As human beings, we have our fair share of problems–physical, mental, emotional–we have it all.
So what do we most commonly do when something goes awry within ourselves? We head to see a doctor, of course.
Whether our ailment takes us to the emergency room or our primary care physician, most people’s first thought is to visit someone who’s spent at least seven years and countless hours studying anatomy, psychology and microbiology earning a medical degree.
But when conventional medical practices fail us, where do people turn? According to a study by the Centers for Disease Control, 38 percent of… Read the full story »
Acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine are at least 3,000 years old. Last year, the National Institute of Health’s monthly newsletter noted more than three million adults in the United States alone use acupuncture.
Until yesterday, I was not among them.
There is an old adage that says we should always write what we know. As a journalist, I rarely get to write from personal experience. When my partner and I decided to produce a package focusing on acupuncture, traditional Chinese medicine and alternative medicine in the Mount Airy and Chestnut Hill neighborhoods, it occurred to me that I knew very… Read the full story »
Fueled by mouse clicks instead of laugh tracks, Philadelphia’s online comedy scene has been growing and evolving. From sketches to webisodes local comedy has taken a big turn toward technology. See the rest of the story at our partner’s site at www.technicallyphilly.com here.… Read the full story »
Over the past year Philadelphia Neighborhoods and other Temple University journalists have chronicled the issue of abandoned properly, including buildings, houses and lots, throughout the city.
These stories include the horrific fire in Kensington that left two firefighters dead and the Divine Lorraine, the historic eyesore that sits on North Broad Street.
But the stories also include ways in which neighborhoods throughout the city like Kensington, Hunting Park, North Central and others are trying to solve the problem of abandoned property when government fails to act.
See some of the stories at this website at http://bit.ly/KzgqEQ.… Read the full story »
Residents of the 4000 block of North Darien Street are like a family.
Whether it’s giving the kids a safe place to play after school or forcing thugs and drug dealers off the block, the residents are constantly battling negative elements to improve the quality of life in their area.
Yet for all their efforts, the presence of vacant or abandoned housing creates a problem that never ceases to disappear.
“These buildings here have been abandoned at least 10 years,” said Charles Langley, a pastor at Mt. Zion II. “You can see them falling apart, so if they start to crumble… Read the full story »
Wendy Stevens clicked eagerly on the desktop of the thin computer monitor in front of her, scrolling through a screen with large, bold print and big arrows. Blogging and Streaming. The words were hard off the tongue of Stevens, who joined six others in the room. As they recited aloud the four-sentence definition, many foreheads wrinkled in confusion.
It was about half an hour into their first digital literacy training session named “Internet Basics and Safety” at the Opportunity Industrialization Center in North Philadelphia. The sessions, in partnership with Lift Philadelphia and Comcast, are part of a series of… Read the full story »
Evelyn Cruz did not always want to be a robotics teacher or even dabble in technology. In fact, she started out as a bus attendant at Roberto Clemente Middle School in Hunting Park, making a meager salary.
Now, a technology teacher leader and robotics instructor at her old middle school alma mater, Cruz’s passion for teaching and giving back to her own community shows her dedication and promise to the neighborhood she grew up in.
See a video and the rest of the story at our partner’s website at TechnicallyPhilly here.… Read the full story »
Not long after graduating from high school, Khalil Smith moved out of his mother’s house in Olney to live with his grandmother in Hunting Park. At the time, he had never thought that he would find himself needing help just to eat.
“For my mom to pull out her MAC [Money Access Card] or her money and start paying for the food, it was really nothing. That’s how I looked at it,” Smith said. “But as you get older, you start to think about it. Food is important now. Food was never important to me.”
At 19 and without a… Read the full story »
Vivian Nix-Early spends her Tuesday afternoons sitting on a bright, blue-carpeted floor surrounded by a handful of singing 4-year-olds. And she literally does not miss a note–singing everything from the participants’ names to the books on the shelf and the thank you’s when the students put their instruments away.
Nix-Early is co-founder and chief operations officer of BuildaBridge, an arts education and intervention nonprofit, located at 205 W. Tulpehocken St. in Germantown.
The organization is a practitioner in the power of the arts, bringing hope and healing to children, families and communities. It is one of the only organizations in… Read the full story »
The Thomas Mifflin School, located at 3624 Conrad St., continues to grow and improve its reputation in the community despite budget cuts.
The implementation of an open-door policy has helped improve the school’s reputation, Principal Leslie Mason said. Every Thursday morning community members are welcome to go on a tour of the school, take a closer look at the curriculum and ask questions.
“The school had a negative reputation for a long time, but our open-door policy has helped many community members to see that nothing bad is happening here,” Mason said. People in the area are starting to have… Read the full story »
As the city honors its history of jazz music this month, Germantown’s jazz schedule looks no different than usual. Jazz Appreciation Month highlights what Germantown appreciates every month and even every week.
“I think we need more than a month,” drummer Robert Henderson said. “Since they picked April, you know, we’ll take that for now, but jazz is appreciated all year long.”
The LaRose Jazz Club, located at 5531 Germantown Ave., hosts the regular jazz jam sessions year round, lead by Henderson on Sundays. The club also hosts alto saxophone player Tony Williams’s band on Mondays.
“It’s great to… Read the full story »
Temple students traveled to South Africa and produced a variety of stories during the time spent there.
Recently, the students completed short documentaries about social, political and cultural life in South Africa. This video focuses on documenting the many aspects of the study-away program in the summer of 2011, including interviews with program participants.
See their work at this site: http://sct.temple.edu/blogs/murl/category/neighborhoods/all-special-reports/africa-a-special-report/
The videos include:
A documentary about martial arts during the apartheid years at http://sct.temple.edu/blogs/murl/2012/04/21/south-africa-martial-arts-crosses-racial-lines/
A documentary about an organization that trains South Africa’s photographers at http://sct.temple.edu/blogs/murl/2012/04/21/south-africa-organization-trains-south-africas-photographers/
A documentary about a famous doctor, who was killed during apartheid, and his… Read the full story »
A program of the Department of Journalism at the School of Communications and Theater at Temple University. Copyright 2012.
