Farewell Philadelphia AlumniCorps Dinner

Tonight we had our end of fellowship dinner at Su Xing House, a delicious vegetarian restaurant in Center City.  The evening was a nice way to wrap up the year and it was great to hear what we each took away from our Project 55 fellowship.  I could not have asked for a better experience working in the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office and I am grateful for all the opportunities it provided me to learn about the issues facing our criminal justice system.  As for Philly, I have thoroughly enjoyed all that it has to offer and I am excited that I get to stay for graduate school next year in the “City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection.”  Best of luck to everyone who is transitioning from their fellowship position to something new!

Penn Lectures on the Criminal Justice System

One of the benefits of living in Center City is having access to the various public lectures the University of Pennsylvania offers on criminal justice issues.  A few weeks ago I attended a lecture on mass incarceration and the prospects for reform sponsored by the Urban Studies Program at Penn.  Professor of Sociology at Harvard University Bruce Western examined the impact of incarceration and the resulting increase in racial and economic inequality in our nation.  Last month, I also got the opportunity to listen to a lecture on reducing prison overcrowding hosted by the Department of Criminology at Penn.  Judge Steven Alm of Hawaii’s First Circuit, and Mark Kleiman, Professor of Public Policy at the UCLA School of Public Affairs, discussed their work with the successful HOPE program.  Hawaii's Opportunity Probation with Enforcement (HOPE) features frequent random drug testing of offenders on probation.  Those who test positive are subject to immediate but brief incarceration.  Based on studies conducted, the program has been shown to be effective in reducing drug abuse, crime, and incarceration in the population of offenders in the community on probation.  The program is noteworthy in that the penalties for failed drug tests encourages those who can stop their drug use through their own volition to do so.  This thereby allows valuable resources to be committed to those with the most serious substance abuse problems and who need professional assistance to overcome their addiction.  Together, Judge Alm and Professor Kleiman have promoted this program as a model that can be tailored for other cities struggling with large populations of offenders with substance abuse problems who are on probation and parole.

Breaking the Cycle of Violence Forum

On Wednesday, Princeton AlumniCorps joined the Princeton Club of Philadelphia for a forum on Philadelphia’s criminal justice system.

Keynote speaker Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams spoke about the changes he has made since taking office two years ago and his vision for an effective District Attorney’s office. One of his goals has been to implement community-wide partnerships to address the challenges facing Philadelphia. In addition, at the core of his strategy on crime prevention is the belief that it is the certainty, and not the severity of punishment, that deters crime and reduces recidivism. With this in mind, he has implemented several community-based diversion programs targeted towards low-risk and non-violent offenders. This allows his office to commit its resources and efforts on pursuing the most violent criminals.

The panel component of the evening provided an opportunity for leaders in the criminal justice community to discuss the cycle of violence in Philadelphia and its impact. Touching on topics like poverty, failing schools, and broken communities, the panel addressed the efforts of the criminal justice community to change the trajectory of Philadelphia’s most disadvantaged citizens. Deputy District Attorney Laurie Malone, Deputy Mayor of Public Safety and Chief of Staff for Mayor Nutter Everett Gillison, Assistant Chief of Appeals Larry Goode, and Executive Director of Center City Crime Victim Services Sherry Hunter all shared their experiences working in a system that is struggling to deal with high crime rates and limited resources.

The overall takeaway from the evening was that in many places, Philadelphia’s communities are broken and in order to tackle the many public safety challenges they face, its citizens need to become more accountable to each other.

Using Social Media for Social Change

Tonight’s PP55 Fellows seminar focused on using social media as a means for social change. Hosted by Philly Net Squared, the evening focused on identifying the right social media strategies to use depending on the aims of your non-profit or social justice project. There were several small discussion groups that focused on a series of wide-ranging issues. I sat in on discussion groups that addressed tools such as Hootsuite to handle various social media platforms; legal issues associated with adopting social media applications; and a discussion group on web and media strategies to maximize your organization’s reach.

The seminar was described as a “mini-unconference.” I really enjoyed the interactive format and I found the evening to be engaging and educational. It definitely provided me with some new techniques on effectively using and understanding social media that I hope to utilize in the future.

Princeton Basketball in Philly

Last night, Princeton alums in Philadelphia went over to The Palestra to cheer on the Tigers as they took on Penn. Even though we were not victorious over the Quakers, it was still an exciting game and a good opportunity to meet some new fellow Princeton alumni.

Happy January!

In celebration of the new year (and in anticipation of colder weather to come, hopefully- it's been awfully warm this winter in Philadelphia!), I present a delicious recipe for stout gingerbread that I tried out over the holidays while back home in Seattle (which has proven to be a decidedly more wintry locale this year than my current place of residence).

This recipe is from a 2009 edition of The New York Times. Due to my sister's not liking lemon, we didn't make the lemon glaze, but I'm sure it would be delicious. The stout gives the gingerbread a nice denseness. Enjoy!

Butter for greasing

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder

2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg, preferably fresh

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup, packed, dark brown sugar

3 tablespoons turbinado sugar

2 1/2 tablespoons finely grated fresh ginger (a 2-ounce piece, peeled)

Grated zest of 2 lemons

1/2 cup grapeseed oil

1 large egg

3/4 cup stout beer

3/4 cup molasses

1/3 cup brewed coffee

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted

2 tablespoons lemon juice.

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease an 8-inch springform cake pan and line bottom with parchment paper.

2. In a bowl, whisk flour, cocoa, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Set aside. In a large bowl combine brown sugar, turbinado, ginger, zest of 1 lemon and oil. Beat in egg.

3. Place beer, molasses and coffee in a deep pot, at least 3 quarts. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in baking soda. Mixture will bubble up. Allow to cool 5 minutes.

4. Whisk flour mixture alternately with beer mixture into brown sugar mixture, in 3 shifts. Pour batter in pan and bake 40 minutes without opening oven. Give pan a 180-degree turn and bake another 15 minutes, until cake is springy and a tester comes out clean. Cool on a rack. When cool, remove sides of pan, invert briefly to remove bottom of pan and paper and set upright on a plate.

5. Place confectioners’ sugar in a bowl, whisk in remaining zest and salt, then lemon juice. Spread over top of cake, allowing glaze to drip down the sides.

Philadelphia’s Students Explore Careers in Law

The District Attorney wanted to afford aspiring lawyers and paralegals the chance to learn about careers in law and to gain exposure to how the criminal justice system functions – so in 2010 he established an Explorer Post here at the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office.

For those of you who may not be familiar with “Exploring,” an Explorer Post is a work site based program that allows young people ages 14 to 20 an opportunity to experience their career choices first hand. The legal profession ranked number four out of the top 20 career choices of Philadelphia students. As part of the program, students complete a public service project with a message that they take back to their schools. Last year’s student projects were a huge success. One of the highlights was this anti-bullying video created by Central High School students.

Students also attend lectures on the criminal justice system and gain mock trial experience. Our most recent session taught students about preliminary hearings and how prosecutors deal with uncooperative witnesses. This is my first year helping out with the program and I am excited to be working with such an impressive and ambitious group of students.

Art in the Philadelphia DA’s Office

Philadelphia has a long history of mural artwork and has more murals than any other city in the United States. Murals are often used to convey the distinctive history and culture of Philly’s neighborhoods.

One of the goals that District Attorney Seth Williams has pursued since taking office has been to restore and promote artwork in the District Attorney’s Office. The intent is to inspire and uplift the many prosecutors who work tirelessly everyday in pursuit of justice. With that in mind, he commissioned a new indoor mural that would symbolize these efforts, as well as highlight the unique communities the office serves.

Done in conjunction with the City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program, the mural was officially unveiled this Tuesday. As you walk off the main elevators, a wall-to-wall mural depicts scenes such as the Italian Market as well as neighborhoods across the City. This innovative piece incorporates technology in a unique way, with six WiFi-enabled frames that rotate to show photographs of the ongoing work at Community Action Centers.

Welcome to the Real World

Yesterday (Thursday) morning, my boss asked me to look up an article that she had seen in the Philadelphia Inquirer about Philadelphia being the largest poor city in the country. I thought nothing of the article when I found it and sent the link to her. Due to my sleep deprivation, I am unable to come across the blog post at the moment, but a personal experience that caused said sleep deprivation made me very much aware of the socioeconomic inequalities that continue to plague this city. In a town where only 18% of adults hold degrees from four-year colleges or universities and the poverty rate stands at 25%, there is clearly much to be done to address inequality constructively. Sadly, I was part of a nonconstructive outburst reflective of these disparities.

Two weeks ago, I bought a new phone. My old one finally bit the dust, and, in a burst of upgrading glee, I secured a new iPhone for myself. I spent a little time tinkering with it, but mostly was just happy to have a phone after several weeks without one. Last night, while walking home, I called my uncle to catch up. In the middle of our phone conversation, my phone was ripped from my ear by someone who then proceeded to run off with it while I chased him, screamed, and incited others to tackle him. This was followed by an hour circling through Center City in a cop car and two hours at the police precinct. Suffice it to say, my phone was not found and I am back at square one in terms of mobile communication, albeit without the several hundred dollars I had to spend to upgrade to my now lost phone.

The very nice policemen who helped me told me that this happens all the time in Philadelphia- people will be using or talking on smart phones, and someone will come along, grab it, and run off with it. I spent the majority of the evening bawling, largely due to the shock of the experience. It's disorienting and slightly scary to have something ripped from you, and it's equally disorienting realizing that you've just lost something that you'll never get back (but still had to pay for). It's saddening to realize that I live in a city where this is a common occurrence, but the statistics certainly explain the behavior, even if they don't justify it. I would love to be in a city where everyone had equal access to various opportunities; hell, I would love to live in a country where that would be the case. But the sad reality is that we live in an incredibly unequal society, and random occurrences like my being robbed reflect these persistent inequalities. The bigger bummer is that I am now out a lot of money for what was ultimately nothing, whereas other people might be able to cover the cost of the theft of their smart phones more painlessly.

To whomever ends up with my (now cancelled) phone: I hope you got what you wanted.

Education Reform in Philadelphia

With the recent departure of Philadelphia School District Superintendent Arlene Ackerman amid severe budget cuts and political infighting, Philadelphia's students started school in a district uncertain about its future. Organized in conjunction with the Princeton Club of Philadelphia and Princeton AlumniCorps, Tuesday’s forum brought together educational leaders to discuss the future of Philadelphia’s education system and ongoing reform efforts. The panel featured Dr. Leroy Nunery, the acting CEO and Superintendent. It also included Marc Mannella, CEO of KIPP Philadelphia, Edward Mensah, Director of Steppingstone Scholars, Alyson Goodner '00, founder of The School Collective, and Matt Troha, Principal of Mastery Turnaround School Thomas Campus. The panel discussion was moderated by Rosalind Echols '05, a high school teacher at the Science Leadership Academy.

The focus of the discussion was on education reform and turning around a school district that for far too long has been underachieving. How can Philadelphia attract the best teachers and keep them? How can teachers from charter, public, and private schools collaborate to ensure that they are using the most innovative and effective learning techniques? How do we provide a quality public education when funding to the School District has been cut drastically by the state? How does the School District work most effectively with the Teachers Union? These were just some of the main topics covered in a lengthy question and answer session.

The overall takeaway of the evening was that while the challenges we face within Philadelphia's education system are difficult, they are not insurmountable. There are many dedicated educators and reformers who are committed to improving classrooms and making sure Philadelphia's students are college-ready and can compete in the new global economy.

Accelerated Misdemeanor Program (AMP)

One of the most exciting parts of my job thus far has been getting to handle cases for the Accelerated Misdemeanor Program (AMP). AMP is a citywide diversion program, based on a Brooklyn Community Court model, which was established to handle the less-serious misdemeanor cases clogging up the Philadelphia criminal justice system.

The cases diverted into the program are usually limited to drug possession, retail theft, prostitution, or solicitation of prostitution. The Charging Unit identifies ideal candidates for the program (non-violent offenders) and offers them a period of community service instead of prosecution. On-site social workers provide program participants with a number of critical services, including information about drug rehabilitation programs, housing, and employment opportunities. In order to successfully complete the program, the defendant must pay $199.50 in court fees along with any restitution they may owe the victim. They also must complete between 12-18 hours of community service. Following successful completion of these requirements, prosecution is withdrawn and the defendant can have the record of the arrest expunged.

My work with AMP includes going to court 1-2 days a week, where I work closely with the public defender in monitoring the status of each case. Our caseload for each day varies from 20-50 cases. My main duties in court are to withdraw prosecution on successful participants, or revoke AMP for defendants who have shown unsuccessful progress or because they violated the conditions of AMP.

AMP has been successful thus far in removing low-level misdemeanor offenses from the trial process. This has saved city resources by reducing costly aspects of the criminal justice system, including subpoenas, trial court dates, police testimony, and public legal defense – all without compromising public safety. According to the budget hearing statement given by District Attorney Seth Williams to City Council in April, AMP is ensuring “swift and certain punishment and offender accountability to the victims and to the community.” Our office estimates that in the first four months of this year, 700 individuals were diverted through AMP, placing the program on target to divert over 2,400 individuals by the end of the year.

Happy October!

Although here in Philadelphia we are experiencing an unseasonably warm and sunny week, the coming of fall has nonetheless arrived at the Fair Food farmstand in Reading Terminal Market where I volunteer on Saturdays. Fair Food is an organization that not only runs the farmstand (which provides Philadelphians with locally, sustainably grown produce, dairy and meat products, and dry goods) seven days a week, 52 weeks a year; it also offers tours to local farms and helps local institutions source from area farmers for their food. I'm slated to help out with their next farm tour, which will take place on October 22. In the meantime, I've been enjoying the bounty of apples, eggplants, squash, potatoes, and other fall produce that has greeted me at the farmstand every Saturday. Indeed, my time outside of my cubicle has rekindled my love of cooking and is inspiring me to apply for a slew of culinary/food justice fellowships for next year (in addition to fantasizing about going to Le Cordon Bleu and applying the French I am learning at Alliance Francaise Philadelphia to some real-world cooking scenarios).

While my time outside of work is full of kitchen experimentation, I have also had the chance to sample some of Philly's amazing artistic offerings. I just went to several screenings at International House (iHouse), a building at Penn that houses international students and also has an amazing repertory cinema. I bought myself a membership and plan to become a regular, especially at their India-focused film series. The Philadelphia Film Festival will start next week; I bought tickets to see the latest from Lars Von Trier and Werner Herzog and am excited to see "The Artist" and "Like Crazy," all of which have been generating positive film festival buzz. It's hard to believe that I've already spent almost four months in my fellowship- it feels like I've just gotten settled and have a grasp on Philly culture!

Holy Guacamole, It's October!

Apologies for my absence, avid readers of the AlumniCorps blog! September flew by in a haze of Free Library strategic planning, Reading Terminal Market farmstand shifts, Philly Fringe shows, and bizarrely humid fall weather. However, the arrival of October coincided with a shift in the weather, resulting in a wonderfully brisk fall weekend, and my realization that I had yet to blog about my September for your eagerly awaiting eyes.

So, my September, in a nutshell: I started taking French classes at Alliance Francaise on the recommendation of a co-worker/friend, which has fueled fantasies of moving to France at the end of my fellowship to take an immersive French course and enroll at Le Cordon Bleu. I have continued volunteering with Fair Food Philadelphia. I've been working at their farmstand in Reading Terminal Market on Saturdays (now all day as opposed to just the afternoons) and have gotten involved in their farm tours and heritage breed programs. I'm soaking up all of the awesomeness that is the local food scene in Philadelphia. There are so many different organizations focusing on bringing local produce, meats, and dairy to the food deserts that dot Philadelphia.

"Welcome to Philadelphia" AlumniCorps Dinner

Last night all the Philadelphia fellows got together for a dinner graciously organized and hosted by our Philadelphia area committee coordinator, Carol Rosenfeld '05. Following a delicious meal, we all watched the movie Waiting for Superman. The movie provided some thoughtful after dinner conversation on the state of America's schools. It was great to hear all the different perspectives from the other fellows on what can be done to reform our broken educational system. I am looking forward to many more exciting conversations and seminars throughout the fellowship year on this topic.

My Day at a Library Branch

This past Friday, I was lucky enough to to leave my cubicle for the day to work at the Haverford branch of the Free Library system. The library, located at the intersection of Haverford Avenue, 56th and Westminster Streets, is slightly west of my apartment and provides services for the Haddington and Carroll Park neighborhoods, both of which are working-class, predominantly African-American communities. Arriving at the library at 8:45, I was eagerly greeted by the library staff and shown around the bright and airy library, which features a children's computer station designed to look like an aquarium. People began to queue up at the library's doors almost a half an hour before the scheduled 10:00 AM opening. When the security guard finally unlocked the door at ten, a good fifteen people streamed in. Some immediately headed for the computer cluster while others made a beeline for the children's department.

The flow of people seemed to never cease. I was stationed at the help desk near the computer cluster, which was always full of people availing themselves of the library's tech resources. Over the course of the day, I helped ten different people compose, upload, and submit their resumés and/or apply for jobs. Some of them had only used a computer on a handful of occasions and some of them had been coming to the library to apply for jobs for weeks. Helping them through the application process was an eye-opening experience. Seeing their relieved faces when a website would register that it had received their application made me even more aware of the severity of our current economic climate. These men and women were doggedly pursuing any employment opportunity that they could find. I was awed by their persistence and made keenly conscious of the advantages that I enjoy as an employed college graduate.

Philadelphia's Prison Population Drop

At its peak in January 2009, the inmate population hit nearly 10,000. Since then, it has fallen to 8,200 - and dropped below 7,700 in the spring. The inmate population drop has largely been attributed to policy changes by District Attorney Seth Williams. These policies include a greater emphasis on pre-trial diversion programs (such as the Small Amounts of Marijuana program, and the Accelerated Misdemeanor Program which I am involved in), as well as changes in the way that prosecutors charge crimes.

Here are a few links to the newspaper coverage of the recent Pew Report documenting Philadelphia's prison population drop, as well as a link to the report.

"Pew: changes are reducing Philly's prison population"--Inquirer

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/20110720_Pew__Changes_are_reducing_Phillys_prison_population.html

"Prison population down; new programs cited"--Daily News

http://articles.philly.com/2011-07-21/news/29797937_1_community-court-prison-population-court-administrator

"Philadelphia's Less Crowded, Less Costly Jails"--Pew Charitable Trusts

http://www.pewtrusts.org/uploadedFiles/wwwpewtrustsorg/Reports/Philadelphia_Research_Initiative/Philadelphia-Jail-Population.pdf

A Night at the Ballpark: Baseball, Food, and Princeton

Tonight I joined past and present Princeton AlumniCorps fellows for a Camden Riversharks baseball game against the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs. The event was hosted by the Princeton Club of Philadelphia. It was a fun night filled with delicious food and exciting baseball. Besides watching a good baseball game (the Riversharks walked away with a 4-3 victory that went into extra innings), it was also a great opportunity to meet other Princetonians in the Philly area.

One of the things that I have learned since being in Philadelphia is that even though you may leave Princeton, it is never too hard to find Princeton wherever you are. Joining the Princeton Club of Philadelphia has allowed me to stay connected to the University while also meeting new people in the area. I encourage all fellows and recent graduates looking to stay involved to join and participate actively in their regional club.

District Attorney’s Office Town Hall Meeting

“When I visit town-hall meetings and school assemblies, I often ask the same question: ‘What is the one thing that most people who get arrested in Philadelphia have in common?’ The answer: They did not graduate from high school.” – District Attorney Seth Williams

On Tuesday I went to a town hall meeting organized by our office for the Fairmount community. Hosted by the Great Exodus Baptist Church, the meeting opened up with introductions by the Rev. Sydney Flores, City Councilmen Bill Greenlee and Darrell Clarke, District Attorney Seth Williams, and all the DA’s Office staff in attendance. The focus of the town hall meeting was crime prevention and safety. One of the recurring themes of the evening was finding ways to improve our school system so that Philadelphia’s youth do not get caught up in the criminal justice system. As District Attorney Seth Williams noted Tuesday night and on several previous occasions (including in the article that he wrote for philly.com on the impact of truancy), there is a correlation between truancy and later criminal behavior. By keeping children in school, we can keep them from going to jail, and in the long run save the money that it costs to incarcerate them.

The District Attorney also highlighted the significant improvements in our office. Whereas a few years ago 59% of cases were getting dismissed by judges at the preliminary hearing stage, now only 4% are being dismissed. This is due to a revamping of the Charging Unit. Before, the Charging Unit was where they sent prosecutors who were underachieving or inexperienced. The Charging Unit is now comprised of the most senior level and accomplished district attorneys who skillfully decide which cases to prosecute. The office is also now exercising much more selectivity in the cases that it chooses to prosecute—they are only going forward with cases that they are certain they can prove. The improved statistics of our office are also largely due to the move to zone prosecution. Inspired by cities that were seeing success through zone prosecution, District Attorney Williams changed the way Philadelphia prosecutes crime. The City now prosecutes crimes based on geographic location—or zone prosecution. The different zones now coincide with the geographic territory of police districts; East, Central, Northwest, Northeast, South, Southwest bureaus handle crime in their respective territories. The goal of community-based prosecution is that prosecutors, police officers, and community residents are better able work together to target repeat offenders versus those who might benefit from a diversion program. Through zone prosecution, cases are handled from start to finish by only a few prosecutors who ensure that it is effectively being prosecuted. Because crime patterns are often geographically based, zone prosecution enables our office to more effectively prosecute violent crimes by being more engaged with the communities we seek to protect.

Also instrumental in saving the City money is the Small Amounts of Marijuana (SAM) program. Whereas before the office and City were spending thousands of dollars prosecuting cases involving possession of small amounts marijuana ($10-$15 worth), now many of these cases are getting diverted at the pre-trial level. Non-violent, minor, and first-time offenders are being offered a summary citation instead of being charged with a misdemeanor. In exchange, offenders agree to attend a one-day, three-hour education course about the effect of drugs on individuals and the community. Fiscally this program makes sense and from a social policy standpoint, it is helping to reverse the incarceration problem that is crippling the City.

The savings that the City has experienced because of these new initiatives amounts to approximately $6 million. District Attorney Williams would like to reinvest these savings in similar initiatives, arguing that “justice reinvestment” will help to improve public safety and reduce corrections costs.

Inspired by the Brooklyn DA, District Attorney Williams opened up two Community Action Centers (CACs). These centers are designed to provide resources for residents who seek guidance on how to make themselves and their communities safer. While stronger gun laws need to be passed in Harrisburg, the overall takeaway from the evening was that Philadelphia residents need to be responsible for working with the police department and the District Attorney’s Office to reduce crime and make our communities safer.

While this was the good news of the night, during the question and answer segment of the evening, several community residents highlighted the struggles Philadelphia is facing with drug-related gun violence. Philadelphia leads the nation in gun-related homicides. These crimes have the overall impact of reducing the quality of life in these communities. A teacher, community activist, and ward leader spoke about the detrimental impact these crimes have on the quality of life in their neighborhoods. Two businessmen also spoke about the real economic impact that these crimes have and the difficulty they present in attracting business to the City.

Overall this meeting was a great opportunity for me to better understand the issues facing Philadelphians. While there has been significant progress, much more work needs to be done to make sure that people feel safe in the communities in which they live, work, and play.

“A NEW DAY. A NEW DA.”

This is my first blog post as a Princeton AlumniCorps Project 55 Fellow. I just finished up my first week back in the office from a vacation to California. It was a much needed and long overdue trip home, but I’m glad to be back at work. I am excited to be a fellow for the upcoming year and to be living in the great city of Philadelphia once again.

Following a historic election last year, R. Seth Williams was inaugurated as the first new District Attorney of Philadelphia in nearly two decades. Under the newly implemented system of zone prosecution, I work in the Southwest Bureau, which deals with crimes committed in the southwest part of the City.

My work in the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office involves mainly paralegal duties. I assist prosecutors in case preparation, communication with victims/witnesses, compilation of statistics, maintenance of records and files, document review, and production and coordination with outside agencies. I also represent the office in Municipal Court in a pre-trial diversion program called the Accelerated Misdemeanor Program (AMP). I find my job very interesting because I get to deal with a wide variety of criminal cases.

In between my daily duties, I try to get over to court as often as possible to watch our attorneys’ jury trials. This has been a great learning experience for me thus far as I get to witness firsthand our criminal justice system in action.

I look forward to detailing more about my adventures in Philadelphia as well as the great work our office is doing to protect the citizens of Philadelphia.

Greetings from the City of Brotherly Love!

Well, after a madcap scramble involving dogsitting, touring somewhat questionable apartments discovered via Craigslist, and getting set up in my own cubicle in an excessively air-conditioned office, I am now finally settled in my fellowship position as a research assistant at the Free Library in Philadelphia. As a research assistant in the executive office, I will be helping the Chief of Staff and Director of the Library develop and implement the organization's in-process strategic plan. The plan promises to break new ground in terms of services provided to the citizens of Philadelphia and rethink the sort of roles libraries should play in the city and beyond in the years to come.

As part of the Library's new vision, the organization has unveiled plans to open computer "Hot Spots" around the city. Each "Hot Spot" includes computers, a printer, and broadband equipment and is staffed by computer assistants trained to provide guided instruction and open access to the computers. In a city where 40% of the population does not have access to internet at home, such "Hot Spots" are crucial. Their importance is even more pronounced since the "Hot Spots" themselves are located in neighborhoods without immediate access to a library branch. Consequently, the "Hot Spots" serve as mini-libraries (with a small collection of Free Library materials) in addition to functioning as computer labs in technology-deprived areas of the city.

I was lucky enough to attend the unveiling of the Free Library's latest "Hot Spot" this morning at Mercy Neighborhood Ministries in Northern Philadelphia. The building itself has undergone extensive, LEED-certified renovations over the past three years and recently reopened as a community center serving the youth, adults, and seniors of the surrounding community. Seeing all of the kids in summer camp gather around the door to the computer lab while the ribbon was cut poignantly underscored the importance of technology in today's world and in Philly in particular. These "Hot Spots" have enabled hundreds of people to find jobs and even provided one man with the computer training he needed to propose to his girlfriend via computer. The Free Library's involvement in such a project is exciting (at least to me) and I look forward to seeing it and other programs develop during my fellowship year.