Introduction
Early in the course (The Geographic Perspective) you learned about four reasons for becoming geographically informed: the existential reason, ethical reason, intellectual reason, and practical reason. The ideas behind these reasons included increasing understanding, being good stewards of the earth, more informed decision making, and the ability to come up with solutions to local and global problems. At this point in the course, we hope that you are ready to ‘exercise’ your geographic knowledge and put what you have learned to good use.
In this writing assignment you will explore competing interests as they affect a local environment, the community and its population.
The Context
Did you know that you have the right, as a resident of a community, to attend and speak at city council meetings? As a stakeholder whether it be as a professional, parent, or participant, in your local area, you may find yourself increasingly aware of what happens around you and even become concerned about the action or inaction being taken by officials. For example, if you live in a suburb that has grocery stores within walking distance, but not bike lanes or sidewalks, you may feel moved to petition for one of those things so that you do not have to drive to the store. Or, perhaps, a plot of land is up for rezoning from commercial to residential, and you do not want to live next to a busy store–you may want to speak up on the matter! Those are two examples of the issues that might be raised at a city council meeting.
The Assignment
To date in this course, you have read about the population, urban environments, and two spheres of the environment, and, at this point, you should have a good grasp of the modifications that humans make to otherwise natural systems. You learned about the ways people use their environment, including trees, water, and soil, for things such as agriculture, industry, recreation, transportation, and so on. You also learned about competing uses and the demand some of those uses (and people in general) place on resources and the environment in general. In this assignment you will be tasked with constructing a letter to be read at a city council meeting about land use and any one (or more) of the issues or topics we have covered in this course to date.
(1)Begin by selecting a town and an issue. The only guidelines is that the issue must involve some aspect of the course (that is, people-environment interactions) and be current. That is, choose an issue that is relevant to towns today, and include at least two sources that are no more than one year old.
The issue can be entirely fabricated, so long as it is founded in fact, and not out of the realm of possibility for the town that you choose. Again, the only requirements are that the issue involve and/or relate to course material and at least two sources of supporting information are current. To find an issue, scour local and national newspapers looking for environmental topics that affect towns.
(2)The next step is to construct a letter that you plan to read aloud at a City Council Meeting. There are numerous examples online (and we are aware of them so please do not plagiarize) to help you get started; three are provided below. Your letter must include the following:
(a)An opening that states who you are (with any relevant details), the name and state of your town, and the specific issue you are addressing.
(b)A paragraph stating the significance of the problem, and why the issue is of concern to you, your fellow residents, and anyone else the issue may affect.
(c)The action, or inaction, that you would like to see taken on the issue with three specific reasons, based in fact (from course materials and credible sources), supporting your stance. (Note: one or more of these reason can support why the alternative action or view is wrong.)
(d)A closing that restates the significance of the problem, your point of view, and what you want the council to do.
Technicalities
Crafting a short paper is often harder than a long paper! Papers should be between 700 and 900 words. At the very beginning of your speech, please type your word count in parentheses, for example: (Word count: 899). The speech should be written using tight clear and concise prose that demonstrates the main point or points you wish to convey using a number of different themes or components of being globally aware.
Any outside sources (including the online lessons) used to develop your response must have an accompanying citation. Be sure to also include a works cited page that is consistent with the citation style used to write your paper. Plagiarism, in any form, will not be tolerated and will result in a ZERO for the paper (see syllabus for details about plagiarism). (NOTE: If you receive a zero for plagiarism, you cannot drop that assignment grade if applicable.)