E-Briefing September 1999 1. UC opens landmark building by internationally acclaimed Frank Gehry 2. New life for old suburbs: a real-estate trend in the new millennium promises new life for first-ring suburbs built post-World War II A. Character is key B. Aging architecture more appreciated C. Buildings better for the disabled D. Crowding traffic patterns favor old suburbs E. Some hurdles remain for old suburbs 3. Money. By that yardstick, cooperative education is a solid-green success. But cooperative education, founded at UC in 1906, is radically shifting and reshaping for the new century. A. Only the strong schools survive and diversify B. "Pure" co-op integrated into the curriculum C. The pretenders are moving on D. A mix of employers join the co-op fold 1. UC OPENS LANDMARK BUILDING UC Opens Landmark Building by Pritzker Prize-winning architect The newest link in UC's masterful campus plan opens at 12:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 23: the Frank Gehry-designed Vontz Center for Molecular Studies. Built on the corner of Martin Luther King Drive and Eden Ave., Gehry's sculptural Vontz Center provides training and conference space as well as labs and offices dedicated to cancer and neuroscience research. It also serves as the new gateway to UC's Medical Center campus. The Gehry-designed Vontz Center is just the latest architectural jewel to be completed at UC. Already in place are the Peter Eisenman-designed addition to the College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning; and the Michael Graves-designed Engineering Research Center; the David Childs-designed Edwards Center. Still to come is the Henry Cobb-designed College-Conservatory of Music to open in December. All are part of UC's adventurous master plan set in motion in 1989 in order to transform an architectural field trip of an urban campus into an integrated whole studded with masterpieces. Publications like The New York Times, USA Today and The Washington Post have taken notice of the plan, variously described as giving us something "that we can look at, discuss, love..." and an "experiment...worth watching." For more information, contacts: Sandy Prell Assistant Senior Vice President UC Medical Center 513-558-4553 http://vontz.uc.edu public.relations@uc.edu Greg Hand Assistant Vice President, Public Relations UC Spokesman 513-556-1822 greg.hand@uc.edu 2. NEW LIFE FOR OLD SUBURBS This old house will have new value in the new millennium. UC faculty predict that the next-generation trend in real estate is a return to and regeneration of the earliest, post-World War II suburban rings that sometimes fell into disrepair and neglectas later suburbs supplanted them. A. CHARACTER IS KEY Udo Greinacher, associate professor of architecture: "The first- and second-ring suburbs of our cities like Clifton in Cincinnati, Capitol Hill in Seattle, Diamond Heights in San Francisco, Elmwood in Berkeley and parts of Roxbury in Boston will benefit as they have something to contribute to both our professional and personal worlds. For the growing numbers of home-based workers, nearby are the parks and post offices as well as libraries and restaurants, all within easy walking distance and perfect tools for getting down to business and battling isolation. Those early suburbs also have character, something lost by their featureless offspring." contact: 513-556-1128 B. AGING ARCHITECTURE MORE APPRECIATED Historic preservation specialist Bruce Goetzman, emeritus associate professor of architecture: "People will be looking at preserving this architecture as part of history. It's reflective of how people lived and built and may become more valued as time passes. It's not unusual that when something is first built, it's not appreciated. That happened with the Queen Anne style of the late 19th century. Very popular with the people, but reviled by critics. Now, it's appreciated. It won't hurt if Congress eventually passes an expected homeowner's tax credit for historic property that would give investment tax credits for any improvements to property designated as historic...and any property older than 50 years is eligible. That would really help older suburbs like Walnut Hills or Clifton (in Cincinnati)." contact: 513-281-7244 C. BUILDINGS BETTER FOR THE DISABLED Wolfgang Preiser, professor of architecture, "Ninety-nine percent of housing is not accessible [for the disabled/elderly]. These homes [of the inner-ring suburbs], especially those that are one story, are easier to adapt for accessibility. You don't have a split-level or sunken living room to deal with." contact: 513-556-6743 D. CROWDING TRAFFIC PATTERNS FAVOR OLD SUBURBS Ohio Eminent Scholar David Gosling, international transportation researcher, "Congestion- and time-wise, the inner-ring suburbs are more accessible. Roads in cities across America are becoming more crowded. Today, traffic crawls. Traffic is worsening lifestyles. It will get worse and worse and worse. People want simpler lifestyles and inner-ring suburbs represent this. If it's a question of close in vs. a house 30 miles out, it's no question, especially when the next major energy crisis hits." contact: 513-751- 7376 E. SOME HURDLES REMAIN FOR OLD SUBURBS Zane Miller, professor of history and director of the Center for Neighborhood Studies at UC, says that "welfare subsidies" to newer suburbs in the form of highway funding, home mortgage deductions and cheap gas will need to be revised before the older suburbs can fully reflower. "The early suburbs are caught somewhere between the desperately poor inner-city and the flashy houses on the outer edges, getting little attention from policy makers. Government needs to begin re-investing in this in-between ring of neighborhoods and business districts." contact: 513-556-2142 3. COOPERATIVE EDUCATION: A SOLID-GREEN SUCCESS Money. By that yardstick, cooperative education is a solid-green success: translating into at least $1.5 billion for university students annually. That comes to $3 million per hour collectively earned by the country's co-op students. Prestige goes along with that billion-dollar figure: 83 out of the top 100 companies on the Fortune 500 list are co-op employers. Now, cooperative education, founded at UC in 1906, is dramatically shifting and reshaping for the 21st century. Once again, money or rather the lack of it in the form of once-generous government subsidies is spurring this change. Most hard-core co-op institutions see the shake down as a long-needed, healthful purge. Starting in the 1960s, abundant federal grants for co-op led many schools to rename a variety of internship or other short-term efforts as co-op. Now that the federal funds are no longer available, the number of schools offering co-op has slimmed to 600 (or fewer) from a peak of about 1,200 in the early 1990s. To ensure that accountability and quality is maintained despite any future government funding which might inflate interest in the practice, the country's co-op leaders, including UC, recently founded the Accreditation Council for Cooperative Education. It will serve the country's 250,000 (unduplicated) students who participate in co-op annually by periodically reviewing the quality of institutional co-op programs. A. ONLY THE STRONG SCHOOLS SURVIVE AND DIVERSIFY Dawn Petit, executive director, Cooperative Education Association, Inc.: "The peak in co-op came just before the Title VIII disappeared, and schools started to seriously downsize or merge their programs. At our peak, 1,200 schools were placing 250,000 annually at 50,000 work sites. Now, as of the 1998 census, 600 verified co-op schools placed 252,000 students at 110,000 work sites. The strong programs survived...and tapped a broader, diverse labor market made up of large and small businesses. Before, the businesses were large companies and government placements. Now, it's a healthy mix." contact: 410-290-3666 B. "PURE" CO-OP INTEGRATED INTO THE CURRICULUM Cheryl Cates, UC associate professor of professional practice: "Many of the practitioners that remain are offering 'pure' co-op which means it is integrated into a particular academic discipline's curriculum and that it is an ongoing, extensive program." contact: 513-556-4535 C. THE PRETENDERS ARE MOVING ON Sam Sovilla, director, UC's Professional Practice: "Federal money was intended to support colleges committed to quality co-op. The pretenders are now moving on." contact: 513-556-4636 D. A MIX OF EMPLOYERS JOIN THE CO-OP FOLD Richard Abel, founding president of the recently formed Accreditation Council for Cooperative Education and department head of professional practice at UC's College of Applied Science: "Diversification of the employer base is true for most every program in the U.S. In our college, we once placed large numbers of students with a few, large employers like Cincinnati Milacron or Cincinnati Gas & Electric. Now, we might place two or three students with...those companies. The rest are working with much smaller employers. This trend has solidified over the past ten years. It was not only a case of schools seeking a greater mix of employers. Smaller employers also...sought out schools. I've been in the field for nearly 30 years, and I've never seen a student employment market as strong as this...Employers are simply demanding that students have...work experience upon graduation." contact: 513-556-6571 Click here to return to the most recent e-briefing offering.