Whats Up Magazine: Volume 11 Issue 2

I AM ALSO HOMELESS interview with the dalai lama (pg. 10)

SINCE 2002 SAVE PAPER

SCAN HERE & DONATE

interview with peat wollaeger (pg.22)

DECISION 2012

fueling homelessness in st. louis (pg. 8)

ROMNEY vs. OBAMA 2012 ELECTION GUIDE (pg. 16)

ISSUES * INSIGHT * IMPACT volume 11 issue 2 distributed by and for the homeless and disadvantaged

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whatsupstl.com volume 11:2

Changing Lives: One Magazine At A Time FIND OUT HOW YOUR COMPANY CAN BE FEATURED IN AN UPCOMING ISSUE!!!

CALL JAY SWOBODA @ 314.241.7744 volume 11:2 whatsupstl.com

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whats up magazine

& The Homeless Empowerment Project Empowering St. Louis since 2002

Vendors Kathy K., La Maar Williams, Laura Thomas, Al Spinks, Clifton Sims, Paul Jackson, Pete Butler, Kelvin Dawson, Gail Chambers, Greg Brown, Mike Johnson, Troy Johnson.

Editor-in-Chief Vladimir Noskov Founder/Program Director Jay Swoboda Contributors/Volunteers William Claude Debussy, Tom Scharff, Augustino Patti, RJ Koscielniak, Annie Wentz, Ryan Albritton, Rebecca Clendenen, Kate Essig, Jahnna Harvey, Hilary Hitchcock, Kristen Weber, Laura Marty, Sarah McCabe, Darrell Page Sr., Terry Austin Sr., Rachel Brandt, Kate Ewing, Raju Mukhi and hopefully you!

Development & Events Coordinator Amy Gonwa Volunteer Coordinator Call (314) 241-7744 to find out how you can get involved!

Printed By KK Stevens Publishing - www.kkspc.com Magazine Layout: Bootstraps Design

The paper’s mission aims to alleviate miscommunication between communities by educating the public about housing and poverty issues, and by giving the homeless a voice in the public forum.

Whats Up also informs the homeless of shelter and occupational assistance, and acts as a creative self-help opportunity for those individuals who wish to participate.

Advertising Sales For rates, media kits, and deadlines contact us: (314) 241-7744 or advertising@whatsupstl.com

All correspondence AND support can be sent to: Whats Up Magazine & The Homeless Empowerment Project 906 Olive St., Suite PH9 Saint Louis, Missouri 63101 For information call: (314) 241-7744 or editor@whatsupstl.com Member of the North American Street Newspaper Association [www.nasna.org & www.streetnewsservice.org] Whats Up Magazine is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization Contact us to find out how you can support our efforts!

Submissions: All articles should be sent to the attention of the

Homeless Speaker Series Contact the Homeless Empowerment Project @ 314-241-7744 for more information.

editors at the address above. For further submission info, visit our website or contact us. We may edit submissions for clarity or length.

Whats Up needs writers, photographers, graphic designers, marketers, administrative assistants, editors, and grant writers.

Thanks to the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, Ben & Jerry’s Foundation, Bascom Foundation, The McPheeter Family, The Stern Family, Raj Sandhu & Mary Henry, Amos Harris, EHOC, Sadhu Vaswani Mission, City of St. Louis Dept. of Human Services, Biggs Family Foundation, Sam Hamacher, WU’s Dept. of Student Activities, Justine Petersen Housing, NASNA, INSP, BISS Magazine and all the homeless vendors for all the time and energy that they have shared.

Articles that appear in Whats Up reflect the opinion and perspective of the author and not the editors of Whats Up. Articles should not be construed as attempts to aid or hinder any legislative body.

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whatsupstl.com volume 11:2

Volume 11 Issue 2

ADVERTISING WITH

[ contents ]

YOUR BUSINESS AND

THE COMMUNITY IN MIND

6 vendor page FIND OUT WHO IS SELLING WHATS UP - KUDOS TO LA MAAR WILLIAMS, WHO WON THE KEITH AWARD! 7 editor’s note NEW ENERGY FOR AGE OLD PROBLEM 8 single serve liquor

WHATS UP AD SIZE

QUARTERLY FULL PRICE

ANNUAL 15% OFF

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CALL (314) 241-7744 OR CONTACT ADVERTISING@WHATSUPSTL.COM FOR MORE DETAILS

QUALITY OF LIFE AND PERCEPTION CREATE PUSH FOR SINGLE SERVE LIQUOR BAN 10 i am also homeless OUR INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION INTERVIEWS THE 14TH DALAI LAMA 14 last call for recall THE STORY OF THE RECENT WISCONSIN ATTEMPT TO RECALL THEIR GOVENOR AFTER AN ALL OUT ATTACK ON UNIONS IN THE STATE 16 decision 2012 election guide A COMPARISON OF THE CANDIDATES AND THE UPCOMING ELECTION IN FALL 2012 22 all eyez on st. louis AN INTERVIEW WITH LOCAL GRAPHIC STENCIL ARTIST PEAT WOLLAEGER

Keep in Touch!!!

If you’ve got a comment or suggestion, we’d love to hear from you.

Here’s how to contact us:

Whats Up Magazine 906 Olive St. Suite PH9 Saint Louis, Missouri 63101 editor@whatsupstl.com Also, if you know any group or organization that may be interested in this magazine, contact us!

COVER PHOTOS: Mitt Romney by REUTERS/ERIC THAYER, Obama

by REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque & Dalai Lama by SIMON MURPHY

[ concept ] Whats Up Magazine serves as a community-based media source.

Our content combines social awareness and entertainment in a way that encourages the population of St. Louis to be socially conscious. Whats Up is also a human service provider aiding the homeless and economically disadvantaged by offering transitional employment. The homeless and disadvantaged take part in sales, advertising, and production of this publication.

Street vendors are given 10 free issues, and then pay 25 cents for additional copies. We are always looking for enthusiastic people dedicated to our causes of encouraging awareness and providing opportunities to the disadvantaged. volume 11:2 whatsupstl.com

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The Vendors of Whats Up Magazine

WORKING NOT BEGGING The Keith Award

AL SPINKS VENDOR #421

LAURA THOMAS VENDOR #414

MIKE JOHNSON VENDOR #709

PAUL JACKSON VENDOR #698

LA MAAR WILLIAMS VENDOR #384

LA MAAR WILLIAMS IS THE VENDOR AWARD WINNER FOR PURCHASING 340 COPIES OF THE LAST WHATS UP MAGAZINE ISSUE. LA MAAR IS AN ESTABLISHED LEADER ON THE WHATS UP TEAM. THIS IS HIS SECOND TIME RECEIVING THE KEITH AWARD - RECOGNIZING DEPENDABLE AND DEDICATED VENDORS IN MEMORY OF KEITH WHITFIELD. CONGRATULATIONS!

NEED CASH???

SAVING UP FOR A RAINY DAY?

OUT OF WORK?

GREG BROWN VENDOR #734

KELVIN DAWSON VENDOR #683

GAIL CHAMBERS VENDOR #684

CLIFTON SIMS VENDOR #145

KATHY K. VENDOR #591

KEITH AWARD RUNNER-UP!

PETE BUTLER VENDOR #719

WHATS UP MAGAZINE IS BOTH AN ALTERNATIVE MEDIA SOURCE AND AN ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY FOR THOSE IN NEED OF ONE. VENDORS PURCHASE COPIES OF THE MAGAZINE FROM WHATS UP FOR A QUARTER AND SELL THE MAGAZINE IN THE CITY OF ST. LOUIS FOR $1 ON THE STREETS FOR THEIR PROFIT. DON’T SUPPORT PANHANDLERS! REFER HOMELESS INDIVIDUALS TO US @ 314-241-7744!

TROY JOHNSON VENDOR #771

PLEASE ENCOURAGE VENDORS TO WEAR THE PROPER BADGE, PERMIT AND REPORT ANY PROBLEM VENDORS IMMEDIATELY TO (314) 241-7744.

for questions or concerns regarding vendors, please contact the office @ 314-241-7744 or editor@whatsupstl.com

to Vendor WHERE YOUR 75 cents:18Directly cents: Printing Costs Services DOLLAR GOES... 5 cents:2Vendor cents: Administration

ASK FOR THE BADGE!

Vendor Rules for the Streets

Whats Up Magazine vendors are instructed to adhere to the following codes of conduct: * Prominently wear and present a vendor badge and permit while selling the magazine. * Sell the magazine for no more than its $1.00 cover price.

* Refrain from asking for donations without a magazine or with just one magazine. * Avoid obstructing public walkways or selling near any stadiums or Metro property. * Do not follow customers more than 10 feet from contact or approach people in vehicles. * Be clean and sober when selling the magazine * All checks must be made payable to the vendor if vendor is to get any part of the amount.

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whatsupstl.com volume 11:2

[ editor’s corner]

(editor@whatsupstl.com)

new energy. same age old problem.

This cause is very dear to my heart. I’m sure we can all agree that The United States of America, one of the richest countries in the world, should not have people living and surviving in the street. Just like racism, homelessness is a national shame that we usually ignore rather than look the problem straight in its face. When we first become aware of the awful truth, it usually hurts.

We all made a choice. Some of us decided to look the other way whilst others are the soldiers in this invisible war.

I offered to take on the heavy burden that Mr. Swoboda has been carrying for a decade. But I had no idea how hard it would actually be.

I’m no stranger to media, but I was not prepared for this. Jay asked me to be fair and balanced, to follow the rules of journalism in other words. “Don’t attack the person, criticize their position”, he instructed me. But after 25 years of doing Gonzo journalism, fair and balanced doesn’t come naturally. I always made it crystal clear where I stand on every issue. I have never been accused of “walking a fine line” when giving my opinion.

Is there really something out there that is fair and balanced? I haven’t found it yet. We are all only a filter through which the information flows.

Some try to hide their bias, but it surfaces in many ways like the use of the language for writers, the tone here and a pause there for a radio reporter, a wink and a look for the “fair and balanced” crowd on TV. I can pledge that I will learn how to be the editor and co-publisher of this fine magazine, but I want it to take a more progressive stand. I will also invite conservative writers to submit interesting content for publication.

I can pledge that I will give Whats Up my energy and passion, that Jay Swoboda will remain the publisher for life, no matter how involved he plans to stay in the day-to-day operation of the magazine. I just want a chance to help change the world in my tiny way through providing services for the homeless in the St. Louis Area. I’m just asking you to give me that chance by buying the magazine from our many licensed homeless vendors for a mere $1. All I want is a chance to do a good job. Give me that chance, please.

Don’t give up - Make a difference!

Vladimir Noskov, Editor-in-Chief

volume 11:2 whatsupstl.com

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Fueling Homelessness: Is Single-Serving Liquor Contributing to Urban Decay in St. Louis?

words Michael J. Deckard

Driving along Market Street in Downtown St. Louis, visitors to the Gateway City can see many local landmarks: St. Louis City Hall, the Old Courthouse, The Peabody Opera House, Union Station, City Garden in the Gateway Mall, and driving East, the symbolic icon of our city, The Gateway Arch.

These are some of the most prominent features of our city, and locals are proud to show them off.

In the midst of downtown, however, is a much less appealing sight: a beautifully groomed park spanning hundreds of yards across the North side of Market, scarred with thousands of pieces of litter, the remnants of the dozens of homeless who have adopted Memorial Plaza as their unofficial day-time sanctuary. Fastfood bags, convenience-store cups, and most prominently, empty beer cans and liquor bottles form what has become an unsightly carpet that turns the fountain and tree-lined park in to a forsaken refuge for the growing homeless population in the city. Instead of family picnics and 8

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of large size, high alcohol content, and low price creates something of a perfect storm for the homeless population in the city.

With little to do aside from hang out and drink, the homeless can easily fuel their buzz by simply collecting a few quarters and walking to the nearest 7-11. For less The sight has become ubiquitous with than the toll of a parking meter for two stereotypical views of the homeless nation- hours, you can have the equivalent of wide. A large, cheap beer or malt beverage four 12-ounce light beers in the palm of wrapped in a made-to-fit paper bag is the your hand. unofficial badge of homelessness. Unlike many grocery stores which serve larger The impact that single-serving liquor is quantities of beer – such as six, twelve, having on St. Louis is clear to those who or 24 pack cases of beer – convenience live and work Downtown, and likely does stores often sell single-servings of beer not go unnoticed by visitors who drive or malt-liquor. These ready-to-consume down Market seeing the sights. While the drinks are typically large – typically litter caused by the day-drinking homeless 24-ounce cans or 40-ounce bottles – and is an obvious eye-sore, a less noticeable are often higher in alcohol than typical effect of the availability of alcohol may beer – some as much as 8% alcohol by be of greater concern. There are two volume (compared to 4-5% for regular or types of homeless people: the temporarily light beer). These drinks often sell for less homeless – those recently out of work or than two dollars, a very small amount of enduring bad times, and the permanent money that an individual can easily acquire homeless – individuals who have become in a short period of time. This combination acclimated to being homeless and are not photo-snapping tourists enjoying the groomed grass and refreshing fountains, small groups of the city’s homeless cluster around the numerous benches and low walls, many clutching 24-ounce cans clothed in brown paper bags.

seeking to improve their situation. Many see single-serving liquor as the medium through which the temporary homeless become permanent residents of the shelters and parks. The wide availability of cheap, easily accessible alcohol can lead an individual into a downward spiral of daily drinking, eventually ending in alcohol

“Public drinking is only one stem of a multi-faceted problem leading to a growing and increasingly visible homeless population.” dependence and perpetual homelessness.

Some cities have recognized the damage caused by single-serving liquor, and have taken steps to eradicate its use by their homeless population. In Arlington Heights, IL, a local ordinance was enacted banning the sale of all single-serving liquor and wine. In the next year, the city saw a dramatic decrease in the number of complaints about public intoxication and assaults stemming from drunken fights among the homeless.

While public drinking is only one stem of a multi-faceted problem leading to a growing and increasingly visible homeless population, it is an issue that local government has the unique ability to directly control. Enacting a ban similar to the successful ordinance in Arlington Heights may be a smart option for St. Louis to decrease the allure of the city for the homeless, help the newly homeless improve their lives, and make the public places in the city beautiful and accessible to the public once again.

Mike Deckard is a native of the St. Louis area, and is a Doctoral student in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Missouri - St. Louis. He currently works as a research assistant for the Public Safety Partnership: a collaboration dedicated to reducing violent crime in the City of St. Louis.

partnerSHIP with harmonic humanity to bring musicians together with the plight of the poor and homeless IN St louis AJ Lovewins, the founder of Harmonic Humanity, a San Francisco based outreach program, is now helping street vendors of St. Louis’ street magazine Whats Up. AJ never planned on being homeless, but that’s exactly what happened in 2000 and a big reason why he started the organization, now in its 7th year.

The organization’s original mission started in soup kitchens in 2005, was inspiring the homeless demographic in Seattle, Washington by bringing musicians to the meals to listen, support and share positive messages through music.

In St Louis, AJ hopes to support Whats Up Magazine and it’s vendors by working closely with the papers new editor to begin distribution this month. CD’s will be available to the vendors for free for a limited time, and then for $1 (manufacturing cost) after that. Vendors will be able to sell them for $10 to the public as an add on with the paper to help themselves to take care of themselves more efficiently while sharing great music and connecting with the community in a positive way.

really uplifting.”

We’re really happy to have well known artists and bands like Fishbone, John Butler and Manas Itene on board as well as some amazing up and coming super conscious acts like the Luminaries and Luc and The Lovingtons.

“We even have a band on the CD of formerly homeless musicians called “Just Us” that wanted to help out and it’s been a really beautiful experience working to continue to expand on it thanks to allies like Whats Up Magazine, The San Francisco Street Sheet and Real Change in Seattle.

For more information about the win-win program visit Harmonic Humanity’s site at www.harmonichumanity.org or call Whats Up Magazine at to find out how you can help locally.

“It’s a good thing and I hope it helps - I’ve learned that the more a person can do to empower themselves and walk a righteous path the better and sharing this conscious music full of positive universal messages which has been donated by some amazing artists is volume 11:2 whatsupstl.com

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I AM ALSO HOMELESS

words: Danielle Batist, INSP News Service Editor pics: Simon Murphy

Dalai Lama identifies with homeless in recent interview

One of the greatest spiritual leaders of our time, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, travels the world to spread his message of peace and reconciliation. During his recent UK tour themed ‘Be the Change’, the now 77-year old Dalai Lama gave an exclusive interview to the International Network of Street Papers, of which Whats Up Magazine is a member.

The interview and extraordinary photo shoot are printed simultaneously in street papers worldwide.

Many of our 12,000 street paper vendors in 40 countries around the world are or have been homeless. The Buddha was homeless for the biggest part of his life, and you, like many of your people, have spent most of your life in exile. What does homelessness mean to you?

“For people without a home, it is almost like they have no basis from which to conduct their 10 whatsupstl.com volume 11:2

lives. They have no anchor. That is very sad.

But from a larger viewpoint, I would say that this whole planet is our home. The individual may be in a difficult situation, but he is still part of the society of humanity. I think it is innate to human nature that if someone is going through a difficult time, there is some kind of willingness to help out of a sense of concern that we have. So from that viewpoint, for homeless people their direct home is no longer there, but the big home is still there.

So people who are homeless should not feel desperate. On some level, I am also homeless.

But being homeless sometimes is useful, because you realise that in many places you can find a new home. If you have just one home, in some way you can get stuck in that.”

In recent years we have seen within the street paper movement many new people becoming vendors as a result of the global recession. People haven’t got enough

money to live on or lose their jobs and end up on the streets. What do you feel about austerity measures introduced by governments to tackle the crisis?

“This is a very complicated situation.

Immediately, I think governments have the responsibility for the country as a whole, so sometimes maybe these measures are necessary. But if you take an overall view, the real causes of the present difficulties started with the past governments and some companies. I think, without a proper plan in place, they are simply concerned about immediate profit and are not concerned about the long-term consequences. From that level, of course not seeing it from an individual person, but government or organizations which have the responsibility, the results now are due to their own actions. Only now, when difficulties have come, they put some sort of restrictions in place. It is complicated. Either

way, for thousands of people, their livelihood is almost zero, which is really very, very sad.

Very sad. But then, how to handle these things, I don’t know.

Two or three years ago, one newspaper, I think in Mexico, reported of one family whom, because of the economic difficulties, had to abandon their dog. The dog was now truly homeless. There was a picture of the dog and he looked very sad. Now really nobody took care of him. When I saw that picture, I myself almost felt some kind of hopelessness. Taking that to a human level, you can certainly see how life has become more difficult.

However, whenever I meet people who are in a difficult situation, I always share with them, in spite of a lot of difficulties, as a human being you should keep self-confidence and work hard. Due to certain difficulties, if you completely lost your self-confidence, hope and will, then inevitably difficulty will continue and

self-confidence and determination.”

When people fall upon such hard times, including in your country, how do you manage not to let feelings of anger, frustration or hatred take over?

“Our emotion is a master check through our intelligence. On an intellectual level, we analyse each situation. If a situation is as such that we can overcome it, there is no need to worry. If there is no way to overcome a situation, there also is no use in too much worrying, as usually worry brings frustration and frustration brings anger. It is therefore always better to try not to worry too much.

The emotion itself cannot do that, but with the help of human intelligence we can do that. I think whether God-created or nature-created, emotions are sometimes very troublesome. So God or nature also provided us with a kind of counter-balance, which is human intelligence.

When animals face a problem, they almost

full investigations, present their findings objectively, without a biased view and then inform the public. If they work this way, they have a very important and great role to play.”

INSP street papers often cover issues that would otherwise go unreported. What stories regarding your own country are the most important ones that need to be told?

“As for the Tibetan issue, it is that the very nature of the Tibetan struggle is strictly non-violent and very much in the spirit of reconciliation. Therefore, our struggle needs worldwide support. It must succeed, because if it fails, it will encourage those people who carry a different method, including force and violence.

Also, some aspect of the Tibetan story is not just a political matter, but an environmental issue. The Tibetan Plateau [par t of the Himalayas] plays a greatly important role in

For people without a home, it is almost like they have no basis from which to conduct their lives. They have no anchor. That is very sad. But from a larger viewpoint, I would say that this whole planet is our home. it will lead to real disaster. So it is very, very essential to keep hope and determination.”

You have often said about your own situation that it is important to keep hope.

In your autobiography you write that as far back as in 1953 you were convinced that ‘no matter how bad things become, they will eventually get better.’ Given the current situation in Tibet, how do you succeed in that?

“In my own case, at age sixteen, I lost my freedom. Difficulties had already started.

Then, at 24, I lost my own country. Over the last 52 years, there have been a lot of problems.

The news from within our own country has mostly been very heart-breaking news, very sad. In the meantime, Tibetans have put their trust in me, trust and hope. I cannot do much, so sometimes I really feel hopeless and desperate. But then, as I mentioned earlier, it is much better to keep my own enthusiasm and optimistic attitude, rather than allowing myself to completely lose hope and demoralise. That is of no help. So to other people I also say that no matter what difficulties, we should keep our

crash and black-out. But us human beings, because of our intelligence, we have a way to judge and measure our response. That is my view.”

In your autobiography ‘Freedom in Exile’ you blame the Chinese state media for misleading the people by grossly misrepresenting the situation in Tibet from the 1950s onwards. How important is the role of independent media in today’s society?

“Independent media are extremely important.

The media, as I see it, are almost like a third eye. Now, sometimes the third eye itself is a little bit biased [laughs]. That is a problem. If media first objectively analyse and then report and make a story known to people, their role is extremely helpful and very effective. When I meet media people, I tell them that they should have a long nose and investigate all sides; not just the front side, but also behind.

They must undertake thorough investigation to find out what the reality is. People have every right to know the reality, particularly in democratic countries. Media should undertake

global warming. Nearly all major rivers in that part of the world rise on the Tibetan Plateau, so the preservation of Tibetan ecology is not only in Tibetan people’s interest. More than one billion people’s lives depend on these rivers.

Another top priority is the preservation of Tibetan culture, which is a culture of peace, a culture of non-violence and compassion. It is not only an ancient culture, but also one that is very relevant in today’s world. We live in an increasingly materialistic world, which is all about consumerism. And there are moral problems which sometimes lead to violence, particularly among the youth. Whenever they face problems, the response of some of them has become more violent.”

Would you see the riots that happened in the UK last summer as an example of that?

“Yes, that is one indication. When I first heard that through the BBC, I was shocked. I considered people in the UK to be more mature and more peaceful. So when I heard the news, I was surprised and shocked. This shows that volume 11:2 whatsupstl.com

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“Many people have the attitude that if you have money or power, your life becomes something meaningful and makes you happy. That is a mistake.” you should not take things for granted or follow your past way of thinking. Now, we have to think more seriously about our social and cultural environment.”

You have 4.5 million followers on Twitter and 4 million fans on Facebook and many people discuss your ideas and teachings online. One of your recent popular Tweets read: ‘I am increasingly convinced that the time has come to find a way to think about spirituality and ethics beyond religion all together.’ Why do you believe that?

“Obviously amongst 7 billion human beings there is quite a big portion of people who have not much interest in religion. And within the group of believers, again I think there is quite a big portion of people not very serious about it. For many, religion has become just a daily ritual, but is not taken seriously. So the indication that they may attend Sunday church or a Temple, including Buddhist, does not mean much. They pray to Buddha or God, but in their real life they have no hesitation to get involved in creating injustice, telling lies, corruption, bullying and cheating. These activities are, I think, against every major religion and traditional teaching. That indicates 12 whatsupstl.com volume 11:2

that a group of religious believers has a lack of conviction.

Traditional spiritual teachings and principles are an immense benefit to oneself. The people who do not take their religion seriously lack this knowledge, and religion is of no relevance to their lives. Therefore, we need a wider way to spread the conviction that moral ethics are really the basis of a happy life. This is true on an individual level as well as on a family, community and humanity level. That is something common for all major religions and traditions, as well as non-believers. Everybody wants to be happy and have a happy family.

Many people have the attitude that if you have money or power, your life becomes something meaningful and makes you happy. That is a mistake. Happiness and sorrow itself are part of the mind; they are a mental experience. The real way to reduce pain and sadness and increase happiness and joyfulness must be found through mental training. Some of my friends are very rich, they have plenty of money. And of course, because they are a wealthy person, they are also quite influential in society. But as a person, they are very unhappy, I noticed that. That shows that money, vanity and power are not an adequate

source of happiness.”

Since 2009, when the fir st selfimmolation occurred in Tibet, 37 people have set themselves on fire, according to the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy. That figure covers the latest incident in Lhasa on May 27th, the first in the capital, where one young man died and another got seriously injured.

China has responded to the wave of selfimmolations by banning foreign visitors to Tibet. How do you feel about the fact that some of your fellow countrymen go to such extremes to make their voices heard? And do you think China’s efforts to cover up the protests from the outside world are effective?

“Totalitarian regimes, including China, at least in the last several decades, have put too much emphasis on cruelty. Fear and distrust have become part of their lives.

Therefore, they always try to hide reality.

The 1.3 billion Chinese people have every right to know the reality. And once all these 1.3 billion Chinese people know the reality of their situation, they also have the ability to judge what is right and what is wrong.

That is why censorship is immoral. However, censorship is still happening every day. In the long run, it is very harmful for them, because in order for the Chinese government to have a more constructive role on the global level, trust and respect from the rest of the world is very essential. Censorship and the restriction to let people come and go are very harmful in developing trust or respect. So I am hoping that eventually, Chinese leaders will realise that such methods are very short-sighted, narrowminded and unreasonable. I think that they will realise these things and that eventually, they will change. The Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jabao on many occasions expressed that China needs political reform, and he even mentioned that China needs Western-style democracy. That includes freedom and free information and transparency. So I hope that things eventually will change. It is in their own interest, which is very important for them to realise.”

The events [self-immolations] that have happened in Tibet are of course very, very sad. In one way it shows that Tibetans very much believe in non-violence. They do not want to harm others, so they harm themselves by burning themselves. This is certainly an indication of desperation. There is no question about that. In terms of right or wrong... Firstly, it is a sensitive political issue. But from the Buddhist view point, every action, whether it is positive or negative, ultimately depends on the motivation. For those people whose motivation is mainly a more compassionate one of sincere faith in Buddha Dharma, it is different. But at the moment, it is very much driven by anger and hatred, and then it is basically negative.

We cannot generalise, we have to look case to case from a Buddhist viewpoint. But politically, I always consider Tibetan people inside Tibet as my boss. For the last 52 years I consider myself as the free spokesman of the Tibetan people. So from that level, I have no right to judge the boss’ activities.”

In your autobiography you refer to the invaluable experiences you had when you travelled in disguise. You said it was a chance to find out ‘what life was really like’ for your fellow countrymen and women.

You have now been in exile for over fifty years and have become one of the world’s

most recognisable global figures. How do you manage to stay connected to the lives of ordinary people inside and outside Tibet?

“Inside Tibet, there were a few occasions whilst travelling where I was mixing with ordinary people. Some people asked me: ‘Where is the Dalai Lama?’ Then I told them: ‘Oh, the Dalai Lama is over there’. Then, afterwards, I held a public meeting and I recognised one lady whom I had talked to in disguise. When she saw my face and realised it was the same person, she could not believe it [laughter]. Such things were always quite fun. My main motivation for mixing with them was to get clear information about what was going on. When people know you are the Dalai Lama they may not be as frank as to an ordinary monk.

Living in a free country, my contact with people is open. For my part, I try to meet people on the level of human beings. And

“For my part, I try to meet people on the level of human beings.” from the responses from the audiences I meet nowadays, it seems that they also have that kind of attitude towards me. That means I get the right information and a real picture of the reality. In the past, even my own officials answered not very clearly if I asked them about something. So I always asked the sweepers, who were uneducated, innocent people. They would always tell me whatever they had heard straightforwardly, including criticism about a Regent, criticism about some high officials and high Lamas. They had no hesitation to tell me all the negative things like that [laughter].”

switches to Tibetan and recalls a story to his translator. His infectious smile makes everyone laugh, and then the translator repeats:] “The sweepers would start off politely by using the official salute for Regents and high Lamas, like ‘bless him’, and then go on to tell me all the criticism about them [more laughter].”

[When the laughter dies down, we are informed that our time with His Holiness is up. We have just time for one last question, which we dedicate to our vendors.]

Our street paper vendors around the world face different kinds of social and economic difficulties, but when asked what the hardest thing about their situation is, their answer is often the same: the feeling of loneliness. A search party recognised you as the 14th Dalai Lama when you were two years old; you spent your childhood amongst adults in monasteries and faced the huge responsibility of protecting your people from foreign invasion and being their spiritual leader at age fifteen. With your experience of loneliness in your life, what advice would you give to them?

“In my own case, if I only think of myself as ‘I am a Tibetan’ or ‘I am Buddhist’ that in itself creates a kind of distance. So I say to myself: ‘Forget that, I am a human being, one of the seven billion human beings. By saying that, we immediately become closer. If people put the emphasis on their situation by thinking ‘I am poor’, or ‘I am homeless’ or ‘I am in a difficult situation’, they put too much of an emphasis on a secondary level. I think that this also is a reality, but still another reality is that we all are human being, one of the 7 billion human beings on this planet. I know that in a practical sense that might not be of much help, but emotionally, it can be very helpful.” danielle batist is the INSP News Service Editor has been working with INSP for several years. Photographer simon murphy donated the photographs for this interview. For more of his work, see www.simonmurphyphotographer.com.

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words/images tom scharff

last call for recall ( ) 2011 brought an unprecedented attack on public unions in Wisconsin

Two years after the election of President Barack Obama, the November 2010 elections brought in libertarian “Tea Party” candidates across the country, including a new Republican governor of Wisconsin, Scott Walker. Walker is well-funded and supported fully by some influential donors, including the Koch brothers; their organization Americans For Prosperity spends millions on campaign advertisements. Their overall goal seems to be reducing and limiting the power of government, and expanding the power of private business at a profit for investors.

On February 11th, 2011, according to an AP report, Gov. Scott Walker said “The Wisconsin National Guard is prepared to respond wherever is necessary” in the wake of his announcement that he wanted to take away nearly all collective bargaining rights from state employees. When tax cuts enacted by Walker in his first days in office caused a state budget deficit, Walker and the GOP responded with a new bill that cut the ability of public unions to bargain collectively. He also proposed bringing in the National Guard to secure state prisons, in the event of a walkout. To the many Wisconsinites who would soon find themselves protesting at the state capitol.

On Feb 14th, unionized Madison public school teachers had a “sick out” day. They protested at the state capitol against the controversial new budget provisions which appeared to abrogate the right to freely assemble. Students walked out of school in solidarity with their teachers, including 800 at Madison East High School, about half the student body. This was the start of the protests at the state capitol building, which would continue for months despite the tightening grip of the state’s Department of Administration. The DoA directed the Capitol Police to issue citations to protestors; these citations were later routinely dismissed from court.

On February 17th, in the tradition of Abe Lincoln jumping out a window to avoid a quorum call in Springfield, Illinois, all 14 Democratic state senators crossed the Cheddar Curtain--over the state border into Illinois--in order to prevent a vote on the Walker budget. The bill they sought to prevent passing included the controversial collective bargaining limitations and other privatization measures. Federal and state union workers would be required to contribute more into their pensions than they already were; firefighters and police unions were to be exempt from this.

Protests at the capitol intensified as the ramifications of Act 10 were understood. In spite of the exemption, Madison firefighters protested in solidarity with other union and anti-Walker activists at the capitol.

This sounded like a threat on the order of Kent State. Another provision of Walker’s budget repair bill which met with opposition was one to allow the state to sell off some infrastructure, including power plants, to private buyers without a normal bidding process.

This provision did not become the focus of the protests; rather, The weather was cold but protestors were not deterred from it seemed the limitations on public unions motivated the crowds. making their voices heard. Tom Morello from Rage Against 14 whatsupstl.com volume 11:2

The Machine showed up on February 21 with Wayne Kramer of Detroit’s MC5 as well as rockers Tim McIlrath and Ike Reilly to perform for thousands of people at a frigid noontime rally in support of the 14 senators, and against the Walker budget.

Once the year elapsed, anti-Walker people took to the streets, literally, standing on corners with clipboards, getting honked at, waved at, yelled at, and in some cases threatened for requesting signatures to remove from office both Walker and his cohort, Republican Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch. They collected While the senators were still out of state, new light was shed on over one million signatures in their efforts and the recall seemed Walker’s agenda. On February 23 Ian Murphy, editor of alt-weekly like a sure thing.

The Buffalo Beast, managed to get through by telephone and record a conversation with Governor Walker. Murphy negotiated But the United States Supreme Court’s decision in the Citizens Walker’s maze of handlers by claiming to be wealthy donor David United case allows SuperPAC groups unlimited funding for Koch. In the phone call, the fake Koch elicited several telling campaign finance. With his well-heeled backers, Walker was able statements from Walker. Walker admitted to the caller that he had to outspend the campaign to remove him by a twenty-to-one considered planting “troublemakers” among capitol protestors. margin. As a result, he won the June 5th recall challenge by a “On March 10th, Wisconsin state senate Republicans hastily passed a modified version of the budget repair bill (Act 10) with the “fiscal elements” of the proposal to strip collective bargaining rights from public employees removed.”

At the end of the call, Walker responded to the caller’s offer to few percentage points. Despite his win, state senatorial recall “fly you to Cali and really show you a good time” with “All right, elections and one retirement afforded the Democrats control of that would be outstanding.” the state senate by a 17-16 margin. This limits Walker’s ability to pass legislation as quickly as he could under his GOP-controlled Despite the winter cold, the citizens-turned-activists continued to senate of 2011. protest at the state capitol, leading to increased pressure by the state DoA to restrict free access to the capitol building. “Whose So after all this, the November 2012 election can be looked at house? OUR HOUSE!” went one popular chant. Another was “Show as a referendum on the tea-party platform. Do voters want to me what democracy looks like? THIS IS WHAT DEMOCRACY LOOKS disenfranchise the elderly, sick, and poor in favor of growing LIKE!” followed by car horns and drumming out the rhythm of corporate profits and lower tax rate for the top income tax the words. Protestors braved the cold day after day to surround bracket? Or will the Right Wing’s media machine convince enough and fill the capitol, holding signs, chanting, and singing songs voters that it’s the millionaires that need the advantage? There is of solidarity. a lot of money on the line, and those who have it now are using it to try to sway public opinion their way.

On March 10th, Wisconsin state senate Republicans hastily passed a modified version of the budget repair bill (Act 10) with the Do you know where you stand? Public workers or corporate “fiscal elements” of the proposal to strip collective bargaining industry? The public functions of the government can be sold to rights from public employees removed. The rushed passage came benefit stakeholders or kept for the community. Should all cities under fire due to the lack of a legally-mandatory 24-hour notice sell the rights to their parking spaces like Chicago has done? Is to the public. An upsurge in the number of protestors resulted, for-profit insurance better for people than what’s provided by as the capitol dome once again filled with vigorous protesting. the Affordable Care Act? Explanations as to how a budget bill could be non-fiscal were not forthcoming in detail, but senate majority leader Scott Fitzgerald said “Every item in tonight’s bill follows the letter of the law.”

The Democratic state senators, who had stayed away for 21 days, Tom Scharff grew up in the St Louis area, and moved to Madison finally returned after the budget was passed in their absence.

Wisconsin in the late 1990’s. He lives near the capitol and works Grassroots activists against Walker had already realized that Wisconsin law allows for elected officials to be recalled, but the process could begin “only after the elected official has served a full year in his or her current term of office.” That put the timetable at January 2012 for the start of the recall petitioning.

for a small business. He sometimes records audio at public events, like the linked Tom Morello protest appearances. He is the archivist for Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven family of bands..

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Decision 2012:

OBAMA v. ROMNEY words william claude debussy

caricature donkeyhotey

You can thank the Tea Party. Because of them, American voters Party and fighting for its principles. Instead, they nominated have a clear choice when we enter the voting booth this November. relative unknowns who would hew to the Tea Party line of deficit reduction through cutting programs for the poor and needy, lower The Republicans, like the old Soviet Communist Party, now have taxes for the rich, less regulation for large corporations and the a Politburo. Everyone competing in a Republican primary this financial industry, and the repeal of the most progressive health election season had to genuflect toward the Tea Party program to care legislation since Medicare. That’s it. No compromises. No have a chance of winning. Some, like Senator Olympia Snowe of negotiation. No deviation.

Maine, stepped down rather than face Tea Party opposition in their

“Everyone competing in a Republican primary this election season had to genuflect toward the Tea Party program to have a chance of winning.” local Republican primaries. Others, even archconservatives, like The Obama Presidency veteran Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana, couldn’t survive primary challenges from Tea Party-backed opposition. Republican voters When you vote for a sitting President, you usually know what jettisoned politicians who had spent their lives in the Republican you’re getting. That’s not quite the case with President Obama.

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Positions on Healthcare OBAMA Signed the 2010 healthcare overhaul bill. Calls for patient protections like allowing coverage for pre-existing conditions, not letting insurers cancel policies when patients get sick, and requiring individuals to buy health insurance or pay a fine.

ROMNEY Though he created similar legislation in Massachusetts, promises to repeal Barack Obama’s 2010 healthcare overhaul. Would encourage individuals to purchase their own health insurance rather than rely on their employers.

Positions on the Economy OBAMA Repeal Bush tax cuts for households earning more than $250,000. Lower taxes on manufacturing industry. Stimulus spending and tax cuts to grow the economy (short term). Cut spending and raise taxes on wealthy to reduce deficit (long term).

He came into office with two agendas: one was legislative and the other was cultural.

His legislative agenda was nearly undone by his cultural agenda.

President Obama’s cultural agenda was an attempt to change the atmosphere in Washington. He wanted to show Republicans that he respected their opinions and was willing to make reasonable compromises to get bi-partisan backing for his legislation.

Unfortunately, the Republicans saw civility as a sign of weakness and made preventing Obama from being able to claim any legislative victories their prime goal.

a stimulus bill aimed at stabilizing job loss by sending billions of federal dollars to the states. The idea was the states could use the money to retain teachers, fire fighters and police, who were being laid off as tax revenues declined. States could also use the money to proceed with “shovel-ready” projects to repair bridges, highways, public buildings and other infrastructure improvements.

Against great odds, he actually passed major legislation in all three areas.

Significantly, all of it was passed during the first year of his administration, when the Democrats had small majorities in both The President’s domestic legislative houses of Congress. agenda was pretty straightforward. Obama ran on health care reform, banking The Affordable Care Act (ACA), better regulation reform and job creation. The known as Obamacare, was seriously job creation, by encouraging so-called compromised. The bill devolved from “green” jobs, would convert us to a post- health care reform to health insurance fossil fuel economy. Once the economy reform. The best features of the bill help collapsed, the green jobs initiative became middle class families hold on to their

ROMNEY Make Bush tax cuts permanent. Lower corporate tax rate across the board to 25%. Cut taxes and regulations to encourage business. Cut “nonsecurity discretionary [government] spending” by 5% to reduce deficit.

Positions on Poverty & Entitlements OBAMA Plans to modernize and expand unemployment insurance. Pursue the Millennium Development Goals through the U.S. Global Development Policy.

Supported an expansion of the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

ROMNEY Plans to lower the lowest income tax bracket from 10 percent to 7.5 percent. Believes dependency is death to initiative, risk-taking and opportunity.

Dependency is a culture-killing drug— that he plans to fight.

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insurance and force insurance companies to abide by their end of bargain, even if you become seriously ill. It even has provisions forcing insurers to cover some minimal preventive care and provides some financial aid to Americans who can’t afford health insurance. The ACA does little to control the costs of either health care or of health insurance and still leaves something like 25,000,000 Americans uninsured.

Obama compromised into a bunch of half-victories. The halfvictories all occurred before the 2010 elections, which swept dozens of Tea Party Republicans into office. The Tea Party Politburo then decreed: NO COMPROMISE. That was the end of productive work emerging from the U.S. Congress.

Banking regulation reform and the job stimulus were similarly compromised. Banking industry lobbyists made sure that the pathetic few new regulations were so complicated as to be unenforceable. They also saw to it that attempts to prevent the financial industry from engaging in the practices that led to the financial meltdown of 2008 were removed from the bill. The only real victory for the general public was the Consumer Financial Protection Agency, whose job is to create rules that force lenders to clearly label loans and credit cards.

Mitt Romney’s political life is the tale of two candidates who have diametrically opposing views. Candidate one is Mitt Romney Before the Tea Party. Let’s call him BeforeMitt. The other is Mitt Romney after the Tea Party. Let’s call him AfterMitt.

The Republicans and a few conservative Democrats hijacked the stimulus bill. Obama’s compromises led to less than a third of the bill actually going to job-saving or job-creating stimulus. The rest went into tax cuts even though economic experts, ranging from Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman to the Congressional Budget Office, warned that tax cuts were among the least efficient ways

On health care, BeforeMitt, as Governor of Massachusetts, passed a serious health care reform law. It worked. According to the Massachusetts Department of Healthcare Finance and Policy, the number of uninsured Massachusetts residents dropped to about 2% in 2010. Polls show Massachusetts residents are generally happy with the results. It worked so well that many of the most

The Romney Challenge

BeforeMitt was Governor of Massachusetts. He was a moderate Republican who favored health insurance mandates, modest gun control proposals, and promised to be “friendly” to rights for gay couples.

“The Republicans and a few conservative Democrats hijacked the stimulus bill. Obama’s compromises led to less than a third of the bill actually going to job-saving or job-creating stimulus.” to stimulate the economy.

progressive elements of the Massachusetts law were incorporated into Obamacare. But the Tea Party Politburo’s position is REPEAL On foreign policy, candidate Obama promised to end the wars in OBAMACARE. So AfterMitt is now against the ACA, and promises Iraq and Afghanistan and close the prison at Guantanamo Bay, to repeal it.

Cuba.

On gun control, BeforeMitt signed a permanent extension of When he became President Obama, he did what he could. In a statewide ban on assault weapons like AK-47’s and signed Iraq, U.S troops have been reduced to a small number of non- legislation limiting access to automatic weapons. But the Tea Party combatants and security forces. We are effectively disengaged Politburo says: NO GUN CONTROL OF ANY KIND. So now AfterMitt there. In Afghanistan, after a short upsurge in troop numbers says, “I do not support any new legislation of an assault weapon that was necessary to beat back the Taliban, our troop levels have ban nature, including that against semiautomatic weapons.” been reduced and there is a timetable for a complete withdrawal.

On equal rights for gays and lesbians, BeforeMitt sent a letter to The Guantanamo Bay Prison is different story, however. Suspected gay Republicans contending that he’d be a stronger advocate for terrorists held there are in endless detention, without due gay rights in the Senate than his opponent at the time, Senator process. This human rights disaster is anathema to a free society Ted Kennedy. BeforeMitt said, “We must make equality for gays and a public relations nightmare in the Muslim world. President and lesbians a mainstream concern.” Six years later, BeforeMitt Obama tried to have the prisoners reassigned to the U.S. federal said, “All citizens deserve equal rights, regardless of their sexual prison system, but Congress, including many members of his orientation.” Also in 2002, Romney opposed a Massachusetts own party, blocked him. constitutional amendment that would have banned same-sex In summary, candidate Obama laid out an agenda that President marriage and domestic partnerships. But the Tea Party Politburo 18 whatsupstl.com volume 11:2

says: NO GAY RIGHTS OF ANY KIND. So now, AfterMitt supports amending the U.S. Constitution to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman.

On abortion, BeforeMitt said, “I believe that abortion should be safe and legal in this country… I believe that since Roe v. Wade (the Supreme Court decision that made abortion legal in all 50 states) has been the law for 20 years, that we should sustain and support it, and I sustain and support that law, and the right of a woman to make that choice…” That was in 1994 when BeforeMitt was running against Ted Kennedy for a U.S. Senate seat. But the Tea Party Politburo says: OVERTURN Roe v. Wade AND END LEGAL ABORTIONS IN THE U.S. So now, AfterMitt promises to nominate Supreme Court justices who would help overturn Roe v. Wade, effectively ending federal protection of legal abortions.

Even with all this AfterMitt still had a Tea Party problem. They just didn’t trust that Romney had really changed his beliefs. Some even wondered if he had any beliefs at all. All signs point to a very close election. The number of genuinely undecided voters is tiny. That means that the key to winning for both Romney and Obama may be in motivating their core supporters to come out and vote. His campaign advisors were worried that Tea Party Republicans wouldn’t be motivated to come out for AfterMitt. So AfterMitt doubled down.

Ryan Budget.

Romney has repeatedly endorsed The Ryan Budget, but has waffled when asked about specific proposals.

Both Romney and Ryan want to cut overall federal spending.

Their budget cuts every part of public education and kills most aid to average people trying to pay for college. It increases our already bloated military spending. They want lower tax rates for millionaires, but offer no relief to the rest of us. They promise to balance the federal budget, but TRB doesn’t get near that goal until almost twenty years down the line. And to do that it makes many optimistic guesses about revenue intake.

The Choice So we have a real choice: survival of the fittest or the continued evolution of liberal democracy. A President who actually attempted to fulfill his campaign promises vs. a candidate whose own party isn’t sure he believes what he says.

If you think the goal of our system is to give every American an equal chance at the starting gate and pick up those who stumble along the way, re-elect President Obama. But be sure to vote a straight ticket. What we have learned is that he can’t get anything done without a majority in Congress. Even then, he Romney chose Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan to run for Vice has to compromise with the more conservative elements of his President on the Republican ticket. Ryan is the author of the Tea own party.

Party’s favorite legislative proposal. Known as The Ryan Budget (TRB), it’s a plan that would redirect federal spending through If you believe that government should not be our referee, if you the next couple of decades. Over that time TRB would cut about want the repeal of healthcare reform, deficit reduction through $5 trillion from the budget of the U.S. government. Almost all of cutting programs for the poor and needy, lower taxes for the rich, this would come from ending supports for the poor and needy. more military spending and less regulation for large corporations and the financial industry, the Republicans have a plan for you. If TRB would phase out Medicare and make it unavailable to future you believe the strong should make the rules and too bad for the generations. Instead of government guaranteed health care, rest, then the Tea Party Politburo has purged all non-believers. senior citizens would get a voucher to help them pay for health The choice is clear. insurance. If the voucher was not sufficient to provide health insurance, then the elderly person would have to come up with the cash to pay the difference. Since TRB would repeal Obamacare, a sick elderly person could be turned down, refused health william claude debussy is a retired businessman and insurance by all providers. Congressman Steny Hoyer, a highsemi-professional pain-in-the ass. A political activist since the 1960’s, Mr.Debussy is spending his “golden years” ranking Democrat, called the proposal “...social Darwinism…” alternating between watching Congressional hearings on In other words, survival of the fittest.

Even some conservative Republicans were appalled. Newt Gingrich, once the most powerful Republican in the House of Representatives, called it “right-wing social engineering”.

Gingrich changed his tune after Rush Limbaugh and other voices of the Tea Party Politburo attacked him. He now supports The

c-span and writing fact-checking letters to Fox News. His doctor isn’t sure his health can stand watching much more Fox News.

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STREET

SOURCES

INFORMATION FOR THE DISADVANTAGED AND HOMELESS OF ST. LOUIS AND THOSE WILLING TO HELP, AID AND ASSIST THEM IT IS A REQUIREMENT OF ALL SHELTERS THAT CONTRACT WITH THE CITY OF ST. LOUIS OR SAINT LOUIS COUNTY THAT INDIVIDUALS ACCESS SHELTER VIA THE HOUSING RESOURCE CENTER’S (HRC) HOUSING HOTLINE. LOOK FOR THE

HRC

LOGO IN THE SERVICE DIRECTORY.

Almost Home, Inc. See Key for Description W 3200 Vincent St. Louis, MO 63104 314/771-4663 Almost Home is a transitional living home for homeless young women who are primarily teenage. The young women may or may not be pregnant, or may have one or two children. The program is nine months and may be extended. Clients must be homeless, drug- and alcohol-free, and willing to participate in structured, goal-oriented programs. They must be willing to utilize counseling; seeking to live a functional, independent life in appropriate or permanent housing; and willing to change unsatisfactory living patterns. Clients will attend classes in budgeting, parenting, and child development.

Gateway 180 F W HRC 1000 N. 19th Street St. Louis, MO 63106 314/231-1515 Gateway 180 is a 90-day, 24-hour shelter for 135 single women, single women with dependent children, married couples with or without dependent children, and single fathers with dependent childeren. Services provided include basic shelter services, individual case management, life skills program, medical and psychological services, educational assistance, permanant and transitional housing placement, self-esteem, emergency assistance, tutoring, employment referrals and activities for homeless youth.

The Bridge @ Centenary Methodist W F M S 55 Plaza Square St. Louis, MO 63103 314/421-3136 This downtown faith community reaches out to the downtown homeless with compassion and a whole list of community resources from 7-9 AM for breakfast and 12 - 12:30 PM for lunch Tuesday-Saturday.

Good Samaritan Center F 2108 Russell St. Louis, MO 63104 314/772-7720 The Good Samaritan Center offers stabilization and resettlement services for homeless families coming out of the shelter system. Services include transitional housing, case work training, support groups, life skills, follow-up, and referrals. Clients must be at least 18 years of age, have a family or children living with them, employable, and willing to work at their resettlement.

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Grace Hill Neighborhood Services: MORE Transitional Housing Program 3815 North 20th St. S W St. Louis, MO 63107 314/539-9659 Grace Hill provides transitional housing and emergency assistance (when funds are available) for single women and mothers. Clients must meet several criteria, including 1.) being homeless or in imminent danger of becoming homeless; 2.) having no more than two small children; 3.) having income or being eligible to receive income assistance; and 4.) being willing to participate in self-help activities (i.e., employment, training or GED classes).

Haven of Grace W HRC 1133 Benton St. St. Louis, MO 63106 314/621-6507 Haven of Grace assists homeless, pregnant women ages 16-21 with shelter, goal-setting, education, employment, parenting, household management, and permanent residence.

Hope House F 1611 Hodiamont Ave. St. Louis, MO 63112 314/382-3801 Hope House offers 50 transitional housing apartments for homeless families, comprehensive social services, family development, vocational and educational counseling, housing placement assistance, on-site living skills classes, and day care center. Clients must be prior St. Louis City residents and in a shelter for 15-30 days or referred by Housing Resource Center. After completing a comprehensive screening, the average stay is 12 months.

Housing Resource Center S M W 800 N. Tucker Blvd St. Louis, MO 63101 Hotline for Services 314/802-5444 The Housing Resource Center provides centralized, comprehensive housing assistance for families who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. The focus is on prevention, but when prevention is not possible, emergency shelter placement and post-shelter placement is provided. Services include intake, assessment, and screening. Clients must be city or county residents (based on last permanent address).

Hope Recovery Center S W M V 515 N. Jefferson St. Louis, MO 63103 314/652-4100 ext. 55493 Provides transitional housing programs through partnerships with four community providers. These sites can serve up to 146 veterans. HUD-VA supported housing programs and received an additional 25 permanent housing vouchers for a total of 120 available housing options for veterans.

Olive Branch W F HRC 5029 Vernon Ave. St. Louis, MO 63113 314.367-7676 Olive Branch provides 24-hour maternity shelter care for homeless/pregnant adolescents.

Mother and baby may stay for up to three months after birth.

Our Lady’s Inn W HRC 4223 S. Compton St. Louis, MO 63111 Phone: (314)351-4590 The Inn is an emergency shelter for homeless pregnant women. Clients must be pregnant, 18 years old or older, and City or County residents.

Peter & Paul Community Services, Inc. Emergency Shelter/Transitional Housing 711 Allen M St. Louis, MO 63104 HRC 314/621-5520 Peter & Paul Community Services assists homeless and near-homeless single men in several ways: a 50-bed year-round emergency shelter, a 20-bed year-round transitional program, meals, showers, lockers, medical referrals, living skills classes, and case management.

Federal poverty guidelines apply and clients must be 18 years or older. Candidates for the transitional program must be sober and drug-free for a minimum of 30 days and have a willingness to continue treatment.

St. Louis Office for Developmental Disability Resources 2334 Olive Street St. Louis, MO 63103 (314) 421-0090

S

W

M

V

St. Louis Office for Developmental Disability Resources (DD Resources) provides services to St. Louis City residents of all ages with the following developmental disabilities: autism, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and mental retardation. Individuals must have been diagnosed with their developmental disability before the age of 18 or meet the functional definition of a developmental disability as determined by the St. Louis Regional Office.

ALSO, BE SURE TO CHECK OUT ST. LOUIS AREA RESOURCE DIRECTORY: http://www.StartHereSTL.org

Salvation Army CIP: Transitional Housing Program F HRC 4100 Snow St. Louis, MO 63120 314/389-9293 CIP offers 30 transitional housing apartments for homeless families in recovery. The center also accept homeless families that are not in drug recovery program and willing to work in our program. Families must have been in a shelter for 30 days prior to a referral being made.

Covenant House Missouri Y HRC 2256 S. 39th St. St. Louis, MO 63110 (314) 772-6530 Covenant House Missouri provides emergency and long-term (12-24 months) transitional housing to prepare single women and men ages 17 to 21 for independent living. Services include individual counseling, family therapy and group counseling. Clients are homeless, single men and women 16 to 21 years old who need residential care and skill training to live independently, and who are willing to comply with program activities and structure.

Redevelopment Opportunities for Women, Inc. W 306 North Tucker St. Louis, MO 63101 314/588-8300 ROW effects positive change on behalf of homeless, abused and/or indigent women and families through programs and services that help individuals pursue economic self-sufficiency. Services include adult basic education and literacy, economic education, personal and life skills development, parenting education and support, domestic violence support and advocacy, and an early childhood program.

Someone Cares Mission S 2718 N. 13th Street St. Louis, MO 63107 314-621-6703 Someone Cares Mission, a subsidiary of Christian Service Center, Inc., provides fresh and nutritious brown-bag lunches, personal hygiene products, and blankets for homeless and impoverished individuals and families five days a week. The Mission also distributes approximately 20,000 pounds of food daily to benefit bi-state regional homeless shelters and food pantries.

St. Martha’s Hall W P. O. Box 4950 St. Louis, MO 63108 314/533-1313 St. Martha’s Hall is a confidential shelter for abused women and their children. Services include individual and group counseling, legal advocacy, information, referral, and follow up. Clients must be female victims of domestic violence, 18 years old and up. The Hall does not admit males older than 13 years of age.

St. Patrick Partnership Center S 800 N. Tucker St. Louis, MO 63101 314/802-0700 The Partnership Center provides home living skills training and open market housing for individuals referred by agencies within the Homeless Services Network. Casework, employment training, child care, GED, and vocational referrals are available. The Center provides furniture and supplies to graduates of homeless and at-risk people referred by a member of the Homeless Network Board.

St. Phillipine Emergency Shelter F 1015 Goodfellow Blvd.

St. Louis, MO 63112 314/454-1012 St. Phillipine offers families with children 60-day shelter, providing hot meals, laundry and bathing facilities, referrals to transitional housing to women and children, medical referral, and access to City of St. Louis Homeless Services classes.

St.Vincent de Paul Society S 4141 Forest Park Blvd.

St. Louis, MO 63108 314/531-2183 St. Vincent de Paul assists with transportation for the homeless. Service needs to an out-of-town location would be referred to Mullanphy Travelers Aid, and local needs would be provided by the Society via bus and MetroLink passes when available. Serves families and individuals facing homelessness in St. Louis City, St. Louis County, Jefferson County, and St. Charles.

CALL THE HOUSING HOTLINE

314-802-5444

Sunshine Mission M 1520 N. 13th St. St. Louis, MO 63106 314/231-8209 Sunshine Mission offers a men’s emergency shelter, men’s long term rehabilitation program, women’s emergency services, food pantry, and youth programming. The men’s shelter is first-come, first-served.

The Salvation Army F 10704 Page St. Louis, MO 63132 314/423-7770 This Salvation Army program is a year-round 50-bed shelter for County families who are homeless. Life skills training, legal assistance, child care, GED, and assistance into permanent housing are available for homeless families and abused women and children.

United Methodist Metro Ministry Shalom House W 1040 S. Taylor St. Louis, MO 63110 314/534-1010 Shalom House is a 90-day shelter, which provides medical and dental services through Grace Hill Neighborhood Services, mental health services through St. Louis Mental Health Center, and a drug/alcohol day program through BASIC, D.A.R.T., or C-STAR programs.

Clients are females (predominately mentally ill) aged 18 and older only.

Horizon Club S 202 N. 23rd Street St. Louis, MO 63103 (314) 436-1733 Horizon Club is a safe haven for individuals without homes. Horizon Club provides individuals without homes access to a laundry facility, showers, locker room for storage, and the transitional housing program. A limited amount of socks and underwear are also available.The Horizon Club is an initiative of the St. Louis Office for Developmental Disability Resources (DD Resources).

C.A.L.L.-4-Life, Inc. S 4144 Lindell, Suite 136 St. Louis, MO 63108 314/652-0003 C.A.L.L.-4-Life outreaches St. Louis City residents who are homeless and were in special education while in school, and/or have a developmental disability. Services include connection to benefits, healthcare, housing/shelter, and long-term case management.

Women’s Safe House W P.O. Box 63010 St. Louis, MO 63163 314/772-4535 The Women’s Safe House is a shelter for battered women and their children. Services include legal advocacy, community speaking and education, housing referrals, support groups, children’s programs, and limited transportation.

YWCA-Phyllis Wheatley W HRC 3820 West Pine Blvd.

St. Louis, MO 63108 314/533-9400 The facility provides housing for single women (up to two years). Personal and career development services include: Case Management Services, GED Certification, Educational and Vocational Assessment, Counseling, Job Readiness Training, Job Search and Referrals, Life Skills. Clients are single women, homeless or about to become homeless, 18 and older, and employed a minimum of 20 hours per week or with current written verification of income.

KEY W

SHELTER AND SERVICES FOR WOMEN

Y

SHELTER AND SERVICES FOR YOUTH

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SHELTER AND SERVICES FOR MEN

V

SHELTER AND SERVICES FOR VETERANS

F

SHELTER AND SERVICES FOR FAMILIES

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SERVICES FOR THE HOMELESS OF SAINT LOUIS volume 11:2 whatsupstl.com

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all eyez on stl Peat Wollaeger was born in Webster Groves and currently resides with his wife and kids in St. Louis. His “Street Art” can be seen in most major cities in America, his “Gallery Art” is also shown around the country, but he is mostly recognized for his iconic EYE…and it is everywhere. It is on murals, fire hydrants, electrical boxes, and on his own brand of merchandise, ranging from pins to patches to T-shirts, former road signs and other reclaimed items. Peat paints live with stencils and spray-paint with his very distinct style. He also creates Viral Videos (http://vimeo. com/peat/) to show his audience how he creates his art with stencils and spray-paint.

Whats Up caught up with Peat in August at Lou Fest in Forest Park, and he told us why he loves St. Louis and chooses to do his art from here, even after he’s been “discovered”. During the interview, Peat was stenciling everything that wasn’t nailed down and spraying paint. an interview by vladimir noskov WHATS UP: How did you begin your career? on the computer at that time. I was getting work doing most of PEAT WOLLAEGER: I’ve been doing art my entire life, since I was my designs in a program called Illustrator 88. This was in a time a kid, but music is how I got into this business. I played Ska. I when nobody knew Photoshop or Illustrator--and I did. played guitar and I sang.

I was able to go and work for a few agencies; in exchange for WHATS UP: Who did you play Ska with? teaching them Photoshop or Illustrator kind of stuff, they would PEAT: Cucumber Jones and the Broken Bones, in ‘91, ‘92, teach me how to do traditional layout, typography, and design.

‘93, we used to play with MU330, Velveteen Rabbit and with a I never completed college for this, but I was able to get a fast couple of other bands in the ‘90’s high school circuit. We had track into the commercial art field. to create our own fliers, our own T-shirts, and that’s how I got into art. I figured I could make money doing that. I also started After this I moved to Chicago, did a bunch of commercial art doing rave fliers about the same time. Then I went up to Pratt up there, and I started working for this company called KBA Institute in Brooklyn, but they were not teaching much design Marketing. They were one of the first guerrilla marketing agencies 22 whatsupstl.com volume 11:2

and it was started by New York City club mogul Kevin Berg. He used to own the China Club, and had all these ties to bar owners all over the United States. He knew everybody in the game.

And he’s, like, you know what? We’re going to take on Camel cigarettes, and start promoting Camel cigarettes in all their bars.

This was right after the Joe Camel campaign, like ‘97, something like that.

WHATS UP: A controversial campaign, of course.

PEAT: Totally. And they were looking for something new, so I did graphic design for those guys, and did a lot of early guerilla marketing stuff. We kind of were molding the campaign based on the club scene and the design reflected the rave party style, and the audience loved the free Camels and were literally smoking up the campaign. I remember designing Camel banners that we would hang in these clubs. They would be hung up with dental floss, and were easily stolen and brought back to these kids’ dorm rooms.

WHATS UP: Were you making money, decent money?

PEAT: Good money, man, but my creative director would be like, “Look what our team did!” And I’m like, “Yeah, dude, look what our ‘team’ did…” Our “team” was here 80 hours a week working on a campaign, while you were golfing, or whatever.

After Camel I switched over to the Coca-Cola campaign, which was pretty much focused on African American youth in the boroughs of New York like Bed-Stuy.

WHATS UP: Is Bed-Stuy a place in New York?

PEAT: Yeah. In Queens. Brooklyn, Bronx, and we were doing these Coca-Cola street teams in each location and we’d get hip hop stars like Talib Kweli to Emcee our parties. Talib is dope. We were doing all this art with all these kids and doing really cool stuff.

And these kids were putting up stencils all throughout New York.

WHATS UP: You mean street art, right? At that time it was still kind of illegal, right?

PEAT: We didn’t even know what it was, there was still graffiti all over New York, but not many people were doing a lot of stencil stuff. When I found out these kids were getting caught, and they were getting in trouble and they had signed off, saying “Coca-Cola is not responsible for this stuff.”

Around that time, that’s when I figured out that I am going to create my own art for me, and not a corporation. I would take these stencils and start cutting portraits of people, like my kid.

One of my first pieces was of my son. My process was very similar to silk-screening, by using multiple layers of color in creating these portraits.

WHATS UP: Within the realm of art galleries, or street art?

PEAT: Each, both…and not really focus on anything but creating art for me, my family or for the public.

WHATS UP: Mosaics? Murals?

PEAT: First it was actually on glass windows and canvases. But then finding dumpsters in south St. Louis that were freaking ugly and I would put a portrait of my son up there, and it would turn ugly in to art. And at that time, no one had seen a lot of street stenciling, especially in St Louis, and others who saw this were mesmerized.

WHATS UP: Banksy was not even known here No one knew then that he is a pseudonymous England-based grafitty artist, political activist, film director, and painter. I see your style as revolutionary as his.

PEAT: Banksy was one of the main dudes that really inspired me to get going on the streets with my stuff. Around that time, the Internet had this brand new site called the Stencil Revolution.

Like, straight up, about six months after I started doing these stencils, there was a website dedicated to that, and it based out of Melbourne, Australia. And that’s how I met those guys, through the Stencil Revolution. I got on the site, I posted some stuff on the Stencil Revolution. And at this time, it was like the birth of the Internet. You didn’t have Facebook, you didn’t have Flickr, no YouTube, you didn’t have any of that.

Banksy Art

When I found out that this was going on, I kind of got out of that game. About the same time I had a kid. And I’m, like, my life’s changing, and I need to find a house that I can afford in a city. So we moved back to St. Louis, bought a house in South St. Louis by Tower Grove Park, and we’ve been here ever since then. volume 11:2 whatsupstl.com

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WHATS UP: So you were in the right place at the right time. And talent, of course.

PEAT: And talent! I mean, I was putting stuff up, and people were like, “Damn!” Because my stuff was multi-colored. They hadn’t seen a lot of this stuff. They hadn’t seen some of the simple Bansky stuff. And they were, like, “That’s crazy, dude!”

WHATS UP: Nobody knew Banksy back then.

PEAT: I mean, they kind of started to…he really put stenciling on the map.

That’s how I kind of got started, too. I do not know Banksy, but I did sort of talk to him via the Interwebs, in those early days of Stencil Rev. This artist Logan Hicks…who is the Godfather of the multi-colored stencils, was on there as well, and I was able to form a good relationship with him and he also served as sort of a mentor to me.

As an advocate and massive fan of Keith Haring, I decided to leave a message to the city of Melbourne to help save and preserve the fading masterpiece [the Crack Is Whack Mural was recently restored in NYC]. In Keith’s hand style, I painted “Never Forget Keith” and stenciled in Keith’s face on the entrance to the building.

While I was putting this up, two men in suits came to look at the building to purchase it, and they had no idea who Keith Haring even was. I schooled them about Keith and the importance of preserving this rare work.

Shor tly thereafter, a Security Guard came out and asked me to leave; lucky for me I was pretty much done painting!

After this they have now started a website (http://www. savemelbourneharingmural.com.au/) dedicated to saving this mural, and things are looking up for this masterpiece. Keith Haring, in my opinion, was the very first street artist. And he was rollin’ in the ‘80s, in that SOHO Art scene. He was really good friends with Madonna, Andy Warhol; he kind of rolled with Basquiat. Haring was doing these really dope chalk drawings in the subway tunnels—on the black panels, he’d do these very simple stick figures, very colorful. They’re very big energy, totally ‘80s-looking, hip hop. He was The Dude that inspired me to do what I’m doing. Banksy, Shepard too, but Haring was The Man. He was the God of that scene, totally.

WHATS UP: Mr. Brainwash?

PEAT: Nah. That guy didn’t even know what stencil art was about back then. Shepard Fairey had stuff on there, and global audience that I started making relationships with, these artists who were still on the verge of their careers, they were art babies just like me. We would just post a photo on stencilrevolution.com and then ten minutes later some dude from Melbourne would say, “Dude, what the hell, I love that!” or “Change this!” or other constructive criticism.

My sister went to school with Shepard Fairy at the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, back in 1989. That’s where I was WHATS UP: Have you tagged many places in the world other introduced to his art—my sister sent me some of his very early than St. Louis?

Andre the Giant stickers.

PEAT: Yes, I have pieces all over the country. And when I travel I try to leave some stencil love or stickers in that city. Actually, Part of what I do when I travel is to put stuff up, not for fame, but when I was in Australia my favorite artist, who is now deceased, to make the world more interesting. What I love to do is, I just like Keith Haring, did a mural there back in 1984 and is his only public to put a little piece of whatever I’m doing somewhere else. Like piece in that entire country. I came across the faded mural by a find an old fire hydrant, add two eyeballs and bring it to life.

Keith which was only a block away from the gallery that I was showing and found that the building was up for sale and could WHATS UP: I love what you’ve done, when you got permission potentially be demolished and/or turned in to condos. during the renovation of South Grand, to tag the street barriers.

Tell me about The Eyez.

Haring PEAT: It goes back to the early Stencil Revolution days and me finding out what my art is. I did portraits for years. All day long, but all my portraits would be a straight on view of somebody, but with big eyes. Kind of like my eyes.

A few years back I did this big Mountain Dew gig, I had a lot of extra money, and I bought this fun car—a 1963 Econoline truck.

I had a show coming up at the same time, and I was going to put that vehicle in the show. I had to paint my piece. What do I want to paint on this thing? All my work had these big eyes in these portraits. Why don’t I cover this car with big eyes? So I covered the truck in eyeballs, a pattern of eyes, and then after I did that, 24 whatsupstl.com volume 11:2

I started tagging up a couple of different eyes. People were real receptive to it; they had never seen anything like that. It just kind of came to me, and I just started painting eyes. I never intentionally thought I would paint a big eyeball on something, it just came to me naturally.

When the job came up on Grand, I’d been doing all these eyes, and I’d paint these eyes on these parking lots. After I did that, it was so crazy, dude, ever since I started putting these eyes out, people started being able to connect me with my art.

Before that, I did a whole series of dead fat comedians—Chris Farley, John Belushi, John Candy, Oliver Hardy—and someone can see that and recognize the comedians, but not necessarily know that I did it. But ever since I started doing that eye, it’s like my Campbell Soup Can. I have found my thing. I never started out as an eye guy. I started out as a sten-soul, because I believe the eyes are the window to the soul. Because when you’re talking to someone and look them in the face, you see their soul through their eyes. Eyes are important; they’re a powerful thing. When you talk to somebody and they look down, or look away, or are wearing glasses, I don’t believe them.

WHATS UP: Have you ever seen Whats Up magazine?

PEAT: Oh, for sure. I believe every major city in America should have a street publication to benefit the homeless. I remember I was on Cherokee Street one day, and this woman I usually give money to anyway was selling Whats Up. She was a licensed vendor, totally legit. I get a magazine from her every once in a while.

WHATS UP: So you’re still based in St. Louis, you’re involved in community issues of St. Louis, all kinds of scenes in St. Louis, but you do take your art all over the United States. Would it be wrong to say that?

PEAT: And that’s what I really think a lot more artists in St. Louis need to take advantage of. You have the opportunity and tools nowadays, it doesn’t matter where you live. You don’t have to live in Williamsburg, you can live in Timbuktu and still blow up all over the world, if you’re willing to put in the time. I’ve finally figured out as a full-time artist, if I really want to put my kids through college, it’s not going to be done with murals and paintings. I’m trying to launch a brand right now, it’s called EYEZbrand.com. I’m working on the merchandise, a lot of my work translates well to T-shirts, and beyond that, I want do apparel, I’m doing dresses, I want to get into doing kid’s pajamas. I feel like the EYEZ brand has that potential.

WHATS UP: What came next?

PEAT: As of a year and a half ago, I’ve been working full time for KSDK, an NBC affiliate, doing flash animation, flash design, and web design stuff, something completely different than art work.

We would also do stuff in cities for other NBC affiliates.

So while I’m doing this commercial work for Channel Five, I decide to go down to Art Basel Miami. It’s like four days of insane art. It’s like the Detroit Auto Show, in a big convention center. Collectors from all over the world with million dollar paintings like Dalis, original Basquiats…it’d be like Art-a-Pallooza.

About five years ago a bunch of street artists went down, about fifteen-twenty guys, some really big names, and we went down there and started painting these walls. Five years later now, it is like Art-i Gras, it’s like Shepard Fairey going down there, transforming this total ghetto neighborhood into the most amazing place on Earth.

WHATS UP: You don’t have to answer this, but if you do answer it, answer any way you want. Have you ever seen Banksy?

PEAT: Uh…uh…I know what Banksy looks like. I’ll just say that.

WHATS UP: Have you done any art involving the homeless?

PEAT: You know, I did, I did a couple of photos based on some homeless guys, but I when I finished, they didn’t look homeless anymore. volume 11:2 whatsupstl.com

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WHATS UP: You are definitely one of the people who put St. Louis on the map through art.

PEAT: And every time I travel, people ask where I am from, and I always tell them I’m from S-T-L, 314, baby. And they ask, “What’s that like?” and I say, “It’s an amazing place. This place has some of the realest folks, and some of the most idiotic folks you’ll ever meet.” I try to latch on to the people who are doing stuff, people who are cool, positive, and the folks who are trying to change St. Louis for the better. There’s a lot of cool stuff happening in St. Louis. And if you’re willing to put in the time in this city to do what you really believe in, you can really...make it happen.

WHATS UP: Thank you very much for this interview, Peat.

PEAT: It was really good to sit down and chat with you, Vladimir.

Whats Up Magazine is a member of The North American Street Newspaper Association. NASNA exists to support and build effective, self-sustaining street newspapers that promote power and opportunity for people living in poverty.

NASNA works closely with the International Network of Street Newspapers, which represents street papers in other parts of the globe. As a sister organization to the INSP, NASNA works to build and promote the street newspaper movement in North America.The mission of the North American Street Newspaper Association is to support a street newspaper movement that creates and upholds journalistic and ethical standards while promoting self-help and empowerment among people living in poverty.

vladimir noskov is the new editor of whats up magazine and a long time activist working on social issues. he is a lover a reggae and a proud citizen of st. louis.

Our organization has no paid staff and your support helps us continue our vendor and education programs. Donate Online!

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WHATS UP MAGAZINE is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization

WHATS UP MAGAZINE / The Homeless Empowerment Project 906 Olive Street, Suite PH9 St. Louis, MO 63101 314-241-7744 or www.whatsupstl.com 26 whatsupstl.com volume 11:2

How to build an inflatable shelter that attaches to the exhaust vent of a building’s heating system, thereby creating warmth and space in winter. Designed by Michael Rakowitz.

Materials: 20 garbage bags (1 with drawstring), roll of duct tape or weather-proof packing tape, plastic tarp, thin gage electrical wire, scissors.

Cut the tops and bottoms off ten garbage bags so that they’re straight and open on both ends.

(In the images, these bags are white.) Arrange in two rows of five each, cut end to cut end, and tape across. Do this bag after bag, creating two long plastic tubes. Be sure to tape both sides.

Cut six more bags in the same fashion and make three two-bag tubes. (In the images, these bags are gray.)

Tape the sides of these tubes to one another to form a grid. Lay the grid between the two white tubes.

Cut the inside edges of the white tubes from top to bottom. Tape the newly cut edges of the white tubes to the open edges of the grid. Also tape closed one edge of each white tube.

continued on back cover... volume 11:2 whatsupstl.com

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Make the extension tube by again cutting off the bottoms of garbage bags and taping the open ends together. More bags means a lengthier tube. Attach to the open end of one of the white tubes. Tape shut the open end of the other white tube.

Use a drawstring garbage bag to create the vent attachment. Most bags have two places to pull the string out; cut two more. At each of these four points loop hooks made from foot-long pieces of thin gage wire.

Unfold the plastic drop cloth and mark the desired floor space for the shelter. Cut accordingly.

Tape the edges, lengthwise, to the white tubes. Turn the shelter over and it is ready to be inflated.

Check the seams for leaks. Any and all holes can be repaired with tape. If more privacy is desired, doors can be added using breathable fabric. The shelter will be warm enough regardless, and the double-membrane structure guards against contact with re-circulated air.

To use, find a suitable exterior heating vent and attach shelter using hooks.

These instructions for paraSITE are designed by artist Michael Rakowitz and are part of the exhibition Camp Out: Finding Home in an Unstable World, on view from June 2 to September 16, 2012 at Laumeier Sculpture Park. For more information on this exhibition and other programs, please visit: www.laumeier.org 28 whatsupstl.com volume 11:2

continued from inside back cover...