Review blog wrote for documentary "Dragonslayer" after seeing film at the SilverDocs Film Festival in 2012.
NCC News | Posted on April 6, 2011 by Chanelle Grannum
Study finds that cleared crimes are still appearing on background checks made by the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Department.
By Chanelle Grannum (SYRACUSE) – The Center for Community Alternatives(CCA) and ACTS held a press conference today releasing a study they conducted on the number of criminal background checks the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Department has incorrectly reported.
According to the CCA, 90% of the reports they looked at from CHAIRS -Criminal History Arrest Incident Reporting System – was for non-criminal arrests such as loitering, which should have remained sealed.
“Under the NY State Credit Reporting Act this information cannot be disclosed to employers or landlords when making decisions,” says Patricia Warth, Co-Director of the CCA’s Justice Strategies.
While the sheriff’s department has acknowledged they have made errors in background reports in the past, Warth says they are not willing to change the current CHAIRS system, considering it to be a public service to employers.
Emily NaPier, the CCA’s Research Assistant and Justice Strategies Co-Coordinator, explains that having ACTS as a partner in the cause is important because it allows CCA the resources and tools to verify that the sheriff’s department is releasing non-criminal information on background check reports.
“Our next task is to go back to the county legislature and executive and talk to them now that we have the data from this study to support the advocacy around it,” says NaPier.
Due to the lack in cooperation from the sheriff’s department, the CCA plans to take the issue up with the New York State Human Rights Commission to seek legislation.
“Since the sheriff is not willing to shut down reports on his own, we will probably need to have proper legislation disposing the release of this information,” says NaPier.
NCC News | Posted on March 2, 2011 by Chanelle Grannum
Retailers are allowing customers to trade-in old phones for cash or store credit.
By Chanelle Grannum (SYRACUSE) – Following the new trend of launching buy back programs, just this month the big box electronic store Best Buy and mobile companies like AT&T have established trade-in programs for old cell phones.
With the recent release of the iPhone 4, cell phone carriers are racing to offer trade-in programs in their stores and on their websites as people look to upgrade to newer smartphones or database phones.
“We do see more customers coming in and bringing in very very old phones,” says Ricardo Jimenez, the Area/Regional Manager of the AT&T Bridge Street mobile store. “There is a value out there so it does make it easier to trade-in especially with smartphones coming out.”
AT&T has also announced that they are opening up the cell phone trade-ins to include cell phones from all competitors as well.
“We do get a lot of customers going back and forth between carriers so the trade-in program shows that it is well worth it to bring your phones in.”
As the second-largest carrier, AT&T’s buy-back program is possible because of their new partnership with the online trade-in site, Flipswap.com, which deals with determining the rating and value of all phones.
“AT&T was looking for a buy-back program and they selected us,” says Dave Stritzinger, CEO of Flipswap.com. “We are pleased they picked us and we are more than thrilled to work with them.”
Flipswap.com started up in 2004 and since then the company has expanded their online business to not only service the U.S., but overseas markets as well.
“Flipswap is all about ‘no one should ever put a phone in their drawer.’ It’s a commodity. Phones lose value everyday as a commodity. Were all about, ‘hey you, consumer, when you’re done with your phone get something for it,” says Stritzinger.
Jimenez said AT&T’s trade-in store program allows customers to be aware that when they go into the store, they can get compensated for their old phones.
By Chanelle Grannum
April 24, 2011 - 2:38 pm
April 24, 2011 - 2:38 pm
Imam Khalid says old Islamic traditions need to change in order to redefine the way society sees Muslims.
Isam Khalid, NYPD Chaplin and Executive Director of the Islamic Center at NYU, first reflected on his experience as a Muslim growing up as he spoke at Maxwell Auditorium. Khalid encouraged the current generation of Muslims to create a new narrative for themselves today that are not based on those traditions of their parents and grandparents.
“The narrative that exists now around Islam equates us to something that existed thousands of years ago,” Khalid said. “It is not society that doesn’t welcome us, we don’t know how to reach out to society.”
Working closely with the government, Khalid has used his education and knowledge to help Muslims who are confused about fitting in and blending both their American and Islamic culture.
“A lot of the work I do is with Islam’s that are conflicted. You have a generation that tells them what do be,” Khalid said.
Khalid gave passionate recounts of his own personal experiences with Muslim hate, but also mixed in a few stories that brought laughter to the auditorium.
“When I was 12 years old me and my brother went to Pakistan to visit and we were walking through the streets, I had on jeans and Timberland boots and we saw a young boy wearing more cultural attire and all of a sudden the kid screamed ‘Michael Jackson is here,’ –he thought I was Michael Jackson,” said Khalid.
