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Revisiting The Los Angeles Riots--Three Years Later:
An Internet Conference on Urban Policy

The following letter of invitation and conference announcement have been
cross posted for your information.  

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April 18, 1995

The 3rd anniversary of the L.A. Riots is upon us.  With the continuous
need to assess the past in order to move forward collectively, an
opportunity exists to revisit the uprising.  

Students from the Urban Affairs Public Policy class at California State
University Long Beach invite you to participate in an international
conference on the L.A. Riots and present urban policy matters.  

Unlike most conferences, you need not be present to participate.  We will
be using Internet technology to facilitate your participation and hundreds
of other participants.  Most of the participants simply need to have
access to a computer that subscribes to an Internet service.  For those
community leaders and activists who do not have this type of access,
comments can be contributed prior to the conference via fax.  These
comments will be transferred to the Internet for review and comment by
other participants.  At the end of the conference, a report will be made
to document the discussion and to encourage improved public policy.

The three year anniversary is Saturday, April 29.  The conference will
last 4 days, from April 29 to Tuesday, May 2. Three separate questions
will guide the discussion.

Your participation in this conference will be valuable.  Invited
individuals in the community include: elected officials from L.A. City,
County and the state; US Congressional members; religious leaders; law
enforcement officials; President Clinton and Governor Wilson; education
representatives; academics; university administrators; community leaders. 

It is our intention that the issues and debate raised during this
conference will help cultivate future public policy.  But for this to be
successful, we need your involvement.  Also, it would be greatly
appreciated if you can distribute these materials to those individuals and
organizations who may want to join our discussion.  

The attached conference announcement will provide you with the details
needed to participate in the conference. We look forward to your
participation in the conference.

Graduate Center for Public Policy and Administration
California State University, Long Beach

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Revisiting The Los Angeles Riots--Three Years Later:
An Internet Conference on Urban Policy


Objective:

To facilitate the discussion of urban policy issues related to the 1992
L.A. Riots and the problems found in urban America today via the internet.


Introduction:

April 29 - May 2, 1995, marks the third anniversary of the Los Angeles
uprising.  Although the flames of the nation's first multi-ethnic riot
have subsided, significant urban policy questions remain: 

How have we responded to the crisis? Did the riots serve as a wake-up
call; or in President Clinton's words "our fire bell in the night?" Have
we created and implemented a "blueprint for revitalizing inner cities?" 
Have we made progress toward "justice" and "peace"?  Can we "just get
along?" Where are we now? What worked? What didn't? Where are we going?
Where should we be going? How do we get there? 

The third anniversary of the riots, provides a perfect opportunity to
revisit the Los Angeles crisis and to evaluate the urban policies which
arose from the ashes of the uprising. 

This conference combines hotly contested urban policy issues with the
latest in global communications technology. We invite you to join us
on-line via the internet on April 29 - May 2, 1995, for a discussion of
the urban policy issues related to the L.A. Riots and the problems of
urban America today. 


Concept:

The Urban Affairs Public Policy class at Cal State Long Beach will be your
hosts for the four-day conference on April 29 - May 2, 1995. 

Each day of the conference will focus on a particular question and theme.
The conference questions are designed to guide the discussion and
progression of the conference. Although much of the conference activity
will take place via internet from April 29 to May 2, there will be ample
opportunities to participate before and after these days. The proposed
questions include the following: 
      
1) What were the underlying causes of the L.A. Riots? 
(Question to be posed on Saturday, April 29, 1995)

2) Governments, community leaders, and the private sector have had three
years to work on rebuilding and solving the fundamental problems that
caused the riots--what solutions have been proposed?  How would you
evaluate the effectiveness of these solutions?
(Questions to be posed on Sunday, April 30 and Monday, May 1, 1995)

3) What is needed to develop a comprehensive and effective urban policy,
i.e. where should we go from here?
(Questions to be posed on Tuesday, May 2, 1995)

Background information, articles, and bibliographical references relevant
to the topics to be discussed are currently available on-line for your
information and review. The questions listed above will be formally posed
on the given days to introduce the topics and to begin the conference
discussion.  You may comment on a given topic or respond to other
participant's ideas at any time as discussion on a given topic will not be
limited to the day that topic is posed.  Likewise comments given within a
reasonable time period after May 2, 1995, are also welcomed.

The conference will take place at a number of specific locations on the
internet. Detailed information on each of these sites is provided below.  


How To Participate in the Conference:

Conference Host Site: E-Mail Discussion Group -- PUBPOL-D (listserv based)

The official host site of the L.A. Riots Conference is the e-mail
discussion group PUBPOL-D (PUBPOL-D stands for Public Policy - Open
Discussion Group). To participate in the conference you must subscribe to
PUBPOL-D list.  Once you subscribe you will receive messages via e-mail
from the group and you can post messages to the entire group.  The L.A.
Riots conference will commence discussions on April 29, 1995, via
PUBPOL-D.  

To subscribe to PUBPOL-D follow the following instructions:

a) Address an e-mail message to:

 LISTSERV@VM1.SPCS.UMN.EDU

b) In the text portion of your e-mail message write:

         Subscribe PUBPOL-D Your Name
        (For example: Subscribe PUBPOL-D Susan Smith)

c) Send the e-mail.

Detailed information on subscribing, posting, and unsubscribing to
PUBPOL-D for the purposes of this conference is available via the ftp at
ftp.csulb.edu/pub/la_riots_info/pubpol_d_info or via the World Wide Web at
http://www.hhh.umn.edu/Archives/archives.html.  An electronic archive of
the conference discussion on PUBPOL-D will be posted on the World Wide Web
at: http://www.hhh.umn.edu/Archives/PUBPOL-D/subject.html#start.


Alternate Methods to Participate in the Conference:

Although we encourage everyone interested in participating in the L.A.
Riots Conference to subscribe to PUBPOL-D and to participate via e-mail,
we have also established three alternative methods to participate in the
conference.

NEWS GROUPS

Although the primary venue for the conference will be via e-mail, the
following news groups will also carry conference questions and discussion:

     ca.politics  (via usenet)
     neighborhood.ca.los_angeles.politics   (via American Online only)

To participate in the conference via a news group, subscribe one of the
news groups listed above and look for LA_RIOTS_CONF messages beginning on
or before April 29, 1995.

FAX

If someone you know doesn't have internet access but still wants to
participate, please have them fax their contributions c/o L.A. Riots
Conference at (310) 985-4631.

WORLD WIDE WEB (AS A SPECTATOR)

If you just want to follow the conference discussion as a spectator, point
your World Wide Web browser to
"http://www.hhh.umn.edu/Archives/PUBPOL-D/subject.html#start" to link to
the PUBPOL-D archives and follow the discussion beginning on April 29,
1995.  If you want to join in the discussion you will have to subscribe to
PUBPOL-D.


Background Information:

Additional information about the conference and reference materials on the
subjects to be discussed is posted on the internet for your review at the
following sites:

1) Via anonymous ftp:   ftp.csulb.edu/pub/la_riots_info/

2) Via the World Wide Web: http://www.csulb.edu/   then select "Public
Policy" and then "L.A. Riots Conference."   or
http://www.csulb.edu/~pp611ah1/test_la_riots_2.html

Information available includes the following:

* Background sheets for each topic to be addressed during the conference
* Conference Schedule
* A listing of conference discussion postings to PUBPOL-D via www
* Articles pertaining to urban policy
* Reports, studies, and recommendations resulting from the Riots
* Bibliographies of works in the field
* Information on PUBPOL-D


Questions & Additional Information:

If you have any additional questions, please address your questions to
CSULB URBAN AFFAIRS pp611ai1@csulb.edu or call the Conference Hotline at
(310) 985-7531.

We look forward to your participation.
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