West Siders Want Changes to Recycling Ordinance

Posted on 27. Jun, 2012 by citizen in Local News, Weekend

Rev. David Whittley of Corinthian Temple Church is flanked by Ald. Jason Earvin, left, and Nicole Harvey, as he prays with community residents and stakeholders June 20 outside of Gomez Recycling on the West Side. Aldermen are introducing an ordinance that they hope will hope will curb crime associated with scrap metal recycling. Photo by Rhonda Gillespie

West Side aldermen were joined by community residents and others June 20 to express their outrage over recycling gone criminal. They held a press conference outside of Gomez Recycling in the Austin area to demand a halt to the business’ practice of accepting metal for scrap without asking questions or requiring identification.

Aldermen Emma Mitts (37th) and Jason Ervin (28th) said they would be introducing an ordinance amendment that would hold recyclers like Gomez more accountable since many residents believe the recyclers help fuel a metal theft and property burglary enterprise.

Felipe Gomez watched from the entrance of his facility as members of the community complained about the way he does business. He laughed some of it off and told the Chicago Citizen that he does ask for identification when recyclers come to his yard but he added that he has no way of telling if the items they bring in are ill-gotten.

“Somebody no bring I.D. (I) no buy nothing,” he said. He pays 11 cents per pound. “I don’t know if they are stealing or no stealing. All they need is I.D.”

Rev. Edwin Perry said thieves removed the gutters and downspout off of his West Side church and took the pickings to a local scrap metal facility like Gomez Recycling and cashed in. The pastor of Fillmore Christian House of Prayer said his church had to pay over $2,000 to replace the materials. He was one of several area stakeholders calling for places like Gomez Recycling, located at 4625 W. Chicago Ave., to also cease 24-hour operations.

“This is a citywide issue, not just for the African American community but everybody has been affected by this,” said Ervin. He said nearly a dozen aldermen have already lined up to support the proposed amendment and he expects that more will be onboard soon. “We’re all together on this.”

Felipe Gomez directs vehicles in and out of his Gomez Recycling facility on the West Side. Aldermen want scrap metal recycling owners to be more accountable. Gomez said he alreadys asks for I.D. before paying out for metal recyclables. Photo by Rhonda Gillespie

Some scrappers have upped the ante on their collecting, opting to go from picking up pop cans, stray bicycle frames and aluminum foil to tearing copper wiring from air conditioner units, “lifting” fences, gates and other metal on city and private property, and cruising alleys and other areas for wares.

“Recycling has become the new way of earning dollars and creating jobs for some. Unfortunately, you don’t see a lot of us who have our trucks rolling around in the neighborhood doing his type of work. Usually it’s more the Hispanic community that do the recycling,” Mitts said.

She explained that other people have found out “there’s money in recycling” and have started to collect metal using shopping cars and wheeled residential garbage cans.

“(Thieves) are taking everything because they’ve found out there’s money in this. What once was just recycling is now…recycling everybody and everything including your house,” she said.

The amendment, which was to be introduced to a City Council committee a day after the press conference, calls for recycling facilities to maintain a written or computer database of people who bring in recyclables. Owners would be required to ask for a government-issued ID, identification issued by the Mexican consulate, or a valid passport — along with a utility bill or other document listing the recycler’s current address.

“The measures “stop the market, where you have a place to step in and readily take your goods to be sold. That’s what we’re trying to regulate. If you can stop where they can bring it to to sell it then you can stop a lot of the (illegal) activity,” said Mitts.

Nicole Harvey is “distraught” over what happened to her West Side property. She said thieves took her entire central air unit, plucked a fire pit from her back porch and took copper wiring from her home. She found out from a neighbor that the brazen thieves loaded the goods into Harvey’s garbage dumpster and rolled it down the street, right up to Gomez Recycling.

“When I came here to Gomez Recycling and the guy opened the door, there was the housing of my unit with the serial number on it,” she said. She called the police. Harvey ended up paying $4,800 for a new central air unit, but so far has not had the money to replace the fire pit.

She pointed to the recycling facility as she blamed it for the antagonizing the community.

“Hopefully this ordinance will curb crime because this has become the crime haven of our community. If we want to know where crime is going, if you want to know where theft is going it’s going right here,” she said.

By Rhonda Gillespie

District 205 Wins Public Service Award

Posted on 27. Jun, 2012 by citizen in Local News, South Suburban

Students from Thornton Township High Schools, District 205 were in Washington, D.C. last week to receive the Jefferson Awards for Public Service. (L to R) Brian Geiger, Glennita Williams, Candice Sewell, Triana Williams, Maurice Kendall and Javon Hall. (Photo Courtesy of Thornton Township High Schools)

Students from Thornton Township High School District 205 located in South Holland are still relishing in the moment after receiving national recognition for their community service efforts.  A group of six Dist. 205 students, traveled to Washington, D.C. last week to receive a recognition for community service.

According to published reports, students from the three Dist. 205 high schools raised $125,000 for charities which benefitted such causes as the American Cancer Society and the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

Jerry Doss, a faculty advisor who accompanied the students on the trip said that they are excited.

“I think they were most impressed because they got to go D.C.,” Doss told the Chicago Citizen.  “(It was) a culmination of hard work and community service.”

The students also met national leaders including CIA Director Gen. David Petraeus, Doss said.

Dist. 205 placed second in the nation among participating Students in Action schools as the Runner-Up for the National Recipient for Outstanding Service by a High School award.

Students In Action is a national youth leadership program. Currently active in 325 high schools in 13 communities across the U.S., the program encourages high school students to get engaged and be the change that they wish to see in their communities.

The mission of the Students in Action program is to create leadership teams in high schools across the country to celebrate volunteerism and inspire others to get involved.

The student teams in each of the 13 regions met this spring where they made a presentation before a local group of judges highlighting their progress and accomplishments towards meeting the seven goals of the program.

Dist. 205 was chosen for best exemplifying these goals and expanding their volunteer capacity in their schools.  In April, the district was named as the Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana Regional Recipient for Outstanding Service by a High School allowing them to represent the region at the Jefferson Awards National Ceremonies and have a chance to compete for a national title.

Known as the “Noble Prize” for public service, the Jefferson Awards are presented during a two day ceremony in Washington, D.C.  A diverse mix of honorees are paid homage—from people who’ve dedicated their entire lives to public service to community-based volunteers whose work that goes under the radar.

By Thelma Sardin

NNPA Legacy Dinner Highlights Legendary Social Activists

Posted on 27. Jun, 2012 by citizen in Local News, News

Congressman John Lewis addresses NNPA members at the organization's 2012 Legacy Dinner held at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta. (Photo by Thelma Sardin)

ATLANTA—Congressman John Lewis (D-GA) welcomed members of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) to Atlanta Friday night at the organization’s 2012 Legacy Awards Dinner. The event honored both Ambassador Andrew Young and Danny Bakewell, Sr., former NNPA chairman.

“I’m glad tonight to see that you are honoring two of my favorite people,” Lewis said. “They have made unbelievable contributions to our society.”

A renowned Civil Rights leader, Lewis thanked the Black Press for its role in helping get out stories about the movement.

“If it hadn’t been for members of the Black Press, the Civil Rights Movement would have been like a bird without wings,” the congressman said. “Thank you for telling the story.”

While studying at Fisk University in Nashville, Lewis organized sit-in demonstrations at segregated lunch counters across the city.

In 1961, he joined Freedom Rides, a civil rights tactic designed to test the Supreme Court’s ruling in Boynton v. Virginia (1960), which declared segregation in interstate bus and rail stations unconstitutional. Lewis jeopardized his life by frequently by sitting in seats reserved for white customers. He was also and was beaten ruthlessly by irate mobs and detained by police for challenging the prejudice of Jim Crow segregation.

The congressman called upon the Black Press to continue its social activism by reporting stories on voter discrimination practices.

“There is a deliberate, systematic attempt to steal the upcoming election before it takes place,” Lewis said. “You have to tell the story. You have to print the story. They are trying to make it hard, difficult and impossible for people of color, for young people, for our seniors to cast a vote. It’s not just in the South but it’s throughout our country. You must not let that happen. We struggled for the right to vote, some of us gave a little blood.”

According to The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, a non-profit legal organization, voter suppression efforts are in high gear across the nation. The committee states that photo identification requirements are being proposed or becoming law in many states such as Ohio, Wisconsin, Kansas, Pennsylvania, Montana, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas, are particularly burdensome on minority, low-income, elderly, disabled and student voters.

The committee also states on its website that photo ID laws disproportionately affect those who are least able to afford it. A 2006 survey concluded that voting-age citizens earning less than $35,000 in annual income were more than twice as likely to lack a government-issued ID as those earning more than $35,000.

Danny Bakewell, Sr. (center) was a 2012 honoree at the NNPA Legacy Awards Dinner at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta Friday night. (L to R) Walter Smith, publisher, New York Beacon; Danny Bakewell, Sr., former NNPA chairman; John Eaves, chairman, Fulton County Board of Commissioners, Scarlet Pressley-Brown, general manager, Delta Airlines; and Cloves C. Campbell, Jr., NNPA chairman. (Photo by Thelma Sardin)

Danny Bakewell, Sr. is immediate past chairman of NNPA and during his two year tenure from 2009-2011, he chartered new territories for the organization.

Through exposure and partnerships with auto giants such as Ford, Toyota and General Motors, Bakewell helped the Black Press gain the advertising recognition it deserves.

The revered leader thanked NNPA members for their cooperation during his leadership.

“I asked you to trust me and you did,” Bakewell said. “I asked you to make sure you made a commitment for all of us to be on the same page about the power of the Black Press and to mean it.”

Bakewell continued by saying that the duty of NNPA members is not only to print newspapers but “to but to agitate and to aggravate and to make sure people understood the importance of the Black Press.”

“Our responsibility is not just printing out newspapers; our responsibility is making life better for our people,” the former NNPA chairman declared.

A steadfast proponent of the power of the Black Press, Bakewell thanked NNPA members for their support during his tenure.

“It is your pen, your ink; your papers that makes America recognize the talent that is among them,” he said. “I will be forever indebted for the trust you put in me to be your chairman.”

A successful businessman, Bakewell was born in New Orleans and in 1974, he co-founded the National Black United Fund (NBUF), which created and forged a nationwide benevolent vehicle for populations that were either ignored or undeserved by popular charitable organizations, forming 22 NBUF affiliates throughout the country.

Ambassador Andrew Young, Civil Rights leader, former Congressman and mayor of Atlanta was introduced during the event by Xernona Clayton, founder, president and CEO of the Trumpet Awards Foundation, Inc.

Young is a staunch humanitarian whose work spans decades and the globe. An ordained minister and top aide to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., he has made significant contributions to society. In 1977, President Jimmy Carter appointed Young to serve as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations. He served two terms as Mayor of Atlanta and was Co-Chairman of the Centennial Olympic Games in 1996.

Known as a progressive thinker and leader, Young shared his thoughts on civil rights for “lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender” (LGBT) Americans.  “You got to be willing to love others as you want God to love you,” the ambassador said.  “And the reason most people get upset about other people’s sex lives is they haven’t been able to face their own…We can unite the world if we quit worrying about the speck in our brother’s eye and deal with the log in our own eye.”

While presenting Young, Clayton said he was “a man respected all over the world.”

“How fortunate we all are to be in his midst and to be made privileged to sit at his feet and listen to his experiences,” Clayton said.

By Thelma Sardin

FBI Releases Preliminary Annual Crime Statistics for 2011

Posted on 21. Jun, 2012 by citizen in National News, News

According to the FBI’s Preliminary Annual Uniform Crime Report released the nation experienced a 4.0 percent decrease in the number of violent crimes and a 0.8 percent decline in the number of property crimes in 2011 when compared with data from 2010.

Violent Crime

• In 2011, all four of the violent crime offense categories—murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault—declined nationwide when compared with data from 2010. Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter declined 1.9 percent, while forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault each declined 4.0 percent.
• Violent crime declined in all city groups. Cities with populations of 50,000 to 99,999 saw the largest decrease (5.2 percent) in violent crime. Violent crime decreased 6.6 percent in metropolitan counties and 4.7 percent in nonmetropolitan counties.
• Within city groups, murder and nonnegligent manslaughter offenses increased the most (18.3 percent) in cities with populations under 10,000. Cities with populations of 50,000 to 99,999 showed the largest decrease of murder and nonnegligent manslaughter offenses (14.4 percent).
• All city groupings experienced a decline in forcible rapes except in cities with 500,000 to 999,999 inhabitants, which had the increase in forcible rapes (0.5 percent). Forcible rape offenses declined 6.8 percent in metropolitan counties and 9.0 percent in nonmetropolitan counties.
• Robbery offenses decreased in all city groupings, with the greatest decrease (5.3 percent) in cities with 50,000 to 99,999 inhabitants. Robberies decreased 7.5 percent in metropolitan counties and 3.6 percent in nonmetropolitan counties.
• Aggravated assaults decreased in all city groups. Cities with 50,000 to 99,999 inhabitants experienced the largest decrease at 5.3 percent. Aggravated assaults declined in both county groups, with a decrease of 6.3 percent in metropolitan counties and 4.2 percent in nonmetropolitan counties.
• Violent crime decreased in all four regions (4.9 percent in the Midwest, 4.7 percent in the West, 4.5 percent in the South, and 0.8 percent in the Northeast).

Property Crime

• Nationally, the property crime offense categories of larceny-theft and motor vehicle theft decreased in 2011 when compared with 2010 data. Motor vehicle theft dropped 3.3 percent, and larceny-theft decreased 0.9 percent. However, burglary offenses increased 0.3 percent.
• Property crime increased 0.3 percent in cities with 250,000 to 499,999 inhabitants and increased 0.1 percent in cities with 10,000 to 24,999 in population. Decreases in property crime were reported in all other city groupings. Property crime decreased 1.4 percent in metropolitan counties but increased 2.6 percent in nonmetropolitan counties.
• Burglary offenses increased 1.2 percent in cities with 50,000 to 99,999 persons, which is the largest increase reported within city groupings. Burglaries increased 1.0 percent in nonmetropolitan counties.
• Larceny-theft offenses decreased in all city groupings except those with populations of 250,000 to 499,999, which had an increase of 0.2 percent, and those with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants, which showed virtually no change. Larceny-thefts increased 4.1 percent in nonmetropolitan counties.
• Motor vehicle thefts declined in all population groupings. Cities with 100,000 to 249,999 inhabitants experienced the largest decline at 4.3 percent. Metropolitan counties reported a 6.1 percent decrease in motor vehicle thefts.
• Three of the nation’s regions had decreases in property crime in 2011 when compared with data from 2010. These offenses declined 1.3 percent in the South, 0.8 percent in the West, and 0.4 percent in the Midwest. However, property crimes increased 0.2 percent in the Northeast.

Arson

• Arson offenses, which are not included in property crime totals, decreased 5.0 percent nationwide. Arsons declined in all four regions in 2011, with the Northeast experiencing the largest decrease (12.3 percent).

For definitions of the offenses presented in this release and collected for the accompanying report, please see Offense Definitions from Crime in the United States, 2010.

The complete Preliminary Annual Uniform Crime Report is available exclusively at www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/ucr.

City, Communities, Families to Help Keep Kids Safe Over Summer Break

Posted on 21. Jun, 2012 by citizen in Local News, Weekend

Coralyn Bryant, second from right, stands with, from left, Destiny Frazier, Dora Bryant, David Bryant and Nakia Bryant outside of New Zion M.B. Church on the West Side following Dora's graduation. Coralyn Bryant said keeping kids safe over the summer means keeping them busy. Photo by Rhonda Gillespie

School’s out for public and private school youth around the city. And with a string of violent weekends since Memorial Day that cut short the lives of at least three youth under age 17, the task of keeping kids safe continues to be a citywide concern.

One West Side mother and grandmother said keeping youth out of harm’s way means keeping them busy. Coralyn Bryant was with her family Friday outside the New Zion Missionary Baptist Church, 1252 S. Wolcott following her daughter Dora Bryant’s graduation from Community Services West Career Academy high school. The graduate will be preparing for college life and enrollment in Truman College.

“We have to give the kids something to do and keep them busy,” she said. “The mother and the father has to stay in the kids’ life and keep them busy, find them something to do.”

She said her grandchildren, including her Daniel Webster Elementary School third grader Destiny Frazier, will attend a local community center summer program and take part in family events as part of the family’s efforts to keep the kids safe. “You have to give (kids) something to do. That’s how you keep them safe,” said Coralyn Bryant.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel was bombarded with questions about safety and curbing gun violence during a June 12 press conference where he announced a new public school and public library partnership. The preceding weekend saw 40 shootings and eight deaths.

“I will not rest until we bring safety to every part of the city,” the mayor said.

Last year, from July to September there were 175 murders in Chicago, almost all of them from gun violence, according to Chicago Police Department crime data. In fact, analysis of the data revealed that those three months have, with very few exceptions, been the city’s deadliest since at least 1991.

The mayor expressed confidence in the strategic policing plans that his police Supt. Garry McCarthy announced early this year and continues to develop.

“We are doing things differently,” the mayor said at the press conference. He added that the police department reversed course, going from “reactive to proactive,” in dealing with gang members and drug dealers — who are blamed, in large part, for the city’s gun violence.

The City’s Summer Youth Employment Program, Chicago Park District and After School Matters (ASM) are entities set to provide opportunities for youth this summer. The mayor said earlier this year that money collected from scofflaws would put an additional $2 million each into the employment and After School Matters programs and $2.5 million more into programs through the park district. As a result, more youth age 16-24 would be able to work and 2,000 more youth would be able to take part in internships, apprenticeships and other offers as part of ASM. One million dollars of the money for the park district gives thousands of additional youth a chance to participate the Park District’s summer day camp. The rest of the money means other youth may be able to take part in other park programs.

Many churches and non-profit organizations will also offer programs. Sixty churches partnered with Chicago Public Schools as part of the school district’s Safe Haven, Safe Summer program that will provide at least 2,000 youth with activities and educational enrichment at the participating churches daily from June 25 through Aug. 3.

Police crime data indicates that most homicides are committed on the streets, in public thoroughfares. For many that is a call to have more indoor havens.

“We need all hands on deck,” said Rev. Ira Acree of Greater St. John Bible Church on the West Side. “We need churches opening up their doors. We need politicians coming up with programs and financial resources for youth to have live options. … Businesses and block clubs must do more. Families must do more. School systems must do more.”

By Rhonda Gillespie

Rich South Band Fundraising For London Olympics Trip

Posted on 21. Jun, 2012 by citizen in Local News, South Suburban

Current and alumni members of the Rich South High School marching band showed off their vocal and musical talent Thursday at a fundraiser at Bocce Restaurant in Matteson. The band is raising money for its upcoming trip to the Summer Olympic Games in London. Photo by Rhonda Gillespie

The Southland is rallying behind the London-bound Rich South High School marching band. Last Thursday, the band held a fundraiser at Bocce Restaurant in south suburban Matteson to help raise money for its trip to the Olympic Games this summer.

Mayors from several south suburban towns were at the fundraiser and pledged moral and financial support to the band. Business and community leaders also promised to back the Marching Stars with cash and lots of praise.

Big things have been happening for the band in the last few years. But nothing was quite as huge as the news that band director Y.L. Douglas Jr. delivered to the young musicians when he found out the band had been selected for the Olympics. He had been encouraged by band supporters to send an audition tape as part of the application process for the Games. When the bid was accepted and he told the students, “you could hear a pin drop,” he said.

As the leader, he was humbled.

Douglas holds even more bragging rights when it comes to his band members’ scholastic achievement. He has 12 who will be going to college in the fall and whose academic success netted them a collective $1.5 million in scholarships and grants. That’s a high note that has reverberated throughout the band over the last six years. In the 2010 graduating class the valedictorian was a band member.

“Since 2006, these kids have brought me $6.5 million in scholarships — band scholarships and academic scholarships,” he said. “The arts is such a strong pillar in these kids’ lives.”

“I’ve seen some things that I know only God can do, this being no different — to have the opportunity to make it to the 2012 Olympics,” Douglas said, still shaking his head in amazement.

He said some of the kids in his 109-member band would hardly have a chance to “leave the block, let alone go abroad and be a part of the ‘American teams.’”

Rich South High School band director Y.L. Douglas Jr. jumped on the drums Thursday at a fundraiser at Bocce Restaurant in Matteson. The band is raising money for its upcoming trip to the Summer Olympic Games in London. Photo by Rhonda Gillespie

But he could only call it the work of a higher power that, come July 24, he will take one-third of the band across the Atlantic to the popular European city for a week and a half. Douglas said the band will be present for the Olympic torch lighting ceremony and will perform at least three times throughout their time at the Games. Band members will also get to interact with some local high school students and take in some of the sights. They’ll be there until Aug. 1.

Not as many of the students as Douglas would have liked will get to take the trip from their hometown of Richton Park to London because of the hefty cost per person to go. He said initially sponsorships and donations trickled in a bit too slow to meet some of the financial deadlines the band had to adhere to. While some parents were able to pay the $2,500 expense out of their own pockets for their students to go, a lot more weren’t. And even with a majority of the band not going, the Rich South marching band is still roughly $20,000 short of the $55,000 they need for the trip. The cost includes airfare, two meals each day, excursions and other amenities.

Drummer and band member Antoine Richards, a 16-year-old junior at the school, is definitely participating in the “once in a lifetime opportunity” to represent the school and his band at the Summer Olympic Games. He said he jumped for joy when he found out about the trip and looks forward to putting his school band on the international map.

Thursday’s fundraiser was organized by Robin Kelly, the former state representative and candidate for state treasurer, and current chief administrative officer for Cook County.

“In the south suburbs we don’t always get the best press and we have a lot of the best out here. I’m so proud of those students and we need to do everything we can to make sure they get to London. They not only can sing and play, they’re scholars and we need to support them. That’s the bottom line,” she said.

The band is still accepting donations. Log onto www.richsouthband.org for more information and to donate.

By Rhonda Gillespie

6 Lindblom Students Headed To China for Summer Program

Posted on 21. Jun, 2012 by citizen in Local News, South End

Six students from Lindblom Math and Science Academy high school will be going to China this summer for a study abroad program. The students, front row, from left, are: Alejandra Diaz, Karen Guadarrama, Jamuri Tylon; back row from left: Sabrina Simpson, Deshun Peoples and Brain Chaidez. Photo by Rhonda Gillespie

Sabrina Simpson became interested in the Chinese culture in elementary school when her teacher led the class in a celebration of the Chinese New Year. When Simpson went on to enroll in Lindblom Math and Science Academy high school she was excited that it offered Chinese as a foreign language option.

But Simpson’s fondness for Chinese customs and traditions received the ultimate boost this school year when it was announced that she was among several Lindblom students chosen to visit and study in the southeast Asian country. This summer, Simpson, 17, is going to Beijing, China!

The six Lindblom students and ones from Walter Payton College Prep high school will be going to China for a special study abroad program under President Barack Obama’s 100,000 Strong Initiative. The program relies on public-private funding partnerships and the Motorola Mobility Foundation will help pay for the Chicago Public Schools students to participate in this six-week summer program. The trip was organized by Americans Promoting Study Abroad (APSA), and will include Mandarin language study, engagement with Chinese culture, community service and an exploration of international job opportunities.

The 100,000 Strong Initiative is designed to help boost the number and diversity over the next five years of U.S. students who study in China, according to the U.S. Department of State. Officials there point out that 10 times more Chinese students study in the U.S. than American students study in China. Also, more Chinese study English than Americans study Mandarin (the official name of the language).

Mayor Rahm Emanuel offered the students high praise.

“Our students are already leading the nation as learners of this important global language, and we are pleased that many will have a chance to take those language skills to the next level through a summer immersion experience in China,” he said. “This program will provide life-changing opportunities for Chicago-area high school students. Many kids only dream about traveling to a different country to live and learn. The 100,000 Strong Initiative will help turn dream into reality.”

CPS offers Mandarin language instruction as part of its curriculum at 25 elementary schools and 23 high schools.

“It was this or Arabic,” Jamauri Tylon said about signing up for Chinese I. Now after three years of studying the language, he’s going to put it to real-world practice.

The 17-year-old Lindblom junior is packing his bags and, for the first time in his life, is preparing to go out of the country – over 6,000 miles to China’s capital city. Tylon, who lives in the Beverly community, said he has wanted to go to China to experience firsthand the language and culture that he has been studying. He was almost content with it just being on his to-do list.

“But when I actually got a chance (to go to China) I was blown away,” he said.

DeShun Peoples, 16, is planning for a career in politics and law that also dabbles in international affairs. He plans to study multiple languages in college and is already looking forward to taking Advanced Placement (AP) Chinese at Lindblom. For him, going to China is a culmination of his coursework so far and a natural “next step.”

“This trip will expose me to a different country and different culture,” said Peoples, who added that he would have sought an exchange program on his own if this opportunity had not arisen.

Having six students represent the school in China has elated the school staff and administration. Hayley Herford is chair of Lindblom’s World Language Department and teaches Chinese. Though she won’t be going with her students to Beijing, she is elated for them.

“This opportunity is amazing,” she said. “It’s the best part of my job.”

Herford speaks highly of the school’s program, which is one of the largest in CPS, she said. The school offers Chinese and Arabic, languages Herford admits are two of the more difficult foreign languages to master but ones that can be rewarding when students’ do.

“It gives them a different sense of confidence,” she said.

The student are looking forward to the community service they will participate in while in Beijing including helping Chinese students there to learn English. Other Lindblom students participating in the cultural learning program this summer are Alejandra Diaz, Karen Guadarrama and Brian Chaidez.

“Just being able to get the experience of it all” is awesome, said Simpson.

By Rhonda Gillespie

Prison Measures Passed, Proposed In General Assembly

Posted on 21. Jun, 2012 by citizen in Hyde Park, Local News

“When you take a look at Illinois’ prison population, most of them are there for non-violent crimes,” says state Rep. Ken Dunkin (5th Dist.).

Prison reform was among the hot button issues the General Assembly had to tackle during the spring session. The budget Gov. Pat Quinn gave legislators earlier this year to consider included steep cuts to the state’s prison system.

Quinn proposed closing the Tamms supermax prison located near the state’s southern border with Missouri and the Mississippi River, the women’s prison in Dwight, five adult transition centers and two juvenile facilities.

State prison population counts reveal a collective system that is nearly 1.5 times over capacity. Under Quinn’s plan, nearly 3,000 prisoners would be impacted. But a chorus of elected officials and non-profit organizations called for a focus on low-level inmates and facilities first to deal with the state’s prison expenses.

One watchdog and advocacy agency in particular had its eye on Senate Bill 2621 which established an early release program for some non-violent criminals who can get their get-out-of-jail card punched if they participate in certain good behavior, education and community service programs.

The John Howard Association (JHA) was a proponent of SB 2621 and is pleased with its passage during the spring session. The bill passed 55-1 in the Senate and 68-50 in the House and now awaits Gov. Pat Quinn’s signature to become law.

The JHA works to achieve a fair, humane and cost-effective criminal justice system by promoting adult and juvenile prison reform, leading to successful re-integration and enhanced community safety, according o it website,

According to the JHA, Illinois housed an estimated 50,000 inmates in a system equipped to hold roughly 34,000. Further, in 2009 Illinois spent $1 billion on prisons.

In addition to SB 2621 and the governor’s proposed closures, state Rep. Ken Dunkin (5th Dist.), wants the state to create penalty tiers for non-violent offenses in an effort to further cut the amount money the state spends on incarceration.

“When you take a look at Illinois’ prison population, most of them are there for non-violent crimes,” said Dunkin. “The United States and Illinois incarcerates too many people and the fiscal pressures, as well as the societal damage these policies create are unsustainable.

Dunkin used JHA data to press his point.

According to the organization, approximately 70 percent of inmates are imprisoned for non-violent offenses and 50 percent serve six months or less. Additionally, the state spends on average $25,000 per year per inmate.

“Let me be clear, this effort is about saving money and trying to break the cycle of recidivism that turns non-violent people who made a mistake into bitter career criminals,” said Dunkin. “I despise violent criminals who ruin communities and believe they deserve tough prison sentences. But I do see a great opportunity to find a smarter and cheaper way to spend that $25,000 on non-violent offenders.”

By Rhonda Gillespie

Whole Foods Coming To 51st and Lake Park By 2014

Posted on 21. Jun, 2012 by citizen in Hyde Park, Local News

Whole Foods has signed a lease to serve as the anchor tenant in their redevelopment of the shopping center in the south west corner of 51st and Lake Park in the Hyde Park community.

Antheus Capital announced last month in a May 5 press release that Whole Foods has signed a lease to serve as the anchor tenant in their redevelopment of the shopping center in the south west corner of 51st and Lake Park in the Hyde Park community. This lease represents a powerful endorsement of Hyde Park by the world’s leading natural and organic foods supermarket.

The investment company stated in the release that there is a lot of work remaining to bring the Whole Foods project to fruition but that they are gratified by the milestone and appreciate the significant time and effort invested by former Alderman Preckwinkle and her successors, Alderman Newsome and Alderman Burns, in making the mission possible.

Clarke’s, a 24-hour diner chain, will also open a new location at 1451 East 53rd Street in 2013. Clarke’s already has locations in Evanston and the Belmont neighborhood. The introduction of these new businesses is part of a project to increase vitality along 53rd Street and the area around Harper Court.

The entire mixed-use redevelopment project is designed by Jeanne Gang and Studio Gang Architects and includes 179 residential units, 110,000 square feet of retail and office space and two levels of underground parking. Chicago City Council approved the Planned Development in the fall of 2010. The stores and residences are expected to open in 2014.

Program to Focus on Women of Color at Black Colleges and Universities

Posted on 21. Jun, 2012 by citizen in Chatham, Local News

The preparation of women leaders in STEM at HBCUs is especially important because of their high enrollment of women students and their disproportionately large production of African Americans and others who later get doctoral degrees and enter the science and engineering workforce.

WASHINGTON — The Chicago School of Professional Psychology (TCSPP), the nation’s largest nonprofit graduate school, has received a three-year award of $1,871,373 from the National Science Foundation (NSF), for a project entitled “TCS Academic Leadership Graduate Certificate Program”.

This grant will support the development and delivery of a new Academic Leadership Graduate Certificate in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU).

TCSPP will build upon its groundbreaking program in Organizational Development, which helps students assume leadership roles. The two programs will now merge to serve a key national priority: Ensuring that more women—especially Women of Color—realize their potential as powerful and effective leaders in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), specifically at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). It is well documented that women are underrepresented in academia, and even more severely in STEM.

“On behalf of our Board of Trustees and faculty, TCSPP is pleased to earn the trust of the National Science Foundation to prepare the next generation of multi-cultural women faculty in STEM for a  changing and  more challenging workforce,” Dr. Nealon-Woods, TCSPP’s National President said.

TCSPP’s commitment to diversity and solid experience in leadership training, we are uniquely positioned to address this need.”

Orlando L. Taylor, Ph.D., President of The Chicago School’s Washington, D.C. campus, is principal investigator, and will oversee the project. Dr. Taylor is a national leader in both graduate and higher education and is a respected member of the HBCU community having served as Howard University’s Vice Provost of Research and Graduate School Dean.  He will be joined by four co-project directors with documented knowledge and experience in the HBCU culture, gender equity issues, the art and science of leadership/organizational psychology, and/or STEM. They are:  Drs. Martha Lappan and Joneis Thomas of the Washington, D.C. Campus, and Drs. Linda Liang and Michael Barr of the Online-Blended Programs.

“This award is consistent with The Chicago School’s commitment to access and equity for all Americans, particularly as they relate to the national need for STEM disciplines.  The preparation of women leaders in STEM at HBCUs is especially important because of their high enrollment of women students and their disproportionately large production of African Americans and others who later get doctoral degrees and enter the science and engineering workforce,” Dr. Taylor explained.

The new program will serve three groups of 15 participants each for a total of 45 students. The project’s design is grounded in interdisciplinary theory and research in organizational psychology and higher education, and will build upon TCSPP’s “Engaged Professional Model of Education,” which creatively integrates a student’s professional education at HBCUs with authentic leadership experiences. The program will be led by a team of experts with proven knowledge and leadership in senior administration at HBCUs, multicultural education, academic programming in leadership, and gender psychology.

According to 2009 statistics, HBCUs, which represent only 3% of U.S. colleges and universities, graduate approximately 25% of African Americans with undergraduate degrees. In many of the STEM disciplines, these same institutions graduate an even higher percentage–roughly 40%. African American women represent 70% of the HBCU population.  In the STEM disciplines, HBCUs produce a critical mass of female STEM majors. Spelman College, for example, with only 1,500 female students, graduates more African American women who later obtain Ph.D.s in the STEM fields than any other school in the nation. The presence of diverse faculty and leaders is often critical to the success of African American women in colleges and universities. The program’s design holds promise to serve as a model for TCSPP campuses in Chicago and Southern California, and among its professional networks.

Source: PR Newswire