Download the articles from the September 2010 issue of Southwest Airlines’ Spirit Magazine:

• Part 1) Meet Hampton Roads:  Virginia’s hub of convenience, commerce, and coastal charms. History, commerce, military power, and hometown hospitality intersect in Hampton Roads, Virginia. Freedom was won here, and independence was conceived here. Rob Cross, Virginia Arts Festival’s Executive and Artistic Director, is featured as Hampton Roads’ very own music man.
• Part 2) Live:  From waterside condos to downtown Victorians, lifestyle choices abound.
• Part 3) Work:  A strong military presence sets the pace. Hampton Roads is at the forefront of the art-meets-science modeling and simulation industry, initially supported by the military and now heavily used in commercial transportation, medicine, and other fields. A hub for healthcare, too.
• Part 4) Play:  From boardwalks to Broadway, there’s no shortage of entertainment in Hampton Roads. The Sporting Life: Hampton Roads takes sports seriously. Passionate fans make up for the absence of a big-league franchise with their support for a wide range of collegiate and amateur athletics as well as minor league competition.
• Part 5) Eat:  Seafood naturally, but so much more.
• Part 6) Sleep:  The past never sleeps at these historic inns, but you can.

Link to more on “Meet Hampton Roads from the air“

Click HERE for a complete Hampton Roads Resource Page on Joint Forces Command with links to organizations such as the Hampton Roads Military and Federal Facilities Alliance, local and state resources such as Congressman Forbes webpage, regional strategies such as Vision Hampton Roads and the Hampton Roads Modeling and Simulation Strategy 2020, events such as MODSIM World 2010, JFCOM news and more…

Sooner or later it was bound to happen, as even a hyperpower has limits. After nine years, the United States is reassessing its commitment to the longest war it has to date prosecuted. Monday’s announcement by Defense Secretary Robert Gates of budget cuts, a personnel freeze and the dissolution of the U.S. Joint Forces Command (JFCOM) represents the beginning of a marked change in how America will protect itself and how it calculates priorities within our nation’s defense.

by Sebestyén L.V. Gorka posted on the New Atlanticist Policy and Analysis Blog on August 16, 2010

Coming as these decisions do a matter of days after the wholesale disclosure of classified information by a renegade website and the launch of a series of investigative reports by a national daily into waste and redundancy within the intelligence community, they will satisfy two different constituencies: those which favor a less activist national security sector and those who, whilst more hawkish of persuasion, support a leaner and more efficient national defense establishment.

However, the merits of Secretary Gates’ proposed austerity measures cannot be gauged in terms of dollars and cents alone. Any such large-scale alteration to how an administration invests in the security of the country must by its nature have doctrinal as well as operational consequences. Especially the decision that has been institutionally the easiest to focus upon: the dismantling of the four-star joint command in Norfolk, Va.

The creation 11 years ago, out of the former Atlantic Command, of a new organization that would serve the other regional combatants commands in promoting “jointness” — or the integration of military capabilities across all services: Army, Air Force, Navy and Marines— was closely connected to the sweeping reform of the U.S. military that occurred in the late 1980s. After several very exposed failures — most especially the disastrous attempt to rescue our hostages in Iran that was Operation Desert One — Congress mandated interoperability across all services through the Goldwater-Nichols Act of 1986. This would lead to the creation of two non-regional commands: U.S. Special Operations Command and later U.S. Joint Forces Command.

Although at the time, such a congressional “intrusion” into the mechanics of the armed forces was resented by many in uniform, the results have been positive. Today an ambitious officer who wants to climb the rank structure to general or flag officer status must serve a joint, or “purple” tour (as it is called because this is the color one arrives at after all the services’ colors are mixed). He or she cannot stay safely within the culture of one military force but demonstrate familiarity and expertise in the ways of its sister services.

Although a child of the Cold War, this concept of jointness was only truly proven well after the fall of the Berlin Wall. In the last 20 years, as the nation has deployed soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines to highly complex theaters such as the Middle East, the Balkans and, after Sept. 11, 2001, into Central Asia, it has become obvious that the conventional ways of war no longer apply. With enemies that have no nation-state or national army, who wear no uniform or fail to follow the established laws of war, there is no room for classic divisions of labor established for an era in which the main forces of one nation would meet the main forces of another on the battlefield and fight until a clear victory was imposed by the one upon the other. Jointness may not be a concept found in the classic canons of strategic masters such as Carl von Clausewitz, but neither were such works written with today’s enemies in mind.

Today, not only is jointness needed more than ever, it should be a concept implemented across all departments of government, which have a role in national security. If one cannot become a general unless one has executed a purple tour, then likewise, one should not be able to become ambassador unless one has served in a military tour, or become a CIA head-of-station unless one has served in a stabilization mission. You don’t have to be a fan of nation-building to understand that the ability to work with other elements of government and to know their capabilities (and limitations) is an asset that will make the nation better able to cope with a most un-Clausewitzian world.

Secretary Gates is right to finally rein in the defense sector, especially given the slow rate of economic recovery we are witnessing. Nevertheless, of all the waste and redundancy that should be tackled first, the Joint Forces Command needn’t be the first. On the contrary, the secretary should hold up the concept of jointness as a model for his other Cabinet colleagues and convince the commander in chief that in an age in which we see the globalization and democratization of violence, the nation would be well-served by not just more purple within the armed services, but also by the institutionalization of a culture of “SuperPurple” across all the organs of American national security.

Our enemies already operate in a cross-cultural and post-conventional world. We should — in this — emulate them.

Representatives from ABC-Virginia will be on hand and magazines available at MegaVention 2010 on August 25th at the Virginia Beach Convention Center. “The Future for Virginia’s Cities Resembles a Charming Past” By Lindsay Minard

The term “edge city” debuted in 1991 in Joel Garreau’s EDGE CITY: Life on the New Frontier. With the right amount of epiphany and wit, his stab at describing the 20th century evolution of cities was convincing enough to get baptized urban dictionary-style.

Defined by Garreau, “edge cities” have five million square feet or more of office space, over 600,000 square feet of retail space, an early morning increase in population followed by a significant drop in numbers beginning at 5:00 PM and an aura of being a place with it all; and likely featured, 30 years prior to their current state, a single pump gas station with a sign in the window indicating LAST STOP FOR GAS FOR 50 MILES.

Edge city, the term, had a good run; in 20 years it was snatched from its urban dictionary digs to title a magazine, a café, a website, a video game, its own film, and yes, even a band. But the spotlight is fleeting even for the brightest of trends.

There are certain truths of human nature that continually impact the way we live, work and play.

• One. We repeatedly fall for the “grass is greener” trick.
• Two. We know we need to think big picture, but we often get caught in the here and now – forgetting about the there and later.
• Three. We are restless. We run through 24/7 with blind drive propelling us forward. Then we retire; and often head back to work lest we be sitting at home wringing our hands.
• Four: We are lifetime subscribers to all things that allow us to move faster toward the greener grass, the presumable there and later.

With human nature in play, restless 20th century Americans used the automobile to break free of 19th century downtowns in search of greener grass on its outskirts.

Decades after the initial trek to suburbia, “edge city” was Joel Garreau’s cool name for the result of what happened when suburbanites decided they were fed up with leaving their white-picket-fenced yards to drive downtown to work and shop. By 1991, work, heavy duty retail and fitness playgrounds were brought closer to Stepford – right off major highways and interstates—disregarding the there and later, focusing on the here and now.

“If you look at a map today you’ll often see a major road extending from an urban area to the suburbs with everything built off it; one way in—one way out—no connectivity. With that move to the suburbs, we essentially shot ourselves in the foot from a transportation standpoint. That type of development is unsustainable and has us trending back downtown,” states Dana Dickens, president of the Hampton Roads Partnership (HRP).

In 2010 edge cities are still around, still imprisoning their well-dressed nine-to-fivers. But in the 21st century, society is trending towards Garreau’s newest entry for consideration in the urban dictionary, “Santa Fe’ing.” The verb looks to define the next evolution of cities taking place, according to Garreau, in reaction to the latest revolution in transportation: the networked computer.

Whether it be the computer, natural progression (or for Virginians, a solution to transportation woes), commercial real estate is undoubtedly taking on a different shape. Virginia and much of the country is trading in its sterile, concrete-jungle-esque edge cities and Santa Fe’ing them back into something resembling charming downtowns of our past.  more…

The entire cover story, “The Future for Virginia’s Cities,” is available for download here.

The region, which includes Virginia Beach, Norfolk and Newport News, saw total personal income rise 1.2 percent last year to $66.4 billion. On average, personal income dropped 2.3 percent in 52 metro areas of at least 1 million people.

The Washington, D.C., area also was one of the gainers. Its total personal income rose 1.1 percent to $309 billion. Personal income is defined by the government as income received by persons from all sources.

Richmond, the only other large Virginia metro region in the survey, saw total personal income drop 1.6 percent to $51 billion.

In another measurement of wealth, per-capita income, rose slightly last year in Hampton Roads and Washington: $39,674, up 1 percent, in Hampton Roads and $56,442, up 0.7 percent, in the Washington area. Richmond’s per-capita income declined 2.5 percent to $41, 242. Per-capita income is calculated by dividing total personal income in an area by its resident population.

In a wider Bureau of Economic Analysis survey of 366 metro areas, personal income declined in 223, increased in 134 and remained unchanged in nine.

The survey included seven metro areas in addition to Hampton Roads, Washington and Richmond.

Their estimates were:

• Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford: $4.5 billion in total personal income, up 0.7 percent; $28,197 in per-capita income, unchanged
• Charlottesville: $8.4 billion, down 0.2 percent; $42,857, down 1.1 percent
• Danville: $3.2 billion, up 1.9 percent; $30,471, up 2.3 percent
• Harrisonburg: $3.7 billion, up 3.1 percent; $30,795, down 0.8 percent
• Lynchburg: $8.2 billion, down 0.5 percent; $33,224, down 1.3 percent
• Roanoke: $11.5 billion, down 1 percent; $38,166, down 1.4 percent
• Winchester: $4.2 billion, down 0.1 percent; $33,568, down 1.3 percent.

From Virginia Business

From the BEA: WASHINGTON DC, August 9, 2010 – Personal income declined in 2009 in most of the nation’s metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), according to estimates released today by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Large MSAs. Among the 52 MSAs with a population of one million or more, only three had an increase in both net earnings and personal income in 2009 (Washington, D.C.; San Antonio, Texas; and Virginia Beach, Virginia). The biggest gains in compensation in these three MSAs were in the federal government (civilian and military combined). Private sector compensation declined in these three MSAs.

Read more at BEA’s website.

Hampton Roads ranked 42nd in the nation for exporting goods in 2008, according to a report from a Washington, D.C. think tank.

By Bill Cresenzo, Inside Business, Posted: July 30, 2010

The report, from the Brookings Institution, measures the export output for 100 metro areas in the U.S. It says that Hampton Roads had $6.72 billon in exports, most of it transportation equipment, which made up 38.8 percent of exports out of the area.

The report measures exported goods and services – 8 .7 percent of exports were made up of services, such as management consulting and architectural and medical services.

“Hampton Roads has great export potential,” said Emilia Israte, a senior research analyst with Brookings. “Coming out of the recession, the country needs to focus more on exports as part of the recovery. People in charge of local economic development in Hampton Roads have to focus on exports and have to create an export strategy… government has to create the framework that allows businesses to flourish and export more.”

Hampton Roads has seen significant growth in exports since 2003, Israte said. Exports have grown 11.3 percent each year, compared to the national average of 9.2 percent annually.

On March 11, President Obama issued an executive order creating the National Export Initiative. “A critical component of stimulating economic growth in the United States is ensuring that U.S. businesses can actively participate in international markets by increasing their exports of goods, services and agricultural products,” the order says. “Improved export performance will, in turn, create good high-paying jobs.”

Obama created an Export Promotion Cabinet and wants to double exports over the next five years, through new programs that help first-time and existing exporters.

“The first question is what can we do to encourage more export-related business in Hampton Roads,” Israte said. “It is about identifying your exporters in the area and figuring out how you can help them export more.”

Hampton Roads does not have a governmental agency that specifically targets exporters. The Hampton Roads Economic Development Alliance (HREDA), funded by both public and private money, works to bring business to the Hampton Roads area.

“Exports are not really part of our mission that we have here as a regional economic development group,” said Thomas Clemmons, vice president of the alliance.”We work exclusively to attract new business.”

The report said that U.S. exports supported 11.8 million jobs in the U.S. in 2008, and that four metro areas doubled their real value of exports between 2003 and 2008.

New York topped the list, exporting $85.16 in exports, mostly chemicals. Los Angeles came in second with $78.54 billion in exports, mostly computers.

Richmond came in 55th, with $4.95 billion in exports, mostly chemicals.

Graphs and economic impact data provide by the Virginia Port Authority:

• The Port of Virginia is an Economic Engine for the Commonwealth
  • 343,000 Port and Port-Related Jobs Statewide
  • $41 Billion in Business Revenues
  • $1.2 Billion in State and Local Taxes
• Increased Port Growth Results in More Jobs and Revenues for the Commonwealth

Source: 2006 Economic Impact Study by William & Mary Mason School of Business (Download complete report)

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Monday he intends to close Norfolk-based Joint Forces Command over the next year, sending a shudder through the military and business communities in Hampton Roads.

In a press conference, a tough-talking Gates proposed other cuts as part of a broader effort to rein in military spending. It includes a 10 percent reduction next year in the Pentagon’s use of outside contractors and cutting the number of admirals and generals.

“I am determined to change the way this department has done business for a long time,” he said.

JFCOM, located in Norfolk and Suffolk, was established to train troops from different services to work, communicate and fight together.

It is one of the Defense Department’s 10 combatant commands. Its missions include experimentation, training and developing advanced warfighting concepts. Its 2010 operating budget is $704 million.

In addition to its headquarters in Norfolk, it operates the Joint Warfighting Center in northern Suffolk and has outposts in Newport News, Nevada and Florida. In 2007, it provided about 4,500 high-paying jobs and pumped about $365 million into the local economy according to Old Dominion University.

It is unclear just how many of those jobs would be lost or transferred out of the area. Gates said critical functions of JFCOM would be retained and reassigned elsewhere in the Defense Department.

When JFCOM was created, it meant an extra layer of bureaucracy, but Gates said that was understood at the time. The benefits of joint operations outweighed the costs.

“Since then, compelled by decades of operational experience, the U.S. military has largely embraced jointness as a matter of culture and practice,” Gates said.

So while training joint forces and creating joint doctrine are still valuable efforts, “they do not necessarily require a separate four-star combatant command,” he said.

As a nod to Virginia, Gates said the cuts could free up more funding for critical tasks like shipbuilding. Northrop Grumman Corp.’s Newport News shipyard is the state’s largest private industrial employer with more than 20,000 workers.

“If, as a result of these efforts, I’m able to add $1 (billion) to $2 billion to a Navy shipbuilding program of record, Virginia may well come out with more jobs than it loses,” Gates said.

Other news sources weigh in….

Suffolk News-Herald:  Bipartisan group blasts defense closure plan

Elected officials from the local, state and federal level were quick on Monday to react to a surprise announcement by U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates that he is moving ahead with a recommendation that the U.S. Joint Forces Command be closed.

“Why the huge rush?” McDonnell asked. “If it’s going to happen, let it be through BRAC [the Base Realignment and Closure commission].”

In fact, representatives said, none of the checks and balances that are part of the normal BRAC process seem to have been in effect when the DBB conceived its recommendation.

“This was a decision, apparently, of the secretary and a handful of people,” the governor said. “This is not the way these decisions should be made.”

Gates refused to talk to congressmen about the decision, Forbes added, despite the fact that the most recent quadrennial defense review never mentioned problems with JFCOM’s mission. Read more…

Daily Press:  JFCOM closing would ripple through Hampton Roads economy

On the bright side, high-tech industry has worked to expand applications beyond defense

The impact on the local economy of losing JFCOM “is absolutely monumental,” said Frank Roberts, executive director of the Hampton Roads Military and Federal Facilities Alliance. Read more…

Richmond Times-Dispatch:  Politicians decry plan to close Hampton Road’s command

(Senator Mark) Warner, in a written statement, said the Joint Forces Command promotes cooperation among competing military services and investment in high-tech businesses that support the agency.

“In the business world, you sometimes have to spend money in order to save money,” he said. Read more…

NY Times:  Pentagon Plans Steps to Reduce Budget and Jobs

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Monday that he would close a military command, restrict the use of outside contractors and reduce the number of generals and admirals across the armed forces as part of a broad effort to rein in Pentagon spending.

The potential savings Mr. Gates outlined are likely to be relatively modest in the context of a total Pentagon budget, including war fighting costs, projected to top $700 billion next year. The most significant step — in symbol and in substance — was his plan to close the military’s Joint Forces Command in Norfolk, Va.

The command includes about 2,800 military and civilian positions supported by 3,000 contractors at an annual cost of $240 million. Its responsibilities, which include managing the allocation of global forces and running programs to press the armed services to work together on the battlefield, will be reassigned, mostly to personnel working under the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon. Read more…

Link to documents from the Defense Business Board

Photo from the NY Times: Getty Images, Chris Somodevilla

As the tough times continue… Where is our regional economy headed? How does our port size up against other east coast container ports? What can we learn about light rail from other cities? Why are we feeling so much pain in the office/industrial real estate markets? How are we doing? Dashboard indicators of Vision Hampton Roads.

Keynote Speaker: Dr. James V. Koch, President Emeritus and Professor of Economics, Old Dominion University Date: Wednesday, October 6, 2010 Time: 7:45 a.m. Registration; 8:00-9:30 a.m. Breakfast and presentation followed by discussion Location: Norfolk Waterside Marriott

The Annual State of the Region Address will provide the most comprehensive review of the region’s current economic strengths, challenges, and interrelationships.  Engage in discussion with business, community, and government leaders from the 17 communities of greater Hampton Roads. Attendees will receive a copy of “The State of the Region 2010″ produced by the Regional Studies Institute, Old Dominion University.

Register HERE.

For more information, contact Angela Blackwell Carter, Vice President, Leadership Programs for the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce, 500 East Main Street, Suite 700, Norfolk, VA 23510 at (757) 664-2528 or Desiree Ellison, Coordinator, Leadership Programs at (757) 664-2516 or dellison@hrccva.com.

What’s the best way to create new jobs? Based on a recent study from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, it’s by stimulating more start-up businesses.

Download and read the complete study.

Despite their relatively small numbers, fast-growing young firms generate approximately 10 percent of new jobs in any given year. Researchers suggest three policy strategies to support high-growth startups to bolster job growth.

As the American economy continues to send out mixed signals about recovery, job creation has emerged as the country’s most pressing economic issue. Not only important for employment itself, job growth also drives recovery in other sectors, including housing. But, while hope for spurring the U.S. economy toward recovery focuses squarely on job creation, policy discussions center primarily on measures that would expand job growth in existing companies.

According to the study released by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, the current national conversation would be more productively focused on creating a favorable environment for entrepreneurship—and particularly high-growth entrepreneurship—because top-performing companies are the most fertile source of new jobs.

High-Growth Firms and the Future of the American Economy, the third in the Kauffman Foundation Research Series on Firm Formation and Economic Growth, draws on a special tabulation conducted by the Census Bureau at the Kauffman Foundation’s request, calculated from the Business Dynamics Statistics (BDS) database. Author Dane Stangler, a senior analyst with the Kauffman Foundation, found that in any given year, the top-performing 1 percent of firms generate roughly 40 percent of all new jobs.

Further, the study showed, so-called “gazelle” firms (ages three to five) comprise less than 1 percent of all companies, yet generate roughly 10 percent of new jobs in any given year. The “average” firm in the top 1 percent contributes 88 jobs per year, and most end up with between 20 and 249 employees. The average firm in the economy as a whole, on the other hand, adds two or three net new jobs each year.

“Because fast-growing young firms account for a disproportionate share of net job creation, policymakers who are worriedly poring over unemployment projections might instead seek to foster the creation of more high-growth firms,” said Robert E. Litan, vice president of Research and Policy at the Kauffman Foundation. “While some new companies will undoubtedly fail, high-growth firms must be started somehow, and the more quickly they are launched and in larger numbers, the faster both output and employment will grow.”

The study suggests that policymakers follow three strategies in seeking to create more gazelles:

• Focus on creating more new firms, with the expectation that this also will increase, by basic arithmetic, the number of high-growth firms. Startup firms contribute a net increase in employment that is essential if the economy is to achieve positive net job creation in any given year. Since the level and rate of firm formation in the United States have basically been flat for 20 years, however, it’s not clear how successful the United States can be in actually creating more new companies. In addition, while it is possible that the recent recession will spur more individuals to start companies, there is no guarantee that this will automatically increase the number of high-growth firms.
• Remove barriers that potentially block the emergence of high-growth companies among existing firms. These barriers could include access to capital, taxation and regulatory burdens.
• Target immigrants and universities, which have been known to produce high-growth firms but which often suffer from bottlenecks. Recent research has shown that U.S.-based technology and engineering companies founded by immigrants have created thousands of jobs for Americans. While many Americans might perceive immigrants as competition for a limited supply of jobs, many immigrants end up making, rather than taking, jobs. To draw into the United States those immigrants who intend to start firms, either establish a new visa program—such as an expansion of the “Startup Visa Act” recently introduced in the U.S. Senate that would create a new visa for immigrants who can raise $250,000 for their startup company—or expand the existing EB-5 visa program for immigrant investors. On the university front, enhance innovation and job creation by breaking down barriers in the commercialization process that could impede university researchers from moving their innovations into new companies.

“Without startups, our research shows that net job creation in most years would be negative, so policies that expand firm formation could increase both job creation and the number of high-growth firms,” Stangler said.

For the complete Small Business Administration “Gazelles” report highlighting Hampton Roads as the “Best Region” on the East Coast for Defense Jobs, click HERE.

From Joe Turner, Editor of the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission’s (HRPDC) HR Review and the Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization’s (HRTPO) Crossings

This is it.

This is the final paper edition of Hampton Roads Review. As someone who in college participated in the transition of the student newspaper from cut and paste to on-screen computer layouts, it was evident then that a day would come when electronic communications would eclipse print. I just didn’t realize that I would be shepherding such a transition for a publication with a history that is as old as I am. It is an honor to do so, and I am confident that what we have planned for the future electronic Hampton Roads Review will do justice to this publication’s legacy.

In this last print issue, HRPDC staff continues to examine and provide a local view of issues that are receiving national attention. Regional efforts toward greater energy efficiency are discussed on Page four. Keeping with energy, there are discussions in Virginia regarding alternative energy sources, and it’s not offshore wind or drilling. An update on the potential of mining uranium in the Commonwealth is provided on Page eight.

‘Tis the Season; Hurricane Season, that is. Our Emergency Management planners are encouraging everyone to get prepared and participate in the upcoming National Preparedness Month, Page 11. In addition, our staff recently participated in a tabletop exercise for the region’s Chief Administrative Officers regarding decision making during a catastrophic event, using a Category 3 hurricane as the event, Page 12.

Click on HR Review cover graphic for a PDF file of the Summer 2010 issue.

Just as the HRPDC’s Hampton Roads Review ends its printed run, so too does CROSSINGS. While not as steeped in tradition, this publication has been well received and noted for the amount of information contained on its pages. The move to electronic format shouldn’t change that. If anything, it should provide the same information and more…with greater frequency.

As this is the final printed edition, HRTPO staff wanted to make it memorable and has stuffed this edition full of information. There are updates on the results of the most recent General Assembly’s action with regard to transportation, Page 18. Numerous hot topic items are also represented. Want to know what’s transpiring with regard to High-Speed and Intercity Passenger Rail. Check out Page 16. What about the Project Prioritization tool? It’s about to get its first use as part of the 2034 Long-Range Transportation Planning process, see Page 9.

In addition to the hot topics, staff continues to work more traditional items. Two corridor studies for roads in Suffolk were recently completed, Page 12. Staff has been researching regional land use planning initiatives across the US and outside the country in hopes of finding strategies that could aid in the development of a regional land use map for application in various modes of transportation planning in the Hampton Roads region, see Page 7. Finally, as it is hurricane season, staff has provided a reminder about evacuation routes should a hurricane threaten the region, see Page 13.

I’ll end my note with a final reminder to sign-up for our e-communications so you will not miss the first issue of the new electronic CROSSINGS (http://HRTPO.org) or the first issue of the new electronic Hampton Roads Review (sign up at http://HRPDCVA.gov).

As always, contact me with any comments or suggestions.

Click on Crossings cover graphic for a PDF of the Summer 2010 issue.