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Show A community newspaper serving residents and businesses on the west side of Salt Lake City Issue No. 24 ~ By ¢ harlotie FFife-lepperson usually. includes acronyms er gang names such as TCG, SUR; + This iis:Sate 1 of a series of “aieles ‘exploring - the. epidemic of gangs and graffiti on the West Side of Salt Lake City. Graffiti is a major problem in west-side neighborhoods. Not only does it damage property, cost tax-payers thousands of dollars in removal each year, lower the appeal of our neighborhoods to potential residents and businesses, but it is also a symptom of a much more troubling problem: violent gang activity in our communities. Graffiti: - perhaps the most visible symptom of gang activity - is used by gangs to claim territory, to make threats, and to challenge rival. gangs. However, according to the Salt Lake Area CHI, AVES, etc. It may~-also - include numbers such as -13, 14, Se 17, 33, or threats such as CK, BK, DK, or QK. (The K stands for “killer” and usually follows a rival gang’s name or the first letter of their name.) A gang may also threaten by crossing out the graffiti of rival gangs, writing over it with another color, or writing 187 (the penal code for murder) next to it. Graffiti might also include the area of town where most of the members live, such as east side (E/S) or west side (W/S), or the number of their street (for example, 33 for 33rd South). But sometimes these codes refer to some other city. Gang Project, this type of graffiti Tagging is characterized by is distinct from the more common more elaborate pictures or bubble letters, and is usually done by a crew of two to three people, who “tagging,” related: Both which is not types of gang- ee when _ placed ‘without permission of the ' property . owner, ‘are “illegal and _ cause thousands of dollars of dam- . age in Salt Lake City annually. are more interested in street art than violent criminal activities. They do graffiti for fun, or out of competition with other tagging crews, and because they become -Gang-related graffiti Salt Lake City Public Works employee Jay Thomas and Salt Lake County Jail trustee Lana Greenhalgh, paint over graffiti in an alley in Poplar Grove near 700 South and 1500 West. “I’m putting back into society what I took out,” said Greenhalgh. Photo by Charlotte Fife-Jepperson | T’ ai Chi Chih Instructor Spy Hop Provides Teaches Moving Meditation Creative Outlets for Teens Hendrickson T’ai Chi Chih class at the Sunday Anderson Westside Senior blond woman takes her reserved place in the circle, as everyone Several women oe visit as ‘they wait for their instructor to arrive and begin the weekly Center. Soon. Joanne Lovejoy, the teacher, enters the room. carrying her small boom box. The fit wonders | = NO aloud why the other By Melissa Sillitoe One of the best, free opportunities for young Salt Lake City songwriters and musicians to create music is the “Open Mike” program at the Sorenson Multicultural Center. Every Friday from 4-7 p.m., teens show up at the center to make music with other teens. They can find everything they music, DJ this year’s “Loud and program and will spend working together to creweekly radio program of interviews, documentaries and public service announcements about community events for young people. Shannalee Otanez, 17, is a drums, microphones, amplifiers and other young musicians. Some just come to observe and enjoy the tunes. Spy Hop, a Souptotit youth media center that teaches young people to create films, music, radio documentaries and web pages, sponsors the Open Mike program. Students attend free workshops to “Loud and Clear’ graduate who will become a paid intern this session. She hosts her own weekly music program on KRCL from 3-5 a.m. on Mondays and hopes to build a career as a documentary maker. She credits “Loud and Clear” and former Spy Hop staff member Kim Schmitt for teaching her about spoken word programs. Otanez made her first short documentary about Leonard Peltier, a prisoner that she and learn how to make art and then others believe to be innocent. She. are given opportunities to use their said making documentaries has taught her to articulate her own social justice concerns, and to find need to make music - guitars, skills. Another Spy Hop program, “Loud and Clear,’ allows high Members of the Sunday Anderson T’ai Chi Chih class follow their instructor, Joanne Lovejoy (pictured front, left), as she demonstrates one of their syncroiced, therapeutic exercises. Photo by Norma oder sen to Clear” a year ate a school students to create and DJ weekly radio programs on KRCL 90.9 FM, a nonprofit community radio station in Salt Lake City. Recently, nine teens were cho- her own voice. She calls “Loud and Clear’ a very positive experience. “I was the youngest,” she said. “The oth- |