Sharks: Beautiful and Necessary CIRCLE Informs Civic Engagement the Death Penalty: Making It Fair and Just Philadelphia Evaluated Notes from the President

VOLUME 10 / NUMBER 1 / SPRING 2007 TrustThe Pew Charitable Trusts

Sharks: Beautiful and Necessary CIRCLE Informs Civic Engagement The Death Penalty: Making it Fair and Just Philadelphia Evaluated Notes from the President

Studies supported by Pew and others ing states to reform their death-penalty have identified the challenges con- systems. The project now works to fronting ocean management and the ensure that all states apply the new conservation measures needed to law, and it is promoting reform specifi- rebuild depleted fish stocks. This cally in Illinois, Georgia, Tennessee Dominoes knowledge led us, with our partners, and Texas, where new policies may to launch the Shark Alliance, based in have a bellwether effect on the other Amsterdam and representing a coali- 34 states with the death penalty. omino toppling is an inter- tion of 30 organizations working to Desting activity. Players line generate public support and overcome omino toppling reportedly up their “bones,” or tiles, then push the perception that sharks, as fearsome started in college dorm the first and watch the others pro- creatures, are not worth preserving. rooms, so it may be only ceed in sequence, unless a glitch, The alliance also advocates for the appropriate that its effect like a misalignment, stops the action. closing of loopholes in shark-finning Dcan be seen in encouraging young The “domino effect,” of course, has regulations in the European Union and people to become civically engaged. become a part of our language: a series seeks to secure responsible, science- Until recently, the percentage of young of successive events, each irreversibly based fishing limits for both the sus- voters was decreasing. But research causing the next. It is an apt analogy tainability of sharks and the health of explored the incentives that motivate for Pew’s work, which we organize not the ecosystem. Initial support from young people to participate and ex- only sequentially but also consequen- several countries—for example, Bel- plained how to implement the find- tially: later stages are determined by gium, Germany and the United King- ings. This work was carried out by the previous results. Through research, dom—may attract other countries. the Center for Information and Re- we identify a problem of wide public And success in Europe will help search on Civic Learning and Engage- concern, define a niche by which we strengthen a broader resolve to pro- ment (CIRCLE), based at the Univer- can address it, produce unbiased, data- tect sharks and thus the biological sity of Maryland and supported by the based information, apply this knowl- integrity of entire marine ecosystems. Carnegie Corporation and Pew. edge to potential solutions, assess public CIRCLE disseminates the research opinion and then promote policy change ata were also the starting results—for instance, that young Ameri- where the facts are clear and com- point for Pew’s work on cans will often turn out to vote if con- pelling. Furthermore, collaborations reforming the death penalty tacted in a personalized or other with others can make this pattern of system so that it is admin- interactive way—and it offers con- events occur more rapidly and decisively. Distered in a just manner. Research structive advice to organizations that Pew’s work to stop the wasteful and revealed the need for three key reforms: reach young voters. The dominoes are brutal practice of shark-finning—the access to DNA testing, adequate legal now falling in a positive direction: at-sea removal of shark fins and the representation, and procedural safe- More young people are voting, others discard of live sharks or carcasses— guards such as trustworthy eyewitness are getting the word that it’s “cool” to began with data showing that over- identification—all goals of the Death participate, and politicians are taking fishing imperiled the world’s fisheries. Penalty Reform Initiative, supported this constituency more seriously. Studies on sharks find up to 73 million by Pew and our donor partners. Like a successful tumble of domi- killed annually—an unsustainable Importantly, the project takes no noes, reaching solutions to challenging level for nearly all species. stand on the death penalty itself. social issues requires the thoughtful Importantly, sharks are the first tile in Instead, it alerts the public and policy alignment of building blocks. At Pew, their own domain. They top the ocean makers to a view shared by both our investments are designed to serve food chain, and the sharply reduced supporters and opponents of capital the public interest. With that goal in abundance of these animals disrupts punishment—that innocent people sight, we develop fact-based strategies, everything below. The result has been should never be sentenced to death leverage public participation and build “a cascade of unexpected effects,” as or executed, and society is best served momentum for bold action—a process The Washington Post described it when when the actual perpetrators are in more complex than a string of domi- reporting that an increase of rays custody and trials are fair and accurate. noes but experienced-tested and a and skates, normally kept in check The initiative created a climate that powerful tool for change. by sharks, caused such devastation led to the bipartisan Justice for All Act, of the North Carolina scallop fishery federal legislation (which includes the Rebecca W. Rimel that it closed in 2004. Innocence Protection Act) encourag- President and CEO Trust / Spring 2007 1 Trust The Pew Charitable Trusts VOLUME 10 NUMBER 1 SPRING 2007

Saving Jaws 2 Sharks are at the top of the marine food Trust pyramid. Were they to disappear, the havoc to ocean ecosystems would be Published three times a year by catastrophic. The Pew Charitable Trusts © 2006 The Pew Charitable Trusts CIRCLE of Facts and Figures ISSN: 1540-4587 10 CIRCLE is a research organization with The Board of a determinedly practical bent—to foster The Pew Charitable Trusts civic engagement in young people. Robert H. Campbell Susan W. Catherwood Gloria Twine Chisum Alan J. Davis No Room for Mistakes J. Howard Pew II 14 J.N. Pew IV, M.D. Fair and just trials, strong and accurate convictions. That’s the aim of a Pew- Mary Catharine Pew, M.D. supported project on the death penalty R. Anderson Pew system. Sandy Ford Pew Rebecca W. Rimel Robert G. Williams Ethel Benson Wister The Philly Factor A new report: Philadelphia has “real 21 President and CEO believers and sources of initiative” — Rebecca W. Rimel much better than a 1999 study that said the city “settles for being just okay.” Managing Director of Public Affairs Deborah L. Hayes

Editor Departments The Pew Charitable Trusts serves the public Marshall A. Ledger interest by providing information, advanc- NOTES FROM THE PRESIDENT Inside ing policy solutions and supporting civic Senior Writer front life. Based in Philadelphia, with an office Cascades. cover in Washington, D.C., the Trusts will invest Sandra Salmans $248 million in fiscal year 2007 to provide organizations and citizens with fact-based Editorial Assistants research and practical solutions for chal- Colleen A. Miller LESSONS LEARNED lenging issues. Renee S. Wagoner Electionline.org The Trusts, an independent nonprofit, is 25 the sole beneficiary of seven individual charitable funds established between 1948 One Commerce Square and 1979 by two sons and two daughters of 2005 Market Street, Ste. 1700 RECENT GRANTS AND Sun Oil Company founder Joseph N. Pew Philadelphia, PA 19103-7077 ALLOCATIONS and his wife, Mary Anderson Pew. Phone 215.575.9050 27 The official registration and financial information of The Pew Charitable Trusts may be obtained from the Pennsylvania On the Internet: Department of State by calling toll-free, www.pewtrusts.org BRIEFINGS within Pennsylvania, 1.800.732.0999. Annual media trends by the Project for32 Registration does not imply endorsement. Design/Art Direction Excellence in Journalism, the Franklin Court museum, the Pew Internet & Lewis & Nobel Design American Life Project examines blogs, the pinhole camera makes a comeback in the exhibition Taken With Time, an Cover art: Nature takes its course off the opinion about the Pew Research Center, New England coast. Photographer Aging Gracefully with a financially secure Brian J. Skerry found this blue retirement, fan mail for SoundAboutPhilly, shark with a parasitic copepod Eakins’s The Gross Clinic. attached to its dorsal fin. 2 Trust / Spring 2007

harks are not obviously charismatic, but the oceans surely need these mysterious—and intelligent—creatures.

Thirty years ago, Jaws terrorized cinema-goers

around the world on its way to becoming the first true

blockbuster action film. An entire generation learned to fear “man-eating” sharks, and there are plenty of people out A V I N S there who can’t swim in the ocean without S G J A W hearing the film’s famous daa-dum soundtrack playing

in their head, the tempo quickening as the hungry preda-

tor approaches.

In actuality, however, people have never been the

prey of sharks, as was so erroneously depicted in the

movie. Indeed, the reverse is true. An estimated 27

to 73 million sharks a year are killed by fishermen Trust / Spring 2007 3 J e r e m y

S t a f f o r d - D e i t s c h

V S A I N G J A W S D ODAR BY COLIN WO

A great white shark, as Jaws viewers may remember. The species, like many others, needs protection. One of the movie’s most enduring and destructive legacies is the notion that sharks pose a significant threat to people—a bias that Jaws author Peter Benchley lamented having helped solidify until the day he died. 4 Trust / Spring 2007 a l a S

c i r n E

predominantly for their fins, according to an analysis co-authored by leading shark-trade expert Shelley Clarke, Ph.D., of the University of Hawaii, and Ellen K. Pikitch, Ph.D., director of the University of Miami’s Pew Institute for Ocean Science. Millions more are killed for meat, sport or as bycatch, when they cross paths with fishing gear intended to snare other species. The result has been the collapse of many of the world’s shark populations, with several species now in danger of extinction and troubling implications for the ecological stability of the oceans. Once a key predator of the Gulf of Mexico and the U.S. South Atlantic, smalltooth sawfish have declined by 99 percent, due primarily to incidental catch. The population has been listed by the U.S. Endangered Species Program and likely needs a century to recover. Female spiny dogfish, a diminutive shark species so common it was regarded as a nuisance by North Atlantic fishermen as recently as the early 1990s, are now so depleted that the population has produced record- low numbers of pups for nearly a decade, fished to oblivion to supply British fish-and-chip shops and German beer gardens. Even the great white shark—the dreaded star of Jaws—has been added to the World Conserva- tion Union’s Red List of Threatened A ship’s deck shows the bounty after shark-finning. Species. “We don’t use the term decimated

because that means ‘reduced by one n o i t tenth,’” says Ali Hood, director of c e l l o

conservation for the Shark Trust in C

e g

Plymouth, England. With pointed a m I

irony, she notes, “If sharks had merely i h p a

been ‘decimated,’ we would be much r g o

happier.” e G

l a n o i t

harks are fish, but have a a N

reproductive profile similar y r r e to that of large mammals: k S

n a They grow slowly, mature late i r Sand produce few young over their B

A tiger shark finds a conch shell on sea grass and is about to eat it as well as the mollusk that lives inside. Trust / Spring 2007 5

relatively long lives. Spiny dogfish relaxed, demand for shark has in- carry their pups—between two and 15, creased dramatically. Shark fins can depending on the size of the mother— now sell for more than $300 a pound, for nearly two years. Atlantic dusky and a single fin from the particularly sharks do not mature until after the favored Atlantic basking shark once age of 20, and both basking sharks fetched $10,000. In 2002, researcher and dogfish are thought to live for Shelley Clarke estimated the global 50 years or more. shark fin trade to be increasing by 5 “These characteristics make sharks percent a year. especially susceptible to overfishing, With few tuna and cod left to catch and once their populations are de- in many regions, fishermen have been pleted, it can take decades or even targeting sharks instead. With all the centuries for them to recover,” says value concentrated in the fins and Sonja Fordham, the Brussels-based limited space aboard their vessels, policy director of the Pew-led Shark there’s considerable incentive to slice Alliance, which is in the midst of a off the sharks’ fins and throw the rest campaign to reform the European of the carcass overboard, in some Union’s shark-fishing policies. Dusky cases while the animal is still alive. sharks off the east coast of the United This wasteful and cruel practice, States will take 100 to 400 years to called finning, is still perfectly legal recover, she notes, despite a decade- in much of the world. Even where it old fishing ban. is regulated, there are often loop- Paradoxically, shark fishing is grow- holes that allow fishermen to fin two ing even as the animals themselves or three sharks for every body they are becoming rare. Twenty years take back to port. ago, sharks were generally targeted “Most nations don’t have any shark only by “big game” sport fishermen, management plans for their own coastal whose numbers grew substantially waters, let alone the high seas,” says after the release of Jaws. Commercial J. Charles Fox, a senior officer in Pew’s fishermen usually caught them inci- Environment program specializing in dentally while fishing for tuna, sword- the protection of living marine re- J o

h fish and other more valuable species. sources. “You can count the ones that n

N i

g The meat of most sharks has a high do on one hand.” h t i n urea content and needs careful pro- Wiping out sharks can have nega- g a l e cessing to remain fresh. Even when tive consequences for the broader fresh, it was generally worth only community of marine life, with poten- pennies a pound. tially devastating consequences for Shark fins, however, are worth a important commercial species. In great deal. Dried fins have a ready March, the journal Science published market in Hong Kong and mainland the results of a study by a team led China for use in the preparation of by the late Ransom A. Myers, Ph.D., shark fin soup, an ancient delicacy of Dalhousie University that ties the that retails for as much as $120 a bowl. collapse of the century-old North The fins, nearly tasteless themselves, Carolina bay scallop fishery to the provide what is said to be a gelatinous decline of large sharks off the U.S. texture to the soup, allegedly improve Atlantic coast. Most large sharks men’s sexual potency and serve as a declined dramatically since the early symbol of status. By the late 1990s, 1970s, while populations of the rays Honolulu fishermen were getting $30 they preyed upon seem to have in- a pound for fins at the dock. creased. The rays feed on bay scallops Shark-finning in real time. As China has grown more pros- and appear to have depleted them. perous and trade barriers have been (Myers, a tireless proponent of marine 6 Trust / Spring 2007 n o

conservation, died of a brain tumor i t c e l three days before the paper’s publi- l o C

cation.) e g a

“A lot of people have asked me m I

c i

through the years why we should care h p a r

about sharks,” says Pikitch of the Pew g o e G

Institute for Ocean Science, which l a n o

helped support the study as part of i t a N

its global shark assessment. “This /

y r study shows us what an important r e k S ecological role apex predators like n a i r

sharks play. If you lose the fish at the B top, you can have unforeseen impacts on other parts of the ecosystem.”

n obvious first step to protect sharks and, by extension, the integrity of marine ecosystems is to start managing Athe quantity caught and methods by which people catch them. While the United States and Australia have shark management plans that include prohibitions on finning, most of the rest of the world does not. Fox says that most other large shark-fishing nations like Indonesia, China and Japan are thought to be relatively impervious to outside pressure on the issue, at least in the near term. An exception is the European Union, whose members include several of the world’s leading shark-fishing nations and which has considerable influence in international fishing bodies. A team of divers photograph a Caribbean reef shark as it swims nearby. “At the Trusts, we were well aware of the crisis facing sharks, and we wanted to see what would be the most cost- effective and fruitful course of action to strengthen protections for these Caribbean reef sharks swim over coral reef. B r i a

animals,” Fox says. n

S k

“We decided to focus first on the e r r y

E.U., because many of their member /

N a

states had shown an interest in exam- t i o n a

ining their shark management prac- l

G e

tices, including finning.” o g r a

European shark fisheries are gener- p h i c

ally unregulated, with just a few limits I m a

on the numbers of sharks caught and g e

type of gear used. Although white and o l l e c

basking sharks were recently pro- t i o n Z Trust / Spring 2007 7

tected due to international obligations, of open-ocean sharks, which resulted the vast majority of European shark, in several being added to the World skate and ray species are not subject Conservation Union’s Red List of to fishing limits. Threatened Species. In 2003, the E.U. passed a regula- “Working as a coalition has helped tion that prohibited shark-finning in enormously,” says Eleonora de Sabata, its waters and by E.U. vessels world- coordinator of the Rome-based Med- wide, and also required E.U. fisher- Sharks Project, one of the now 30 men to bring to land the sharks’ members of the Shark Alliance. “Many bodies, not just their fins. Unfortu- organizations are small and dominated nately, the rules contain loopholes that by scientists, so we know the facts, enable fishermen to fin two or three but we often don’t have the political sharks for each one that they dock. background or the strategic vision to “Before you authorize a fishery, know when key meetings are taking ideally you should assess the popula- place and how to time our actions so tion and figure out what catch levels the message is heard.” and methods are sustainable, and yet “We’ve been used to having to be shark fisheries are regularly hampered jacks-of-all-trades, but now we’re able by lack of data,” says Fordham of the to learn and benefit from specialists Shark Alliance. “But finning regula- within the alliance,” says Hood of the tions are really a no-brainer, something Shark Trust, one of the founding you don’t need any more information members of the coalition, which to enact.” brought considerable experience in engaging the public in shark issues. o encourage reforms, in “We’ve been able to achieve far larger March 2006, Pew created goals that we could not have achieved the Shark Alliance, a coali- without this framework.” tion of European shark- Tconservation, scientific, diving and he challenges are consid- fishing organizations, most of which erable, not least of which are relatively small and nationally is the sharks’ reputation as focused. vicious monsters. Many (Pew’s partners contributing to the Tpeople fear even the docile nurse alliance include the Oak Foundation, shark, which eat shrimp, squid and the Lenfest Foundation and the Sandler urchins (and are known to enjoy B

r Family Supporting Foundation.) belly rubs from divers who know i a n

S Alliance members conduct media how to handle them), or the whale k e r

r briefings and public information shark, which at more than 40 feet y

N campaigns from the United Kingdom long are the world’s largest fish but a t i o

n to Italy, and coalition members hold dine exclusively on fish eggs and a l

G meetings with government officials plankton. e o g

r and members of the European Parlia- Some large sharks can be dangerous, a p h

i ment in an effort to get finning and but “attacks” are extremely rare: c

I m management reforms on policy makers’ generally between 50 and 70 a year a g e

agendas. worldwide, with four to seven fatalities, C o l l e Meanwhile, the Lenfest Ocean according to statistics compiled by c t i o

n Program has supported a series of the International Shark Attack File. scientific workshops where researchers Residents of the coastal United States, explored key issues, including the it adds, are many times more likely best methods for fishery wardens to to be killed by the drive to the beach. ensure that no shark-finning is taking “They still have an image problem, Feeding time for some hungry sharks. place and an assessment of the status particularly with the generation that 8 Trust / Spring 2007 y r

is old enough to have seen Jaws and r e k

is quite hard to persuade,” says the S . J

Pew project director of the Shark n a i r Alliance, Uta Bellion, who is based in B Amsterdam. “The younger generation has a completely different attitude. As soon as you explain the issues surrounding sharks—the reproductive facts and so forth—they understand it very quickly and show a lot of respect and care. It’s a complete conversion.” Another major obstacle: the hard realities of the fishing industry in Spain, by far the largest shark-fishing nation on the continent and the fourth biggest in the world. Spain has a history of long-distance fishing. In the 1500s, entire fleets of fishing vessels were sailing across the Atlantic to work the cod banks of Newfoundland. By the 1970s, Spain had the second-largest fishing fleet in the world after the Soviet Union, despite the fact that the country had few fisheries within its own territorial waters. Then it was hit with two calamities. Starting in 1977, nations moved to protect their fisheries resources from overfishing by foreign fleets. When countries extended their exclusive economic territory to 200 miles off- shore, Spain’s fishermen lost access to many productive grounds, including most of the Newfoundland banks. Although the fleet shrank, it was still too large for the other Western Euro- pean nations, which insisted it be further slashed before they would allow Spain to join the E.U. in 1986. “When Spain joined the E.U., there were 150,000 fishermen. Now there Off the coast of Western Australia, a whale shark near “free divers,” humans who go deep underwater without any external breathing apparatus. are only 50,000, and our government sees its role as defending the interests of the fishing industry, not the world trying to find fish and depleting espite Spanish opposition, fish resources,” says Xavier Pastor, stock after stock.” the alliance’s efforts to Madrid-based European director of The public and media, he adds, still raise the visibility of the the international group Oceana, anoth- hold the notion that there are plenty issue have led to early er Shark Alliance member. “Still, the of fish in the sea and that the only issue Dsuccesses. Last October, the Euro- fleet is completely disproportionate at hand is who will catch them, all of pean Parliament rejected a Spanish to the fisheries resources of Spain, which makes arguing for improved proposal to advise European fisheries so these boats have to go all over the management extremely difficult. ministers to further weaken finning Trust / Spring 2007 9

regulations. Instead, representatives limit in international trade. The Euro- passed a measure that urges author- pean recommendation will need the ities to strengthen the finning ban support of two-thirds of the signato- and provide a shark management plan ries of the convention when it holds by mid-2007. its biannual meeting this June in The One issue has to do with the stan- Hague, Netherlands. dards by which authorities determine if finning is taking place. Even when Shark success in they bring the whole shark to market, some fishermen prefer to remove and Europe might augur separately store the fins at sea, argu- success elsewhere. ing that carcasses are then more efficient to stow. To ensure no finning “Europe will be pushing this for- takes place, the United States requires ward,” says Bellion, “but a lot will a fin-to-body ratio of no more than 5 depend on whether the U.S. and percent of dressed weight, which is Canada, relatively progressive coun- regarded by scientists as a generous, tries in terms of shark management, upper limit for that fishery. (The term decide to support the measure.” refers to a fish’s weight without the There have also been encouraging guts, head and fins.) The E.U. stan- signs that the E.U. may create man- dard is 5 percent of the whole weight, agement plans for their shark popula- the equivalent of about 12 percent of tions, a principal goal of the alliance. In dressed weight, potentially allowing March, E.U. fisheries commissioner fishermen to legally carry two to Joe Borg committed to adopting an three times more fins than could be action plan on the issue, although accounted for by the carcasses in without a firm timeline. their vessel’s hold. Borg has also said that the Euro- “This vote was a crucial test of the pean Commission intends to propose campaign’s legitimacy in Europe,” says new shark protection measures in Pew’s Bellion. “I think we’re well on the international forums, such as tuna way to strengthening the finning ban.” commissions, which have neglected In December, E.U. member states the sharks that are increasingly approved, without objection, a meas- taken in the fisheries they regulate. ure to protect spiny dogfish and por- If Europe does get its shark policies beagle sharks under the Convention in order, it may help increase pressure on the International Trade in Endan- on other countries to take action. “The gered Species, setting the stage for a E.U. is a key player, but there are scores of other nations with unsus- B r i a tainable shark fisheries,” says Fox of n

. the Pew Trusts. “Shark populations S k e

r are in peril worldwide, and we’re r y exploring how to advance this work beyond Europe.” ■T

The Shark Alliance Web site, full of facts, news and advice for taking action, can be found at www.sharkalliance.org.

Colin Woodard, of Portland, Me., on the Web at www.colinwoodard.com, is an award-winning journalist and the author of Ocean’s End, The Lobster Coast and The Republic of Pirates, the newly released, true story of the pirates of the Caribbean.

Great hammerhead shark. 10 Trust / Spring 2007 ts and Figu ac re F BY s f SA ND o R A S E A L L M C A N R S I

C Trust / Spring 2007 11

THEY SAY THAT PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT. MAYBE IT IS RESEARCH THAT LETS PRACTICE MAKE PERFECT.

oinciding with the seismic struck me that much more needed to between George Washington Univer- shift in political fortunes be known,” he points out, “and that, if sity and the student Public Interest following last fall’s midterm we knew more, we could in all proba- Research Groups. CIRCLE is the elections was another bility foster civic engagement more research advisory arm to projects on change that, of its kind, was potentially effectively.” the ground. Says Galston, “We sent more momentous: a massive surge in The need to know was particularly emissaries to talk with these organi- voting by young people. An estimated urgent because civic engagement by zations, to clarify the links between 10 million Americans under the age of many measures had fallen to appallingly academic research and practice.” 30 voted, an increase of at least two low levels. The voting age in the United And the organization supports million over the number who cast States was lowered to 18 in 1970, and academic scholars, who have produced ballots in the 2002 midterm elections. in the subsequent presidential election more than 50 research working papers Young adults accounted for 13 per- of 1972, the turnout of young voters on topics ranging from the effects of cent of all votes cast, compared with began promisingly when 55 percent state laws on young-adult voting to 11 percent in 2002. In fact, the youth of those under 30 cast ballots. But the role of sports in developing the turnout was perhaps the largest for a the percentages fell steadily over the character of young people. Carrying midterm election since 1982, accord- next 30 years. the idea of civic engagement to its ing to the Center for Information In addition, Robert D. Putnam’s logical extension, it adopted a young and Research on Civic Learning and 1995 book Bowling Alone raised the staffer’s suggestion and sponsored a Engagement (CIRCLE) at the Univer- image of a fading national and com- grant competition in which teenagers sity of Maryland. munity spirit, leading to declining civic designed their own research projects And CIRCLE, which the Pew Trusts participation—a thesis that had “sur- to help them better understand the launched in 2001 and which now has prising public salience,” said Galston nature of their schools and the best support from the Carnegie Corporation and a colleague, Peter Levine, Ph.D., ways to get engaged. of New York, ought to know. Scrupu- in a 1997 article. CIRCLE disseminates the findings lously nonpartisan, CIRCLE was Levine has been with CIRCLE of its reports, working papers and fact founded to conduct, sponsor, evaluate from the start and now serves as its sheets through conferences, a quar- and promote research on civic involve- director. “We were designed to create a terly newsletter, regular e-mail alerts ment by the approximately 30 million new field—civic development—which to interested journalists, policy makers Americans who are between the ages draws on psychology and creates a and practitioners, and its Web site, of 15 and 25 in a variety of civic and bridge between theory and practice,” where it also places its data sets so political activities—behaviors that can he notes. that others may analyze and check range from simply following current Although the center “conducts and the conclusions. events to volunteering to participat- funds research, not practice,” its Web The project’s major areas of inves- ing in school government to voting site points out, “the projects that we tigation are: in local, state and national elections support have practical implications for and possibly entering politics. those who work to increase young Civic engagement index. Every Prior to CIRCLE, the civic engage- people’s engagement in politics and two years—in 2002, 2004 and 2006— ment of young people “was a remark- civic life.” CIRCLE has compiled a “civic en- ably under-studied area,” says William gagement index,” a comprehensive A. Galston, Ph.D., CIRCLE’s first IRCLE has seeded the field national survey using 19 possible director and now a senior fellow at by funding research by such forms of participation to measure the Brookings Institution. Because it Pew-supported groups as the extent to which young Ameri- is as teens and young adults that most Young Voter Strategies at cans take part in politics and commu- of us learn the civic behaviors that George Washington University and nities. “We have challenged people’s we display for the rest of our lives, “it the New Voters Project, a partnership thinking about youth civic engage- 12 Trust / Spring 2007

ment by helping to develop, refine than their elders, although the the Bush administration. and apply a wide array of measures, margins have declined since 2002. Levine, who oversaw the project, going well beyond volunteering and •Young people have lost confidence notes that it “sharpened the policy voting,” notes Levine. in government. Two-thirds of debate about civic education by demon- Among the thought-provoking them believe that government strating that the standard interventions, findings of last year’s study: should do more to solve problems, such as social science classes, actually but a plurality, no matter which work but are in decline” as a result of •Young Americans are involved in political party they identify with, schools’ fear of controversy, empha- many forms of political and civic are also more likely than they sis on testing and budget cutbacks. activity—a finding that confounds were in 2002 to say that govern- The report recommended that schools the conventional wisdom that most ment is almost always wasteful establish civic-education curricula, of them are apathetic. and inefficient. incorporate discussions of current For instance, 30 percent said On the other hand, young events into the classroom and en- they had boycotted a product people who are more engaged in courage students to participate in because of the conditions under their communities have more community service and in school which it was made or the values of positive views of government than governance. the company that made it. those who are less involved. Levine himself puts this into practice. Nevertheless, a considerable •Types of civic engagement vary He works with Maryland high school proportion of this age group were widely with race and ethnicity. students on a community-oriented not particularly engaged, including Young African Americans are the Web site. Further, the Campaign for 17 percent who had not participated most politically engaged racial or the Civic Mission of Schools, a project of the Council for Excellence in Government, is promoting the report’s ON ELECTION NIGHT 2004, CIRCLE WAS FRONT AND CENTER WITH recommendations. In a separate finding that could DATA THAT CORRECTED A NEWS REPORT THAT THE YOUTH TURNOUT bolster the case for civic education, WAS LOW. IN FACT, IT HAD RISEN DRAMATICALLY. THE POSITIVE COURSE CIRCLE’s research is beginning to CONTINUES IN 2006. demonstrate that investments in civic opportunities for young people pay off for society as a whole. For example, in any of 19 activities within the ethnic group. Their Asian-Ameri- teenagers are more likely to complete previous 12 months. can peers are highly engaged in school if they are given service-learn- •Political knowledge is generally volunteering and other pursuits. ing opportunities. A working paper poor. Like most Americans, many Although young Latinos are gener- commissioned by CIRCLE found that, young people in this country are ally less engaged, 25 percent said whatever their socioeconomic status, misinformed about or feebly grasp that they had participated in a students participating in civic activi- important aspects of politics and protest—more than twice the pro- ties were more likely to graduate from current events. portion of any other racial/ethnic high school and attend college than For example, 53 percent are group—perhaps reflecting the other students. unaware that only citizens can marches concerning federal Other CIRCLE research indicates vote in federal elections. Only 30 immigration policy in May 2006. that the connection works two ways: percent can correctly name at Better-educated people are more likely least one member of the president’s Civic education. In 2002, CIRCLE to engage in civic activities. CIRCLE Cabinet (and of those, 82 percent and Carnegie convened a series of provided the data for the National named Secretary of State Con- meetings of leading scholars and Conference on Citizenship’s 2006 report doleezza Rice). And only 34 percent practitioners in this area to determine Broken Promises, which noted that know that the United States has a the components of an effective civic- college graduates outnumber college permanent seat on the United education program. The result was a dropouts in civic participation, and Nations Security Council. report, The Civic Mission of Schools, high school dropouts even more. •Young people are tolerant, with which was released in 2003, lauded more favorable views toward (for by Washington Post columnist David Youth voting. The 2004 presidential instance) immigrants and gays Broder and officially received by election brought a new level of atten- Trust / Spring 2007 13

•In ethnic and immigrant communities, start young. Young people are cost-effective targets, particularly because there is less need than with their elders to translate campaign materials into a different language. •Initial mobilization produces repeat voters. Educating young people about voting today will result in long-term benefits. •Leaving young voters off contact lists is a costly mistake. Young people are just as responsive to solicitation as older voters.

Of course, not every candidate got the message in time, and robo-calls still flooded into homes. Still, there are signs that both political parties are returning to more personal tion to CIRCLE’s data and analysis, professors, into what techniques are campaigning. For example, Charlie resulting in high-profile stories in most effective in encouraging young Crist, Florida’s new governor, organ- major newspapers. people to vote. Their finding: Old- ized grassroots voter groups at col- On electionC Onight, the CAssociated fashioned, shoe-leather, door-to-door leges, and Sherrod Brown, Ohio’s N AN M Press ran a misleadingTA story Vclaiming campaigning still worksIS best, com- new senator, ran a grassroots campaign C AS IV TIN S CT that theR youth voteD had Gagain fallenIN paredNG to robotic A phone calls, recorded that reached out to his party’s voters UN OI O G TI Y S short, even/W though Na Grecord 20.9FF million messagesO IT automatically dialed. GN of all ages. A IC V UN I of this groupL had voted.PR It seemsI that It’sM paradoxical,G Galston notes:PA Levine thinks that the turnout in K/ O AL M IN M AP had simply comparedRI theN percent-S HavingO grownR up in a media-saturatedCA 2006 was due partly to greater efforts DE IS C EE L F S T A age of youth who votedU to the overallUE environment,UN N teensG oughtIC to be recep- by both parties, inspired in part by SI ND S OL SI IT turnout rate, whichGN was also-R high. tiveV to theA IimpersonalOL “robo-calls,” but research, to mobilize young people. IN AI -R P By early the next morning,G CIRCLESE in fact,ND possiblyON because they are While 2004 was a good year, he says, PE RS U G had provided journalists andT advo- inurF ed toI Ntechnology, this kind of “2006 seems to have stopped the ITI K cates with data showing that,O toN the solicitationOR does not work. hemorrhaging.” contrary, youth turnout was up dra-S TWo further help reverse the down- And CIRCLE’s role? Levine credits matically. Not only had 4.6 million ward trend in youth voting, CIRCLE it for broadly “changing the stereotype more young people voted than in and Young Voter Strategies collabo- of young people as slackers.” There 2000, but the percentage of 18-to-29- rated on a 2006 booklet, Young Voter is certainly an appetite for the infor- year-olds who voted was 51 percent, Mobilization Tactics, in which they mation, and the project’s data are up from 42.3 percent in 2000. compiled the most recent research trusted by organizations involved in This accurate and timely revision on turnout tactics, including: registering nonvoters—and by the helped prove the value of CIRCLE’s media. CIRCLE is “considered the research and confirm its place as the •Personalized and interactive contact pre-eminent authority on young people most reliable source on youth voting counts. Studies have found that it and politics,” said Rolling Stone, one statistics for the media, academics does not matter whether the mes- of the premier youth-oriented maga- and policy makers. sage is partisan or nonpartisan, zines—which ought to know. ■T From the first, CIRCLE has also positive or negative. Rather, “quality played an important role in disseminat- contact” matters. ing the groundbreaking research by •Begin with the basics. Young people CIRCLE can be found on the Web at www.civicyouth.org. Donald Green, Ph.D., and Alan Gerber, need nuts-and-bolts practical infor- Ph.D., two Yale political science mation on how to vote. Sandra Salmans is senior writer of Trust. 14 Trust / Spring 2007

ROOM FOR MISTAKES By Marc Schogol

Regardless of one’s opinion on capital punishment, error-free trials are in everybody’s interest. Trust / Spring 2007 15

J irk Bloodsworth knows all which uses the tools of public educa- o h n about problems with the tion and coalition-building to make the

O v e death penalty. death-penalty system fair and just—to r m y

e K In 1985, Bloodsworth, a commercial make sure, in other words, that the r fisherman in Maryland, was convicted guilty are caught and the innocent of sexually assaulting and killing a nine- are not punished. year-old girl. Five witnesses identified him. Sentenced to be executed, he was ver since capital punishment sent to await his fate on Maryland’s was reinstated by the U.S. death row. Supreme Court in 1976, more At the time, the FBI concluded Ethan 110 people on death there was no evidence of bodily fluid row have been exonerated based on on which a DNA test could be run. new evidence of their innocence. But in 1992, Bloodsworth’s appellate “They’re finding them every day,” lawyer discovered that a small amount Bloodsworth says—or so it can seem of DNA evidence did exist, and prose- from the publicity attending reversals cutors agreed to have a leading private of capital convictions. lab run a test. The results—con- A majority of Americans still sup- firmed by an FBI lab—showed that port capital punishment. But concerns Bloodsworth’s DNA did not match. about innocent people being wrong- In 1993, the state dismissed the fully convicted—and the truly guilty charges, freed Bloodsworth and paid going free as a result—seem to have him $300,000 for lost income, and taken a toll. A Gallup Poll released in Maryland’s governor granted him a October 2006 found that 67 percent of full pardon. Yet some Baltimore County Americans support the death penalty, officials continued to state publicly a significant drop from the high of 80 that they believed he could have been percent in 1994. A Gallup survey in involved in the crime. May 2006 found that when given the It took law enforcement agencies choice between capital punishment nearly a decade to run the same and a life sentence without parole for evidence through a national DNA murderers, more respondents opted database. They immediately got a for the life sentence (48 percent) hit—against Kimberly Shay Ruffner, a than the death penalty (47 percent) convicted sex offender already in for the first time in two decades. prison. In 2004, Ruffner pleaded guilty Wariness among both citizens and to the murder for which Bloodsworth policy makers about problems in the had been wrongfully convicted. way capital punishment is applied Bloodsworth, a former Marine, was has likely contributed to a number of the first person in the country to be recent, striking developments across sentenced to death and then exoner- the country. There were 53 executions ated by DNA evidence. Instead of just in 2006, the lowest level in a decade, taking Maryland’s compensation for and 45 of those were carried out by its mistake and trying to forget and just six of the 38 states that allow be forgotten, Bloodsworth became a capital punishment, according to man with a mission: reform of the statistics compiled by the nonprofit nation’s death-penalty system. He’s Death Penalty Information Center. The now working for the Trusts-support- number of death sentences imposed ed Justice Project Education Fund, last year was less than half the annual 16 Trust / Spring 2007

total throughout most of the 1990s. be allowing some innocent defendants Among states taking action, New to be executed.” And in a 2005 speech, Jersey legislators passed a moratorium Justice John Paul Stevens noted that a on executions and appointed a com- “substantial number of death sentences mission to study the state’s death- have been imposed erroneously.” penalty system. The commission That view is far from unanimous ultimately recommended that the on the Supreme Court. In a case last state abolish the practice, and law- year in which the Court, by a 5-4 makers are considering next steps. decision, upheld the constitutionality In Maryland, after the state’s high- of Kansas’s death penalty, Justice est court issued a stay on executions Antonin Scalia strongly criticized as until officials developed a new protocol baseless the concern among some for lethal injections, a newly elected of his colleagues about executing and strongly anti-death-penalty gover- the innocent. But in the past several nor urged state legislators to use the years, some key Court decisions opportunity to repeal capital punish- have cheered reform supporters. ment. At this writing, Maryland law- With evidence showing that mentally makers were debating abolition as retarded and juvenile defendants are well as several other proposals, includ- more likely to make false confessions, ing a bill that would limit the death the Court ruled in 2002 that the execu- penalty to just a few types of offenders. tion of mentally retarded defendants In other states, policy makers were was unconstitutional and in 2004 that Reformers aim to create a climate for change at the deliberating a range of reforms, from executing defendants who committed state level, where most executions take place. taping of murder-suspect interroga- crimes when they were younger than tions and new procedures for eyewit- age 18 was unconstitutional as well. ness identifications to revised meth- Also in 2004, Congress passed and ods for execution by lethal injection. President George W. Bush signed the other allies who endorsed the bill. Not all states are headed in the Innocence Protection Act—a landmark (The Justice Project actually consists same direction. Lawmakers in some law authorizing $400 million to help of two separate organizations: The jurisdictions, such as Texas, have states provide death-penalty defendants Education Fund, a 501(c)(3) supported moved to broaden eligibility for the with adequate counsel and access to by Pew and other funders, focuses on death penalty to include repeat child DNA testing. The act was part of a educating the public, media and state sex offenders. Last November, 56 larger bill, the Justice for All Act, and federal policy makers about the percent of voters in Wisconsin—a authorizing more than $1 billion to need for reforms and policy options. state that abolished the death penal- eliminate a backlog in DNA testing The Justice Project, Inc., a 501(c)(4), ty in 1853—approved a non-binding in criminal cases, upgrade criminal builds advocacy coalitions and lobbies resolution recommending that capital laboratories and provide DNA-evidence for particular legislative solutions.) punishment be reinstated for first- training to medical and law-enforce- degree intentional homicide cases if ment personnel. he Innocence Protection DNA evidence supports a conviction. The Education Fund collaborated Act “is the only piece of with a range of organizations to dissem- progressive death-penalty till, concerns about wrongful inate research documenting flaws in Treform that has been passed convictions disturb death- the system and to tell the stories—in in Congress in recent decades,” says penalty supporters and oppo- the media, at public events and in John Terzano, president of the Edu- Snents alike. In 2001, citing invited testimony before lawmakers— cation Fund, and its approval indi- cases in which death row inmates had of cases such as Kirk Bloodsworth’s. cates that “policy makers have be- inferior representation and may not Meanwhile, The Justice Project, Inc., come more aware of what causes have had access to DNA testing that worked with members of Congress wrongful convictions.” could have cleared them, then-Justice to develop the legislation, address Among those endorsing the act was Sandra Day O’Connor of the U.S. members’ concerns and build bipar- Beth Wilkinson, the federal prosecutor Supreme Court said in a speech that tisan support. It also developed a in the Oklahoma City bombing case the death-penalty system “may well coalition of victims’-rights groups and who successfully sought the death Trust / Spring 2007 17

also victims and society at large.” ment must ensure that trials are fair, Another supporter of the Innocence innocent people are not wrongly con- Protection Act—and longtime ally of victed, and the truly guilty are caught. the Education Fund—is Anne Seymour, It is within that arena that the co-founder of Justice Solutions, a Education Fund has established its nonprofit, nonpartisan, victims’-rights credibility and influence. Rather than and assistance organization. Seymour being identified with one side or was previously involved with Mothers another in the emotionally charged Against Drunk Driving, and she co- debate, where there often seems to founded the National Victim Center, be no middle ground for rational now called the National Center for discussion, the group has been able to Victims of Crime. reach out to both sides and, through Seymour says she sees both sides a campaign of educating the public, J u l i e of the death-penalty issue. media and state and national leaders,

D e

l “I never second-guess someone persuasively argue that reforms that t o n /

G for or against the death penalty,” she strive for fairness and accuracy are e t t y explains. “It’s a very personal moral in everybody’s interest.

I m

a issue. People at prison protests of Both the Education Fund and The g e s executions have the right to be there, Justice Project, Inc., collaborate with just as families of victims who witness other groups to raise awareness among executions do. I’ve had to help many lawmakers and the public about serious a climate for change at the victims go through the process. . . . flaws in the administration of capital t executions take place. It’s helping them go through the punishment. They conduct some hardest time in their lives. research of their own and frequently “Most of the folks I work with want publicize the research of others to everyone to have a fair and just trial. document the case for change. And penalty against Timothy McVeigh. Every time someone brings up the they use media campaigns, confer- Wilkinson is co-chair of the Death [1995 incident of a defense] lawyer ences, invited testimony before legis- Penalty Initiative of the nonprofit falling asleep [in a Texas courtroom lators and a range of other tactics to Constitution Project, which frequently during a murder trial], I could bring up amplify the voices of prominent sup- collaborates with the Education Fund victims not being notified of hearings, porters and opponents who endorse on death-penalty reform efforts. The not being allowed to be present, vic- reform. initiative is a bipartisan commission of tims not getting their legal rights All of these efforts are aimed at prominent death-penalty supporters observed. Everyone in my field feels creating a climate for change at the and opponents who seek reforms. it needs to be fair for everyone.” state level, where the vast majority of In 2001, Wilkinson was invited to Victims want to see a system American executions take place—and testify on the legislation before the where cases aren’t in the appeals it appears the work is taking root. Senate Judiciary Committee. “When a courts interminably, says Seymour. A growing number of states are [death-penalty] defendant has inef- “We want to make sure it was a exploring reforms such as expanding fective counsel, the state, the families strong conviction, and accurate.” access to DNA testing for death penalty of victims and society all suffer,” defendants; audio recording or video- Wilkinson told lawmakers. “Litigation mong supporters of reform, taping all custodial interrogations of becomes protracted, complicated and no one is certain whether homicide suspects; establishing more costly, putting legitimate convictions at such efforts might actually reliable eyewitness-identification risk. This subjects the victims’ fami- Amend or end capital punish- procedures; toughening rules govern- lies to continuing uncertainty and ment. Some would like to see the death ing investigations and prosecutions; deprives society of the knowledge that penalty abolished; others firmly believe and improving legal representation the real perpetrator is behind bars.” that murderers who are guilty should for indigent defendants. On the other hand, she continued, pay for their crimes with their lives. “There is much more of an aware- “Ensuring competent counsel to But they find common ground in the ness of the flaws in the justice system” defendants facing the death penalty belief that as long as capital punish- since the Education Fund began its benefits not only the defendant, but ment exists in this country, the govern- efforts, says Terzano. 18 Trust / Spring 2007 s e g a m I

y t t e G / c s i d k c o t

ome states present greater commuting the death sentences of S opportunity for reform, or 167 others to life imprisonment. It have bigger problems in their was a highly controversial move, but Scapital-punishment systems, Ryan said he could do no less, given than others. The Education Fund, a system that was “haunted by the with support from Pew and other demon of error: error in determining funders, launched intensive death- guilt and error in determining who penalty reform education efforts in among the guilty deserves to die.” Illinois, Texas, Tennessee and Geor- Meanwhile, many of the Ryan com- gia. “We either have individuals on mission’s recommendations earned the ground in those states, or else we widespread bipartisan support from work with organizations already on the Illinois state legislature, which in the ground,” Terzano says. 2003 adopted a significant package By providing detailed information of reforms. One of the most widely through nonpartisan research and hailed was the nation’s first-ever law analysis, media outreach and other requiring start-to-finish recording of efforts on what has been done and is all murder interrogations. Maine, New being done across the country, he Mexico and Washington, D.C., subse- explains, “we help educate individuals quently enacted similar laws, and the in those states about these serious practice is in use in local and county Northern District of Illinois, to problems and make recommendations jurisdictions in other states. educate policy makers, the public how to resolve them.” The Education and the media about the need for Fund hopes reforms achieved in those Eyewitness change. states and others exploring change Sullivan co-chaired the original Ryan will be models for the rest of the identification is commission and now chairs the leg- country. particularly prone to islative study commission. He was A major focus of the Education “good-faith mistakes.” one of the prime advocates of inter- Fund’s attention since its creation rogation recording, having spoken has been Illinois, where the current Other changes adopted by Illinois and written widely on the subject and death-penalty reform movement burst lawmakers include pre-trial screening thrown his considerable reputation into life seven years ago. In 2000, of testimony by jailhouse informants, as a former prosecutor into the fight. then-Governor George Ryan im- or “snitches,” and a pilot program to Sullivan also is deeply involved in posed a moratorium on the death ensure more accurate lineup proce- the effort to encourage states to re- penalty after his state had executed dures to avoid mistaken eyewitness vamp eyewitness-identification 12 death row inmates and exonerated identification, the leading cause of procedures, noting, “It’s probably 13 others—a number of them based wrongful convictions. the biggest area where you can make on DNA evidence—in the 23 years In 2005, the legislature appointed a good-faith mistakes.” since the death penalty there was commission to study the impact of Studies show that when eyewit- reinstated. those reforms and recommend further nesses look at a group of people in Ryan, who as a legislator had co- measures. Today, the death-penalty a lineup or a group of photographs, authored the measure re-establishing moratorium is still in effect, and the they tend to make a relative judgment Illinois’s death penalty, created a com- commission created by the state and pick the one that most resembles mission to study the system and legislature is more than midway into the person they saw. But close resem- propose reforms to ensure that the its five-year study. blance isn’t good enough. state didn’t carry out unwarranted An alternative is “sequential, double- executions. The commission, whose ducation Fund staff members blind” identification. In this practice, a members were a mix of death-penalty have been invited to testify witness is shown photographs of supporters and opponents, issued a before legislative commit- potential suspects, or participants in a report with 85 recommendations. Etees examining reforms and lineup, one at a time rather than all at Then, as he was about to leave office joined forces with prominent state once; in addition, the police adminis- in early 2005, Ryan emptied death leaders, such as Thomas P. Sullivan, trator of the test does not know who row, pardoning four convicts and the former U.S. attorney for the the “correct” suspect is. Trust / Spring 2007 19

and consistency” to the process, ing funding to carry out its work. since whether or not a defendant is Adequate legal representation for sentenced to death for a crime often poor defendants eligible for the death depends on the county in which the penalty has also been a major issue trial takes place. in Texas. In 2005, Governor Rick Perry Reformers will have to grapple with created an advisory commission to all of these issues over and over again look at the state’s criminal justice because the death penalty is chiefly a system. The Education Fund and matter of state law, he says: “There The Justice Project, Inc., are working are 50 states, and it’s a struggle in with several organizations in Texas every state.” to analyze problems in how the state administers the death penalty and t’s an especially tough struggle assigns lawyers to indigent defendants, in Texas, far and away the state including those accused of capital with the most per-capita execu- crimes, and to make that information Itions. Texas garnered interna- available to the commission, the public tional headlines in 2005 after signifi- and the media. cant evidence emerged that the state One of the Education Fund’s part-

P may have executed an innocent man— ners, the Texas Defender Service, e r - A Ruben Cantu—in 1993. Among other last year issued a study recommend- n d e

r developments, the sole eyewitness in ing that the governor’s panel look at s P e

t the case recanted his testimony, claim- the findings of the original Ryan com- t e r s

s ing that the police pressured him to mission in Illinois as it examines o n / G identify Cantu; and Samuel Millsap Jr., Texas’s issues. Meanwhile, in April e t t y the former county district attorney 2006, the State Bar of Texas became

I m

a who successfully prosecuted the case the first state bar association in the g e s back in 1985, has declared publicly country to adopt any form of the that Cantu “was probably innocent.” American Bar Association’s Standards At this writing, officials were still for Death Penalty Representation, Illinois tried this in a pilot study, investigating the claims. which the U.S. Supreme Court has but the Chicago Police Department Texas also earned prominent public cited as an appropriate performance questioned its accuracy in a March and media attention last year after the standard for defense counsel in 2006 report. The department’s method- Chicago Tribune published a three- capital cases. ology was strongly criticized, and part series casting doubt on the guilt of Concerns about Texas’s system the National Association of Criminal another man, Carlos DeLuna, executed of legal representation in capital Defense Lawyers, in conjunction with by the state in 1989. cases are not limited to what death- Northwestern University’s School Mishandled evidence has been one eligible defendants receive at trial. of Law, has filed a lawsuit seeking of the biggest controversies in Texas, Last fall, a series by the Austin access to the data used in compiling where serious problems were docu- American-Statesman raised troubling the report. mented in evidence-processing work questions about “shoddy legal work” Meanwhile, Sullivan continues to done in the crime laboratory of the by court-appointed lawyers responsible support the innovative, sequential, Houston Police Department, which for handling critical habeas appeals double-blind approach—and a grow- consequently shut down its DNA by death row inmates, and criticized ing number of municipalities, coun- division in 2002. It wasn’t until June Texas’s highest criminal court for ties and states are adopting it. “It 2006 that a national forensic associa- failing to ensure that the inmates results in far fewer picks of non- tion gave the DNA operation the ac- receive competent legal help. Follow- perpetrators because the relative creditation it needed to reopen. The ing the coverage, the court adopted judgment is removed,” says Sullivan. state legislature created a commission new rules to identify substandard He also advocates a system to to oversee state forensic testing and lawyers and remove them from the conduct pre-trial reviews of prosecutors’ investigate allegations of misconduct or court’s list of eligible habeas attorneys. decisions to seek the death penalty other failures in crime labs, but the Now it is waiting for additional recom- “to bring much-needed rationality commission is still awaiting full operat- mendations for reform from a task 20 Trust / Spring 2007

force created by the State Bar of Texas Education Fund collaborated with a unconstitutional because rules of to study the habeas representation highly regarded, Atlanta-based non- evidence and the rights of confronta- system. profit organization, the Southern tion and cross-examination that a Center for Human Rights, to educate defendant had at trial did not apply he Education Fund has also lawmakers, the media and the public at the sentencing proceeding. (That targeted particular problems about the importance of effective and ruling was later overturned.) in Tennessee and Georgia. well-supported legal representation. Sessions also played an influential TThe effort in Tennessee has Today, however, the agency that role in a 2004 Supreme Court decision focused on the need for better-trained oversees the state’s public defenders overturning the death sentence of a and qualified lawyers to represent is facing a funding crisis, and some Texas inmate because of prosecutorial indigent defendants, including those lawmakers are calling for an overhaul misconduct. He joined several other accused of crimes eligible for the of the system. A hot-button issue is former judges on an amicus brief death penalty, and the taping of the soaring price-tag—at least $1.4 arguing that the sentence “implicates murder interrogations and confes- million—of legal counsel for Brian the integrity of the death penalty in sions. Through nonpartisan research Nichols, facing the death penalty for this country.” and analysis and a joint public and allegedly killing a judge and three Now in private law practice, Sessions policy-maker education effort with others in 2005. continues to crusade for death-penalty the Tennessee Bar Association on The Education Fund, the Southern reform and for the use of DNA evi- the issue of capable lawyers, and by Center and other partners are work- dence, which was the subject of a bringing in Sullivan to talk to law ing to educate Georgia policy makers pioneering study he ordered the FBI enforcement officials about taping, and the public about the need for other to conduct during his tenure as its the organization’s prospects for key reforms, including electronic director. That investigation, he says, seeing change are encouraging. recording of interrogations and im- first demonstrated that DNA was “an The Education Fund, partnering proved eyewitness-identification proce- overwhelming weapon that could be with other nonprofit groups such as dures. Last fall, the Education Fund used by both the government and the Innocence Project, also sought to collaborated with the Atlanta Bar defense counsel”—just as it was in raise public and media awareness of Association and the Georgia Innocence the case of Kirk Bloodsworth, who the case of Paul House, who has spent Project to convene prosecutors, judges, emerged as a defendant and a victim 20 years on Tennessee’s death row chiefs of police and other leaders of the system. for a 1985 murder he claims he did around the state to discuss best prac- not commit. Last year, in a closely tices for conducting eyewitness lineups. loodsworth does not believe watched decision, the U.S. Supreme in the death penalty—even Court ruled that House was entitled to cross these states and others, for Kimberly Shay Ruffner, a new hearing in federal court be- the Education Fund contin- Bthe man eventually found cause new DNA and other evidence ually emphasizes the need guilty of the crime for which Bloods- not available at his trial raised suffi- Ato find common ground with worth originally was convicted, cient doubt about who committed a wide range of leaders and organiza- sentenced to die and wasted eight the crime. As The New York Times tions that share the conviction that years of his life in prison. But in his noted, it was the first case “in which fairness and accuracy in the adminis- work for the Education Fund, he puts the Supreme Court has factored the tration of the death penalty benefits his personal feelings aside and stresses result of modern DNA testing into everyone. Few bring greater credibility the need for reforms so “there’s the equation in re-examining a death to the cause than William S. Sessions, never another Kirk Bloodsworth.” sentence.” director of the FBI from 1987 to 1993 “My goal is not to end the death Perhaps no state better reflects the and a former federal judge. penalty necessarily,” he says. “The shifting and difficult landscape of Like Beth Wilkinson, Sessions is a advent of DNA has shown we have a death penalty reform than Georgia. member of the Constitution Project’s problem. It’s obvious things need to In 2004, Georgia lawmakers enthusi- bipartisan commission, where he, be changed.” ■T astically approved a new statewide, too, is a death-penalty supporter who state-funded system for providing advocates reform. The Justice Project Education Fund can be found and monitoring lawyers who represent As a U.S. district court judge in on the Web at www.thejusticeproject.org. indigent defendants, including those Texas, Sessions ruled in 2002 that Marc Schogol previously wrote about Amachi facing potential death sentences. The the federal death-penalty statute was for Trust. Trust / Spring 2007 21

THE here is Philadelphia headed? Is its civic spirit Wrising or on the decline? Are its leaders in both the private and public sectors actively engaged in shaping its future, or are they largely “weak, inade- quate and disengaged,” stewards of a city that “settles for being just okay”? Philly Those sobering quotes come from a 1999 Pew- supported study of Philadelphia by Basil J. Whiting FACTOR with Tony Proscio, who clearly did not mince words. By Cindy Jobbins But was the situation beyond repair? Earlier this year, they sought to answer that question in a follow-up What forces will determine report, Philadelphia 2007: Prospects and Challenges. The data on crime, poverty, local taxes and jobs Philadelphia’s future? remain grim, Whiting and Proscio found. But And what strengths do Philadelphians have to shape those forces for the better? C i

22 Trust / Spring 2007 t y

o f

P h i l a d e l p h i a

they also uncovered data that indi- cated a higher quality of local life. Even more, they found a new spirit among the city’s leaders. What they did not find, however, was much From the 1870s well into the 1890s, collaboration between public and sculptor Alexander Milne Calder (top civic leadership—an absence that photo) created more than 250 relief and could undermine the good that had freestanding sculptures for Philadelphia’s City Hall. Eight of them, made of bronze, emerged since 1999. stand with William Penn on the building’s But it was a promising start. As clock tower. they note in the report, “While leader- The statues, depicting settlers, Native Americans and majestic eagles, are said ship that is positive and engaged may to represent the struggle for freedom not guarantee success and progress, during our nation’s birth. Due to their leadership that is disengaged and location, the statues have been exposed to everything from coal residue in the early 20th century to inclement weather. In a project supported by Pew and Voters were “strikingly others, they were recently cleaned with state-of-the-art laser technology. negative” about the A new lens system will illuminate the sculptures, and an interpretive plaque city’s prospects, will describe them and their history. leaders were positive. What’s needed to help optimism win?

negative almost certainly guarantees failure and decline.” Philadelphia 2007 evaluates the city’s strengths and weaknesses relative to six comparable American cities: Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Cleveland, Detroit and Pittsburgh. It defines the factors that are working for and against these cities and identifies issues that most affect their future trajectories, and it compares today’s Philadelphia with that of eight years ago. The authors split the cities between them, collected available studies and relevant news stories, and interviewed a wide range of observers and decision- makers in each city about the major factors that seem to be governing their city’s economic and social health. Whiting covered Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston and Philadelphia; Proscio, Cleveland, Detroit and Pittsburgh. The authors also engaged the Urban Institute to collect and examine a wide array of data on the seven cities Photo credits: Pages 21 and 24: Gabriel Harrison. This page and their surrounding regions. (three restoration pictures): Andrzej Dajnowski. Dajnowski is founder and director of Conservation of Sculpture and Objects Studio, Inc., where Harrison is project manager. This firm performed the restoration and conservation of the Calder statues. Trust / Spring 2007 23

hiting and Proscio were struck by two positive changes in Prospects and Challenges in Six Other Cities Philadelphia—the surge Win development in Center City and Philadelphia was not Whiting and of a driving coalition in civic affairs surrounding neighborhoods and a Proscio’s only stop. They studied six leaves the city feeling adrift at a new sense of optimism in the city’s other metropolises but found such time of rapidly deteriorating funda- leadership. They note that, for the different trajectories that they did mentals. The city has lost 27,000 most part, the 39 civic and political not make sweeping generalizations jobs in the last decade, and its leaders interviewed for the new about the state or direction of “urban population is down 10 percent in report “reject the fatalism and nega- America.” Still, they offered these just the past half-decade. On the tivism that we found so common particulars about the six: upside, local foundations and busi- eight years ago.” ness leadership have created the At the same time, they call the •Eight years ago, Atlanta was Fund for Our Economic Future, a leadership “bifurcated.” On one side reported to be corrupt and stagnant $30-million fund aimed at high- of the divide are the administration but is now enjoying a turnaround. impact economic development of Mayor John Street and its allies, The city is experiencing its first initiatives. “feeling misunderstood and mistreat- increase in population in 50 years, •Detroit is, if anything, even more ed.” On the other is a decentralized the highest average household troubled than it was eight years civic and community leadership that is income in the study ($69,000, de- ago. The Big Three automakers “positive and bustling with projects.” spite a 28 percent poverty rate) recently announced plans to reduce Contact between those two realms and development that is at an all- their hourly workforces by some is limited, the writers state: “To be time high. 200,000 jobs. In the last few years, sure, plenty of good things are hap- •Baltimore was a contradiction eight household incomes in the city pening in Philadelphia these days years ago with a booming Inner have fallen at the rate of 6.4 percent that can be attributed to the work of Harbor economy in contrast with per year, and one out of every three those marching on either sidewalk. the rest of the city, which had lost citizens lives in poverty. But some This progress may well continue. But 34 percent of its population in the progress is evident with urban one wonders what will happen if they previous 20-some years and was condo conversions and new office encounter a fork in the road, if one beset with social problems. But construction downtown and along group wants to do something the the city has stopped losing popula- the Detroit River. other doesn’t want to see happen, or tion and jobs, development is occur- •In many ways Pittsburgh rivals if something needs doing that both ring all over town, crime has dropped Boston and Atlanta as a desirable support but that would require both 40 percent, and school test scores city to visit, live, work and invest to work in close harmony.” and graduation rates are up. in. The crime rate is among the This finding is perhaps the most •In the 1999 study, Boston was “off lowest of the top 25 U.S. cities, the nuanced among others that are more the chart” in a positive direction, downtown is growing and vibrant, clear-cut. For instance, Whiting and and it remains a city that is enjoying and only 19 percent of the popula- Proscio applaud the following: singular success on most measures. tion is poor. But the city lies in But a few concerns have caused southwestern Pennsylvania, an •An expansion of Philadelphia’s tax angst in the city: It now has arguably area that is shrinking, both eco- abatement program has allowed the nation’s highest cost of living, nomically and in population. Pitts- Center City and surrounding neigh- insufficient affordable housing and burgh is losing population more borhoods to share in the nationwide increasing transportation problems. steeply than any other city exam- housing boom of the first half of •Cleveland was considered a “come- ined, it has the smallest percentage this decade, helping create an back” city in 1999, but Whiting of foreign immigration, and its exciting, 24-hour environment and Proscio now find that it has finances remain precarious. downtown that has contributed fallen on harder times. The absence to the city’s sense of forward momentum. •Mayor Street’s five-year Neighbor- hood Transformation Initiative has 24 Trust / Spring 2007

•Philadelphia is still losing both of these positive and negative factors people and jobs. Between 2000 balance out now and for the next and 2005, the city’s population of several years? Is the optimism of the 1.5 million declined by 55,000, moment among many of those lead- and 37,000 jobs were lost. ers we interviewed justified?” Polls of •A quarter of the population lives voters conducted last year, they say, in poverty, up by 2 percent since were “strikingly negative” about the 2000. city’s prospects, while much of the •Recent data indicate that crime is euphoria came from “new leaders” rising again. 2006 was the city’s and Center City residents. “People worst year for homicides since riding the crest of a wave they have 1997, with 406 murders, up from helped create perhaps understand- 380 in 2005. ably think it is the wave of the future. Is it in this case?” had signal successes, including Much will depend, they say, on the speedy execution of an aban- whether the positive factors continue doned-car removal program and and the damaging ones can be turned thousands of market-rate housing around, and especially on whether units built, planned or under con- leaders in the public, private and civic struction. The initiative’s goal of realms “can make common cause demolishing 14,000 vacant build- when needed.” Currently, they ings has been missed, however, note, “the optimists seem to hold with only 4,551 brought down. the field.” ■T •Philadelphia’s institutions of higher education, which have long made major economic contributions to Philadelphia 2007: Prospects and Challenges is the city, have “stepped up” further in available for download at www.pewtrusts.org. recent years by working success- Additional data comparing the cities and metro- fully to improve their surrounding politan regions for both the prior and present communities. reports (this time drawing on several new data- bases) were provided by G. Thomas Kingsley, Peter •Tourism, the Navy Yard (a 1,200- Whiting and Proscio place Philadel- A. Tatian and Leah Hendey of the Urban Institute, acre site now dedicated to private phia’s “prospects and challenges” in and can also be found on Pew’s Web site. development) and the airport have the context of similar American become important drivers of cities. For example, mayoral leadership The opinions expressed in the report are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views economic growth. has contributed to significant improve- of The Pew Charitable Trusts. ments in Atlanta and Baltimore in On the other hand, the writers recent years. Although traditional Cindy Jobbins is an officer in Public Affairs at Pew. identify problems that, they acknowl- business leadership is declining virtu- edge, might not surprise locals: ally everywhere, a more decentralized leadership structure is taking •The high tax burden and cost of its place. Once-cloistered “eds and doing business in Philadelphia meds”—universities and hospitals— remain economic drags. have emerged as major players in •School test scores, while improv- city after city. Philanthropies are ing, are still among the worst in playing an increased role in helping the state with two-digit disparities cities grapple with their biggest between whites and African Amer- problems. And demographic prob- icans. Since 2002, however, retention lems or weak regional economies and graduation rates have increased, can undermine the efforts of even and more schools are meeting the the most enlightened civic leaders. standards of the federal No Child “So,” the writers state in conclu- Left Behind legislation. sion about Philadelphia, “how do all Trust / Spring 2007 25 Lessons Learned Head TOWARD A VOTING SYSTEM WORTHY OF A DEMOCRACY BY GLEE HOLTON M a y e r

R o b e r t / C o

he prolonged, contentious r b i s

aftermath of the 2000 presi- S y g

dential election established m Tone fact: The nation deserves a better than to be left with debates over “hanging” and “pregnant” chads. In 2001, Pew, with a long-standing interest in restoring public confidence in our nation’s elections, initiated the Election Reform Information Project, Members of the Broward County (Fla.) Canvassing Board review the chads in contested presidential ballots. better known as Electionline.org, located at the University of Richmond. its Web site (www.electionline.org) SUMMARY OF FINDINGS The project began as a neutral clearing- and a weekly electronic newsletter. Rich determined that (a) Election- house for information about election In 2006, Planning and Evaluation, at line.org is considered a highly valued reform, but over time, it has guided the request of the staff of Pew’s State resource and a trusted authority in the federal, state and local election offi- Policy Initiatives program, designed field of election administration; (b) its cials on trends, important issues and an evaluation of Electionline.org. The value is recognized by representatives best practices in election reform. With- review was timed to (1) provide the of a wide range of stakeholders; (c) it out engaging in advocacy and while Trusts’ board, senior leadership and is emerging as an agenda-setter remaining scrupulously nonpartisan, program staff with objective informa- through the issues it identifies and Electionline.org forms opinions based tion about the value of Electionline.org the information it provides; and (d) it on its research and evaluates the most to the election-administration and is well positioned to produce or com- effective approaches to reform. reform communities; and (2) help mission more original research that For instance, Electionline.org’s inform program staff’s thinking about will inform the thinking and direction report on the 2006 elections—the 15th the role the project might play in the of decision-makers. in a series of policy briefings—found Trusts’ programming if integrated as a widespread accounts of voting-system key component of an expanded elec- As a Clearinghouse troubles, sporadic incidents of voter tion-reform strategy. Since it began, Electionline.org intimidation and poll-worker confusion The evaluation was done by Andrew has become a highly credible source over voter-identification requirements, Rich, Ph.D., associate professor of of information. Its materials about and isolated breakdowns at polling political science at the City College our system of elections is up-to-date, places because of problems with of New York and the Graduate Center comprehensive, timely and useful. newly mandated voter-registration at the City University of New York. Advocates, researchers and journal- systems. The next two years are He reviewed documents from the ists alike affirm that they use Elec- expected to see intense activity in Trusts and Electionline.org and inter- tionline.org’s data in their work and election administration. viewed staff from both organizations credit the project for being trustworthy, Electionline.org’s information as well as election administrators (e.g., nonpartisan, balanced and knowledge- reaches policy makers and election secretaries of state, county registrars able—in fact, the best resource on officials through briefing papers on and state election directors), policy election-reform issues. best practices and innovations, annual makers involved in election reform, reports on the status of election reform journalists who cover the issue, and Impact and convenings of state and local offi- advocates and researchers of election Electionline.org has helped build cials. Electionline.org’s work informs systems. He also examined print the election-administration community, and guides the work of the federal media both nationally and in the and its data have raised the level of Election Assistance Commission by states of California, Maryland and informed discussions. Because the providing research, data and analysis North Carolina to understand how project frequently serves as the key on states’ election-reform efforts. The the project contributed to discourse place for information, it tends to drive project’s work is available to all through on the way we conduct elections. the issues that receive decision- 26 Trust / Spring 2007

makers’ attention. By illuminating best Pew gained the flexibility to operate practices, it helps set the agenda for its own projects when effectiveness election administrators, policy mak- and efficiency could be optimized.) ers and journalists. Electionline.org will help further the Some interviewees expressed the objectives of Make Voting Work, the wish that Electionline.org be less trends around the country, inter- Trusts’ broader election-reform reserved about providing judgments viewing election-administration strategy initiated this past winter. about possible policy alternatives and officials directly, and exploring Electionline.org brings critical the best directions for election-reform alternative options for election assets to this expanded initiative. Its efforts. reform in greater depth. By part- strong reputation, comprehensive nering in research efforts that base of knowledge, ability to translate Media Coverage both report on and outline policy and disseminate arcane and complex Over the period studied, Election- options, Electionline.org might material and its relationships with line.org was referenced in 126 media develop insights that build on its those in the election field offer a solid stories, establishing that it was a clearinghouse role. foundation for Make Voting Work. consistent contributor to discussions To play this role, Electionline.org about the state of our elections. The •Stay focused on an agenda-setting must reach a broader audience that coverage was politically neutral; typi- role for election administrators and includes civic leaders, policy makers cally, Electionline.org was described journalists. Sustaining and expand- and the public, and its voice must be as an objective and nonpartisan ing Electionline.org’s agenda- consistently and clearly heard beyond research group. setting role is of paramount impor- the narrow confines of the election Twenty-eight of the stories were tance if it is to remain a relevant cycle. written by Electionline.org staff and contributor to a reform agenda. To succeed, Pew is committed to appeared in the journal Campaigns By producing research, and deepening Electionline.org’s capacity and Elections, demonstrating the not being merely a clearinghouse, to diagnose problems in the election regularity of Electionline.org’s reach Electionline.org is more likely to system and identify and rigorously into one of the most important elec- have substantive influence on evaluate proposed solutions. Having tion-reform publications. As would election reform. It should main- already developed a core competence be expected, coverage was higher in tain its steadfast commitment to in collecting comprehensive cross-state election years. providing facts and trustworthy information, Electionline.org will take information, and offer an evi- the next step: strengthen significantly RECOMMENDATIONS dence-based foundation for elec- its ability to drill down into the most •Protect and develop the high regard tion officials’ decision-making, critical issues, provide more analysis Electionline.org has attained. Because helping inform their options for and assessment, and commission Electionline.org occupies a some- reform. and manage the independent re- what unusual niche in that key search that the field acutely needs. stakeholders—election administra- AFTERMATH Above all, Electionline.org will tors, journalists and advocates—find it In a relatively short time, Elec- preserve its reputation as a trusted to be timely and politically neutral, tionline.org has made tremendous source of unbiased, accurate and Electionline.org must maintain its strides in establishing itself as an objective information. In fact, the only reputation as reliable and independ- important clearinghouse on voting way to move a reform agenda is by ent as it undertakes new activities. practices and election reform. Key grounding it in the best research and stakeholders—election officials and using the knowledge gained to guide •Cultivate a more influential role administrators, researchers, journal- policies and practices that will serve for Electionline.org. Earning the ists and advocates—report a high the public well. Electionline.org will trust of election-administration level of confidence in Electionline.org continue to merit the field’s respect officials is one of Electionline.org’s and confirm their reliance on it for as it spearheads the research and major accomplishments. The time the most current and comprehensive analysis that guide Pew’s efforts in is ripe for Electionline.org to move information. election reform. ■T from generating reports to an Yet, as an operating project of Pew, expanded research program by it has the potential to do even more. Glee Holton is a senior officer in Planning and conducting original research on (In becoming a public charity in 2004, Evaluation at Pew. Trust / Spring 2007 27 Recent Grants and Allocations N i c k

C a l o y i a n i s / N

a this new project supports four University of Miami t i o

n activities: a symposium on the Coral Gables, FL, $3,000,000, 3 yrs. a l

G current state of whale conserva- To support the Pew Institute for e

o tion; research through the Lenfest Ocean Science. g r a Ocean Program refuting Japan’s Contact: Ellen Pikitch, Ph.D. p h

i claim that killing whales protects 212.756.0042 c / G fish stocks for human consump- www.pewoceanscience.org e t t y tion; efforts to increase the num-

I m ber of whale-advocate nations at Global Warming and Climate Change a g

e the International Whaling Com- s mission; and strategies for build- CNA Corporation ing a constituency in Japan to Alexandria, VA, $150,000, 9 mos. protect whales. For the Climate Change and National Security project to Save Our Wild Salmon Coalition conduct nonpartisan research, Seattle, WA, $2,250,000, 27 mos. analysis and outreach on how For general operating support. global climate change will affect Contact: James P. Ford our national security. 208.345.9067 Contact: Sherri Goodman www.wildsalmon.org 703.824.2097 www.cna.org The University of British Columbia Ceres, Inc. Vancouver, BC, $2,500,000, 2 yrs. Boston, MA, $400,000, 2 yrs. To refine and expand the Sea For the Climate Change project Around Us Project’s database of to expand business support for information and analysis on the global warming solutions through ecosystem impacts of commercial nonpartisan technical research, fishing and the overall health of analysis and outreach to the insur- the world’s oceans. ance and coal industries, the elec- Contact: Daniel Pauly, Ph.D. tric sector and the financial commu- A beluga whale, member of a sociable species that faces many natural 604.822.1202 nity. and human-caused threats. www.seaaroundus.org Contact: Mindy S. Lubber 617.247.0700 www.ceres.org ADVANCING POLICY the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and SOLUTIONS the Sandler Family Supporting Foundation. Environment Contact: Steve Ganey 503.230.0901 D

Conservation of Living Marine www.pewtrusts.org L I L

Resources L C / Protecting Whales in the 21st C o r

Marine Fish Conservation Century: A Campaign of the Pew b i Network Charitable Trusts s Washington, DC, $305,000, 1 yr. Philadelphia, PA, up to $4,000,000, For the Magnuson Implementation 2 yrs. Project to defend existing fisheries Contact: J. Charles Fox conservation policies and advance 202.552.2140 key recommendations of the Pew www.pewtrusts.org Oceans Commission through public education, policy analysis Whales are the largest and and strategic communications. most charismatic of all marine Contact: Lee R. Crockett species, but these characteristics 202.543.5509 did not protect them from aggres- www.conservefish.org sive whale hunting, which severely depleted virtually all species until The Pew Charitable Trusts for the a worldwide moratorium adopted Fisheries Conservation Initiative by the International Whaling Philadelphia, PA, up to $5,664,000, Commission in 1982. By most 2 yrs. measures, that moratorium was To support a series of activities a significant success, although designed to monitor, assess and some species remain on the verge influence the administrative actions of extinction, and the three whal- of fisheries managers in key regions ing nations—Iceland, Norway of the United States. and especially Japan—appear to Funding partners of this initiative be growing less discriminate in The humpback whale is known for its breaching and its “song.” are the Oak Foundation, The David the species they target. and Lucile Packard Foundation, To conserve whales and constrain commercial whaling, 28 Trust / Spring 2007

League of Conservation Voters an effort to protect critical wildlife Education Fund and fish habitat. Washington, DC, $350,000, 15 mos. Contact: Matthew B. Connelly For the Global Warming Public 202.508.3449 Education Campaign to educate www.trcp.org and engage the public, media and opinion leaders about global warm- United States Public Interest ing as a pressing national priority. Research Group Education Fund Contact: Gene Karpinski Washington, DC, $1,750,000, 1 yr. 202.785.8683 For the Heritage Forest Campaign Listening to Vivaldi’s Four Seasons by Molly Sand. www.lcveducation.org to participate in new multi-state federal rule-makings to protect U.S. sure trust in the medical profession La Salle University Natural Resources Defense forest roadless areas from logging, by eliminating conflicts of interest Philadelphia, PA, $70,000, 2 yrs. Council, Inc. mining and other commodity that jeopardize high-quality medical For support of the Executive New York, NY, $200,000, 2 yrs. development. treatment. Service Corps of the Delaware To facilitate the development of Contact: Marjorie Alt 617.292.4800 Contact: Robert Restuccia Valley to improve the effectiveness coal gasification projects with www.uspirg.org 617.275.2814 of small nonprofit organizations in carbon capture and storage in the www.prescriptionproject.org the Philadelphia region. interior west of the United States. Contact: Laura Otten, Ph.D. Contact: Dale S. Bryk Health and Human Services The Institute for College Access 215.951.1118 212.727.2700 and Success, Inc. www.lasallenonprofitcenter.org www.nrdc.org Biomedical Research and Training Berkeley, CA, $3,000,000, 2 yrs. For the Student Debt Initiative to United Way of Southeast Securing America’s Future The Chemical Heritage advance practical policy options Delaware County Energy Foundation Foundation to reduce the burden of student Chester, PA, $75,000, 1 yr. Washington, DC, $200,000, 1 yr. Philadelphia, PA, $731,000, 3 yrs. loan debt. For the 2006 annual campaign. For the Business Leaders Outreach Contact: Arthur A. Daemmrich Contact: Robert Shireman Contact: Louis C. Mahlman on Oil Dependence project to 215.873.8214 510.647.4303 610.874.8646 x103 strengthen and expand the involve- www.chemheritage.org www.projectonstudentdebt.org www.uwdelco.org ment of prominent business leaders in the debate over solutions to our For more than 20 years, the The Pew Charitable Trusts for United Way of Southeastern nation’s oil dependence by support- Pew Scholars Program in the Kids are Waiting Pennsylvania ing a series of regional roundtables, Biomedical Sciences has identi- Philadelphia, PA, up to $4,000,000, Philadelphia, PA, $1,040,000, 1 yr. research and analysis, and media fied and invested in promising 1 yr. For the 2006 Annual Campaign to outreach. mid-to-early-career researchers In support of the Trusts’ foster care assist agencies to improve the Contact: Robbie Diamond by providing funding and other initiative. quality of preschool child care and 202.295.4715 opportunities to advance their Contact: Hope A. Cooper education and for support of the www.secureenergy.org research. A parallel program, the 215.575.9050 Jewish Federation of Greater Pew Scholars Oral History and www.kidsarewaiting.org Philadelphia. World Resources Institute Archives Project, has documented Contact: Susan Forman Washington, DC, $125,000, 2 yrs. the scientists’ experiences in Other Projects 215.665.2568 To build consensus about the appro- their own voices, capturing the www.uwsepa.org priate regulatory framework to social, cultural, technological Camphill Village Kimberton govern the development and mon- and scientific forces at play in Hills, Inc. itoring of large carbon-capture and the biomedical sciences. Kimberton, PA storage projects. This grant supports the transfer I. For continued support of its Contact: Jonathan Pershing of the oral histories and archives Aging in Community program, Correction 202.729.7600 to the Chemical Heritage Foun- $120,000, 3 yrs. The fall 2006 issue of Trust www.wri.org dation. Staff at the foundation II. For continued support of its incorrectly identified individuals will catalog and digitize existing building maintenance program, appearing in photos in association Old-Growth Forests and Wilderness archives, conduct oral histories $180,000, 3 yrs. with support given to projects on Protection for new Pew scholars, re-inter- Contact: Richard Mangan improving the foster care system view selected alumni and 610.935.0300 (Recent Grants, page 29). The man Campaign for America’s develop Web pages to increase www.camphillkimberton.org featured with two children in the Wilderness public access to the material. top photo is Terry Cross, executive Durango, CO, $3,000,000, 1 yr. By taking full advantage of the Church Memorial Park director of the National Indian For general operating support. foundation’s expertise, the proj- Chester, NS, $160,000, 4 yrs. Child Welfare Association. Contact: John Gilroy 585.249.0978 ect will continue to provide an For general operating support. The children in the two group www.leaveitwild.org intellectual portrait of modern Contact: Thomas Graves photos were mistakenly identified as science and insight into the 902.275.4628 being in foster care. In fact, these Trout Unlimited National Office factors shaping the careers of www.churchmemorialpark.ns.ca children, from the Portland, Ore., Arlington, VA, $750,000, 1 yr. some of today’s most accom- area, were photographed while at- For the Theodore Roosevelt Conser- plished biomedical scientists. George Junior Republic tending an association picnic last vation Partnership to more fully Grove City, PA, $300,000, 2 yrs. year and are not in foster care. The and effectively engage America’s National Program To construct a new family National Indian Child Welfare As- 40 million hunters and anglers in visitation center. sociation has a policy of not photo- Community Catalyst, Inc. Contact: James F. Bird graphing foster children. Boston, MA, $6,000,000, 2 yrs. 724.458.9330 For the Prescription Project to en- www.gjrinpa.org

The pictures on these two pages are by children in a holistic program of early childhood education conducted by visual artist Jacqueline Unanue in Philadelphia. Trust / Spring 2007 29

State Policy Initiatives NCSL Foundation for State disclosure in the 50 states. at expanding access and improv- Legislatures Contact: Saskia Mills 530.750.7650 ing accuracy through an array Early Education Denver, CO, $400,000, 2 yrs. www.calvoter.org of applied research; piloting To inform state policy makers innovations from the business, Action Against Crime and Violence of the options for and benefits of Make Voting Work high-tech and international Education Fund, Fight Crime: investments in high-quality election communities; disseminat- Invest in Kids prekindergarten for all 3- and The Pew Charitable Trusts for the ing best practices; and establish- Washington, DC, $330,000, 18 4-year-olds. Make Voting Work Initiative ing consistent performance mos. Contact: Steffanie Clothier Philadelphia, PA, up to $3,100,000, standards against which to For the Business Leader Initiative 303.856.1416 1 yr. measure progress in the field to engage state and local business www.ncsl.org Contact: Michael Caudell-Feagan and hold states accountable for leaders in contributing to public 202.552.2142 the conduct of elections. debates on the need for high-quality National School Boards www.pewtrusts.org early education and other essential Association Other Projects supports for children. Alexandria, VA, $448,000, 2 yrs. The 2000 U.S. presidential Contact: David S. Kass For Thinking Pre-K-12 to educate election revealed a fragmented RAND Corporation 202.776.0027 x119 and engage local school-board and antiquated election system. Santa Monica, CA, $500,000, 2 yrs. www.fightcrime.org members in support of quality While the 2002 Help America For the Gulf States Policy Institute prekindergarten for all children. Vote Act was intended to solve in support of nonpartisan research Committee for Economic Contact: Patte Barth 703.838.6721 some of the problems, instead, and policy analysis on critical Development www.nsba.org states and localities have adopted issues facing Louisiana, Mississippi Washington, DC, $312,000, 2 yrs. technologies and practices and Alabama in the wake of Hurri- To engage national business Teachers College Columbia without clear evidence of their cane Katrina. leaders and United Way members in University impact, adequate preparation Contact: George Penick, Ph.D. support of quality prekindergarten. New York, NY, $446,000, 2 yrs. for their implementation or 601.979.2449 Contact: Michael J. Petro To build media knowledge of the careful consideration of alterna- www.rand.org 202.296.5860 x15 issues surrounding universal tives. Each election cycle provides www.ced.org prekindergarten and increase the further evidence that we are far Historical Interests quality of media coverage of early from the state-of-the-art election The Institute for Educational education. system American voters want Cornell University Leadership, Inc. Contact: Richard Lee Colvin and deserve. Ithaca, NY, $2,000,000, 4 yrs. Washington, DC, $4,950,000, 1 yr. 212.870.1073 Make Voting Work is an effort For the Advancing Cornell’s For Pre-K Now to support state www.tc.columbia.edu to modernize elections by advanc- Mission in the 21st Century project public education and advocacy ing policies and practices that for continuing the Cornell Presiden- campaigns as well as inform Improving Elections make voting convenient for tial Research Scholarship Program national debates on the benefits eligible voters without compro- for undergraduates and developing of and need for high-quality California Voter Foundation mising accuracy. It will work university-wide interdisciplinary prekindergarten for all. Davis, CA, $591,000, 2 yrs. with partners across the country curriculum and research initiatives Contact: Libby Doggett For the Campaign Disclosure to spur advances by: rigorously on sustainable development, 202.862.9865 project to increase transparency diagnosing problems in our digital information and genomics. www.preknow.org and accountability of money in elections; determining which Contact: Biddy Martin, Ph.D. politics by improving the quality innovations are most effective 607.255.2364 and quantity of campaign finance www.cornell.edu Flowers by Ana Borgstede. Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA, $2,000,000, 4 yrs. To expand the Presidential Prize Fellowships Program, which supports Ph.D. students in the humanities and social sciences. Contact: Rebecca W. Bushnell, Ph.D. 215.898.7320 www.upenn.edu

INFORMATION

MacNeil/Lehrer Productions Arlington, VA, $125,000, 6 mos. For the production of a second one-hour documentary of Generation Next: Speak Up. Be Heard, highlighting the lives, beliefs and aspirations of young Americans, to be aired nationally in prime time on PBS stations. Contact: Dan Werner, Esq. 703.998.2847 www.pbs.org/newshour/ generation-next P M a a o 30 Trust / Spring 2007 r k l a

O N s o t e g r u m r a a s n Amnesia Curiosa, 2006, by performance artist Geoffrey Sobelle. (Pew Fellowships in the Arts) CIVIC LIFE

Culture C y l l

Greater Philadelphia Cultural a

Alliance o n

Philadelphia, PA, $392,000, 3 yrs. T i e d

In support of establishing, at the e m

Arts Council of New Orleans, the a n New Orleans FunGuide, an online n calendar and half-price e-mail ticket program to increase awareness, The Philadelphia Theatre Company’s attendance and earned income for development workshop for Bill cultural organizations in the Greater Irwin’s The Happiness Lecture. New Orleans region. (Philadelphia Theatre Initiative) Contact: Thomas Kaiden 215.557.7811 x17 The Dirty Dozen Brass Band. (Philadelphia Music Project) www.artscouncilofneworleans.org Fellowships in the Arts, a program C

means that they can share core y that awards financial support to l l a

The Pew Charitable Trusts for the costs such as rent, utilities, office

v individual artists. o

Tessitura Consortium supplies and equipment, and can n Contact: Melissa Franklin

T i Philadelphia, PA, up to $930,000, 1 yr. all take advantage of technology e 267.350.4921 d e

With financial support from the upgrades that would be prohib- m www.pewarts.org a

William Penn Foundation, to itively expensive for any single n strengthen the capacity of the initiative. n The University of the Arts local culture community by estab- More than merely a facility for Philadelphia, PA, $1,231,000, 1 yr. lishing the Tessitura Consortium, housing the initiatives, the center In support of the Philadelphia a project to install a shared patron- has, in effect, become a new re- Exhibitions Initiative, an artistic management software system in source for the arts and heritage development program that provides several local nonprofit theater community with the ultimate funding for public art exhibitions companies. beneficiaries being artists, insti- and publications in the Philadelphia Contact: Gregory T. Rowe tutions and audiences in the five-county region. 215.575.4875 Philadelphia region. Contact: Paula Marincola www.pewtrusts.org Each year the seven programs 267.350.4930 at the center support more than www.philexin.org Philadelphia Museum of Art 600 performances, exhibitions Philadelphia, PA, $3,000,000, 3 mos. and other public programs. They The University of the Arts For the acquisition of The Gross also encourage the development Philadelphia, PA, $1,259,000, 1 yr. Clinic, an oil-on-canvas portrait of of high levels of artistic and In support of the Philadelphia Dr. Samuel Gross painted by management capacity through Music Project, a program to Thomas Eakins in 1875, and to seminars, publications and other enhance the creation and presenta- permit the painting to be displayed activities designed to develop tion of music activities by Philadel- publicly in perpetuity in Philadelphia. and sustain a rich array of world- phia-area nonprofit music organi- (See page 36.) class cultural programs for the zations. Contact: Anne d’Harnoncourt region’s residents and tourists. Contact: Matthew Levy 215.684.7701 267.350.4960 www.philamuseum.org The University of the Arts www.philadelphiamusicproject.org Philadelphia, PA, $1,130,000, 1 yr. Philadelphia Center for Arts and In support of Dance Advance, a Farewell My Concubine performed Heritage program to enhance the creation by the Philadelphia Chinese Opera The renovated Christ Church and presentation of dance by Society, 2004. (Dance Advance) Burial Ground. (Heritage Philadelphia The University of the Arts Philadelphia-area companies, Program) Philadelphia, PA, $836,000, 1 yr. artists and presenters. Contact: Melissa Franklin Contact: William Bissell C y

267.350.4921 267.350.4970 l l a

www.pcah.us www.danceadvance.org v o

Pennsylvania Ballet’s Swan Lake, 2004. n

T i

(Dance Advance) e

n 2005, the Trusts’ six Artistic The University of the Arts d

I e Initiatives, along with the Phila- Philadelphia, PA, $1,158,000, 1 yr. m a n

delphia Cultural Management In support of the Heritage n Initiative, were moved to a single Philadelphia Program, to provide location, the Philadelphia Center grants and professional development for Arts and Heritage, in order to organizations in the region that to facilitate the exchange of preserve and interpret historic ideas and sharing of intellectual sites and collections that relate to resources among the programs. the nation’s founding and history. Together, the initiatives develop Contact: Paula Marincola programs that address both 267.350.4950 C

administrative and programmatic www.heritagephila.org y l l a

issues and encourage cross- v o

disciplinary interactions among The University of the Arts n

T i

artists and cultural institutions. Philadelphia, PA, $1,104,000, 1 yr. e d

Housing the programs together In support of renewal of the Pew e m a n n See pages 34-35 for the Philadelphia Exhibitions Initiative. Trust / Spring 2007 31

In need of repairs: the Georgian building of Christ Church, a National Historic Landmark founded in 1695. The American Episcopal Church was born here, and the steeple (financed through a lottery organized by Benjamin Franklin) was the tallest structure in the colonies for 75 years. tives from two-thirds of the Sen- charter schools, which would ate offices. serve students in grades 7-12. This grant formalizes and ex- Funding also would aid the expan- pands the initiative to include a sion of the original Mastery bimonthly dinner series, bi- Charter High School, the Lenfest monthly breakfast discussions, campus. workshops and a retreat for the Contact: Scott Gordon chiefs of staff. These events will 215.922.1902 focus on promoting constructive www.masterycharter.org collaboration, addressing common administrative challenges National Center on Philanthropy and building on the skills the and the Law, Inc. chiefs require to create an envi- New York, NY, $200,000, 2 yrs. ronment that leads to better- In support of a series of conferences informed and more effective to provide a neutral forum for public policy. rigorous discussion of emerging issues affecting the nonprofit sector. Eleutherian Mills - Hagley Contact: Ingrid Hang 212.998.6168 Foundation, Inc. www.law.nuy.edu/ncpl Wilmington, DE, $120,000, 3 yrs. For general operating support of National Constitution Center the Hagley Foundation’s Library Philadelphia, PA Center for the History of Business, I. For the development of a Consti- Technology and Society, which tutional Convention for high school provides archives and research students from all 50 states to take on America’s economic and place around Constitution Day, technological heritage. $100,000, 2 yrs. Contact: Theresa R. Snyder II. In support of the National 302.658.2400 x344 Constitution Center’s efforts to www.hagley.org make Constitution Day a more significant national event through the The Foundation Center creation of an online education ini- New York, NY, $255,000, 3 yrs. tiative and on-site programming, For general operating support. $200,000, 2 yrs. Contact: Sara L. Engelhardt Contact: Jane Eisner 215.409.6600 The University of the Arts 212.807.3607 www.constitutioncenter.org Philadelphia, PA, $1,258,000, 1 yr. www.foundationcenter.org In support of the Philadelphia The Pew Charitable Trusts for Theatre Initiative, a program to The Friends of Benjamin the Economic Mobility Project enhance the creation and presen- Franklin House Philadelphia, PA, up to $2,200,000, tation of theater activities by London, England, $150,000, 1 yr. 2 yrs. Philadelphia-area nonprofit profes- In support of the restoration of To inform the national discussion sional theaters and artists. Contact: Donald U. Smith the Benjamin Franklin house in on income mobility, a fundamental Contact: Fran Kumin 267.350.4940 215.922.1695 x29 London, where Franklin lived and element of American capitalism, by www.philadelphiatheatreinitiative.org www.oldchristchurch.org conducted diplomatic assignments (1) aggregating the best available on behalf of the American colonies data on the facts, figures and trends Civic Initiatives Congressional Management from 1757 to 1775. in the United States; and (2) widely Foundation Contact: Márcia Balisciano, Ph.D. disseminating these findings to Central Philadelphia Development Washington, DC, $313,000, 27 44 020 7939 2006 the public, press and policy-maker Corporation mos. www. benjaminfranklinhouse.org communities. Philadelphia, PA, $500,000, 1 yr. Contact: Richard Shapiro Contact: John Morton To highlight the handsome architec- 202.546.0100 The Gesu School, Inc. 202.552.2144 ture along South Broad Street’s www.cmfweb.org Philadelphia, PA, $250,000, 1 yr. www.economicmobility.org Avenue of the Arts and to enhance For the Building for Tomorrow nighttime appreciation of some of The well-documented and con- project to support renovations and Religion Philadelphia’s most important tinual decline in bipartisanship in new construction that would expand cultural assets by designing and Congress over the past decade is and enhance the capacity of the Quebec-Labrador Foundation, Inc. installing new facade lighting. one of the most serious impedi- Gesu School to educate students Ipswich, MA, $250,000, 3 yrs. Contact: Nancy A. Goldenberg ments to the efficient functioning in one of Philadelphia’s most To support the Quebec-Labrador 215.440.5548 of our federal government. To impoverished neighborhoods. Foundation’s ministry among the www.centercityphila.org increase the opportunities for Contact: Christine S. Beck people and clergy of the Quebec bipartisan compromise, senior 215.763.3660 North Shore, and to complete the Christ Church Preservation Trust staff in the offices of U.S. senators www.gesuschool.org documentation of the ministry’s Philadelphia, PA, $500,000, 2 yrs. from both sides of the aisle initi- accomplishments during the last To support preservation of historic ated a series of pragmatic discus- Mastery Charter High School 43 years. Christ Church in Philadelphia, sions in a promising effort to Philadelphia, PA, $250,000, 1 yr. Contact: Elizabeth Alling which played an important role improve government effective- To support the conversion of 978.356.0038 x6763 in the founding of the American ness. Their effort, launched in three low-performing Philadelphia www.qlf.org republic. 2004, now includes representa- district middle schools to mastery 32 Trust / Spring 2007 Briefings

For more than a century, product advertising has been news journalism’s bread and butter, the income genera- tor. In this era of new technologies and types of competition, does that limited ambition.” Rather than try to That has major implications—for model still hold? manage decline, many news organi- instance, news organizations Audiences are splintered among zations have taken the next step of broadening what they consider a host of new and traditional news starting to redefine their appeal and the journalistic functions to include sources. Does this mean that the their purpose based on diminished activities such as online searches established metrics for measuring capacity. and citizen media. audiences are either flawed or obsolete? Increasingly, outlets are looking Perhaps most important, the math Every media sector, even online for brand or franchise areas of cover- suggests they almost certainly news, is losing audience share (except age to build audiences. Examples: must find a way to get consumers radio and the ethnic press), and, to more local coverage at the expense to pay for digital content. The notion survive, they are finding allies among of news from elsewhere; personality that the Internet is free is already former competitors. What kinds of and opinion; “citizen media” rather disproved. Those who report the future do they see for themselves? than professionally trained journal- news just aren’t sharing in the fees. If there can be a hint of what’s to ists. “In a sense,” says the report, •The key question is whether the come, it might well be found in The “all news organizations are becoming investment community sees the news State of the News Media 2007, the latest more niche players, basing their business as a declining industry or of the annual reports on American appeal less on how they cover the an emerging one in transition. journalism produced by the Project news and more on what they cover.” Yet if news companies do not assert for Excellence in Journalism, an Potential consequences of the their own vision here, including initiative of the Pew Research Center. narrowed focus? Doing less. Letting making a case and taking risks, In addition to statistics on the media bias rule. Becoming even less a part their future will be defined by those in the previous year, the reports of Americans’ information mix. What less invested in and passionate identify key trends facing the media. does the profession need? “New vision,” about news. In the past, the project (to quote the the study advises, adding that journal- •There are growing questions about current study) has noted that “jour- ism has tended to react tentatively, whether the dominant ownership nalism’s challenge is not from tech- leaving experimentation to those model of the last generation, the nology or lack of interest in news but outside the profession. public corporation, is suited to the from diminished economic potential; With that background, the study transition newsrooms must now that power is moving to those who goes on to detail the major trends make. Private markets now appear make news away from those who cover to watch—and questions to pose— to value media properties more it; that there are now several compet- in 2007: highly than Wall Street does. Are ing models of journalism, with cheaper, these potential new private owners less accurate ones gaining momen- •News organizations need to do more motivated by public interest or tum; that while there are more outlets to think through the implications of merely by the profit possibilities delivering news, that has generally this new era of shrinking ambitions. after aggressive cost-cutting? not meant covering a broader range Does localism mean provincialism? Public ownership tends to make of stories.” Should news organizations, so as companies play by the same rules. For 2006, “the pace of change has not to abandon more high-level Private ownership has few leveling accelerated,” the study says. “The coverage, enlist citizen sentinels influences. trends reshaping journalism didn’t to monitor community news? To •The “argument culture” of most just quicken, they seemed to be near- what extent do journalists still talk shows—mock debates about ing a pivot point.” have a role in creating a broad issues—is giving way to something A possibly irrelevant business agenda of common knowledge? new, the “answer culture,” in news model, outdated ways of measuring •The news industry must become outlets. Programs and journalists audiences, risky new lines of work more aggressive about developing a offer solutions, crusades, certainty and partnerships—all suggest that new economic model. Already the and the impression of putting the journalism is “entering a new phase predictions of advertising growth blur of information in clear order heading into 2007—a phase of more on the Web are being scaled back. for people. Trust / Spring 2007 33

The tone may be just as extreme because, marking the nation’s bicen- private pledges, with Philadelphia as before, but now the other side tennial in 1976, the architect Robert first to take part. is not given equal play. “Answers” Venturi developed a skeletal, steel- In March, at a U.S. Senate subcom- represent an appeal more idiosyn- framed version of the building—a mittee hearing on his department’s cratic and less ideological than so-called ghost structure connecting budget, Kempthorne was asked how pure partisan journalism. visitors to that founding father and he thought other potential funders •Blogging is on the brink of a new the city’s revolutionary roots. would respond to the matching chal- phase that will probably include lenge. “They do not want to be the a M n

scandal, profitability for some and a a margin of survival for the parks,” he d r

k A

C splintering into elites and non-elites s said. “They’re willing to step up and s o o h c e i a over standards and ethics. What n to be the margin of excellence.” He t , e

c s o gives blogging its authenticity and , cited the event at Franklin Court and

u I n r t c e .

momentum—its open access—also s the funding structure offered by Pew. y

o f

makes it vulnerable to being used “So there’s $18 million that’s real that V e n

and manipulated. t shows you the response we get from u r i ,

Meanwhile, some very popular S the foundations and the private sector.” c o t

bloggers are already becoming t Kyle Wind

B r businesses or being assimilated by o w establishment media. Will blogging, n Blogs, podcasts—the new commu- then, still be “citizen” media? Ben Franklin “slept” here. nications often classified as “citizen To protect themselves, some of journalism”—are clearly affecting the best-known bloggers are form- The site, Franklin Court, includes our society. But how? Who’s involved? ing associations, with ethics codes, an underground museum with inter- Technology commentator Mark Glaser standards of conduct and more: esting artifacts, pictures and quota- says that the answers involve a lot of the paradox of professionalizing tions that strengthen the history lesson. guessing. (He hosts the PBS-sup- to preserve one’s integrity as an Over the years, however, this attrac- ported blog MediaShift, “your guide independent citizen platform. tion has not fared well, partly because to the digital media revolution.”) •While journalists are becoming more it does not offer visitors the oppor- “But why rely on hunches and serious about the Web, no clear models tunity to interact with the exhibits, assumptions when there’s the Pew of how to do journalism online really the mode of museum presentation Internet & American Life Project,” exist yet, and some qualities are still that now excites audiences. he continues. “Every time an argument only marginally explored. The root To modernize the museum, an comes up around a hot new technol- media no longer strictly define a $18-million redesign was announced ogy, Pew Internet is the authoritative site’s character: The Web sites of in February. Pew pledged $6 million, source that can break through the The Washington Post and The New pending equal amounts from the federal hype with hard numbers.” York Times, for instance, are more government and from community One hot topic is “social networking,” dissimilar than the papers are in and state leaders. with the explosive growth of Web print. Sites have done more to U.S. Secretary of the Interior Dirk sites such as MySpace (founded in exploit immediacy than to explore Kempthorne was present to praise 2003) and Facebook (established in the potential for depth. the effort, which he links to what he 2004). Here, people describe them- calls the “Centennial Challenge” bene- selves through words, music, photos Go to http://journalism.org for the fiting the National Park System. In and videos, developing personal pro- Project for Excellence in Journal- 2016, the system celebrates its cen- files that may attract a cyberspace ism’s complete annual report. tennial, and how bright the candles following. This activity has grown will glow depends on a proposed $2 from a niche pastime to one that report- If Benjamin Franklin suddenly ap- billion over a decade to fund the 390 edly involves (on MySpace alone) peared in Philadelphia, he wouldn’t parks and national monuments under more than 150 million people world- be able to go home—his house, in the umbrella of the National Park wide, with some 230,000 joining daily. Philadelphia’s historic area, was Service; those funds are separate from According to the Pew Internet razed in 1812, and existing records the service’s annual budget. If approved Project, 55 percent of Internet users are insufficient to reproduce it. But he by Congress, 10-year support of $100 from ages 12 through 17 in the United might be able to feel its vibes. That’s million yearly would be matched by States participate; 70 percent of older 34 Trust / Spring 2007

The camera obscura is the oldest and simplest photographic inside is so dim, long exposure times are required to capture device—a box with a hole in it. Light passes through the the projection. hole and, on the opposite interior wall of the box, produces Thus it was that 30th Street Station, Philadelphia, IV: an image of the view outside. April 20, 2006 by Vera Lutter (above) required 105 minutes When the opposite wall is photosensitive paper, a per- to record, too long to record people or trains passing by, manent image appears—eventually. Because the light although exceedingly slow objects might leave trace shad-

girls have profiles. Yet 66 percent of James Madison avowed the impor- visibility issues,” and can be accessed teens restrict access to their informa- tance of public opinion when he at http://pewresearch.org. tion—countering the idea that “they’re wrote, in the Federalist Papers, “Public Kyle Wind plastering personal information over opinion sets bounds to every govern- their profiles for anyone and every- ment, and is the real sovereign in There were headlines last fall one to read,” says Amanda Lenhart, every free one.” No wonder, then, when the American population who wrote the study with Mary that we still value public opinion—as reached 300 million, with 400 mil- Madden; both are senior research long as we can trust those who do lion predicted by 2043. Of less specialists at the project. the polling. immediate concern were some of And what are the teens doing with In December, The Philadelphia the implications. For instance, the their sites? Ninety one percent stay Inquirer listed some of the “most number of American workers will in touch with friends. Girls generally quoted and more reliable” survey grow, but will they be any better reinforce pre-existing friendships, while groups, which included the Pew prepared for a financially secure boys are more likely to make new Research Center as well as Euro- retirement? Unfortunately, no—if friends or “flirt in the comfort of an barometer, Gallup and Zogby. The existing trends continue. online environment,” says Madden. center, the article noted, “publishes Retirement saving has declined The Pew Internet Project is an ini- a constant flow of information from dramatically over the past ten tiative of the Pew Research Center and its ongoing surveys of public opinion years. In fact, according to the can be found at www.pewinternet.org. about government actions, the media, most recent Commerce Department Kyle Wind use of the Internet and other high- report, the savings rate for fiscal Trust / Spring 2007 35

ows. Lutter used photographic paper, not negative film, presented last fall by The Print Center and supported by making her photograph one-of-a-kind; its actual size is Pew’s Philadelphia Exhibitions Initiative. 50 3/8” x 146”. You can make a camera obscura from an oatmeal box Lutter was joined by Ann Hamilton and Abelardo Morell or from an entire room. The Print Center’s Web site, in making long-exposure images in Philadelphia for the www.printcenter.org, has the instructions and much more exhibition Taken with Time: A Camera Obscura Project, educational information based on the exhibition. year 2006 was a staggering negative in ten workers who reported saving Project, a partnership of Brookings 1 percent. These downward statis- in the 2006 Retirement Confidence and Georgetown University’s Public tics are true across the spectrum Survey (Employee Benefit Research Policy Institute. of workers: Institute, 2006) have saved less The authors point out that the cur- than $50,000. rent retirement savings system does •Nearly one out of two American not work for lower-income households, workers—totaling some 75 million— A new book addresses this situation who need it the most. The system currently has no employer-spon- and proposes legislative and adminis- offers few incentives to participate sored savings plan. trative changes that would make saving and little guidance to navigate through •Only 1 in 2 employees who do have for retirement easier for middle- and confusing issues such as level of access to a saving vehicle is taking lower-income households, while at the contribution, retention and investment advantage of this resource. same time offering practical savings allocation. As Gale often puts it “You •About 1 in 4 eligible employees ideas for workers. Aging Gracefully: don’t have to be a mechanic to drive “leaves money on the table” and Ideas to Improve Retirement Security in a car, and you shouldn’t need a Ph.D. fails to participate even when America was published by the Century in financial economics to navigate the offered employer matching con- Foundation Press and written by pension system.” tributions and tax advantages for William G. Gale, J. Mark Iwry and Yet surveys and a Retirement contributing. Peter R. Orszag, Brookings Institution Security Project research experiment •Even those who do save are often scholars who are principals of the have shown that people will save for not saving enough. More than six Pew-supported Retirement Security retirement if it is made easy, and that 36 Trust / Spring 2007

fact is the basis of the authors’ com- think about something along these purchase the painting; both institutions mon-sense recommendations for lines. One of the appeals is that visitors will exhibit it publicly. policy changes. can download the sections they are The Annenberg Foundation is They argue for: automatic 401(k) interested in. Since the region in Vir- donating $10 million to the effort. H.F. features for workers in companies ginia is about 150 miles long, it solves (Gerry) Lenfest, Joseph Neubauer and with employer-sponsored plans and the problem of ‘which end to start’ the Pew Trusts pledged $3 million automatic IRA enrollment for workers that would come with traditional CD- each. In addition, the drive to secure in companies without 401(k) plans, based tours.” the painting resulted, to date, in with workers always having the ability Not resting on its laurels, Sound- more than 3,000 donations from all to opt out; improved “Saver’s Credit” AboutPhilly adds new tours constantly. over the country. Wachovia Bank tax savings for middle- and low-income Two of the latest: “Philly Noir,” show- agreed to provide the balance of the workers who participate in these ing the city’s black history, and “Vin- financing as fundraising continues. savings plans; and reduced implicit tage,” a guide to finding collectibles. The Gross Clinic (right) is a dramatic taxes on retirement savings imposed 8-by-6.5-foot, oil-on-canvas painting of through means-tested benefit pro- Twenty-five years ago, the Philadel- Samuel D. Gross, M.D., the first grams such as food stamps, Medicaid phia Museum of Art held an exhibi- chair of surgery at Thomas Jefferson and cash welfare assistance. tion of the paintings of Thomas Eakins. University’s Medical College; witnessed For more on retirement security, In his review, the New York Times by his students, he is performing go to the project’s Web site at critic pointed out that Eakins might bone surgery on a boy. Thomas Eakins, www.retirementsecurityproject.org. be America’s greatest painter ever, a Philadelphia native, for many years Sara Friedman with his medical panoramas The an instructor and a director of the Gross Clinic and The Agnew Clinic Pennsylvania Academy, painted the “I am contacting you because I especially notable for excellence. portrait in 1875 after studying anatomy am currently working with a group Other experts have been equally under Gross. Alumni of Jefferson in Virginia to develop a marketing enthusiastic, calling The Gross Clinic Medical School bought the painting plan as well as looking at ways they “the great American masterpiece.” in 1878 for $200 and donated it to the can improve their tourist-oriented There’s no need for “debate” about institution. product to offer a great visitor expe- who might be the greatest—Eakins Echoing comments by the donors rience. We talked about audio tours, certainly ranks among them. In partic- and other local leaders, The Philadel- and I immediately thought of Sound- ular, he’s a Philadelphian, and the phia Inquirer praised the “community’s AboutPhilly.” subjects of some of his best works can-do spirit” and noted the prece- This is the kind of note that often are the region’s scenes and people. dent it might serve for other impor- arrives in the mailbox of Pew-sup- So when it seemed, in November, tant causes: “The Gross Clinic effort ported SoundAboutPhilly, a series that The Gross Clinic, which was owned shows how the Philadelphia region of city tours that you can download by Thomas Jefferson University, might can rally around a goal. Let’s build on your MP3 player or access from be sold to the National Gallery of Art on that.” anywhere via computer. in Washington and the proposed Crys- Generous praise also came from The excursions cover the city’s less- tal Bridges Museum of American Art the Arkansas Democrat Gazette. “It well-known experiences, are free and in Bentonville, Arkansas, Philadelphia’s would have been nice” to have the come with dynamic mapping, engaging leaders were challenged with raising painting in Arkansas, an editorial photography and narratives by real $68 million in only 45 days to keep stated, but it belongs where it is— Philadelphians. They can be found at the painting in Philadelphia, where it partly because it is “of Philadelphia www.gophila.com/soundabout. has always been. by a Philadelphian” and partly because The letter (from Carolyn Brackett, Shortly before the deadline in the city, in matching the offer, proved senior program associate at the Her- December, Philadelphia Mayor John that it “has a sense of place” which itage Tourism Program of the National F. Street announced the campaign’s merits such a treasure. “The Gross Trust for Historic Preservation and success: The city’s philanthropic com- Clinic went from forgotten master- printed with her permission) continues: munity had united with a nationwide piece, or at least one taken for granted, “I shared the Web site link with grassroots effort to enable two local to a symbol of Philadelphia’s renewed my client and told them I think this cultural institutions—the Pennsylva- cultural spirit and civic gumption,” is the best tour program I have seen nia Academy of the Fine Arts and the the editors said. “Yo, Philly! More anywhere and encouraged them to Philadelphia Museum of Art—to jointly power to ya!” Cindy Jobbins ■T

Seeking reform of serious flaws in the administration of the death penalty.

NONPROFIT ORG US POSTAGE PAID One Commerce Square PHILADELPHIA PA 2005 Market Street, Suite 1700 PERMIT NO. 6455 Philadelphia, PA 19103-7077