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Downtown Dayton – Center of Educational Excellence?

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Stivers School for the Arts

Stivers School for the Arts

“City of Dayton” and “Educational Excellence” are not the most likely phrases to be heard in the same sentence in much of the region. In fact, it is reasonable to say that the city’s poor public school performance is one of the top two reasons that families do not consider living in the city (with crime – perceived and real – being the other).  Of course, statistics can’t be ignored and the fact that Dayton Public Schools are at or near the bottom of state rankings every year is a very real statistic. But just like most statistical findings, these do not tell the complete story.  A look at the Greater Downtown Dayton area offers a different view of education in the City of Dayton.

First, it is important to look at the entire Downtown Dayton area and not just the few square blocks that make up the Central Business District. This broader definition of downtown is not that new to those of us who live here and already consider downtown to include the adjacent downtown neighborhoods.  Now, when looking at the urban core and the current and future educational institutions that anchor the  downtown area, I do not see a failing educational system at all, but rather a center of educational excellence that includes:

  • The University of Dayton – a high-quality private university with over 10,000 students and a campus area that continues to thrive and grow.
  • Holy Angels Elementary School (K-8) and Chaminade Julienne (9-12) that are both high-quality private Catholic schools – not just for the city but the entire region.
  • Sinclair Community College – considered among the top community colleges in the country with over 24,000 students.
  • Miami Jacobs Career College – a solid trade school that provides valuable administrative training in the medical field as well as massage therapy training.
  • Dayton Early College Academy (DECA) – a joint effort initiated by Dayton Public Schools and the University of Dayton (now a charter school) that has earned the top state designation of Excellent with scores at or above 94% in all state indicators and recently earned a bronze award from U.S. News & World Report in its list of best public schools in the country.
  • Stivers School for the Arts – also a bronze award winner in U.S. News & World Report list,  Stivers has been designated Excellent by the Ohio Department of Education.  This Dayton Public School is not just known for strong academic scores but has some of the best arts, music and theater programs in the state.  The Stivers Jazz Band won first place among 220 schools across the country last year in the Berklee College of Music High School Jazz Festival in Boston.
  • Ponitz Career Technology Center – This Dayton Public School will open this August and is a partnership with Sinclair Community College.  Its early college credit program will be similar to DECA’s but with a technology focus.  While it is too early to tell how successful the Ponitz Center will be, state-of-the-art technology and equipment, a brand new building and a focus on college prep make strong ingredients for another successful Dayton Public School.
  • Dayton Montessori School – Ground has not yet broke yet on this planned elementary school at Emmet St. and Riverside Drive (across the river from Riverscape), but when it is completed in a couple of years it will potentially be a strong school option for parents who live or work in downtown.
  • Grandview Hospital (UPDATE) – one of the oldest and best known osteopathic training hospitals in the country, Grandview has 112 residents and fellows that are graduates of osteopathic medical schools across the country.  While a hospital is not usually something people think of when talking about education, this is yet another example of high-quality learning that is happening in Downtown Dayton.

While most of the Dayton Public Schools have much work to do before suburban families will feel comfortable moving back into the city, the list above is something the city should be proud of and start marketing in a way that shows Downtown Dayton as a center of educational excellence unmatched anywhere in this region.  If you were skeptical before reading this, has this given you any reason to pause ?  What are some ideas to help grow this synergy into something bigger than the sum of its parts?

Dayton, Ohio – America’s Fastest Dying City AND Best Area for Doing Business?

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Statistics can be very useful, yet many times they can be completely unreliable – especially when trying to measure or rank something as large and complex as a city.  So when statistics are used in over-simplified lists by various media outlets to rank cities, they tend to be worth little more than the paper they’re printed on.  Case in point:  the August 2008 Forbes list of America’s Fastest Dying Cities, the February 2009 Forbes list of America’s Emptiest Cities, and the March 2009 Site Selection Magazine Governor’s Cup rankings of cities with the most new or expanded capital projects (ie best place to locate your business).  Dayton was at or near the top of both lists – huh?

These lists are silly.  First of all, when was the last time you heard of a city that “died”?  Of course Dayton is struggling in many aspects, but the city and region have many strengths that would prevent it from ever “dying”.  The city is known to have a very strong arts & culture scene among similar-sized cities.  The region has some of the best suburban public schools in the state.  And Ohio’s largest single employer, WPAFB, is here and not likely to disappear anytime soon.  So while Dayton has seen better days, it is not dying – and it could even be poised for an upswing.

At the same time, the Dayton Region has been getting pounded with bad economic news over the past few years.  GM and Delphi were once the area’s largest private employers, and now they are gone.  Mead turned into MeadWestvaco and moved to Connecticut.  The manufacturing sector was once the region’s powerhouse; it is now simply a shell of its former self.  In fact, Dayton is the worst city in the country in terms of job losses – losing jobs for 32 straight quarters.  But nevermind, because Site Selection Magazine says Dayton is tops for business among second-tier cities (in terms of attracting economic-development expansion projects).  Could Dayton be the worst job-loss city in the country and at the same time the best economic-development expansion city in the country?  Don’t get too excited – Toledo, Youngstown and Detroit were near the top as well.

And speaking of lists, don’t even get me started about the “Creative Class Index”…

The point is, none of these “lists” – no matter good or bad – can be taken all that seriously.  There is no such thing as a city ranking that offers a true picture of a city that is meaningful to everybody.  Things are good here for some and bad here for others – same as every single city on the planet.  Honestly, the magazines that publish these lists have figured out that by doing so they end up as a news story in every newspaper and television news broadcast in every city that is included on the list… can you say “free advertising”?  But still, these lists do seem to have an impact on the attitudes of the people who live here, and potentially on those looking to move or invest here.  So let’s hope that the next list Dayton finds itself near the top of is a “most improved city” list – because it will be positive AND believable.

Urban Renewal in Dayton – Is this region finally ready?

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gdtnplan-logo1I’ve lived in Downtown Dayton for almost five and a half years, and since then I’ve seen a number of ups and downs here in the urban core.   Back in 2003 the city was full of buzz as Fifth Third Field, Riverscape and the Schuster Performing Arts Center were fairly new and downtown housing seemed to be gaining momentum.  Shortly afterwards, downtown development slowed to a crawl.  My faith in this city has gone up and down like a roller coaster, and I’ve often questioned whether or not the urban core of Dayton would ever realize the enormous potential I’ve always seen. However, this has not stopped my continued involvement in various initiatives to make things better, and the latest effort I’m involved with has given a boost to my faith in the future of Downtown Dayton.

The “Greater Downtown Dayton Plan” is a very ambitious initiative that was started by Dr. Mike Ervin last year.  Mike has managed to bring together many of the city’s most prominent business leaders, institutional leaders and government leaders in an effort to completely transform Downtown Dayton in a way this city has never seen before.  Ego’s, politics and turf-protection have been set aside in favor of a sense of urgency and a desire to do what is best for the urban core.  And while government leaders play an important part in the plan (as they should), they are not the ones driving it – a fact that should give pause to naysayers who have lost faith in our city government’s ability to put Dayton back on the path to prosperity.  This is truly a collaborative effort between the private and public sector.  Stay tuned on how this progresses…

I have no question that the city has folks that are truly dedicated to the prosperity and growth of the downtown core – I know most of them personally.  But by ourselves it is a steep hill to climb.  That hill is made steeper by the too-common apathy towards the city that can be found in the rest of the region.  That is not to say that there aren’t suburbanites who are champions for the city (I happen to know many of them as well), but they are far and few between.  The disconnect between the suburbs and the city has a history that goes back to long before I moved here in 2001 and likely goes back to before I was born – it started with what has become known as the Great White Flight.  An entire generation exists here that can only remember downtown the way it “used to be”, and it is followed by an entire generation that has no connection at all to downtown – probably because they grew up surrounded by an anti-city attitude from their parents.  It is thus of little surprise that many downtown advocates I know are from other cities – myself included.

There are many other reasons for the disconnect between suburbanites and the urban core.  This region has a strong conservative culture that does not tend to value an urban culture; the word “urban” itself has a “different from us” meaning in many ways including racial and socio-economic.  The city has the highest concentration of poverty in the region – a reason for upward-mobile people to stay away even though there is a small concentration of affluent folks who live in downtown.  The public school system is obviously struggling.  There is a very common belief throughout the region that there is a serious lack of leadership in the city, whether it is because of misplaced priorities or simply incompetence.   And with the younger generation, it seems that the appreciation of this city’s history and heritage is almost non-existent.

Not all is lost, since a big problem I’ve always seen is a simple lack of information.  Suburbanites that do not spend much time in the city often have no idea what is happening in the city that might appeal to them.  Better marketing and outreach could go a long way in solving that, especially with some help with the media who have traditionally been seen as an enemy to the urban core with their constant barrage of negative news centered around crime.  But perhaps there is something even more important than better marketing or media coverage, and that is by simply getting our grassroots story told.  People love the underdog story, especially when it includes very dedicated people that everybody can identify with.  I hope to continue telling that story here on DMM, and possibly via more traditional media formats.  And just like with the Greater Downtown Dayton Plan – stay tuned…

 

Top Ten Songs I Want Played At My Funeral

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Compositions For Decomposition

  1. Your Time Is Gonna Come – Led Zeppelin
  2. Man In The Box – Alice In Chains
  3. 6 Underground – Sneaker Pimps
  4. Close My Eyes Forever – Lita Ford & Ozzy Osbourne
  5. Dress Sexy At My Funeral – Smog
  6. People Who Died – Jim Carroll Band
  7. Electric Funeral – Black Sabbath
  8. Happy Phantom – Tori Amos
  9. Down In A Hole – Alice In Chains
  10. The End – The Doors

Downtown Street Car System

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Some great ideas have been generated from the DMM forum discussion about the proposed Dayton streetcar project and we wanted to summarize the discussions for those who want a brief overview.  Please keep the ideas flowing on the forum… we will update these posts with the new ideas on a regular basis.

A lot of debate has ensued as to whether or not a street car system should be a priority in the Greater Downtown Dayton Plan. The streetcar system being proposed would initially connect University of Dayton and Brown Street to the Central Business District.  An overview of the plan appeared in a September, 2008 DDN article.  Following are excerpts from that article:

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

The co-chair of a task force seeking to establish a streetcar loop between downtown Dayton and the University of Dayton area remains optimistic despite a consultant’s study that set a high price tag for the project.

Last year, Greater Dayton Regional Transit Authority officials estimated the 4-mile loop could be built for about $40 million and would cost about $700,000 a year to run.

Consultant Parsons Brinckerhoff looked at other streetcar systems and estimated the system would cost $125 million to build and $2 million a year to operate.

Mike Ervin, who co-chairs the streetcar task force with GDRTA Executive Director Mark Donaghy, said the consultant’s study is important in that it gives streetcar proponents a clear picture of the challenge they face.

Ervin said where streetcar lines have gone in, a sense of excitement and renewal has followed. Retail, restaurant and entertainment venues tend to spring up close to the tracks, which in turn stimulates investment in other properties.

Ervin said streetcars can make living in an urban center more attractive because people can hop on and off a streetcar to get around. That reduces the need for cars and parking.

“Think of what it could mean to an area like South Park,” Ervin said. “For Dayton, this could be one of the biggest economic boosts the city has had ever.”

The headways (wait time between trains) would be 10 minutes.

The city put this project in the list of top 15 projects for Dayton that was presented in Washington, DC for consideration in the economic stimulous package.

Some concerns that were noted on the forum include the following:

  • Streetcars should be a practical alternative to certain bus routes or should fill a need for transportation that buses can’t.  If it is more focused on tourism, people may only ride it once.
  • Our downtown is really small and walkable… that money could be better used elsewhere.
  • It seems redundant when we have an adequate public transportation system in place already
  • The idea of using it as an economic development driver for downtown would be not as effective as generally using the money to promote more residential developments downtown
  • We need to have a critical mass of people downtown to warrant a streetcar system, and that does not yet exist.

Supporters had the following to say:

  • New cost estimates are being determined and the initial cost assessment for the initial route is $48 million
  • The proposed plan would be the first route – continuing with the plan to include connecting WPAFB and WSU would really make it a valuable proposition.  Connecting Sinclair to the initial route would also make a lot of sense.
  • A street car from Brown Street to Downtown is a lot more simple than navigating the bus system and would be more frequently used by students and others
  • Cities such as Portland Oregon have seen significant residential and retail development around street car stations.  The proposal is more about economic development than moving people.
  • Urban decline is directly linked to cities abandoning their streetcars for the automobile.  Rebuilding the streetcar systems likely would reinvigorate urban development.
  • The green/environmental aspects of a street car should also be considered, as well as the impact on parking

It was noted that rail connecting Dayton, Cinci and Columbus would be very beneficial too.   Some conversation ensued about the 3-C passenger rail proposals.  It was noted that the cost for this is $20 million per mile vs. $10 million per mile for light rail/street cars.  The construction process for some streetcar projects have been designed to minimize disruption to street businesses by completing a city block of tracks each week.

Some conversation ensued about using electric buses with a street car look (but not requiring tracks) gained some traction as an alternative as well.

Downtown Dayton Parking

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Some great ideas have been generated from the DMM forum and we wanted to summarize the discussions for those who want a brief overview.  Please keep the ideas flowing on the forum… we will update these posts with the new ideas on a regular basis.

Suggested Improvements:

  1. Have garages contract with businesses for parking instead of downtown workers
    • Pre-tax payroll deductions benefit the workers
    • Reduced overhead for garage owners (payment collections and sales efforts)
  2. More readily available information regarding parking garage vacancies
    • Enhance the EasyParkDowntown website with # of spots available for monthly parking per garage
    • Improve the EasyParkDowntown user interface
    • Create and pass out brochures regarding parking options during major events
  3. Create a parking pass system that can be used a meters to make it easier for people to park or a single permit system that could be used at all garages.
  4. Work with condos/apartments that don’t have on-site parking to buy blocks of parking for residents (i.e. Eva Feldman)
  5. Create new, consistent signage for parking garages throughout the city to facilitate finding parking more easily when you are in your car.  It was noted that this idea was initially discussed in 2004 but did not come to fruition.  A link to Fort Worth parking signage was posted.  Make sure it is obvious which garages are public vs. private
  6. Make the parking garages cool and attractive – colorful/neon lighting, music piped in, public art dressing the walls (or even graffiti art) similar to the “Parking is Fun” garage in Memphis, TN.  Lots of links to examples included and discussion regarding promoting graffiti art in public spaces.
  7. Put roof-top bar or something on top of the transportation garage because of the beautiful views from up there.
  8. Add angled parking to the streets instead of parallel parking.  Discussion ensued regarding safety and the fact that our streets are wide enough to accommodate.

The Truth Behind The Eyes

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Into The Intuitive Mind Of Craig Karges

            Hallucinatory suggestions. A table floating through the air guided only by the merest touch. Blindfolded eyes that still can see. All of this and more will be witnessed when you go and see Craig Karges: Experience the Extraordinary. One of the things that I find incredibly compelling about Craig Karges is the subdued simplicity in which he creates his magic and the straightforward manner in which he makes his predictions. There are no massive props, pyrotechnics or bombastic music to distract the audience. There is only Karges peering into the shadows of the human psyche, seeing what most of us cannot.

During a recent phone interview from his West Virginian home, I asked Karges how he would describe his act. I was expecting to be riddled with a litany of mysterious allusions that would never really answer any of my questions. I was incredibly surprised by Karges’ succinct and honest responses.

“Well, part of what I do is magic or illusion; it’s a trick. There are things that you’re not seeing and what you see is not exactly what you’re getting.” Karges went on to say, “Then there is psychology; knowing people well. I bring people up on stage and I give them a free reign of choices, but yet I know that certain things factor into people’s behaviors. I recognize those patterns of behavior and I act on them. So a lot of it is just basic psychology. Then there is a portion that is true intuition. It’s similar to what some people may consider being psychic, but I just prefer the word ‘intuition.’”

            From Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlocke Holmes to the recent television series, The Mentalist, people have been absolutely intrigued with those who seem to possess almost supernatural powers of observation. Very recently, there have been studies (as well as Karges’ own book, Ignite Your Intuition) suggesting that all of us possess this intuitive ability and utilize it to a small degree in our day to day interactions with others. Karges, however, has been able to tap into the underlying resonance that allows him to read people at will and in a more refined manner.

“There are quite a lot of things that you may think are very ‘unique,’ and everyone is unique, but there are also patterns that pretty much everyone falls into.” Karges went on to describe in detail that, “There are even patterns based on ages, males, females and all sorts of things. That is part of my job and to recognize those and when I pick people out of the audience, I read and interpret body language during the show. There’s a lot of conscious psychology going on, but there’s also the intuition part. I don’t really know how to define it because it could just be my own subconscious processing of what’s going on or it could be something that’s more akin to psychic (abilities) with no real explanation.”

Karges was awakened to his intuitive potential after meeting his great uncle, whom everyone called simply called ‘Doc,’ while in his early teens. ‘Doc’ was what Karges described as “the black sheep of the family” and earned his living as a counselor of sorts for a local clientèle.

“He was kind of a poor man’s psychologist and he helped a lot of people. He was very altruistic.” Karges said, describing his great uncle. “He wasn’t out for himself and he did impact a number of people, so much so that when he passed away, people would show up at the door not knowing he had died and my aunt and I would greet them and when you told them that Doc had passed away, the looks on their faces was frightening. I was fourteen at the time and to see that reaction and to start to realize how much faith people put into him was amazing.”

            Beyond bringing the young Karges’ intuitive abilities to the fore, Doc’s teachings became the bulk of what was to become Karges’ performances, which would pay his way through college as well as take him onto thousands of stages and television shows across the nation. Karges described to me what his performances usually consist of.

“Well, the show is done in two acts. The first act is like the mind reading section of the show. It’s different every night, so I can’t really tell you what will happen at theVictoria. I just invite the entire audience to start concentrating on things and I’ll start to tell people their names or facts about themselves or things that they’re concentrating on.” Karges went on to detail other acts to be performed. “There’s other segments where I’ll be blindfolded with tape all over my face and people will come up on stage and I’ll tell them what they’re holding in their hand or call off a serial number on a piece of paper currency or from a driver’s license.”

“We do all that stuff in the beginning and then we come back for the weird part of the show and that’s more of the physical side of what I do.” Karges went on. “I always tell the people right before I finish the last piece before the intermission that we’ll back with the weird part of the show and people laugh because the first half is weird enough as it is. When we come back, the first routine is a group suggestion thing with the entire theater, then we do a very specific hallucination on stage with two people. After that’s over, I say, ‘See? I told you this would be weird.’ Yeah, it is weird.”

[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ya4RUaZJsr8′]

Armageddon Flu

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 Preparedness Or The Incubation Of Fear?

“All the days wherein the plague shall be in him he shall be defiled; he is unclean: he shall dwell alone; without the camp shall his habitation be.”

~ Leviticus 13:46

November 2007 – Overseas, increasing numbers of people are hospitalized with flu-like symptoms. Some of the cases are confirmed as H5N1, the avian flu, with some of the health care workers contacting the illness, thereby indicating that the virus has attained the ability to spread from human to human. By mid-December, 2007, it becomes apparent that the World Health Organization’s (WHO) containment zone is ineffective and that the anti-virals that have been developed are unsuccessful. In February of 2008, the virus has spread unhindered throughout China, Indonesia, Europe, Africa and the Middle East…and now cases begin appearing in California with an estimated four weeks until it is spread across the country.

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Thankfully, none of this has actually occurred…yet. It is a scenario from a functional exercise titled Armageddon Flu: West Central Ohio Region Pandemic Influenza Exercise which was conducted in February of 2008 by over a hundred and sixty-six agencies spanning eight counties in West Central Ohio. This was the second year that this type of exercise was held. Even the local video news agencies did their part, recording “live” news updates updating the “players” about local and national situations (see videos here)

During a recent interview, Larry Cleek, Medical Reserve Corp (MRC) County Coordinator, gave me an abridged version of what the first year’s scenario consisted of.

“In 2007,” he said, “we did a build up where the first ‘play’ date, we had the initial ‘cases’ in the region and then each subsequent week, it got heavier and heavier until all the hospitals were inundated and had to provide a medical surge and they couldn’t handle the influx of what was coming in.”

The focus of the 2008 exercise changed from being in the middle of an ongoing situation to giving the agencies time to plan, prepare and stockpile provisions and then to see if they had the clarity of foresight that they thought they did.

“Pretty much, we took feedback we received in 2007 and we got a lot of answers from some people saying, ‘Well, if I would have had more time because I knew that it was coming, I would have done this, this and this.’” Mr. Cleek detailed. “In 2008, we kind of went in a different route where the first day was, ‘It’s a month away (the pandemic outbreak). It’s starting to spread over Asia and parts of Europe and it’s going to be here in less than a month. What are you going to do in preparation of its arrival?’ The second ‘play’ day, we had, ‘It’s hit West Central Ohio. Did you prepare up to what you wanted to?’ On the third ‘play’ day, we did a whole recovery phase where the wave has gone through and, ‘How are you recovering from this in preparation for the second wave of this that might come?’”

With the public being recently inundated with disturbingly sinister sounding radio and television commercials that detail the pandemics that have been occurred in the past, ending with the tag line of “it will happen again” leaves some feeling slightly uneasy. In recent press releases, Bret Atkins, a spokesman for the Ohio Department of Health, stated that the ads were stark and edgy to get people’s attention and that, with federal money quickly drying up, preparation for a pandemic flu outbreak will fade. With the tenor and the frequency of the advertisements, it seems to walk the fine line between inoculation and indoctrination.

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One of the aspects that may go against such an awareness push seems to lie in the sheer number of avian flu related deaths. The Center For Disease Control’s (CDC) website states that as of June 19th, 2008, there have only been 385 cases of avian flu confirmed in the world over a five year period. Deaths related to Multidrug Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) were estimated at 18,650 for 2005 in the United States alone, thus possibly surpassing the number of deaths from AIDS. Why then is the focus of the Ohio Pandemic Flu website (www.ohiopandemicflu.gov) as well as the national PandemicFlu.gov (with its mirror site, AvianFlu.gov) specifically about avian flu (H5N1) to the exclusion of any other potential pandemic pathogens? I consulted with Sara Morman, another spokesperson for the Ohio Department of Health, and received this answer; an answer which was extremely similar to the answer I received from Larry Cleek a week earlier.

“Well, I believe that’s because the greatest threat at the moment is from the H5N1 virus circulating overseas and they have had human cases.” Sara said from her Columbus office. “It has not yet achieved the ability to be transmitted easily from person to person. The H5N1 virus is the one that scientists are keeping their eye on of the next potential pandemic flu strain.”

While the avian flu carries a high mortality rate (around 53%), the infinitesimal amount of currently confirmed cases cannot be construed by the average person as being an immediate threat. After the echo from the Public Service Announcement’s warning of an imminent pandemic begin to fade and the number of visitors to the pandemic websites wane, could the state and national health organizations find that they have made a error in judgment? By presenting to the people a specific scenario that, for all intents and purposes, is negligible and distant to most Americans, after the initial curiosity and fear passes, the thought of a pandemic will go the way of the infamous “terrorist threat levels.” Again: Why specifically avian flu? What if the avian flu pandemic that is envisioned by the scientists and health officials doesn’t occur? Will all this training and preparation be transferable to battle another threat that has as yet to be seen?

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“Yes, and you’re looking at a pandemic of any type, so that’s the main premise; you’re preparing for a pandemic.” Larry Cleek asserted. “It doesn’t have to be influenza. It could be something else that popped up. The other thing is that it ties in with other biological related things. You’ve seen Outbreak with Ebola and that type of thing, so if something like that did happen, all of this planning is going to cover those biological areas.” As an aside, he went on, “Let me bring up something else really quickly; in regards to smallpox or anthrax or those types of things, at least we’ve got a vaccine for those. The biggest thing with a Pan-Flu or a flu related item is that it will take six to eight months for us to get a vaccine to fight that specific item, so that’s probably the biggest difference. Because you can’t make a vaccine for it until it’s here and you know what you’re dealing with.”

Sara Morman, who stated that she was not that familiar with the logisitcs of the pandemic exercises held around the state, replied with an answer pertaining to the website and subsequent materials produced and/or distributed by the Ohio Department of Health.

“Well, that is one of the things that we stress in our printed material to remind people that preparing for a pandemic, whether for a strain of H5N1 or another strain, will help them be prepared for any emergency.” Sara Morman said. “So, it is something that we stress more in our printed material, but is probably stressed a little less on the website.”

“Avian Flu: is it a pandemic? No. Basically, in the last century, you’ve had three pandemics; in 1918, in 1957 and 1968. 1918 was really the only severe one. There were milder forms of it in ’57 and ’68 and in the eighteen hundreds, there are three other pandemics that are registered, or historically identified. Basically, the big influx is, they say we’re due for one.”

Perhaps I’m being obtuse with regards to the number of cases of avian flu and its potential severity. Perhaps there are things about mutations with regards to influenza that I can’t even begin to understand, yet I know that, as is common in human nature, if one keeps repeatedly hearing the cries of “Fire!” and yet no flames are ever seen, people tend to turn a deaf ear to the warnings. Yet, maybe the answer to my question is held within the responses that were already given to me.

 “And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed.”

~ Numbers 16:48

For the complete West Central Ohio Region Pandemic Flu Excercise 2008 scenarios, go to http://www.schlorman.com/aflu/

Oregon District Fifth Street No-Car Weekends

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Imagine our Oregon District if it looked like this on the weekends:




Photos:  Winterthur, Switzerland, Copenhagen, Denmark, Vancouver, BC – Canada

Across the country cities are figuring out what has already been succeeding in cities across the world for some time now – closing downtown streets to automobile traffic – either temporarily or permanently.  Vancouver, British Columbia – Canada is known as one of these uber-progressive cities that have organized "Car-Free Days" on various streets in and around their downtown.  The following video from Streetfilms.org does a good job at showing just how well this concept is being received:

And this brings me to Dayton – specifically Fifth Street in the Oregon District.  Ever since I moved here I’ve always thought that Fifth Street should be closed to automobile traffic at least on the weekends.  I can envision a Fifth Street packed with pedestrians, street performers, street vendors & even dining room extensions from Cafe Boulevard, Pacchia & Trolley Stop.  And just imagine an outdoor stage on what is now the parking lot at Fifth and Pine – with local bands entertaining crowds of people strolling along Fifth Street.  It isn’t that hard to imagine all of this, afterall – Fifth Street IS closed one night a year for the Oregon District HauntFest in October.

Obstacles to this idea are typical traffic engineer small-mindedness that insists that Fifth Street is a major throughway, though Fourth Street can handle additional traffic very easily.  Others may say that people like to "cruise" Fifth Street, but folks – it is 2008, not 1955.  Finally, there is the ongoing issue of parking – but if you click on the map below you will see that my proposition would only take away the handful of street parking spots that currently exist on Fifth Street.

 

So what do you think?  What other obstacles do you see to this idea?  And do you think that city leadership could be convinced to explore this kind of thing?

Feel free to comment below, or join the conversation in our DMM Forum!

Economic Development – The Art of Connecting the Dots That Nobody Else See’s”

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Last week on our DMM Forum, I did a quick post about an economic development project happening in Cleveland (and covered by Smart City Radio), and compared it to one economic development project happening in Dayton.  After a few received comments and much thought afterward, I decided to go a bit more in depth on the topic and post it here for those who may still read this blog but aren’t yet involved on the forum.  Besides, it was time for a new post since I’ve been completely absent here for a long time now…

On a recent SmartCity Radio show, Carol Coletta interviewed Ned Hill – VP of Economic Development at Cleveland State University.  “He’s combining the Cleveland area’s history, talent and expertise” to create the District of Design. This district would take a concentrated area of downtown Cleveland and transform it into the industrial design capital of the U.S.” …

First, I encourage you to listen to the program:



In my opinion, this is what true economic development is all about – taking a city’s existing strength and expanding it by using a cluster strategy, partnerships between city government/business sector/universities, and community building.  Unlike fad developments, as Mr. Hill explains, this District of Design makes sense because it “connects to the balance sheet” (ie generates revenue).  It is ultimately something that will attract more businesses, create more jobs, and grow a “creative class” group of designers based in a part of Downtown Cleveland.  And the residual effect is that it brings more life to downtown in the form of more workers – which will ultimately attract more retail and restaurant/bar business.  This is economic development – which Mr. Hill eloquently defines as “the art of connecting the dots that nobody else see’s”.

Dayton is also working on such a district – called Tech Town – but it is moving at a snail’s pace and seems to be more about real estate than about actually nurturing a business sector.  Sure, there is the technology business incubator (The Entrepreneur Center) that is there now, but I don’t see its connection to Tech Town other than simply being its first tenant.  Tech Town looks more like a “build it and they will come” real estate proposition.  Of course, in the past year the City of Dayton seems to have had its focus not so much on Tech Town as much as the “future”‘ Ballpark Village – which brings me to the main point of this post…

First, let me say that I’ve had mixed feelings about BPV from the start.  I started out excited about this when it was first announced.  Since I live two blocks away I wanted to see this happen – it would be great to have a whole new riverfront destination to walk to from my condo, and it will be nice to see more crowds of people coming downtown.  Then again, I do not want to see another generic “lifestyle center” ala The Greene with a bunch of boring chain restaurants that will simply poach customers from our existing independent businesses.  And now there isn’t even a developer, which makes one wonder if there is actually a market for yet another retail & restaurant cluster in this region.  But even more important than all of that is the fact that the city is treating BPV as if it were an economic development project.  And while I’m not the first blogger to claim this, I am here to say that BPV is NOT economic development.

BPV is first a real estate project (just like Tech Town), and secondly it is a consumerism project.  Consumerism in that it simply offers another venue for consumers to spend money – not a project that city government should be initiating.  It will not create jobs other than low-paying service jobs.  It will not enhance any existing businesses (other than maybe the Dayton Dragons but as they’re still selling out games what help do they need?).  And ultimately it does nothing to “connect to the balance sheet” or “connect the dots”.  Sure, IF the consumers do show up then there is tax revenue to realize – which I imagine is what the city is looking to score.  But other than additional tax revenue that might not even make up for the amount of money the city is spending on property acquisitions and whatever tax subsidies it will have to offer in order to attract a developer and tenants, what exactly is BPV going to do in terms of economic development?

This city and region are losing jobs by the thousands these days.  Our local economy is in the crapper.  Do we really need another consumer-based development?  Hell, with more and more people losing jobs and the cost of fuel and food rising to catastrophic levels, can the region even support the restaurants and retail we have now, let alone support a whole slew of new ones?  No, as much as I’d personally like to see BPV happen so that I have a new place to walk to and spend my money, I can’t say that this will be good for the city or the region in the grander scheme of things.

Instead of trying to be land developers, the city should be working on ways to help support and grow the businesses and industry we have here now.  Tech Town is a good place to start since it is already underway – instead of relying on the “build it and they will come” strategy that seems to be in place now, focus on fostering the partnerships between government, business and universities that will help to create a true cluster.  Make this much more than a real estate proposition and Tech Town may just succeed.  Focus on the other areas of downtown instead of ignoring them like is happening now (how many empty buildings do we currently have?).  Work with area developers on ways to not only rehab and reuse our existing building stock, but also put real plans in place that will actually encourage development.  Residential is a good place to start, but even that must be part of a bigger plan.

Ballpark Village is not the type of development the city should be trying to accomplish.  Listen to the story about the Cleveland District of Design and you’ll get a better sense of what a true economic development project looks like.

I’ve posted this on the DMM Forum – if you wish to comment on this then sign up and get involved in the conversation there.

Creative Catalysts have a name and website: DaytonCREATE.org!

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DaytonCREATE

Creating Regional Excitement, Action, Talent and Enthusiasm

A few weeks into the Creative Region Initiative and my fellow catalysts and I are busy getting organized and growing our teams (busy enough that I’ve been a bit quiet on this blog lately!).  Our communication team has really been impressive right out of the gate… They have recruited an online pro (hi Brooke!) who has been busy creating a new website for the group: www.DaytonCREATE.org

This new site is the place to keep up with each team’s progress updates.  And don’t worry, we’ll continue to do stories about the initiative here on DMM from time to time and our new DMM Forum will continue to serve as the official communication forum for both catalysts and non-catalysts alike.  You are ALL welcome to sign up there and get involved with the conversations.  And if you are interested in getting involved with one of the team initiatives then contact the appropriate person (more info at the DaytonCreate.org site).

Btw – I am on the Dayton Creative Incubator team and we are currently researching arts incubators.  As many of you know, Dayton has one helluva arts scene.  An arts incubator would provide our independent artists with affordable (free?) space and services in a true community setting.  And with the exciting things happening in the newly formed Oregon Arts District, now is the time to  capitalize on our region’s strong arts community by helping them grow.

The following is the first DaytonCREATE press release – check it out and then go check out the new website.  And of course your comments are welcome here on DMM.  What do you think?

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Tangled Up In Blue

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Following The Bliss Of A Blue Man

The Blue Man Group’s How To Be A Megastar Tour 2.1 can be most easily described as Dr. Suess meets Sousa. What better way to articulate the primitive rhythms that course their way through contorted PVC pipes and other instruments with such eccentric names as the Tubulum, the Drumbone and the Piano Smasher, all the while being played by three earless, cobalt mutes.

The Blue Man Group began as an expressive idea that sprung from the minds of Chris Wink, Matt Goldman and Phil Stanton (collectively known as CMP) while they were working as caterers at Glorious Foods in Manhattan, New York. They donned the now familiar blue grease paint, latex bald caps and black clothing in the late eighties, appearing on the streets in full regalia. Sometimes they meandered sporadically through the city, astoundingly innocent in their observations of their surrounding and the myriad masses of people that walked past, equally astounded by their appearance. Other times were spent mimicking dance moves across the street from hot nightspots sans music. They held a funeral for the Eighties, which prompted a modicum of media exposure.

Eventually, they began performing small routines in The CLUB at LaMama Experimental Theater Club, garnering them a review in the New York Times, by critic Stephen Holden hailing the show as a “deliriously antic blend of music, painting and clowning.” Their short  performances led to The CLUB’s owner, Meryl Vladimer, commissioning the group to create a full length show, which resulted in TUBES. The Blue Man Group’s popularity quickly soared and the show garnered them a Obie Award as well as a Lucille Lortel Award which led the show to be taken to the Astor Place Theater off Broadway in 1991.

Since those early days, the Blue Man Group has become and empire unto itself, breaking through in advertisements, the music industry, stage, theater and movies as well as toy development, a traveling museum exhibit and even a school for children with an emphasis on creative learning processes. Their shows are staples in New York, Chicago, Boston, Orlando and Las Vegas with tours across North America and an international tour that has stops in Stuttgart, Switzerland, Spain, France and Austria. These overlapping shows and venues have compelled the original group to hold massive auditions for talented individuals to become second generation Blue Men (which I will term The Blue Brood 2.0). I set out to speak with one or more of this new Blue Brood 2.0 to see what the whole BMG experience was like.

My first attempt at an interview with the Blue Man Group did not go well at all. The only sounds to be heard on the recording of our “conversation” was my own voice asking astoundingly interesting questions, only to be pelted with marshmallows. Halfway through the tape, one can hear my surprised cries as the trio experimented with the acoustics of my balding pate with a large mallet. They were very courteous hosts, however, as illustrated towards the end of the interview when many Twinkie wrappers can be heard crinkling as they offered me their sole source of sustenance in an act of mute hospitality.

            It was my mistake to attempt to speak with them while they were still in character, so I decided on a different course of action. I contacted BMG’s agent and he set up an interview with Marc Roberts, who was once a criminal justice major before quickly switching to theater performance after seeing the Blue Man Group live. Roberts spent over two years auditioning for the group, eventually being selected from an original open casting of over twenty-five hundred applicants.

J.T.: With a casting call of something like 2,500 other people auditioning, what set you apart from the others and what was the process of getting in there?

Oh my gosh! Well, you know, it was just one of those things where I just went in and I was myself and sometimes the stars align. You just happen to be more you than anyone else, I guess. It’s just one of those things. It’s such an indescribable process, the whole audition process. When people asked me what happened, I have to just tell them what specific events happened, like how it happened. I guess I just kept cool under pressure better than the next guy…I don’t know to tell you the truth. They could have just drawn a name out of a hat.  Either way, I’m happy I’m happy I’m here.

 

J.T.: In your opinion, what’s the biggest difference between the theater shows and the arena tours?

Roberts: The challenge is to try and keep the characters as natural as possible. You know, you want to get out here…I mean, I even had that problem going from off-Broadway, which is only about three hundred seats to Vegas, and then from Vegas to a big arena. There’s an intensity that you want to up just because you want to raise the stakes, but at the same time, you want to keep the integrity true. You don’t want to start “miming”. You don’t want to start indicating to people that, “Hmmm! I’m thinking!” as you’re grabbing your chin or holding your head, because, for the most part, if something’s done honestly, it’s read well. We have a huge advantage with the tour because we have a camera and we have three high def screens behind us, so the subtleties like the eyes and stuff that usually wouldn’t transfer, they will now. I would say the biggest challenge for me, to be completely honest with you, is endurance. It is a tiring show. I mean, I’m out of breath, crying by the end of the show, hawking up paint, grabbing for someone while I’m walking off stage because of cramps. It’s embarrassing. That’s my big challenge right now.

J.T.: How hard is it with the arena shows is it to break through “the fourth wall”: to connect with the audience and bring them into the performance?

Roberts: You know, I think with a rock show, it’s a bit easier because people tend to view a rock show with more involvement. There’s more give and take at a rock concert then there would be at a theater performance. When I was at the Astor in New York, it was pretty ridiculous, because you would get a lot of people that wouldn’t know what to expect and they’d be a bit more apprehensive. They wouldn’t want to be looked at. They wouldn’t want to be touched because they want to go to an evening at the theater. I think here, they’re just begging to be involved. I mean, people just run up to the edge of the stage when I break a stick or (when I drop) a stick into the audience, there’s a mad dash to grab it. There’s people running up, grabbing us, taking photos. If anything, it’s kind of scary! You know, there are still only three of us, no matter how big the audience gets, there’s still just the three of us.

J.T.: Well, I know in the beginning, when Chris, Matt and Phil would have meet and greets after the show, they would break character and actually talk, it kind of freaked people out and kind of blew the illusion.

Marc: Well, they’ve never said that we had to stay in character. They’re huge fans of talking about the show. It’s kind of something that we’ve all agreed upon to not talk because for selfish reasons because the instant you talk, you’re going to get people who just want to quiz you like, “How can I do what you do?” “Where does the paint come from?” tell them secrets about the show, you know, “What’s your real name? What’s your phone number?”…that kind of stuff. Then, it’s always like the one person, I feel the one person that I’m going to make really happy by talking is going to be totally counteracted by the fifty other people in line behind them who just want that magic to keep going. They want to believe, with all of their heart, that I’m a “Blue Man”. They know I’m a person, but for the last two hours, they’ve escaped and they just think that there’s this innocent creature out there who just looks at life differently and it just makes them happy and I just want to keep that going. I just want to say that I’m so happy that you’ve…you know, I get a lot of interviews where people just ask me, “Why blue?” or “How long does the make up take?” This is awesome! You know what you’re talking about and I have to say that I really appreciate this.

J.T.: No problem at all. Actually, I wanted to get into some topics, I guess for my own personal interests, that were a little bit deeper. I’ve always been amazed with the group because they are like the perfect outsiders and there’s a duality within the group that these perfect outsiders have somehow connected with the outsider within all of us and have become so popular, so now, the outsiders are popular.

Marc: Yeah, yeah! It’s kind of like the outsiders become the majority and they’ve now become this paradox of the inside. I totally see that. I was definitely drawn to the first show by the fact that there was absolutely no ego. There was the hero aspect of…I mean…I didn’t know what this was, but I was going to go straight towards this and there’s no fear of failure, no fear of looking like a fool and in that aspect, no matter how ridiculous they look, people will just love it, you know?

J.T.: The groups ability to be funny in such a minimalist way with just eye expressions and slight gestures is just amazing.

Roberts: Oh my gosh, yeah. That’s something they teach us. You let the audience write the funniest story. You know, the more you guide them, the more you tell them what’s funny, the less it will be. You try to set up the framework for the joke and they will write the funny punch line for themselves. When they taught me that, and it made my job so much better.

J.T.: What’s new on the How To Be A The Mega Star Tour 2.1 and what is the set list?

Roberts: The How To Be A Mega Star Tour is like an adapted set list from The Complex Tour. It has the music with the vocals. It has some new stuff and it has a few pieces from the original show that are adapted. I would say, compared to the Vegas show, like 85% to 90% of it’s all new. Don’t be expecting to see too much from the “sit down” shows. One of the great things about being on tour is that it’s an organic experience. With the “sit down” shows, we bring in new stuff every couple of months or every year or so, but the tour is one of those things that they just keep constantly fine-tuning. It’s such an amazing experience to get to be at the front end of all this. You know, you go in and they’re like, “No, no! We’re working on this! We re-wrote this style!”

J.T.: In the beginning, when Chris, Matt and Phil (the creators of BMG) would have meet and greets after the show, they would break character and actually talk, it kind of freaked people out and sort of blew the illusion.

Roberts: Well, they’ve never said that we had to stay in character. They’re huge fans of talking about the show. It’s kind of something that we’ve all agreed upon to not talk because for selfish reasons. I feel the one person that I’m going to make really happy by talking is going to be totally counteracted by the fifty other people in line behind them who just want that magic to keep going. They want to believe, with all of their heart, that I’m a “Blue Man”. They know I’m a person, but for the last two hours, they’ve escaped and they just think that there’s this innocent creature out there who just looks at life differently and it just makes them happy and I just want to keep that going.

J.T.: Is there a fun aspect to the anonymity to it?

Roberts: Oh my gosh! I absolutely love…one of my favorite things stories is, I did this show in Vegas and afterward, I was cleaned up and left, and usually it takes about thirty to forty-five minutes to take the make-up off and take a shower and we talk about the show every single night. So, I’m leaving, walking through the casino this time, and I see a girl that was in the show with me (who was) a featured guest. In the meet and greet, we sign (autographs) by giving kisses and she happened to ask for one on the cheek. I never say no and I’m always willing to go with it on genuine emotion, so I give her a peck on the cheek. Well, I saw her afterward with all her friends and I just wanted to hear what she would say, so I stop and was eavesdropping and she caught me! She gave me this look, like, “Get away from me you weirdo!” and I’m laughing to myself because part of me wanted to be like, “You do realize that I was with you.” but I didn’t want to ruin it. I didn’t want to make her experience become real, as much as it was a fantasy. As much as it was that experience, I didn’t want to then put my face with it and get her weirded out, you know. So, I absolutely love that aspect. I get to put the mask of a “super star” on. I get to put that mask on, but I’m not that…I’m still just Marc Roberts.

There is an idiosyncratic, paradoxical dualism to the Blue Man Group. These utilitarian homologues are the perfect outsiders that, through their naïve view of the world and their use of subtle gestures and bombastic rhythms, reveal to us the underlying complexities that make us truly human, thereby making the perfect outsiders one of the most wildly popular acts in the world. Even within their own small group of three, one of the members can, from time to time, become an outsider themselves by reacting differently then their abnormal norm.

[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-yLfm5HsHc’]

Downtown’s Latest Housing Project

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It looks like the housing development at the corner of First & Patterson is steps away from becoming reality, and it will be different than anything done in the region so far…

The plan is to build 36 townhomes on what is now a big parking lot
on the southwest corner of Patterson and First.  These will apparently
be modular construction and will also be LEED
certified (between Silver and Gold level).  LiteHouse Development Group (Rogero Buckman are the architects) are a couple weeks
away from getting all of their ducks in a row with the city, financing,
etc. and they plan to build a single townhome as a model on the corner
of Ice Ave and Patterson – possibly in time for Urban Nights in May. 

They will be three-story townhomes
similar in scale to the Cooper Place Townhomes.  One of the things I
found interesting was that the streets that go through the development
will be private property and they are planning to do them with brick
paver-type surfaces as opposed to asphalt in order to give it a village
feel.  All materials will be long-lasting, environmentally friendly and
come from manufacturers that have strong recycling/environmental
processes in place (like Shaw that recycle all used carpet into
new).  Windows will be placed in a way to maximize light and roofs will
include rain-capturing devices that will recycle rain water to irrigate
all landscaping.  There was also talk of solar panels.

They must
pre-sell at least 40% of a "row" (6-8 or so) in order to complete the
whole row of townhomes – there were like 5 or 6 rows on the plan.  So
as long as the market is there for these things, they’re talking
anywhere from 3-6 years for total completion.  Price points will be
from $170k for the smallest units (1000sqft) to $230k for the biggest
(1800sqft) – depending on how many options the buyer gets.  The buyer
will also have the opportunity to upgrade the environmental aspects of
the unit.

The other two parcels of land that were originally
part of the overall development (adjacent to WorkflowOne garage and
adjacent to Lincoln Storage on the other corners of First &
Patterson) are not included in this plan but are not off the table –
depending on how these sell those other parcels will be revisited.

See pics below (click each to enlarge) and let us know what you think…

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A Level Playing Field

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What if federal, state and county governments were to end the cycle of sprawl by coming up with a system that is more fair… one that charges appropriate impact fees to developers who choose to tear down trees and build new housing developments that require more roads and infrastructure.  Perhaps some of those fees could go to rewarding developers who choose to undertake the often more expensive and challenging task of rehabbing current building stock in older and more established urban (and closer-in suburb) neighborhoods and districts that already have existing infrastructure in place.  This might provide a more level playing field between struggling city neighborhoods and the endless sprawl that continues to suck life out of our urban core.

The following is an article from the Boston Globe that we found on Richard Florida’s blog (who found it on The Economist’s View blog).

What do you think?

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Creative Region Initiative Officially Kicks Off

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Last night the Creative Region Initiative was officially kicked off as the organizers of the project and the 32 chosen catalysts met one another at the Westcott House in Springfield.  There was quite an energy in the room – we have some great people in the group and it is possibly the most diverse group of people I’ve ever been involved with in my life.  There is also the sense that this ambitious and unique effort is very different from any other community-based project ever executed in the past.  I believe there is a ton of potential to do some projects that have a huge impact on our community and will hopefully inspire even more spin-off projects in the future and beyond.

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I am a Creative Region Initiative Catalyst

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I just learned this past Friday that I have been selected to be one of thirty community catalysts that will be working on the Creative Region Initiative for the next year.  Of course, I will be writing about my "creative class adventures" here on MostMetro.com, and we will be using the new DMM Forum to help communicate ideas from both within the group as well as everybody else that would like to share ideas for improving our economy and making our city and region a more vibrant place.

I encourage ALL of you to join our forum and share your ideas.  Don’t just be a spectator – get involved.  Because that is the whole point of this project – to get as many people as possible involved in deciding what Dayton’s future will be.  The thirty catalysts are only the beginning – this effort will need the help of many more people.  If you’ve ever heard of crowdsourcing – this is it.  Stay tuned, because you’ll read about the different projects that come out of this initiative HERE FIRST.

And if you are late getting here and have no idea what this is about, click here.

UPDATE (2/18/2008): I was just informed that not everybody that was selected has been notified yet, so if you applied and haven’t heard back, they may still be working on contacting you.  And if you aren’t ultimately selected to be a catalyst, you can STILL GET INVOLVED.