by the University of Michigan

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Go outside. It helps improve your focus– even when it’s cold outside.

University of Michigan psychology research in the December issue of Psychological Science explored the cognitive benefits of interacting with nature and found that walking in a park, no matter whether it’s warm outside or a cold winter’s day, or even viewing pictures of nature can help improve memory and attention.

U-M psychology researchers Marc Berman, John Jonides, and Stephen Kaplan found memory performance and attention spans improved by 20 percent after people spent an hour interacting with nature by simply going for a walk in a park.

Researchers think the findings could have broader impacts in terms of helping people who may be suffering from mental fatigue. Interacting with nature has also been shown to improve cancer patient recovery time, memory and attention as well.

“Interacting with nature can have similar effects as meditating,’’ Berman said.

In addition, “People don’t have to enjoy the walk to get the benefi ts. We found the same benefi ts when it was 80 degrees and sunny over the summer as when the temperatures dropped to 25 degrees in January. The only difference was that participants enjoyed the walks more in the spring and summer than in the dead of winter.”

The distractions and bustle of the city streets from traffi c lights, to people crossing streets and coming out of buildings all stimulate people but seem to eat up attention and memory while the peaceful ease of nature seems to have a calming, regenerative effect on people.

Berman has worked closely with U-M psychology researcher Stephen Kaplan, who has developed a theory that if people interact with nature, it allows them to rest and deliberate and aids their cognitive processes.

Kaplan and his wife, Rachel, also a psychology researcher, argue that people are far more likely to be satisfied with their lives when their environment supports three basic needs: the ability to understand and explore, to feel they make a difference, and to feel competent and effective. Berman decided to test that theory by sending study participants on walking routes around Ann Arbor.

Participants walked on an urban route down Huron avenue and also on a route in U-M’s Matthaei Botanical Gardens and Nichols Arboretum, taking in nature.

When participants walked in the Arboretum they improved their shortterm memory by 20 percent, but showed no improvements when walking down Huron avenue.

The researchers also tested the same theory by ­having subjects sit inside and look at pictures of either downtown scenes or nature scenes and again the results were the same: when looking at photos of nature memory and attention scores improved by about 20 percent, but not when viewing the urban pictures.

For more on Berman, visit: http://www.lsa.umich.edu/psych/people/directory/profiles/?id=bermanm.

For more on the U-M Psychology Department, visit: http://www.lsa.umich.edu/psych/flash.asp.

For more on the journal Psychological Science, visit: http://www.psychologicalscience.org/.

by Garrett McAuliffe

Mayor Gavin Newson up turns the first dirt at the site of the Transbay Transit Center. He stands among supporters of the project. The Transbay Transit Center will be a new home for 2,600 families, it will serve more than 100,000 transit passengers per day, and will have parks and a retail main street. (Photo by Dania Patricia Maxwell)

Despite his seeming accessibility, strong grassroots support and involvement in a highly visible, competitive election, many residents of the Mission District and Bernal Heights still consider the newly elected member to the Board of Supervisors David Campos, a relatively unknown figure politically.

“Whereas (Eric) Quezada and (Mark) Sánchez had strong ties as community organizers, Campos seems to have come out of nowhere,” said Steven Pazarek, who has lived on the south side of Bernal Heights for the past six years, referring to the other two strong contenders who ran against Campos to fill the supervisor seat for District 9.

­Many in the neighborhood can outline his inspiring biography: After entering the country from Guatemala with his family at the age of 14, undocumented and speaking only Spanish, ­Campos eventually earned scholarships to study at Stanford and then Harvard Law, before becoming involved with local politics as a city attorney and, more recently, as a police commissioner and member of San Francisco’s Democratic Central Committee.

But beyond background facts, some in the neighborhood still wonder exactly where he fits along the city’s left-leaning political spectrum.

“City government has to work for everyone, including those who have the least, and I think oftentimes those are the people who are forgotten,” Campos said to El Reportero. “That’s how I see the essence of the progressive movement, and I feel I am a part of that and proud to be a part of that.”

He elaborated, “That said, I think, especially in these tough budget times, you have to transcend the labels while remaining true to your core principles. We need to reach out to people who may not agree with us and figure out a way of working together to really address what we are facing, which is a crisis, an economic crisis, that is now affecting San Francisco. We have to figure out a way how we, as an elected family, can work together to collectively address that.”

The worsening state of our economy also adds concern to one of David Campos’ priorities, improving public safety.

“We know that crime can increase during tough economic times,” he explained. In Campos’ opinion, understanding the systemic causes of crime, social and economic, is vital to addressing this issue.

“I think why people get in trouble, especially young people, is that they don’t have much going on in their lives,” he said. “If you give them something to do, I think that that will go a long way to keeping that person out of the criminal justice system. That’s why we need to invest in programs that give, especially young people, job opportunities, internship opportunities.”

Campos highlights the need for community involvement and connection in any proposed programs, an emphasis that extends to his vision of a more engaged, receptive police force.

But some residents have expressed doubts regarding any belief that police can have a significant role in improving public safety.

“I don’t think increased police presence alone has ever had much effect in reducing violent crime in a neighborhood,” said Antonio Román-Alcala, an urban gardener with a background in community organizing and youth projects, who grew up and continues to live in the Mission.

While recognizing that public safety is not just a policing issue, Campos does advocate increased foot patrols and closer connections and understanding between police and the community.

Campos remains particularly proud of his efforts while police commissioner to implement more cultural competency programs for officers.

“We had police talk with someone who was undocumented and explain the experience of being someone undocumented in the Mission, and the language barriers that go with that,” he explained, adding, “I think new officers are receptive.”

While training in cultural diversity is important, Campos ­emphatically believes city resources should not be devoted to enforcing federal criminalization of undocumented workers.

“Our status as a sanctuary city helps to make our city safer,” he said.

“It’s an issue that I think can define who we are as a city and I think we need to protect our sanctuary status. That’s going to be a priority for me, making sure that the rights and interests of immigrants in this city are respected and are addressed.”

One such right, which Campos supports, would allow undocumented immigrants to become eligible for driver’s licenses.

In response to questions regarding the continued confiscation of vehicles in the city for the sole offence of not holding a license (an infraction that calls for a 30-day impound and often costs upwards of $1500 to retrieve), Campos cited the unfairness of such a policy that regularly targets immigrants.

The law regarding vehicle impounds, which El Reportero has been focusing on for the past month, has also faced increasing scrutiny recently over objections of unreasonable seizure.

In light of these objections, Los Angeles and a few counties in the state have placed a moratorium on confiscations.

“That’s one issue I’m going to look into,” Campos said. “We feel that it’s consistent with the spirit of the sanctuary ordinance for us to place a moratorium as well. To the extent there’s any legal room, we should do that.”

This subject will be covered more deeply in a series of articles over the next few weeks. El Reportero will continue to engage David Campos and other supervisors, sharing statistics and working towards a more reasonable and just policy regarding the local enforcement of this law.

by the El Reportero’s news services

President Rafael Correa made a series of announcements on Dec. 12 and 13, which suggests that his government will become even more unpredictable. Until this series of announcements Correa had seemed to be shaping political developments. Now he looks less in control and perhaps less assured of having a congress elected.

A dose of realism

Brazil under the centre left administration of President Lula da Silva has positioned itself as the voice of the developing world and a force for the common good on the international stage.

However, the country’s growing economic and, by extension, political power may force the next president to adopt a more realistic approach to international relations, as Brasilia inevitably must begin to take a more hardnosed look at its future foreign policy priorities. It may not have to look too far to see that a tougher approach may be required sooner rather than later: a recent diplomatic spat with Ecuador has already prompted a tactical revision of Lula’s so-called “Diplomacy of Generosity”, which has long been criticised by the traditional centre-right opposition.

Medvedev works on Latin American links beyond Chávez and his allies

The media devoted considerable attention in late November to a visit by Russia’s President Dmitri Medvedev to Venezuela, timed to coincide with the arrival of a Russian naval task force in the Caribbean Sea.

The fleet was due to begin planned joint manoeuvres with the Venezuelan navy, its first ever joint exercise with a Latin American country in western hemisphere waters. While Venezuela’s President Hugo Chávez presented the event as a strengthening of his ‘strategic alliance’ with Moscow, Medvedev spent less than two of his nine day tour of the region in Venezuela.

Latin American countries more connected

Most Latin American countries increased their roles in the world economy through trade, foreign investment, Internet penetration and other measures in 2007, according to a new report released by Miami-based Latin Business Chronicle.

In the Latin Globaliza­tion Index, which analyzed 18 countries, Panama was ranked as the most globalized nation in the region, followed by Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Chile and Paraguay. Latin America’s two largest economies, Brazil and Mexico, were ranked last and in 10th place, respectively, but both improved from last year’s ratings.

The globalization index uses six elements to measure a county’s globalization level: exports, imports, foreign direct investment, tourism receipts, remittances and Internet penetration. All factors except Internet penetration are calculated as a percent of Gross Domestic Product.

Despite its size, Brazil ranked lower then other nations in the globalization index — mainly because factors like exports and imports are less important relative to its large internal economy.

Overall, 13 of the 18 countries studied improved their ratings from the previous year while five — Bolivia, Honduras, Venezuela, Ecuador and Paraguay — slipped in their rankings.

The index also measures the biggest winners and losers in foreign direct investment. Those showing the best gains in foreign investment were Panama, Chile, El Salvador, Costa Rica and Honduras.

The biggest losers were Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Paraguay and Guatemala. (Latin Briefs and Miami Herald contributed to this report).

by Jackie Guzmán

More than 2,500 community leaders from 32 states gathered Dec. 4 in Washington D.C., to help move the Obama presidential campaign theme of “change” into an agenda for government action.

White House advisors Valerie Jarrett, Melody Barnes and recent appointee Cecilia Muñoz, designated White House director of intergovernmental affairs, were among participants outlining reform proposals.

The one-day session was framed “Realizing the Promise: A Forum on Community, Faith and Democracy.”

Sponsors included the Center for Law and Social Policy, National Council of La Raza, Smart Growth America, AFL-CIO, Service Employees International Union, UFCW, Policy Link, USAction, and Wider Opportunities for Women. Most frequently stressed as priorities the new administration should commit to address within its first 100 days were the economic crisis, health care and immigration reform.

“We have just begun. We need our mission fulfilled in this administration,” NCLR president Janet Murguía set the tone. Jarrett, the president-elect’s senior adviser, reminded the gathering that Obama “started his campaign with the spirit of an organizer. He understands when ordinary people come up together with a common vision, we can create extraordinary things.”

Miguel Díaz, who heads the day-worker efforts of CASA de Maryland, gave testimony from his wife’s experience when she was taken into custody in 2007 by immigration officers at a time when he was trying to legalize her status.

U.S. Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), responded “We are going to make sure Miguel’s family passed through.” “We need reform that brings our brothers and sisters out of the shadows,” said Deepak Bhargava, Center for Community Change executive director.

Hollen and Bhargava were joined by U.S. Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (D-Ill.) who emphasized that immigration reform can come with worker reform, referring to how immigrants are often accused of precipitating the economic crisis.

“It’s easy to blame others,” he said many jobs go begging unless done by imported workers. “Farm workers picking fruit is not going to affect a worker in the city.”

María Socorro Pesqueira, president of Mujeres Latinas en Acción/Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, said Obama can stop the raids that are leading to deported family members.

“We still have families living in fear,” hi said.

Throughout the day, com­munity representatives and members of Congress encouraged all present to continue organizing. “Obama is going to be successful only if the voices of the people are heard,” said Rep. Donna Edwards (D-Md.).

Bhargava and Ana García-Ashley, a director of the Gamaliel Foundation, said their objective is to gather as many people as possible in concensus forming meetings as they can before Jan. 21, the first day of work for President Barack Obama. Obama is a former Gamaliel community organizer. Hispanic Link.