Pearls of Wisdom
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Lou Slade
KeyNotes Editor
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The success of women in the recent election primaries got me thinking about social progress in the U.S. over the past 40 years. In the late 1960’s, women who graduated from college were expected to have caught a husband on their way to their degree in the arts, education, or nursing. Many professions were not accessible to all but the most aggressive women. Those women who did get advanced professional degrees 40 years ago were the beginning of a wave of women who joined law firms, corporations, and other mainstream professional organizations that had been dominated by white males. Even so, those women ran up against that ceiling that appears to be disappearing at last.
This past 40 years has been enormously successful in opening career opportunities for women and minorities. Our labor force has become much better educated too. Labor statistics show that in 1970 64% of the civilian labor force was male and only 26% of all workers had at least some college. In 2008, males in the labor force was down to 54%, and 62% of all workers had some college.
Here’s another telling statistic about the huge transition that’s taken place in the structure of our labor force: in 1970, the civilian labor force was 30% of the total population of the U.S.; in 2008, it’s 42%. That’s a 40 percent increase! This is the result of less job discrimination, better educational opportunities for all, and a growing demand for goods and services that can be afforded by more households.
I’m amazed that our work force and our wealth have grown so much, given all of the changes that we think of as working against the growth of the U.S. labor force: globalization, automation, loss of our manufacturing industries, and international competition. Now, we are facing wonderful opportunities for even greater growth due to advancements in information and communications technologies, the restructuring of the energy industry, and universal healthcare.
So, in spite of our current troubles, my spirit is undaunted. As Joel Kotkin has written in his new book “The Next 100 Million,” success in America “…lies in the country’s unique and fundamental assets – its deep-seated spirit of ingenuity, its robust demographics (including a resourceful stream of ever-assimilating immigrants), and the world’s largest, most productive expanse of arable land.”…”These traits provide the United States with what Japanese scholar Fuji Kamiya has described as sokojicara: a reserve power that allows it to overcome both the inadequacies of its leaders and the foibles of its citizens.”
In May, about 40 members of the LAI Aloha Chapter attended their quarterly luncheon meeting at The Pacific Club on the topic of “A Landowner's Dilemma - Does Preserving Open Space Make Sense/Cents?”
While most of our chapter’s meetings are on the topic of urban, resort or community development, this one focused on why preserving our open spaces including Hawaii’s agriculture and conservation lands are important to us as a community.
We were fortunate to have two of our own LAI chapter members as thought leaders for this discussion: Jimmy Greenwell, President Lanihau Properties LLC and Palani Ranch Co. and Neil Hannahs, Director - Land Assets Division, Kamehameha Schools.
Mr. Greenwell brought the perspective of a small, family-owned land and cattle enterprise on the island of Hawaii which owns income-producing commercial and developable lands as well as significant higher-elevation range and woodland which the family has historically operated as a cattle ranch. He talked about balancing their trust related mission for maintaining their upland ranch lands with his fiduciary responsibilities to the beneficiaries of the business (whose interests have changed over the generations). He also discussed the different perspectives on ranch lands as seen through the eyes of the three basic stakeholders – the ranch operator, the owner of the ranch land, and the community and public policy makers. It is important for all stakeholders to recognize the “eco-system service values” that flow from such open space and ranch lands and to support public policy which encourages its continued use and good stewardship.
Mr. Hannahs spoke about how Kamehameha Schools, an endowment which is the largest private landowner in Hawaii, has over the last decade developed a number of innovative and culturally-based programs to support the perpetual interest in and stewardship of lands. These assets contribute to the KS mission through their:
- Deployment to mitigate socio-economic risks of reliance on imported food, fuel and fiber;
- Stewardship of cultural resources and places of ancestral significance to strengthen the Hawaiian identity of stakeholders;
- Management to promote optimal functioning of ecosystem services that impact human well-being and long-term sustainability;
- Use as sites for place-based stewardship and educational programs; and
- Financial performance.
Ann M. Bouslog, President
State of Phoenix's City Government - David Cavazos, Phoenix City Manager
Talk about a tall order! Following 37 years of service by Frank Fairbanks, David Cavazos, a veteran city staffer, was recently inducted as City Manager of Phoenix. He takes over leadership of the nation’s 5th largest city in the midst of unprecedented budget challenges.
Cavazos illustrated the state of the city and the measures being taken to balance the budget. Phoenix is dealing with negative sales tax growth for the third consecutive year, a 40% decline in residential assessed value over the past 2 years, and a $277.3 million revenue shortfall. To close the deficit, $63.7 million has been cut from the General Fund budget, 550 city jobs have been eliminated through department consolidations, and transit and library services have been reduced. Cavazos lauded the attitude of city employees, who are taking on more work and suggesting methods to increase efficiency. The end result: lower taxes and smaller government, with the City of Phoenix maintaining its AAA bond rating.
Cuts to the general fund budget are impacting real estate activities through the reduction in staff for zoning, plan review and inspection processes. City resources that assist projects in need have been reduced or eliminated. Many city construction projects have been delayed or eliminated. Budget challenges are causing city staffers to think outside the box. Innovations implemented to better serve the public include the use of third parties for plan review, and an increased focus on the adaptive re-use of properties.
Cavazos outlined the economic challenges facing not just the City of Phoenix but Arizona statewide. Demand for commercial and residential property is greatly reduced. Lower property values have required the postponement of general obligation bond projects which were to create public infrastructure, which in turn causes private development delays. The credit crunch contributes to the economic malaise by starving business of debt capital needed for business creation and expansion.
Despite these economic headwinds, construction is underway on several projects, some of which are using federal stimulus funds. New projects include:
- CityScape: Red Development’s 1.5 million square foot mixed use property in downtown. Phase I consists of 650,000 SF of office and 120,000 SF of retail/restaurant space with a total cost of $500 million. Phase II is a 240 room, $90 million Hotel Palomar slated to break ground this fall.
- Phoenix Biomedical Campus will begin construction this month on 264,000 SF of classroom, clinical facilities and administrative space. The University of Arizona (home of Arizona’s primary medical school) and Northern Arizona University are partnering on this $140 million project.
- The Phoenix Children’s Hospital is underway with an 11 story, 626 bed expansion costing $588 million, which includes the largest newborn intensive care unit in the nation.
- W.L. Gore is building a regional campus consisting of two 95,000 SF building housing research & development, manufacturing, and regional headquarters uses.
- Mesirow Development recently completed a $200 million, 26 story, 475,000 SF Class A office tower the first built in downtown Phoenix in a decade. Developed totally spec, the property has snagged the headquarters of Freeport McMoRan (relocating from another downtown building) and is converting office space into a 242 room Westin hotel.
- Maricopa County is building a new courthouse, at a total cost of $340 million, with a completion date scheduled in late 2011.
- SubZero is investing $70 million to expand its appliance assembly and warehouse facility
- Southwest Solar Technologies is building a new facility costing $50 million
- Recent success in economic development has resulted in the following new activity:
- APL, the shipping arm of the global container shipping company Neptune Orient Lines, is relocating their APL headquarters and operations center to Phoenix from Los Angeles
- The GSA awarded construction of a new 280,000 SF regional headquarters facility to a local construction company
- Choice Hotels is consolidating two facilities into a new regional headquarters totaling 86,000 SF that is planned to grow to 120,000 SF of leased space over the next few years.
Phoenix needs high quality jobs to resume growth. Cavasos identified education as being a key component to attracting the good jobs needed. Tax increment financing is not used, and should be in order to attract the desirable companies. New city initiatives underway geared to attract jobs include:
- Solar: Public/private partnership to retrofit 1,000 Phoenix homes with solar panels
- Solar: Public/private partnership with Tessera Solar to develop a 250 megawatt renewable energy project at the SR-85 landfill in Buckeye
- Green Rail Initiative: Phoenix was recently awarded $25 million to implement the “Energize Phoenix, Transformation Through Behaviour and Retrofits Along the Green Rail Corridor” project. This initiative is designed to provide cost-effective energy efficiency upgrades for residential, commercial and pubic buildings.
- Phoenix Biomedical Campus
- Arizona State University Downtown Campus
These initiatives are creating business opportunities and creating the infrastructure needed to attract employers.
Cavazos ended his talk through identifying short and long term city priorities as:
- Budget
- Innovation & Efficiency
- Economic Development
- Infrastructure
- Quality of Life
- People & Technology
- Public Safety
Cynthia Hammond, Arizona Scribe
"Is A Double Dip Recession Likely?"
An overview of the events in the financial system over the past several years and their impact on the economy was the topic presented by Dr. R. Andrew “Andy” Bauer, Regional Economist at the Baltimore Branch of the Richmond Federal Reserve. In addition to following the national economic outlook, Dr. Bauer monitors the Fifth District economy with a special focus on Maryland and the Washington D.C. metropolitan area.
Using charts that illustrated a slight uptick in the Real GDP Growth, Labor Market Employment Rate and Consumer Spending, Bauer’s prediction is that we’re poised for a moderate recovery. He hastened to add that this is his professional opinion and not the Fed’s. His opinion is that no double dip is likely, an infrequent occurrence in US history. Nationally, business investment is up for the last 2 quarters but businesses are producing more with less labor. And, since January 2010, there has been less than ten percent (10%) in broad based job growth. This prompted Chapter member Herbert Davis, Real Estate Counselor to observe that this lack of jobs possibly is the fulfillment of IBM’s promise when computer punch cards were introduced, substituting capital for labor.
According to Bauer, for the State of Maryland, business activity and confidence is improving. His Maryland Survey of Businesses revealed over 40 percent of the firms surveyed reported conditions are better and they expect this will continue for the next six months. In the May 17th issue of The JHU Gazette, Johns Hopkins Carey Business School’s Dean, Yash P. Gupta said, “The key to any economy is optimism. When people are pessimistic, they won’t spend and productivity goes down. What one sees here is the dawning of optimism. This is philosophical. I can give you a lot of broad indicators, but once you start with optimism, it’s infectious.” The Conference Board based in New York said the same day that consumers’ confidence in the economy rose in May for the third straight month in a row as Americans’ hopes for job growth improved.
While there still is uncertainty, the view is diminishing that the economy is going to weaken during the second half of 2010. Homebuilders are ready for a robust year. John Kortecamp, LAI Board member and President, Maryland Home Builders Association said the morning edition of the Washington Post reported that the Greater Washington area had but a one-month supply of available homes. Joseph T. “Jody” Landers III, Executive Vice President, Greater Baltimore Board of Realtors reported that the inventory of existing houses at the end of April 2010 in some counties was nearly equal to the total number of sales in 2009. Still, at the end of December 2009, 22.9 % or 311,321 homebuyers in Maryland were estimated to be “underwater.” In March 2010, unemployment in Maryland was 7.7%. When asked what the Federal Reserve is doing to help prevent foreclosures and more tragic stories about people losing their homes, Dr. Bauer said the Community Affairs/Community Development Division in Richmond is conducting extensive outreach. A few of the measures being undertaken locally by the Baltimore Branch of the Federal Reserve of Richmond include:
- Sponsorship of Foreclosure Seminars with banks and federal congressional representatives, targeted to homeowners to try to help them secure a loan modification;
- Partnership with the MD Dept of Housing and Community Development for counseling by nonprofits;
- Continuous research identifying problem areas, with mapped data delineating locations of delinquencies and defaults; and
- Hosting small business roundtable discussions to address the financing needs of and access to credit by small businesses.
The next program lunch meeting is at 12:00 noon on June 16, 2010 at the JHU Downtown Center, Charles and Fayette, Room 102, Baltimore. Speaker Mahlon “Sandy” Apgar, IV will address: “What Professionals Should Tell Leaders about Real Estate.” Mr. Apgar is principal of Apgar & Company; Senior Counselor to The Boston Consulting Group, Senior Scholar of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and Former Ass’t Secretary of the Army for Installations and Environment in the Clinton Administration. Mr. Apgar began his career with Jim Rouse in Columbia. To attend, please RSVP by June 11th to Judy Bushong, judybushong@yahoo.com. Program lunch fee is $20.00.
On May 13th, LAI-Baltimore Chapter President Rachel Edds hosted at the Creative Alliance, www.creativealliance.org, a reading by her sister Margaret Edds, from Finding Sara, A Daughter’s Journey. The book was published in January 2010 and is available at Amazon.com. Proceeds from the book signing were contributed to Creative Alliance which provided complimentary educational enrichment classes to 1500 Baltimore City school children during the last year. The book reading was presented as part of the organization’s Urban/Appalachia series.
Tara B. Clifford,
Scribe LAI-Baltimore
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| Left to Right Lowell Richards, MassPort Real Estate Director and Kairos Shen, City Planner for Boston |
The Boston Chapter hosted a Boston Harbor cruise narrated by chapter member Lowell Richards, MassPort Director of Real Estate and Kairos Shen, City Planner for Boston From the developing Seaport waterfront, to the expanded passenger cruise ship terminal, to the edge of the Harbor Island National Park, to Logan Airport, to the East Boston developments, to port related improvements, to changing waterfronts of the Charlestown Navy Yard and the North End and finally the Rose Kennedy Greenway. The narration was extraordinarily complete with sidebars permitted. The trip was a good recap and a development agenda as the recovery continues to unfold for the Boston Metro.
David Kirk, Chapter President
Professor Julio Cesar Perez Hernandez presented a master plan for the 21st century Havana and the magic landscapes and urban design of Havana to the Ely chapter at luncheon.
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| From right to left. Allen Joffee, VP Programs, Ely Chapter, Professor Hernandez and friend. |
Julio Cesar Perez is a practicing Cuban architect, urban planner,urban designer, professor and author of the book, Inside Cuba (published by Taschen Editions, 2006), and of A Master Plan for XXI Century Havana, a comprehensive urban plan for the future development of the capital of Cuba that aspires to both the preservation of the heritage and to the creation of new urban and economic values.
Julio Cesar Perez became the one and only Cuban Loeb Fellow in history at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design School during 2001- 2002 in Advanced Urban and Environmental Studies. He received his degree from the School of Architecture of Havana, Cuba in 1982, where he has was an Adjunct Professor from 1998 to 2006. His work includes the design and building of private homes and public buildings and the master planning of new communities and neighborhoods, and has received several awards for his work.
Professor Hernandez spoke to our chapter and guests at our monthly luncheon held at Maggiano’s. With a packed room Professor Hernandez presented a wonderful power point presentation with historic and present day photos and pictures of Havana Cuba. He was able to provide a context and history for all of the different styles of architecture, from the Moorish Architecture brought from Spain, to the Baroque styles, to the Neo Classical styles that exist throughout Havana.
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| Professor Julio Cesar Perez Hernandez |
The Professor discussed the Walls of Havana where the city solely existed behind until 1863 when the city started to experience more growth, and the fifth Railroad built in the world in 1837, under the rule of the Spanish Governor Don Miguel Tacon. Professor Hernandez highlighted the significance of the Spanish influence in the planning and building of the City of Havana. In the modern architectural history of Havana he spoke of the famous Schools of Art designed by Ricardo Porro, Vittorio Garatti and Roberto Gottardi. He ended his presentation showing what he hopes will be the future of Havana. This plan, which is not commissioned by any government entity or group, he describes as “A work of art and love”. Professor Hernandez shared his master plan for a vision of the future that he has developed himself with the help of other professionals interested in helping to take part in what Havana may look like in the near future. This plan emphasizes the development of the waterfront as a main component to his vision. Professor Hernandez has developed a plan that integrates the beautiful historic Havana with a new Havana. Utilizing all of today’s modern techniques he hopes to create an improved Havana that has seen very little development and planning in recent times.
Chapter Highlights:
- Ely Chapter Members can now register for all events on the LAI website
- The Initiation Banquet for new Ely Chapter Members was on June 16th at the Peninsula Hotel
Todd J. Cabanban, Ely Chapter Scribe
LAI MN members are unwinding after an amazing LEW in Minneapolis-Saint Paul. The comments and photos say it all.
“I really enjoyed the opportunity to visit the Twin Cities for the first time and to have the opportunity to see and learn so much about your area. I came home exhausted and with information overload which for me is the hallmark of a successful LEW. I especially liked beginning the programs with a geographer. This program really put the region into context.” – Virginia M. Harding
“… Minneapolis/St Paul had many pleasant surprises and you now have many ambassadors proclaiming these to the world. I know what it takes to do one of these weekends and I hope you all are not too exhausted by the superhuman effort you displayed. You have raised the bar in terms of your information and documentation which will be difficult to surpass.” – Dr. Karen Sieracki
To view the program booklet, PowerPoint presentationsm evaluation downloads and photos, visit, www.laimn.org/lew.htm.
Big land swap planned for Kings Sports Arena and state fairgrounds.
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| LAI Director Peter Thompson of Rubicon Partners, Guest Speaker, Jay Lund, Author and Professor UCDavis, LAI Program Chair, Charles Sumner and LAI Chapter President, Jack Paddon of Williams & Paddon Architects |
Guest speaker Gerry Kamilos is the lead developer of the Convergence Plan using an innovative land swap and exchange. The plan provides for a new State Fair complex in Natomas, a Sports/Entertainment complex in Downtown, and multifamily housing on the existing fairgrounds site. Kamilos and LAI member David Taylor have a four-month exclusive negotiating agreement with the City of Sacramento.
The meeting was sponsored by LAI members from CB Richard Ellis and Trainor Fairbrook.
Crucial California and Delta Water Issues
The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, the central core of California’s water system, is declining from almost every perspective. Jay Lund, Professor of Environmental Engineering at UCDavis and Director of the Center for Watershed Sciences summarized several years of analysis by an independent interdisciplinary team for the Sacramento Lambda Alpha Chapter. He is also lead author of the book Comparing Futures of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
Meeting sponsors were LAI members from C.C. Myers, Inc., and Murphy, Austin, Adams, Schoenfeld LLP.
New Economic Strategy
At its meeting on May 19, 2010, the LAI Vancouver Chapter had a presentation on Vancouver’s new economic strategy by John Tylee, Director, Policy and Communications for the Vancouver Economic Development Commission.
Tylee characterized the city’s economic prospects as terrific in the short term but challenging in the longer term. The short-term outlook is bolstered by the city’s concerted effort in a partnership with others in Metro Vancouver Commerce to exploit the economic opportunities presented by the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic games. Already $62 million in new business had been concluded by the partnership, with more deals on the way. The longer-term outlook is clouded by the very small scale of most of Vancouver’s enterprises and the challenge of its small, diverse, service-producing economy to compete on the world stage.
The proposed response to these challenges is a five-part strategy:
- Growing businesses – Finding ways to enable Vancouver’s enterprises to grow through stimulus, collaboration and combination.
- Finding talent – Making Vancouver more attractive to YITs (young, intelligent, mobile talents) by addressing the city’s high housing costs and relatively poor child care services, together with its reputation as “no fun city.”
- Exploiting the Green Imperative – Building on the city’s international leadership position as a hotbed for green buildings, green infrastructure and sustainability.
- Planning policies – To address the high cost of doing business in the core and issues related to the availability of industrial land in the region.
- Financial resources – To provide the necessary fiscal capacity to implement new strategic economic directions.
| Click on each figure to enlarge. |
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Tylee’s presentation was followed by a lively discussion with the members, with some agreeing with the critique implied in the diagnosis and others suggesting that some of what are seen as economic weaknesses may be strengths. More information about Vancouver’s economy and strategy can be found at www.vancouvereconomic.com.
New Study Uses Innovative Analysis to Compare Regional Planning Results in Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver
The Neptis Foundation of Toronto, Ontario recently published “Growing Cities,” a research study that used satellite images from the US Geological Survey and census data to compare urbanization trends in the Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver regions between 1991 and 2001. The results are startling:
- Single family homes as a proportion of housing stock grew by 8% in Calgary, remained essentially unchanged in Toronto and dropped by 12% in Vancouver (Figure 1).
- Gross urban population density dropped by 14% in Calgary and by 7% in Toronto, but increased by 7% in Vancouver(Figure 2).
- 78 % of Calgary’s housing growth occurred through greenfield development, as compared to 44% for Toronto and 20% for Vancouver (Figure 3).
The report goes on to discuss the history of regional planning processes in the three regions. Among its conclusions are:
- Planning makes a difference and different plans produce different outcomes.
- Continuity of policy and institutions is important.
The highlights and a copy of the full study report can be found at www.neptis.org.
Ken Cameron, Vancouver Chapter Scribe
LEF GRANT PROGRAM
LEF is a not-for-profit charitable foundation organized to administer an investment fund which provides grants for research projects related to land economics. Over the past three years LEF has committed capital (5% of assets) to a number of significant and worthwhile endeavors across the country on a matching basis with other non-profit entities. The following are projects LEF has funded to-date.
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$5,000 |
Safe Horizon – A mediation program designed to train volunteers in three New York locations to assist the underprivileged in dealing with aggressive landlords. Highly successful program being expanded nationally. |
$5,000 |
San Diego Canyonlands Video – Created a video on a collaborative basis with several conservation organizations to expose on cable television the critical need to preserve open space canyons as a natural link to other urbanized communities in the county. |
$5,000 |
Arizona State University Student Chapter – Provided the initial funding to create a graduate student chapter in real estate to function cooperatively with LAI’s Phoenix Chapter; a model for other Chapters. |
$30,000 |
Burnheim Centennial Celebration – An advanced commitment for LAI to participate with other major real estate organizations in 2009 to recognizing the unique skills of Daniel Burnheim, credited with the masterplanning of Chicago, San Francisco, Washington D.C., Manila, etc. |
$4,500 |
Ross Minority Program – In cooperation with USC’s Marshall School of Business, LAI is participating with the partial sponsorship of minorities in attendance in a comprehensive, two-week program involving community redevelopment projects, primarily in neglected areas. |
$5,000 |
Light Rail Value Impacts – With the completion and now operational Light Rail system in Phoenix, the Foundation underwrote the cost of updating a ULI study addressing the impact on land uses and values surrounding the stations along the new rail line. The Master’s Thesis is to be submitted and published by Arizona State University. |
$10,000 |
San Miguel de Allende Land Use Study – A technical work shop involving 15 participants from multiple disciplines will be assembled in Mexico to provide guidance for urban growth patterns, transportation, water management, conservation, etc. for this community of 80,000 people. LAI will be participating with six alliance partners. |
LEF has carefully investigated a number of other proposed projects that it did not fund, primarily because of capital constraints at the point in time the request was made, others due to conflicts with our grant criteria. Without detail, the following were submitted and considered.
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$10,000 |
Tenement Museum Program |
$10,000 |
World Urban Forum |
$5,000 |
University of Memphis Scholarships |
$5,000 |
California State University Scholarships |
$100,000 |
Lewis Bolan Scholarships (John Hopkins University) |
$5,000 |
Chicago Architecture Foundation |
$10,000 |
DePaul University |
$10,000 |
California State University (Fullerton) Scholarships |
The principal thrust of our efforts has been to promote LAI recognition on a broad scale basis, with particular emphasis on local chapter involvement at numerous levels. We look forward to considering your Chapter’s application, the process can be found on LAI’s website. Please do not hesitate to contact any of the officers for guidance if needed, that is what we are here for.
LEF Grant Program (pdf)
Ron Buss, LEF Vice President
Lambda Alpha International (LAI) has recently created a group on Linkedin.com. Linkedin is an online professional network of more than 60 million professionals in over 150 industries. Linkedin is a great place to exchange information, ideas and opportunities. Linkedin allows you to:
- Stay informed about your contacts and industry,
- Find the people & knowledge you need to achieve your goals, and
- Control your professional identity online.
Our LAI Linkedin group will provide a means to further promote communication and networking among LAI members. Please join us at LAI’s newest place to network: www.linkedin.com.
Forgot how to login? No problem.
Please visit the LAI Website at www.LAI.org. On the left hand side click on the Members Only Tab. Here you will need to use your email and the password is lai.
Future Land Economics Weekends (Subject to Change)
SPRING 2010
October 21-23, 2010
Zia Chapter,
New Mexico
SPRING 2011
June 1-4, 2011
Scotland
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