Sunday, April 29, 2007

Anti-Plagiarism

WCopyfind (plagiarism.phys.virginia.edu), developed by University of Virginia Physics Professor Louis Bloomfield, compares a suspect document against a select list of documents. It's available at no charge.

Sprawl

**YOUNG INVOLVED PHILADELPHIA READING GROUP**

Robert Bruegmann's ‘Sprawl: A Compact History’
Monday, April 30th, 6:15-8:00 pm
Brew Haha! (212 S. 12th Street - 12th and Locust)

What's so bad about the suburbs? Perhaps the urban hipsters who condemn them as socially- isolating, culturally-homogenous, environmental wastelands are just narrow-minded snobs? Perhaps they are jealous?

Robert Bruegmann argues in Sprawl: A Compact History that the suburbs are part of a healthy, growing metropolis, and represent the ideal living space for most people around the world. His arguments and his book have been the battle-flag of many pro-suburban planners.

A challenge to this controversial argument can be found in the Brookings Institution report, ‘Back to Prosperity,’ which argues that Pennsylvanians should invest in older and urban communities rather than pay the hidden costs of sprawl. It can be found online at www.brookings.edu/es/urban/pa/executivesummary.pdf.

Join other civic-minded young folks to discuss these two points of view, and to hash out the value and cost of the suburbs in the warm embrace of an urban, independent coffee shop.

**Joseph Fox Booksellers, 1724 Sansom Street, will be offering a 10% discount to YIP members on ‘Sprawl.’

Just in case you don’t have time to read the whole book, you should know that our discussion will focus on the introduction, and chapters 1, 10, and 13.

Please RSVP for this event by contacting YIPReading@gmail.com.

WH, Mayor's Electoral Campaign

While issues of homelessness and poverty have barely been raised in the election campaign, they are the focus of the listed organizations. A Voter's Guide is currently being distributed to 25,000 voters. The Voter's Guide features responses by Mayoral candidates Queena Bass, Bob Brady, Dwight Evans, Chaka Fattah, Michael Nutter, Al Taubenberger, and Jesus White to a range of questions covering issues like affordable housing, homelessness, jobs, and meeting human needs.

There are approximately 900,000 potential voters in Philadelphia, almost 200,000 of whom live in poverty and are homeless or at the brink of homelessness, while this election will be decided by just a few thousand votes. The Vote for Homes! coalition has targeted 120 shelters, soup kitchens, health centers, jails, and probation offices in the City of Philadelphia to ensure that they are educated, addressed, and included in the electoral process. This collective voice will be key to moving the candidates to speak to the 25,000 homeless, the 150,000 uninsured, and the one in 12 unemployed Philadelphians who will be voting this May.

The Guide and Forum were produced by the Election 2007: Vote for Homes! coalition, a group of 60 organizations interested in issues of housing, jobs, and services for people living on low-incomes. The Coalition has registered nearly 1,200 people this election season, trained 100 volunteers, and will distribute 25,000 of the Voter's Guides to the public at large.

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Vote for Homes! is a nonpartisan advocacy coalition that focuses on the issues of affordable housing, living wage jobs, and quality services in elections. Since 1999, the coalition has registered more than 10,500 homeless and low-income voters, convened several candidates' forums, hosted over one hundred voter education events, and distributed over 25,000 Voters Guides annually. As many as 70 different organizations have participated in the Vote for Homes! coalition.

AchieveAbility * ACORN-Philadelphia * Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., Zeta Omicron Lambda Chapter * American Friends Service Committee * Arch Street United Methodist Church * Bethesda Project * Catholic Social Services * Church of the Advocate * Civic House, University of Pennsylvania * Coalition Ingenu * Dignity Housing * Disabled in Action * Drueding Center Project Rainbow* Episcopal Community Services * Ex-Offenders Association of PA * Family Shelter Support Team (FaSST) * Homeless Advocacy Project * Horizon House * Housing Alliance of Pennsylvania * Impact Services Corporation * Institute for the Study of Civic Values * Interfaith Advocates * League of Women Voters-Philadelphia * Liberty Resources, Inc. * Lutheran Settlement House * Mental Health Association of Southeastern PA * Mercy Hospice * New Kensington CDC * Northwest Philadelphia Interfaith Hospitality Network * PathWaysPA * Pennsylvania Prison Society * People's Emergency Center * Philadelphia Association of Community Development Corporations * Philadelphia Beauty Showcase National Historic Museum * Philadelphia Committee to End Homelessness * Philadelphia Health Management Corporation * Philadelphia Higher Education Network for Neighborhood Development (PHENND) * Philadelphia Senior Center * Project H.O.M.E. * Ready, Willing, and Able * Resources for Human Development * RHD-Ridge Center * SELF Inc. * SHARE * St. John's Hospice * Temple Center for Nonprofits * Tenant Union Representative Network * The Salvation Army * Travelers Aid Philadelphia * United Communities Southeast Philadelphia * United Way Southeastern Pennsylvania * Visitation Homes * Women of Hope-Lombard * Women of Hope-Vine * Women's Community Revitalization Project * Women's Law Project * WOMEN'S WAY * WomenVote PA * X-Offenders for Community Empowerment * Young Involved Philadelphia