Can i share something with you all about my cousin... he wants to be a reporter and this is what he did

PHILADELPHIA (1010 WINS) -- Steve Wood spent last week living on the streets of Philadelphia. But he's not homeless or even close to it.

The Temple University student from Washington Township, N.J. was gathering material for a series of articles he hoped would ``put a face to the homeless.''

Wood, 21, a senior and features editor of the university's school newspaper, Temple News, started his adventure last Saturday. He had stopped shaving days before to help him blend in and talked to a homeless man who is often seen around his school for tips.

The university student rode a bus into Philadelphia with only a few phone numbers, two pairs of socks, a tooth brush, a tape recorder, a blanket, a can of pepper spray, a gift from his father, $10 and a copy of the Russian novel ``Crime and Punishment.''

Five days into his project, Wood told the Philadelphia Inquirer things were going differently then he planned.

``I had plans of sleeping under the stars,'' he said in comments reported in the paper's Saturday editions. ``I thought I'd be buddy-buddy with people who'd give me the scoop. And I'd checked the weather. Everything said there was a 10 percent chance of precipitation and no temperatures below 40 degrees.''

But it was too cold too sleep in LOVE Park, a park in downtown Philadelphia opposite City Hall, his first night.
``I woke up with chills like I'd never had before. At that point, I was almost 'All is lost,''' he said.

But he kept going, and spent his days on the street interviewing people, stopping by shelters and once accepting a gift of 75 cents from a drug dealer. He called his parents, who had tried to talk him out of his idea, every night.

As of Thursday, Wood only had 16 cents and a peanut-butter cracker to his name, but said, ``I know that I'm only one shower removed from being back to normal.''

As for his experience living on the street, Wood said he was resentful when he saw people who had coffee, but that he lost patience when he heard some homeless talking about what the city owes them.

``I don't want to be a junior-varsity social worker, but to some extent they make their own bed,'' he said. ``I feel bad for them, but a lot of them have a sense of entitlement.

Wood's last day on the streets was expected to be Saturday, and the first article about his experience is scheduled to be published Tuesday.

Re: Can i share something with you all about my cousin... he wants to be a reporter and this is what he did

Re: Can i share something with you all about my cousin... he wants to be a reporter and this is what he did

Wow, that's really interesting. I would never be able to do something like that. I'd be interested to read the articles that he writes.

Re: Can i share something with you all about my cousin... he wants to be a reporter and this is what he did

I do have something else let me copy it. nevermind its kinda like the same story. but when i get more stuff from my cousin i will post it here.

Message edited 4/9/2007 6:45:09 PM.

Re: Can i share something with you all about my cousin... he wants to be a reporter and this is what he did

Re: Can i share something with you all about my cousin... he wants to be a reporter and this is what he did

Very interesting!!!!

Re: Can i share something with you all about my cousin... he wants to be a reporter and this is what he did

Very interesting, and I would also like to read the articles.

Re: Can i share something with you all about my cousin... he wants to be a reporter and this is what he did

Re: Can i share something with you all about my cousin... he wants to be a reporter and this is what he did

I will look into finding his articles who whom ever wants to read them.

Re: Can i share something with you all about my cousin... he wants to be a reporter and this is what he did

Wow!

I work for a nonprofit and spend a lot of time talking to homeless people, but have never spent a night on the street. Kudos to him for doing something different!