Protecting Philly Pt. 2

     Prevention Point Philadelphia’s work has not come without controversy. Needle exchange programs like this have often been criticized for supporting the use of IV drugs. Critics say that if people have the ability to access the mean to use IV drugs than they are more likely to abuse them.
    The Philadelphia Prevention Point website preventionpointphilly.com attempts to bunk this claim saying, “Numerous medical and professional organizations have studied syringe exchange and concluded that it does not encourage drug use.”
    The claim can be supported by a study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association. It said that in a study conducted between 1986 and 1992 that 45% of people agreed to “usually” obtaining injection equipment through and SEP in San Francisco. With that number came a decrease of 1.9 injections per day to 0.7 on average and a decrease from 3% new initiates to 1% over the course of the study and continued use of the program.
    When asked what he would say to critics of the organization Jose Gonzalez said, “I would ask them ‘Is what you’re doing working?’” referring to the ongoing war on drugs which he finds to be a failure. “It’s not worth the money,” He said. Gonzalez went on to explain that it only cost the city about eight cents per needle. But, it would cost the city around a $1,000,000 in medical services for every recorded case of HIV or HEP C. “We’re a cheap date.” Gonzalez said laughing.
    He said that the work that they do relies heavily on word of mouth. Prevention Point Philadelphia does publish a weekly calendar of exchange sites around the city, but a large amount of their participants do not have access to a computer and hear about it at their headquarters or from other users.
    The exchanges are located at different blocks around the city and there are usually six exchanges a week including specific days at the headquarters. In the heart of one of Philadelphia’s housing projects at 10th and Fairmount the needle exchange consisted of a Van where participants could line up and swap their used syringes.
     Each new participant is given a registration number. The registrations are anonymous in order to protect the identities of each person, but they are necessary in order to track the HIV or HEP C status of each person.

Jose Benitez (Photo courtesy of citypaper.net)

    Mr. Benitez explained the process in which they help each new participant. He said that they let each person come and as they show up more and more often they build a relationship by making sure they are safe and well fed. He explained that by starting a relationship this way opposed to preaching to them to get help, each participant can move at their own pace increasing their chances for eventual recovery.
     Benitez assured that all staff works directly with the participants. He spoke of an experience that he had that really made him feel like he was making a difference. One day when he was working in the van and gentleman approached with a very low register number. The man told Benitez that he had been exchanging syringes for nearly 20 years and continued to be HIV negative.
    When asked where some of these users would be without PPP Benitez said, “Well clearly based on the numbers there would be a lot more HIV positive individuals.” He also said, “It gives people the opportunity to change their lives on their own terms.”
    Benitez said that oftentimes the job can be “exhausting” especially when they are dealing with repeat users, but he explained that he wouldn’t ever stop trying. He said, “It’s my mission in life.” 

Protecting Philly Pt. 1

    Oftentimes in some of Philadelphia’s roughest neighborhoods Prevention Point Philadelphia is working to change the lives of drug users and how people view drug users.
    Prevention Point Philadelphia (PPP) is a public health organization based in North Philadelphia that offers a variety of services. The organization is most known for their controversial syringe exchange program (SEP).
    The SEP’s goal is to eliminate the transmission of HIV, Hepatitis C, and other blood born diseases through intravenous or IV drug use in which users inject substance directly into their vein. The users are referred to as “participants” by the organization who allows them to exchange used syringes for clean ones at several different locations around the city. In addition to the syringe exchange program PPP offers HIV and Hepatitis C testing.
    “We have a good staff who cares,” said the programs Executive Director Jose Benitez. He went on to explain that Prevention Point Philly offers a non-judgmental approach. “It has to be a relationship based on trust.” He said, “We never preach to the participants, and any decision they make has to be their own”
    The organization was founded in 1991. At that time PPP only existed as an underground grassroots outgrowth of Philadelphia’s AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power or ACT UP. At that time the possession of syringes was illegal in the city of Philadelphia. In 1992 as a result of lobbying by PPP Former Mayor Ed Rendell issued Executive Order 4-92 overriding the possession laws that were keeping prevention point underground.
    Today PPP receives funding from the Philadelphia Division of Behavioral Health’s Office of Addiction Services and the Philadelphia Department of Public Health’s AID Activities Coordinating Office.
    The organization’s main headquarters is located on the 100 block of Lehigh Avenue. The neighborhood is in one of North Philadelphia’s more impoverished areas with a crime rate that includes burglary, theft, and assault. Some of those have been committed on the same block as PPP’s headquarters according to spotcrime.com.
    The Street Side Health Project is a program set up by PPP to bring important medical services to the streets of Philadelphia. Prevention Point has also established five clinics around the city where residents can receive care on their own accord.
    In addition PPP offers a computer lab and frequent job preparation classes among a variety of other counseling and medical services.
    Prevention Point Philly declares themselves as a “harm reduction” service. They are one of two places in all of Pennsylvania that trains people how to use the drug naloxone. When a IV drug user overdoses they can be saved with a small injection of naloxone that slows the users heart rate down and most likely saves their life. PPP employees and volunteers have frequently been featured in The Philadelphia Inquirer for saving peoples lives with this drug injection.

                                                     
                                                          Part 2 Coming Soon

Philadelphia Festival Gives Children A Chance To Play and Learn

    The Philadelphia International Festival of The Arts created another well received program in order to educate Philadelphia’s youth.
    The Philadelphia Book Festival’s fifth annual Street Fair and the first annual Philadelphia Science Festival Carnival teamed up on Saturday, April 21 to have a joint Street Fair in Logan Square on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.
    Organizations participating in the event included the Philadelphia Free Library, The Franklin Institute, and several other educational and commercial sponsors.
    The Science Carnival filled up Logan Square with about 105 different tents and four different performance stages.

Photo Courtesy of uwishunu.com

    The tents circled the fountain in Logan Square and included displays from educational institutions like Drexel and Temple University who had scientific experiments set up for anyone to participate in. Chestnut Hill had a build your own robot activity where kids could use legos to design their own animatronic friend. Commercial businesses like PNC and Krispy Kreme had their own tents where they passed out free toys and advertised their business.
    The stages were places for people to preform musical acts or larger more extravagant science displays.
    In addition to the main stages there were several scientific displays that were preformed at different places around the block. Two people would push a gray cart around, stop and gather a crowd before asking for children in the audience to help them out with the show. In one case they bounced a rubber ball back and fourth a few times before swapping it out for one that had been frozen solid, when thrown it smashed on the street.
    In addition to their display the volunteers would give a short explanation of the science behind the magic to teach the children in the crowd something new and interesting. The point of the fair was to get children interested in science which meant that most of the tents were hands on opportunities for them to participate. The Franklin Institute was also open for anyone at the fair to go in at look and play in their permanent collection.
    Books were also a major part of the show another 90 booths were dedicated to The Philadelphia Book Festival. Their Main stage located across from the Library had dance performances and public readings. One man danced around often stopping to mime or pretend to set a table.
    At the book festival booths anyone could buy new or used books at a range of prices. At the booths anyone could stop and talk to writers, editors, or publishers.
     The Free Library of Philadelphia opened their doors for anyone to come in and look through their permanent collection or at their display about Charles Dickens.
    The Book Corner on the corner of 20th and Carlton was having a major sale on the sidewalk outside their store where anyone could get a book for $1-2 or fit as many as they could in a box for $10.
    There was an emphasis on support for Philadelphia’s local businesses as well. In addition to bringing a large amount of people into a neighborhood with a lot of local restaurants and boutique stores there was a food court made up of food trucks that left their normal spots to serve their treats to festival goers. Trucks like Say Cheese!, Far From Home Cafe, Bad Dogs Bone Yard all opened their doors to the festival.
    “Local businesses took advantage of the opportunity to interact with the community.” said Temple University student Katie Long.
     In addition to Saturday the whole week was made up of exhibits in support of the scientific community. The week leading up to the Science Carnival was filled with events like an astronomy night, and a science film festival.
    A sophomore at Temple University Katie Long heard about the event on the social networking site Facebook.com. “Right now we’re seeing a lot of cutbacks, so maybe the science fair can bring some attention back to kids and education.” She said, “It’s really important to have large scaled events like this geared towards children.”

Journalism George Miller

Photo Courtesy of mookieland.org

    Now an assistant professor at Temple University’s School of Communications and Theater another of George Miller’s goals were achieved.
    Miller who is now the teacher of several classes in the Journalism department at Temple University would be quick to stop someone who tells him that he is no longer a journalist. To George Miller teaching is just as as much an important part of journalism as any other reporter or photographer.
    Miller, has held jobs in many different facets of journalism. From 1994 to 2005 Miller was a staff photographer, features writer, general assignment reporter, and police beat writer for the Philadelphia Daily News. He also has appeared on Fox 29 “Good Day Philadelphia” to talk about issues in the city involving politics. In addition he has written pieces for the Philadelphia Weekly, The Inquirer, and several other papers and magazines around the city.


    Before assuming his current role at Temple, Miller was a adjunct professor at Loyola University of Maryland and Wilmington University in Delaware according to his website mookieland.org.
    Miller now lives in the Northern Liberties neighborhood of Philadelphia with his girlfriend, two cats, and his beloved dog Mookie. His girlfriend Wendy Daughenbaugh is the founder of the multimedia production company NOBIS and according to their website, is a veteran reporter, writer, and editor. Millers dog Mookie consistently appears in the classes that he teaches and is also where the inspiration for his website mookieland.org came from.
    In addition to his assistant professor position at Temple University George Miller founded  a magazine called Jump. A music magazine that is focused on the Philadelphia music scene, Miller said, “Jump is a magazine that features a diverse array of artists.”
    He said that he does a majority of the work, from writing, photographing, and finding advertisements. “I do everything here, I even handle the business side.” he said when asked about his role. But, Miller did mention that he gives upperclassmen students the opportunity to be part of the process by meeting with them for ideas or letting them help with a story.
    Miller teaches several classes in Temple’s journalism department including Journalism and Society and Writing for Journalism. He has also designed several courses like Entrepreneurial Journalism and the graduate level course Writing II.
    George Miller uses his teaching to spread his love of journalism. His classes are hands on and he often gives tips on ways that a young journalist can display what they know in a manor that will help get their work noticed and maybe lead to a job. He urges his students to not only be good journalists if thats the path that they choose, but to be better consumers of information and learn to understand flaws in the journalistic process.
    During his several trips abroad as a professor Miller has worked with his students on many different Journalism projects outside of their respective internship and education programs.  On his trip to Armagh, in Northern Ireland Miller was the editor for a blog where photo Journalism students could post pictures that they took in their time in Ireland. He made a similar blog site for his trip to Andiamo nelle Marche, a small town in Italy. On this site students were able to find and produce their own multimedia projects that include photography and writing. In London, England he worked to produce another blog that focused on London’s diverse music scene.
    When miller was a student his goal was to become a a report at a small town paper and a teacher consecutively. So he would say that he has accomplished his goal. “Becoming a teacher was always in the plan for me” he said.
     Miller has received several awards for the stories that he has written and would constantly turn and display his favorites while scrolling down the extensive list on his website.
    “George Miller is a really great professor and is truly dedicated to journalism” said Tatiana Swedek a freshman in Miller’s Journalism and Society class.
    When asked what his goals are now that his earlier expectations have been met Miller joked about quitting his job at Temple and running for mayor. He made sure to urge the fact that he was not quitting his job for a while and said, “I could see myself running the magazine full time though.” He did say that this was just a dream and he still does not see himself leaving his current teaching position just yet.

Pulitzer Prize Winning Reporters Stop At Nothing

     Pulitzer Prize winning reporters, in a presentation to Temple University journalism students said that getting an amazing story can be dangerous.
    Barbara Laker and Wendy Ruderman, two reporters from The Philadelphia Daily News received the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for their work in the competitive category of investigative reporting. On Monday, April 9 they gave a presentation to a class of Temple University journalism students about their award winning series “Tainted Justice.”
    A native of England Barbara Laker attended the University of Missouri Journalism School. She held positions at papers like the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the Dallas Times-Herald. She eventually ended up with a general assignment job at the Inquirer then her investigative position at the Daily News.
    Wendy Ruderman got her start at the small town paper The Williamstown Plain Dealer. She moved to positions in broadcast like WHYY-TV, PBS, and NPR. Her reporting about racial profiling at The Trenton Times helped earn her a position as a staff writer at the Inquirer then her movement to the Daily News in 2007.

Photo courtesy of npr.org 

Wendy Ruderman (left) Barbara Laker (right)

    Their presentation began with a small anecdote about Laker going out to gather information at a house in Philadelphia’s Kensington Neighborhood. She knocked on the door of her subject Tiffany’s house to Tiffany’s mother, who was willing to answer a few questions. Barbara Laker said that the minute Tiffany saw her in the home Tiffany began to slap her and chase her down the street. Laker ran away, but not before grabbing her notebook with her notes from the interview with Tiffany’s mother.
    Barbara Laker and Wendy Ruderman won the Pulitzer Prize for their work on a 10 month series called “Tainted Justice.” Their work uncovered several misdeeds by the Philadelphia Police including sexual assault, disabling surveillance equipment during police raids, and filing fraudulent warrants.
    While uncovering the story Laker and Ruderman said they ran into a several roadblocks. In one case they went to the Philadelphia court house on Christmas Eve in order to get into a room with warrants filed by the police.
    One of the largest opponents they said they had to fight while uncovering the story was actually the Philadelphia Police Department. In one instance Laker and Ruderman went to a Police press conference that was organized to address the story that they had been uncovering. The conference ended up with the police going on the offensive against Laker and Ruderman themselves.
    In many cases Ruderman and Laker said they often felt like they were in real danger. They believed that people were purposely calling and hanging up in order to scare them.     Ruderman said that one time they were prepared to walk across Broad Street to their cars late at night, but waited because there was a car that had been waiting outside with a Fraternal Order of Police sticker, signifying off duty officers. She also said at one time her address was posted online with what she believed was the intent to scare or hurt, her family or herself.
    By uncovering this story there was a high possibility that criminals and accused drug dealers would be let out of jail due to false warrants. When asked about the ethical implications of their discoveries Laker said, “We never intended to be champions of these big time drug dealers.” 
    Barbara Laker did not believe that what the police were doing to catch these criminals was right. “You can’t break the law to enforce it.” She said. Laker said she believed that is why she and Ruderman got so much “animosity” from the police.
    Wendy Ruderman and Barbara Laker were telling these stories with smiles on their faces and often stopping to laugh and moments that in the past were terrifying.
    During the presentation Laker told an anecdote about a moment where she was knocking on doors in North Philadelphia. A man who she believed to be a drug dealer came up to her and said, “You know I own this block?” She responded by saying, “That means you got my back.”
    Often Ruderman and Laker were confronted with situations that did not present the most safe conditions for reporting, often even going door to door in what are considered the more dangerous neighborhoods of Philadelphia. Ruderman said that one time while in Kensington they feared being hit by a stray bullet when shots broke out nearly a block or two away.
    A student in the class asked the two ladies what made them want to keep reporting after all the dangerous situations that they were constantly confronted with. Wendy Ruderman said with a nodding agreement form Laker, “We believed in the story so much to go on.”

Zoe Strauss: 10 Years

    The “10 Years” exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art works to represent the real face of Philadelphia through photography.
    The event is hosted by the Philadelphia Museum of Art and features the work of Photographer Zoe Strauss, an artist who has had tremendous influence in the Philadelphia area.
    Her father died at age six, but Strauss was raised by her mother, and her grandparents who still live in a row home located at 16th and Susquehanna. Born and raised in North Philadelphia Strauss received a camera at age 30 and with no further training, began taking photos of marginalized neighborhoods in the Philadelphia area. He grandparents house consistently appears in her work.
    In 1995 Strauss created the Philadelphia Public Art Project. It is a 10 year program where she works to document the people and places of Philadelphia.
    Strauss works to make her art as accessible as possible. Annually she holds a one-day art show named “Under I-95” where she hangs her work from cement pillars under the highway. At the event she sells five dollar photocopies of her pieces. The event is open to anyone according to a description online.

    Her “10 years, Billboard Project” exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art goes until April 22 and is located in the main building of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
    Included as part of the exhibit, are several billboards in the Philadelphia area that display her work to anyone that drives by. The billboards are located on different roads like I-95 and route one.
    The display at the Museum is only one exhibition room large, but features about 100 photos and a slideshow area with more. Each work is displayed in the same simple white frame. Oftentimes Strauss’ work was explained in the description as “minimalist.”
    The majority of the photos were taken in Philadelphia and surrounding areas of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. There are a few shots from places like Los Angeles and Las Vegas included in the exhibit.
    Her “minimalist” style could be seen in her photos that were of a fluorescent light bulb or a stark white wall with a horizontal blue stripe.
    Strauss is considered a “street photographer” and the subjects of her photos are representative of the notion. Her work at the the show includes shots of condemned buildings, burnt out neon signs, and drug users.
    Though these subjects are not strictly Philadelphian in nature, the places that the shots were taken in what is considered the rougher neighborhoods of Philadelphia. Some of the shots were from places like the Kensington and North Philadelphia neighborhoods.
    Oftentimes Strauss’ shots were of subjects that were representative of some of the people from those neighborhoods. Bob Lambert, a former Temple University, Tyler School of Art student born and raised in Philadelphia describes the people in the photos as “hopeless.” A few photos showed people smoking or holding what looked like crack and another was a woman displaying her track marks.
    There also seemed to be a large theme featuring injury. Many photos were of subjects displaying scars or for example a man being placed in a stretcher after being shot in the leg.
    “She is a stark street photographer with an eye for the harsh, and she knows how to use an images strength” said Bob Lambert.
    Lambert grew up on Berks and Front on the border of the Kensington neighborhood in Philadelphia. “I saw these alleyways,” he said before turning around and pointing to a photo of the elevated subway stop at Berks street and explaining how he took it to work everyday.
    When asked if the whole body of work was a good representation of Philadelphia Lambert responded by saying, “She’s not off the mark.” He struggled to come up with any other word than “hopeless” to describe the people and the places in Strauss’ exhibit.
    The event notation described Strauss’ work as, “Installations that push the boundaries of public space.” In this case they even pushed out of the museum and onto the billboards of the area that Strauss’ work captures on film, and seems to teach residents about a community that they are a part of.