Sylvia Lavin, chairwoman of UCLA's department of architecture and urban design, has dramatically boosted the school's reputation. But is the cost too high?
"[Sylvia Lavin has] brought the program -- which even its former leader recalls as solid but provincial -- into step with the latest critical theory, and with the sophisticated and flexible computer design pioneered by Lynn.... But as she's built prestige, some charge, Lavin has torn down the department's civility, its intellectual balance. Her critics describe a place where students are publicly humiliated in reviews, where professors wax rhapsodic about the high dropout rate, where a didactic and dismissive tone reigns, where professors offer ultimatums instead of an education. And where, they say, the woman in charge is an 'intellectual bully.'"
Thanks to Chris Steins
FULL STORY: Lab for discontent?

National Parks Layoffs Will Cause Communities to Lose Billions
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Delivering for America Plan Will Downgrade Mail Service in at Least 49.5 Percent of Zip Codes
Republican and Democrat lawmakers criticize the plan for its disproportionate negative impact on rural communities.

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Balancing Bombs and Butterflies: How the National Guard Protects a Rare Species
The National Guard at Fort Indiantown Gap uses GIS technology and land management strategies to balance military training with conservation efforts, ensuring the survival of the rare eastern regal fritillary butterfly.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
EMC Planning Group, Inc.
Planetizen
Planetizen
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service