PSU Magazine Summer 1988

Our cities are centers of opportunity URBAN AMERICA IN THE MODERN AGE- 1920 TO THE PRESENT, by Carl Abbott, chair of the Department of Urban Studies and Plann– ing (Harlan Davidson, Inc. , 1987) A merica's future can be read in the successes, failures and hopes of its urban areas, and in this compact and highly readable summary of the social, political and economic forces which have shaped our cities over the past 60 years. The book, one of "The American History Series" from Harlan David– son, Inc., points out that in 1920 fewer than one in three Americans lived in urban areas (including suburbs) while today, that number is more than nine in ten. What drew millions of u s to the cities in the 1930s, '40s and '50s, and what drew us out of the cities to the suburbs in the '60s, '70s and '80s, Abbott says, are the same forces that continue to shape American society. The racial violence and riots of the 1960s, the financial crises in older cities (including the fiscal col– lapse and rescue of New York City in 1975), rising crime and social dysfunction brought home a multitude of nearly insolvable problems. Abbott says, " The real dilemma in urban areas, of course, is our willingness to use the old centers of metropolitan areas as dumping grounds for social problems. People with limited abilities to help themselves are shunted into cities and then blamed for their own ills. " Despite the crisis of the 1960s and the problems of the 1970s, our cities are the focal points of American culture, creativity, economic change, and innovation," Abbott says. "The solution is not to abandon public concern, but rather to develop cities as centers of oppor– tunity." I BOOKS Sculpting the earth CATACLYSMS ON THE COLUM– BIA, by Professor Emeritus John Eliot Allen, Associate Professor of English Mar– jorie Burns, with geologist Sam Sargent (Timber Press, 1986) T he fascinating geologic history of the Pacific Northwest, par– ticularly the Columbia Gorge and Tualatin and Willamette Valleys, is told in this book along with the story of geologist ]. Harlem Bretz. He devoted much of his 40-year career to the development and proof of his theory that the physical shape of the Columbia basin was greatly affected by a series of massive floods . From 15,000 to 12,800 years ago, as many as 40 cataclysmic floods stretched from Missoula, Montana, to the Pacific Ocean, often hundreds of feet deep. More than 16,000 square miles of landscape was transformed by the greatest scien– tifically documented floods known to have occurred in North America. This book tells why the floods occur– red and how they affected the character of the land. Anyone travelling around the Northwest can see the evidence and the results of these floods . Cataclysms m 17 on the Columbia , written in a very ac– cessible, non-technical style with dozens of photographs and illustra– tions, tells us what we are seeing. This obviously is a reflection of John Allen who h as introduced generations of PSU students to the geology of their region . Allen, Burns and Sargent also have included a number of auto tou rs by which readers can track the power of these remarkable fl oods in sculpting the earth's surface. Averting tragedy PREVENTING ADOLESCENT SUICIDE , by Dave Capuzzi, PSU professor of Counselor Education, and Larry Golden (Accelerated Development I nc., 1988) T eenage years are a turbulent time for most. Physical and sexual maturity is thrustin g these children into the adult world , bu t the perspective that comes with maturity is still some years ahead .. Most adolescents survive this time of life. Why do a few want out through suicide? Capuzzi and Golden (a professor of Counseling at Universi ty of Texas at San Antonio) address this ques– tion in their fascinating and easy-to– read new book. Suicide is the second lead ing cau se of death among the 11 to 24 year age group. This is of great con– cern to all of us, but particularl y to the professionals who deal with adolescents on a regular basis. The book, with model prevention and in – tervention programs, is aimed toward teachers, administrators, counselors and therapists, but with no counseling jargon for the average reader to stumble over, the book becomes a helpful reference for every parent.