RAPPS General Meeting 2/29/12 by Joshua Wilcox

This afternoon, the RAPPS Board hosted the first general meeting of the semester. The main points covered in the meeting are listed below along with the contact information of those in charge:

1. The RAPPS blog: The RAPPS blog is soliciting content and coverage ideas from all planning and policy students. If you are interested in contributing articles or come across information relevant to planning or policy that should be covered by the blog, please email RAPPS editor Joshua Wilcox at jpw137@scarletmail.rutgers.edu.
2. Service opportunities: RAPPS Service Chair Emily Manz is planning a visit to the Greater Newark Conservancy in late March or early April to do some gardening. An email will be sent out when a date is confirmed. If you are interested in participating or have ideas for more service opportunities, please email Emily at emily.manz@rutgers.edu.
3. Tour of Lower Manhattan: RAPPS founder and Bloustein alum Richard Landman has offered to guide students on a tour of Lower Manhattan. The charge for the entire group will be $250. If you are interested, email the RAPPS Board at rappsmailbox@gmail.com. You can find more information about Mr. Landman’s tours at http://www.infotrue.com/tour.html.
4. New cycling GSO: Bloustein PhD candidate Brian Stromberg is in the process of forming a new GSO for graduate students who are interested in cycling. The GSO will serve to coordinate bike rides, movie nights, and speakers related to cycling and transportation issues.  Stromberg is also working towards securing a possible on-campus location for bike repairs and events. Please contact him at brian.stromberg@gmail.com if you are interested in participating.
5. DC alumni contacts. Students interested in networking with alumni living in Washington D.C. can contact Brian Stromberg at brian.stromberg@gmail.com. He will give you the contact information of alumni in the city.
6. New Rutgers student organization: Latinos Entering Government and Law (LEGAL) From the group’s website, “The purpose of LEGAL shall be to further promote higher education by unifying all, but not limited to, Latino students throughout Rutgers University on the New Brunswick/ Piscataway Campus who wish to pursue a career in government and/or law.” For more information, please visit the group’s website at  http://groupspaces.com/legal.
7. Bloustein Symposium: The Bloustein School will host the Symposium on Planning Health, Sustainable Communities from Thursday April 26^th to Friday April 27^th. The registration fee for students is $25. For more information, visit the Symposium’s website: http://policy.rutgers.edu/symposium2012/. Students are encouraged to submit abstracts for posters. If interested, contact the RAPPS Board at rappsmailbox@gmail.com.
8. GSA funds: We are not using all of our GSA funds. If they are not used by the end of the semester, we could lose funding in future years. Please email event ideas to the RAPPS board at rappsmailbox@gmail.com.
9. Coffee talks: The RAPPS board is considering hosting a series of Bloustein coffee talks, informal meetings where students discuss planning and policy issues of interest. If you have ideas for specific policy or planning topics you would like to discuss with your peers, please email the RAPPS board at rappsmailbox@gmail.com.
10. Super Tuesday: The RAPPS board will host an event next Tuesday March 6^th at 7:30 to watch results from Super Tuesday and eat free pizza.
11. Women’s Leadership Conference: The Women’s Leadership Conference will be held on March 30^th. It is open to all graduate students and will include a planning and policy component. Any questions regarding this event can be sent to Susannah Dey at sdey@rutgers.edu.
12. Bloustein movie night: The RAPPS Board is soliciting ideas for movies to show at a planning and policy movie night that will be held later in the semester. Please send your suggestions to rappsmailbox@gmail.com.
13. Planning Reality 101: This even will be held on Wednesday March 28^th at 6 PM. Recent alumni will discuss their experience since leaving Bloustein. Contact: rappsmailbox@gmail.com.
14. WBBB: The next Walk Bloustein Bike Bloustein general meeting will be held on March 7^th.  Additional information can be found at the group's Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/groups/184964878213779/.

Designing a Federal Clean Energy Standard: Q&A with Dr. Bryan Mignone by Marie Virella, MPP '13

Recently, I had the wonderful opportunity to ask Dr. Bryan Mignone, Senior Policy Advisor in the Office of Policy and International Affairs at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), a few questions regarding his upcoming lecture, “Designing a Federal Clean Energy Standard" (event information listed below).  The lecture will detail various ways in which the U.S. will develop a new Clean Energy Standard (CES). In particular, three different designs will be featured and outlined, all of which share the common goal of providing 80% clean energy by 2035.

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Question: Why would you encourage students and faculty to attend and learn more about the different designs of the Clean Energy Standard? What are some of the main points that you find most important?




Dr. Mignone: I hope to convey two main points. First, I will suggest that there are many different types of policies and measures that could shape our future energy system beyond the ones that get talked about the most. Second, I hope to show how the type of quantitative analysis that gets discussed in public policy departments can be used to help inform real policy decisions.




Question: You have spent a lot of time on Capitol Hill and obviously are well acquainted with road blocks. If you could explain briefly, what do you foresee will become the main challenge to this new policy initiative ( business community, the debt crisis, government budget....)?




Dr. Mignone: All new policy ideas face hurdles. Frankly, one of the largest challenges to the Clean Energy Standard will be getting the attention of lawmakers in an election year when many other priorities compete for consideration. Since you asked about the fiscal context, one nice thing about this policy proposal is that it does not add to government spending and could potentially reduce it.




Question: Do you feel at this time in American history and politics that you will be able to gain support and momentum for this objective? What makes this time period so different from other past years?




Dr. Mignone: Very few new policy ideas get unanimous support when they are first introduced, but there is a fair amount of institutional memory in Congress. In other words, the legislative process requires quite a bit of education and communication over time, and it is important to see any near-term effort as part of that larger, longer-term process.




Question: What made you passionate about energy policy and climate change? What inspired you to work in this area of policy?


Dr. Mignone: I am originally trained as a climate scientist. At some point toward the end of my graduate career, I looked at my research and the larger set of scientific information available and concluded that we knew enough about the threat of climate change to act responsibly. At that point, I personally became more interested in studying the solution than the problem, and I have been in DC ever since!

Event information:

Speaker: Bryan Mignone, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Title: "Designing a Federal Clean Energy Standard"

Date: March 1, 2012

Time: 10:30AM to 11:30AM (refreshments at 10:00AM)

Location: Institute of Marine and Coastal Science (IMCS), Alampi Room, Cook Campus http://policy.rutgers.edu/news/events.php

Email contact:  bea@marine.rutgers.edu
More information: http://rei.rutgers.edu/

Bryan Mignone is a senior policy advisor in the Office of Policy & International Affairs at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). In this role, he leads a domestic policy team and advises senior leadership on a wide range of climate change and energy policy issues. Since arriving at DOE in 2009, Mignone has worked to bolster the economic and quantitative analysis capabilities of the Policy Office, overseeing a research portfolio spanning climate change impacts, adaptation and mitigation. He has contributed to several specific activities and reports, including the U.S. Government’s first social cost of carbon estimates, the President’s clean energy standard proposal and DOE’s report on electric system resource adequacy implications of air quality regulations, among others. Mignone previously served as professional staff on the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and as a fellow and research director at the Brookings Institution, where he focused on market-based environmental policy design and other climate and energy policy topics. Mignone was awarded a Ph.D. in geosciences from Princeton University, a graduate certificate in science, technology and environmental policy from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, and an A.B. in physics and philosophy from Cornell University.

Abandoned Shopping Center Reuse

Who would think to turn an abandoned 115,000 square foot shopping center in New Jersey into an indoor amusement park and event center? Well, someone did and it's called "iPlay America" and it's in Freehold, New Jersey. This new twist on a family fun center includes an indoor boardwalk-style arcade and an indoor town. Other attractions include several themed restaurants, indoor go-karts and bowling.

What I find so encouraging about this project is that the developer used an existing site and building footprint to create a completely new business. Adaptive reuse at its best! We really need to start thinking about what to do with shopping centers and big box stores as they become obsolete or move to different buildings. These buidlings have an immense amount of embodied energy in them meaning it is very inefficient and costly to demolish them, especially if we can use the space adaptively for something new.

Can you think of any other adaptive reuse examples from New Jersey?

iPlay America: http://www.iplayamerica.com/

New Jersey Snowstorm: Planning Implications

by Marley Bice, MCRP '12

The apocalyptic snowstorm that dumped around three inches of slushy snow on the Northeast region over Halloween weekend got me thinking about implications for planning, our cities, our environment. Looking out my window at 10 am on Saturday (besides feeling like I was on the set of "The Day After Tomorrow") I found myself feeling so bad for the poor trees. Deciduous trees are not adapted to withstand wet, clingy, heavy snow on their leaves. The combined excessive weight has caused thousands of downed trees across the region and may be largely to blame for millions of households being out of power more than two days later.

The Guardian reported earlier that New York City is bracing itself for the loss of at least 1000 old-growth, majestic, vital, historically-significant (OK now I'm just getting sappy) trees in Central Park alone. This storm has single-handedlly changed the landscape of one of my favorite places in one of my favorite cities. The shading, stormwater management, and carbon capture benefit of those trees will be lost forever. Will New Jersey and New York City look different from space after this storm? What percentage of the tree cover is gone? These are depressing questions to think about.

Another depressing fact is that many small municipalities (and some big municipalities) do not have the budget to handle the snow removal costs and requirements as our winter season continues to encroach on fall and spring. However, this may be a major consideration in town operating budgets as the reality of global climate change continues to unearth itself. Where will that money come from? How many people will miss work because they can't get to the office because the streets and public transit are shut down because of snow? How much more salt and sand used for ice control will end up in our aquatic ecosystems? It's time to start thinking hard...

2011 Louis Berger Group Fellows Share their Experience

Please come out Wednesday afternoon to the Special Events Forum at Bloustein to hear four of your fellow MCRP/MPP students share their experiences during the summer of 2011 as Louis Berger Group fellows working internationally on pressing planning and policy issues.

If you are interested in applying to be one of the 2012 Berger Fellows, this is the perfect chance to network and learn more about what the experience is actually like. If not, it is a great chance to revel in your classmates' exciting travels and get some FREE FOOD.

The students presenting and their project titles are:

• David Burgy, MCRP '12 - "Transportation Planning and Infrastructure Projects" - Mumbai, India
• Michael Cassidy, MCRP '12 - "Expansion of Mauritius Airport" - Mauritius
• Kristin Crandall, MPP/MCRP '12 - "Airline Capacity Modeling" - Costa Rica
• Katherine Nosker, MCRP '12 - "Growth with Equity Project" - Mindanao, Phillipines

Plethora of Opportunities

I know we are just getting past fall semester mid-terms but yes... it is already time to think about selecting courses for next semester because registeration starts Sunday, November 6th. Thankfully, with all of the amazing-sounding offerings, this should be a pleasant task. Now is your chance to branch out and think beyond the box (i.e. core classes) and think about taking seminars and studios that pique your interest.

Seminars usually require more reading and more writing but give you the opportunity to think more critically about one specific topic that interests you. Studios are required but are also fantastic because they involve hands-on and technical work while working as a planning team and applying your expertise (or figuring out what it is). If these studios are half as exciting as their short titles make them sound they should be great. I just wish I could take more than two!

Spring 2012 Seminars in Urban Planning and Public Policy

• Development Preservation of Large Cities
• Art and City Design
• Mental Health Policy
• Public Policy Finance
• Planning and Land Use Administration
• Green Buildings
• Integrated Energy Challenges and Opportunities
• Appraisal, Analysis and Real Estate Pro-Formas
• LEED Housing
• Public Policy Budgeting
• Green Economic Policies Worldwide
• Transportation Security
• Writing for Professionals

Spring 2012 Graduate Planning Studios

• Safe Routes to School
• Urban Trnsit
• Easton Avenue Redevelopment
• Visioning the Future Raritan Part II
• Innovations in Community Economic Development
• The New River Agenda

Keep in mind the course offerings may change but these highlights can get you started. Watch this link for any changes: http://policy.rutgers.edu/academics/GridTemplate.php?Year=2012&Semester=Spring&GridUNGR=graduate&type=campus&submit=Show+Grid.

Where the Sidewalk Doesn't End

by Besty Harvey, MCRP '12

The road that ran past his house led into town. Running up that hill he would pass a white clapboard congregational church. He’d recall the Christmas services there – walking with his children on all those cold Christmas Eves – and as they would enter the church he would look up at the stars and thank God. He wasn’t sure that he believed in God, but on such a night – well, he felt blessed.

There was a small coffee shop on Main Street, too. He used to liked to sit next to the window that looked out on the street full of people and correct his students’ papers or develop the next week’s curriculum. And he would slowly pad along the sidewalk by the coffee shop, wondering what the students sitting by the window thought of an aging man jogging by.

His head would tilt toward the pavement, especially as he ran up hills. He’d watch his feet and count to the rhythm. “One . . . two . . . one . . . two.” They were the same words he’d forced himself to repeat in his head as he’d struggled along the lonely, forested road that wound through Acadia National Park. That had been his first marathon. When he ran his mind would sometimes be drawn back into the cavernous darkness when he’d thought the pain could not get worse.

But then he’d remember the finish – his children cheering for him even though he had finished in the back. And he’d pick up his pace just slightly.

He would pause at an intersection. A car would stop and wave him through. People are so nice here, he’d think. He would miss that.

Maine will be nice, he’d try to reason, but running will be difficult. The sidewalks would be fewer and drivers faster in the countryside.

He would run passed the university, its red brick colonial-style buildings graced with sweeping green lawns. Students would be out playing Frisbee or leaning against a tree, reading. He might see the red-tailed hawk that lived near the library. He would miss this beauty.  But he knew that homes changed. It had to happen. The house had to be sold.

But some things wouldn’t change. Roads would still be there, open to him. Beckoning to him to run off his pain, to embrace this life.

Just past the university the sidewalk ended. The speed limit increased to 35 as it passed the agriculture school. He would cross the road so that he would face traffic.

After what seemed like no time at all, he would approach the apple orchard. When the children were little he and his wife would take their children to ride in the horse-drawn hay wagons and pick McIntoshes and Cortlands and Honey Crisps. The kids would run about, investigating wormy apples and petting goats and sheep.

He would sometimes wished he didn’t remember all of these things. But they were good times, he’d remind himself, and he was lucky. Time went on, always.

The road continued onwards; it wound continuously so he couldn’t see what was around the bend. Though he’d run this way so many times before, he liked to imagine he was exploring the route for the first time. He stayed alert to the wind’s direction, the color of the maple leaves, the make of the cars that went by.

The sidewalk came back again as he entered town. He was tired – ready for the run to end – but his mind felt clearer. His life might change, but his run would not. The roads were his.