[UC] Looks like the hotel will be back on Pine

[Glenn moyer]

Opponents of the tower,

I wanted to see if the community love-in which Al brought to our attention was 
mentioned in today's DP.  (The secret gathering of the famous McPenntrification 
loving community was not in the DP print edition yesterday.)

Look what I found today.  (Read closely)  


http://media.www.dailypennsylvanian.com/media/storage/paper882/news/2009/10/09/News/High-Demand.For.ExtendedStay.Hotels-3798764.shtml


Nearly 7 years ago, am upscale redesign pf Clark Park was overwhelmingly 
rejected by the community.  The Penn marketing agency, UCD, waited a number of 
years and then pretended that the destruction of the park was a popular plan in 
the community.  (A UCD committeeman, Tony West, claimed that the community had 
17 public meetings to cheer for the UCD plan over the years.)

If you read this hotel propaganda closely, you will understand that the 40th 
and Pine hotel has not been shelved or moved to a commercial district.  We are 
in a waiting period and a new plan to jam the tower down our throats is being 
constructed.  (A friend pointed out that the DP is nothing but a marketing rag 
this year-and I agree.)

Concerned residents should understand that the famous unannounced open public 
meetings at SHCA will be fiercely protected during the next round.  New city 
servants will be told that the hotel tower is unanimously loved in the charity 
seeking community and only a rubber stamp will be necessary.

The corporate patterns are very easy to predict once you understand the Penn 
process.

Glenn

  

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list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see
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[UC] Campus Inn not dead

[Frank]

From the DP:

High demand for extended-stay hotels

We believe leasing property to private developers can yield plans  
that are creative, befitting the local character, and drive economic  
activity, Datz wrote in an e-mail.


A spokesperson from the Campus Inn declined to comment on the current  
status of the project


http://media.www.dailypennsylvanian.com/media/storage/paper882/news/2009/10/09/News/High-Demand.For.ExtendedStay.Hotels-3798764.shtml?reffeature=htmlemailedition

You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the
list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see
http://www.purple.com/list.html.

[UC] They're B-a-a-c-k [Was] Penn and the community

[Karen Allen]

Well, Al, looks like they're gettin' the band back together, and today's 
Daily Pennsylvanian report about the Campus Inn puts yesterday's post into 
context.  

 

It's the same old bullshit: West Philadelphia is a hellhole that we need 
Penn/UCD/Tom Lussenhop to rescue us from; unannounced closed-door astroturf  
presentations in front of a handful of handpicked so-called community leaders 
ready to regurgitate Penn's lies and to rubberstamp whatever Penn shoves in 
front of them. I guess next the propaganda machine will kick into gear again to 
explain to us igoramuses why it's so important that Penn should be able to do 
whatever they want.

 

Regarding certain panelists, this just proves that there are some people who 
are incapable of embarassment or shame...Even Professor Marvel gave up the 
smoke and mirrors once his Wizard of Oz persona (Pay no attention to the man 
behind the curtain!) was exposed as a sham. 


See ya at the Zoning Board hearings, folks... luckily I saved my No Hotel In 
the Hood posters!


From: krf...@aol.com
Date: Thu, 8 Oct 2009 08:55:59 -0400
Subject: [UC] Penn and the community -- take, er, I lost count when it hit six 
digits
To: UnivCity@list.purple.com


From today's DP. Emphasis (color) and snide remarks (parentheses) added

 
You read it here, first, on the ever-popular Popu-List
Courtesy of Al Krigman
 



University seeks to build more bridges with community partnerships

Maanvi Singh

While Penn's relationship with the West Philadelphia community has been 
tumultuous in the past, last night a group of community leaders and educators 
discussed Penn's recent focus on interacting positively with its neighbor. 
(Recent focus? Maybe they mean dumping Lewis Wendell.)

The audience of community members, who filled a little over half the chairs 
(nobody I know was aware of this... so -- little wonder that only half the 
chairs were filled and I can only imagine who from the community was there) 
set up in the Arthur Ross Gallery, listened as the panel recounted Penn's 
historical interactions with West Philadelphia, as well as the University's 
current programs for community involvement.

Ira Harkavy, associate vice president of Penn's Netter Center for Community 
Partnerships, moderated the discussion on what he said was the single most 
important issue that the University is focusing on - helping to develop 
neighboring West Philadelphia. (This is the single most important issue that 
the University is focusing on ??? I would have thought that a world class 
research university would be focusing on less important things like education, 
research, bringing their endowment back up to the point where they don't have 
to fire people or raise fees to give it's president a big raise and otherwise 
stay afloat, etc.)

West Philadelphia has come a long way since the 1990s, when crime was on a 
major upspring, said panelist and member of the Spruce Hill Community Trust 
Board of Directors Barry Grossbach. (See. Someone still thinks Barry is a 
community leader. Maybe they don't know about the sad fall from grace and 
standing of the Spruce Hill Community Association.)

Penn faculty and students, as well as West Philadelphia community members, have 
many more opportunities today to help ameliorate their neighborhoods, he added, 
citing the recent success of tutoring endeavors in the community and the Penn 
Alexander Elementary School. (Well, we can give them that one, anyway -- 
ignoring the real reason for Penn's involvement with the school.)

According to Grossbach, these outreach programs have been so successful that 
outside organizations have started to follow Penn's footsteps. For instance, 
the Teacher's College of Columbia University wants to create a program similar 
to that of Alexander Elementary School. (Do you think they hired Omar Blaik as 
a consultant?)

I've seen the change, Leslie Rogers, a Penn doctoral candidate, said. As a 
Penn undergraduate and graduate student, she said, she felt that West 
Philadelphia community members were very skeptical of her intentions when she 
went to volunteer and later teach there. Now, Penn faculty and students are 
more warmly welcomed, she said.

Rogers said Penn undergraduates getting involved in West Philadelphia is a key 
to community-building. 

Thanks to an array of recently established programs, these students now get to 
actually problem-solve in the community, she said. (These students are like 
the bright-eyed busy-tailed types that get hired at UCD. They are enthusiastic 
and well meaning -- but naive as newborn lambs and haven't a clue about the 
problems faced by people from a side of the tracks other than where they, 
themselves, were born and raised.)

Still, attendee Glenwood Charles, a Penn graduate who now oversees the Netter 
Center's tutoring program and reading initiative, argued that there is still 
more to be done. (Yes, but how can they raise the probability of doing more 
good than harm? Is there 

RE: [UC] They're B-a-a-c-k [Was] Penn and the community

[Karen Allen]

One other thing: did you notice that they referred to the area as the 
neighboring West Philadelphia (my emphasis) and not University City???  

 

When they're printing brochures and hosting websites promoting what a wonderful 
place it is to live, work, and play, it's University City. When they want to 
control the neighborhood by making it sound like it's bombed-out Beiruit 
desperately in need of their rescue, it's West Philadelphia.  

 

And how is it that their rescue always seems to entail something for 
University use, and not something for the community that they supposedly want 
to save? 

 

So, which is it, Penn,  University City or West Philadelphia???


From: kallena...@msn.com
To: univcity@list.purple.com
Subject: [UC] They're B-a-a-c-k [Was] Penn and the community
Date: Fri, 9 Oct 2009 13:42:41 -0400



Well, Al, looks like they're gettin' the band back together, and today's 
Daily Pennsylvanian report about the Campus Inn puts yesterday's post into 
context.  
 
It's the same old bullshit: West Philadelphia is a hellhole that we need 
Penn/UCD/Tom Lussenhop to rescue us from; unannounced closed-door astroturf  
presentations in front of a handful of handpicked so-called community leaders 
ready to regurgitate Penn's lies and to rubberstamp whatever Penn shoves in 
front of them. I guess next the propaganda machine will kick into gear again to 
explain to us igoramuses why it's so important that Penn should be able to do 
whatever they want.
 
Regarding certain panelists, this just proves that there are some people who 
are incapable of embarassment or shame...Even Professor Marvel gave up the 
smoke and mirrors once his Wizard of Oz persona (Pay no attention to the man 
behind the curtain!) was exposed as a sham. 

See ya at the Zoning Board hearings, folks... luckily I saved my No Hotel In 
the Hood posters!


From: krf...@aol.com
Date: Thu, 8 Oct 2009 08:55:59 -0400
Subject: [UC] Penn and the community -- take, er, I lost count when it hit six 
digits
To: UnivCity@list.purple.com


From today's DP. Emphasis (color) and snide remarks (parentheses) added

 
You read it here, first, on the ever-popular Popu-List
Courtesy of Al Krigman
 



University seeks to build more bridges with community partnerships

Maanvi Singh

While Penn's relationship with the West Philadelphia community has been 
tumultuous in the past, last night a group of community leaders and educators 
discussed Penn's recent focus on interacting positively with its neighbor. 
(Recent focus? Maybe they mean dumping Lewis Wendell.)

The audience of community members, who filled a little over half the chairs 
(nobody I know was aware of this... so -- little wonder that only half the 
chairs were filled and I can only imagine who from the community was there) 
set up in the Arthur Ross Gallery, listened as the panel recounted Penn's 
historical interactions with West Philadelphia, as well as the University's 
current programs for community involvement.

Ira Harkavy, associate vice president of Penn's Netter Center for Community 
Partnerships, moderated the discussion on what he said was the single most 
important issue that the University is focusing on - helping to develop 
neighboring West Philadelphia. (This is the single most important issue that 
the University is focusing on ??? I would have thought that a world class 
research university would be focusing on less important things like education, 
research, bringing their endowment back up to the point where they don't have 
to fire people or raise fees to give it's president a big raise and otherwise 
stay afloat, etc.)

West Philadelphia has come a long way since the 1990s, when crime was on a 
major upspring, said panelist and member of the Spruce Hill Community Trust 
Board of Directors Barry Grossbach. (See. Someone still thinks Barry is a 
community leader. Maybe they don't know about the sad fall from grace and 
standing of the Spruce Hill Community Association.)

Penn faculty and students, as well as West Philadelphia community members, have 
many more opportunities today to help ameliorate their neighborhoods, he added, 
citing the recent success of tutoring endeavors in the community and the Penn 
Alexander Elementary School. (Well, we can give them that one, anyway -- 
ignoring the real reason for Penn's involvement with the school.)

According to Grossbach, these outreach programs have been so successful that 
outside organizations have started to follow Penn's footsteps. For instance, 
the Teacher's College of Columbia University wants to create a program similar 
to that of Alexander Elementary School. (Do you think they hired Omar Blaik as 
a consultant?)

I've seen the change, Leslie Rogers, a Penn doctoral candidate, said. As a 
Penn undergraduate and graduate student, she said, she felt that West 
Philadelphia community members were very skeptical of her intentions when she 
went to volunteer and later teach there. Now, Penn faculty and students are 

Re: [UC] They're B-a-a-c-k [Was] Penn and the community

[Jim Cummings]

Karen,
I am glad that you have seen through how systematic this bullshit is.
Jim Cummings

On Fri, Oct 9, 2009 at 1:42 PM, Karen Allen kallena...@msn.com wrote:

  Well, Al, looks like they're gettin' the band back together, and today's
 Daily Pennsylvanian report about the Campus Inn puts yesterday's post into
 context.

 It's the same old bullshit: West Philadelphia is a hellhole that we need
 Penn/UCD/Tom Lussenhop to rescue us from; unannounced closed-door astroturf
 presentations in front of a handful of handpicked so-called community
 leaders ready to regurgitate Penn's lies and to rubberstamp whatever Penn
 shoves in front of them. I guess next the propaganda machine will kick into
 gear again to explain to us igoramuses why it's so important that Penn
 should be able to do whatever they want.

 Regarding certain panelists, this just proves that there are some people
 who are incapable of embarassment or shame...Even Professor Marvel gave up
 the smoke and mirrors once his Wizard of Oz persona (Pay no attention to
 the man behind the curtain!) was exposed as a sham.

 See ya at the Zoning Board hearings, folks... luckily I saved my No Hotel
 In the Hood posters!
 --
 From: krf...@aol.com
 Date: Thu, 8 Oct 2009 08:55:59 -0400
 Subject: [UC] Penn and the community -- take, er, I lost count when it hit
 six digits
 To: UnivCity@list.purple.com

 From today's DP. Emphasis (color) and snide remarks *(parentheses)* added

 You read it here, first, on the ever-popular *Popu-List*
 Courtesy of Al Krigman

  --
  *University seeks to build more bridges with community partnerships*

 Maanvi Singh

 While Penn's relationship with the West Philadelphia community has been
 tumultuous in the past, last night a group of community leaders and
 educators discussed Penn's recent focus on interacting positively with its
 neighbor. *(Recent focus? Maybe they mean dumping Lewis Wendell.)
 *
 The audience of community members, who filled a little over half the
 chairs* (nobody I know was aware of this... so -- little wonder that only
 half the chairs were filled and I can only imagine who from the community
 was there)* set up in the Arthur Ross Gallery, listened as the panel
 recounted Penn's historical interactions with West Philadelphia, as well as
 the University's current programs for community involvement.

 Ira Harkavy, associate vice president of Penn's Netter Center for Community
 Partnerships, moderated the discussion on what he said was the single
 most important issue that the University is focusing on - helping to
 develop neighboring West Philadelphia. *(This is the single most
 important issue that the University is focusing on ??? I would have
 thought that a world class research university would be focusing on less
 important things like education, research, bringing their endowment back up
 to the point where they don't have to fire people or raise fees to give it's
 president a big raise and otherwise stay afloat, etc.)

 *West Philadelphia has come a long way since the 1990s, when crime was on
 a major upspring, said panelist and member of the Spruce Hill Community
 Trust Board of Directors Barry Grossbach. *(See. Someone still thinks
 Barry is a community leader. Maybe they don't know about the sad fall from
 grace and standing of the Spruce Hill Community Association.)
 *
 Penn faculty and students, as well as West Philadelphia community members,
 have many more opportunities today to help ameliorate their neighborhoods,
 he added, citing the recent success of tutoring endeavors in the community
 and the Penn Alexander Elementary School. *(Well, we can give them that
 one, anyway -- ignoring the real reason for Penn's involvement with the
 school.)
 *
 According to Grossbach, these outreach programs have been so successful
 that outside organizations have started to follow Penn's footsteps. For
 instance, the Teacher's College of Columbia University wants to create a
 program similar to that of Alexander Elementary School. *(Do you think
 they hired Omar Blaik as a consultant?)
 *
 I've seen the change, Leslie Rogers, a Penn doctoral candidate, said. As
 a Penn undergraduate and graduate student, she said, she felt that West
 Philadelphia community members were very skeptical of her intentions when
 she went to volunteer and later teach there. Now, Penn faculty and students
 are more warmly welcomed, she said.

 Rogers said Penn undergraduates getting involved in West Philadelphia is a
 key to community-building.

 Thanks to an array of recently established programs, these students now
 get to actually problem-solve in the community, she said. *(These
 students are like the bright-eyed busy-tailed types that get hired at UCD.
 They are enthusiastic and well meaning -- but naive as newborn lambs and
 haven't a clue about the problems faced by people from a side of the
 tracks other than where they, themselves, were born and raised.)
 *
 Still, 

Re: [UC] They're B-a-a-c-k [Was] Penn and the community

[Wilma de Soto]

Karen,

I love your filling in the spaces with relevant community commentary.


On 10/9/09 1:42 PM, Karen Allen kallena...@msn.com wrote:

 Well, Al, looks like they're gettin' the band back together, and today's
 Daily Pennsylvanian report about the Campus Inn puts yesterday's post into
 context.  
  
 It's the same old bullshit: West Philadelphia is a hellhole that we need
 Penn/UCD/Tom Lussenhop to rescue us from; unannounced closed-door astroturf
 presentations in front of a handful of handpicked so-called community
 leaders ready to regurgitate Penn's lies and to rubberstamp whatever Penn
 shoves in front of them. I guess next the propaganda machine will kick into
 gear again to explain to us igoramuses why it's so important that Penn should
 be able to do whatever they want.
  
 Regarding certain panelists, this just proves that there are some people who
 are incapable of embarassment or shame...Even Professor Marvel gave up the
 smoke and mirrors once his Wizard of Oz persona (Pay no attention to the
 man behind the curtain!) was exposed as a sham.
 
 See ya at the Zoning Board hearings, folks... luckily I saved my No Hotel In
 the Hood posters!
 
 From: krf...@aol.com
 Date: Thu, 8 Oct 2009 08:55:59 -0400
 Subject: [UC] Penn and the community -- take, er, I lost count when it hit six
 digits
 To: UnivCity@list.purple.com
 
 From today's DP. Emphasis (color) and snide remarks (parentheses) added
  
 You read it here, first, on the ever-popular Popu-List
 Courtesy of Al Krigman
  
 
 University seeks to build more bridges with community partnerships
 
 Maanvi Singh
 
 While Penn's relationship with the West Philadelphia community has been
 tumultuous in the past, last night a group of community leaders and educators
 discussed Penn's recent focus on interacting positively with its neighbor.
 (Recent focus? Maybe they mean dumping Lewis Wendell.)
 
 The audience of community members, who filled a little over half the chairs
 (nobody I know was aware of this... so -- little wonder that only half the
 chairs were filled and I can only imagine who from the community was there)
 set up in the Arthur Ross Gallery, listened as the panel recounted Penn's
 historical interactions with West Philadelphia, as well as the University's
 current programs for community involvement.
 
 Ira Harkavy, associate vice president of Penn's Netter Center for Community
 Partnerships, moderated the discussion on what he said was the single most
 important issue that the University is focusing on - helping to develop
 neighboring West Philadelphia. (This is the single most important issue that
 the University is focusing on ??? I would have thought that a world class
 research university would be focusing on less important things like education,
 research, bringing their endowment back up to the point where they don't have
 to fire people or raise fees to give it's president a big raise and otherwise
 stay afloat, etc.)
 
 West Philadelphia has come a long way since the 1990s, when crime was on a
 major upspring, said panelist and member of the Spruce Hill Community Trust
 Board of Directors Barry Grossbach. (See. Someone still thinks Barry is a
 community leader. Maybe they don't know about the sad fall from grace and
 standing of the Spruce Hill Community Association.)
 
 Penn faculty and students, as well as West Philadelphia community members,
 have many more opportunities today to help ameliorate their neighborhoods, he
 added, citing the recent success of tutoring endeavors in the community and
 the Penn Alexander Elementary School. (Well, we can give them that one, anyway
 -- ignoring the real reason for Penn's involvement with the school.)
 
 According to Grossbach, these outreach programs have been so successful that
 outside organizations have started to follow Penn's footsteps. For instance,
 the Teacher's College of Columbia University wants to create a program similar
 to that of Alexander Elementary School. (Do you think they hired Omar Blaik as
 a consultant?)
 
 I've seen the change, Leslie Rogers, a Penn doctoral candidate, said. As a
 Penn undergraduate and graduate student, she said, she felt that West
 Philadelphia community members were very skeptical of her intentions when she
 went to volunteer and later teach there. Now, Penn faculty and students are
 more warmly welcomed, she said.
 
 Rogers said Penn undergraduates getting involved in West Philadelphia is a key
 to community-building.
 
 Thanks to an array of recently established programs, these students now get
 to actually problem-solve in the community, she said. (These students are
 like the bright-eyed busy-tailed types that get hired at UCD. They are
 enthusiastic and well meaning -- but naive as newborn lambs and haven't a clue
 about the problems faced by people from a side of the tracks other than
 where they, themselves, were born and raised.)
 
 Still, attendee Glenwood Charles, a Penn graduate who now oversees the Netter
 Center's tutoring 

[UC] Football Game and Party TOMORROW, Saturday, October 10

[J. Matthew Wolfe]

Football Game and Party TOMORROW, Saturday, October 10.  Tickets still
available!

 

Through the generosity of Penn's Athletic Department and Penn's Office of
Community Affairs, next Saturday, October 10 is Community Day and the
University City Republican Committee has obtained complimentary tickets to
the Penn/Bucknell football game.  Kickoff is at 1PM.

 

In order to further entice you to this event, Denise and I are having people
over for a pre-game tailgate from 10AM until 12PM, giving us plenty of
time to walk over to Franklin Field.  While we certainly do not know
everyone on these University City listservs, we are always happy to meet our
neighbors.  

 

Penn football is a great entertainment value if you have to pay for tickets.
It is a great place to take kids.  Franklin Field is one of the great venues
of college football, Penn's home since 1895 and the Eagles home field for
years.  Many of the greatest all-time college and pro football stars have
played on that turf, including myself.  Also home to the Penn Relays,
America's Greatest Track Meet, if you have not visited, you should.  In my
opinion one of the great neighborhood amenities of living in West Philly is
the ready availability to great college sports at the Palestra and Franklin
Field.

 

Penn won its first Ivy League game of the season against Dartmouth today and
were picked to be among the top teams.  Bucknell normally brings a tough
squad to Franklin Field.  The game should be exciting.

 

Even if you are not a football person, please stop over and share a drink
and some food with us before you venture out for other activities.

 

Matt Wolfe and Denise Furey

 

_

 

Wolfe Manor

Matt Wolfe and Denise Furey

4256 Regent Square

Located at the corner of 43rd Street and Regent Square

West Philadelphia/University City

215-387-7300

 

 

 

J. Matthew Wolfe

Law Offices of J. Matthew Wolfe

4256 Regent Square

Philadelphia, PA  19104

(215) 387-7300

 mailto:matt...@wolfe.org matt...@wolfe.org

 

Re: [UC] They're B-a-a-c-k [Was] Penn and the community

[Glenn moyer]

Title: Re: [UC] They're B-a-a-c-k [Was] Penn and the community




















Like Al mentioned, no one knew abouta panel discussion with this sneaky"community" for an audience..I was on campus a good part of the day and saw no announcements for the Penn community.(I went to the well publisized panel discussion on Romanticismwhich introducedanew anthology--much better than a room full of the anointed!) 

Community panelist, Barry, explained these types of community/universitygatherings during the push for the hotel. The meetingsare "open and public," but theyaren't announced. It makes perfect sence to the anointed!Butothers might think of the body functions of the male bovine.


The bit about the half empty seats was nice propaganda reinforcing what Karen noticed. The U. business geniuses portray Philadelphiansas helpless cretins always asking for Penn's charity. By claiming that the audience was made ofcommunity members, who didn't bother to show up, we are also portrayed as ungrateful, uncaring, helpless cretins!

DP readers have no way to know that the panel discussion was never announced to the community. (The Arthur Ross gallerywould have had apacked roomfull of our neighbors willing to expose the truth about Penn/community partnerships!) Today's, propaganda nicely dovetailedwith the image of ungrateful cretins. (We pigswon't let the families of sick children into the neighorhood while Tom and Ed are too sweet to comment.) This was a nice one two propaganda punch! These "journalists" have been shamlessly used, and they should be ashamed of their "articles." But I believe there is more than the hotel on the horizon.



When you look at Ira Harkavy's work and hear him speak, he lays out the correct methods for creating good community partnerships. At a talk about the time of the first master plan steering committee for Clark Park, 2002,I explained to him that the Penn neo-colonialists unleashed on West Philly did the opposite of the methods he eloquenly described! In the answer to the question I posed he also gave agreat answer. (Using secrecy andtrickery while excluding community stakeholders will lead to bad plans and community divisiveness. By keeping an open discussion table for stakeholders and being honest, inclusive,and transparent; youcan get good plans and partnerships. Even those stakeholders, who do not prevailon points duringthe discussions, will approve a plan they know was arrived at fairly and democraticallywith their participation.)

I want to see what Harkavy will say publicly when presented with thereal stories from the real community! I'm sure the panel discussion with Barry, Harkavy,and this hidden community was inspiring and uplifting! (They used a tutoring program between students and school kids as the example of Penn's charititable partnerships.) I think this is only the beginning of a new rampage by the Penn spin machine. There is something bigger than the 10 story hotel coming our way. As Harkavy alluded, these Penn parnerships over top of West Philly are very important to the university!

Glenn
PS: For years I went into the Philadelphia community as a representativefrom Penn. Like the grad student said, the population and professionals were suspicious of Penn people, often for good reason. But those barriers came down easily for me. People have good instincts, and the students need to consider what baggage they bring with them from the elite campusinstead of attributingthe suspicionsall toprejudice.




-Original Message- From: Wilma de Soto Sent: Oct 9, 2009 6:28 PM To: Karen Allen , UnivCity listserv Subject: Re: [UC] They're B-a-a-c-k [Was] Penn and the community Karen,I love your filling in the spaces with relevant community commentary.On 10/9/09 1:42 PM, "Karen Allen" kallena...@msn.com wrote:
Well, Al, looks like they're "gettin' the band back together", and today's Daily Pennsylvanian report about the Campus Inn puts yesterday's post into context. It's the same old bullshit: West Philadelphia is a hellhole that we need Penn/UCD/Tom Lussenhop to rescue us from; unannounced closed-door astroturf presentations in front of a handful of handpicked so-called "community leaders" ready to regurgitate Penn's lies and to rubberstamp whatever Penn shoves in front of them. I guess next the propaganda machine will kick into gear again to explain to us igoramuses why it's so important that Penn should be able to do whatever they want.Regarding certain "panelists", this just proves that there are some people who are incapable of embarassment or shame...Even Professor Marvel gave up the smoke and mirrors once his "Wizard of Oz" persona ("Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!") was exposed as a sham. See ya at the Zoning Board hearings, folks... luckily I saved my "No Hotel In the Hood" posters!

From: krf...@aol.comDate: Thu, 8 Oct 2009 08:55:59 -0400Subject: [UC] Penn and the community -- take, 

Re: [UC] They're B-a-a-c-k [Was] Penn and the community

[Kimm Tynan]

I had a feeling that wasn¹t really over.
Kimm


On 10/9/09 1:42 PM, KAREN ALLEN kallena...@msn.com wrote:

 Well, Al, looks like they're gettin' the band back together, and today's
 Daily Pennsylvanian report about the Campus Inn puts yesterday's post into
 context.  
  
 It's the same old bullshit: West Philadelphia is a hellhole that we need
 Penn/UCD/Tom Lussenhop to rescue us from; unannounced closed-door astroturf
 presentations in front of a handful of handpicked so-called community
 leaders ready to regurgitate Penn's lies and to rubberstamp whatever Penn
 shoves in front of them. I guess next the propaganda machine will kick into
 gear again to explain to us igoramuses why it's so important that Penn should
 be able to do whatever they want.
  
 Regarding certain panelists, this just proves that there are some people who
 are incapable of embarassment or shame...Even Professor Marvel gave up the
 smoke and mirrors once his Wizard of Oz persona (Pay no attention to the
 man behind the curtain!) was exposed as a sham.
 
 See ya at the Zoning Board hearings, folks... luckily I saved my No Hotel In
 the Hood posters!
 
 From: krf...@aol.com
 Date: Thu, 8 Oct 2009 08:55:59 -0400
 Subject: [UC] Penn and the community -- take, er, I lost count when it hit six
 digits
 To: UnivCity@list.purple.com
 
 From today's DP. Emphasis (color) and snide remarks (parentheses) added
  
 You read it here, first, on the ever-popular Popu-List
 Courtesy of Al Krigman
  
 
 University seeks to build more bridges with community partnerships
 
 Maanvi Singh
 
 While Penn's relationship with the West Philadelphia community has been
 tumultuous in the past, last night a group of community leaders and educators
 discussed Penn's recent focus on interacting positively with its neighbor.
 (Recent focus? Maybe they mean dumping Lewis Wendell.)
 
 The audience of community members, who filled a little over half the chairs
 (nobody I know was aware of this... so -- little wonder that only half the
 chairs were filled and I can only imagine who from the community was there)
 set up in the Arthur Ross Gallery, listened as the panel recounted Penn's
 historical interactions with West Philadelphia, as well as the University's
 current programs for community involvement.
 
 Ira Harkavy, associate vice president of Penn's Netter Center for Community
 Partnerships, moderated the discussion on what he said was the single most
 important issue that the University is focusing on - helping to develop
 neighboring West Philadelphia. (This is the single most important issue that
 the University is focusing on ??? I would have thought that a world class
 research university would be focusing on less important things like education,
 research, bringing their endowment back up to the point where they don't have
 to fire people or raise fees to give it's president a big raise and otherwise
 stay afloat, etc.)
 
 West Philadelphia has come a long way since the 1990s, when crime was on a
 major upspring, said panelist and member of the Spruce Hill Community Trust
 Board of Directors Barry Grossbach. (See. Someone still thinks Barry is a
 community leader. Maybe they don't know about the sad fall from grace and
 standing of the Spruce Hill Community Association.)
 
 Penn faculty and students, as well as West Philadelphia community members,
 have many more opportunities today to help ameliorate their neighborhoods, he
 added, citing the recent success of tutoring endeavors in the community and
 the Penn Alexander Elementary School. (Well, we can give them that one, anyway
 -- ignoring the real reason for Penn's involvement with the school.)
 
 According to Grossbach, these outreach programs have been so successful that
 outside organizations have started to follow Penn's footsteps. For instance,
 the Teacher's College of Columbia University wants to create a program similar
 to that of Alexander Elementary School. (Do you think they hired Omar Blaik as
 a consultant?)
 
 I've seen the change, Leslie Rogers, a Penn doctoral candidate, said. As a
 Penn undergraduate and graduate student, she said, she felt that West
 Philadelphia community members were very skeptical of her intentions when she
 went to volunteer and later teach there. Now, Penn faculty and students are
 more warmly welcomed, she said.
 
 Rogers said Penn undergraduates getting involved in West Philadelphia is a key
 to community-building.
 
 Thanks to an array of recently established programs, these students now get
 to actually problem-solve in the community, she said. (These students are
 like the bright-eyed busy-tailed types that get hired at UCD. They are
 enthusiastic and well meaning -- but naive as newborn lambs and haven't a clue
 about the problems faced by people from a side of the tracks other than
 where they, themselves, were born and raised.)
 
 Still, attendee Glenwood Charles, a Penn graduate who now oversees the Netter
 Center's tutoring program and reading initiative, 

Re: [UC] They're B-a-a-c-k [Was] Penn and the community

[Kimm Tynan]

P.S.  Thanks to you and Al for putting 2+2 together for us.
Kimm


On 10/9/09 10:10 PM, Kimm Tynan kimm.ty...@verizon.net wrote:

 I had a feeling that wasn¹t really over.
 Kimm
 
 
 On 10/9/09 1:42 PM, KAREN ALLEN kallena...@msn.com wrote:
 
 Well, Al, looks like they're gettin' the band back together, and today's
 Daily Pennsylvanian report about the Campus Inn puts yesterday's post into
 context.  
  
 It's the same old bullshit: West Philadelphia is a hellhole that we need
 Penn/UCD/Tom Lussenhop to rescue us from; unannounced closed-door astroturf
 presentations in front of a handful of handpicked so-called community
 leaders ready to regurgitate Penn's lies and to rubberstamp whatever Penn
 shoves in front of them. I guess next the propaganda machine will kick into
 gear again to explain to us igoramuses why it's so important that Penn should
 be able to do whatever they want.
  
 Regarding certain panelists, this just proves that there are some people
 who are incapable of embarassment or shame...Even Professor Marvel gave up
 the smoke and mirrors once his Wizard of Oz persona (Pay no attention to
 the man behind the curtain!) was exposed as a sham.
 
 See ya at the Zoning Board hearings, folks... luckily I saved my No Hotel In
 the Hood posters!
 
 From: krf...@aol.com
 Date: Thu, 8 Oct 2009 08:55:59 -0400
 Subject: [UC] Penn and the community -- take, er, I lost count when it hit
 six digits
 To: UnivCity@list.purple.com
 
 From today's DP. Emphasis (color) and snide remarks (parentheses) added
  
 You read it here, first, on the ever-popular Popu-List
 Courtesy of Al Krigman
  
 
 University seeks to build more bridges with community partnerships
 
 Maanvi Singh
 
 While Penn's relationship with the West Philadelphia community has been
 tumultuous in the past, last night a group of community leaders and educators
 discussed Penn's recent focus on interacting positively with its neighbor.
 (Recent focus? Maybe they mean dumping Lewis Wendell.)
 
 The audience of community members, who filled a little over half the chairs
 (nobody I know was aware of this... so -- little wonder that only half the
 chairs were filled and I can only imagine who from the community was there)
 set up in the Arthur Ross Gallery, listened as the panel recounted Penn's
 historical interactions with West Philadelphia, as well as the University's
 current programs for community involvement.
 
 Ira Harkavy, associate vice president of Penn's Netter Center for Community
 Partnerships, moderated the discussion on what he said was the single most
 important issue that the University is focusing on - helping to develop
 neighboring West Philadelphia. (This is the single most important issue that
 the University is focusing on ??? I would have thought that a world class
 research university would be focusing on less important things like
 education, research, bringing their endowment back up to the point where they
 don't have to fire people or raise fees to give it's president a big raise
 and otherwise stay afloat, etc.)
 
 West Philadelphia has come a long way since the 1990s, when crime was on a
 major upspring, said panelist and member of the Spruce Hill Community Trust
 Board of Directors Barry Grossbach. (See. Someone still thinks Barry is a
 community leader. Maybe they don't know about the sad fall from grace and
 standing of the Spruce Hill Community Association.)
 
 Penn faculty and students, as well as West Philadelphia community members,
 have many more opportunities today to help ameliorate their neighborhoods, he
 added, citing the recent success of tutoring endeavors in the community and
 the Penn Alexander Elementary School. (Well, we can give them that one,
 anyway -- ignoring the real reason for Penn's involvement with the school.)
 
 According to Grossbach, these outreach programs have been so successful that
 outside organizations have started to follow Penn's footsteps. For instance,
 the Teacher's College of Columbia University wants to create a program
 similar to that of Alexander Elementary School. (Do you think they hired Omar
 Blaik as a consultant?)
 
 I've seen the change, Leslie Rogers, a Penn doctoral candidate, said. As a
 Penn undergraduate and graduate student, she said, she felt that West
 Philadelphia community members were very skeptical of her intentions when she
 went to volunteer and later teach there. Now, Penn faculty and students are
 more warmly welcomed, she said.
 
 Rogers said Penn undergraduates getting involved in West Philadelphia is a
 key to community-building.
 
 Thanks to an array of recently established programs, these students now get
 to actually problem-solve in the community, she said. (These students are
 like the bright-eyed busy-tailed types that get hired at UCD. They are
 enthusiastic and well meaning -- but naive as newborn lambs and haven't a
 clue about the problems faced by people from a side of the tracks other
 than where they, themselves, were born and 

FW: Urban Development 101 [Was [UC] citypaper weighs in on Campus Inn vs. doing nothing]

[Karen Allen]

I had to revisit this post from last year.  It's still relevant...
 


From: kallena...@msn.com
To: glen...@earthlink.net; univcity@list.purple.com
Subject: Urban Development 101 [Was [UC] citypaper weighs in on Campus Inn vs. 
doing nothing]
Date: Thu, 6 Mar 2008 02:51:14 -0500



 But what began with strong democratic credo has evolved in so many cases into 
a rigid NIMBY No! As a result, according to Tom Lussenhop, who teaches urban 
development at Princeton and who hopes to build a Hilton Homewood Suites hotel 
near the busy trolley portal on 40th Street.
 
 
Wait a minuteTom Lussenhop TEACHES???!!!
 
I can see it now:
 
OK Class,
Welcome to Urban Development 101. I'm Tom Lussenhop, and I will be your 
instructor.
 
Please open your books: 
 
Step One:   Get in cahoots with a  Deep-Pockets Entity (DPE) that has (or at 
least thinks it has) a lot of political power so that they can throw a lot of 
lucrative work your way, and can ram your projects down everyone else's throat. 
 Universities usually fit this bill really well.  
 
Step Two: The DPE is not going to make you rich without expecting something in 
return.   Be willing to be a shill for DPE and build projects that they don't 
want to be directly associated with, so that if anything hits the fan (if you 
know what I mean) they will not have to sully whatever is left of their 
reputation (see the  handout entitled Black Bottom).
 
Step Three: Identify the self-important leaders (SIL) of the community 
surrounding DPE's place of business.  Ideally, these will be people who rely on 
DPE for referrals of their professional services, or for business leads, or for 
tenants for their apartments, or whatever, and will do anything to ensure that 
their gravy train does not get derailed. They will be needed to rubberstamp 
your project, and to run interference for you with the municipal govenment, 
pesky neighbors and the like.   
 
Step Four: Create a project that is totally out of character, scale and 
proportion to everything in the area where it will be placed.  
 
Step Five: Arrange for the SILs to hold unnanounced public meetings.  Be sure 
that the meeting is scheduled for a Thursday at 3:30 AM at a location at the 
opposite end of the municipality.  Give plenty of advance notice for the 
meeting using a medium that can be reasonably expected to reach the widest 
possible audience.  Broadcasting notice of the meeting on the local public 
access cable channel one hour before the meeting is held is sufficient notice.  
(Note:  Showing up unannounced to previously scheduled meetings is a good 
technique, also.  Please be sure that you are NOT placed on the agenda.)
 
Step Six:  Hold the meeting, to be conducted by the SILs.  Have them 
rubberstamp your project.  
 
Step Seven:  When the inevitable oppostion arises from the long-term residents, 
have the SILs sell your project to their neighbors. Have the SILs stress how 
your sewage treatment plant (or airplane runway, slaughterhouse, or whatever it 
is you were told to build) will improve the craphole they're now living in.  
 
Step Eight:  If there are persistent pains-in-the-asses who are going around 
trying to stir up trouble by writing opinion letters to the local newspapers or 
listservs, try to isolate them. They're probably just too stupid to realize 
what wonderful benefits (and JOBS--don't forget jobs!)  your sewage treatment 
plant will bring.  Inviting them for coffee one-on-one is a good technique. 
That way you can destroy their credibility.
 
Step Nine:  When the neighbors complain that they weren't consulted, have the 
SILs tell everyone that if they were too lazy to watch the public access cable 
channel at 2:30 in the morning and get their asses across town to the meeting, 
then that's just too bad.  If the neighbors still won't shut the fuck up, have 
the SIL's call them nasty names, like cheap, greedy, and the ever-popular 
NIMBY.
 
Step Ten:  Go to the municipal authorities and tell them how everyone at the 
public meeting supported your project 100 percent.  Get your pemits, then 
build!
 
 



- Original Message - 
From: mlam...@aol.com 
To: univcity@list.purple.com 
Sent: Wednesday, March 05, 2008 10:34 PM
Subject: [UC] citypaper weighs in on Campus Inn vs. doing nothing

.Opponents of the hotel also probably missed last week's citypaper Guest 
Commentary on doing nothing in Philadelphia:

http://www.citypaper.net/articles/2008/02/28/strait-talk
Strait Talk
What can we learn from Sicily and Tunisia?
by Nathaniel Popkin

Published: Feb 27, 2008

Doing nothing is de facto community planning in Philadelphia. It didn't start 
that way. In the 1960s neighborhood groups were empowered to promote their own 
ideas. But what began with strong democratic credo has evolved in so many cases 
into a rigid NIMBY No! As a result, according to Tom Lussenhop, who teaches 
urban development at Princeton and who hopes to build a Hilton Homewood Suites 
hotel near the busy 

Re: [UC] They're B-a-a-c-k [Was] Penn and the community

[Anthony West]

No reasonable person denies that affordable hotels are in short supply 
around Penn's massive eds--meds complex. This appears to be an industry 
with a longterm growth curve ahead of it, so it makes sense to build 
hotels for it. Somewhere.


Meanwhile, Penn is still stuck with a historic dog of a property that 
might just pay for itself, if tacked onto a hotel; otherwise, it's 
nothing but a drain. The economic downturn places more pressure than 
ever on Eds  Meds RE departments to monetize their dogs one way or another.


I think you're quite correct, Kimm, it ain't over till it's over. 
Real-estate, by its nature, can lie around on hold for years -- the 
more so when owned by a non-taxpayer. But since land, by its nature, 
cannot go away, real-estate problems too never go away until some sort 
of development occurs.


-- Tony West



P.S. Thanks to you and Al for putting 2+2 together for us.
Kimm


On 10/9/09 10:10 PM, Kimm Tynan kimm.ty...@verizon.net wrote:

I had a feeling that wasn’t really over.
Kimm


On 10/9/09 1:42 PM, KAREN ALLEN kallena...@msn.com wrote:

Well, Al, looks like they're gettin' the band back together,
and today's Daily Pennsylvanian report about the Campus Inn
puts yesterday's post into context.

It's the same old bullshit: West Philadelphia is a hellhole
that we need Penn/UCD/Tom Lussenhop to rescue us from;
unannounced closed-door astroturf presentations in front of a
handful of handpicked so-called community leaders ready to
regurgitate Penn's lies and to rubberstamp whatever Penn
shoves in front of them. I guess next the propaganda machine
will kick into gear again to explain to us igoramuses why it's
so important that Penn should be able to do whatever they want.

Regarding certain panelists, this just proves that there are
some people who are incapable of embarassment or shame...Even
Professor Marvel gave up the smoke and mirrors once his
Wizard of Oz persona (Pay no attention to the man behind
the curtain!) was exposed as a sham.

See ya at the Zoning Board hearings, folks... luckily I saved
my No Hotel In the Hood posters!

From: krf...@aol.com
Date: Thu, 8 Oct 2009 08:55:59 -0400
Subject: [UC] Penn and the community -- take, er, I lost count
when it hit six digits
To: UnivCity@list.purple.com

From today's DP. Emphasis (color) and snide remarks
/(parentheses)/ added

You read it here, first, on the ever-popular */Popu-List
/*Courtesy of Al Krigman


*University seeks to build more bridges with community
partnerships
**
Maanvi Singh

While Penn's relationship with the West Philadelphia community
has been tumultuous in the past, last night a group of
community leaders and educators discussed Penn's recent focus
on interacting positively with its neighbor. /(Recent focus?
Maybe they mean dumping Lewis Wendell.)
/
The audience of community members, who filled a little over
half the chairs/ (nobody I know was aware of this... so --
little wonder that only half the chairs were filled and I can
only imagine who from the community was there)/ set up in
the Arthur Ross Gallery, listened as the panel recounted
Penn's historical interactions with West Philadelphia, as well
as the University's current programs for community involvement.

Ira Harkavy, associate vice president of Penn's Netter Center
for Community Partnerships, moderated the discussion on what
he said was the single most important issue that the
University is focusing on - helping to develop neighboring
West Philadelphia. /(This is the single most important issue
that the University is focusing on ??? I would have thought
that a world class research university would be focusing on
less important things like education, research, bringing their
endowment back up to the point where they don't have to fire
people or raise fees to give it's president a big raise and
otherwise stay afloat, etc.)

/West Philadelphia has come a long way since the 1990s, when
crime was on a major upspring, said panelist and member of the
Spruce Hill Community Trust Board of Directors Barry
Grossbach. /(See. Someone still thinks Barry is a community
leader. Maybe they don't know about the sad fall from grace
and standing of the Spruce Hill Community Association.)
/
Penn faculty and students, as well as West Philadelphia
community members, have many more opportunities today 

[UC] Re: FW: Urban Development 101

[Anthony West]

My experience gained from interviewing both proponents and opponents of 
the Campus Inn, taught me that Karen's comments about Tom are mistaken 
and unjust.


Tom is a man who has thought long and deeply about the nature of urban 
building. He disagrees in principle with Karen, who disagrees in 
principle with him. Nothing wrong with that. He works for a project that 
revolts Karen. Both are being true to their principles.


To my knowledge, Tom has never disparaged Karen's personal motives and 
professional credentials in public, despite their dispute. He comes 
across better for that.


Defamatory personal abuse is a perennial part of rough-and-tumble 
politics, so it's silly to say it should never be employed. But my 
instinct is to step back from it as soon as one can catch oneself. 
That's especially true when both persons are on the same listserve.


Opponents of the Campus Inn understandably try to portray their 
adversaries in the worst possible light. But important conflicts often 
take place between adversaries each of which is to some extent honorable 
and to some extent sneaky. That's what I've seen in this case.


-- Tony West



Karen Allen wrote:

I had to revisit this post from last year.  It's still relevant...
 


From: kallena...@msn.com
To: glen...@earthlink.net; univcity@list.purple.com

Wait a minuteTom Lussenhop TEACHES???!!!
 
I can see it now:
 
OK Class,
Welcome to Urban Development 101. I'm Tom Lussenhop, and I will be 
your instructor.
 
Please open your books: 
 
Step One:   Get in cahoots with a  Deep-Pockets Entity (DPE) that has 
(or at least thinks it has) a lot of political power so that they can 
throw a lot of lucrative work your way, and can ram your projects down 
everyone else's throat.  Universities usually fit this bill really well. 
 


Doing nothing is de facto community planning in Philadelphia.
It didn't start that way. In the 1960s neighborhood groups
were empowered to promote their own ideas. But what began with
strong democratic credo has evolved in so many cases into a
rigid NIMBY No! As a result, according to *Tom Lussenhop,
who teaches urban development at Princeton and *who hopes to
build a Hilton Homewood Suites hotel near the busy trolley
portal on 40th Street, Nothing good has been built in some
neighborhoods since the Great Depression.





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