@Walker and other CU folk : actually, lemme try consolidating into one comment post what various folk say. It's too late to do that w/ the 3 vox pops already posted--sorry. Don't want anyone to name a computer virus after me!
Sharon at Broad and High 7-12-11
"I things I care about are public education in Columbus and in the United States and gun control. I'm very concerned about the amount of guns that are on the streets and in the hands of children who, of course, don't know what to do with them...We're wiping out an entire generation of young guys w/ these guns on the street."
"It seems like every day I read the newspaper and there's another report of teenagers or very young people who had their entire lives ahead of them (being) the victim of drive-by shootings or revenge shootings of some kind. You read about people who are in their homes, in their beds, or just relaxing and minding their own business, and they're shot--- thru a wall or thru a window."
Sharon said she thinks this will get worse before it gets better.
"There is no powerful force opposing gun ownership, but there is a very powerful force supporting it."
She's currently not working w/ other people in her community on this issue but she has done it.
"Somewhere in my heart I've probably given up on it because I've been fighting about 40 yrs. But it's something I should really explore. I should be very active about it."
audio from wcrs
Eva at Broad and High 7-12-11 ( She's another person who wouldn't give her last name. You think it might be me being too creepy or maybe just too lazy to try harder for her last name ? )
"Educating our children (is what's important). It's the jumping off point for how they do the rest of their lives. W/o that education, you just can't get anywhere anymore. You're not able to get a decent job which means you can't get a decent home, can't raise a family. It all starts w/ education and not just for the purpose of getting a job, but to know more about the world around you."
Eva works at OSU and has friends who have worked in elementary, middle, and high schools. She said she opposes the funding cuts to education.
"There's got to be some place else they can cut."
audio at wcrs
Michael Edmiston at Broad and High 7-12-11
"The work I'm out here doing today is environmental work. That's what I care about...I think most people don't realize we're a part of the rest of the world. I think that people think they're separate from everything else--from other people, from the universe, from the trees and the animals---when in fact we're all connected. The things we do to the other residents of the Earth affect us and the people we care about."
Edmiston was at Broad and High collecting signatures to pressure American Electric Power to comply w/ the Clean Air Act.
"They're trying to extend the deadline by which they have to reduce their emissions. At the moment, it's 2015. They're trying to extend it all the way to 2020. But there's no guarantee that when we get to 2020 they won't just try to extend it another 5 years."
Edmiston said Progress Ohio is running the petition drive w/ funding from the Environmental Defense Fund.
He said even though the EDF is large, it doesn't have nearly as much money as AEP.
audio at wcrs
Gerald James at Broad and High 7-12-11
Gerald James said his health benefits thru the Veteran's Administration is what's important to him.
"I'm having a few problems, but some of them have been resolved."
James said he's been in Columbus about a month and a half.
"I'm OK w/ it. But Dayton was much better...because they (people w/ the VA) cared about me more. Columbus is supposed to be the capital, but they are a bunch of you-know-whats. But I'm dealing w/ it. I'm alright."
He said he was staying at a Volunteers of America shelter here in Columbus but got kicked out for getting drunk the other night. When asked where he planned to sleep that night he said, " I have no idea, but I'll be alright."
He said he gets his meals from soup chickens and shelters and from "different places around town."
For a moment James turned his head to look at a child who was kicking her legs and singing as the adult w/ her waited for a bus.
" I have a daughter. She's 10, in Battle Creek, Michigan."
He said he loves this nation but thinks it's "going to hell." Perhaps it's my own limited comprehension, but I couldn't get much from his explanation about why our nation is heading in the wrong direction. You can try listening to the short audio file if you're interested.
James said he gets along w/ everyone he encounters on the streets, including the police. He agreed w/ me that good relationships are what make life worth living, and that it makes sense to try to find common-ground instead of focusing on things that can divide us.
"I don't give a woof woof if you're Black or White. You're my people. So I care about you...You're just like me. I'm human and you're human."
This got even more interesting when he extended his sentiments beyond humans.
"Birds live and breathe, don't they ? So, why would I have a problem with birds? Why would I have problems w/ any animals--- anybody, anything ? I don't have any problems. I care. My heart is big as hell. My heart is what keeps me alive...I love everybody. I even love the damn insects, but I kill them because they beat me up."
I wasn't trying to preach to him about animal rights, but we were having a genuine conversation that seemed to naturally lead to me asking if he ate meat and dairy.
"I do and that's a problem...because it comes from animals. But I can't help it. I'm just human." He agreed that getting his meals from shelters and soup chickens leaves him with having less power to choose what he eats than someone such as me has.
audio at wcrs
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