March 2005 Archives

Child magazine published the results of a recent survey conducted by them that lists the "The 10 Best and Worst States for Fit Kids"

They spent five months studying mandated school fitness and nutrition policies and also other factors relating to healthy lifestyles, including the availability of safe playgrounds, rates of participation in youth sports, and the number of fast-food restaurants.

Here are the top ten best states:
1. Connecticut 2. New York 3. Vermont 4. Massachusetts 5. Missouri
6. Maine 7. West Virginia 8. Wisconsin 9. Arkansas 10. Illinois

Connecticut has legislation that requires physical activity in children in K-5 and also requires the selling of healthier food in schools. Candy, soft drinks, and gum are out. New York passed a ban on these food(?) items back in the 80s.

California comes in at #13.

With concerns about increasing obesity and diabetes here is hoping that the fitness factor becomes more relevant to the design of programs and facilities for the next generation.

Sesame Street is weighing in on the issue of increased obesity and diabetes in the country. Sesame street characters including the cookie monster will team up with celebrities, to create shows that will focus on healthy eating habits.

Back in 2003, Sesame Street and PBS were criticized for airing ads for McDonalds before and after the show. And in 2004 the muppets even appeared on an ad for Pizza Hut.

Will the new Sesame Street leave behind sponsorships from these fast food companies as it turns a healthy leaf?

Even as Americans turn to the world of English nannies for help at home, the English are turning to a Californian for help at school--Monty Roberts, the original horse whisperer, and children.

In his autobigraphy Roberts talks about his father--a horse trainer who brutalized horses and his son. Especially when his son suggested a gentler way of taming horses. This method of non verbal communication is what Roberts uses to train horses.

From the Observer--
"The Monty Roberts approach helps bring out children's potential by encouraging them to take responsibility for their actions, free from the threat of violence, punish ment or even raised voices,' she said. 'This is not a soft option. Monty is very kind, but extremely firm about children understanding the consequences of their actions. The most effective discipline is when the children have discussed it and agreed to it."

It all sounds promising but I am not sure how I feel about this--"I have taken Monty's advice on avoiding direct eye contact with children and not facing them square on,' said Julie Lawford, a teacher at Brabyns for 20 years. 'I have realised that just as that sort of interaction is intimidating for horses, so it is for children."

Anirvan and I have been watching Super Nanny on and off and are quite entertained by it. Jo Frost's personality and presence cannot be matched by the other show on the same subject.

The NYT had an article recently about vibrant cities(read cities with walkable, trendy, with farmer's markets, sidewalk cafes, lofts, etc) having most everything but missing children. Reminds me of the story of the Pied Piper. Except this time what is driving the children out along with their parents are the rising real estate prices in these suddenly trendy cities.

San Francisco it turns out has the lowest percentage of persons below 18 (only 14.5%) among cities with a population more than 300,000. Portland is at #7 (21.1%).

"New York and Los Angeles, because of their large immigrant populations, have maintained their base of children". According to Phillip Longman, a senior fellow at the New America Foundation, a public policy research organization in Washington,"If you took immigrants out of the equation, the United States would be like the rest of Europe."

The article talks mostly about Portland, a city that is fast becoming aware of the problem of low child populations as officials called in March for the closing of six schools after a drop of 10,000 students over the last decade. At the current rate the city expects to close 3-4 elementary schools per year over the next decade. The school district website shows about 63 elementary schools at this time.

I am not sure what to make of the declining birthrate--having always believed that a population explosion is a strain on resources and counterproductive to progress. But I would like to live in a city where there is more diversity in terms of age.

As more and more of my friends join the baby brigade I hope to post more about the "state of the child" in today's world.

It bothers me to see "RSS" so much in my daily life on the web.

I wish this cool syndication tool could have an acronym different from the name of India's most fundamentalist group--that is invloved in shameful acts at Babri Masjid and Gujarat.

Not to mention its attempts to glorify Hitler and saffronize education.

I started out writing this along with a previous post but thinking about it made me so mad that I had to start a different entry.

India has it's own Robert Moses--demolition man Vijay Kalam Patil. A man who believes that "development always follows destruction". The article goes on to describe his noble deeds as he 'frees city land from the clutches of illegal occupants.' even justifying this with words from the Gita. All this in an effort to become Shanghai!

Noted journalist P.Sainath calls him a "Man-made Tsunami".

Anirvan and I on our recent trip in India visited Sahyog--the school in Mumbai that I steward for Asha for Education. The school is located in the Jari Mari slums in Mumbai. Sahyog originally started in Jari Mari but then an initial round of demolitions took place right after 9-11 and a significant population was "relocated" to Din Doshi.

What was Din Doshi like for these people. It was atop a hill. There was no access to public transportation. A bus that had been arranged cost Rs.10 each way- a significant portion of the income of people using the service. There was no water. People were not alloted flats based on there needs. In a multi-storey building without an elevator, older people were put in upper floor flats.

Even when we were there this time we heard about how families were returning to the sites of demolition because they had no where else to go--this was home, their community. The edges of the slum are bursting. It creeps slowly over landfill towards the airport wall.

But demolition without insightful rehabilitation isn't the solution. There are people dying, losing livelihoods in this man-made disaster and even as we raise money for the Tsunami, another disaster unfolds before our eyes.

sanfrancisco, originally uploaded by barnali.

Back in the day-- I took a class at the ASUC art studio in Berkeley. We used a Holga--a plastic camera that we covered with black electrical tape to prevent light leakage. The film was medium format and appealed to my "square form" leanings.

The class description said that the photos would have a dreamlike quality. And they did. It was a joy to see the pictures (my first time developing them) have this ever so slight shakiness--so unlike the preciseness of today's digital photos.

This is one of my favorite ones taken with the Holga. The picture is of a scaffolding along a old San Francisco building caught behind the looming street light.

I retained the black borders that were part of the original print when I scanned it. Like scratches being put back into cds, this dissolving of the edges will probably soon return to the realm of photography.

Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman are working in partnership with Montana State University Architecture students and Architecture for Humanity to develop plans for the KWC school.

Hopefully the design will include community participation from the children and will acknowledge the special needs of the kids and cultural context.

I am excited about Infrastructure Architecture!

"STEVEN HOLL'S latest building, a water filtration plant shaped like a pipe, covered in stainless steel shingles and set in a field on the outskirts of New Haven, is hard to miss - as long as you know where to look."