A poverty of student interest

Poor weather rained -- or rather, snowed-- on the Anti-Poverty Action Week's parade, held at Civic House last week. Activities planned for last weekend, including a reality tour of Philadelphia's drug industry and an Oxfam hunger banquet, were canceled and rescheduled. "The snow threw things off," Empty the Shelters leader and College sophomore Martha Cooney said. "Turnout hasn't been very high." And indeed, at last Friday's student workshop sponsored by ETS, attendance was limited to those already involved in Civic House programs. Yet despite the poverty of audience members, the ETS leaders forged on, undeterred. The purpose of the workshop was to make students aware of the opportunities available to those who support social and economic justice for the poor. The three ETS leaders who led the hour-long workshop addressed the stereotypes and myths associated with poor people, the history of movements aimed to end poverty and the avenues through which students can become involved. ETS is a Penn organization that works in conjunction with the Kensington Welfare Rights Union -- an internationally known organization that works locally in Philadelphia to organize poor people in order to secure housing, welfare benefits and other basic human needs. In addition to local focus, the KWRU has sponsored two national bus tours to document poverty in the United States as part of the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign founded in light of the United Nations' adoption of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights. "The ultimate goal is to create a broad base movement," said ETS leader and College sophomore Shelby Ahern. And the group recognizes that the movement requires political attention before any policy changes can be made. "Basically through education and awareness, we can improve on our ability to influence politicians," said Jesse Tendler, an ETS leader and fifth-year Management and Technology student. According to College senior Sam Heller, ETS is unique compared to other groups in that its biggest objective is education. "It is so much more about really understanding than doing one-day service projects as band-aid solutions," Heller said. Although the focus of the campaign is on the poor, Cooney extolled the universal benefits of the movement. "Rather than a movement for the poor, it is a movement for everyone," she said. "It's not just the poor who don't have healthcare," Tendler added.