The themes are assigned by group in class.
Each student will find an article on that theme and write a response to it.
This is an example of a blog post.
Camden's Real Danger : a response to http://www.philly.com/philly/news/new_jersey/20110210_Camden_library_s_closure_will_create_a_void.html
While most media focuses on the police layoffs, it was refreshing, if not disheartening, to read The Philadelphia Inquirer’s article about the closing down of Camden libraries. This is proof that not only does Camden not have the money to protect its community from the city it’s become, there are no funds to stop it from becoming that way.
Ask most New Jersey-ians to discuss Camden and you’ll hear jokes about being high on the nation’s list of most murders, talk about turning down the wrong street on the way to see a concert or visit the Aquarium or, maybe, from more educated or invested residents, tales of corruption through the years. If you wonder what those who live in the city think of it, you probably won’t get an answer because few people ask them. We forget that Camden is not just a sore spot for the state, or the nation, but also a home and a community for families, most who believe that their city has been corrupted more by outside drug deals and political corruption than by the community itself.
And who can blame them? In the current state of the United States where the rich get richer, the poor get poorer and there is no longer a middle class, most politicians would probably like to sweep the town under the rug or let it fall off the map altogether taking its citizens with it. Even Margie Salvante of the Philadelphia Theatre Alliance said last fall on WHYY that she worries about the South Camden Theatre Company. Worried about theatergoers visiting Camden, Salvante said their location “is as bad as an intercity thoroughfare can be”. (My guess is that Salvante never visited North Camden.) If Salvante is saying this about one of her members - South Camden Theatre Company pay dues to the Theatre Alliance, an organization whose mission is to strengthen and lead the theatre community by promoting positive awareness - you can conclude politicians aren’t encouraging their constituents to promote economic growth in the city either.
This is surely supported by the lack of funding to keep the Federal Street branch of the library open even though, as the Inquirer stated, every morning, when they open up, library staff find sixteen people waiting in line to use a computer. Say what you want about Camden but the people that come to the library, whether it be to search online for jobs, apply for unemployment, read a novel, play a board game or research landlord/tenant rules, aren’t on the streets. And each of those people know other people: friends, family, children. Trickle down education works just as well as trickle down economics. Seven miles away, the Cherry Hill Library’s mission states that the library recognizes its value and responsibility to the community as an educational, social and cultural resource yet if you don’t live in Cherry Hill, you have to pay an annual $75 fee to belong. I would suggest that Cherry Hill open its arms (at no cost) to Camden citizens losing their library but let’s be honest, several Camden residents have no way to get there.
If you’re going to close the library and not allow access to the books, why don’t you just burn them?
As an adjunct professor, I teach English Comp at Camden County College in Camden. Every year, I meet hundreds of students who are invested in making their lives better through education. They are eager and they are smart. My class requires web time, not because (as I say in the beginning of the semester) I require them to go out and buy a computer or pay for web access but because I feel that digital literacy is important skill to have in 2011 and it would be unfair to send these students out into the world not being comfortable at a computer. These students have access to computer labs and libraries – Camden County College students are allowed to use the library at Rutgers Camden- but they don’t feel as comfortable there as they do in their own community. And don’t we want to send Camden resident who invests the time and money in their education back into their community? By closing the Camden’s libraries, we are shutting them out of sharing, encouraging and learning side by side with their neighbors.
You don’t have to be a bleeding heart liberal to agree that education and knowledge are necessary for growth and success. Americans are really good at treating the symptoms instead of spending time and money on prevention. (Look at health care.) Now that we’re taking away the means to educate and share knowledge, it’s even more obvious that laying off the police force is only part of the problem. We’ve also stopped allowing people to protect themselves.
