Discussion

Seventh Week
Discussion

Points: 10 (answers worth six points, responses worth four points)

In the last several years the city of Seattle has made efforts to reduce the amount of public drunkenness on its streets. Two examples of such efforts include the establishment of the Downtown Emergency Services Center and an extension of the Alcohol Impact Area, initially limited to the Pioneer Square district.

For this discussion, you will read about the Downtown Emergency Services Center and the Alcohol Impact Area legislation (which went into effect November 1, 2006), and provide your opinions on the plans and how well you think they are or may be working. Assigned discussion readings are below:

State Liquor Board OK's Expanding Alcohol-Impact Zones in Seattle (Seattle Times, August 31, 2006)

Downtown Emergency Services Center

Homeless Alcoholics Receive a Permanent Place to Live, and Drink (NY Times, July 5, 2006)

Highly recommended, not required: Homeless Alcoholics in Seattle Find a Home (NPR radio audio presentation, just under eight minutes in length)

After reading the articles, post answers to the following discussion questions using the Angel courseware system (after logging in, click on the class link, then the Discussions tab, and look for Discussion #7) by the end of Friday, February 19:

Describe your reaction to Seattle's Alcohol Impact Areas.
Describe your reaction to the Downtown Emergency Services Center (DESC).
To what extent will these two projects address the problems of public drunkenness and alcoholism?

After posting your answers, post at least four (4) responses or questions to other students concerning their answers. These responses and/or questions must be posted by Monday, February 22. Responses and questions should, of course, be posed with a respectable tone. Students are expected to answer all questions posed to them. Responses posed to other students are worth four points total, provided they are posted by the due date.