THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSIT Y OF PENNSYLVANIA
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TUESDAY, APRIL 29, 2014
PennDesign prof to spearhead global urban development
Uncovering the other
across the river Just a 10-month resident, Penn grad and Rutgers prof Steve Danley is fast learning the intricacies of Camden, one of the nation’s poorest and most dangerous cities BY MIKE TONY Senior Staff Writer
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Q&A | The DP spoke to Eugenie Birch about her work on the World Urban Campaign
t’s April Fools’ Day in Camden, N.J., and the joke is on everyone near the intersection of Cooper and 4th Streets on the campus of Rutgers University-Camden — just a 10-minute train ride away from Center City on the PATCO Speedline. A New Jersey Transit River Line tram full of dozens of passengers is stuck in the middle of a left turn onto Cooper Street, lodged behind a red, crusty Chevy Cavalier parked in the right lane, close enough to the intersection that the tram would smash it if it went any further. Instant traffic jam. “It sucks to suck,” a man in a black hoodie yells towards the tram while walking on the other side of the street. One police car arrives on the scene, then another. A police officer in the first car activates her siren so that the owner of the Cavalier might come out and retrieve his vehicle. Then a school bus approaches, turning right onto 4th Street off of Cooper. It takes 10 seconds for the bus to squeeze between the curb and the tram. The two police officers shake their heads in disbelief, and so do the handful of pedestrians who have stopped to watch. Finally, the owner of the Cavalier comes rushing out of a Subway and 7-Eleven plaza across the street. “I’m so sorry!” he says. “Write him a ticket!” a bystander yells gleefully from the street corner, as if this 2:30 p.m. logjam is guaranteed to be the highlight of his day. The Cavalier’s owner drives shamefully away after the police officers are done with him, but not before the tram driver honks the horn one more time for good measure. “What was that?” the first police officer asks. That was the schoolchildren, police and citizens of the city, innocent and guilty, black and white, all struggling to navigate around each other. And in a nutshell, that’s Camden.
BY FOLA ONIFADE Staff Writer The United Nations Human Settlement’s Program recently named PennDesign professor Eugenie Birch chair of the World Urban Campaign, an organization that advocates sustainable city development. Birch is currently a co-director of Penn’s Institute for Urban Research, a interdisciplinary research center that studies sustainable and suburban development strategies. She has been working with the WUC since 2009, when it was in its early stages of development, and was elected cochair in 2010. T he D a i l y Pennsylvanian spoke to Birch about her previous work with and goals for WUC. D P : W h at EUGENIE does the World BIRCH Urban CamChair of the paign do? World Urban EB: Over the Campaign years w e ’ v e done some work writing manifestos and documents that talk about importance of cities and urbanization and how important it is to … not be wasteful with our resources. This objective has gotten more important because of two big things happening in the United Nations in the next two years with the creation of the post-2015 agenda. DP: Can you tell us more about the post-2015 agenda? EB: In 2000, the UN issued the
‘Local Knowledge’ is power
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ust across the street, sitting in his office, is Rutgers professor Stephen Danley, the Oxford-educated, 6-foot-8, three-time Ivy League champion Penn basketball forward who moved to Camden in July. He’s far removed from the cacophony of sirens and horns below, but he’s got more than enough voices in his ear to make up for it. That’s because Danley’s Local Knowledge blog has become arguably the most important forum for citizens of Camden, which in February was ranked the most dangerous city in the country in a list compiled using FBI data from 2012. Camden has the highest crime rate of any city with a population over 75,000, suffering 131 homicides from the beginning of 2012 through Feb. 19 of this year. In September 2012, United States Census Bureau statistics revealed Camden to be the poorest city in the nation. These are powerful superlatives, and they define Camden for many. But Danley’s blog goes beyond the superlatives to lend a platform to voices crying out for ownership over their own policy as the city moves away from democratic processes and its citizens feel like they have increasingly less formal power. “What I’m trying to point out in the blog is that power has been exploited,” said Danley, who graduated from the College in 2007. But it’s those voices in Danley’s ear that are doing most of the talking. Contributions to his blog are varied and touch on redevelopment, public education and other city issues. Danley has scored guest posts from fellow Rutgers professors as well as his students, Camden School District teachers and representatives and the founder of the Sunny Camden, a blog committed to highlighting the positives throughout the city. Most of these voices are saying the same thing: Camden lawmakers have willfully ignored their constituents.
SEE URBAN PAGE 6
Penn Law website, FactCheck.org win Webby Awards
SEE CAMDEN PAGE 9
Courtesy of Blake Bolinger
BY MAYA RAWAL Staff Writer
It’s lights, camera, action for Penn Masala The a cappella group performed at the Bollywood ‘Oscars’ this weekend BY CATHY HAN Contributing Writer
Courtesy of IIFA
Members of Penn Masala pose in their prime seats at the International Indian Film Academy Awards. The group performed “Evolution of Bollywood Music” at the event in Florida over the weekend.
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Penn Masala is red carpet ready. Their newest song, “Evolution of Bollywood Music” not only captured the attention of its usual fans, but also gained notice from the organizers of the International Indian Film Academy. Members of Penn Masala, a widely recognized South Asian
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a cappella group, traveled to Tampa, Fla., this past weekend to perform at the annual International Indian Film Academy Awards. The event is considered the “Oscars” of Bollywood and combines performances with an award ceremony. The biggest stars in the Hindi language film industry were present in the audience of close to 25,000 people. “It was a surreal experience. For a lot of us, it was a dream come true,” Penn Masala Business Manager Varshil Patel , a Wharton and Engineering senior, said. “ E volut ion of Bol ly woo d SEE MASALA PAGE 7
The websites for the Penn Law School and FactCheck. org, an Annenberg Public Policy Center project, won Webby Awards on Monday. Penn Law’s website won its second consecutive People’s Voice Award, chosen by public voters. FactCheck.org, which verifies the accuracy of polit ic i a ns’ st at ement s du r i ng major elections, won both the People’s Voice Award for the seventh time since 2007 and the judge’s award, following wins in 2008, 2010, 2011 and 2012. The websites were nominated for Webby Awards, an internet award The New York Times called “the Internet’s highest honor,” in their respective categories of Law and Politics. Penn Law’s website features an interactive homepage with SEE WEBBY PAGE 10
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