September 29, 2005
Peer Portfolio: Smart commuting, grave undertakings
SMART COMMUTING: Roads and highways would be far less congested and rush hours more bearable if everyone adopted the commuting habits displayed by recent Latino immigrants, say researchers at the Center for the Study of Latino Health and Culture, at the University of California at Los Angeles.
The study, as reported by UCLA News, shows that recent immigrants to the U.S. are seven times more likely to use public transportation to go to work and five times likelier to carpool to work. The study examined the driving habits of four employed groups: non-Hispanic whites, U.S.-born Latinos, long-term immigrant Latinos (who entered the country before 1995) and recent immigrant Latinos (who entered the country between 1995 and 2000).
“If everyone adopted these patterns,” the article stated, “the number of single-occupant vehicles congesting the state’s roads could be slashed by nearly half.”
GRAVE UNDERTAKING: In 1993, a dozen or so graves apparently dating back into the mid-19th century were discovered on land owned by the University of Virginia, near Charlottesville. Historians believed they were the graves of Catherine “Kitty” Foster, a free African-American woman who purchased land there in 1833, and her descendents, many of whom may have worked for the university over the years.
But continued investigation of the land this summer has unearthed about 18 more “grave shafts” in the land, bringing the total to 32. The new discoveries, and their location near but not alongside the first finds, complicate the theory of to whom these graves may have belonged, according to the University of Virginia News Web site.
The additional graves could be those of an extended branch of the same family, or they could include members of a nearby African-American community of the time, called Canada. This happens sometimes — cemeteries getting lost over the years. “There are numerous cemeteries that just slip through the cracks and go unnoticed,” said Corey D.B. Walker, an assistant professor of religious studies at the University. The University plans next to remove a small house near the original cluster of graves and probe the soil beneath, looking for still more gravesites.
