New course involves students in issues affecting the fast-growing Sacramento region

Students interested in learning about government affairs get to learn from the big shots.

Sacramento’s former Mayor Anne Rudin and Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce President Rusty Hammer will be teaching a course on the Sacramento region and the affairs of its community.

"We have to look at regional cooperation in resolving many of the urban issues alone," said Rudin. "Jurisdictional boundaries aren’t important anymore. During a flood the water doesn’t stop at the county line. Regional collaboration is what’s going to better this community."

Interdisciplinary Studies 151 (ID 151) will focus on regional jurisdiction, urban issues, employment, air quality, public planning, public safety and other issues that can pose a threat to the growth of any neighborhood community.

Students will examine what a community is -- socially and culturally -- and brainstorm ideas as to what can be done to meet many challenges throughout the city.

"We will talk about transportation concerns, water quality issues, flood control and how to resolve these problems," said Rudin, who served as mayor from 1983 to 1992. "We will define the difference between regional governance and regional government."

Chamber President Hammer will also be using his background in government to teach the course.

"I have never taught in an actual class before but I have given numerous presentations on governmental affairs," said Hammer, who was elected mayor of the city of Campbell, Ca., during his junior year at the University of Santa Clara in 1972.

Hammer said he feels that students who show an interest in long-term commitment, not only for the Sacramento region but for other regions as well, will benefit most from the course.

"Sacramento is going to be one of the top seven fastest-growing cities in the country within the next 20 years. We need the political strength to prepare for the growth and it is up to us to expose the newer generation of leaders to the problems that impact our community."

Students will learn how groups and individuals bring about change in the civic arena. They will work with county commissioners, head of health community forums, city managers, city council board members, directors of regional action partnerships, representatives from housing, land use and redevelopment agencies of the greater Sacramento area and so on.

"What is unique about the course is that we are focusing our own region as the object of an intellectual study," said Charlotte Cook, coordinator of the Office of Community Collaborations. "Our goal is to get students active in the affairs of the community."

"We as citizens really don’t identify ourselves as members of our neighborhood community, but if nothing is done we will choke on our air, be poisoned from our water and be stuck in traffic all day."

Cook encouraged all interested students to sign up for the course as soon as possible, which still had low enrollment last week. For more information students can log onto their website at HYPERLINK http://www.occ.csus.edu.