Feb. 4, 2021 | Indiana Daily Student | idsnews.com
Left in the cold By Phyllis Cha cha1@iu.edu | @phyllischa
Photos by Abbie Gressley abbgress@iu.edu | @abbie_photos
Unhoused community faces hostility, danger
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s he sat under the awning of A Friend’s Place, an overnight shelter, and leaned back against the wooden chair he was sitting in, Randy Haler sighed. In the freezing January air, he could see his own breath. Haler, 68, has been experiencing homelessness for nine months. But when he was in his 20s, he walked the same sidewalks that IU students walk now. From 1972 to 1976, Haler resembled many current students in the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs. He was upset with the way corporations and human beings treat the planet. He hoped to study environmental law after he graduated. In 1974, he was in a car accident that bruised his brain stem. Since then, he has dealt with seizures and memory loss. Haler adjusted his gloves and pulled his hat lower over his head as snow continued to flutter down from the sky. He said that since his wife died, just a year before their 25th anniversary, it’s been difficult to do anything. But he's trying to find housing right now using the Social Security benefit payments he receives. “I have to be patient, that’s all there is to it,” Haler said. “Because I can get myself screwed. The check doesn’t go too far.” Bloomington's unhoused population faces challenges from few sources of stable or affordable shelters to hostility generated by negative stereotypes. Seven members of the unhoused community told the Indiana Daily Student that they want Bloomington residents to view them as human beings, just trying to survive.
Hostility toward the unhoused population Harry Collins, the founder of Bloomington Homeless Coalition, has experienced homelessness on and off for about 16 years. He’s lived in Bloomington for his entire life, and he says conditions for the unhoused population have only gotten worse over the years. Collins said from the moment he wakes up to the moment he goes to sleep, he is doing work for the Bloomington Homeless Coalition, whether he’s giving interviews or helping others in the unhoused community find resources. He said he wished that those who had never experienced homelessness before realized that the unhoused, too, are human beings. All he’s asking for is respect, he said. In 2017, a petition on Change.org addressed the unhoused population in People’s Park, stating, “Over the past several years, the homeless have decided to make this park their home, starting fights, doing drugs, setting one another's belongings on fire, and causing raucous 24/7.” As a result of increased police presence, the unhoused population decided to leave People’s Park, dispersing across Kirkwood, abandoned buildings and other places. Collins said while there are people in the unhoused community dealing with addiction, the assumption that none of them are trying to get better is unfair. He also said there are people who don’t use drugs or drink at all. He said negative attitudes toward the unhoused are nothing new. People have told him those experiencing homelessness should go to hell. Candance Goffinet, 50, said she has struggled with opioid addiction, but is working on her sobriety. In 2007,
Goffinet said she was hit by a train and lost her right arm. She said doctors prescribed her painkillers, but when those stopped numbing her pain, she became addicted to heroin. She is now on Suboxone, a drug used to treat opioid addiction. Goffinet said she still experiences the pain 14 years later, but is working to stop using. “I got phantom limb pain, all kinds of pain,” she said. “I mean, I got hit by a train. I lost my arm. It was awful.” Goffinet said many people look down on the unhoused, and people have treated her differently when they realize she is experiencing homelessness. Similarly, Aries, who was evicted from Seminary Park on Jan. 14, said many people look down on him. It’s demoralizing, he said. “Have you ever had an equal spit at you, laugh at you, call you disgusting, tell you what to do with your life?” he asked. Aries said he feels like many in the unhoused population have been broken down and are afraid to stand up for themselves. Beacon, an organization that works to serve those in poverty and experiencing homelessness, estimated that around 38 people were staying at Seminary Square Park before the
Top Members of the homeless community gather until the doors of A Friend’s Place open at 5:15 p.m. Saturday. They stood under the porch of the shelter to avoid the snow. Bottom Candance Goffinet, 50, and Jason Oliphant, 47, wait outside A Friend’s Place Saturday. The doors opened at 5:15 p.m. and members of the homeless community gathered together until it opened.
January eviction. By the time the park was evicted on Jan. 14, only two people remained. Many in the unhoused population, fearing arrest or escalation, left before BPD arrived at Seminary Park that night, Aries said. “They’re so easily dissuaded through a life of pain, angst, anguish and being stomped down,” he said. “Look at this. They all left,” Aries said, pointing around Seminary Square Park, where activists and police officers lingered but most unhoused people had fled. Limited housing options In five weeks, encampments at Seminary Square Park have been evicted twice. The first eviction took place on Dec. 9, when BPD and city employees cleared tents and belongings out of the park. SEE COLD, PAGE 6
In-person classes to start Monday By Sophie Suter srsuter@iu.edu | @sophiersuter
In-person classes will start on Monday after being entirely online since Nov. 30. Students returning to campus after Sunday will receive mandatory COVID-19 testing at Memorial Stadium and quarantine at Ashton until they receive their test results. The test results will take between 24 and 48 hours. Students have to schedule their test before arrival. Signup will open Friday, according to an IU press release. Students returning to campus between Jan. 30 and Feb. 7 must take a COVID-19 test at the Garrett Fieldhouse. These students also have to schedule their appointments before arriving and can sign up now. The university switched to online classes to avoid flu season coinciding with COVID-19, according to News at IU. Students will have in-person classes starting next week through the end of the semester May 9. During the fall 2020 semester, the amount of in-person classes decreased by 60-70%, IU spokesperson Chuck Carney said, and many classes will remain online for the spring semester.
IU revamps dashboard, reports 0.2% positivity By Matt Cohen mdc1@iu.edu | @Matt_Cohen_
In the first week of its reformatted and expanded COVID-19 dashboard, IU reported 68 total positive cases out of all types of testing, 353 individuals who should be in quarantine as a close contact and a 0.2% positivity rate on mitigation testing for the week of Jan 24. IU’s dashboard update features a complete formatting overhaul to improve readability. Previously, the dashboard had the majority of the data — like voluntary testing and results from different groups like greek-life and off-campus students — compiled into a long block of text at the top of the page. Those numbers are now moved into their own sections. The update also features new information, including average response times on mitigation, symptomatic and voluntary tests. Mitigation tests SEE DASHBOARD, PAGE 6
Hoosiers 65+ able to get Local journalists cover executions, get COVID-19 vaccine By Haley Ryan By Cameron Garber garberc@iu.edu | @garber_cameron
Two journalists working for WTIU and WFIU tested positive for COVID-19 after witnessing the federal executions of inmates at the Terre Haute Penitentiary. Despite sharing their positive results with the Bureau of Prisons, the BOP chose not to inform other journalists and prison staff about the results. George Hale, a reporter for WFIU, tested positive for the coronavirus on Jan. 21, one week after witnessing the execution of Corey Johnson. Johnson, along with Lisa Montgomery and Dustin Higgs, was one of three death row inmates executed by the government in the last days of the Trump administration. Hale informed the prison of his test result within a few hours, hoping to warn the staff about possible spread. He assumed that the prison would inform the journalists who had been in the facility to witness the executions, he said. “There was a guard in
TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE
A sign directs visitors to the entrance of the Federal Correctional Complex, Terre Haute on July 25, 2019, in Terre Haute, Indiana. WTIU and WFIU reporters tested positive for COVID-19 after covering the Trump administration's federal executions there.
the execution chamber who I was squeezed together against. We could not have been closer,” Hale said. “I worry that person either gave me COVID or I gave him COVID. I wonder whether or not they were ever told they were exposed.” The BOP did not immediately respond to the Indiana Daily Student’s request for comment. A BOP spokesperson told the Associated Press that reporters had been warned ahead of the executions that social distancing
may not be possible, but masks were required and additional personal protective equipment was available upon request. In an email obtained by the IDS, the BOP informed Hale it would not be conducting any contact tracing, as Hale’s positive test result occurred six days after his last visit to the penitentiary, and it was not their policy to take any action unless someone tested positive within two days of attending the prison. “I had a pounding head-
ache on Saturday and Sunday which I associated with the exhaustion from covering the three executions in a row that week,” Hale said. The BOP responded to Hale’s news about the beginning of his symptoms by wishing him well, according to an email shared with the IDS. Hale said the Terre Haute facility was not equipped to deal with the pandemic. He and two other journalists were crammed into a van that sat outside the penitentiary for 45 minutes before being allowed inside, he said. Once inside, the journalists waited inside a room that Hale described as smaller than a classroom. They waited in this room for hours while the courts resolved any last-minute appeals. Following the execution, a federal judge ordered the Bureau to conduct a compliance report for COVID-19 protocol, as several journalists including Hale reported a member of the execution team was not wearing a mask for several minutes during
Johnson’s execution. The compliance report denied any government wrongdoing and made no mention of the positive results of either the inmates or the attendees. Johnson and Higgs both tested positive for the virus in the weeks leading up to their executions at the facility. Hale learned of his positive test through mitigation testing conducted by IU, something Hale said is done every time a journalist visits the prison. The IU contact tracer instructed Hale to selfisolate for 10 days. He finished his isolation Saturday. “The executions have spread COVID both in the prison and the community because they bring in people all over the country to conduct them,” Hale said, referencing the dozens of staff and hundreds of inmates who have tested positive in the facility, according to the Associated Press. “The chamber is cramped and airtight for security reasons. It’s just a wildly unsafe thing to do on its face.”
haryan@iu.edu | @haley__ryan
The Indiana Department of Health announced Feb. 1 that residents aged 65 and older can register to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Eligible individuals can call 211 or visit ourshot.in.gov to register for the vaccine. According to the Indiana Department of Health, there are currently 259 vaccination sites in the state including some Kroger, Meijer and Walmart pharmacies. According to the Indy Star, people trying to register for vaccines experienced long wait times and errors on the phone and website after eligibility was expanded. State officials have asked for patience and recommended calling later in the day because afternoons may have lower traffic, the Indy Star also reported. Because of a limited supply of vaccines, Indiana has prioritized health care workers and first responders. After this priority group received the vaccine, Indiana switched to an age-based vaccination apSEE VACCINE, PAGE 6