Sean Ayers: I'm majoring in geography with an urban and regional planning option at Penn State. I originally game to PSU to study meteorology, but quickly found that it was not for me, at the same time finding that I really enjoyed geography classes, so I decided to explore, and eventually major in geography. I'm originally from a suburb of Los Angeles, California called Moorpark. I'm a very avid ice hockey fan, especially of the NHL's Los Angeles Kings. I enjoy both playing and watching ice and roller hockey, but also like history, and I'm still interested in weather despite transferring out of meteorology. In addition, I enjoy playing video games, especially sports games and simulation games.
	Kathy Bednarek: I am a senior majoring in geography here at Penn State. I enjoy playing guitar and golf, hiking, travel, and cooking in my free time. I am glad to be a part of this class and hope that I can offer insights to your learning and also learn a lot from you too.
	Rafael Cancel-Vazquez.: I’m a Caribbean islander from Puerto Rico. I majored in Environmental Sciences for my undergraduate degree at UPR and last semester I joined the Geography Masters program at Penn State. My research will include a socio-economic and environmental analysis of traffic congestion in the island’s capital, and I’ll investigate accessibility to intermodal transportation by determining drivers, cyclists and pedestrians’ spatio-temporal patterns using GIS and agent-based modeling. In simpler terms, my purpose is to reduce car dependency in urban centers. Back at home, my main hobby is being actively involved in environmental/economic justice struggles ranging from mega-resorts displacing low-income coastal communities... US Navy bombing zones close to populated areas... extensive deforestation for highways... massive strip-mining operations in low-income rural areas... and the independence movement for Puerto Rico. Amongst my ‘normal’ hobbies at PSU, I drum for an African dance group (Djembe and djuns djuns), teach Salsa dancing and play volleyball. In the island, I do surfing, scuba diving, hangliding, mountain biking, caving, Aikido, play acoustic guitar...and enjoy any outdoor sports suitable for a year round 29C temperature. I’m looking forward to hearing your perspectives on post-apartheid economic and cultural development. I’m sure that we’ll gain valuable insight to unveil the reality of our socio-political and economic structures.
	Ben Crabtree
	Chris Dorney : I'm a senior geography major at Penn State University. By this time next year I hope to be in graduate school on my way to earning master's degrees in regional planning and historic preservation. My research interests include finding more effective ways of doing historic preservation planning in the state of Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania, one of the 13 original colonies of England in North America, has a dense, old, and unique cultural landscape. Our architectural heritage goes back to the 17th century and includes both English and German styles (along with a few unique Welsh and Swedish structures too). Unfortunately, in Pennsylvania and the United States in general, too much of our rich architectural heritage is being destroyed to make way for "styleless" new development. With this destruction, I believe that Pennsylvania is losing part of it's sense of place (the landscape that makes our region unique) and that we are losing important tangible links to the stories and lessons to be gleaned from our past. The main mode of historic preservation in Pennsylvania today involves the use of historic districts. Historic districts are essentially special zoning districts that allow the regulation of the facades of buildings within their boundaries. Unfortunately, historic districts are limited in geographic scope (mainly to urban or village areas) whereas the historic landscape is continuous(America is characterized by many isolated farmsteads). Historic districts often meet with a lot of opposition as well since many (if not most) Americans are hesitant of government telling them what to do with their private property: American's often see this as a breach of their freedom (myself included to some degree). In light of these observations, I hope to find ways that promote preservation planning over a wider geographic area while decreasing hostility from owners who are upset over the taking of some of their property rights. I believe that a voluntary incentive based system using property tax freezes and a concept called historic overlay zoning may be the solution. I look forward to getting to know all of you and I also hope to get a sense of South Africa's cultural landscapes (both the indigenous and colonial aspects) during the course of the semester.
	Zach Eckenroth--I am a senoir at Penn State University, majoring in Geography with a Geographic Information Systems option. I am also 21 years old. I have a few minor hobbies that include rasing bonsai trees and I fiddle around with some simple metal working projects of mine. Looking forward to meet everyone and share opinions in the video conferences.
	Jason Lally-I am a junior in the Information Sciences and Technology.  I have a particular interest in regional development, specifically using information and communication technologies to aid in the processes necessary for collaboration and cooperation.  Right now, I am working on a project to connect local agricultural producers to local wholesalers, grocers, restaurants, and other retailers.  This hopefully serves to help the local economy, increase social interaction, and protect fertile and precious farmland from suburban development.
	Jeff Lasitter: I am 23 years old and I am an Urban geography student here at Penn State. I am from Athens, Georgia, USA. This is a town just outside of Atlanta. I enjoy long distance cycling, camping, and spending time with friends. My family is very important in my life, so I enjoy spending time with them as well. I chose my major so that I may attempt to give assistance to those people who live on Native American Reservations here in the United States. These are people who are often overlooked in this country, even though they represent some of the most destitute people that live in the USA. I hope to be able to give (at least some) aid in ending the poverty problems there and allow this part of my country (my heritage) to be given a much deserved second chance. I really look forward to the conferences that will soon take place. They are a wonderful way that we can exchange ideas about issues from both worlds. It may give us all a new prospective many issues. I hope to see you all Thursday.
	Josh Lederman: I'm a 22 yr old male with stunning good looks and a witty charm (j/k). I like long walks on the beach and moonlight dinners up in the mountains (Just kidding again). On a serious note, I live in Middlebury Connecticut USA. It is a town that is 18 square miles and is between southbury woodbury and waterbury...hence middlebury. I'm a very outdoorsy kinda guy and am very open minded and willing to try everything at least once. I majored in Geography partly because I sampled everything else that PSU had to offer and found geography to be the most interesting and the other reason, lets face it, dirt rocks. I am focusing on the information system side of geography and have enjoyed it thus far. I plan on entering the Navy and hopefully will be getting involved in satellite image analysis. I really am looking forward to meeting everyone and hearing your thoughts and understandings of matters. It is always nice to have a different perspective on situations and I can't think of a more usefull stage then the class that we are taking.
	Rob Martin: I'm a senior majoring in Geography. I have particular interests in human geography and urban planning. My spare time is mainly spent participating in cancer related events, spending time with my significant other, and playing my saxophone. I'm very excited about taking this course, and I can't wait to interact with everyone and learn more about Durban.I hope everyone there is enjoying the warm weather, we'll be sure to send you some of this snow. See you all on Thursday.
	Chris Murphy: …yet another Chris to deal with. I am 22 years old and major in Geography at Penn State. I work part time in the evenings for UPS, which is a parcel delivery company. I enjoy mountain biking, football (American), basketball, and spending my days outside. I also have a hobby of building computers and setting up networks within my apartment. I currently have seven computers throughout the apartment running multiple tasks. I can never throw away an old computer. Hope our video conferences are as educational to you as they will be for us.
	Bruce Payne
	Dave Pierce: I am a Junior studying Geography (with an Urban Planning specialization) at Penn State. I grew up in the state of New Jersey, about 50 miles west of New York City, but two years ago my family moved south to Georgia and I currently live in the suburbs of Atlanta about 40 miles north of the city. I am an only child, but we have had dogs my entire life, so they have always substituted for siblings. I enjoy doing anything outside and I also play the trumpet in the Penn State Marching Band. I am planning on going to Graduate school for Urban Planning and I find myself interested in researching the ways we can repair some of the damage rapid and uncontrolled urban sprawl has caused, as well as developing ways to halt its progress through Smart Growth initiatives. I look forward to meeting all of you in Durban and getting to hear some new perspectives on things!
	Bob Pontzer: I am a senior at Penn State University majoring in Geography with a specialization in Geographic Information Systems (GIS). I am also interested in urban systems and development issues. I have a number of hobbies and interests, including: skiing, racquetball, drums, listening to obscure music, historic architecture, skyscrapers, Pittsburgh, football, fusion cooking, and watching "Lost In Translation". I look forward to interacting with the South African contingent via this exciting technology.
	Zach Reska: I’m a former psychology, former statistics and current geography major with a general option at PSU. I’m taking this course to supplement other urban geography courses I’ve taken, and was pleased to know we’d get to interact with you guys in Durban! In addition to taking classes at PSU, I also volley between full and part time hours at a convenience store, play the electric bass, and keep up a classic Mustang...I’ll be looking forward to future video conferences…
	Wenhui Wang: I am from People’s Republic of China. I joined the PhD program at geography department one year ago. Geography is relatively new for me. I majored in computer science before and had worked for several years as a software engineer in China. Currently, my research interests are spatial data analysis and geovisualization. My primary purpose of taking this course is to fulfill department requirement on human geography. However, from this course, I find human geography is also very interesting. By the way, I have a lovely daughter with me. She will turn four next month.
	Betsy Yost: I'm a junior studying Geography with an emphasis on urban and regional planning. Right now I live in Pennsylvania, but I spent much of my life in Washington, D.C. In my spare time I enjoy running, dancing, listening to music, and cooking (I love to eat!). I am looking forward to getting to know all of you and hearing your opinions on the different topics we will discuss!
	Chris Benner: This is my third year as a professor at Penn State. I grew up in California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. I got very interested in African development issues while an undergrad at Dartmouth College, when I get very involved in the anti-apartheid movement in the 1980s, and ended up majoring in African Development Studies. I lived for 3 years in South Africa, from 1991-1994, before returning to graduate school in City and Regional Planning at Berkeley. My research interests center on how information technology is changing employment patterns and economic opportunity, and there's lots more information about my research on my web page: http://www.geog.psu.edu/people/benner/ . I'm married, have a 5 1/2 year old son, play the saxophone, love to rock climb, and also love cycling.