St. Raymond students participates in UrbanPlan
form development teams and
compete to be awarded the
job of redeveloping a fi ve and
a half block parcel of land in a
fi ctional town. The City Council
is made up of ULI volunteers
who lend their considerable
expertise to make this
as real life a scenario as possible.
Teams have the chance to
address challenging fi nancial,
market, social, political, and
design issues, develop a proforma,
and create a three-dimensional
model of their plan.
Through each of the fi ve roles,
students develop a visceral
understanding of how various
market forces (supply and demand,
availability of capital,
risk vs reward, etc.) clash and
collaborate with non-market
forces (regulation, politics,
advocacy groups, etc.) to create
the built environment.
Action
Association
For the eighth year, St. Raymond
High School for Boys’
senior Marketing Management
class has participated in
Urban Land Institute’s (ULI)
mock UrbanPlan development
team module. St. Raymond
students formed 5-person development
teams, working together
over the course of 15
hours, in response to a “request
for proposals” for the redevelopment
of a blighted site
in a fi ctional community.
Each team member assumes
one of the following
roles: fi nance director, marketing
director, city liaison,
neighborhood liaison, or site
planner.
The UrbanPlan curriculum,
which is offered in over
30 high schools, was created to
allow students to participate
in a vigorous problem based
learning activity, where they
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, D 38 ECEMBER 14-20, 2018 BTR
St. Raymond UrbanPlan winning group members Joshua Santiago, Kishan
Ramrattan and Liam Rosario with ULI volunteer ‘City Council members.’
(Not in photo: St. Raymond group members Ethan Lugo and Rayden
Almodovar.)
They must reconcile the often
competing agendas to create a
well-designed, market-responsive,
fi nanceable, and buildable
project.
The fi nal culmination of
the module was on Friday,
November 16 when each team
presented their Urban Plan
to the ‘City Council members’
during a 30 minute presentation
and question and answer
period. This year, the ‘City
Council’ awarded seniors,
Joshua Santiago, Kishan
Ramrattan, Liam Rosario,
Ethan Lugo and Rayden Almodovar
as the winning group.
ULI volunteers commended
all St. Raymond students on
a job well done, working together
as a group, considering
each aspect carefully, and
having a real understanding
of what goes into a redevelopment
project.
BY FRANK V. VERNUCCIO, JR.
To many, particularly
those in the millennial demographic,
there are important
sources of information that
are not compliant with the admittedly
weak and frequently
ignored journalistic ethics of
television news programs.
Indeed, the practice of replacing
accuracy with propaganda
in television extends
far beyond nightly news programs.
The extraordinary media
obsession to push left-wing
perspectives has received
scrutiny because of its tendency
to replace objective reporting
with one-sided and
frequently inaccurate coverage.
The most recent examples
of this practice could be most
prominently seen in the treatment
of two stories, the nomination
of Brett Kavanaugh
and the arrival of the illegal
immigrant caravan at the U.S.
southern border. Baseless accusations
against the Judge
were breathlessly relayed
without any attempt to employ
reasonable journalistic
standards such as fact-checking.
After the nominating process
was completed, it became
clear that the salacious stories
about him were untrue. In the
case of the caravan, network
and cable news programs
have ignored the reality that a
lion’s share of the participants
are military-age males, some
of whom have unsavory connections.
It has long been discussed
that for some, late-night comedians
are a source of information
about candidates and
news stories. In 2014, a Pew
Research Center Fact Tank
analysis noted that “Pew Research
Center’s recent report
on Americans’ media habits
fi nds that a portion of online
adults get their news from
two Comedy Central staples,
The Daily Show and The Colbert
Report. And other studies
have shown that people
do, in fact, learn from these
programs while they laugh…
on par with such sources as
the Wall Street Journal and
USA Today… nearly a quarter
(22%) of 18- to 29- yearold
males say they got news
about politics and government
from The Colbert Report
in the previous week…
Roughly a quarter (26%) of
consistent liberals reported
getting news about government
and politics from The
Colbert Report… That is far
more than other ideological
groups. In fact, a mere 1% of
consistent conservatives say
they get news from the show.
The share of consistent liberals
who get news from The
Colbert Report is similar to
that of The Huffi ngton Post
(29%) and CBS News (30%)…”
It’s not just humor-seeking
audiences that consider
comedians’ views important.
Frequently, the latest jibes
from Saturday Night Live
shows becomes prominent areas
of discussion in political
circles, and not infrequently,
comments made by imitators
of political fi gures become
more well-known than actual
quotes from the politicians
themselves.
The worrisome trend has
expanded beyond programs
that have at least a pretense of
involvement with actual news,
and now extends to television
entertainment drama series.
The program “Designated
Survivor” presented a prime
example. A group consisting
of (surprise!) military veterans
and Second Amendment
types are revealed to be the
perpetrators of a crime in
which almost the entire body
of U.S. elected offi cials were
assassinated while attending
a State of the Union address.
The original idea that it was
Middle Eastern terrorists is,
of course, discredited.
This lunatic-fringe series
is not alone. The latest ‘24’ reboot
characterized veterans as
burned-out psychotics, a consistent
theme of the Obama
Administration, which in a report
libeled veterans as more
of a threat than actual terrorists.
Newsbusters notes that
24 “caricatures veterans,
shows every single vet on the
show as broken in some way.
Even in small scenes, such as
when we see a group of homeless
veterans hanging out under
an overpass, complete
with garbage drum fi re…The
liberal critics have already expressed
displeasure that the
bad guys are radical Islamists.
Funny, though, there haven’t
been any objections to how
our military veteran heroes
are portrayed. Hollywood and
its critics are so predictable.
They don’t want to insult the
radicals in the Muslim world
but it’s no problem to slam the
good guys.”
The various NCIS and
similar crime dramas have a
frequent plot line. A horrendous
crime or terrorist act is
planned or perpetrated, and
the obvious villains, be they
Middle Eastern suspects or
illegal immigrants tied to
criminal organizations, are
wrongly accused. The real
bad guys turn out to be American
right-wingers. In many
forms and variations, the
story-line is repeated over and
over again.
Ben Shapiro, in his book
‘Primetime Propaganda’, outlined
how television executives
have utilized prime-time
television to push left-wing
agendas and have not been
particularly shy about using
McCarthy-like tactics to discriminate
against and harass
anyone who disagrees with
them.
The scope and arrogance
of this practice is truly Orwellian.
Join the Pelham Parkway
Neighborhood Association
and Pelham Parkway
Vision as we host our
annual Toy giveaway. Toys
are limited on a fi rst come
fi rst served basis, one per
child, on Saturday December
15, Pelham Parkway Vision,
735 Lydig Avenue. from
1 to 5 p.m.
BY TONY SOLIMBENE
Remember, our 3rd Sunday
meeting, same time,
same place, the Turner Club.
After the meeting we will
have our Annual Christmas
Party there.
Members may bring a
guest, potential new member,
etc.
Special thanks to members
who worked a little
harder so others in need
could have a nice holiday.
Until next time:
Again, all of us at 253 hope
you and yours have a happy,
fun fi lled and safe holiday
season!
How about one more special
prayer for our service
members on duty.