1948, San Francisco’s Fillmore District stands out as one of the most unsuccessful attempts at urban revitalization in American history— lots of displacement with nothing to show for it. However, in the last decade, the city has approached the Fillmore revitalization project differently and has started to turn it around. “In the ’60s, there was mass urban renewal,” says Jeff Eichenfield, executive director of the Fillmore Community Benefit District. “Most of the district was leveled, and most residents were moved to other neighborhoods. After that, the district really lay fallow. There was no development to take its place. They were thinking, ‘We’ll just kick people out of the land and then we’ll build something new and wonderful,’ but that didn’t really happen.” The San Francisco Redevelopment Agency designated the neighborhood the Historic Fillmore Jazz Preservation District in 1995 as part of an attempt to restore the allure and culture once associated with the Fillmore, rather than tear it down. Business is thriving again with shops, clubs, and nightlife. “Now there is this critical mass of entertainment that is really starting to cause spinoff and really give the district a vibe and a buzz,” Eichenfield says.

Redevelopers move homes from the Fillmore District in 1977. In many areas, no new development took their place.

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The solution

Revitalization can offer neighborhoods a chance to thrive again. They can be attractive places to live, and higher demand brings higher housing costs. But the need for affordable housing is sometimes forgotten. Stopping residents from being forced out of their communities could potentially solve the problems associated with gentrification. Doug Busch, president of the architectural firm EcoTech Design Studio, may have the answer. He operates under three main premises—sustainability, aesthetics, and affordability—and is working on a project in North Hollywood. The concept for the North Hollywood project is organic—organic gardens, organic living, and organic working. At this venue, Busch develops organic gardens so that residents of the housing complex can sell produce to restaurants, providing income for the gardeners. His solution delivers attractive housing while being affordable at the same time. Busch says that this redevelopment team isn’t kicking out any pre-existing residents. Temporary, modular housing is developed on site while their buildings are being renovated. No one is permanently displaced, and residents are given a convenient housing alternative during the construction time. Another way in which the North Hollywood housing complex is sustainable for low-income residents is through solar energy. The complex relies on free ground water to cool the units and solar power for heat. “This helps us raise the bar in these

areas,” Busch says. “We’ll empty a building and turn it into totally green, sustainable housing.” Busch’s housing creations are aesthetically pleasing and economically sound, something that cities have struggled with for years. They don’t create pockets of crime, and they don’t displace entire communities to promote the long-coveted gleaming city.

A lack of jobs leads to poverty-stricken cities—certainly not the gleaming cities we desire. Busch is confident that eco-housing complexes are the future of affordable urban housing. “This is a solution,” he says. “We’re

not kicking anybody out, and we’re making a community.” While Busch’s expectations are high, he’s still waiting on long-term results. The North Hollywood project isn’t finished yet, and like everything in urban planning, its effects upon the neighborhood and the city as a whole have yet to be determined.

The reality

The problems of America’s cities are still very real. Many poor urban neighborhoods have yet to see any real renewal efforts, and other supposedly renewed neighborhoods haven’t panned out. However, Busch’s ecohousing plan offers a ray of hope for cities faced with the tough decision between letting a neighborhood decay or dealing with gentrification. In an ideal world, we might just get those gleaming cities, but it will take lots of years, money, and willpower. But first, we need to make sure our revitalizations don’t do more harm than good. Only then will we have cities as beautiful as our purple mountain majesties and amber waves of grain. •

URBAN WASTELANDS

Many city dwellers find themselves without affordable and healthy food options. by Whitley Kemble Millions of Americans are stuck in the desert—but they have plenty of water. What they don’t have is food. Fresh fruits, crisp vegetables, and affordable, healthy foods aren’t available in many downtown and inner-city areas known as food deserts. A 2009 report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture found that about 23.5 million people live in these so-called deserts, where they are more than a mile from a supermarket and have no way to get there. With money already scarce, it’s expensive—not to mention inconvenient—to take public transportation to larger stores with healthier options. Kent Meter, an agricultural economist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, says lack of access to affordable, healthy groceries is a widespread problem. “What we call ‘food deserts’ are merely places where this overall dynamic is most visible,” Meter says. “Communities that have the least access to food are also those who have been drained of resources—money, people, infrastructure—by the day-today workings of the economy.” Despite the presence of small markets in these communities, fresh produce is limited. Most available food options have poor nutritional

value—sodas and snacks, not spinach. Obesity, heart disease, and diabetes rates are higher in these areas, and although deserts are not entirely to blame, the USDA believes they play a major factor. Businesses have attempted to bring larger stores to these food wastelands, but the ventures tend to be short-lived because it’s hard to make a profit, as some of these areas are poor. Meter says there are no easy solutions. He believes that building a system in which communities can be more self-sufficient would allow them to more successfully pursue local food distribution networks. Some cities are doing just that. The Detroit Garden Resource Center Program is a collaboration of organizations and individuals from the community that has brought urban gardening initiatives to the city. Meter says other cities—including Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Boston, Cleveland, and Milwaukee—are also taking the initiative. Meter is cautiously optimistic. “This will not ultimately be a matter of where a grocery store is located,” he says. “Leadership has to come from the community itself.” • T HIN K DSM.CO M

A PLACE TO

CALL HOME Struggling with overcrowded shelters and few options, the homeless in Des Moines still survive. by Matthew H. Smith, photos by Nicole Salow and Matthew H. Smith

Every day in Des Moines, a thousand people walk the streets homeless. Most of them have nowhere else to go. Finding a job is difficult, and the economy makes it even tougher for those who are looking. Some have simply given up. While the reasons for homelessness vary from person to person, these people share the common bond of hope wherever they have taken up refuge: a city shelter, an apartment on loan, or a camper down by the river.

Bruised and battered

Rita Moylan lives in seclusion in a ramshackle camper along the Des Moines River. Her “home” sits crookedly on its foundation, sunk into the earth and snow. It’s old and weathered, with a tarp hanging over the top. A small gray cat perches on the roof, warily eyeing visitors. On this cold February afternoon, Moylan is curled up on a mattress wedged inside the camper. She’s in her early 50s but looks older. Scuffed glasses sit tilted on her nose,

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THE STATE OF URBAN AMERICA

and unkempt black hair spills over her wrinkled face. Cigarette smoke hangs in the air. She rolls the cigarettes herself, each one wrapped with care. She keeps a bag of tobacco in her lap at all times. Moylan came to Des Moines years ago and is now homeless. This camper, a hand-medown from a friend, is the only place left for her to stay. The interior is cramped, cluttered with her mishmash of possessions—canned foods, a roll of toilet paper, coffee, an old microwave, a small television, and an oldfashioned stove that doesn’t work. Duct tape patches a hole in the ceiling. Plastic surrounds the windows to keep in heat. Cats and dogs scurry from one end of the camper to the other, sharing Moylan’s universe. “This is what survives here,” Moylan says. She has taken in several strays, including two dogs, two opossums, and 18 cats. “I never went looking for any of them,” she says. In some ways, these animals are emblematic of the homeless community itself—bruised and battered, carrying the

scars of their survival everywhere they go, but grateful for somewhere to stay. Moylan admits her camper has seen better days. It’s still standing after years of flooding. While living by the river for a decade, Moylan has seen it all.

No vacancy

Central Iowa Shelter and Services is struggling. The closing of other shelters and the decrease in funding from government grants have placed the burden of helping the homeless squarely on Central Iowa. Executive director Tony Timm says beds are full and people are sleeping in chairs. “Every day we try to figure how to do more with less, so it’s a pretty constant balancing act,” Timm says. During the early 1990s, homeless people were freezing to death in the streets of Des Moines. Disheartened by these tragedies, eight churches came together to form what would eventually become Central Iowa Shelter and Services. The 116-bed facility

has housed adults since 1994. Jason Holmgaard is an Army veteran who has found a temporary home at the shelter since May 2009. Only 30 years old, Holmgaard has been homeless for four years. “This is the only place left for me,” Holmgaard says. While he admits he has made a lot of bad choices leading him to this point, he hasn’t lost hope for a better future. He pulls out a picture of his son, who just turned 8. “Right now, he’s about the only thing in my life that’s worthwhile,” Holmgaard says. The stigma related to homelessness follows Holmgaard wherever he goes, making it difficult to find a steady job. “In the time I’ve been here, I’ve probably filled out 250 applications, and I have not had a single call back,” he says. “And everyone that I’ve called back for an update on my application has said they’re not interested.” Holmgaard says not a lot of people want to hire someone whose address is a homeless shelter—but he intends to keep trying.

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Building hope

David Costello pulls into the parking lot outside the Village Green Community apartments in a beat-up truck. Costello, 68, is an advocate for the homeless and developed the non-profit organization HOPE Builders. Costello even went as far as building huts for the homeless along the river. Those “shanties,” deemed a safety hazard, were torn down by the city in December 2008. Costello remains more devoted to the cause than ever. In January, he leased out the Village Green apartments to some of the homeless until they can get back on their feet. “We have all these homeless people out there and no shelter,” Costello says. “The shelters are full. What are we going to do with them?” But today, he has some bad news. There may not be enough money to pay March’s rent. He’s going from apartment to apartment, breaking the news to his “tenants.” But Costello—a man of faith and eternal optimism—remains hopeful that the money will come through somehow. Costello greets Dina Lovan at her apartment door with a warm smile. “Hi, honey. How are ya?” he asks and gives her a hug. She smiles back at him, and they sit down for a chat. She takes the news well. Her boyfriend, whom she met at the Central Iowa Shelter and Services, has a temporary job removing snow in Grimes. They’re hoping to come up with their own rent eventually. For now, she’s happy to be where she is. She comes from a broken marriage, is three months pregnant, and has health problems. Before Costello moved Lovan and her boyfriend into the apartment, she lived along the river. “My biggest fear is that I’m going back down to the river,” Lovan says. “I was pretty much trapped there.” But Costello assures her she’s not going anywhere. “We’ll find the money,” he says.

Make a change

Rita Moylan wraps a fresh cigarette, her fingertips smudged with tobacco. She licks the filter paper closed. One of her dogs, Harrah, watches intently, familiar with the movements by now. There’s something about the tranquility out here that suits Moylan. She says she wants to get a house one day—a big house. She would like to take in some of the people she has met along the way. She’s afraid they might die if something isn’t done. The winters get cold, and some people don’t make it. Others drink themselves to death or overdose on drugs. “I’m asking for a house and to be able to take these people in off the streets,” she says. “Make a change, you know?” Moylan, like many in the homeless community, isn’t asking for a handout. That would be too easy. She simply wants to make a difference by providing shelter for those who can’t afford it—even if she can’t afford it herself. “You can’t save the world,” she says, “but you gotta at least try to save a few.” •

For more, visit THINKDSM.COM

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3 1) Rita Moylan lives near the Des Moines River in a small camper given to her by a friend. 2) Maggie, a stray who found Moylan, peeks through a trailer door covered with blankets to keep out the cold. 3) Moylan relaxes with her dog Harrah in her trailer along the Des Moines River.

4) The message board at the Central Iowa Shelter and Services is filled with requests for work. Finding a job during a recession can be especially difficult for those whose address is a homeless shelter.

5) Blankets are stored at the shelter for those who have no other choice but to sleep outside.

6) Dina Lovan is three months pregnant and homeless. She has found a temporary home at the Village Green Community apartments, which are rented out by HOPE Builders, a non-profit organization. Before that, Lovan lived along the Des Moines River. 37

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Thousands of protesters fight to shut down a military school with a questionable past. by Rachel Vogel, photos courtesy of WHINSEC

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Rita Hohenshell, an 85-year-old grandmother, looks up from a yellowed newspaper clipping and says, “I was sent to a women’s prison in Pekin, IL. And it was wonderful.” Hohenshell, a Des Moines resident for more than 50 years, has served two prison sentences— three months in 2001 and six months in 2006, when she was 81. Her crime was an act of dissent against her country—trespassing on a military base in Georgia. “The second time, my excuse to the judge was, it was my country right or wrong,” she says. “And since it was my country, when I saw a wrong, it was my duty to try to make it right.” Hohenshell is part of a large and growing grassroots movement to close a combat training school formerly called the School of the Americas, which many see as unjust and which has connections to human rights abuses throughout Latin America. She states her commitment to close the school simply: “I used to think that the worst thing you could do was murder someone. But then I found out that hiring someone to do your murder for you, that was worse.” Thousands of people like Hohenshell follow the lead of SOA Watch, an organization that has planned a protest outside the gates of the

school every November since 1990. Roy Bourgeois—Jesuit priest, Vietnam veteran, and founder of SOA Watch—led 10 people in protest that year. By 1998, there were 2,000 protesters, and in 2007, more than 25,000. The protesters think the school does much more than train soldiers; they believe it teaches torture and even murder. The U.S. Army School of the Americas (now called the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, or WHINSEC) has trained more than 60,000 Latin American soldiers in a stated effort to protect democracy and ensure cooperation in the region. But some people don’t believe the school has such a benign mission. Jack NelsonPallmeyer, a professor of justice and peace studies at St. Thomas University and author of School of Assassins, claims that graduates of the school have been involved in nearly every major human rights atrocity in Latin America since the 1940s. “It’s an institution central to carrying out U.S. foreign policy in Latin America,” he says. “And the purpose of that foreign policy has nothing to do with freedom and democracy.”

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The school and its history

Visiting the school on a normal day might make one doubt there’s anything controversial going on behind the beige walls and big windows. Founded in Panama in 1946, the school moved to its current home at Fort Benning in 1984, where it occupies a tiny section of the 184,000-acre base. The school has trained military, law enforcement, and government civilians from Chile, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, and many other Latin American nations. Students learn river operations, water survival, rappelling, and marksmanship. They cross rope bridges and carry “wounded” soldiers on stretchers. They take courses like Information Operations, Counterdrug Operations, the Command and General Staff Officer Course and, since becoming WHINSEC in 2001, the Democracy Class, the Human Rights Class, and the Human Rights Instructor course. “This is adult professional education,” says Lee Rials, public affairs officer for WHINSEC. “People come for a specific piece of information that relates to their work, and then they go back and apply it.” Right now, the U.S. government seems to think the school’s doing a good job. In 2009, Congress called WHINSEC “an invaluable education and training facility.” But the school’s reputation hasn’t always been so bright. In 1996, The Washington Post reported that the school had used “torture manuals” that seemed to encourage “executions of guerrillas, extortion, physical abuse, coercion, and false imprisonment.” The report caused widespread outrage across the country and helped strengthen the movement to close the school. In December 2000, the House and the Senate voted to close the School of the Americas and reopen WHINSEC in the same building in January 2001. Since then, several bills to cut WHINSEC’s funding have been introduced in the House, including one that lost by only 11 votes. But the school remains open.

A few bad apples

The second half of the 20th century was a bloody time for Latin America. Coups, dictatorships, torture, and disappearances were the norm for many countries. In Guatemala, during a 36-year civil war set off by a CIA-orchestrated coup, more than 200,000 people were killed. In El Salvador, more than 75,000 were killed in a civil war, during which the U.S. government gave $7 billion in military aid to the government, whose army was doing most of the killing. SOA graduates were influential in much of the region’s bloody history. SOA Watch keeps a list of graduates on its website and regularly crosschecks it with reports of human rights abuses. One of the most cited examples of an SOA graduate gone wrong is Hugo Banzer, a U.S.-backed Bolivian dictator known for his torture techniques and death squads in the 1970s. For years, his portrait hung in the school’s Hall of Fame. Another U.S.-backed dictator, Efrain Rios Montt, killed more than 10,000 indigenous Guatemalans and destroyed 600 Mayan villages. Manuel Noriega, dictator of Panama in the 1980s, was convicted of drug trafficking and money laundering.

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Roberto D’Aubuisson organized death squads in El Salvador and was suspected of ordering the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero, an outspoken opponent of the government’s treatment of the poor. Not all graduates of the school are so influential, but some have done harm in smaller ways. In August 2009, the U.S. accused Alvaro Quijano and Wilmer Mora from Colombia of providing security for an infamous drug cartel leader. Both taught Peacekeeping Operations and Democracy Sustainment courses at WHINSEC from 2003 to 2004. A study by Katherine McCoy, a sociology professor at the University of Wisconsin, found that the more courses a soldier took at the school, the more likely he was to be involved in human rights abuses. And the U.N. Truth Commission report about the war in El Salvador showed that two-thirds of the people listed as perpetrators of human rights abuses were SOA graduates. But some people aren’t convinced by lists like these. Rials calls them absurd. “There’s never been a single case of anybody being pointed out and saying he learned X, Y, or Z at the school and later committed a crime using that knowledge. Not one,” he says. Others think such evidence isn’t clear, either. Steven Schneebaum is a human rights lawyer who has taught international law for more than 30 years. He was also a member of the Board of Visitors, the school’s oversight committee, from 1996 to 2000 and again from 2002 to 2004. When Schneebaum was first asked to join the board, he was hesitant since he knew about the school’s poor reputation. But when he went to the first meeting, he saw that they were “really trying to get it right” and thought he could make a difference. Schneebaum’s initial worries about the school’s reputation have disappeared, and he now believes wholeheartedly that there’s no connection between the school and human rights abuses. He points out that if a Catholic church were full of devout worshippers, some of whom turned out to be gang members and murderers, you wouldn’t blame the priest. The same is true of WHINSEC. “The idea that Banzer would have been a perfect angel, would have treated his fellow men and women with nothing but respect but for the fact that he spent three weeks at the SOA, and that they taught him to be a torturer—I think that’s just silly,” Schneebaum says.

The movement

Yet Schneebaum acknowledges that the school didn’t always do the best job teaching human rights. That’s why he has worked to develop a more comprehensive human rights curriculum since the school became WHINSEC. Now 10 percent of every course is devoted to human rights and democracy training, Rials says. And that’s mandated by law. Critics of the school call these changes cosmetic. That’s why the movement to close WHINSEC is still going strong. The institute’s opponents believe it still seeks to advance U.S. economic and political interests in Latin America, an interference they believe is unethical and destructive, especially when done with their tax money. “The

THE SCHOOL’S INFLUENCE IN LATIN AMERICA

GUATEMALA — Experienced a civil war in which more than 200,000 were killed; home to SOA graduate and U.S.-backed dictator General Montt. EL SALVADOR — 75,000 killed in a bloody civil war; notorious massacres include the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero. COLOMBIA — Currently sends the most students to WHINSEC; recently granted the U.S. access to seven military bases. PANAMA — Original site of the School of the Americas until 1984; home to SOA graduate and U.S.-backed dictator Manuel Noriega, now in an American prison. Countries that no longer send students to WHINSEC

people of Latin America don’t need this kind of school,” Bourgeois says. “They need teachers, agronomists, health care workers. The money that we’re pumping into WHINSEC, that money should be going into schools for their kids.” And so the protest grows every year. The three-day protest, held every November to honor those killed by SOA graduates, includes benefit concerts, keynote speeches, and demonstrations of waterboarding. On Sunday, college students, elderly women, religious organizations, and veterans gather at the gates of Fort Benning for a mock funeral procession. Some dress in black, paint their faces white, and lie on the ground, representing the dead they have come to remember. Buddhist monks play drums, and a Mayan priest blesses the stage with incense. Each protester holds a white cross inscribed with the name of someone killed by a graduate, and for two-and-a-half hours, the names are chanted from the stage.

After each one, the crowd raises their crosses and chants “Presente,” meaning “Here.” “By the time the funeral procession is over, you can’t even see the fence,” says Marilyn Ring, a sister and associate chaplain at Augustana College in Illinois, who has led students to the protest. “It’s completely covered with these crosses, with the names of people who have been killed. And there’ll be some people just sitting there in front of that fence, sobbing.” At the fence, some protesters choose to “cross the line,” intentionally trespassing onto Fort Benning as an act of civil disobedience. In the early years, thousands crossed onto the base and were escorted away in buses. But after September 11, 2001, the government put up a fence and started prosecuting. Many of those arrested, like Hohenshell, served three- to six-month prison sentences. Over the years, 319 people have served more than 100

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years in prison combined for trespassing on the base, says Hendrik Voss, networking coordinator at SOA Watch. The movement has continued growing, mostly by word of mouth. Besides planning the protest, SOA Watch connects with grassroots organizations in Latin America, tries to persuade governments to stop sending students to the school, lobbies for legislation to close the school, and distributes 100,000 copies of its newspaper, Presente, around the country.

What it’s really all about

In addition to the protest movement’s focus on closing the institute, it seeks a change in U.S. foreign policy. And WHINSEC is a tool of that policy. “What we have come to see as an organization is that the School of the Americas is just one small piece of a larger picture, that the torture techniques that were used in Afghanistan and Iraq also were used in Latin America before,” Voss says.

“The people of Latin America don’t need this kind of school. They need teachers, agronomists, health care workers....that money should be going into schools for their kids.” — Roy Bourgeois Schneebaum also recognizes the shortcomings and mistakes of U.S. foreign policy. But he believes WHINSEC prevents human rights abuses. “I think that what happened at Abu Ghraib and what happened in Guantanamo would not have happened if we had had a Middle Eastern Institute for Security Cooperation,” he says. On the other hand, the protesters, even those who believe the school has improved with human rights training, see it as a symbol of U.S. torture, of impunity for U.S. officials and Latin American perpetrators, and of a foreign policy that put the interests of corporations ahead of justice and democracy. That’s why they want it closed, even if it turns out it’s doing no harm now as WHINSEC.

Nelson-Pallmeyer says that the government sees the school as a symbol, too. “Keeping it open is simply a way of saying, ‘We make no apologies for the past, and we are capable of doing similar things in the future,’” he says. The U.S. has made no significant changes in Latin American policy between the Bush and Obama administrations, according to SOA Watch.

A changing region

The Cold War has been over for more than 20 years, and the school has changed as well—and not just in its name. “The significant difference between the institute and the school is essentially relevance to our time,” Rials says. “We are providing the courses our own government wants and our partner nations want. Otherwise, they wouldn’t come.” But some countries actually have stopped coming. Argentina, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Uruguay, and Venezuela no longer send students to the school, some because of the work SOA Watch has done convincing them. But there’s something larger happening, too. Democracies are popping up all over the region, and people who once were threatened by graduates of the SOA are now in power. “We cannot go in there as we have in the past, as the conquistadors came in to exploit the cheap labor and the vast natural resources of these countries,” Bourgeois says. Voss agrees, saying that if the U.S. wants to establish better relationships with these countries, closing the school would be a good start. Schneebaum has also noticed the changes in Latin America. But he sees them as an opportunity to do even more good in the region. Speaking of the new governments, he says, “It would be great if, instead of their militaries being abusers of the downtrodden and maintainers of the status quo, they could actually be deployed for something progressive and useful. I think WHINSEC opens that door.” Whatever happens in the future—whether the Obama administration takes action, more countries refuse to send students to the school, or training continues as usual—the protesters will keep protesting. For them, it’s not just about the school, but all U.S. action in the region. “I urge everyone to realize that this is their country, and it’s up to them to do what they can to keep it on the right track, even if it doesn’t look like it’s going to work out,” Hohenshell says. “You can’t give up.” WHINSEC doesn’t appear to be giving up. And the protesters aren’t giving up, either. For both sides, it’s their hemisphere at stake. Each will keep fighting for, and teaching, what they think is right. •

DEMOCRACY’S MINIMUM WAGE America has invested an enormous amount in money and even lives in making the world more democratic. Sometimes, we’ve had success; other times—like in Iraq—not so much. But research showns that many of these operations were doomed to failure from the start, for one simple reason: money. In 1960, the political sociologist Seymour Martin Lipset developed the theory that democracies have an income baseline. A nation’s per capita income must reach a certain level before democracy is even possible. The higher that country’s income is, the more likely that country is to be democratic. But below that level, citizens are far more concerned about securing food, clean water, and shelter rather than the right to vote. Since the ’60s, the theory has undergone a number of modifications, but the general idea remains the same: per-capita income is strongly linked with democratization. The current standard was set by Adam Przeworski, a professor at New York University. His research, done in 2000, suggests the per capita figure today is closer to $4,000.

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by Eric Kipp

This doesn’t mean that a country with a $4,000 per-capita income is assured to be a democracy, but if it’s lower, democracy is highly unlikely. For example, Iraq’s per-capita income in 2003—right before the invasion—was $2,400, well under the line. But money isn’t the only factor. Abraham Diskin, a professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, has also studied Lipset’s work. He found that four additional factors beyond income are crucial to a successful democratization—a lack of social divisions, a low level of violence, a stable government, and a high level of foreign involvement. If a country has four of the five factors going for it, it’s likely the country will soon democratize. These theories have serious real-world implications, upending much of our past and present foreign policy. “The promotion of democracy through the barrel of a gun is problematic,” says Ross Burkhart, a professor of political science at Boise State University. He subscribes to Lipset’s findings, saying that quality of life—specifically education—is a necessity.

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An artist’s rendering of the Fresh Kills Park Project. The project has an estimated cost of more than $2 billion and no completion date. Photo courtesy of the New York Department of Parks and Recreation.

Despite a dramatic increase in recycling over the past decade, Americans still generate a massive amount of trash each year. We tossed about 250 million tons of garbage in 2008, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Whether this waste makes it into a landfill in Staten Island or winds up floating in the North Pacific Ocean, it’s an enormous and foul problem. For most of us, these locales are nowhere near home—and their issues are nowhere near our to-do lists. For those affected, finding solutions can be a complex, frustrating, and lifelong challenge. by Danny Akright

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In 1995, children were vomiting in the parking lot of New York’s Staten Island Mall. Shoppers would run across the parking lot and into the mall, but there was no escaping the sickening stench of putrid garbage—it came in through the air conditioning. The world’s largest man-made structure, the Fresh Kills Landfill, sits across from the mall. Throughout the 1990s, Fresh Kills, named for a nearby river, made life on Staten Island nearly unbearable with its blue cheese aroma. Today, property values are up and the borough’s residents can breathe more easily; Fresh Kills was closed in 2001 and is now being converted into a gigantic park.

“That’s not really reassuring, that we’re not taking action on what is, in my estimation, the largest ecological disaster on Earth.” — Rich Owen

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When Nick Dmytryszyn began his career as Staten Island’s first environmental engineer, the borough president, Guy Molinari, had a challenge for him: to take Fresh Kills down. They had a steep climb ahead of them. “Because it is the least populated (borough), it has that large landmass, and it was basically out of sight, out of mind,” Dmytryszyn says. “The rest of the city couldn’t care less about garbage because it was off the sidewalk and on Staten Island.” And the landfill itself was causing all sorts of problems. “It didn’t have a liner, didn’t have a gas collection system at that time,” Dmytryszyn says. “Everything that was coming in was either evaporating out or just becoming leachate and getting into the surface waters or ground waters that Fresh Kills was surrounded by.” Leachate is essentially garbage soup—the product of decomposition and rainwater. Rife with pollutants, leachate is a major health hazard. Landfill gas is composed of methane and other organic compounds. Not only is the gas dangerous if it builds up, but it also reeks. During Fresh Kills’ peak usage, nearly 700 workers added about 29,000 tons of garbage every day. In total, the dump still holds about 150 million tons of solid waste.

In 1995, Susan Molinari—Guy’s daughter and then-U.S. Congresswoman from Staten Island—secured an appropriation from the Environmental Protection Agency to test the air around Fresh Kills. The test showed that Fresh Kills was producing 2 percent of the world’s landfill gas and that the dump was the second-highest producer of the carcinogen benzene in New York City. Only Kennedy airport produced more. The Molinaris used this information as the basis for a lawsuit against the city and state of New York. Susan Molinari says that before her father sued, New York’s leaders knew Fresh Kills was a problem. The closure, she says, vastly improved the borough. With the dump now covered and new landfill gas and leachate collection systems running, many of the problems Fresh Kills presented are being managed. “At its height, I think it was processing 2 million gallons of leachate a day,” Dmytryszyn says. “Now I think it’s down to less than a million.” The city’s trash is now being exported to landfills and incinerators in upstate New York and other states. Landfill gas is collected and sold to local utilities, bringing in roughly $12 million a year.

Fishing debris washes up on the shores of Hawaii. The cleanup effort is a losing battle– much more washes ashore than is cleaned up. Photo courtesy of NOAA Marine Debris Program.

Eloise Hirsh, the administrator for the Fresh Kills Park Project, says she sees the conversion of 2,200 acres of the landfill as a unique opportunity to create a wonderful public park and promote environmentalism at the same time. “What was interesting is that people not only wanted what are the usual recreation amenities, but they thought it ought to be kept largely passive except for ball fields here and there,” she says. “And it ought to be a place where you demonstrated some research and development on environmental technologies, renewable energy, and on environmental, ecological restoration techniques.” The project, though not the first dump-to-park conversion, may serve as an example to other cities because of its scale and challenges. Still, it has its drawbacks. The base cost is about $2.2 billion, due largely to the pristine soil needed to seal the dump. Pricetag aside, the conversion is a start. While New York City’s trash was dumped in Fresh Kills for decades, much of America’s trash doesn’t even make it to a landfill. Litter and mismanaged waste drift into our ecosystems, introducing man-made chemicals to plants and wildlife. In the Pacific Ocean, synthetic waste has collected in an oceanographic phenomenon known as the North Pacific Gyre. Though not necessarily visible from the surface, the trash inside the gyre is accumulating in massive quantities—and growing. Due to the structure of river systems and currents, if human-produced trash makes it to an inland body of water, it can be swept to sea. And if it reaches the ocean, it eventually makes it to the gyre where it joins all the other trash. Most of the debris trapped in the gyre is synthetic, very small, and includes nearly everything we’ve ever used, from household trash like plastic bags to fishing industry debris like discarded nets. These synthetic materials break down very slowly in the saltwater and sunshine. This phenomenon, called photodegradation, causes two problems: tiny particles of plastic become suspended in the water, and the garbage releases synthetic and toxic chemicals. The synthetic bits are eaten by fish, birds, and other marine life and release chemicals when digested, which can harm sea life or humans higher up on the food chain. Environmentalist Rich Owen’s commitment to cleaning up the seas began during a trip to Indonesia. “We were snorkeling off the island of Bali, and I watched a fish shit a piece of plastic,” Owen says. “My heart just sank. I’m like, ‘What are we doing to this planet?’ It’s just heartbreaking.” Back home in Maui, HI, he researched marine debris issues. He discovered the gyre, which is commonly referred to in the media as “The Great Pacific Garbage Patch.” Owen started the Environmental Cleanup Coalition, which is searching for and promoting possible ways to collect garbage in the ocean. Though the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration has studied the

A heap of garbage sits on a Hawaiian beach. Materials like this photodegrade over time and often accumulate in the North Pacific Gyre. Photo courtesy of NOAA Marine Debris Program.

North Pacific Gyre extensively, very little has been done to clean it up. “That’s not really reassuring, that we’re not taking action on what is, in my estimation, the largest ecological disaster on Earth,” Owen says. “When people say it’s impossible to clean up the Pacific Ocean, I say today it might not be possible. But tomorrow, it will be.” But to Dr. Lisa DiPinto, director of the NOAA Marine Debris Program, a solution for reducing the gyre’s contents is more about prevention. “I don’t think anyone has found a method to cost-effectively and time-effectively go out in a reasonable way to pick up a significant amount of the debris,” DiPinto says. “What we stress at the Marine Debris division is that you have to reduce the incidence of marine debris entering the ocean at the source.” Seba Sheavly, a private marine biologist with ties to the U.N. Environment Program, says she’s wary of any solution that claims to help the environment by cleaning the gyre. “This is something I learned a long, long time ago when the Exxon Valdez had a spill up in Alaska,” Sheavly says. “I worked with

people who were trying to do the cleanup, and we discovered that some of the cleaning techniques were almost more harmful than the oil, so we had to be careful.” With rising rates of recycling and corporations moving toward using more reusable, renewable packaging and products, the tide of garbage coming from America is beginning to ebb. Sheavly says the solution begins with a change in mentality. “We do not want to ruin our planet, so with education and the proper opportunities, we can make improvements,” she says. “It really comes down to how you behave, what you do, and how you influence people around you.” The sheer enormity of ecological disasters like these two, however, means a fix merely begins with a change of attitude, Dmytryszyn says. Fresh Kills, to him, is an indicator of serious challenges ahead. “What was a blight on the landscape is going to be turned into something that’s up to the 20thcentury standard,” he says. “It’s going to take a long time to convert that monstrosity into something positive.” • T HIN K DSM.CO M

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