by: Carolyn K. Huynh
SEATTLE, WA – Drew Barrymore may have hyped up roller-derby with her directorial debut, ‘Whip It’ – which came out on Oct. 2 – however, the Northwest calls dibs on cultivating their very own all-girl roller-derby scene first.
They call themselves Rat City Rollergirls – RCRG for short. Founded in 2004, RCRG’s ‘official’ headquarters is located just south of Seattle, in an area known as White Center – which is also nicknamed ‘Rat City’. There are several theories as to how it got its nickname. Some attribute it to the rat problem that once invaded the city – or to the old military relocation and training (RAT) center during WWII.
Rat City Rollergirls consists of 100 member-owners – who are divided among four teams: the Derby Liberation Front, Grave Danger, Sockit Wenches, and the Throttle Rockets. The fifth team, called the All-Stars, represents RCRG in regional and national play. According to RCRG’s official website, RCRG’s resume consists of being ‘the first flat-track, all-female roller derby league in Seattle and the Northwest’. RCRG, LLC was not available for comment.
Roller derby is more than just a roughhousing contact sport – it is actually more intense. According to doubleex.com, "Roller derby is like an alternative-universe version of corporate American sports. It operates on something like the values of a commune—players really do play for love, and the good of the sport really does come first. At less than a decade old, derby has created a full-blooded internal world—and has done so without corporate cash, deep-pocketed owners, or even a shred of attention from mainstream sports media."
The politics of underground roller derby is simple - it's for the players by the players. Everyone is their own boss – but as a collective unit. It’s for love of the game. And yes, it doesn’t hurt that there are bunch of hot girls with tattoos skating around, hurling themselves at each other.
It can also be looked at as a new kind of female empowerment movement.
“When I first moved to Seattle, I experienced what you guys call the ‘Seattle Freeze’,” said, a frequent volunteer for RCRG, Maura Nickums. “Then I decided to join RCRG, and I have to say – if you want to make life-time friends, join a roller-derby team.”
Not only does RCRG parallel Barrymore’s movie in terms of the undeniably strong female friendships that are formed, but it’s just a heck of a lot more fun. Instead of watching the great sport of roller-derby in a movie theater, go check out RCRG at their next game on Oct. 11 against White Bout II at Key Arena.
The Rat City Roller Girls:
Drew Barrymore, Ellen Page - 'Whip It' trailer:
Check out the Rat City Roller Girl's official website.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Sunday, October 4, 2009
The Little Shop that Could
By: Carolyn K. Huynh
SEATTLE, WA – Growing up in Garden Grove, CA during the 80s’, Huan Vu witnessed the first of what would later become a trilogy of economic recessions in his life.
After recently migrating from Vietnam with his family, he saw his parents scrimp and scrap for pennies and their ideals about the American Dream slowly sour. From 82’ to 87’, he saw all the major department stores begin to shut down and optimism turn into pessimism. The first company that he witnessed to fall was Imagnin, a clothing line – which would later ironically be a coveted label that would Vu would scour for his shop.
When Vu was in his early 20s’, he opened his first shop in Portland, Ore., that’s when the second recession hit. The 9/11 aftermath left him no choice but to close up shop and gamble his next move in Seattle.
For eight years, the little independent vintage shop, VU has been squeezed between Wall of Sound Records and Bauhaus Coffee and Books on Pine St. With its constantly changing bright and quirky window displays filled with shop owner, Huan Vu’s own reconstructed vintage designs – it catches many curious eyes as passerbys pause and stare.
The shop – barely bigger than a studio apartment on Capitol Hill – carries with it an eclectic range of merchandise from Vu’s own in-house design pieces to vintage couture pieces and all the way to obscure jewelry designs from China and Germany.
Within the past year, Huan Vu has been hit with his third economic recession. This time though, he isn’t fresh out of college with a business degree in his pocket. He’s a little bit older and has replaced his BA with a fistful of real-life experiences. With graying hair and looking sharp in a v-neck vintage sweater paired with brown slacks, Vu, now 37 is ready to face this recession head on.
Because this time he thinks he’s going to survive.
For Vu, survival means not having to put up a huge sign on his store window that says: STORE CLOSING, EVERYTHING MUST GO.
“This is real, this recession is very much real,” says Vu. “We are 30-40% behind than where we were last year. Last year has been one of the best years this store has ever done.”
Capitol Hill is a neighborhood that mostly comprises of apartment buildings and independent shops. Home to such famous streets such as Broadway, Pike, and Pine; the Hill has been going through an evident rough patch as the current economic crisis brings small business owners closer and closer to bankruptcy.
However, according to real estate agent, Linda Casse, while small businesses are worried – the market right now is hot. The Hill is no stranger to homeowners. Condo and interests prices are lower than ever. Mortgage rates has gone down significantly. And residents are fully aware of this. In fact, the prices of homes being sold on the Hill are 5.2 percent higher than last April.
“Capitol Hill is having a tough time however, compared to other area’s Cap Hill is seeing more transactions. It is still a very desirable area. Some people could not afford to live here before, and in this market buyers suddenly or should we say finally, find a house or condo in their price range on Cap Hill that they would not have found, two years ago,” says Mrs. Casse. “This is a good time for small business though it may not seem like it. Same for homeowners on Capitol Hill – they should hold on to their property and wait until the market kicks back up. In my opinion, they should also consider buying other property. Strike while the iron is hot.”
Owning and running your own business on one of the busiest streets in Seattle can be considered almost suicidal during these times. Especially when the only means of survival is relying solely on the residents of Capitol Hill as the only source of incoming revenue.
“In this current time, the saying ‘the customer is always right’ is out the window,” says Vu. “It has now become, ‘the customer is my Alpha and Omega; they are my ruler and King’. Without customers, the recession isn’t going to get any better. We need customers.”
Fortunately for VU, the store lives on the Hill. Known for being environmentally conscious, residents of Capitol Hill tend to shop second-hand. But the cons of shopping at VU will leave a black mark on your wallet. Though it may be a vintage shop, it is certainly no Value Village. The clothes are most often hard to find designer pieces and are scoured from all over the nation and the jewelry is handpicked from Vu’s travels to Asia and Europe.
But what about the customers that actually do their shopping at Value Village and Life-Long? Or, what about the people that have joined the simple-living movement and choose to consciously not spend any money on unnecessary items?
“Personally, I think it’s great if people are being thrifty and only buying used,” said Vu. “But mentally, it’s not realistic. People are only doing it for the short-term period to help ease temporary problems. Is it hurting us? Yes, to be frank, it is. But that can’t be helped. I have had to extend our sales and discounts from the usual twice a year up to almost one every month.”
With only two employees running the store, there is no such thing as individualism. The VU employees are all in it together. Instead of letting go of all the employees or cutting their wages to minimum wage to make significant cutbacks – they all find different ways to help lower the costs. For example, dry-cleaners don’t exist in their world. Vu’s washer and dryer in his apartment building works perfectly fine.
“We know the store is in trouble and it is up to us to make sure we don’t close,” says Aubrey Jackson, 20 an employee who has been working there for 8 months. “The store should be making around $5,500 a month, but that’s a very low number. We really should be making around $7,000 a month. For the past few months, we’ve only been able to make around $2,500 a month.”
During this economic downturn, the rate of unemployment on the Hill has also been one of the plethora of reasons affecting local business sales. People walk up and down Pine St. with a stack of resumes and drop them off at almost every business on the sidewalk. About 2-3 people walk in and drop off resumes a week at VU – in fact, it’s not a regular week without people coming in and dropping off resumes or inquiring about available positions.
“I had a girl who just graduated Brown University last year come in asking if there were any openings available at VU,” said Kevin Walker, 17, another VU employee. “I just couldn’t believe it. What’s a girl with an ivy-league degree wanting a job in retail for minimum wage for? Is it really that bad out there?”
It’s a little bit more than scary. Galactic Boutique, another Pine St. popular haunt and only a few doors down from VU, closed its doors after a 3-year run only a few months ago from lack of sales. According to the shop owner’s blog, Karl Fjellstrom, “I remember our first sale was a postcard for 2.95. So small yet so huge… It has taken quite a while to get back on my feet. You’d think that opening and setting up the store was hard work. But tying up all the loose ends was just as if not more stressful. It was so worth it though.”
For Edie’s Shoes (also another independent Pine St. business), the figures are rivaling Vu’s – if not, more or less than his current incoming revenue.
“We’re supposed to make $700 a day,” says Faith Hale, 21 a long-time employee for Edie’s. “I’m going to let you in on a not-so-secret-secret: we’re not doing so hot. So far, we’ve been making $200 a day. And that’s if we’re lucky. We aren’t breaking even and it’s getting costly to even turn on the lights in the store.”
So why even gamble? Why take the risk?
“It’s business. With or without the recession – business is always a gamble. You do it for the chance of making a small impact in your community,” says Vu. “Fortunately for me, my neighborhood [Capitol Hill] was more than welcoming during my first few years when I first opened up shop in Seattle. I trust that they will still show up on my door mat until the end – whenever that may be.”
Vu’s regulars have so far proven their loyalties. One loyal customer, local Capitol Hill resident, art performer and yoga instructor for 8 Limbs Yoga, Lady Krishna, has been shopping at Vu since the beginning.
“I love VU. It’s not about the prices, it’s all about supporting your local independent stores,” says Lady Krishna. “It was the greedy CEOs and evil corporations that made this recession a reality. I love living on Capitol Hill because the people here support local small-time businesses. Hell, we drove out Taco Bell, Jack in the Box and just recently KFC. We know who we want setting up shop here and who we don’t want.”
And it seems that Capitol Hill has done just that.
The Capitol Hill Community Council just recently rallied together in the past few months to pull together and help out struggling businesses – in the most fashionable way imaginable. Local businesses unveiled the “Capitol Hill Discount Dollar” on April 1st in an attempt to stamp out the economic slump from the Hill.
The fake monopoly-esque money features famous Seattle icons as opposed to faces of presidents and can either be taken for 10% off or at face value of a dollar at certain businesses. The “Capitol Hill Discount Dollar” is available on the Capitol Hill Council’s website or at Perfect Copy and Print on Broadway.
According to an article blurb that the P.I. did on the “Discount Dollar”, owner of Hollywood, Jennifer Straight said, “Bring the businesses out. Spend your money locally. Keep'em around. They've been here for years and they deserve every cent of our support.”
Right now the list of businesses that have the coupon taped to their window are a decent amount, but the list continues to expand as more and more businesses join together to create get the residents of Capitol Hill to buy locally and help support them.
Dickens once wrote “It was the best of times, It was the worst of times…” as his opening line for his magnum opus A Tale of Two cities. For someone who has lived through three different recessions, the dot-com boom, 9/11 – and just recently having to make personal sacrifices and switch from his 2-bedroom apartment with a view of Volunteer Park to a much less expensive 1-bedroom apartment with a view of Hillcrest Market – for Huan Vu, having seen his little shop begin in Portland and then survive for 8 years in Seattle this far has been something of a miracle.
Though it may not seem like it, this right now might actually just be the best of times for Vu.
“I was aware of the financial crisis when I was kid, and I’m more than aware of what’s going on now,” says Vu. “But you know what? Sometimes you just have to cross your fingers and hope for the best. Hey, third times the charm, right?”
To find out more on the Capitol Hill Discount Dollar go to: Capitol Hill Community Council
SEATTLE, WA – Growing up in Garden Grove, CA during the 80s’, Huan Vu witnessed the first of what would later become a trilogy of economic recessions in his life.
After recently migrating from Vietnam with his family, he saw his parents scrimp and scrap for pennies and their ideals about the American Dream slowly sour. From 82’ to 87’, he saw all the major department stores begin to shut down and optimism turn into pessimism. The first company that he witnessed to fall was Imagnin, a clothing line – which would later ironically be a coveted label that would Vu would scour for his shop.
When Vu was in his early 20s’, he opened his first shop in Portland, Ore., that’s when the second recession hit. The 9/11 aftermath left him no choice but to close up shop and gamble his next move in Seattle.
For eight years, the little independent vintage shop, VU has been squeezed between Wall of Sound Records and Bauhaus Coffee and Books on Pine St. With its constantly changing bright and quirky window displays filled with shop owner, Huan Vu’s own reconstructed vintage designs – it catches many curious eyes as passerbys pause and stare.
The shop – barely bigger than a studio apartment on Capitol Hill – carries with it an eclectic range of merchandise from Vu’s own in-house design pieces to vintage couture pieces and all the way to obscure jewelry designs from China and Germany.
Within the past year, Huan Vu has been hit with his third economic recession. This time though, he isn’t fresh out of college with a business degree in his pocket. He’s a little bit older and has replaced his BA with a fistful of real-life experiences. With graying hair and looking sharp in a v-neck vintage sweater paired with brown slacks, Vu, now 37 is ready to face this recession head on.
Because this time he thinks he’s going to survive.
For Vu, survival means not having to put up a huge sign on his store window that says: STORE CLOSING, EVERYTHING MUST GO.
“This is real, this recession is very much real,” says Vu. “We are 30-40% behind than where we were last year. Last year has been one of the best years this store has ever done.”
Capitol Hill is a neighborhood that mostly comprises of apartment buildings and independent shops. Home to such famous streets such as Broadway, Pike, and Pine; the Hill has been going through an evident rough patch as the current economic crisis brings small business owners closer and closer to bankruptcy.
However, according to real estate agent, Linda Casse, while small businesses are worried – the market right now is hot. The Hill is no stranger to homeowners. Condo and interests prices are lower than ever. Mortgage rates has gone down significantly. And residents are fully aware of this. In fact, the prices of homes being sold on the Hill are 5.2 percent higher than last April.
“Capitol Hill is having a tough time however, compared to other area’s Cap Hill is seeing more transactions. It is still a very desirable area. Some people could not afford to live here before, and in this market buyers suddenly or should we say finally, find a house or condo in their price range on Cap Hill that they would not have found, two years ago,” says Mrs. Casse. “This is a good time for small business though it may not seem like it. Same for homeowners on Capitol Hill – they should hold on to their property and wait until the market kicks back up. In my opinion, they should also consider buying other property. Strike while the iron is hot.”
Owning and running your own business on one of the busiest streets in Seattle can be considered almost suicidal during these times. Especially when the only means of survival is relying solely on the residents of Capitol Hill as the only source of incoming revenue.
“In this current time, the saying ‘the customer is always right’ is out the window,” says Vu. “It has now become, ‘the customer is my Alpha and Omega; they are my ruler and King’. Without customers, the recession isn’t going to get any better. We need customers.”
Fortunately for VU, the store lives on the Hill. Known for being environmentally conscious, residents of Capitol Hill tend to shop second-hand. But the cons of shopping at VU will leave a black mark on your wallet. Though it may be a vintage shop, it is certainly no Value Village. The clothes are most often hard to find designer pieces and are scoured from all over the nation and the jewelry is handpicked from Vu’s travels to Asia and Europe.
But what about the customers that actually do their shopping at Value Village and Life-Long? Or, what about the people that have joined the simple-living movement and choose to consciously not spend any money on unnecessary items?
“Personally, I think it’s great if people are being thrifty and only buying used,” said Vu. “But mentally, it’s not realistic. People are only doing it for the short-term period to help ease temporary problems. Is it hurting us? Yes, to be frank, it is. But that can’t be helped. I have had to extend our sales and discounts from the usual twice a year up to almost one every month.”
With only two employees running the store, there is no such thing as individualism. The VU employees are all in it together. Instead of letting go of all the employees or cutting their wages to minimum wage to make significant cutbacks – they all find different ways to help lower the costs. For example, dry-cleaners don’t exist in their world. Vu’s washer and dryer in his apartment building works perfectly fine.
“We know the store is in trouble and it is up to us to make sure we don’t close,” says Aubrey Jackson, 20 an employee who has been working there for 8 months. “The store should be making around $5,500 a month, but that’s a very low number. We really should be making around $7,000 a month. For the past few months, we’ve only been able to make around $2,500 a month.”
During this economic downturn, the rate of unemployment on the Hill has also been one of the plethora of reasons affecting local business sales. People walk up and down Pine St. with a stack of resumes and drop them off at almost every business on the sidewalk. About 2-3 people walk in and drop off resumes a week at VU – in fact, it’s not a regular week without people coming in and dropping off resumes or inquiring about available positions.
“I had a girl who just graduated Brown University last year come in asking if there were any openings available at VU,” said Kevin Walker, 17, another VU employee. “I just couldn’t believe it. What’s a girl with an ivy-league degree wanting a job in retail for minimum wage for? Is it really that bad out there?”
It’s a little bit more than scary. Galactic Boutique, another Pine St. popular haunt and only a few doors down from VU, closed its doors after a 3-year run only a few months ago from lack of sales. According to the shop owner’s blog, Karl Fjellstrom, “I remember our first sale was a postcard for 2.95. So small yet so huge… It has taken quite a while to get back on my feet. You’d think that opening and setting up the store was hard work. But tying up all the loose ends was just as if not more stressful. It was so worth it though.”
For Edie’s Shoes (also another independent Pine St. business), the figures are rivaling Vu’s – if not, more or less than his current incoming revenue.
“We’re supposed to make $700 a day,” says Faith Hale, 21 a long-time employee for Edie’s. “I’m going to let you in on a not-so-secret-secret: we’re not doing so hot. So far, we’ve been making $200 a day. And that’s if we’re lucky. We aren’t breaking even and it’s getting costly to even turn on the lights in the store.”
So why even gamble? Why take the risk?
“It’s business. With or without the recession – business is always a gamble. You do it for the chance of making a small impact in your community,” says Vu. “Fortunately for me, my neighborhood [Capitol Hill] was more than welcoming during my first few years when I first opened up shop in Seattle. I trust that they will still show up on my door mat until the end – whenever that may be.”
Vu’s regulars have so far proven their loyalties. One loyal customer, local Capitol Hill resident, art performer and yoga instructor for 8 Limbs Yoga, Lady Krishna, has been shopping at Vu since the beginning.
“I love VU. It’s not about the prices, it’s all about supporting your local independent stores,” says Lady Krishna. “It was the greedy CEOs and evil corporations that made this recession a reality. I love living on Capitol Hill because the people here support local small-time businesses. Hell, we drove out Taco Bell, Jack in the Box and just recently KFC. We know who we want setting up shop here and who we don’t want.”
And it seems that Capitol Hill has done just that.
The Capitol Hill Community Council just recently rallied together in the past few months to pull together and help out struggling businesses – in the most fashionable way imaginable. Local businesses unveiled the “Capitol Hill Discount Dollar” on April 1st in an attempt to stamp out the economic slump from the Hill.
The fake monopoly-esque money features famous Seattle icons as opposed to faces of presidents and can either be taken for 10% off or at face value of a dollar at certain businesses. The “Capitol Hill Discount Dollar” is available on the Capitol Hill Council’s website or at Perfect Copy and Print on Broadway.
According to an article blurb that the P.I. did on the “Discount Dollar”, owner of Hollywood, Jennifer Straight said, “Bring the businesses out. Spend your money locally. Keep'em around. They've been here for years and they deserve every cent of our support.”Right now the list of businesses that have the coupon taped to their window are a decent amount, but the list continues to expand as more and more businesses join together to create get the residents of Capitol Hill to buy locally and help support them.
Dickens once wrote “It was the best of times, It was the worst of times…” as his opening line for his magnum opus A Tale of Two cities. For someone who has lived through three different recessions, the dot-com boom, 9/11 – and just recently having to make personal sacrifices and switch from his 2-bedroom apartment with a view of Volunteer Park to a much less expensive 1-bedroom apartment with a view of Hillcrest Market – for Huan Vu, having seen his little shop begin in Portland and then survive for 8 years in Seattle this far has been something of a miracle.
Though it may not seem like it, this right now might actually just be the best of times for Vu.
“I was aware of the financial crisis when I was kid, and I’m more than aware of what’s going on now,” says Vu. “But you know what? Sometimes you just have to cross your fingers and hope for the best. Hey, third times the charm, right?”
To find out more on the Capitol Hill Discount Dollar go to: Capitol Hill Community Council
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Sin City
By: Carolyn K. Huynh
SEATTLE, WA - Every city has crime – it’s all part of the urban ladder. You start off with a studio apartment in a questionable neighborhood, you get promoted, so you upgrade to a trendy neighborhood, eventually you decide to settle in the city with a significant other, so you move into a nice area that’s rumored to be pretty ‘safe’ but is still considered a prime hub culture of city-living.
But you still know the truth. No matter how far you climb up the ladder, you can’t escape crime.
Capitol Hill has an image of being ‘pretty safe’ and it prides itself on being the cultural epicenter of Seattle. The Hill has a thriving population of urban families trying to raise their kids in what they believe would be a nice area to grow up in.
If you’re comparing the Hill to New York City’s East Village, we’re living in Bill Gate’s mansion.
Until you get your wake-up call.
Two-year resident of Capitol Hill, Cherlaine Ordona, 20, just recently became a victim of urban living. A few days ago, her car window was broken into and her iPod, iPod connector, some loose change, and a few CDs were stolen. The burglar unsuccessfully also tried to hotwire her car by taking apart her steering wheel and tooling around with the wires, unable to connect which red wire to whichever blue wire.
“I’m not afraid of walking alone at night, but I’ve certainly become more paranoid,” says Ordona. “I’ve heard that there has been a string of cars being broken into around my area, but I never thought I would be one of those people that drove around with their windows covered with trash bags because it has been broken into. I live on Spring St. for Chrissakes!”
Living in the second most densely populated neighborhood of Seattle, petty theft is pretty common. Some thefts are almost absurd. A few months ago in the parking lot at Piecora’s, a burglar smashed a car window and stole a puppy.
However, there are some crimes that are just unexplainable and out of our hands. Just this past weekend there was a shooting on Madison across the street from Chop Suey. Last year, a woman walked out of her home in broad daylight on 15th and was stabbed repeatedly in the chest by a madman.
According to the 2007-2008 City of Seattle’s crime statistic report, the number of reported crime incidents on Capitol Hill has significantly dropped by 40%. Why is this? Have the residents of Capitol Hill become jaded to crime of any kind?
“I think Capitol Hill is safe, but you should use your judgment and you shouldn’t take unnecessary risks,” says Aubrey Jackson, an employee at Vu Clothing on Pine St. “I was considering getting another job on the hill that required me closing up shop around midnight, but I went against it because I thought it would be unsafe.”
Crime is an essential part of urban living. There’s no escape and there are no pros to having it happen to you. The only thing you can do is help weed it out and strengthen the community. Revamp the Hill and make it safe for kids to grow up in and for puppies to stay in the car while their owners are eating pizza.
Here are some tips given by the Seattle Police Department on how to stay safe in the city and who you can contact to get involved:
Tips on being safe in the city:
1. Plan Ahead – travel in groups of two or more
2. Stay Aware – travel on streets with open businesses
3. Don’t Hesitate – call 911 immediately
4. Act Appropriately – use any defense you are comfortable with (i.e. screaming)
5. Report Incidents – if you are a victim, report it to the Seattle Police Department
DEPT. OF PLANNING and DEVELOPMENT 684-7899
COMMUNITY POLICING TEAM OFFICERS Chronic, ongoing problems 684-4370
SUSPECTED DRUG ACTIVITY Call Narcotics at 684-6797
SEATTLE, WA - Every city has crime – it’s all part of the urban ladder. You start off with a studio apartment in a questionable neighborhood, you get promoted, so you upgrade to a trendy neighborhood, eventually you decide to settle in the city with a significant other, so you move into a nice area that’s rumored to be pretty ‘safe’ but is still considered a prime hub culture of city-living.
But you still know the truth. No matter how far you climb up the ladder, you can’t escape crime.
Capitol Hill has an image of being ‘pretty safe’ and it prides itself on being the cultural epicenter of Seattle. The Hill has a thriving population of urban families trying to raise their kids in what they believe would be a nice area to grow up in.
If you’re comparing the Hill to New York City’s East Village, we’re living in Bill Gate’s mansion.
Until you get your wake-up call.
Two-year resident of Capitol Hill, Cherlaine Ordona, 20, just recently became a victim of urban living. A few days ago, her car window was broken into and her iPod, iPod connector, some loose change, and a few CDs were stolen. The burglar unsuccessfully also tried to hotwire her car by taking apart her steering wheel and tooling around with the wires, unable to connect which red wire to whichever blue wire.
“I’m not afraid of walking alone at night, but I’ve certainly become more paranoid,” says Ordona. “I’ve heard that there has been a string of cars being broken into around my area, but I never thought I would be one of those people that drove around with their windows covered with trash bags because it has been broken into. I live on Spring St. for Chrissakes!”
Living in the second most densely populated neighborhood of Seattle, petty theft is pretty common. Some thefts are almost absurd. A few months ago in the parking lot at Piecora’s, a burglar smashed a car window and stole a puppy.
However, there are some crimes that are just unexplainable and out of our hands. Just this past weekend there was a shooting on Madison across the street from Chop Suey. Last year, a woman walked out of her home in broad daylight on 15th and was stabbed repeatedly in the chest by a madman.
According to the 2007-2008 City of Seattle’s crime statistic report, the number of reported crime incidents on Capitol Hill has significantly dropped by 40%. Why is this? Have the residents of Capitol Hill become jaded to crime of any kind?
“I think Capitol Hill is safe, but you should use your judgment and you shouldn’t take unnecessary risks,” says Aubrey Jackson, an employee at Vu Clothing on Pine St. “I was considering getting another job on the hill that required me closing up shop around midnight, but I went against it because I thought it would be unsafe.”
Crime is an essential part of urban living. There’s no escape and there are no pros to having it happen to you. The only thing you can do is help weed it out and strengthen the community. Revamp the Hill and make it safe for kids to grow up in and for puppies to stay in the car while their owners are eating pizza.
Here are some tips given by the Seattle Police Department on how to stay safe in the city and who you can contact to get involved:
Tips on being safe in the city:
1. Plan Ahead – travel in groups of two or more
2. Stay Aware – travel on streets with open businesses
3. Don’t Hesitate – call 911 immediately
4. Act Appropriately – use any defense you are comfortable with (i.e. screaming)
5. Report Incidents – if you are a victim, report it to the Seattle Police Department
DEPT. OF PLANNING and DEVELOPMENT 684-7899
COMMUNITY POLICING TEAM OFFICERS Chronic, ongoing problems 684-4370
SUSPECTED DRUG ACTIVITY Call Narcotics at 684-6797
Thursday, March 5, 2009
For Nicaraguan children, the tooth fairy is the dentist.
by: Carolyn K. Huynh
SEATTLE, WA – Imagine growing up in an environment where over half the population has never seen a dentist in their life. What would happen to their teeth if they have never learned how to properly care for them? For the people of Nicaragua, this just happens to be the case when it comes to dental hygiene.
Nicaragua is a very young country. About 40% of Nicaraguans are under 15 years old. Generally the rule is you start caring for your teeth at a very young age so when you grow up – they are happy and healthy. But the question is, what if you just didn’t know how? Or have the means to?
For a country that has a low economic standing such as Nicaragua (which is one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere), something as simple as putting fluoride in the water seems like an easy fix to help prevention from tooth decay. In America, drinking fluoridated tap water saves you $38 from a trip to the dentist by just simply investing $1 for fluoride.
Currently, Nicaragua is not on the list of countries that have fluoridated water. Putting fluoride in tap water has been an international on-going debate for decades. Though fluoride helps teeth from decaying – it also causes fluorosis, which is a chronic condition that mottles the teeth from too much fluoride consumption. In 1997, the World Health Organization did a study on 233 communities in Nicaragua and found that 85% of children ages 6-15 had a mild diagonise of fluorosis.
However, for Nicaraguan children, having a mild case of fluorosis is the least of their dental problems. Periodontal disease and tooth decay are prevalent among people of all ages. In fact, it is common for most Nicaraguans to need several tooth extractions in one sitting. In the United States it is estimated that 20 million tooth extractions are pulled a year – mostly due for orthodontic procedures as opposed to just simply yanking them out because of tooth decay.
According to AMC (Acción Médica Cristiana), a survey was done on 570 children living in Matagalpa. Of those 570 children, 458 of them had cavities – that averages to about 4.5 cavities per child, and only one child out of the 570 children had ever seen a dentist. Unlike children in America who eagerly await the tooth fairy anytime a tooth falls out in exchange for money– Nicaraguan children are desperately in need of professional dental attention.
It seems unfair to ask a child to take better care of their teeth when there are roughly about 35 dentists scattered throughout the country. It also doesn’t help that in a world where poverty and hunger looms – children’s diets consist of sucking on sacks of sugar to temporary ease the hunger.
Instead of asking for money in exchange for teeth, thousands of Nicaraguans line up outside of clinics whenever missionaries come to help aid them with their oral problems. Some even walk for over two hours to visit dentists that come from overseas. There are also groups that come into the country to help and educate them on oral hygiene.
SEATTLE, WA – Imagine growing up in an environment where over half the population has never seen a dentist in their life. What would happen to their teeth if they have never learned how to properly care for them? For the people of Nicaragua, this just happens to be the case when it comes to dental hygiene.
Nicaragua is a very young country. About 40% of Nicaraguans are under 15 years old. Generally the rule is you start caring for your teeth at a very young age so when you grow up – they are happy and healthy. But the question is, what if you just didn’t know how? Or have the means to?
For a country that has a low economic standing such as Nicaragua (which is one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere), something as simple as putting fluoride in the water seems like an easy fix to help prevention from tooth decay. In America, drinking fluoridated tap water saves you $38 from a trip to the dentist by just simply investing $1 for fluoride.Currently, Nicaragua is not on the list of countries that have fluoridated water. Putting fluoride in tap water has been an international on-going debate for decades. Though fluoride helps teeth from decaying – it also causes fluorosis, which is a chronic condition that mottles the teeth from too much fluoride consumption. In 1997, the World Health Organization did a study on 233 communities in Nicaragua and found that 85% of children ages 6-15 had a mild diagonise of fluorosis.
However, for Nicaraguan children, having a mild case of fluorosis is the least of their dental problems. Periodontal disease and tooth decay are prevalent among people of all ages. In fact, it is common for most Nicaraguans to need several tooth extractions in one sitting. In the United States it is estimated that 20 million tooth extractions are pulled a year – mostly due for orthodontic procedures as opposed to just simply yanking them out because of tooth decay.
According to AMC (Acción Médica Cristiana), a survey was done on 570 children living in Matagalpa. Of those 570 children, 458 of them had cavities – that averages to about 4.5 cavities per child, and only one child out of the 570 children had ever seen a dentist. Unlike children in America who eagerly await the tooth fairy anytime a tooth falls out in exchange for money– Nicaraguan children are desperately in need of professional dental attention.
It seems unfair to ask a child to take better care of their teeth when there are roughly about 35 dentists scattered throughout the country. It also doesn’t help that in a world where poverty and hunger looms – children’s diets consist of sucking on sacks of sugar to temporary ease the hunger.Instead of asking for money in exchange for teeth, thousands of Nicaraguans line up outside of clinics whenever missionaries come to help aid them with their oral problems. Some even walk for over two hours to visit dentists that come from overseas. There are also groups that come into the country to help and educate them on oral hygiene.
A group of people called 'Team Nicaragua JMU' are dedicated to assisting and fixing problems Nicaragua. Here, they are teaching a lesson in Spanish at a children's school in Nicaragua on dental hygiene:
- To find out more how you can help prevent dental disease for Nicaraguan children, go to: World Health Organization
- To see what it is like for dentists to come in and set up temporary clinics, go to: NEVOSH
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Obama’s limo only had room for two
by Carolyn K. Huynh
SEATTLE, WA – Mr. President Obama took off in style after he got sworn in on January 20th to follow the parade route in D.C. to greet his fellow Americans. However, while the President was comfortable and warm in the backseat of his limo with Michelle, the rest of the estimated 1.8 million people in the crowd were forced to wander the streets aimlessly.
Minutes after Obama ended his speech, many people took off to avoid the crowds, get out of the bitter cold and to come back home to rest after a long day of standing. Little did the crowd know that earlier that day D.C. police along with the National Guard had shut down two main metro stations around the National Mall due to the massive crowds – they had little time to issue a warning of the sudden closure.
As people walked to the first station and realized it was closed, they proceeded onward to the next station – closed. Angry, cold, tired, hungry, crowds soon spilled out into the streets to walk to the next station to try their luck and see if it was open. Guards tried to keep the crowds mainly on the sidewalk but were unable to do so. I was present among the throng as well and had just flown into D.C. from Seattle the night before. Despite being exhausted, I had no choice but to walk as well.
For over two hours, the crowd was forced to walk from station to station until they could find some means of transportation to either take them home or out of the city. A couple that I was traveling with, Bill and Jessica, local residents of D.C., weren’t able to get to their apartment until hours later. “We live about 25 minutes away by taking the metro, but that 25 minute ride was stretched into two hours because they shut it down,” Bill said.
According to the A.D.C. Fire Department Release, there was a reported 500 calls to the fire department that day. They were mostly only to treat minor, non-life-threatening injuries.
The people that were the worst off were the elderly who had braved the cold and crowds to hear Obama speak. It wasn't until I read the New York Times the next morning to try and find out why the stations had closed was partially due to a 68-year-old woman that had fallen onto the tracks. She had fallen onto the tracks of the nearest metro next to the National Mall, which caused the immediate shutdown of the nearest stations - all of which were reopened several hours later. The woman is reported to be fine.
The D.C. metro system has six main stations scattered throughout the city. The three closest to the National Mall were shut down because of the woman- and the farthest station from the Mall as well as from the center of the city was the only station that was available or was rumored to be open during that day. We had no other option but to see if the rumors were true. Would we soon be on our merry way like the Obamas' as well?
It turned out that The Navy Yard - the 6th and last station stop in the metro line was available. The myth was real. Home was finally an option for everyone. No taxi had been brave enough to try to take anyone home - so our saving grace was The Navy Yard station. I had finally found a way out of D.C. and a way back to New York City and JFK.
Weary travelers were soon on their way back to their hotels/home/airport, etc. I caught a few people resting their eyes on the metro ride, thankful to rest their worn out feet - if only for a few mere minutes. I, too soon found myself basking in glee at having a somewhat comfy seat to sit on as well as the warm temperature from all the bodies inside the tram.
It certainly wasn't a limo, but after walking for more than two hours, on that 40 minute ride to Chinatown to catch the next bus to New York City, it sure felt like a million bucks.
SEATTLE, WA – Mr. President Obama took off in style after he got sworn in on January 20th to follow the parade route in D.C. to greet his fellow Americans. However, while the President was comfortable and warm in the backseat of his limo with Michelle, the rest of the estimated 1.8 million people in the crowd were forced to wander the streets aimlessly.
Minutes after Obama ended his speech, many people took off to avoid the crowds, get out of the bitter cold and to come back home to rest after a long day of standing. Little did the crowd know that earlier that day D.C. police along with the National Guard had shut down two main metro stations around the National Mall due to the massive crowds – they had little time to issue a warning of the sudden closure.
As people walked to the first station and realized it was closed, they proceeded onward to the next station – closed. Angry, cold, tired, hungry, crowds soon spilled out into the streets to walk to the next station to try their luck and see if it was open. Guards tried to keep the crowds mainly on the sidewalk but were unable to do so. I was present among the throng as well and had just flown into D.C. from Seattle the night before. Despite being exhausted, I had no choice but to walk as well.For over two hours, the crowd was forced to walk from station to station until they could find some means of transportation to either take them home or out of the city. A couple that I was traveling with, Bill and Jessica, local residents of D.C., weren’t able to get to their apartment until hours later. “We live about 25 minutes away by taking the metro, but that 25 minute ride was stretched into two hours because they shut it down,” Bill said.
According to the A.D.C. Fire Department Release, there was a reported 500 calls to the fire department that day. They were mostly only to treat minor, non-life-threatening injuries.
The people that were the worst off were the elderly who had braved the cold and crowds to hear Obama speak. It wasn't until I read the New York Times the next morning to try and find out why the stations had closed was partially due to a 68-year-old woman that had fallen onto the tracks. She had fallen onto the tracks of the nearest metro next to the National Mall, which caused the immediate shutdown of the nearest stations - all of which were reopened several hours later. The woman is reported to be fine.
The D.C. metro system has six main stations scattered throughout the city. The three closest to the National Mall were shut down because of the woman- and the farthest station from the Mall as well as from the center of the city was the only station that was available or was rumored to be open during that day. We had no other option but to see if the rumors were true. Would we soon be on our merry way like the Obamas' as well?
It turned out that The Navy Yard - the 6th and last station stop in the metro line was available. The myth was real. Home was finally an option for everyone. No taxi had been brave enough to try to take anyone home - so our saving grace was The Navy Yard station. I had finally found a way out of D.C. and a way back to New York City and JFK.Weary travelers were soon on their way back to their hotels/home/airport, etc. I caught a few people resting their eyes on the metro ride, thankful to rest their worn out feet - if only for a few mere minutes. I, too soon found myself basking in glee at having a somewhat comfy seat to sit on as well as the warm temperature from all the bodies inside the tram.
It certainly wasn't a limo, but after walking for more than two hours, on that 40 minute ride to Chinatown to catch the next bus to New York City, it sure felt like a million bucks.
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