Perspectives on Social Issues
(March 2008)

Romanian Army Participates in Core Training with Peacekeepers
"The first NP [Nonviolent Peaceforce] Core training (CT) conducted in Europe took place in August near Sovata, Romania. There were 19 participants and, for the first time, NP received active cooperation and support from the armed forces of a government. This Core Training made NP history by conducting a four-hour end-of-training simulation exercise with participation of the Romanian army at its training camp located in nearby Bistrita. The army agreed to support, and actively participate in, the final simulation to help NP make it more 'real' for future civilian unarmed peacekeepers, especially since dealing with the military is a normal experience for NP field teams.

Participants (and trainers) were all extremely positive and said that working with the army did indeed make the exercise feel more realistic; it also helped and challenged some participants to break their stereotyped views of those in the military. A debriefing by the military and a question and answer period also helped participants gain insights into how some aspects of our training are viewed by others -- especially military personnel. This, it seems, was an historic event for the army as it was the first time they had worked with civilians in an exercise."

“August Core Training Creates NP History: Romanian Army Assists in Core Training Final Simulation"
by Phil Esmonde, Rumors of Peace, Nonviolent Peaceforce, Vol VII, Issue 3 2007.

Los Angeles Addresses Homelessness with Unprecedented Police Presence
"Though skid row is only 3/4 square mile in size, it has, in the last year under the auspices of the mayor's Safer City Initiative, been subjected to an unprecedented police presence. The following are some statistics compiled by UCLA Law Professor Gary Blasi, in his study: Policing Our Way Out Of Homelessness.

• Population of Skid Row: 12,000
• Number of police citations issued: 12,000
• Percent of jaywalking: 85 percent
• Number of arrests: 9,000
• Percent for violent crimes: 1.5 percent
• People arrested for gun possession: 1
• Number of gang members arrested: 1
• Cost for 50 extra police: $10 million
• Amount spent on housing homelessness: $100,000
• The same 24 people were arrested a total of 210 times
• Skid row has the majority of L.A. County's homeless services
  • Emergency shelters 43 percent
  • Low cost housing 54 percent"

“One Year of Safer City Initiative," Catholic Agitator, Dec 2007.

Urban Roofs Are Going Green
"Environmental designers looking for new ways to soften cities have begun to realize that the tops of buildings don't have to be wastelands. Indeed, they can be gardens, planted with grasses, flowers, and shrubs that control temperature, conserve water and clean the air. A newly published paper in the journal BioScience reveals just how much good green roofs can do. [The paper reported] that green roofs can cut heat loss from a building 50 percent, reduce air-conditioning costs 25 percent, and reduce the so-called urban-heat-island effect -- the tendency of cities to retain heat -- by 3.6 degrees F (2 degrees C).

“Need to Weed Your Roof?" by Jeffrey Kluger,
TIME Magazine, Nov 7, 2007.

U.N. Calls for Moratorium on Executions
"A December 18 [2007] vote by the U.N. General Assembly to ratify a resolution calling for a moratorium on executions 'with a view to abolishing the death penalty' was hailed as a 'victory for the culture of life' by a Catholic activist opposed to capital punishment. Although the resolution is not binding on U.N. member states, the vote has strong implications, according to Mario Marazziti, spokesman for the Rome-based SantíEgidio Community and head of its campaign against the death penalty. The resolution -- approved 104 to 54, with 29 abstentions -- affirms that 'there is no conclusive evidence of the death penalty's deterrent value and that any miscarriage or failure of justice in the death penalty's implementation is irreversible and irreparable.'... The United States was among the countries opposing the resolution.

"U.N. Calls for Moratorium on Executions,"
Signs of the Times, America, Jan 21-28, 2008.

Bolivia to Pull Out of SOA
"Bolivian President Evo Morales announced October 8 [2007] that Bolivia will gradually withdraw its military from the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, formerly known as the School for the Americas, according to a news release from SOA Watch, an organization dedicated to closing down the institute. The institute, located at Fort Benning, Georgia, is a training school for Latin American military personnel. Human rights groups, like SOA Watch, have linked graduates of the school to human rights abuses.

"Bolivia to Pull Out of SOA,"
Briefs: USA & World, NCR, Oct 26, 2007.