Philadelphia Tribune - Index

Philadelphia Tribune - Friday, September 18, 2009 - Index

problems of troubled youths.”
Sociologist and author Elijah
Anderson said that in structurally
poor Black neighborhoods
there exists an entire
class of people who have
embraced the subculture of the
streets with its violence and
bloodshed.
“At the extreme of the streetoriented
group are those who
make up the criminal element,”
he said. “People in this class
are profound casualties of the
social and economic system
and they tend to embrace the
street code wholeheartedly.
They tend to lack not only a
decent education — though
many of them are highly intelligent
— but also an outlook that
would allow them to see
beyond their immediate circumstances.
Highly alienated
and embittered, they exude
generalized contempt for the
wider scheme of things and for
a system they are sure has
nothing but contempt for them.
Members of this group are
among the most desperate and
most alienated people in the
inner city.”
Anderson said that in a community
that doesn’t trust the
civil authorities, the need for
credibility constantly leads to
violence.
“You can look at someone’s
woman, or owe money, or even
park your car in the wrong
place and precipitate violence.
This is not the whole Black
community,” he said. “But in
the structurally poor neighborhoods,
the really poor neighborhoods,
there is a direct correlation
between poverty and
violence. As times get tougher,
more of this will go on.”
Friday, September 18, 2009 Page 3-B
PICA
From Page 1B
Delco
council
to meet
Sept. 29
Tribune News Report
Delaware County Council is
scheduled to once again meet in
the community, this time on
Tuesday, Sept. 29, in Haverford
Township.
Following two successful
evening meetings, in Collingdale
and Chester, Council will continue
its community outreach
by meeting at 7:30 p.m. Sept.
29 in the Quatrani Building,
behind the Haverford Township
building, 2325 Darby Road.
Welsh Quakers founded
Haverford Township in 1681,
naming it after the town of
Haverfordwest in Wales. The
township is home to Haverford
College, the oldest college in the
United States with Quaker origins,
and the 1797 Federal
School, the oldest building in
Delaware County erected
specifically for educational purposes.
While Haverford has a rich
history, it is also a vibrant township
that is experiencing revitalization
in many areas including
the transformation of the old
Haverford State Hospital and
the Swell Bubblegum factory.
The former state hospital is
being transformed into
Haverford Reserve, with over
150 acres of open space, athletic
fields, walking trails and
homes, and the YMCA of
Philadelphia and Vicinity plans
to convert the Swell factory into
a local Y facility.
“We are pleased to hold a
public council meeting in
Haverford Township,” said
Councilman Andy Lewis, a
Haverford resident. “We hope
these meetings will enhance our
ability to communicate with our
residents and therefore enable
us to govern more effectively for
them.”
Source: Delaware County
District Attorney
Violence
From Page 2B
The bill passed in the state
House last week and is now in
front of the Senate. They had
not approved the measure at
Tribune press time.
City officials have been agonizing
over the budget for
months hoping to avoid the
worst-case scenario through
state action. State officials,
however, have proven recalcitrant
delaying for months
despite a well-orchestrated
campaign by the administration
to speed the bills through
the legislature.
Nutter’s Plan C proposal will
mean laying off 3,000 city
employees, closing six engine
companies, three ladder companies,
five medic units, shuttering
all recreation centers
and libraries, closing two
health clinics and the city’s
court and parks system.
Notifications of pending facility
closures were sent out Sept.
10. Layoff notices, effective
Oct. 2, will be sent Sept. 18.
Notices of pending cuts
have already started to
appear throughout the city.
This week, notices were
posted at all branches of the
Free Library of Philadelphia.
“The city of Philadelphia
will not have the funds to
operate our neighborhood
branch libraries, regional
libraries, or the Parkway
Central Library after Oct. 2,
2009,” said the notice, signed
by president and director
Siobhan Reardon. “All branch
and regional library programs,
including programs
for children and teens, after
school programs, computer
classes, and programs for
adults, will be cancelled.”
Patrons were also warned
that all checked out material
would be due Oct. 1 regardless
of the return date.
Nothing can be checked out
after Sept. 30.