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<title>08 March, 2023</title>
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<title>Daily-Dose</title><meta content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" name="viewport"/><link href="styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><link href="../styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><style>*{overflow-x:hidden;}</style><link href="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.css" rel="stylesheet"/><script src="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.js"></script></head>
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<body>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-down" id="daily-dose">Daily-Dose</h1>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" data-aos-anchor-placement="top-bottom" id="contents">Contents</h1>
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<ul>
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<li><a href="#from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-vox">From Vox</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</a></li>
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</ul>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</h1>
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<ul>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Right Side of History</strong> - How should historians respond to the urgency of this current political moment? - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-education/the-right-side-of-history">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Florida Takes Aim at the First Amendment</strong> - Two bills in the Republican-controlled state legislature propose radical alteration to libel laws. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/florida-takes-aim-at-the-first-amendment">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Serious Takeaway from CPAC: Trump and Trumpism Are Still a Threat</strong> - Behind all the craziness is a movement that has given up on truth and respecting democracy. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/the-serious-takeaway-from-cpac-trump-and-trumpism-are-still-a-threat">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>An Abandoned American Hostage Finally Makes It Home</strong> - After more than two years of neglect by the Trump and Biden Administrations, Mark Frerichs describes how he survived Taliban captivity in Afghanistan. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/an-abandoned-american-hostage-finally-makes-it-home">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>How a Young Architect Became a Tram Driver in Kharkiv</strong> - In a war-torn city, a familiar mode of public transportation became a symbol of resistance and resilience. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/dispatch/how-a-young-architect-became-a-tram-driver-in-kharkiv">link</a></p></li>
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</ul>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-vox">From Vox</h1>
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<ul>
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<li><strong>Will East Palestine ever feel safe?</strong> -
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<figure>
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<img alt="People in neon safety vests walk across a suburban street." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/SLa0bGSGldncJWfI9HyOc5NNlGc=/466x0:7909x5582/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72050541/AP23046823622323.0.jpg"/>
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<figcaption>
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Public health officials monitoring indoor air quality leave a home in East Palestine on February 15. | Gene J. Puskar/AP
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</figcaption>
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</figure>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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It’s completely reasonable to feel unsafe after the derailment, despite being told the air and water are clean.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yBneI7">
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EAST PALESTINE, Ohio — The smell doesn’t hit you right away. On Market Street, the main commercial road in town, it smells of doughnuts and McDonald’s and exhaust. It’s only when the wind picks up, or you walk toward the western edge of town, that you can catch a whiff of the chemicals.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="kH5PZT">
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Some say they smell like nail polish remover or super glue. To me, the odor was sweet, like a cheap fruity air freshener, with a bitter aftertaste.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="S2x8c0">
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It has been over a month since a large train derailed here, sending up flames taller than buildings and spewing more than 100,000 gallons of toxic chemicals into the environment. Federal and local officials have been trying to clean up the mess. And for weeks, they’ve been assuring residents that the air and water are safe, according to monitoring. It won’t put the health of residents at risk, health officials have repeatedly said.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5494if">
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Yet for many of them, East Palestine, a village of roughly 4,700 people, still doesn’t feel safe at all.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yRj59B">
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You can’t blame them. In some parts of town, the scent of chemicals still hangs in the air. You can see pollution in the streams, which appears as an iridescent sheen on the water’s surface. Independent analyses complicate the scientific side of the story. Meanwhile, a large number of people have been complaining of headaches, coughing, and other symptoms in the wake of the derailment. This has many residents asking: How can East Palestine really be safe?
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</p>
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<div class="c-float-left">
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<figure class="e-image">
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<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/rHqfxbzJL3OKpyy8N4CeAdJpcMg=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24484001/IMG_0223.jpeg"/> <cite>Courtesy of <a class="ql-link" href="https://www.instagram.com/thenortheastwild/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y%3D" target="_blank">Sam Hall</a></cite>
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<figcaption>
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A rainbow sheen is seen in a creek that runs through East Palestine called Leslie Run.
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</figcaption>
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</figure>
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</div>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rBPSFg">
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And for some locals I talked to, East Palestine will never feel safe again — even as the smells dissipate, the creek clears up, and the throngs of neon-vested officials return home. East Palestine has been permanently tainted for them. “Feel safe in East Palestine? I don’t think it’s going to happen,” Wayne Bable, a retired mechanic who’s lived in town for the last three decades, told me one morning last week.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="voXl3E">
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Making a place feel safe after an environmental disaster like this is not just about analyzing the air and water, psychologists and risk communication experts said. Peace of mind requires building trust between residents and public officials and understanding that a sense of safety is rooted in feelings, emotions, and experiences — not just in data.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="h0y1pm">
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That trust has been lost in East Palestine. And it’s far from the first case of environmental contamination to undermine faith in public services (see: Flint, Michigan). So, what can we learn this time?
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</p>
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<h3 id="UEXw8o">
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The unsurprising reasons residents still don’t feel safe in East Palestine
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</h3>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="J5C2Je">
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The smell of chemicals worsens as you approach Brushville Supply, a store on the eastern edge of town that sells hoses, sanders, and other tools. It’s just over 500 feet from the tracks and in eyeshot of where the train derailed. I could see some of the derailed cars from a hill just outside the shop.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Mwpeaw">
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“I get headaches every time I come over here,” said Austin Huffman, who works at Brushville Supply, his family’s business. “During the weekends, it goes away.”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="231KFO">
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There is a strong scientific case that the air and water are safe in East Palestine. Many of the chemicals that spilled into the environment, such as vinyl chloride, can indeed be dangerous, but testing of indoor and outdoor air quality has <a href="https://ema.ohio.gov/media-publications/train-derailment-020523">consistently indicated</a> that they’re not present in harmful quantities. The same is true for the village’s drinking water.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="drdL32">
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But that doesn’t match the experience of Huffman and other residents. Medical professionals <a href="https://governor.ohio.gov/media/news-and-media/east+palestine+update-3-3-23-03032023">recently surveyed</a> 168 East Palestine residents who visited a local health clinic, and nearly three-quarters of them reported having headaches in the wake of the wreck. More than half of them reported coughing or skin irritation.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="NlcfjZ">
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The enormous gulf between official statements and how people are feeling is one reason why the dozen or so residents I talked to simply don’t trust anything public health officials are saying. Further eroding that trust (and adding confusion) are results from <a href="https://today.tamu.edu/2023/03/06/texas-am-carnegie-mellon-researchers-confirm-epas-finding-on-air-quality-in-east-palestine/">independent air quality testing</a> that detected levels of a potentially harmful chemical called acrolein that “occasionally rose above safety thresholds for long-term health concerns.”
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</p>
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<div>
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<div class="c-image-grid">
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<div class="c-image-grid__item">
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<figure class="e-image">
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<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/0wJEKronWt20njCe4Gn4dyq63fw=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24483993/IMG_9954.jpeg"/> <cite>Courtesy of <a class="ql-link" href="https://www.instagram.com/thenortheastwild/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y%3D" target="_blank">Sam Hall</a></cite>
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<figcaption>
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Dead fish found in Leslie Run, a creek that runs through East Palestine.
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</figcaption>
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</figure>
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</div>
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<div class="c-image-grid__item">
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<figure class="e-image">
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<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/HiWfoA2jpLi-r3jnOyJ1YaZ7pZY=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24483989/IMG_9932.jpeg"/> <cite>Courtesy of <a class="ql-link" href="https://www.instagram.com/thenortheastwild/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y%3D" target="_blank">Sam Hall</a></cite>
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<figcaption>
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A dead frog in Leslie Run.
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</figcaption>
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</figure>
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</div>
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</div>
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</div>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Tc14rs">
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Another daily reality making residents feel unsafe is what they’re seeing in the water.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zvGBCc">
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One afternoon last week, I visited Bable’s property south of town, which is situated adjacent to a creek called Leslie Run that snakes through East Palestine. Using a hoe, Bable turned over a large rock in the stream. A rainbow slick bloomed on the surface. Those are chemicals from the derailment, Bable said. (I wasn’t able to verify that those iridescent slicks were chemicals, but they align with <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/02/17/east-palestine-ohio-train-derailment-water/11282711002/">similar reports</a>.)
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xcknRd">
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This creek is normally teeming with minnows and crayfish, Bable told me, as he continued to pick up rocks. We didn’t see any. “They’re all dead,” he said, as a result of the spill. So far, wildlife officials estimate that the chemical spill has killed <a href="https://governor.ohio.gov/media/news-and-media/East+Palestine+Update-3-6-23-03062023">more than 43,000</a> aquatic animals including fish, frogs, and crayfish.
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</p>
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<div class="c-float-right">
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<figure class="e-image">
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<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/y2EbLCy-ZizXl1p7sUrAUt32qAw=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24485790/IMG_1916.jpg"/> <cite>Benji Jones/Vox</cite>
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<figcaption>
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Wayne Bable, a longtime resident of East Palestine, stands near Leslie Run, just south of town.
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</figcaption>
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</figure>
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</div>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="AGDN9P">
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These visual cues that residents are witnessing are incredibly powerful in shaping the perception of risk, according to Paul Slovic, a risk psychologist at the University of Oregon. “People are responding to their senses,” he said. “The smell is bad, there’s stuff in the water. That creates a feeling of vulnerability, of exposure, or lack of safety.”
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</p>
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<h3 id="kW3GBK">
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Some locals see East Palestine as permanently tainted
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</h3>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jtgjNS">
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As spring carries on, the stench of chemicals in the air will continue to subside. The fish will likely return to the creeks (I saw a small school of minnows far downstream). More complete chemical testing is likely to continue to indicate that the environment is free of harmful levels of contaminants.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3M0ofU">
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Nonetheless, some residents may never feel safe. Wayne Bable’s wife, Gail, has resided in East Palestine for more than four decades. They live about a mile and a half from the derailment, though she can see the train tracks from her kitchen window. “I’ve been up since 3 o’clock in the morning listening to the trains go by,” she said.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="29mGFY">
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Gail says she won’t feel fully safe unless she moves out of town. Nearly everyone I spoke to knew at least one person who moved away and doesn’t plan to come back. (Gail and Wayne own three properties in the region, which makes it hard to just pick up and leave, she said.)
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</p>
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<figure class="e-image">
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<img alt="Matt Freed/AP" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/-JE6NTZyYdTo5Ay7Ml-5xLkfuXg=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24487063/AP23059720756759.jpg"/> <cite>AP</cite>
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<figcaption>
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Several of the derailed cars can be seen on the western edge of East Palestine.
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</figcaption>
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</figure>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="vIUga4">
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East Palestine is a conservative town; you can see Trump signs everywhere. In the 2020 election, the former president won nearly <a href="https://apnews.com/article/politics-palestinian-territories-florida-donald-trump-ohio-a2d75b1403daa5b3b02a6f0ff1258f10">72 percent</a> of the vote in East Palestine’s Columbiana County. That could influence their feelings of safety:<strong> </strong><a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2022/06/06/public-trust-in-government-1958-2022/">Polling data</a> shows that Republicans have very little trust in the federal government, compared to Democrats (though neither political party reports feeling a large amount of trust.)
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="keSmMw">
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“I don’t trust our government,” Wayne Bable said. “I will never trust our government.”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VZUF7P">
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But regardless of someone’s politics, Slovic said, their sense of safety often has more to do with feelings and emotions than it does any data analysis. That’s why more scientific data may not return the sense of safety to town.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="57cG4h">
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“Risk exists in us mostly as a gut feeling, not as a calculation,” he said. “They feel that their community is contaminated. When you have that image in your mind — of contamination — you can’t be comfortable. People are relying on thoughts and feelings that are very hard to get rid of.”
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</p>
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<div class="c-float-right">
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<aside id="Jj6fZ9">
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<q>“When you have that image in your mind — of contamination — you can’t be comfortable”</q>
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</aside>
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</div>
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<h3 id="h1wHXT">
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A better way to deal with environmental disasters
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</h3>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="pIxqN4">
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It’s hard for residents to feel safe after a severe environmental disaster like this, no matter how public officials respond. But critics say that those officials also made mistakes that sowed distrust — mistakes that we can learn from.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JusphI">
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A few days after the train wreck, Ohio officials ordered many East Palestine residents to evacuate before burning off a large amount of vinyl chloride that they said was at risk of exploding. The controlled burn created an apocalyptic scene: a giant tower of thick, dark smoke rising above the village.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lwSr0m">
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Just two days later, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine <a href="https://governor.ohio.gov/media/news-and-media/East-Palestine-Update-Residents-Can-Safely-Return-Home-02082023">announced</a>, along with the local fire chief, that residents could safely return home. Air quality monitoring, he said, didn’t detect harmful levels of pollution in the air around the derailment.
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</p>
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<figure class="e-image">
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<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/khyJuSLd570bD_FNTZikhE4hneY=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24485816/AP23037806695053.jpg"/> <cite>Gene J. Puskar/AP</cite>
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<figcaption>
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A plume of dark smoke rises over East Palestine from a controlled detonation of vinyl chloride.
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</figcaption>
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</figure>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zhm38w">
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That announcement — that it’s completely safe — made some residents suspicious and untrusting of health officials.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RcVy1d">
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The decision was based on preliminary testing, which many residents and outside experts consider incomplete. <a href="https://www.vox.com/science/2023/2/18/23603471/east-palestine-ohio-derailment-water-contamination-health">Some scientists</a> have also questioned whether those early tests were sensitive enough to capture low quantities of chemicals that could be harmful, especially when present alongside a melange of other compounds. And again, people were experiencing a range of symptoms when they returned home, including headaches.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7z2EgE">
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One problem was that the announcement lacked nuance and transparency, according to James Fabisiak, a toxicologist and public health expert at the University of Pittsburgh. It wasn’t clear what officials knew and what they didn’t, and what that might mean for residents. Transparent communication is essential following any environmental disaster, added Ellen Peters, a decision psychologist and communications expert at the University of Oregon.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="w5bhVi">
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“Treat people respectfully as adults who can make decisions in their own lives,” Peters said. “People are being patted on the head and told everything is fine, [but health officials] haven’t provided enough information for people to believe that it’s fine. To discount what it looks like compared to what the experts presumably believe doesn’t go over well with people.”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Jpo0ok">
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Daniel Tierney, a spokesperson for Gov. DeWine, told Vox that claims that the February 8 announcement lacked transparency are “hogwash.” The decision was ultimately made by the East Palestine fire chief, Tierney said, though the governor agreed with it. There were air and water experts available to address questions at the press conference, he said.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="z0uR0i">
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Tierney confirmed that the testing prior to the announcement was preliminary, though he said that “we’ve never had a test that’s come back [since] with any level of concern for short-term exposure.” Tierney said that the tests were sensitive enough to detect chemicals at levels of concern in the short term.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="DGzMfI">
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Following a disaster like this, it’s also important to give residents plenty of opportunities to voice their concerns and include them in the decision-making process, said Alison Adams, an environmental risk expert at the University of Florida. Communication should be flowing both ways, not just from public officials to residents, she said.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="u0JC0s">
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The challenge now facing public officials in East Palestine is building back trust. Better communication can help, experts say, but it probably won’t go far enough to reinstate a feeling of safety. Perhaps, Slovic says, officials can give residents access to independent experts who have their interests at heart and can carry out independent testing. “That’s the only hope for this,” he said.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="maOv7F">
|
||
Ultimately, disaster response needs to extend beyond cleaning up chemicals, Slovic said. Officials should be more mindful about the communication of risk and the psychology of residents. “There’s a need to integrate the psychology and sociology here with the scientific analysis,” Slovic said. “You can’t divorce the two.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Q7BsFz">
|
||
Eventually, the feeling of safety may return to residents who’ve lost it, without much intervention. People will follow their senses, Peters said. “What they hopefully are going to start to see is that things are getting cleaned up, that things are starting to look more like normal, that their headaches are going away,” she said, and “that other people are saying, ‘I feel okay.’”
|
||
</p></li>
|
||
<li><strong>Homeless encampments — and the debate over what to do about them — explained</strong> -
|
||
<figure>
|
||
<img alt="A woman sitting outside a tent eating soup with other tents in a homeless encampment in the background, and lit-up city buildings behind that." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/pKQK74i33GKXoxrv1UZIH_4r2Yc=/168x0:3257x2317/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72050543/1247211203.0.jpg"/>
|
||
<figcaption>
|
||
A woman eats soup she cooked outside of her tent in McPherson Square in Washington, DC, on February 11, 2023, a few days before the encampment was cleared. | Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post via Getty Images
|
||
</figcaption>
|
||
</figure>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
People living in tents has become one of the most urgent issues in American politics.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="BXD4ZO">
|
||
In mid-February, a block from the White House, agents with the National Park Service cleared the largest homeless encampment in Washington, DC. More than 70 people had pitched tents in the downtown federal park known as McPherson Square, and all were forced to leave,<strong> </strong>with 60 days to claim any belongings left behind.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="pB2Mwt">
|
||
The encampment was long scheduled to be cleared in April, when the people living there would no longer be in danger of hypothermia. But in January, local DC officials requested it be cleared early, and the federal government agreed, <a href="https://subscriber.politicopro.com/eenews/f/eenews/?id=00000186-3207-de7f-a9ee-36d7b60c0000">citing</a> increased complaints about trash and debris, sex work, and harassment of visitors. Over the past six months, three people had died due to exposure or drug overdoses.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5p4VHs">
|
||
One day after the clearing, roughly <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/02/16/dc-mcpherson-square-homeless-hearing/">two-thirds</a> of those evicted from the park were still believed to be sleeping on the street.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="t5L0DL">
|
||
DC is just one of many cities across the country grappling with the rise of tent encampments and associated political pressure to address them: encampments have increased in prevalence since the pandemic, even as homelessness in the city <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/04/21/dc-homeless-count-2022-down/?itid=lk_inline_manual_3">has gone down</a>. Last year <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/02/24/dc-poll-housing-homeless-bowser/">a Washington Post poll</a> found 75 percent of local DC residents backed shutting encampments down.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="YK4yIG">
|
||
The federal government’s role in the McPherson Square clearing made the challenges and contradictions of these encampments especially sharp. Local and national homeless advocates were outraged: they had <a href="https://nlihc.org/sites/default/files/NCHJ_Letter-McPherson-Square_02062023.pdf">called</a> on the Biden administration to wait until the city had identified permanent shelters. They<strong> </strong>say their offer to help city officials find housing <a href="https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/589492/prior-to-mcpherson-encampment-clearing-d-c-officials-twice-refused-offers-of-aid-from-national-homeless-advocates/">was rebuffed</a>. The clearing, they argue, also<strong> </strong>stood in direct conflict with the Biden administration’s recently <a href="https://www.usich.gov/FSP#:~:text=What%20Is%20the%20Federal%20Strategic,to%20Prevent%20and%20End%20Homelessness.">released national strategic plan</a> on homelessness,<strong> </strong>which said that closing encampments without providing adequate support and housing was an “out of sight, out of mind” approach that provided other cities with cover to do the same.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="reA5MG">
|
||
“If they don’t stick to their federal strategic plan, how do we expect any other community to abide by it?” said Ann Oliva, the CEO of the National Alliance to End Homelessness.<strong> </strong>
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6O3uZB">
|
||
Unsheltered homelessness, meaning sleeping somewhere at night that’s not primarily designed for human residence — like a car, a park, an abandoned building, or a train station — has risen sharply over the last seven years, and at a faster rate than homelessness overall. The unsheltered homeless now account <a href="https://www.security.org/resources/homeless-statistics/">for 40 percent</a> of all homeless people in the country, up from <a href="https://www.huduser.gov/portal/sites/default/files/pdf/2015-AHAR-Part-1.pdf">31 percent in 2015</a>.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="TN3POM">
|
||
While encampments are most common in big cities, on the West Coast, and in areas with high housing costs, tents have also sprung up in places where housing is broadly available and homelessness is going down — <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/14/headway/houston-homeless-people.html">like Houston</a>, which saw a <a href="https://www.homelesshouston.org/houston-facts-info">63 percent drop</a> in homelessness since 2011 but still has <a href="https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/housing/2023/02/10/443255/houston-closes-its-largest-homeless-encampment-as-many-move-to-new-housing-navigation-center/">hundreds of encampments throughout the region</a>.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9vUkWW">
|
||
For decades, a promising strategy for dealing with homelessness has had bipartisan support: the <a href="https://www.pathwayshousingfirst.org/">“housing first”</a> model, which prioritizes getting people into permanent housing without requiring them to<strong> </strong>first address mental health conditions or substance abuse. In recent years, the strategy has<strong> </strong>experienced <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/23504323/housing-first-homelessness-houston-homes">unprecedented attacks</a> and been blamed for exacerbating homelessness.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VwRS5T">
|
||
In Washington, Houston, and elsewhere, political leaders have argued that rising public discontent with encampments threatens their long-term ability to tackle homelessness. Due to a lack of affordable housing, and in some cities, available shelter beds, many homeless people have simply nowhere to go.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="HFTc3y">
|
||
“Mayor [Sylvester] Turner believes addressing tent encampments is key to maintaining support for the housing-first model because the public didn’t believe with their own eyes that homelessness was actually decreasing in the city,” said Marc Eichenbaum, the special assistant to Houston’s mayor on homeless initiatives. In the last few years Houston leaders have “decommissioned” 16 tent encampments, including <a href="https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/housing/2023/02/10/443255/houston-closes-its-largest-homeless-encampment-as-many-move-to-new-housing-navigation-center/">the city’s largest last month</a>. In Washington, DC, Mayor Muriel Bowser stressed that her support for encampment clearing <a href="https://www.axios.com/local/washington-dc/2022/10/17/dc-homeless-encampment-plan-update">was rooted</a> in her commitment to the housing-first model.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7s4eET">
|
||
“I could build half a million units of housing,” newly elected Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass told <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-01-11/mayor-karen-bass-inside-safe-venice-homeless-encampment">the Los Angeles Times</a>, “and if there are still tents, people will not believe that you did anything except to steal their money.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="SN4N0K">
|
||
The McPherson Square clearing sat at the middle of a national tug-of-war over homeless encampments. On one side are homeless advocates who maintain that dismantling encampments without clear plans to move inhabitants into stable housing is both cruel and counterproductive. On the other side are conservatives calling <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/tucker-carlson-homeless-society-collapsing">to crack down</a> on people sleeping outside, blasting what they describe as a too lenient approach to homelessness by Democrats. Liberals can’t use a lack of affordable housing as an excuse to avoid taking action on encampments, <a href="https://www.wsaz.com/2022/08/10/tennessee-tackling-homelessness-camping-certain-areas-could-result-felony-charge/">they say</a>, given that it could take decades to build more housing units.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="IFzLoz">
|
||
Left in the middle are city officials, struggling to balance their commitment to ending homelessness with the very visible signs of its continued existence — and<strong> </strong>so are the hundreds of thousands of people sleeping outside and in cars, whose lives will be deeply affected by their leaders’ decisions.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h3 id="2FBgsN">
|
||
What we know about homeless tent encampments
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jl0dhB">
|
||
Encampments refer to outdoor places people live for periods of time with built structures like tents, and personal belongings. They can be found in public areas and secluded corners of cities, and their populations range from just a handful of people to hundreds.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7UdVrn">
|
||
While most cities do not collect good data on encampments (they track instead the broader category of unsheltered homelessness) many have <a href="https://www.sfexaminer.com/archives/tent-dwellings-are-down-in-the-tenderloin-but-rising-across-the-city/article_ab30c7e5-87be-5008-bbc9-c7c113d97978.html">cited</a> <a href="https://www.wftv.com/news/local/officials-cracking-down-increase-tent-cities-sprouting-up-orlando/ZXVVA7OMEZGOPASLDWI2KZ4VTI/">increases</a> <a href="https://www.fox7austin.com/news/homeless-encampments-austin-texas">in the</a> <a href="https://www.smartcitiesdive.com/news/boulder-colorado-homeless-encampments-ban/625239/">last several</a> years. The federal government <a href="https://www.huduser.gov/portal/sites/default/files/pdf/Understanding-Encampments.pdf">recently acknowledged</a> gaps in its understanding of encampments, citing difficulties in collecting data on people who often “actively try to escape public notice.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9NKPWB">
|
||
Still, experts broadly agree the problem is getting worse, and researchers say the primary cause is a lack of affordable housing, stemming from both a shortage of units, and from rents rising faster than wages. They say encampments have also increased because people can’t access shelter beds, or have objections to the requirements at local shelters, like the need to relinquish their pets and personal belongings. Other people see tent<strong> </strong>encampments as offering<strong> </strong>more opportunity for privacy and safety<strong> </strong>than<strong> </strong>shelters.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="k4X6Tk">
|
||
Some encampments have established governance procedures and residents take on day-to-day responsibilities, while others are more informal and more fractious. Though inhabitants have a diverse range of ages, races, and gender, research suggests <a href="https://www.huduser.gov/portal/sites/default/files/pdf/Exploring-Homelessness-Among-People.pdf">most tend to be men</a> with multiple barriers to housing like mental illness, a history of evictions, or a criminal record.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="R4I1rz">
|
||
In recent years, court rulings have made it more difficult for cities, especially on the West Coast, to clear encampments. In 2018, the US Ninth Circuit Court found people experiencing homelessness can’t be punished for sleeping outside on public property if there are no adequate alternatives available.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="J5LqtO">
|
||
The decision only formally applies <a href="https://www.idahostatesman.com/news/local/community/boise/article235065002.html">across the West</a>, in areas under the Ninth Circuit’s jurisdiction, but when the US Supreme Court declined to hear this case, <em>Martin v. City of Boise, </em>in 2019, cities nationally were <a href="https://atlantaprogressivenews.com/2019/12/26/supreme-court-homeless-ruling-suggest-atlanta-laws-unconstitutional/">left to debate</a> how they can respond to encampments in ways that will avoid new constitutional challenges. <em>Boise</em> says that as long as sleeping indoors is not an option, “the government cannot criminalize indigent, homeless people for sleeping outdoors, on public property, on the false premise they had a choice in the matter.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="X1CJUS">
|
||
The impact of the <em>Boise </em>ruling is playing out every day. Just before Christmas, a district judge cited <em>Boise </em>when she ruled that San Francisco <a href="https://lccrsf.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/PI-Order.pdf">can no longer enforce encampment sweeps</a>, since the city lacks enough shelter beds to move the homeless into. San Francisco Mayor London Breed <a href="https://apnews.com/article/lawsuits-oakland-9685f0a4350f8eb45602417ad334006f">decried the decision</a>. “We already have too few tools to deal with the mental illness we see on our streets,” she said. “Now we are being told not to use another tool that helps bring people indoors and keeps our neighborhoods safe and clean for our residents.” The city <a href="https://sfstandard.com/politics/city-hall/san-francisco-appeals-court-order-banning-homeless-sweeps-citing-impossible-situation/">appealed the ruling in January</a>, arguing it’s “unnecessarily broad and has put the City in an impossible situation.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="F1JU3I">
|
||
In other cities, officials have concluded <em>Boise </em>means they can no longer enforce certain laws against people experiencing homelessness. In Phoenix, for example, citations for outdoor camping <a href="https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/phoenixs-largest-homeless-encampment-sparks-lawsuit-14213947">dropped dramatically since the ruling</a> — from 283 in 2017 to just 9 in 2021. More than 1,000 people have moved to a downtown Phoenix encampment called “the Zone,” and local residents are currently suing officials for the situation. Meanwhile, a federal judge issued an <a href="https://www.acluaz.org/sites/default/files/12.15.2022_ffe_v._phx_injunctive_order.pdf">injunction</a> in December, barring Phoenix officials from conducting encampment sweeps if there are no shelter beds available.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="cSep82">
|
||
Whether sanctioned outdoor camping sites would be legal under the <em>Boise </em>decision if a city lacked indoor shelter beds remains unclear, and some policy leaders are urging officials to test the legal boundaries and find out.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wWvYzD">
|
||
“The <em>Boise </em>reading was specifically against a city-wide [camping] ban, and it’s still open question on more specific parts,” said Stephen Eide, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and <a href="https://www.manhattan-institute.org/housing-first-effectiveness">a critic of housing-first</a>. “These are all meaty questions that will probably have to be decided by the Supreme Court.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h3 id="kPxtSO">
|
||
How cities are responding to tent encampments so far
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qUJsQe">
|
||
Because encampments at this scale are a relatively new problem for so many cities, elected officials and nonprofit partners have largely been experimenting on the fly with how to address them, balancing a mix of political, financial, and legal pressures, along with a <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy/23595421/biden-affordable-housing-shortage-supply">practical shortage of affordable housing</a>. Recommended practices continue to evolve as leaders <a href="https://dmhhs.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/dmhhs/page_content/attachments/Encampment%20Pilot%20Information%20Sheet.pdf">pilot new models</a>, as activists demand more compassionate standards, and as researchers study the consequences of past sweeps.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wSEXGC">
|
||
City responses have typically fallen into four broad categories, ranging from quickly “sweeping” the tents and providing no services to the unsheltered living there, to formally permitting people to camp out, and even providing bathrooms, areas to prepare food, and other social services. HUD <a href="https://www.huduser.gov/portal/sites/default/files/pdf/Exploring-Homelessness-Among-People.pdf">research published in 2020</a> found the most common strategy cities have embraced was encampment “clearance and closure with support” — meaning deploying trained outreach workers to provide people with weeks of notice that their encampment would be shutting down, working to connect them with housing and services, and making longer-term storage of their belongings available.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="P6adX2">
|
||
This has worked fairly well in some communities, but caseworkers and housing are often unavailable, and new units or shelter beds cannot simply be erected quickly.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="gACpbc">
|
||
Earlier studies have suggested that clearance with no support, or a so-called “tough love” approach, does little to drive people to shelters or mitigate the broader problem of encampments. Typically the homeless often just pick up and relocate somewhere else nearby. “Clearance with little or no support may actually reduce the likelihood that people will seek shelter because it erodes trust and creates an adversarial relationship between people experiencing homelessness and law enforcement or outreach workers,” a HUD report <a href="https://www.huduser.gov/portal/sites/default/files/pdf/Understanding-Encampments.pdf">published in 2019</a> concluded.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3rM21n">
|
||
Individuals forced out of encampments often report losing their medication, walkers, and other items that affect their physical and mental health. Critics of sweeps point to the risks they pose <a href="https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s11606-022-07471-y.pdf">to individuals’ health</a>, as well as the <a href="https://www.huduser.gov/portal/sites/default/files/pdf/Exploring-Homelessness-Among-People.pdf">cost to local city budgets</a>. (Federal homeless dollars cannot be used on tent encampments.)
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="cjCYIF">
|
||
Amid growing community frustration, some leaders have started to pursue tougher measures on encampments, including ramping up criminal penalties on people pitching tents on public land. In at least half a dozen states, lawmakers have pushed bills <a href="https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2022/04/08/homeless-camping-bans-are-spreading-this-group-shaped-the-bills">based on templates</a> from the Cicero Institute, an Austin-based think tank <a href="https://ciceroinstitute.org/research/housing-first-is-a-failure/">opposed to housing-first</a>. The bills propose to permanently ban tent encampments and penalize cities that permit them.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="dqSyX9">
|
||
Texas became <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/05/20/texas-homeless-camps-ban-legislature/">the first state to pass a version</a> of Cicero’s template legislation in 2021, and lawmakers say it was a direct response to Austin’s city council lifting its homeless encampment ban in 2019. (Austin’s encampment ban returned in 2021, after <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2022/08/31/texas-austin-homeless-camping-ban/">57 percent of Austin residents</a> voted for its reinstatement.)
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mcz2QA">
|
||
In 2022, Tennessee became the first state to pass a bill that would make camping on local public land — like parks — <a href="https://wcyb.com/news/local/public-camping-in-tennessee-becomes-a-felony-homeless-seek-refuge">a felony</a>. Missouri likewise passed a Cicero-inspired law last year, that would <a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2022/06/29/new-missouri-law-makes-sleeping-on-state-land-a-crime-for-people-experiencing-homelessness/">criminalize sleeping on state-owned land</a>. Missouri’s law allows the state’s attorney general to sue local governments that don’t enforce the ban.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="TwrqSJ">
|
||
This year lawmakers in <a href="https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/63809">Georgia</a> and <a href="https://legiscan.com/AZ/bill/SB1413/2023">Arizona</a> are debating passage of similar bills. Arizona’s was written by attorneys at the Goldwater Institute, a conservative think tank that has also <a href="https://www.goldwaterinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Goldwaters-Amicus-Brief-in-Support-of-Plaintiffs-Motion-for-Preliminary-Injunction221004.pdf">filed a brief</a> in support of the plaintiffs suing Phoenix officials for “the Zone” encampment.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hlFESy">
|
||
While Republican lawmakers are advancing these bills on the state level, leaders in more liberal cities have also started to look for new tent-clearing solutions, including ones they previously would not have entertained.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yLvX4Q">
|
||
In Portland, Oregon, for example, lawmakers voted in November to create several large sanctioned campsites for homeless individuals, and ban the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/health-ted-wheeler-oregon-portland-government-and-politics-144ba78f2c5003aabaaea7be6281f412">more than 700</a> other encampments spread across the city. Sixty-eight percent of Portland voters support the idea, <a href="https://www.portlandtribune.com/news/poll-pessimism-easing-slightly-in-portland-but-problems-remain/article_9a30476a-a3fa-11ed-9858-03c510c1ee2f.html">according to a poll</a> commissioned by the Portland Business Alliance. In Sacramento, leaders recently approved new penalties <a href="https://www.capradio.org/articles/2022/08/24/sacramento-oks-charging-homeless-residents-with-misdemeanors-for-blocking-sidewalks/">for camping on sidewalks</a>, and banned encampments <a href="https://www.capradio.org/articles/2022/10/19/sacramento-vice-mayor-ashby-calls-for-500-foot-ban-on-homeless-camps-near-schools/">near schools and daycares</a>.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="O31ZuF">
|
||
In San Francisco, leaders pioneered a model known as “navigation centers” — places unhoused people can go with fewer barriers to entry than traditional shelters. At the indoor navigation centers, individuals can connect with intensive case management and receive help with finding permanent housing. These centers have been <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/SF-s-homeless-navigation-centers-seem-to-be-13025012.php#:~:text=Three%20years%20later%2C%20three%20more,through%20the%20system%20got%20housed.">deemed relatively successful</a> even though the city <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/homeless-los-angeles-california-17731913.php">hasn’t been able to stop the flow of more people</a> into homelessness.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xCo8d0">
|
||
More than a dozen other liberal cities have since adopted San Francisco’s navigation center model, including Seattle and Houston. Supporters of these low-barrier spaces see them as very different from the sanctioned camping sites backed by the Cicero Institute, and a more welcoming option for many people wary of traditional shelters.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="HUhbPb">
|
||
On her first day in office in December, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass declared a city emergency over homelessness, announcing a new <a href="https://www.foxla.com/news/los-angeles-mayor-bass-inside-safe-initiative-venice">plan</a> to tackle encampments. The plan essentially consists of creating navigation centers to close encampments and connect homeless individuals with services and housing. But the challenge will be actually finding enough housing. Last year LA had <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/homeless-count-reveals-nearly-42000-people-are-living-on-the-streets-of-la/">nearly 42,000 people</a> living on the streets, mixed with a <a href="https://calmatters.org/commentary/2022/11/los-angeles-housing-homeless-crisis-transit-development/">growing housing affordability crisis</a>.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8IJlDk">
|
||
Practically speaking, city officials recognize they are also fighting for their own careers. Homelessness, and how to handle it, has become one of the most salient political issues in recent elections in liberal cities like Portland, San Diego, Seattle, and Austin. Republicans have cast Democrats as incompetent and feckless when it comes to addressing the crisis. The public, across the political spectrum, wants elected officials to take some sort of action.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="w2yTRO">
|
||
Marc Eichenbaum, the special assistant to Houston’s mayor on homeless initiatives, said when his city received its federal pandemic aid, they knew they<strong> </strong>wanted to launch<strong> </strong>a more proactive response to tent encampments. “We’re interested in solving it, not managing it,” he said.<strong> </strong>“There is an opportunity for homeless systems and providers to demonstrate to the public that housing-first is the answer to encampments.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2f0hAR">
|
||
</p></li>
|
||
<li><strong>Maybe AI can finally kill the cover letter</strong> -
|
||
<figure>
|
||
<img alt="Illustration of a printed cover letter with colored words hovering around it." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/D0togzAwRb4As8sxhjttZPNIRSU=/240x0:1680x1080/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72050483/V2_Vox_Final_3_6.0.jpg"/>
|
||
<figcaption>
|
||
Paige Vickers for Vox
|
||
</figcaption>
|
||
</figure>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Jobs still require cover letters. Apps like ChatGPT can help.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="HHeN5I">
|
||
Grace wanted a better-paid job based closer to where she lived, but she dreaded writing another cover letter. And although her job as a land-use planner does require some writing, she felt a cover letter wouldn’t actually do a good job of showcasing it.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xcVhgk">
|
||
“It’s technical writing,” Grace said. “It’s not plucky ‘You should hire me because I’m amazing but my weakness is I’m extra amazing.’”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="bqpTMb">
|
||
Instead, she took a friend’s advice and used ChatGPT, the text-generating AI software that’s gone viral in recent months. Grace, who asked that we leave out her last name so as not to jeopardize her employment, gave the AI the job description and fed it some qualifications she wanted to highlight. ChatGPT spat out an “adequate” cover letter that she gave a quick edit.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="nvSvvn">
|
||
She ended up getting the job but she doesn’t think it was because of her cover letter. “I think they just looked at my resume,” she said.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rVvVmk">
|
||
Grace is one of a growing number of <a href="https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2023-02-16/chatgpt-writes-cover-letters-job-seekers"><strong>job seekers turning to AI</strong></a> to complete what can be one of the more arduous — and arguably unnecessary — steps in the hiring process. A recent online <a href="https://www.resumebuilder.com/3-in-4-job-seekers-who-used-chatgpt-to-write-their-resume-got-an-interview/"><strong>survey</strong></a> from job service site Resume Builder found that nearly half of current and recent job seekers were using ChatGPT to write their resumes or cover letters. <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7012055714466529280/"><strong>LinkedIn</strong></a>, <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@teal_hq/video/7196747173583736106"><strong>TikTok</strong></a>, and <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/90858137/you-can-use-chatgpt-to-create-a-customized-cover-letter-template-heres-how"><strong>media outlets</strong></a> abound with info on the best ways to get a decent cover letter from the software.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9pr4b5">
|
||
Using technology like ChatGPT to apply for a job raises some thorny ethical questions, like whether you’re misrepresenting yourself to a potential employer. But job seekers see it as a necessary step toward getting ahead in a job application process that’s fraught with inefficiencies and unfairness. The hiring process, in general, is getting <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2023/1/12/23546379/job-interviewing-applying-exhausting-tests-employment"><strong>longer and longer</strong></a>, and companies themselves <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2019/12/12/20993665/artificial-intelligence-ai-job-screen"><strong>are using software to screen out employees</strong></a> — a process that feels like a black box. Consumer AI software can let job seekers feel like they’re fighting bot to bot.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="REMYtr">
|
||
It also forces people to ask if cover letters are even important these days, and if there might be better ways to design the application process so that job seekers don’t have to resort to an AI to write one in the first place.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h3 id="J21UBG">
|
||
Do cover letters even matter?
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QZPjNQ">
|
||
The main point of cover letters is to explain why your experience would make you a good fit for a position, but that’s also information hiring managers can glean from your resume or a phone call. And now that AI can make a pretty decent cover letter with the right prompts and a bit of editing, the exercise of writing one by hand can feel more pointless than ever.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<figure class="e-image">
|
||
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/gTVdi3ttKGx7cM57SiBYA5lMvtE=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24468593/Screen_Shot_2023_02_28_at_2.02.30_PM.png"/>
|
||
<figcaption>
|
||
I wrote a very basic prompt for ChatGPT and got back a not terrible cover letter.
|
||
</figcaption>
|
||
</figure>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jCWCEZ">
|
||
The extent to which employers are asking for cover letters these days is unclear. Alex Alonso, chief knowledge officer at the Society for Human Resource Management, says that “most” professional jobs still ask for a cover letter. Recruiters we spoke to pegged that rate at closer to 10 or 20 percent. Data from Indeed, which hosts job listings for job listings that traditionally require cover letters and those that don’t, shows that just 2 percent mentioned a cover letter.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6k7Q5a">
|
||
What we do know is that many hiring managers <a href="https://www.fishbowlapp.com/post/what-are-your-honest-thoughts-on-cover-letters-are-they-outdated-or-even-relevant-at-this-point-do-you-look-at-them"><strong>are not actually reading cover letters</strong></a>. Alonso says that hiring managers spend very little time, a couple minutes at most, reviewing an applicant’s qualifications before deciding whether or not to disqualify them.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ZNSyak">
|
||
While a cover letter can be a place for applicants to explain why they might be good for a role they aren’t quite qualified for, or to explain away a work gap or career change, it’s not likely many get to those details in that amount of time. Rather, most hiring managers — two-thirds, he estimates — are simply checking whether or not you included the cover letter they asked for, rather than judging the erudition of your prose.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="eoFD7d">
|
||
“Most employers don’t really put a lot of stock in what goes into the cover letter other than to demonstrate that the person understood that they should have one,” Alonso said. “To use TikTok parlance: Yes, they understood the assignment.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Qm6eIP">
|
||
For the occasions when hiring managers do want to know if an applicant is good at making a persuasive argument or linking their skills to the job description, it’s also not clear cover letters do a good job of these things. For example, James Shea, a freelance writer who has consulted clients on using ChatGPT, doesn’t think that a cover letter, with its formulaic structure and braggy nature, is a good way of showcasing his writing talent.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FP4HnB">
|
||
“It’s a terrible form of communication,” said Shea. “I have a portfolio of writing that shows I can write. Do I have to write a formal, arcane cover letter?
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="KWq94A">
|
||
Shea recently used ChatGPT as a starting point for writing some cover letters. He says he’s been using the generative AI application as a sort of editor, taking bits and pieces from ChatGPT’s output when he thinks the suggestions are good, then tailoring it to be better.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mRivj1">
|
||
Applicants are not the only ones who don’t care for cover letters. It’s also apparent that employers themselves are valuing them less and less.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fmHS4N">
|
||
Experts say that requiring cover letters has been on the decline for a while. But whether or not the job explicitly asks for cover letters or someone actually reads them, many job seekers still fear skipping them, lest its absence costs them a job.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7iaL5C">
|
||
“I think cover letters have been utterly useless for quite some time now,” said Atta Tarki, co-founder of recruiting firm <a href="https://www.talentcompass.co/"><strong>TalentCompass</strong></a> and author of<em> </em><a href="https://www.eca-partners.com/evidence-based-recruiting/"><em><strong>Evidence-Based Recruiting</strong></em></a>. Still, if an employer asked for a cover letter, he’d include a very short one. “It’s an unnecessary risk not to put it in.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ughDha">
|
||
The perceived need for cover letters also varies by industry. Tejal Wagadia, a senior technical recruiter, says it’s rare to see tech companies these days require a cover letter. She also urges hiring managers not to ask for them and to look at writing samples or portfolios instead.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="iMgJjY">
|
||
“I’m all about candidates and job seekers not doing extra work if they don’t have to,” Wagadia said.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="k9Tzzo">
|
||
Still, she does receive cover letters from time to time, and she reads them.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h3 id="BIjiDV">
|
||
What’s the alternative?
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="myZRTK">
|
||
Job seekers are in the strange position of needing to write cover letters that are unlikely to be read but in some cases are important. So why not make the process a little easier?
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hgxTlK">
|
||
Experts we spoke to said it’s probably fine to use ChatGPT to get a general structure or to get ideas, but that it’s important to personalize and edit your cover letter. A good rule of thumb is to give the AI the job description and your resume, and to tell it what skills of yours to highlight or what tone you’re going for.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wtu3cV">
|
||
It’s not necessary for you to disclose that you wrote your cover letter with the help of ChatGPT. After all, people have been using templates and writing services to write their cover letters for years. Just be sure to edit it enough that that doesn’t feel like the case. Alonso, from the Society for Human Resource Management, thinks that disclosing that you used AI could actually be <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7033600336795762688/">beneficial</a>, since it demonstrates to potential employers that you’re efficient and resourceful.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="kYJSwt">
|
||
And if you can avoid a cover letter — or at least outsource some of the work to ChatGPT — there are far better uses of your time when it comes to actually getting a job. Wagadia says the most important document you submit is your resume, so make sure that’s up to date, well-written, and has a short summary that does some of the heavy lifting a cover letter is supposed to do, like explaining why your skills are good for a certain job.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wQXGku">
|
||
“A resume should say everything that it needs to say to identify whether you’re qualified for a role or not,” Wagadia said. “As a recruiter, my first question is: Is this candidate qualified for the role that they have applied for and for the role that I’m recruiting for? If the answer is yes, whatever the cover letter says does not matter.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="c5j5dO">
|
||
Tarki said it’s much more effective to send a short email or LinkedIn message — two paragraphs — to the employer, saying why you’re interested in the job and offering any other helpful information. Networking and relying on common connections to make introductions or vouch for you is also a plus.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ul8xVN">
|
||
Austin Belcak, founder of job coaching site <a href="https://cultivatedculture.com/"><strong>Cultivated Culture</strong></a> and creator of a <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7012055714466529280/"><strong>video</strong></a> instructing people how to use ChatGPT to write a cover letter, advocates for spending time you saved on the cover letter doing things like researching the company for ways where you can add value, and networking. If you’re able to snag a referral from people who work at a company, he says you’re much more likely to get an interview than simply by applying online. He also suggests creating a pitch deck that would show rather than tell why you’re good for a role.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="d2YxK0">
|
||
There are clearly many good alternatives to the dreaded cover letter. But until it can be replaced completely, people will continue to use available technology to do what they don’t want to.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OleyUH">
|
||
Cigdem Polat Dautov became a software engineer to make people’s lives easier by eliminating redundant and repetitive tasks. Now, as she searches for a job, she sees using ChatGPT to write cover letters just like she’d use any other technology. She enjoys playing around with the software to see what it can yield, and then edits around its shortcomings.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JSj1lc">
|
||
“In the end, it’s a tool,” she said.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Hr9zWd">
|
||
<em>This story was first published in the Vox technology newsletter. </em><a href="https://www.vox.com/pages/newsletters"><em><strong>Sign up here</strong></em></a><em> so you don’t miss the next one!</em>
|
||
</p></li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</h1>
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Bumrah undergoes back surgery in NZ, likely to be out for six months</strong> - It would rule him out of the Asia Cup.</p></li>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Godfather and Count Of Savoy impress</strong> -</p></li>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Clever Hans, Aherne, Speaking Of Stars and Star Admiral excel</strong> -</p></li>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Australia will have several surprise inclusions for England tour: Ponting</strong> - Ponting, who played 168 Tests and 275 ODIs, also felt left-hand opening batter Marcus Harris could get a look-in for the English summer assignment</p></li>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>New Zealand stand in way of Sri Lanka’s world Test final quest</strong> - Sri Lanka have only won two Tests of the 19 they have played in New Zealand</p></li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</h1>
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Women’s work is not valued properly: Indian development economist Jayati Ghosh</strong> - “Ultimately economics is about power, and therefore politics. It is presented as this “technocratic” discipline, but that is a smokescreen for hiding the real power imbalances at play”, says Ms Ghosh.</p></li>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Diaphragm wall repair works begin at Polavaram irrigation project site in Andhra Pradesh</strong> - The wall measuring up to a length of more than 880 metres was damaged and partially swept away during the Godavari floods</p></li>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Several job aspirants detained in Jammu; JKSSB assures fair selection in recruitment process</strong> - Chanting slogans like “APTECH go back” and “we want justice”, the protesters said they are concerned about their future.</p></li>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Andhra Pradesh: BJP demands White Paper on compensation paid to AgriGold victims</strong> - The YSRCP government has failed to overcome legal hurdles and address the plight of the depositors, alleges Somu Veerraju</p></li>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Karnataka Assembly elections: War for credit for Bengaluru-Mysuru expressway intensifies</strong> - Congress to release documents to support their claims that ‘expressway was initiated during our tenure’ when Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah inspects the expressway on March 9</p></li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</h1>
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Thousands protest at Georgian ‘foreign agent’ bill</strong> - Police fire water cannon and tear gas at protesters who say the new draft law limits press freedom.</p></li>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Ukraine denies involvement in Nord Stream pipeline blasts</strong> - A New York Times report says US officials believe a pro-Ukrainian group was behind last year’s blasts.</p></li>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Bankers in Swiss trial for helping ‘Putin’s wallet’</strong> - The four ex-executives are suspected of helping a cellist launder funds linked to Russia’s president.</p></li>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Asylum plan will stop people jumping queue - Suella Braverman</strong> - The home secretary says she expects 40,000 people to cross the Channel this year - but it could be double.</p></li>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Ukraine launches investigation into unarmed soldier killing</strong> - A graphic video published on social media appears to show an unarmed Ukrainian prisoner being killed.</p></li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</h1>
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Moderna CEO says private investors funded COVID vaccine—not billions from gov’t</strong> - Bancel claimed billions in federal funding merely accelerated development. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1922447">link</a></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Google’s PaLM-E is a generalist robot brain that takes commands</strong> - ChatGPT-style AI model adds vision to guide a robot without special training. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1922315">link</a></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>These juvenile snapping shrimp have the fastest claws in the sea</strong> - They can snap their claws at accelerations on par with a bullet shot from a gun. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1922223">link</a></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Adorable Playdate handheld gets new free games alongside $20 price increase</strong> - Interested customers have until April 7 to lock in current $179 price. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1922369">link</a></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Musk suspends “overzealous” rightsholders for “weaponizing” DMCA on Twitter</strong> - Musk considers “egregious, repeated” takedown notices “a plague on humanity.” - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1922323">link</a></p></li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</h1>
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A Canadian visits America…</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
|
||
<div class="md">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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… and gets held at gunpoint by a stranger.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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The stranger says, “give me all your money and I’ll let you live!”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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The Canadian replies gleefully, “Oh! You must be what they call a doctor!”
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</p>
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</div>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/CyberSunburn"> /u/CyberSunburn </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/11lop2l/a_canadian_visits_america/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/11lop2l/a_canadian_visits_america/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>I met a girl at a bar and we went back to hers and started making out on the sofa, she gave me a cheeky look and said ‘’I think we should take this upstairs’’</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
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<div class="md">
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||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
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Ok, I said, you carry one end and I’ll get the other, be careful getting through the doorframe and we’ll come back down for the cushions.
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</p>
|
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</div>
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||
<!-- SC_ON -->
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Status-Victory"> /u/Status-Victory </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/11l28hq/i_met_a_girl_at_a_bar_and_we_went_back_to_hers/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/11l28hq/i_met_a_girl_at_a_bar_and_we_went_back_to_hers/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Why do you never see elephants hiding in trees?</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
|
||
<div class="md">
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Because they’re really fucking good at it.
|
||
</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Frobun11"> /u/Frobun11 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/11lio6g/why_do_you_never_see_elephants_hiding_in_trees/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/11lio6g/why_do_you_never_see_elephants_hiding_in_trees/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>My fear of palindromes is really starting to affect my life, so I asked the doctor if he could prescribe me anything.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
|
||
<div class="md">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
The bastard gave me Xanax.
|
||
</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/capnpetch"> /u/capnpetch </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/11l18fk/my_fear_of_palindromes_is_really_starting_to/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/11l18fk/my_fear_of_palindromes_is_really_starting_to/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A Pastor entered his donkey in a race and it won.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
|
||
<div class="md">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
The Pastor was so pleased with the donkey that he entered it in the race again and it won again.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
The local paper read: PASTOR’S ASS OUT FRONT.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
The Bishop was so upset with this kind of publicity that he ordered the Pastor not to enter the donkey in another race.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
The next day the local paper headline read: BISHOP SCRATCHES PASTOR’S ASS.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
This was too much for the Bishop so he ordered the Pastor to get<br/> rid of the donkey.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
The Pastor decided to give it to a Nun in a nearby convent.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
The local paper, hearing of the news, posted the following headline the next day: NUN HAS BEST ASS IN TOWN.<br/> The Bishop fainted.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
He informed the Nun that she would have to get rid of the donkey so she sold it to a farm for $10.<br/> The next day the paper read: NUN SELLS ASS FOR $10
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
This was too much for the Bishop so he ordered the Nun to buy back the donkey and lead it to the plains where it could run wild.<br/> The next day the headlines read: NUN ANNOUNCES HER ASS IS WILD AND FREE.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
The Bishop was buried the next day.
|
||
</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/jdilberian"> /u/jdilberian </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/11l8nir/a_pastor_entered_his_donkey_in_a_race_and_it_won/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/11l8nir/a_pastor_entered_his_donkey_in_a_race_and_it_won/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
|
||
|
||
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