The Personal ISSUE — Spring '14

the personal Washington University | Spring 2014

Letter from the Editors

Dear thoughtful readers, Inherently, ISSUES Magazine tends to cover serious topics. The grave nature of a Rust Belt city like Saint Louis calls for attention to serious problems.

Therefore, innovative solutions are required to rejuvenate this city, yet many of these are only in their early phases. Saint Louis can make a comeback, but conversations concerning new ideas need to take place for real change to occur.

In the past, this publication has covered a variety of subjects, including homelessness, vacancy, and accessibility. In the past we’ve talked about challenges the city faces, but in The Personal Issue, we focus on a handful of efforts by community members who are searching for solutions to Saint Louis’s obstacles. From the efforts of an East Saint Louis gardener to revive her neighborhood to the boldness of an eighth grader to speak out about her view on public education, these articles demonstrate the power of a single person to resonance throughout a community. The Personal Issue serves as a way to highlight the work of such individuals to support their efforts and to bring the city of Saint Louis and Washington University closer together.

This will be our last year working for ISSUES. We started this magazine two years ago with the purpose of forging a stronger connection between Washington University and the greater Saint Louis community. Over the years we have built a strong core of contributors that will carry on the values while adding their own perspectives. It’s been an honor working with this magazine, and we are excited to see the new directions ISSUES will take in the future!

Michael Savala, President

Elaine Stokes, Editor-in-Chief

President: Michael Savala Editor-in-Chief: Elaine Stokes Design Chief: Reagan Lauder Senior Editors: Libby Perold Andrew Scheinman Victoria Sgarro Visual Editor: Daniel Raggs Treasurer: Margaret Flately Social Chair: Nichole Murphy 1

Contributors: Allison Balogh Carrick Reddin George Zhang Ben Zunkeler Keaton Wetzel Elliott Petterson Briana Coleman Nancy Yang Julia Ho Leslie Salisbury Anna Darling Claire Huttenlocher Douglas Rogerson Adam Strobel Stephanie Silva Laken Sylvander Leora Baum

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3 One Voice for Many The Language of Design 5 Table of Contents 6 Annie Wang & Her Art Initiative 7 Family 9 Sorry, This Bench is Not for You 1 1 DIY Urbanism 13 Free Cell 17 A Bridge to the North 19 Hybrid Urban Bioscapes 2 1 Peace, Love & Togetherness 23 Wash. U. & Monsanto: A Tangled Web 27 Farmplicity 28 Entry 29 Io Sono . . .

3 1 Joan & Jackie 33 Places of Sanctuary 2

one Voice for many Jada Williams, an eighth grade student in the Rochester City School District in 2012, was instructed to write an essay during her winter break. The assignment: read The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, then form an analysis and personal response.

be a slave. He would at once become unmanageable, and of no value to his master.” According to Jada, the power of white individuals to dictate what black individuals “can and cannot learn” continues today. In Rochester #3, her school at the time, the majority of students were black or Hispanic, but After submitting her work, her the majority of teachers were white. teachers lowered her grades from straight As to Ds without explanation, She reprimanded these teachers for passed around copies of her essay to their poor classroom management, other teachers in the school, kicked her ineffective practices, and apathy that out of class, tried to suspend her, called lasts class after class, day after day. home to tell her parents that they have She called her peers to action, urging an “angry” child, and finally drove her them to do research, get involved, and to withdraw from the school. What did hold teachers accountable. Otherwise, Jada write that could have prompted they will never stop feeling that “the such a backlash? same old discrimination still resides in the hearts of the white man,” albeit in a different era from that of Frederick Douglass.

After submitting her work, her teachers lowered her grades from straight As to Ds without explanation.

her school experience in the hands of individual educators, rather than blaming an unjust “system”?

The conversation about how to measure individual versus structural responsibility in a situation like this can carry on endlessly. Many teachers feel their hands are tied by pressure to meet standards for high-stakes testing, but systems do not appear out of thin air. They can only be maintained or resisted by individual agency.

Jada wrote that her school experience has been a modern version of slavery.

In the end, Jada was the one who was singled out. In a twisted way, she was held accountable for her words and Rochester #3 essentially proved the point of her essay—when she demonstrated that she really learned something, she was deemed unfit for her school. While debating about whether individuals or structures are more to blame for injustice, it is valuable to consider more personal stories like Jada’s. Only then can we find what trends there are among the individuals who have been isolated.

Jada was thirteen years old when she wrote her essay, and it is fair to acknowledge that she did not fully address the complexity of the issue.

Some may also criticize her focus on white teachers, and argue that they can be incredibly effective with students of color. While these criticisms are reasonable, it is crucial to grasp why she understood her experiences this way instead of limiting our response to pure judgment. She was asked to be true to her unique experience, and To read the full text of Jada’s article, visit there is just as much validity in this <<http://www.fdfny.org/blog/2012/03/20/ personal narrative and perception as jada-williams-essay-and-video/>>. there is in a broader picture.

Jada wrote that her school experience has been a modern version of slavery, and that her adversity can be shared by thousands of other black students in underserved school districts. Her argument began with a close reading of the passage in The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass when Mr. Auld forbids his wife from teaching Frederick, their slave, how to read Written by ALLISON BALOGH and write. She quoted Mr. Auld’s Illustrations by ELAINE STOKES warning that giving Frederick an A question we might ask is: Why education “will forever unfit him to did Jada place the responsibility for 3

African American Student Population 100 %

0%

City of Rochester

City of Saint Louis

Students Eligible for Free or Reduced Lunch 100 %

0%

City of Rochester

City of Saint Louis

Student Reading Proficiency on the National Assessment of Educational Progress : 2005

12th 8th

12th

12th 8th

8th

4th 4th 4th

White Students Hispanic Students African American Students

Sources: http://dashboard.publiccharters.org/ https://www.stlbeacon.org/ http://www.stltoday.com/

Linda Darling-Hammond. The Flat World and Education: How Americaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Commitment to Equity Will Determine Our Future. New York: Teachers College, 2010.

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The architect is taught to be pedantic, metaphorical, and vague with their explanations of design. Subsequently, the architectural process becomes exclusive, only accessible to those with formal education and institutional approval. In order to begin creating inclusive designs that successfully serve the inhabitants, we must democratize the architectural process. This democratization begins with language.

a network of uniquely arranged sitting areas and walking areas. There is grass here for kids to run and play, as well as ME: “My design deals with water swings and slides dispersed around circulation, seasonal adaptability, and the site.” activation of nightlife. I use organic forms that cut into the surface and PROF.: “I think you need to decide what allow people to inhabit space near the is and is not important. The slides and ground and near the canopy of the swings seem to take away from your design. Perhaps your pitch should be trees.” about creating a cool space to go at PROF.: “I really appreciate the craft night, and not worry as much about with styrene, but your line weights on daytime. I also think the ramps into the drawings could use work. I would your bathrooms are problematic; you enjoy seeing the performative aspect should just use stairs. You don’t need of your design represented in your to worry about handicap accessibility yet…” drawings.”

Final Architecture Review

I had the unique opportunity to juxtapose two coversations about a park project for my architecture studio class.

One rooted in theory and one grounded in everyday reality. One in the language of the architect and one in the language of the people.

ME: “Yeah, I kind of saw this design as

Conversation with Kids at Park: ME: “Hey kids! I would love to hear what kind of things you would like to see in your park!”

CHILD: “I would put in lots of new slides and a new toy structure, because our old one is broken. I also want my dad to come and have room because he has a hurt back, and can’t walk and play with me.”

My Drawing for the Park Proposal

THE LANGUAGE OF DESIGN Exploring How Access to the Architectural Field Is Barred by Words

MOTHER: “Yeah, my husband went through surgery a few years ago and usually uses crutches, so I’d like some of the playspace to be more accessible for him.”

ME: “Awesome, thank you. How do you feel about curvilinear structures that guide your experience, exposing you to certain views throughout.”

MOTHER: “Honestly, I care much more about it being safe and fun for my kids than what it looks like. I mean I want it to be a beautiful park, but the kids playing and happy people make it beautiful for me.”

Written by CARRICK REDDIN Illustrations by CARRICK REDDIN

Drawing of the park by Tara, age 7 5

ANNIE WANG and her ART INITIATIVE

Migrant worker schools arose in China as a result of urbanization. Although their “hardware” is somewhat set thanks to support from the government and local community, many of them lack the “software” and opportunities for children to get involved with fields such as culture and the arts.

culture, and this would help them preserve their cultural traditions.

AW: We also invited art teachers, of course. For instance, Mr. Robert Davis, the head of art at SAS back then, would provide his time to join me and bring the kids to museums, then taking them to SAS to interact with students from Annie Wang decided to step in and do his class. something for these children, to help them flourish through the arts.

GZ: It is much easier for kids to acquaint with each other than adults do – they don’t have as many GZ: So how did this all start? boundaries and presumptions. And art is what really brings them together.

AW: The kids at my daughter’s school, Shanghai American School (SAS), were shocked when they saw the poor conditions of schools in remote areas of China and wanted to do something.

So we started with the “Brick by Brick” project, where each kid would donate one brick to help build a school. We then looked at the Shanghai community, and realized that we could help these migrant worker schools. And we began Annie Wang working with Limin Elementary, after fundraising with the American AW: At the end of each year, there Women’s Club. As the “hardware” would be an Art Day, sponsored by the of the school is fairly adequate, we Shanghai office of SOM. We would decided to add art to the school’s have architects coming in to build limited “software”, because there’s no stick buildings with Popsicle sticks boundary in art, music, and sports. We and help with different art projects. hired dance and music teachers from But somehow after we did it twice, it art academies in Shanghai. This way, stopped. Unfortunately, the parents the teachers were more professional, from migrant schools were more and more importantly, they taught in concerned about academics.

Chinese – the kids learned Chinese songs and practiced folk dance.

GZ: Sad but true. Many of these parents didn’t have the privilege to GZ: This is especially important receive adequate education, so they because many of these children come would want to get the best they can for from parts of China with strong folk their children.

AW: It was unfortunate that I had to give up, but I really cherished my time with the kids – they are fun-loving creative kids, just like SAS kids are.

GZ: It’s the very reality of their lives.

AW: The society in big Chinese cities, such as Shanghai, really needs help.

There are enough funds for many things; the “hardware” is somewhat established. But what can you do to uplift people? You need something to break the boundaries. Shanghai, after all, is a city made up of immigrants; no one is really a native. You want to break the boundary between these newcomers and those who are already established in the city – those who think they own the land. Only art and music can help.

GZ: What’s next?

AW: I’ve always been very involved with my community, the Xintiandi community. I worked with our condo board, surveyed and interacted with the locals, in order to help expats living in these compounds to better understand the place they are living in, to break down the barrier of these gated communities, wholly protected by guards, drivers, and isolated from the outside. Both the local residents and the expats have been greatly supportive of this initiative, and I do appreciate all their cooperation in this effort moving the city for the better.

The story does not end here. Limin Elementary continues to gain support from various groups, who help them organize even more opportunities, so that they could connect better with the city in which they live. After all, this is not just the story of Annie and her art initiative; it’s about a way to move a fast-changing city, and cities like it, forward, through connecting different communities. And it starts with the kids, with art.

Written by GEORGE ZHANG Photography by GEORGE ZHANG 6

Family

Education and Cross-Cultural Relationships

Pongonon, Mali [West-Africa] pop: 3,000 St. Louis, Missouri [North America] pop: 318,172 If I asked you to name something that these two places have in common, I’m guessing that you would be at a loss. I know, it is a pretty unfair question. In a literal sense there is little physical similarity between Sub-Saharan Africa and the Midwestern United States. However, a few wonderful people have shown me that if we do not compare these (and other) seemingly unrelated places and people, we sacrifice the potential to improve ourselves, our communities, and our world. In what follows, you will hear the thoughts of two inspiring people that I have been fortunate enough to become friends with. As we explore their unique experiences with education in their respective communities, try to think about how your own experiences relate and contrast.

History of Pongonon: It was eight years ago that I met Dr. Abdoulaye Djimde in Bamako, the capital of Mali, and I first became involved in education. While listening to my mom talk with him over dinner, I learned of Djimde’s personal struggle to improve the conditions in his village of Pongonon. The story begins when Djimde was summoned to the Toguna (a meeting place for the village elders) while he was preparing to leave Africa for graduate school in the US. Djimde: “The elders of the village told me that they heard that I was on my way to America... they said that when 7

I get there they urge me to not forget them and to be their eyes and ears and to try to do everything I can to improve their lives there. So that was a sort of mission that they gave me... I asked them ‘What are [your] priorities?’...

They listed: water for drinking... a school for kids to go to, and health care facilities... These are sort of basic stuff” that other people take for granted.

An excerpt from Djimde’s first letter soliciting aid (sent while in graduate school at the University of Maryland in 1998) explains the conditions further.

the village built. “It was just a little area where they put some leaves on top of a tree to shade [the students].

That was how the school started.” This active, optimistic approach has been constantly encouraged by Djimde and is echoed and reinforced by the actions of the villagers, instigating the success of the community. Once the idea of a school became a physical reality, “we had the opportunity to show that to various people and to talk about it.”

Consequently, within a few years, the village received funding and was able to construct a three-room schoolhouse “Pongonon is a tiny village of 400 and hire two teachers. people located about 795 Km from Bamako, the capital city, in the North- Developing a Relationship: Eastern part of Mali in the so called In the aforementioned initial ‘Dogon country’... The main activity conversation with my mom, Djimde here is agriculture, the product of explained that the school was without which is almost exclusively used to desks, school supplies, and several feed the family... The nearest school other key components. After hearing and health care facility is located at a this, I returned to Baltimore and began minimum of 20 km from Pongonon the Pongonon Elementary Fundraiser and its neighbouring villages... The to try to help provide the village with people of Pongonon are determined to some of the supplies that it needed. improve their own destiny. However, in That year we raised a modest amount a country where the Income per capita (a bit over $200), which “was enough is $250 and most families can barely to buy copy books for each of the kids feed their children very little can be and some school supplies.” While in done without help from outside” comparison to the construction of the school building the supplies may “When we started the school not seem like much, the pictures and letters of gratitude that we received there was nothing” from the students created a lasting Just Start: impression on my high school and When Djimde realized that without myself. initial momentum, the assistance would likely be too little, too late, Each year, eight and counting, Djimde he decided to try to jump-start the asks the village council “what their situation. “At some point I told them priorities are for the next year... [the village elders] ‘You just need to and then from the funds [that are start.’” At its most basic, a classroom raised], we see what we can do.” Over is a space for learning, so that is what the past eight years, the Village has

bought desks for the classrooms (before students were sitting on cinderblocks); hired a third teacher; built an office for the principle, a cantina, and latrines; installed a solar powered light (so that children that work during the day can study at night); and begun work on a secondary school (previously children would be sent to other villages to continue their education after 6th grade).

“my generation, I don’t think that we are more than ten. Today, having a school, we have about 300 children who come from this whole area with almost an even number of boys and girls. So the impact on this part of the world is going to be amazing, and is already starting to show. When we started that project there were about 400 people in the village and today there are nearly 3000.”

“The big things are difficult, but once they get them, they organize themselves.”

“Whenever we do something we try to show it on TV and make a lot of noise... from that we put the village on the map and [now] people think about them” when they want to start a project. This recognition manifests itself in a regional confidence. “They decided that they wanted a market, so now they have a market in the village... [education and health] are things that they value, so they do what they can. The big things are difficult, but once they get them, they organize themselves.” Piece by piece, Pongonon is developing. “Our next challenge is to have a health center.”

Unbiased Mediation: Djimde: “At some point they decided that they wanted a secondary school in the village... Unfortunately with prices everywhere, it has not been possible to raise that much money at once. So I suggested to them: ‘We don’t have enough money for cement rooms, so why don’t we start with mud rooms?’

Even if we were not able to complete the room the first year, when we get money the next year, we are able.”

“In the first year when we got this mud class the secondary school headmaster wanted to get the first graders out of the nice rooms because he thought that those who are in seventh grade and eighth grade should be in the nice rooms and the first grade should go in the less nice rooms... So they had a meeting and the parents were invited.”

There were strong opinions on both sides and no conclusion was reached.

“So it came all the way to me in Bamako. So I told them, I said, ‘When we’re building these nice rooms, the cement rooms, we only had the young children in mind. So it was built for them. You can’t take them out of their classrooms.”

A Growing Community: Djimde: “Nowadays, if you look at the progression, [in] my father’s generation there were only two or three people from that region who went to school and were able to read and write.” In

International Family: When asked about the importance about of personal relationships to the success of any of these projects Djimde responded, “Both you and me and the other people that give to charity are all driven by this human need to help other humans. In my case I believe that you guys deserve much more credit that I do because these are my relatives, it is my village, and you guys are much more [removed].

And it’s not just me... I have my brother who is living in Koro (a larger, more developed town near Pongonon). He is actually living on the ground. He is the one that hires people and supervises the work. Keeping the books and taking the pictures. So, it is my [entire] family who is also involved in making these things happen. I think it is the consistency in these two families working end to end that is bringing the village to this level. They are really, really grateful. In Africa it really feels good to have these connections.”

Your Family: While it may be difficult to spark up a conversation with someone in Africa, finding someone who is different from you is as simple as knocking on your neighbor’s door or saying hi to someone who annoys you. Jordan, a senior at St. Louis Metro High School and a student in my ALBERTI class at Washington University in St. Louis, admits that her best friend is the person most different from herself, in her life. She explains that it was only after they saw past their differences (which initially caused mutual dislike) that they began to appreciate each other. What if we all took a chance and spoke to someone different from ourself ? (Maybe someone from a different neighborhood, a cashier or server, a foreign exchange student, a homeless person, a professor…)

The more we talk to others the more we stand to learn about our world and the more our experiences and cultures will be appreciated. Metro High School is recognized as the best public school in the state, but St. Louis public schools as a whole remain highly stigmatized and vastly unequal. How can the positive aspects of our schools and communities be leveraged and publicized to encourage positive change? When asked how she would have improved her own school experience, Jordan questioned why she wasn’t meeting more types of people. “Diversity. My lower school was not very diverse and I benefited from the experience of a more varied middle school and high school.” We use the words family, neighborhood, school, community, nation, and world (among others) in an attempt to categorize our relationships with the people around us. As we expand what we consider the group that we care about, we in turn gain more people who care about us. How far can we reach out to learn from and experience other people and cultures?

Written by BEN ZÜNKELER Photography by BERNHARD ZÜNKELER 8

SORRY, THIS BENCH IS NOT FOR YOU: Creatively combatting socially-exclusionary urban design in the Neoliberal Era Consider the bench to the right. It’s typical of one you’d find in a public park in a big city. See those armrests?

They feature an apparently decorative flourish low in the middle of the flat surface of the seat to prevent the bench from being used as a bed. This is not a design flaw. This is social exclusion by design. Originally meant for sitting, lounging, and relaxing by whomever comes upon it, the simple public bench has been redesigned as a political technology to deter certain use by certain populations.

For decades, American cities have been reacting to visibly rising rates of homelessness and vagrancy through “bum-proofing” their wealthiest and most revenue-productive areas by systematically implementing socially-exclusionary urban design tactics like these benches. Some

districts, constructed without public debate.4 As a part of the same trend, residential areas are increasingly

“The simple public bench has been redesigned as a political technology to deter certain use by certain populations.” other examples of social-exclusionthrough-design that you’ll notice during a careful tour of the central districts of American cities include: fenced-in public parks that are only open during the daytime, highpressure overhead sprinkler systems that drench nighttime occupants of public squares, the systematic removal of public toilets, and the installation of elaborate enclosures that protect refuse dumpsters outside of restaurants and markets.2 New York and Cambridge, Mass. have covered some of their warm sidewalk-level subway and exhaust vents to keep homeless people from sleeping there.3 Some big cities now have extensive CCTV systems that primarily pervade only their financial 9

being privatized and turned into “fortress cities” complete with encompassing walls, restricted entry points with guard posts, private police services, and restricted roadways.

In combination with an increase in the number of local laws adopted by American cities to criminalize public camping, panhandling, and food sharing,5, 6 these subtle tactics contain marginalized classes and render the old notion of “the freedom of the city” obsolete.

American cities are transforming their public spaces in order to exclude the ever rising number of homeless populations. The National Coalition of the Homeless reports that there are between 2.3 and 3.5 million homeless

people in America, a number which has risen dramatically since the 1970s.7 What is the reason for the increase in homelessness in America?

The rising homeless population has become victim to an income gap that has widened over the last 40 years as a result of a global economic shift towards neoliberalism. International economic competition among cities has brought about laissez-faire policies of deregulation, detaxation, and accumulation, and marked erosion of the public welfare state.8 The populations harmed most by these trends are those who, due to their citizenship status, education levels, or race, cannot participate in the global economy, i.e. the urban poor, minority youth at risk, single parent families, illegal immigrants, and street people.

International economic competition has become the priority of city leaders, and the disenfranchising design and policing characteristics of the city are deliberate strategies to benefit the professional class, as well as to

Sarah Ross’s Archisuits

Heavy Trash’s Stair to Trash

Michael Rakowitz’s ParaSITES

“The disenfranchising design, architectural, and policing characteristics of the Neoliberal city are deliberate strategies to benefit the professional class, as well as segregate and control the urban poor so as to not threaten the functioning of the global system.” segregate and control the urban poor so as to not threaten the functioning of the global system.

Artists and urban activists have developed creative ways of challenging and drawing attention to the use of exclusionary design in today’s cities. Artist Sarah Ross has created her Archisuits “made for specific architectural structures in Los Angeles. The suits include the negative space of the structures and allow a wearer to fit into, or onto, structures designed to deny them.” Ross creatively and directly challenges the unjust urban priorities of the neoliberal era by providing a functional — if not practical — solution to socially-exclusionary design.9 In 2007, Santa Monica, Calif. officials spent $28,000 to erect a 7’ fence around a public park to exclude homeless citizens, providing the entry key to only local residents. To combat and draw attention to this removal of a city park from the public realm, artist and activist collective Heavy Trash erected a 2000 pound stair providing temporary access to the park.10 Using this stairway, the public was again allowed access to this necessary greenspace, and were able to literally walk right over the city’s attempt to deliberately exclude the poor. As opposed to Ross’s Archisuits, Heavy

Trash’s work is highly practical as well as being a strong statement against the privatization of public space.

Artist Michael Rakowitz has sought to return equality to the urban realm by constructing his ParaSITES for homeless people. Constructed out of cheap plastic bags, the ParaSITES confront discriminatory city law by circumventing it, attaching to warm air vents to inflate and provide a legal and relatively comfortable sleeping and living space for homeless people: “Michael was a homeless man who worked for the United Homeless Organization. He wanted to respond to an obscure anti-tent by-law being enforced by the Giuliani administration, which stated that any structure 3.5 feet or taller set up on city property would be considered an illegal encampment… We designed his shelter to be closer to the ground, more like a sleeping bag or some kind of body extension. Thus, if questioned by the police, he could argue that the law did not apply because the shelter was not, in fact, a tent. On more than one occasion, Michael was confronted by police officers. After measuring his shelter, the officers moved on.” 11 Sarah Ross, Heavy Trash, and Michael Rakowitz are design activists who offer creative solutions to the

concerning urban design tactics which characterize the neoliberal city. They offer solutions to the means by which city government has collaborated in the massive privatization of public space, working to move the city closer to its ideal state as a space where difference can be celebrated.

Written by KEATON WETZEL Sources: 1) First 4 images: Louisa Szucs Johansson, http://louisajohansson.tumblr.com/ 2) Davis, Mike. 1990. City of Quartz. New York: Vintage. Page 233.

3) http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes. com/2008/09/19/new-subway-grates-addaesthetics-to-flood-protection/ 4) http://www.fastcompany.com/3000272/ nypd-microsoft-launch-all-seeing-domainawareness-system-real-time-cctv-licenseplate-monito 5) http://www.npr. org/2013/09/05/218891324/more-citiessweeping-homeless-into-less-prominent-areas 6) http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/07/30/156328035/philadelphiabans-serving-food-to-the-homeless-in-public 7) http://www.nationalhomeless.org/factsheets/ How_Many.html 8) Body-Gendrot, Sophie. 2000. The Social Control of Cities?: A Comparative Perspective.

Oxford: Blackwell Publishers. Pages xix-xx 9) http://www.insecurespaces.net/archisuits. html# 10) http://heavytrash.blogspot.com/2005/04/ stair-to-park.html 11) http://michaelrakowitz.com/projects/parasite/

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DIY Urbanism Do you ever walk down the

street and lament what you see in front of you? Maybe it’s puffs of exhaust billowing out from cars speeding by, or a vacant lot sprouting with weeds that seems to call out urban decline. As a pedestrian, I often notice what’s wrong with what’s there. But maybe that’s the wrong approach. Maybe it’s what isn’t yet there that has the power to change our cities. A new movement in urban design, known as “DIY” or “tactical” urbanism, is taking root in our cities, seeking to solve problems by designing for change. Dreamhamar.org notes that tactical urbanism “is based on the idea of improving the livability of our cities.

By using the street and public space as a laboratory for small, activist spatial practices, it is focused in a participatory approach of local people, which aims to take back the street for its inhabitants and induce long term changes in towns and cities.” This movement emphasizes the will of the people, giving them the agency to build what they need and desire for themselves, rather than letting all of that power reside in an agency or government.

So who’s actually practicing DIY urbanism? Let’s look at Los Angeles.

This city, known for its problems with traffic congestion and general unfriendliness towards pedestrians, has recently introduced through the LA Department of Transportation its People St initiative. Through a process 1

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that includes research on successful projects, detecting a site, and building community support, community partners are encouraged to apply for approval to turn a poorly-used space into one that offers a pedestrian-friendly experience. Although the initiative is run through city government, its goal is to give power to LA residents; innovation and initiatives are looked for from citizens themselves, not from a bureaucratic government system.

People St. envisions three simple solutions to reduce traffic and enhance the pedestrian experience: plazas, bike corrals, and parklets. The plaza works to preserve space for pedestrians and people moving around without cars: it cordons off a reserved area for people to play a pick-up game of basketball or to have somewhere to sit, usually providing an aesthetic design on the ground surface. Bike corrals inspire people to choose biking over driving and help prevent theft and bike loss. Lastly, the initiative introduces parklets, miniature urban parks which borrow space from parking places to improve the aesthetic experience of walking and moving through the city. Parklets offer a two-part solution; reducing the space for cars, and enlarging the space for pedestrians. Usually parklets have seating and plants, offering small “green spaces” tucked amid crowded downtown areas.

http://www.dreamhamar.org/2011/09/about-tactical-urbanism

“

These ventures encourage people who see the problems of our world to take action into their own hands

”

Parklets have become quite popular in the world of DIY urbanism. Rebar, a San Francisco design studio, first introduced PARK(ing) Day, an “annual open-source global event” in 2005. This initiative lay some of the groundwork for the program People St. is now following, though with a grassroots sensibility. Every September 20th, cities across the U.S. pay the meter to “lease” a parking spot, on which they may roll out grass, place plants, or simulate a mini-park. This past year, three Wash. U. Landscape Architecture students brought donated plants from Bohn’s farm to a parking space outside of Blueberry Hill on Delmar. The resulting park may have been temporary, but the mini-park showcased ways that students envisioned reshaping public spaces in our own neighborhood.

There are many other examples of DIY urbanism, from urban activists in dangerous neighborhoods in Bogotá painting sidewalks in vibrant colors to promote pedestrian safety, to vending machines selling “seedbombs” (a mixture of clay, compost and seeds that are thrown to turn into plants, beautifying vacant lots). These ventures encourage people who see the problems of our world to take action into their own hands. St. Louis, with its urban sprawl, vacant lots and homes, and pedestrian-challenges, may feel like it has a long way to go, but tactical urbanism teaches us to act, rather than wait for change to come from larger organizations, or on its own.

Written by LIBBY PEROLD

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This summer, the architecture firm FREECELL will be constructing a new public space--PXSTL, a pavilion across the street from the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts in Saint Louis. The following interview features the two principles of the firm, Lauren Crahan and John Hartmann.

LC = Lauren Crahan JH = John Hartmann GZ = George Zhang

GZ: So how did the two of you come together to form Freecell?

LC: We met at school, in college.

JH: Being in college, you know that you have some affinity or alignments with people; some of those last for almost a lifetime. Lauren and I knew each other and we immediately felt that there was a connection. We pursued our own careers and at one point we decided to come together to start running a business.

GZ: More specifically, what kind of philosophy brought the two of you together?

JH: I would like to describe it as “direct design,” meaning that design needs to be considered and developed for direct implementation. We don’t design “for fun” (laugh) – we design to make impacts on space. It was making sure that we could provide services as architects, but making sure that services can be implemented. It had a little to do with the frustration of working on projects at other studios, where some projects were put on hold or cancelled. The philosophy was to make sure that the work gets done.

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LC: Another thing that John and I share is this insistence on understanding what needs to go on. We want to really understand to make sure that everything is moving forward cohesively and take responsibility for that. That also brings a great deal of weight.

GZ: This actually reminds me of an integral part of our architecture curriculum at Wash. U. – we value very much a design-build education.

JH: It is a good part of the curriculum, but you do also have to be careful of ending up compromising your design because of the responsibility to build it.

LC: We’re often confused as design-build...But we don’t call ourselves “design-build”; we differentiate ourselves in two ways. Design-build is often a company that has both architects and a construction team in house, which we do not have and have never been interested in having. Also, we are not necessarily building, it’s really fabrication – we spend a lot of our time making prototypes, so that there’s more awareness and allowing that awareness to actually drive the design.

GZ: How does New York as a backdrop contribute to or influence the ideas and designs you propose?

LC: It’s a love-hate relationship... (laugh) It’s mostly a love. The city constantly pushes back, which causes a psychological reaction. But more importantly, it has such a life to it and it moves at such a speed that is unpredictable, and it’s constantly a point of inspiration for me.

GZ: So how do you feel your projects speak to their contexts? Take the PXSTL project as an example, how does it relate to St. Louis?

JH: There’s just so much freedom. The wide gamut is that in the architectural world we’ve designed apartments for people who are professional dog walkers, we also design apartments for people who are at the top of the fashion industry. And the things like gender or age are less of an issue – Lauren as a female on a job site is less of an issue in New York.

LC: But the main difference is the fact that when you walk into a contractor they’re excited. Because it’s a survivalist condition, there are a lot more people who are willing to go and dive in.

JH: The city is so much fueled by the arts, fashion, by production, by drama, by dance, that you end up having these people as clients. Our clientele includes a group of people that looks like they all come half from the genius camp or an insane asylum... (laugh) They are very diverse.

Crazy hair, crazy looks... Because that freedom allows them to exist here.

GZ: In what ways has this impacted your design philosophy or your design themselves?

JH: The creative energy just always allows you to reinvent yourself. You are judged on performance. People are fueled to want newness.

JH: The PXSTL is more about a conceptual idea of building something that opens up a cultural center for everybody. The Pulitzer is a box done by an incredible architect, but it sits there and it protects its contents. We want to say, “what if we opened up the space for everyone to use?” It’s more about the idea of what we think St. Louis should be – more community-based, more open, more diverse.

JH: We see St. Louis as a very protected city; you exist in zones, you exist in strata. When we go from the Pulitzer to dinner, we only see a certain type of people. And then we take public transportation to go to other parts of the town and we see another class of people. We don’t like that.

GZ: It’s the beginning of a conversation that helps cities like St. Louis to move forward.

LC: It will be interesting to see what happens in the years after, or just potentially throughout this summer. It’s hard to know what would happen but we’re excited!

GZ: How do you juggle between teaching and practice?

Or does the teaching aspect add new perspectives to your design practice?

JH: The teaching aspect is about being immersed in an environment of which we have incredible memories – we loved school. And school allowed you to sit with ideas and explore ideas... fully. Work is work. If we’re asked to

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do something, we have to do it. School is where you can get lost, and that’s what we love about school. We encourage students to follow their ambitions and confront their fears. It’s hard to balance, of course. Lauren and I have also recently had this incredible opportunity to work with great people. I’ve recently taught with Alan Wexler at Parsons; I’m teaching with Michael Webb of Archigram at Cooper; and Lauren was teaching with Michael Freddy at Cornell.

GZ: It’s definitely nice to cross the boundary between teaching and actual practice.

JH: There’s an asterisk to this. As much as we believe in freedom and creativity found in an academic environment, it’s also important for us to prepare students for the professional world as well. We want crazy investigations when we work with students, but when it comes time to take on professional responsibility thinking about energy, ecology, fire safety... we also demand the students to take the responsibility.

GZ: This speaks well to the idea behind your PXSTL design, trying to bring people together and integrate different boundaries. How does PXSTL embody the meaning behind your name “Freecell”?

JH: Freecell is open organism. When we are working at our best, we are collaborating with the best woodworkers, and people with the best conceptual and technical skills, and that’s what Freecell is. So in PXSTL when we think about “lots” we are bringing all these different groups within a community – it’s about the idea of an open system that

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allows some framework for people to express themselves and teach each other.

LC: To cross-pollinate.

GZ: We have been quite curious about the unique roof structure. How does the special roof actually work?

LC: Still working that out – there’re some budgetary issues right now...We are redesigning things.

JH: Its aspiration is that there are a number of pairs of funnels – as one comes up the other goes down. So that you can have either an introspective space or a space that is more extroverted, that’s looking outward.

LC: Much like pulling your sleeve inside and out.

GZ: It’s interesting to have this kind of up and down tension and juxtaposition.

JH: We’ve noticed with many of our projects like Beneath, moistSCAPE, and Spontaneous Interventions, a little bit of physicality gets the audience interested in space and architecture in a different way. We feel that architecture in so many instances in the public realm has become so careful and so safe that people are starting to ignore it.

When you ask them to physically interact with a space, it reinvigorates their body and mind about what space means.

LC: It also speeds up this idea of transformation, as all buildings transform over time. Allowing people to be

cognizant of that transformation is a way of speeding that up, to help them understand that all things are in change, and hopefully change the landscape for the better.

GZ: As you know, as part of the PXSTL project there’s a community grant contest seeking proposals of possible programs and activities that may go on in the pavilion.

The idea behind the design is to make it a versatile venue of course, but have you envisioned any activities in particular?

LC: The ones that have always been on our minds were a small gathering for a lecture symposium, or some type of workshop. It could also become a space for dance, performance art, or music performance. Our aspiration is that it actually serves for many different types of functions.

JH: But most directly we’ve always engaged with dancing in this space. It’s very open, but when we think about our interests, we are so captivated by how dancers and choreographers react to space and the limit of the physical body. Lauren and I always imagine dance to be one of the most poignant and important things that speak about architecture and space. They are the best occupants.

LC: It is cool to explore how the body is in relation to materials and exaggerates it in different ways.

GZ: It almost resonates well with the responsive roof itself.

You’re in a sense choreographing the space so that it could perform a dance of its own. So how’s the construction of the pavilion going?

LC: Smooth. Now that winter is almost over, we can actually get started!

JH: We have a really good metalworker in St. Louis, and the Pulitzer has been bringing their team together.

GZ: What’s next?

JH: For us it’s important to continue with our longstanding clients; we’re working a lot in the fashion industry, and we feel that’s something that’s very much related to architecture. It has to do with style, construction, materiality, and the body. In the creative sense, we hope to be working with a museum in Connecticut to bring a show there, and there’s another project in North Carolina that we are hoping to come to fruition. There’s a lot of experimental gallery installations on the horizon.

Written by GEORGE ZHANG Illustration by DANIEL RAGGS

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A BRIDGE TO THE

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ithin weeks of arriving in St. Louis, I had heard the warning so many times that it had become instinctual: “Don’t go north of Delmar.”

It’s sketchy. It’s a bad neighborhood.

Better to stay near campus where the houses are nice. At this point I was still familiarizing myself with campus. I had no experience to suggest otherwise, so I accepted this pervasive wisdom as truth.As a member of the cross country team, I had plenty of time to explore St. Louis on runs. I ran east through downtown to the Arch; I ran south through Dogtown and the Hill; I ran west to Ladue and Clayton, but I never went North. As I navigated my way through my first few years as a student here, I gained an intimate knowledge of the neighborhoods surrounding the school except for those in the forbidden North. This situation was not unique to me. A subconscious fear of North City pervades our campus, based mainly on the hearsay of other students who themselves have not investigated the issue. “Don’t go north” oversimplifies the issue. Yes, drugs and crime haunt some areas.

Yes, many homes and streets are abandoned and in disrepair. But there are also lively neighbors, community gardens, and people fighting to keep the area alive. People live in Wellston, just as they do in Clayton

and University City. To treat the issue as we do currently is detrimental both to students and the stigmatized area: we prevent ourselves from learning about particular neighborhoods and they lose out on our potential business.

The once thriving commercial district on the Wellston Loop has fallen apart and has little hope of recovery if people are now afraid even to visit. I began to recognize my assumptions and looked to challenge them through observation. I grew tired of my old running routes through more familiar areas; I needed somewhere new to go. That is when I discovered the St. Vincent Greenway, part of the Great Rivers Greenway project, which became the conduit through which I began to explore Wellston.

“Don’t go north” oversimplifies the issue

region. The St. Vincent segment extends north from Forest Park at DeBaliviere Avenue well past Delmar to Etzel Avenue. The trail is well-paved and well-maintained, convenient to access from the park and the St. Louis Metro, and lined with public art and historical information on the area. The St. Vincent Greenway is well-suited to bridge the Delmar Divide because it gives people a convenient, comfortable first step into an uncomfortable neighborhood. The trail encourages northward exploration. As people learn more and challenge their preconceptions they can expand their exploration further, widening their comfort zone and further bridging the gap between communities. The two communities live so close to each other, divided by one street, that it is time we get to know our neighbors to the north. The St. Vincent Greenway will not accomplish that on its own, but it is a good start to a relationship.

Written by ELLIOTT PETTERSON Illustration by MARGARET FLATLEY

Great Rivers Greenway was conceived in 2000 and aims to connect communities to each other and to nature, promote public health, and provide transportation alternatives by creating trails, parks, and greenways throughout the St. Louis metropolitan

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HYBRID URBAN BIOSCAPES A New Typology for Vacant Lots in Saint Louis Shrinking cities and population decline have become endemic to America, and Saint Louis is no exception. The city’s current population is slightly over 318,000, reflecting nearly a 63% decline from the peak of 857,000 in the 1950s.

Saint Louis’s 24,000 vacant lots represent nearly 18% of the city’s land. It is critical to look at these spaces as an opportunity for intervention to relieve the symptoms of shrinking cities, which include abandoned or underutilized land, economy decline, and poor quality of life for remaining residents.

Professors Catalina Freixas and Pablo Moyano Fernandez have created a new design typology to remediate vacant land in a sustainable, productive way: Hybrid Urban Bioscapes. Implementation of this strategy is currently taking place on a vacant lot in Old North Saint Louis. This particular lot is being used to create a community garden and gathering space for local residents. The gardening techniques are specifically designed to attract pollinating organisms, such as birds, bees, and butterflies, to provide ecological support to the eight other community gardens in Old North Saint Louis.

Constructing community gardens as a productive landscape is a common strategy to reclaim vacant land. In order to promote self-maintaining ecosystems, pollinators need to be present. Many gardens do not actively encourage pollinator inhabitation, resulting in the need for active maintenance of garden caretakers to ensure their landscapes remain productive. In order to reduce the need for this long-term maintenance, it is important to plant Missouri Native Flora. With the Hybrid Urban Bioscapes garden, native prairie seeds have been planted in soil mounds and spring blooming will produce a variety of vegetation. Many of the seeds have been gathered from local parks and will be supplemented

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with new planting material specifically selected to attract pollinating species.

As a community gathering space, Hybrid Urban Bioscapes investigate the concept of hardscapes and softscapes.

Hardscapes are designed to support the use of people in the community for recreation or leisure purposes. Softscapes act through the use of gardens to create habitats for local flora and fauna and provide visual aesthetics for the gathering space. Hybrid Urban Bioscapes achieve these landscape strategies through the use of designed pavers. A series of five poured concrete pavers have been produced with different porosities. The different opacities support different activities, such as walking, playing, biking and planting. The pavers are then arranged to formalize gathering space and facilitate movement through the site.

With further research and analysis, the ultimate goal of Hybrid Urban Bioscapes aims to be a framework strategy for vacant lots throughout Saint Louis. Each vacant lot is a unique site with different microclimates and existing ecosystems. The design of Hybrid Urban Bioscapes is flexible to adjust to the individual needs of a site. Soil mounds for planting material can be arranged for vegetation’s water or sun requirements. Pavers can be placed using existing informal paths through a site to facilitate more activity. By applying the strategies of Hybrid Urban Bioscapes to other vacant lots, the City of Saint Louis can begin to reclaim abandoned spaces and alleviate problems that are created in shrinking cities.

Written by BRIANA COLEMAN Photography by MICAH GOODMAN Illustrations by CATALINA FREIXAS, Senior Lecturer, PABLO MOYANO, Senior Lecturer, College of Architecutre and Graduate School of Architecture and Urban Design NIKKI LIU SHU

SOFTSCAPES

HARDSCAPES

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PEACE, LOVE, AND TOGETHERNESS IN EAST SAINT LOUIS Most of us hear of East St. Louis through whispered warnings, nervous chuckles, and heart-breaking news stories. Situated across the Mississippi River, it’s an easy MetroLink trip to avoid, an easy state border to evade, an easy half of St. Louis to overlook.

Often we forget that it is a home to nearly thirty thousand people. In 21

East St. Louis—a city long steeped in corruption, poverty and racial violence—there are people who refuse to be victims of the municipality’s failure. Instead, they pursue hope in unexpected corners and crevices.

greenhouse in Jones Park that was abandoned for twenty-five years.

Revitalization began between 2008 and 2009 by students from Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville and Washington University in St. Louis, but they had left the project unfinished.

In 2009, lifelong resident Kamina Kamina’s mother, Betty, and her uncle, Loveless found opportunity in a Jacob, learned about the greenhouse

through local precinct meetings at their church, and they proceeded to lead a cleaning and reorganizing effort. Kamina tells us that Jacob was a key organizer, “always trying to make things better every single day. He really made everybody start to notice what we were doing.” It soon became a family project.

For Kamina herself, the community gardening work was a means of therapy to get through struggles of unemployment. “There were no other resources to turn to in the city after I lost my job,” she says. “Going from job to job and not being accepted everywhere you go is really hard, and that really motivated me to find new ways to make a living for myself.” She inherited her love of gardening from her father, Herman Gomilla, who once owned a farm in Brooklyn, IL. Her inspiration also came from her mother who, after getting a stroke thirteen years ago, used her illness as motivation in working to give back to the community, and teaching her kids to do the same.

ABOUT SWAP

Sharing With a Purpose (SWAP) is a student-owned organization whose mission is to facilitate the open exchange of physical materials as well as knowledge-based resources among members of the Washington University and larger St. Louis communities. Since its founding in 2008, SWAP collects reusable items left by students in the spring and resells these items to students in the fall every year. Since this undertaking began, SWAP has raised more than $25,000 and donated over $15,000 to local charitable organizations. SWAP also implements a variety of services and events on campus and in our community that serve our mission.

In the fall of 2012, SWAP opened the Trading Post, an on-campus reuse and exchange store where university students, staff, and faculty can donate, take, or borrow items at no cost. To

The greenhouse has since grown, both as a structure and a symbol, to become an important part of East St. Louis.

For instance, in 2009, ASD Advocate, an autism awareness group, partnered with Kamina’s family, to host an East St. Louis Earth Day celebration that included activities about nature, gardening, diet and eating, autism awareness, and community resources.

Now Earth Day has become an annual tradition. In addition, fresh produce from the garden is given away freely to community members, and students from nearby schools regularly come to the greenhouse to attend seedling demonstrations and painting projects.

“My future plans,” says Kamina, “are to continue expanding community work, through outreach about how gardening can help people improve both your mental and physical health.”

She believes her motto, “peace, love, and togetherness,” are things that East St. Louis really needs—not just for gardening, but for every aspect of life.

Kamina in the fall of 2013 on her East St. Louis Beautification Project. As part of SWAP’s mission to promote sharing, reuse, and collaborative consumption, we have been bringing student volunteers to help with various projects, including cleanup and planting on an abandoned lot in East St. Louis, and cleaning the greenhouse and its planting beds.

Together with Kamina and her family, we are contributing our humanpower and resources to a burgeoning urban revitalization project. We are trying to establish new meanings of “going green”—one that breaks the bounds of recycling bins and bike paths and energy efficient technology that encase our Wash. U. bubble. For us, working with Kamina’s East St. Louis Beautification Project delves into the concept that environmental concerns are part of a much larger framework of social justice, one which we—as Wash. U. students—are far from incorporating into our campus mentality.

Wash. U. students at SWAP (Sharing With A Purpose) began working with Kamina’s East St. Louis Beautification Project and her bright enthusiasm have shown us a different way of seeing and living in this city. “Just because date, the Trading Post has enrolled you’re in East St. Louis does not mean over 800 members, facilitated the your dreams have to be shattered,” exchange of over 3,000 items, and Kamina tells us, “it motivates you to go has diverted approximately 15,000 further. Don’t be discouraged by what’s pounds from landfills. SWAP has going on around you. Find something recently been viewing their initiatives small and grab hold to it and make that as falling under the principles of the global sharing economy movement. your encouragement point to keep you going strong.” For East St. Louis’s forsaken lots and overgrown parks, THE SHARING ECONOMY street-corner gardens and abandoned The sharing economy movement houses, the Jones Park Community advocates for the borrowing, bartering, renting, or gifting of Garden is a way of hope. resources as opposed to buying or owning. It considers ways of generating our livelihood that resist individualistic, competitive, and exploitative means, and instead foster cooperation, communication and the sharing of resources.

Written by JULIA HO and NANCY YANG Illustration by LESLIE SALISBURY

For more info, contact us at swapstl@ gmail.com, or visit www.tpswap.org 22

Wash. U. & Monsanto:

A Tangled Web As a comparative literature student, I tend to stay away from any and all science buildings on campus. However, one day on my way from Olin to the art school, my eyes wandered to a building that I had never noticed before— the door read, “Monsanto Laboratory.”

Normally, I don’t pay much attention to the occasional discovery of a new building on campus (it happens more often than I’d like to admit). But the name “Monsanto” stood out to me. Only a few days earlier, my “Introduction to Public Health” class had screened the 2008 documentary, “Food, Inc.” A large section of the film focuses on Monsanto Company, an agricultural company headquartered in St. Louis, which comes across in the film as a corporate bully out to control America’s food market and run small farmers out of business.

Monsanto became an influential player in the international agricultural business when it developed and patented a genetically engineered soybean designed to resist its own herbicide, Roundup. The company began to sell this “Roundup Ready soybean” in 1996. Since then, the company has kept its hold on the market for almost 20 years. Today over 90 percent of soybeans in the U.S. contain Monsanto’s patented gene.1 Could this Monsanto be the same one as the building’s namesake? Curious, I did what any 20-year-old does 23

when faced with such a question—I googled it. One click brought me to Monsanto Company’s homepage, where I was met with idyllic scenes of countryside farms and promises to fight rural poverty with sustainable agriculture practices. This couldn’t be the same Monsanto as the one depicted in “Food Inc.,” I thought.

Rather than monopolize the agriculture industry at the expense of farmers across the country, this Monsanto boasts that its genetically engineered crops yield greater harvests, and therefore have the potential to end food shortages around the world.2 However, “Food, Inc.” tells a different story. The documentary claims that instead of using its more productive genetically modified crops to end

the universitybusiness partnership inevitably shifts research towards producing patentable and profitable results. world hunger and empower farmers around the world, Monsanto uses its patented seeds to dominate the agriculture business and earn the largest possible profit. Because of Monsanto’s patent, any farmer who buys Monsanto’s seed and saves some to plant in the future—a previously common practice in farming—faces a lawsuit for patent infringement.

Thus, farmers are forced to buy seeds from Monsanto year after year.

To enforce its role as the supplier in this system, Monsanto has a team of private investigators who aggressively seek out farmers who they believe might have violated their patent, some of whom are accused only because Monsanto seeds have innocently blown onto their properties from neighboring farms.

These investigators,

sometimes trespassing to gather evidence, intimidate small farmers into settling with them, regardless of guilt. So far, Monsanto has filed over 140 lawsuits and settled 700 other cases out of court.3 As it turns out, the Wash. U. building is in fact named after this same Monsanto. Built in 1965, Monsanto Laboratory of the Life Sciences became the first building on campus to be named after a corporation.

However, the construction of Monsanto Laboratory was only the beginning of Wash. U. and Monsanto’s long and complex relationship.

Understanding this delicate university-corporate partnership requires first backtracking a century.

In 1862, the original Morrill Act (or Land Grant Act) granted states land to establish universities dedicated to agricultural and technical education.

In response to the changing needs of American society during the industrial revolution, these “landgrant” universities created a publicly funded alternative to a traditional liberal arts curriculum, opening up the possibility of obtaining a college education to the American working class. With the rise of these institutions as respectable options for higher education, farming shifted from a practice of mechanical repetition to an evolving science, which one could study at college. For the first time, universities conducted extensive and serious agricultural research, greatly increasing the productivity of American agriculture in a short period of time.4 However, because these universities relied on federal funding to conduct research, all inventions and discoveries technically belonged to the federal government, not to the universities. This finally changed in 1980 with the Bayh-Dole Act. Under the new law, universities and businesses could now apply to patent any invention discovered by federally

funded research.

Businesses suddenly had an incentive to conduct research with universities, and so the university-corporate research relationship was born.5 Although Wash. U. is not a landgrant university because it was not established under one of the two Morrill Acts, it still follows in the same tradition as a university that receives some federal funding for agricultural research. Only two years after the Bayh-Dole Act allowed private ownership of government funded research, Monsanto and Wash. U. formed the Washington University/Monsanto Biomedical Research Agreement, one of the earliest university-corporate alliances in the country. Since its inception, Wash. U. has received over $100 million towards research.6 The Wash. U./Monsanto Biomedical Research Agreement exemplifies the many ethical dilemmas faced by university-corporate alliances.

Both Wash. U. and Monsanto claim that their relationship does not affect the research produced by the university. However, headed by a steering committee composed of six Wash. U. faculty and five Monsanto representatives, the research program inevitably plays

IN RECENT YEARS, ties between Wash. U. and Monsanto have only grown stronger. to both academic and industry interests. Perhaps most illustrative of this point, the agreement requires 70 percent of research funded by Monsanto to be applied research (research that has an application in the real world), leaving only 30 percent of research as basic research (research needed for students to understand scientific fundamentals, and typically the majority of research done at a university). This condition 24

of the agreement ensures that Monsanto will have a broad pool of research from which to patent, increasing the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s profit.7 Thus, patentable research often receives more attention from professors who understand the advantages of conducting industry-friendly research in this environment: larger grants for research, more publications, and the possibility of being hired by Monsanto as a consultant outside of the university setting. Therefore, the university-business partnership inevitably shifts research towards producing patentable and profitable results.8

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The controversial relationship between Monsanto and Wash. U. is only one instance of a wider trend spreading across the country, as corporations become increasingly involved in university agricultural research since the Bayh-Dole Act. A 2012 Food & Water Watch report found that about 25 percent of funding for research at land-grant universities comes from corporations, while only 15 percent comes from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. This amounted to $7.4 billion of agriculture research funded by corporations in 2006 (the most current statistic available). Thus, business now has a greater hand in public research than the government does.9

In recent years, ties between Wash. U. and Monsanto have only grown stronger. In 2011, the two institutions formed a 10-year

we must be responsible enough to consider where our research comes fromâ&#x20AC;&#x201C; especially at our own university. agreement that will give almost $930,000 of funding to graduate student research in plant sciences, biotechnology and genetics, nutrition and the environment.10 That same year, the retired CEO and Chair of Monsanto, Richard

Mahoney, received an honorary public that it is our responsibility to degree from Wash. U.11 understand where our food comes from, we must also be responsible All this is not to say that the enough to consider where our university-corporate alliance is research comes from–especially entirely malignant or corrupt–after at our own university. Sometimes, all, universities could not have that can be as easy as noticing a new produced any of the revolutionary building on campus. research that defined agricultural practices over the last century without funding. Moreover, the Written by VICTORIA SGARRO Illustration by ANNA DARLING business world’s hunger for profit can be a powerful motivator to develop Sources: the most current and innovative 1) Food, Inc. Dir. Robert Kenner. Magnolia research. Nevertheless, the Wash. Pictures, 2008. Film.

U./Monsanto relationship is an issue 2) Monsanto Homepage. Monsanto Company.

Web. 19 Mar. 2014. worth recognizing and questioning. 3) Food, Inc. In the same way that “Food Inc.” 4) Brown, Fred. Morrill Land Grant Act strives to prove to the American Transformed American Agriculture. Colorado

State University, Oct. 2012. Web. 19 Mar. 2014.

5) Public Research, Private Gain: Corporate Influence Over University Agriculture. Food & Water Watch, 26 Apr. 2012. Web. 19 Mar. 2014.

6) Historical Campus Tour: Monsanto Laboratory of the Life Sciences. Washington University in St. Louis. Web. 19 Mar. 2014.

7) Thompson, Andrew and Norman J. Temple, ed. Ethics, Medical Research, and Medicine.

Dordrecht, the Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2001. Google Books. Web. 19 Mar. 2014.

8) Thompson, Ethics, Medical Research, and Medicine.

9) Public Research, Private Gain.

10) Williams, Diane Duke. “Monsanto funds fellowship for graduate students.” Record 15 Dec. 2011. Web. 19 Mar. 2014.

11) Wolff, Amanda. “Monsanto CEO should not receive a Wash. U. honorary degree.”

Student Life 26 Apr. 2012. Web. 19 Mar. 2014.

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Farmplicity: Improving Urban Food Systems

SPOTLIGHT JOLIJT TAMANAHA

Farmplicity started with a entrepreneurial class project in 2013 for a business school class called “The Hatchery,” but it has grown into a user-friendly website that has redefined the urban food system of an entire city. Jolijt Tamanaha, a current junior, along with cofounders Drew Koch and Andrew Lin, were so passionate about their initial project that they officially launched their website connecting restaurants to local farmers, contributing to the farm to table movement in the St. Louis community by making business transactions accessible and efficient. After only a year, Farmplicity has over 80 farmers and over 70 restaurants. Jolijt was kind enough to answer some questions about her work.

structure of the personal connections.

Obviously, farmers and chefs spend less time talking to each other. But the farmers still deliver the product so they still meet the chef and, since they sourcing from local farmers and that used Farmplicity, they can have a great is a great feeling because it means conversation instead of hassling the more chefs purchasing from St. Louis chef for payment. growers. That money will stay in the local economy and help businesses Historically, growing technology in here grow. That being said, I think the food preservation and transportation St. Louis community has also had a has led to less locally grown produce, huge impact on us. Interacting with the creating a disconcerting reality in people who actually live and work here which we don’t know where the has been one of the most rewarding food we eat comes from. However, aspects of my time at Wash. U. by using the technology of online communication in the Internet Age, Q: Do you think that shifting farmer- Farmplicity has countered this trend, buyer relationships to the Internet has creating a win-win system of local food delivery online.

Q: What problem did Farmplicity Q: What impact can you see in the St. Louis originally solve and how effective community as a result of your work? do you think this website has been in A: We have helped restaurants start addressing this problem?

“

A: We are addressing the inefficiencies

”

that stop restaurants from sourcing their ingredients from local farmers.

To supply a small menu with 10 items, chefs could have to call 20 different farmers just to find all of the different ingredients. If they want to compare prices, they’ll have to call 40 different farmers. Then when the farmers show up, the chefs have to pay separate invoices for every single farmer. I think we have currently made the process more efficient but still have a lot of work to do. Unpredictable industries like sacrificed personal connections or has agriculture require a lot of flexibility it made these connections stronger? so Farmplicity needs to be better able Written by CLAIRE HUTTENLOCHER to capture all of the flexibility both Illustration by DOUGLAS ROGERSON parties can have when using a phone A: I think it hasn’t necessarily done either but has just changed the conversation to communicate.

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ENTRY With graduation upon us, it is important that as (at least moderately) informed individuals we make the right moves. While important postgraduate decisions include careers and relationships, I’m mostly concerned with relocation. Deciding where to live after graduation may seem like a series of simple questions: “East Coast or West Coast?” “North or South?” “City or suburb?” “Cold weather or warm weather?” But there are so many more complicated variables connected to every possible option, making the decision both terrifying and exciting to make. The best I’ve been able to come up with is: city. I know I want to live in a city, but that doesn’t get me any closer to determining an actual location or ease any of my anxiety. A lot of that anxiety is wrapped up in the question:

How do you enter a place?

This question can refer to anything from whether or not you remove your shoes upon entering someone’s home to simply locating the door.

But to me, a more pointed, insightful understanding of the question suggests a certain responsibility of outsiders to consider the wider implication of their actions.

cities and their residents that doesn’t necessarily coincide with suburban notions of the downtrodden. I’ve learned that deindustrialization has taken its toll on many an American city and that the road to rebuilding is not easy. Hell, sometimes there isn’t a road or even a dirt suggestion of a possible path. While I’m no expert in the revitalization of these communities, I know enough to be able to express worries over potential gentrification.

industrial layoffs. Perhaps that means making sure that residents have agency and can fight for the changes they want to see in their neighborhoods instead of imposing a large-scale redevelopment plan that does not account for the people displaced by highway construction and strip malls.

I have spent four years in St. Louis, and I am still struggling with the idea of what it means to enter this place. I don’t understand how to navigate the complicated dynamics that went into creating such devastating vacancy in once vibrant cities such as St. Louis. If I don’t yet understand this city’s past, how can I hope at all to participate in its future?

Still, I’m worried that I’ll enter a place with only the best intentions and in an attempt to insert myself into the fabric of a neighborhood in some way change it and twist it into something unrecognizable. I don’t want to be the reason why local businesses are run out of town because of incoming If I don’t yet understand this city’s past, chains meant to serve a different how can I hope at all to participate in its demographic of residents. Stores like Whole Foods conspicuously enter future? neighborhoods that would be classified Written by NICHOLE MURPHY as low income food deserts, where Illustration by ADAM STROBEL area residents can’t afford to shop at a health-food supermarket and have to settle for convenience store shopping experiences.

Yet at the same time, I want to be an agent of change. I want to help the city in some way that removes the sting of suburban abandonment and

In my time at Wash. U. I’ve been lucky enough to gain a perspective on

28

Io sono . . .

Posso prendere il tuo foto? (May I take your photo?) This simple phrase led to the most unique experience of my semester abroad in Florence, Italy.

It was the last few weeks of my four months abroad, and as part of a final art project I chose to photograph the men working in the local leather market.

Florence’s leather market is the most renowned in Europe. Starting at 5 AM, men haul carts into the street full of leather bags, jackets, belts, wallets, and more. Just a couple hours later, the market is in full swing. Carts sit sideby-side and stretch down 5 or 6 blocks, looping down side streets, and around the side of a church and a nearby food market. It is impossible to walk quickly through this neighborhood as a multitude of tourists meander their way between salesmen calling out to passersby. By two weeks into the semester I was doing everything I could to avoid walking through the market on my way to class.

As the end of the semester drew nearer, I knew my time to experience Florence was quickly dwindling. This project was my chance to step beyond 29

the Florence I had come to know.

The men working in the market were almost all immigrants, but I did not know from where. I had never had a real conversation with them, but had seen them periodically during the previous three months.

Armed with my camera, I nervously entered the market, repeating in my head the Italian phrase I had memorized: “Hello, I am an art student studying here this semester. I am doing a project taking pictures of people in the market. Could I take your picture?”

All but one said yes and many happily engaged in a conversation.

The next day, I returned with a copy of their picture and a sheet of paper. I gave them the picture and asked for one more favor: that they write io sono…(I am) and their name in every language they knew how to speak. These men were generally assumed to be uneducated, but I had heard them yelling to shoppers in Italian, English, French, Japanese, German, and many other languages.

Most spoke English, Italian, their native language, and one or two other languages but several spoke even more.

The last person I spoke to on that first day was Nour. He was by far the most talkative, energetic, and friendly person I met in the market. And by no means did he fit the stereotype of the young, uneducated immigrant selling leather jackets. On the contrary, our first conversation lasted an hour as we switched back and forth between Italian, English, and French.

Nour was born in Morocco and from a young age knew how to speak Arabic, French, and English. Later in his childhood, his family moved to Italy

This project was my chance to step beyond the Florence I had come to know.

where he added Italian to his language repertoire. After graduating high school, he attended college in Paris, studying French literature and law, but unfortunately was unable to find a job when he graduated amidst the recession.

This is how he ended up living in Florence working for Sabani, the leather shop his family owns. While his brother, Marco, was the natural-born salesman, Nour was as opposite as could be. He would tell me about the new poem he was writing or how much he would prefer to spend his afternoon sitting under a tree reading Voltaire. To him, haggling with tourists is a boring game. As he said, “If a student or someone comes along and says ‘I love that bag but only have 3/4 of what you’re asking,’ I say, take it and run.”

Even after I finished my project, I would go back to see Nour and the other guys working in the market. At their request, I took photographs of every employee at the store Nour’s family owned next to the market. Walking into that store was like walking into a friend’s house and I visited them every couple of days for the last few weeks of my semester.

I had to avoid the market on my way to

Walking into that store was like walking into a friend’s house. class those last few weeks, but instead it was because I would be late from stopping to chat with everyone I had met via Nour and the simple question: may I take your photo?

Kike is a 23-year old guy from Mexico with long curly hair and the warmest greetings and perfect English. He studied at a university in Mexico before moving to Florence to work in the leather market for a year.

Luis is also a young guy from Mexico.

Always dressed in a white jacket and

reflective sunglasses, he has an infectious laugh. He is only working at Sabani for a year or two and plans to return to Mexico to go into business. His favorite thing to do is play ice hockey, but without any rinks in Florence he settles for rollerblading.

Rogerio moved to Florence from Brazil 16 years ago. His family is still in Brazil but he makes enough money that he can go back and visit every year or two.

Papa Nediaye moved to Florence from Nigeria 32 years ago.

Forhad is the sweetest guy in the market. Born in Bangladesh, he moved to Florence 3 years ago and taught himself English from then on.

He would smile and wave and ask how my Italian was coming along whenever I saw him.

Written by STEPHANIE SILVA Illustration by LIBBY PEROLD 30

Joan &Jackie

the people. My children were raised, pretty much, [when I moved into Webster Groves, in St. Louis County] when I was 50. Wait, 47. I moved into the neighborhood and knew no one. I would meet my neighbors and everything, but not the community people... Like where Joan, she came as a young bride and met different people A Profile of Two Community Gardeners through schools, because of the kids.

But I didn’t have that, so the gardening Joan Hood and Jackie Renolds are Avenue and McCausland Avenue. was my thing... now I can go anywhere former members of the Federated “[Dogtown] was terrible. Everything in the community and know someone, Garden Clubs of Missouri, a branch was so congested, so together, and I including the mayor.” of National Garden Clubs, whose was used to more open spaces. I don’t headquarters are around the corner know, that was my first experience “Gardening,” Joan continued, “like any from St. Louis’s Botanical Garden. with St. Louis and it was just kind of hobby, introduces you to new people, The Club aims to “aid in protection different. The people were friendly, yes, different ways of life. It broadens you. and conservation of natural resources, we had a very nice landlady, but then I think it introduces you to a whole promote civic beauty and encourage the tornadoes came and that kind of did new class of people because of your the improvement of roadsides and me in for that area. I was there [in the common bond over wanting to improve parks... Garden Therapy for disabled 1950’s] when that tornado took a hop, the beauty of the place where you live. and elderly people... [and] involvement skip, and jump across Forest Park and That spreads across the state and with youth of all ages, encouraging took the top off the Arena, took parts across the nation. It’s a shame people an interest in gardening, wildlife, and of sides of apartments off buildings are so busy with their work and family because gardening is—garden clubs the environment”. I asked Joan and downtown, killed a lot of people...” are getting pushed to the background.”

Jackie how their time in St. Louis has surprised them, where and how they Joan said, “Well, gardening has made have seen it change, and how gardening me a lot more tolerant, I guess, of “Probably, one of the needs years ago and civic beautification have impacted different ways to communicate with for gardening clubs was that you didn’t their interactions with the St. Louis people. I’ve learned to be more tolerant have the resources. Now, with garden of different situations that I never centers and different places and the area. used to be. I mean, I grew up learning internet, gardening clubs are not as Joan, 79, moved from outside of one way, but [gardening is important needed,” Jackie said.

Philadelphia to St. Louis in 1955. for] learning not to be as judgmental Before moving here, she recalled, of other people’s ways of life. We’re “Well, in some communities it actually “I thought it was like a wilderness gardening in more than just our brings people together. Like, in rural outpost. My father thought I was going backyards. We’ve worked downtown areas, I noticed a lot, even though they lived on farms far away they would to wind up with Indians.” Her friend to try to improve it.” get together and garden. They had no Jackie, who was born in St. Louis in 1946 and has lived here her entire life, “They had to dig it all up again,” Jackie other arts to really pull them together.

Here, we’ve got all sorts of things that chimed in, “That’s what most people said. go on in St. Louis,” Joan commented. think.”

“Well, that’s life,” said Joan.

Jackie added, “The Cardinals.” “The Cardinals, yes. But we have town halls Joan said, “[What has surprised me is] the friendliness. Being from the East Jackie went on, “That’s part of it. and theaters and so much art in this Coast, they were not friendly.” Upon They’re re-doing that highway by the city.”

Joan’s arrival to St. Louis to marry John, Arch, and that’s where we’d done all of When asked about the relationship a young man she met in Philadelphia our work [with Garden Club].” between St. Louis City and St. Louis through his military work, they moved to Dogtown, the neighborhood just Jackie returned to how gardening has County, both immediately gave big south of Forest Park between Hampton changed her sense of community. “It’s thumbs down, forced frowns included.

31

“I don’t want a merge [with the educational systems], don’t want to take on the debt...I think that people think that, maybe—this is my perception--sometimes they’ll think we’re being racist or something.

That’s not true. For me, I don’t want the county to take on St. Louis’s debt,” Jackie commented.

“I don’t want the county to take on the problems, they’ve got a lot of problems with their schools,” Joan said.

Not much elaboration relationship was provided.

on

this

What do these St. Louis community members hope for the future of St. Louis?

“I hope for the downtown area to keep on growing. It’s rebuilding itself and active. We went down there a couple weeks ago to have dinner,” Jackie recalled. “There was people all over

the place, a woman walking her dog..

That would have never...not that it was dangerous, I mean there’s people I know who refuse to go downtown.

They think it’s so dangerous, but because I worked down there [with SP Trains Services], it’s not dangerous for me. I know the areas where you go and I know the areas you stay out of. I was so happy to see all this foot traffic, shopping, and living down there in the old buildings. I wish for that to continue. For the county, I want the parks and recreation to get their

funding back. I wish our garden clubs would pick up more membership.”

“Well, I wish for a cleaner and crimefree community, whether that’s the city or the whole area. And I think the Garden Club can play a big part in that, because people work together, but they’ve got to work together to do it.”

Written by LAKEN SYLVANDER Illustration by LAKEN SYLVANDER 32

Places of

Sanctuary in Saint Louis

I grew up going to church twice a week. Every Sunday and every Wednesday. So that means that, as a kid, over the course of a year, I would have gone to church about 104 times.

I started college nearly 4 years ago. Since then I have been to church 9 times.

I feel like this should be upsetting for me. I should feel ashamed, lost, off-track. But for the most part, I don’t. And I’ve noticed that I’m not alone. My cessation of churchgoing is anything but abnormal for our generation as college students. There’s an increasing trend among the millennials in adopting agnostic and atheist points of view. More and more of us are doubting the religions we grew up in, or putting them on the backburner for these years of our lives.

But whether we are religious or spiritual or not, I believe that everyone needs a place of sanctuary. That having a place to retreat to is a vital part of just being human. I believe we all need a place for self-reflectance. A place to let the mind wander. A safe place. A place of community.

A refuge from consumerism and the hype and stresses of the everyday. A place where our values can be cultivated.

A place where we can wonder and make sense of things.

So where do we find these places today? Where are our personal sanctuaries in this increasingly secular world?

Over the past few months I’ve been asking Wash. U. students these questions. This is what you said: 33

Religious & Spiritual Institutions Catholic Student Center Basilica Cathedral St. Augustine Church Missouri Zen Center

** ** * **

Restaurants & Cafes & Coffee Shops Kaldi’s coffee Kayak’s coffee Cafe Ventana Blueprint Coffee BoBo’s Noodle House Frida’s Deli

** ** **

Museums St. Louis Art Museum Pulitzer Center for the Arts Kemper Museum

Written by REAGAN LAUDER Illustration by REAGAN LAUDER

*=

** * * *

Each time these places were brought up in the survey

Libraries & Book Stores Wash. U. Law School Library St. Louis Central Library Lewis & Clark Library Border’s Book Store

Public Places & Institutions

** **

Parks & Monuments Botanical Gardens Laumeier Sculpture Park Art Hill Shaw’s Garden The Arch The Butterfly Garden Forest Park Tower Grove Park Flood Wall

** ** ** * ** ** ***********

Brookings Quad Rooftops Central Institute for the Deaf Union Station The Metro

Sa

i u o L int

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s

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the personal ISSUE #5

Washington University | Spring 2014