Tidbits
SECIA Annual Meeting
SECIA will be holding its Annual Meeting on November 4th,
the first Wednesday in November. The
meeting will begin at 7 pm at Van Cleve Park, with a half hour social beginning
at 6:30 pm. Items on this year’s agenda include the annual SECIA Board
elections (contact the SECIA office if you’re interested in running for a seat
on the Board of Directors), presentations on the Como Green Village and the SECIA
Stadium Research Project, and a State of SECIA address. There will also be a community vote to
allocate funds to ensure that the SECIA office remains open into the summer of
2011. Without this allocation of returned program funds, the SECIA office will close
next summer. The SECIA Annual Meeting,
as well as all SECIA committee and board meetings, is open to the public. Any person who owns property or lives in
The 7th Annual Como Cookout was another great event, thanks
to all the wonderful volunteers and attendees.
Moving the event to a Sunday, and earlier in the day, made a difference
and seemed to create a more laid back environment. Attendance was well over 800, with numerous
families, students and new community residents taking in the wonderful end of
summer weather. Thank you to Southeast
Christian Church for operating the food service lines and to “Papa Ron”
Lischeid for operating the grill. The
event wouldn’t have happened without the U of M Student Liaison Program, the U
of M Office of Student Relations, the staff of Van
Cleve Park and over 50 neighborhood volunteers.
Finally, thank you to all our sponsors/partners for the Cookout,
including The Rock-Tenn Corporation, Ritrama, Obento-ya, The Tea Garden, Muddsuckers Coffee, The Good Neighbor Fund,
NRP, MWMO, DBA, the Bike and Walk Ambassadors and Student Union and Activities.
Hopefully we’ll all be around for next year’s event too!
Architecture Consults
On Saturday, November 7, from
SECIA Recognized in
Twin Cities Business Magazine's "Best of Business 2009"
SECIA's
SECIA Finalist for Wedgeshare Grant
Wedge membership voting on SECIA's Grow Box proposal began
October 1st. SECIA is on the
list of well-known, small, eco & local foods orgs and the competition for
the grants will be fierce. The goal of the Southeast Como Grow Box Pilot
Project is to provide the residents of the
Move-in/Move-out
Waste Surveys
SECIA recently received a grant from the MN Pollution
Control Agency to do research on illegal garbage dumping in the
If you are a homeowner, please feel out this survey: http://preview.tinyurl.com/Waste-Survey-Home-Owner
If you are a renter, please fill out this survey: http://preview.tinyurl.com/Waste-Survey-Renter
If you have any questions about the survey, the MPCA Grant
SECIA received, or ways you can reduce, reuse or recycle your trash, please
contact Justin (ec@secomo.org) or Alison (alison@comogreenvillage.info) at
the SECIA office, 612 676 1731. Thanks!
Eco Tip
One of the simplest things people can do to reduce waste is
to reuse or donate used items. We are working on a project to promote this
during the move-in/move-out cycles, but even now you can find out about local
used items or share your old items on
Energy Meters
Available for Check out at
Easy-to-use Power Check energy meters from Xcel Energy are available
for check out from selected libraries or can be reserved online beginning Oct. 1.
The meters will help you identify high energy use appliances in your home,
determine how much it costs to use appliances, predict your savings in reducing
appliance use, calculate the cost-savings of replacing older equipment with
energy-efficient models, and identify "energy vampires" - appliances
that use energy when switched off.
The energy meters come with home energy assessment instructions, worksheets, money-saving
energy tips, and information about rebates and incentive programs.
For more information, e-mail
Melinda Ludwiczak or call 952-847-8633.
Gopher Stadium
Reporting Tool
SECIA has developed a survey tool to collect data on the impact that the new TCF Bank Gopher Football Stadium will have on the community. We all know there will be impacts, and by collecting how the stadium and its attendees affect the community, we can better address those issues. So if you witness something negative, or positive, about event-day activities related to the new stadium, please take a few moments and visit the Good Neighbor Fund Research website located under Stadium Research at www.secomo.org.
The actual survey can also be found on the left-side menu at: www.tinyurl.com/Stadium-Survey
SECIA’s goal is to capture
positive and negative information to inform the decisions made by the
311 and 911 Reporting
Tool
The Student Neighborhood Liaisons, in conjunction with
SECIA, are asking residents to report their calls (emails) to 311 and 911
through a new survey tool located on the SECIA website under the Housing and
Livability section. This information
will allow the Liaisons to collect data on emerging trends in the neighborhood,
enabling them to respond to the needs of their blocks. SECIA has also used this data to work with
the 2nd Precinct and Council-member Gordon’s office to address specific
problems in the community, such as house parties. Your feedback has encouraged the City to
concentrate more attention to
Family Halloween
Party
All the ghosts and goblins, and their parents, are welcome
to join the Van Cleve Park staff for this festive, safe, Halloween Party,
before you go trick or treating. Enjoy
carnival games, refreshments, and candy.
The party runs from
He didn’t create Microsoft, the Mac or Google, but Otto H.
Schmitt (1913-1998) invented something those companies couldn’t exist without:
the Schmitt Trigger, an electronic circuit that converted analog signals to
digital (“a thermionic trigger that allows a constant electronic signal to be
changed to an on/off state, or ‘1’ to ‘0’”).
It’s used today in the input mechanism of virtually every computer, as
well as other electronic devices. He
developed the trigger by studying the nerves in squid and trying to engineer a
device that replicated the natural system by which squid nerves propagate. That early emphasis on the
biological/engineering interface would expand and deepen through Schmitt’s
career as Professor of Biophysics, Bioengineering, and Electrical Engineering
at the
Born in
Schmitt worked on radar systems during the war, and devised a mechanism that detected the presence of German submarines by measuring the effects a moving steel boat had on the earth’s magnetic fields. An airplane trailed a cable towing his device in the air over the target area.
As a bioengineer, Schmitt focused on creating devices that
mimicked natural systems, and he coined the word “biomimetic” to describe
them. He found ways to improve the
accuracy of electrocardiographic tests and invented
other biomedical electronics. After
Sputnik, Schmitt worked on bioastronautics and aerospace instrumentation. In the 1970s the U. S. Navy asked him to
analyze effects of its huge radar grid of Extremely Low Frequency magnetic
fields across northern
A founder of the Biophysical Society in 1956 and owner of
sixty patents, Schmitt was named to the Minnesota Inventors Hall of Fame (1978)
and to the prestigious National Academy of Engineering (1979). Some of his inventions can be seen in
Otto Schmitt was eccentric. His house and office were crammed with his research projects. Knowing that all systems will fail at some point and believing in non-replicative redundancy in systems, he wore two watches and carried another in his pocket so at least one of them had the right time; that also explains the six or eight different types of pens always in his shirt’s pocket protector. And, because of his research on subtle but measurable electric impulses in the human heart, nerves, brain—the kind now seen at work in mind-controlled electronic prosthetic arms and hands—Schmitt was convinced that the mind could make objects move (telekinesis) and receive signals from other minds (telepathy). He was trying to figure out how that worked to the end of his days.
2nd Precinct
Highlights
Total violent crimes have decreased 18.4% over this time frame last year in the 2nd Precinct; and overall property crime is down 10%. The precinct has had a 22% reduction in robbery YTD.
900 block of
Huron Blvd and University Ave SE – Witnesses observed a
group of suspects breaking into vehicles. Officers arrived and located
four suspects in possession of items taken from the vehicles. Four taken into custody.
Additional Highlights from the Minneapolis Police Department
available at: http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/police/crimealert/highlights.asp
Upcoming 2nd
Precinct Programs
Block Club Training – will take place on
Rental Property Owners Workshop will take place October 22,
2009, 5pm to 9pm, at St. Mary's Greek Orthodox Church, 3450 Irving Av. S.
There is a nominal fee which covers printed materials, a
Registration begins at
The ABCs of property management
Working with the Minneapolis Police Department
Working with Housing Inspections
Tenant behavior issues
The risk of lead poisoning
Networking opportunities
Space is limited! Register early -- and if you have
new property management staff with your team that haven't been to one, please
take this opportunity to send them to the workshop. Thanks!
Personal Safety Workshop – October 29th @ Pratt School,
Homecoming 2009: The Ultimate Homecoming
There will be a weeklong celebration beginning Sunday,
October 4 and running through Sunday, October 11 for Homecoming 2009: The
Ultimate Homecoming. A few activities are highlighted below. For a complete list of homecoming activities,
visit the University's homecoming website http://www.homecoming.umn.edu/. We hope to see you back on campus in October!
TCF Bank Stadium Tours & University
Open House
Sunday, October 4,
TCF Bank Stadium
TCF Bank Stadium will open its doors for the one and only Open House to the
TCF Bank Stadium tours will include the stadium field, Gopher locker room, and
M Club Room. Please bring a
non-perishable food item to this event. These
items will be donated to food networks in
October SECIA
Calendar
6 SECIA Board
Meeting
Van Cleve
Park,
10
13
Councilmember Gordon
SECIA
Office,
17
20 Housing &
Livability Committee
Van Cleve
Park,
25
27 Environment
Committee
SECIA
Office,
27 Safety
Committee
Van Cleve
Park,