europeans were amazed by catherwood's written descriptions of ancient maya cities. architecture, sculpture and painting -- all the arts that embellish life had flourished in this overgrown forest. who built this city ? in the ruined cities of egypt, the stranger knows the story of the people whose vestiges are around him. america, say the historians, was peopled by savages. but savages never reared these structures, never carved these stones. we asked the indians who made them ? and their answer was "quien sabe ?" -- who knows ? during the next century, other explorers revealed the amazing variety of new-world civilizations. a great city, teotihuacan, dominated the basin of mexico. atop a hill in the valley of oaxaca, sits monte alban, the royal center of a mighty kingdom. and in the forests and jungles of guatemala, maya city states once reigned over thousands of square miles. this is mesoamerica. at about a.d. 700, three great civilizations had emerged here. the realms of the maya. the power of the great city of teotihuacan. the zapotec kingdom of monte alban. for

yet today, as in mexico city, life continues amidst the ruins of rome's former glory. the collapse of maya civilization was quite different. warfare and conquest cannot explain the total abandonment of these once grand cities. even if warfare had taken many lives, the maya population should have revived within a few generations. what could have caused such a widespread disaster ? 2,000 miles from the maya heartland, a similar puzzle intrigues archaeologists in the american southwest. nestled into the cliffs at mesa verde in colorado are the abandoned ruins of the anasazi, the ancient ones. at chaco canyon, in new mexico, the anasazi built great residential and ceremonial centers. sometime between the 11th and 13th centuries a.d., all of these communities were abandoned. in the southwestern corner of colorado, one group of anasazi flourished at a place called sand canyon. now overgrown with juniper and pinyon, sand canyon pueblo was once a thriving, densely populated town. here, a team of archaeologists is excavating an abandoned anasazi settlement. woman: the bubble in the center. about 50

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city administrator in san francisco. [applause] as many of you know, i hold maya angelou's words to heart.>> whoa. [laughter] [applause] he has >> been my biggest tavon, along with my mother, my sons, my family. antiwhite to mayer brown, whose job potential in me when i was right -- and thank you to mayer brown, who saw potential in me right out of college. i would like to thank allçççu have assembdee hereççç raisee from the beginning of my career to this juncture. you supported me. you shared with me, you laugh with me, you stood by me. and because of you, and i am committedç long ago today whats right and defied the goodçq forç the city of san francisco. çtogether weç have plenty ofxk ahead of us, a

city administrator in san francisco. [applause] as many of you know, i hold maya angelou's words to heart.nd. >> whoa. [laughter] [applause] he has >> been my biggest tavon, along with my mother, my sons, my family. antiwhite to mayer brown, whose job potential in me when i was right -- and thank you to mayer brown, who saw potential in me right out of college. i would like to thank allçççu have assembdee hereççç raisee from the beginning of my career to this juncture. you supported me. you shared with me, you laugh with me, you stood by me. and because of you, and i am committedç long ago today whats right and defied the goodçq forç the city of san francisco. çtogether weç have plenty ofxk ahead of us, and i humbly ask for yourççç help and support. forxd now, i am honored, and i wouldçñr like to askççoku!cea joyous occasion. thank you, from the bottom of my heart. çççççñrxdççç[cheçççç zçthank you,vç ççmayor brow. ççç[applause] çç >> good afternoon. i'm with the department of building inspection. we are approaching the sixth year of our brown bag lunch