EDIT 3: Organizations and Citizens Work To Fill In The Gaps Of Hunger

By Harrison Golden

For Amanda Woods, the weeks are more than just days crossed off on her pocket-sized calendar. They are moments filled with sharing, engaging, and interacting with the world around her. Whether she is walking her six-year-old son and eight-year-old daughter to and from school, packing their lunches, or cooking them dinner, she sees how food unites people and develops foundations for the future. Every Saturday morning, she wakes up, makes herself and her family a quick breakfast before riding the subway from her West Village home to the soup kitchen at the Bowery Mission, where she shares her time, handing out food to anyone hoping for a quality meal.

“It’s such a routine I have,” Woods said, in between handing out helpings of potatoes and chicken soup to those standing on line. “Without even thinking, we base our lives around meals. It drives us to connect in ways that nothing else can, which is why there is no reason not to get involved. It strengthens the ties between so many people.”

Within the nation’s largest cities, stronger efforts are being made to establish connections between not only the state-operated and private anti-poverty organizations, but also between those struggling with hunger and volunteers at food banks, all in an effort to solidify growth for poverty-stricken Americans.

According to Joel Berg of the New York Coalition Against Hunger, 700,000 more New Yorkers are accessing food stamps than did so five years ago. While he acknowledges that federal initiatives such as the 2008 Economic Recovery Rebate and stimulus funds from the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act have allowed for a continuation of citywide anti-poverty, anti-hunger programs, these efforts are still under much daily strain.

Last week, members of the New York State Legislature and newly elected Governor Andrew Cuomo agreed to provide $300 million to hunger programs throughout the state, the same amount as last year. However, state lawmakers also consented to halt the planned increase in basic welfare grants despite a $1.3 billion donation from the federal government. Officials from the Hunger Action Network condemn the move, calling it an act of fiscal regression during a time that should be marked by progress and unity.

“Quite too often, people make it about politics, taking partisan business into consideration,” said Triada Stampas, Director of Government Relations, Policy, and Public Education at the Food Bank For New York City. “But these are lives and livelihoods at stake. And the best way to meet these goals is to ensure quality from all angles—government, organizations, citizen involvement. By working together through all these approaches, we have no choice but to help the food banks and poverty programs prosper.”

In an effort to move forward on the city’s fight against hunger without overloading the demand for government-issued food stamps, food banks such as City Harvest and the Food Bank For New York City, as well as activist networks like the New York Coalition Against Hunger, have collectively encouraged everyday citizens and businesspeople to donate increased amounts of time and effort to their cause, regardless of organizational or political preferences.

In light of ongoing statements from Congressional leaders threatening the future of federal funding for food banks and soup kitchens, cities across the nation are also working to find ways of decreasing poverty.

In Los Angeles County, over 1.7 million residents were reported to have struggled with hunger in 2009, the most recent year in which information was available, according to a study from Feeding America, the country’s largest network of food banks.

However, participation for food stamps in California is close to an all-time low. Last year, over fifty percent of the state’s households missed the cutoff for food stamp qualification, earning more than 130 percent of the poverty level. But members of the California Food Policy Advocates group, as well as officials from the Los Angeles Regional Foodbank, insist that people and organizations both remain active in the fight against hunger, supporting all citizens facing hunger, regardless of qualifications.

“Over the last two years of this economic recession we’ve seen an enormous increase in demand for food assistance throughout the county,” Michael Flood, president and CEO of the Los Angeles Regional Foodbank, told the Associated Press.

During the past few years, the food bank has successfully increased its range of impact, distributing food to more than one million people last year, compared to about 600,000 in 2006. Flood attributes the progress to volunteer involvement. In 2010, approximately 24,000 citizens participated in their efforts to decrease food insecurity. In addition, the organization currently comprises of 600 member agencies, which primarily include soup kitchens and food pantries throughout the region.

“With food and fuel prices rising and an unemployment rate in the county at nearly 13 percent, we expect 2011 to be another demanding year,” Flood added, noting the importance of consistent, well-rounded commitment from member agencies, activist organizations, and volunteers alike in fighting to decrease hunger.

In Houston, groups such as Volunteer Houston and the Houston Food Bank are aiming to widen their resources and recruit more volunteers, hoping that doing so will more adequately balance demand for both government food stamps and non-government organizations, or NGOs.

According to a 2009 study from Feeding America, about one in five children in the state experience hunger, higher than any other state in the country. In addition to an 8.8 unemployment rate, over 17 percent of Texans live below the poverty line, including nearly 26 percent of children, leading poverty activists in both Houston and the state as a whole to treat the issue with increased alarm.

“Loss of jobs and lower wages mean more families and individuals need help keeping food on the table,” said Brian Greene, President of the Houston Food Bank, the largest of its kind in the region. “We must count even more on our donors, volunteers, and other community partners to stand with us in alleviating the suffering caused by hunger.”

In 2010, 65 million pounds of food were donated to the bank, up about 40 percent from two years ago. Through its nearly 500 hunger relief agencies, including church food pantries, homeless shelters, and nutrition sites for the youth and elderly, the Houston Food Bank has fed people at an annual rate of 865,000. Public advocates and political analysts attribute this to a rise in volunteerism, as roughly 260,000 hours are spent per year assisting the food bank in meeting demand. With continued involvement, volunteers not only hope to gradually give more opportunities to those dealing with hunger, but to also ease the burdens of unemployment.

“I think Texas is on the comeback, faster than other states,” said Talmadge Heflin, Director for the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Center for Fiscal Policy. “Obviously we got hit by the recession. People are feeling that, but we are coming out of it sooner.”

Meanwhile, as the sun tries to peak its way above the Bowery Mission, Woods hands out her final helping of the day’s lunch and gets ready to pick up her daughter from a friend’s house. Her manner is not in a way that seems rushed or blindly obligated, but rather careful and savory of all that the moments seem to offer her. She makes her way out the front door, holding it open for an elderly couple making their way through.

“Above all, getting rid of poverty involves looking around and realizing the beauty of all that we tend to overlook,” she adds. “The hours, the meals, and meeting the people is crucial, but once you find those small moments, you really see the picture and what it’s worth.”

On Osama

At the ring of a doorbell, I awoke from my near-sleep stupor, dazed in opening the door. The first thing my friend did was shout, "Turn on the TV!"

I'm the guy in the building with the TV. This is my reputation. As such, the doorbell kept ringing, and I kept answering. Before I knew it, twelve people were crowded on and around my bed, waiting for President Obama to give his speech. It was such a surreal moment, as I began to realize that I was going to remember this for the rest of my life.

"Where were you when you found out about Bin Laden?"

Here. In this room, switching between looks at the TV and glances at the faces before me. Shock and all the different memories came back to the forefront. Ten years ago, we were different people. We dressed differently, listened to different kinds of music, spoke in different mannerisms, had different friends. And now there was that collision bouncing off the screen, reminding us how far we've made it.

If nothing else, being "the guy with the TV" has made me more connected to the media than ever before. Even with the Internet and cell phones, I still wonder what exactly it was that made all of my friends want to come here. Is it something about the immediacy of it all, of that firm newsman sharing his world to us? Perhaps on a more specific level, yes. But when it comes down to it, there is something much stronger. The community, that idea of putting yourself into a situation, sharing your stories and dedication, and getting them in return. That's what Sunday night was about, and we are stronger people for it.

On September 11th, 2001, my alarm didn't go off. Mom had already left for work, and Dad was frantically trying to get me up and moving so that he could drop me off at school and head off to his publishing meeting at 2 World Trade Center, scheduled for later that morning. The TV was on, just as a habitual background noise, nothing special, while we tied ties and pulled sweaters over heads. At 8:46 a.m., I desperately slugged down my orange juice as I heard the footsteps running down the hallway and into the kitchen. The hand over Dad's mouth as the disastrous illumination came over the room still sticks with me.

"What am... how..." he looked at me, yearning for the answers. Like Gregor Samsa in The Metamorphosis as he was beginning to realize that he had turned into an insect, he was stuck, powerless. It was just him and me, the two men of the house, watching our city in ruins. New York was invincible, cradling us and teaching us lessons that we never could have learned on our own, and here it was, crying out in front of us next to where we ate. We just stood, motionless.

This is precisely why I am disappointed that photographs of Osama bin Laden's body have not been released to the public. If the people of this country have to sit in awe and witness the World Trade Center fall apart, men diving to their deaths, and rubble caking into the air of the city, the public must be able to put it all into perspective. Without media having the ability to inform and verify, at least partially, our rationale for the War on Terror, the purposes of both war and news go unacknowledged. And for a nation that has spent the past decade priding itself on the wars it has fought, regardless of legality or legitimacy, the people--soldiers on the battlegrounds, first responders, children afraid to go to sleep, parents trying to comfort them--at the very least deserve to know why, or to at least have the resources to conclude something. Anything. Without these clear definitions, this nation can rely on absolutely nothing. In order to truly rebuild and get on the so-called right track, we need to honor ourselves and see the pieces among the chaos.

Reading Journal- Reactions to Osama's Death

In the coverage of Osama Bin Laden's death that has been rampant in the last week, starting with Sunday night's television announcement by the President himself, one of the most interesting facets of the media's reporting on the subject has been coverage about American reactions.

Sunday night included raucous, alcohol-fueled celebrations, as participants, many college-aged rejoiced in the death of the enemy. This, of course, is not the only reaction that Bin Laden's death prompted, but it is a reaction that has been publicized. Americans, on the whole, seem to be loudly proclaiming their great happiness at this seemingly crucial move in the U.S.'s involvement in the Middle East.

The New York Daily News didn't even bother to conceal their own opinions on the matter with their "Rot in Hell" cover and headline, which got a lot of buzz. CNN covered that the public reaction to the "Rot in Hell" headline by conducting a poll that asked Americans whether or not they agreed with the sentiment. More specifically, the poll asked the question of whether or not people believe that Bin Laden is in Hell. They found that the majority of Americans, 61% does believe that Bin Laden is in Hell and only 10% thinks he is not. The remaining 29% were unsure. This is an interesting way to cover the public reaction because it shows the interaction between the media and the people, and how often one mirrors the other. What is more, it gets at the religious aspect of much of America's reaction to Bin Laden's death.

Another news coverage of the reaction to Bin Laden's death was the New York Times article today that discussed the sociological reasoning behind such an enthusiastic reaction by the American people. They acknowledged many people's criticism of the celebratory attitudes, and then went on to facilitate several expert opinions that said that while there may be moral doubts about these reactions, they are psychologically sound. According to these experts, revenge is a natural desire. According to these psychologists, it's perfectly normal to react positively and to celebrate with the reassurance that justice was served. The reporter further interpreted social psychology to posit that even those who would not have felt strongly enough to celebrate of their own accord, were swept up in the excitement.

Gawker also covered the American public's reaction, although mainly to mock it in extreme instances. One Gawker post shows a video made by a particularly enthused American who came up with a simplistic, highly ignorant song to celebrate and shared it on YouTube. This novelty is interesting, but mostly amusing and not all that informative. It reinforces a Gawker-type perspective that the world is full of idiots. Another Gawker post about online commenters who didn't know who Bin Laden was and asked other users on Twitter for the answer. This is almost more shocking than the other post, and in some sense telling. Almost more interesting than the knowledge that many young people don't know who Bin Laden is, there is the fact that they resorted to their internet to ask, and instead of using Google, they posed the question to other users.

Reading Journal

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/osama_bin_laden/index.html?scp=1-spot&sq=osama&st=cse

I've been keeping up with the coverage on Osama's death and this article struck me the most. Although it is a feature article, I felt that it read much like an obituary in the begining. The article paints Osama as a Muslim elite radical, whom "elevated to the realm of evil in the American imagination once reserved for dictators like Hitler and Stalin." I thought that this was a huge assumption for the author to make. Though he killed thousands of people, I don't think comparing Osama to Hitler does his description justice. I think this article loses its validity because of statements like this. This is a very bold statement that cannot be backed up, and comparing him to the mastermind of the Holocaust seems harsh.

There were things I did enjoy about the article, however. The author chose to describe the announcement of Osama's death in great detail. First, he chose to write about the intial statement that Osama had been armed when he was shot. In the next paragraph, he disproves this, explaining that this account had been "revised." He then linked this statement to an article that announced the revision. This was very effective because it gave validity to his words, and also made the article interactive. Instead of having to search for more articles, the author lead me to ones that he thought were relevant. Once again the author corrects himself, telling of another revision, giving a detailed description of the attack. This was very effective because I felt as if he filled me in on the most important points.

The author went as far as writing entire sections about Osama's early life, publishing something like a biography for the Times. I thought that this was an interesting approach but I also enjoyed it. I knew very little about Osama's life until I read this and I think it is important to provide information that a lot of people wouldn't bother to look into.

5.6.2011

Recently I have been paying attention to longer-form journalism, I'm been picking up Harper's, the New Yorker and the Atlantic. In this New Yorker for this week (May 9th) there happens to be a piece on the death penalty. "The Mitigator: Beating the Death Penalty," by Jeffrey Toobin, is markedly shorter than "Trial by Fire," weighing in at 7 pages, but they are significantly related, for obvious reasons. "The Mitigator" refers to Danalynn Recer, a Texas death-row defense attorney with an impressive record and a strong philosophical dedication to what she is doing. In a business where attorneys are notoriously "in it for the money," I am glad to meet such a strong character through this article. 

The characterization in this article is a bit curious when compared to the examples presented in class, it does not fit the standard of an anecdotal lede. The first three paragraphs establish the decline in number of people on death row and the number (national, then focusing on Texas and Harris County in particular) of people executed in the past years. After sentence upon sentence chock full of statistics, the audience gets a feel of the heavy, thick wall that death row defense attorneys face when they enter the courtroom. The numbers are somewhat against them. 

The opening is almost oppressive, who could stand against those numbers? Especially in the case of not guilty defendants... 

But then Toobin introduces Recer, the most prominent and successful defense attorney in Texas. The quote that he picks for her is quite perfect, demonstrating that this is not some fluffy, emotional story of one woman's fight against the judicial system, motivated by a family history of some sort. No, according to Recer "this is not some unknowable thing. This is not curing caner. We know how to do this. It is possible to persuade a jury to value someone's life."

(A logical woman, indeed.)

This type of introduction makes the character of Recer stand out all the more. In this case, an anecdotal lede would set an almost over-emotional tone to the piece, it would editorialize Recer as opposed to letting the reader form their own opinion of her, her organization (GRACE) and all that they do. 

Toobin now moves through a profile of Recer and GRACE, noting that the offices are in a somewhat ram-shack "compound" of houses and that Recer dresses "like a graduate student." She is no-fuss, no-muss (it that editorializing?)

In the story there are a bunch of other "characters," but I think that Recer seems the most prominent, she takes over most of the story just for who she is. 

So Recer is obviously fighting against the death penalty for a reason. Toobin presents a few, the first being that support for the death penalty has not gone down, 2/3 Americans still support it. There's also the system through which a death sentence in reached. There is the "guilt phase" where the prosecution must prove that the defendant is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. After conviction, there is the "penalty phase" where it is determined whether or not the defendant should be executed. The process is long, drawn-out and unwieldy. An attorney that can navigated this rough terrain becomes invaluable. 

The article began with context, narrowing in scope down to Recer and then back out to this section that defines the death sentencing process. The explanation is punctuated by quote from various expert-type sources and interjections from Recer that basically prove that she knows what she's talking about, she knows what she's doing. Toobin keeps with the context, moving back to prosecutors styles in the 1980s, explaining where the current ecosystem comes from. 

When Toobin focuses back on Recer, he is profiling her. It's less about her personal childhood experiences and reads more like a resume, a rap sheet, a listing of her qualifications. But not like there's something to prove. Like everything else about Recer, these a just things she did. No sense that Recer or the author are trying to brag. It's also a profile of GRACE, Recer's company/organization, as the author chronicles its earliest days. 

7 pages, while not as long as "Trial by Fire" or "Alone Together," is actually quite long. I had to take a few breaks. My long-form journalism stamina is building up, though (:

-GG 

Reading Journal (5.6.2011) Emily Katz

In the midst of articles published about the facts and details of Osama Bin Ladin’s death, there have been profiles published about the team of Special Forces that led the operation. The New York Times had an article about the Navy Seals (“In Bin Laden’s Compound, Seals’ All-Star Team”), while Andrew Sullivan, the writer of The Dish, had a blog post titled “What A Navy Seal Goes Through.” In the post, he links to another article from The Daily Beast (“Osama Bin Laden Death: Navy Seal’s Hardcore Workout” by Tony Dokoupil). In the New York Times article, the journalist was able to get quotes from former Seal members, but it reads more like a traditional news story whereas the writing style in the Beast article had more descriptions, evoked more images, and reads more like a short feature piece. In Beast article, the writer goes into detail about the “Navy Seal Workout,” and chronicles the rigorous training process. The article also has links to photos of Navy Seal trainees. After providing the facts, the journalist begins to write in a more narrative style. Both journalists provide valuable information to the public: the first with hard facts about who the Seals are, and the second with more in depth descriptions that really characterize them and contextualize their significance.

The article “Nissan Minivan Chosen as New York City’s Next Taxi,” begins with a hard news lede that describes the characteristics of the Nissan NV200. In the following paragraph, a rhetorical question—“But can a minivan win over New York?”—paints a great picture in the minds of the readers. The nut graph of this story is in the third paragraph, where the Bloomberg administration confirms that the Nissan NV200 will become the “all-but-exclusive vehicle of the city’s taxi fleet,” and that the city’s icon will get a new look. The journalist used a great source—a taxi historian and former cabby, who provided context of how this new model compares with the cabs of the old days. The journalist did cite the negative aspects of this switch to using all Nissans, as the design is not wheelchair-friendly. One source the journalist could have included is New Yorkers’ reaction to this switch of every cab in the city to the Nissan NV200. This article is not really a feature piece, but the journalist does a good job of profiling the prospective New York City taxi model.

The Guardian article “Royal wedding dress designer wins plaudits,” serves as a mini-profile of Sarah Burton, the designer of Kate Middleton’s wedding dress. The journalist begins by saying how the reticent but talented designer is now the center of attention in the fashion world. The journalist uses a quote from supporting quote from Elle creative director Joe Zee, “I think the world is her oyster at this point.” The journalist also uses quotes from “one insider who did not want to be named.” This source comments on Sarah Burton’s personality and style (“she hates the idea of being a celebrity or star designer”). The journalist includes a paragraph of the designer’s background, a quote Burton said to Vogue a year ago, and another brief paragraph about her career in fashion. The article ends with Jean-Jacques Picard, a French fashion consultant, who comments on Burton’s style as a designer, characterizing her as “discreet, pragmatic and far removed from the glittery star system.” This article is successful in that the journalist uses well-respected sources in the fashion world as well as people close to Burton. The lack of quotes from Burton herself further characterizes her as an unpretentious designer.

Brianna Lyle : Reading Journal for May 6

I’m choosing to write about the coverage of the Osama bin Laden raid and killing, specifically the May 4^th article “Account tell of One-Sided Battle in Bin Laden Raid” where it is revealed that “ new details emerged about the raid on Bin Laden’s fortified compound that differed from the administration’s initial account of the nearly 40-minute operation.” I find this extremely interesting right off the bet because, from whom I’ve spoken with about the incident, there seems to be an underlying doubt about what actually happened. Even in previous news coverage of the incident, the New York Times has made it difficult to understand what exactly happened saying that Osama was killed in cross fire but then also saying in the same article that Osama was caught in cross fire and then shot in the head, which sounds more like we intentionally shot him in the head than the initial belief that he died in action.

The article from May 4^th also touched on the possibility of showing the American public the photos of Osama after death with Obama decided against after speaking with his war council deciding, “the images of Bin Laden public could incite violence against Americans and would do little to persuade skeptics that the founder of Al Qaeda had been killed” said White House officials said. This article also talks about the change in talk surrounding the shooting; it seems as though Americans were never really engaged in a firefight. “Administration officials said the official account of events has changed over the course of the week because it has taken time to get thorough after-action reports from the Seal team. And, they added, because the Special Operations troops had been fired upon as soon as they touched down in the compound, they were under the assumption that everyone inside was armed. “They were in a threatening and hostile environment the entire time,” one American official said.