Jack Nielsen, former head of floral businesses, dies
The Ann Arbor News
By Pamela Appea
Jack Nielsen, co-founder and former president of Ann Arbor-based Nielsen’s Flowers & Greenhouses, died Sunday at home after a yearlong illnesses. He was 86.
Memorial services will be at 1 p.m. Wednesday at Muehlig Funeral Chapel, 403 S. Fourth Ave., Ann Arbor.
Remembered for his quiet and unassuming manner and his business acumen, Nielsen developed the retail side of the family business until his retirement in 1982.
Some associates recall thinking of Nielsen as the “white tornado: because of his light blond hair and high energy. Family members remember that he was difficult to keep up with in the store and on the way to buy fresh plants and flowers.
Nielsen also served as a charter member of the Pittsfield Township zoning Board of the Appeals in the late 1960s and early ‘70s. Remembering Nielsen as a natural leader in promoting environmental concerns during zoning ordinance planning, former township supervisor Robert Lillie described Nielsen as a “very fine man” when they were both involved with township service.
A native of Aarhus, Denmark, Nielsen came to the Untied States in 1925 at age 12 with his parents and two brothers.
After living in Des Plains, Ill., and Mt. Clemens, the family settled in Ann Arbor in 1934.
The greenhouse, originally known as Nielsen’s Flower Shop, is located at 1021 Maiden Lane. It is in its 65th year of business this year.
During World War II, the family business experienced some difficult times.
“People weren’t buying flowers then, obviously,” said Paul Nielsen, his son.
To compensate, Jack Nielsen converted some of the greenhouses to henhouses. He then raised chickens, donating thousands of eggs to the University of Michigan community for the war effort, said his daughter-in-law Diane Nielsen.
Nielsen, a traditional and reserved man, “always showed that he cared,” said Mary Ann Nielsen-Nisley. She remembers that her father was instrumental in encouraging her, along with siblings, to be involved with the family businesses and nature.
Nielsen devoted most of his time and energy to the greenhouse and flower shop, working seven days a week. He was president of Nielsen Flowers and Greenhouse from 1959 until 1982.
Inducted into the Ann Arbor Bowling Hall of Fame, Nielsen also enjoyed a long involvement with the Harness Horseman’s Association in Michigan.
Nielsen also is survived by a brother, Paul Nielsen of California; sons Frederick Nielsen and Larry Nielsen; nine grandchildren; and 5 great-grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his wife of 50 years, Theresa, and his brother Brent F. Nielsen, who also worked at the family business.
Originally published Tuesday, June 22, 1999
Thursday, July 22, 1999
Wednesday, July 21, 1999
Church Group raises goal for clothing drive
Church Group raises goal for clothing drive
Organization hopes to provide clothing for 1,000 low-income children
The Ann Arbor News
By Pamela Appea
Jewelry retailer Arthur Robertson said he has wanted for years to so something for low-income children in the community. Although Robertson said he often talked with his wife, Sandra, about some of his big dreams for a grassroots community service project, he said he wasn’t sure he could make that commitment.
“Like everyone else, I thought I was too busy.” But after Robertson said he had a vision from God, he knew it was time to act. In 1993, as part of the Bethel AME church outreach program, he started the Quality of Life Resource Center, a clothing center for low-income children at 1511 Traver in Ann Arbor.
The organization’s annual back-to-school clothing drive, the group’s largest venture, tries to provide hundreds of Washtenaw County children with basic staples such as a winter coat or a dictionary for the school year.
Not only do new clothes and school supplies fulfill a practical need for low-income families, but they also provide children with self-esteem, said Roberson, the organization’s executive director.
This year, Robertson said the Quality of Life Center’s goal is to clothe 1,000 children, up from the 560 children for whom the organization provided clothes last year. Although this jump may seem like a stretch. Roberston said his operation has expanded since 1994 when it provided clothes for only 10 families.
“(My) dream has been realized,” he said.
Working from a list of names given by Washtenaw County Interdependence Agency along with families involved in the Head Start program and a local domestic violence shelter, Robertson works with the families’ requests.
“We give them a form and build from that,” he said.
Most children need a jacket, pants, socks, underclothes and shoes. For school supplies, they need one notebook, a pen and a pencil, he said.
J.C. Penney gives the Quality Life Center discounts for the clothing drive.
“The families are very appreciative because the funds (for clothing) are not available,” said Scott Elliott, the director of Head Start’s family services division.
According to Elliott, 90 percent of families who participate in the Head Start program fall under the federal definition of living in poverty, and many are homeless.
A new set of clothes, said Robertson, can cost up to $300, a “luxury” that many low-income families cannot afford. Last year, he estimated that he spent $100 for each child who received new clothes.
“Sometimes … problems pile up, if you take away just one (that helps),” said Gerald Monford Jr., a parent whose children were helped through the program.
The center often struggles to get sustained financial support. This year, the Quality of Life Center has raised $35,000 since March. To reach its goal this year, Robertson said he wants to raise $65,000. The center relies on cash donations from businesses, churches and other organizations for funding.
“(Last year) we were so far from our goal (in the late part of summer), it was frightening,” he said. But, the center ended up providing clothes for 560 children--60 more than expected.
Anyone interested in making a donation can call Robertson at (734) 665-1221 or send checks payable to the Bethel Quality of Life Resource Center to P.O. Box 13099, Ann Arbor, MI 48133. Donations are tax deductible.
Originally published Wednesday, July 21, 1999
Organization hopes to provide clothing for 1,000 low-income children
The Ann Arbor News
By Pamela Appea
Jewelry retailer Arthur Robertson said he has wanted for years to so something for low-income children in the community. Although Robertson said he often talked with his wife, Sandra, about some of his big dreams for a grassroots community service project, he said he wasn’t sure he could make that commitment.
“Like everyone else, I thought I was too busy.” But after Robertson said he had a vision from God, he knew it was time to act. In 1993, as part of the Bethel AME church outreach program, he started the Quality of Life Resource Center, a clothing center for low-income children at 1511 Traver in Ann Arbor.
The organization’s annual back-to-school clothing drive, the group’s largest venture, tries to provide hundreds of Washtenaw County children with basic staples such as a winter coat or a dictionary for the school year.
Not only do new clothes and school supplies fulfill a practical need for low-income families, but they also provide children with self-esteem, said Roberson, the organization’s executive director.
This year, Robertson said the Quality of Life Center’s goal is to clothe 1,000 children, up from the 560 children for whom the organization provided clothes last year. Although this jump may seem like a stretch. Roberston said his operation has expanded since 1994 when it provided clothes for only 10 families.
“(My) dream has been realized,” he said.
Working from a list of names given by Washtenaw County Interdependence Agency along with families involved in the Head Start program and a local domestic violence shelter, Robertson works with the families’ requests.
“We give them a form and build from that,” he said.
Most children need a jacket, pants, socks, underclothes and shoes. For school supplies, they need one notebook, a pen and a pencil, he said.
J.C. Penney gives the Quality Life Center discounts for the clothing drive.
“The families are very appreciative because the funds (for clothing) are not available,” said Scott Elliott, the director of Head Start’s family services division.
According to Elliott, 90 percent of families who participate in the Head Start program fall under the federal definition of living in poverty, and many are homeless.
A new set of clothes, said Robertson, can cost up to $300, a “luxury” that many low-income families cannot afford. Last year, he estimated that he spent $100 for each child who received new clothes.
“Sometimes … problems pile up, if you take away just one (that helps),” said Gerald Monford Jr., a parent whose children were helped through the program.
The center often struggles to get sustained financial support. This year, the Quality of Life Center has raised $35,000 since March. To reach its goal this year, Robertson said he wants to raise $65,000. The center relies on cash donations from businesses, churches and other organizations for funding.
“(Last year) we were so far from our goal (in the late part of summer), it was frightening,” he said. But, the center ended up providing clothes for 560 children--60 more than expected.
Anyone interested in making a donation can call Robertson at (734) 665-1221 or send checks payable to the Bethel Quality of Life Resource Center to P.O. Box 13099, Ann Arbor, MI 48133. Donations are tax deductible.
Originally published Wednesday, July 21, 1999
Monday, July 19, 1999
Parking structure gets ‘safety’ phones
Parking structure gets ‘safety’ phones
The Ann Arbor News
By Pamela Appea
Melisa Medina has wondered whether she’s safe when walking through Ann Arbor’s parking garages at night.
“(I sometimes feel) like I have to run to my car,” said Medina of Saline.
City police say crime is not prevalent in the city’s parking structures, but the nature of the buildings can create the perception that people need to be wary in them.
In the past few weeks, bright yellow “safety phones” have been added to several of the city’s parking structures. Officials say the phones can be used by people who must immediately contact police or medical help.
The effort stems from work by the Downtown Development Authority, the city and the Ann Arbor Mayoral Taskforce on Increasing Safety for Women.
“It is something that we wanted to do for a long time,” said Deputy Chief Craig Roderick of the Ann Arbor Police Department.
There are eight “safety phones,” each illuminated by a blue light, at the parking areas on South Fourth Avenue and William Street. Ann and Ashley streets, South First and West Washington streets and West Liberty Street.
And there are 29 phones installed by the DDA at elevator doors and each floor of the Fourth Avenue and the Liberty Street parking structures.
The phones have a button that, when pressed, immediately connects the individual with the 911 dispatcher. Modeled on the University of Michigan safety phone program, the dispatcher also can immediately determine the location of the call.
Lt. Greg Bazick, said police have not received emergency calls on the phones yet, though there have been a couple of pranks.
However, the police said the perception of increased safety is a benefit of the phones.
Kent Baumkel of the mayor’s safety task force said the group spent two years developing the safety phone project.
The DDA and the police department began preliminary discussions in early 1998 on how to implement some new ways to make Ann Arbor residents feel they could have immediate police help, officials said.
“Even if you’re not a victim of crime,” said Susan Pollay, executive director of DDA, “it gives the bad folks the message that this is not the place to get into mischief. It gives the good folks a feeling of comfort.”
Funds for city phones were generated from increased parking meter rates that took effect last year, Roderick said. The total for the city’s part of the project was $17,800.
The task force allocated $25,000 for the safety phones in the 1998-1999 fiscal year, and hopes to expand the project next year. And the DDA has allocated $55,000 through December for the phones.
Representatives for both agencies indicated they plan on installing several more phones in the Maynard Street structures this fall.
They also said that phones will be installed in the next two weeks in the parking area next to the main branch of the Ann Arbor District Library.
Photo Caption: The city of Ann Arbor, with the Downtown Development Authority, installed ‘safety phones’ in several parking structures such as this one at the Fourth Avenue and William Street structure.
Photo Credit: Larry E. Wright
Originally published Saturday, July 19, 1999
The Ann Arbor News
By Pamela Appea
Melisa Medina has wondered whether she’s safe when walking through Ann Arbor’s parking garages at night.
“(I sometimes feel) like I have to run to my car,” said Medina of Saline.
City police say crime is not prevalent in the city’s parking structures, but the nature of the buildings can create the perception that people need to be wary in them.
In the past few weeks, bright yellow “safety phones” have been added to several of the city’s parking structures. Officials say the phones can be used by people who must immediately contact police or medical help.
The effort stems from work by the Downtown Development Authority, the city and the Ann Arbor Mayoral Taskforce on Increasing Safety for Women.
“It is something that we wanted to do for a long time,” said Deputy Chief Craig Roderick of the Ann Arbor Police Department.
There are eight “safety phones,” each illuminated by a blue light, at the parking areas on South Fourth Avenue and William Street. Ann and Ashley streets, South First and West Washington streets and West Liberty Street.
And there are 29 phones installed by the DDA at elevator doors and each floor of the Fourth Avenue and the Liberty Street parking structures.
The phones have a button that, when pressed, immediately connects the individual with the 911 dispatcher. Modeled on the University of Michigan safety phone program, the dispatcher also can immediately determine the location of the call.
Lt. Greg Bazick, said police have not received emergency calls on the phones yet, though there have been a couple of pranks.
However, the police said the perception of increased safety is a benefit of the phones.
Kent Baumkel of the mayor’s safety task force said the group spent two years developing the safety phone project.
The DDA and the police department began preliminary discussions in early 1998 on how to implement some new ways to make Ann Arbor residents feel they could have immediate police help, officials said.
“Even if you’re not a victim of crime,” said Susan Pollay, executive director of DDA, “it gives the bad folks the message that this is not the place to get into mischief. It gives the good folks a feeling of comfort.”
Funds for city phones were generated from increased parking meter rates that took effect last year, Roderick said. The total for the city’s part of the project was $17,800.
The task force allocated $25,000 for the safety phones in the 1998-1999 fiscal year, and hopes to expand the project next year. And the DDA has allocated $55,000 through December for the phones.
Representatives for both agencies indicated they plan on installing several more phones in the Maynard Street structures this fall.
They also said that phones will be installed in the next two weeks in the parking area next to the main branch of the Ann Arbor District Library.
Photo Caption: The city of Ann Arbor, with the Downtown Development Authority, installed ‘safety phones’ in several parking structures such as this one at the Fourth Avenue and William Street structure.
Photo Credit: Larry E. Wright
Originally published Saturday, July 19, 1999
Sunday, July 18, 1999
Close to Home
Close to Home
The Ann Arbor News
By Pamela Appea
Even many local artists who regularly tour the annual art fairs in places like New York City or Santa Fe say there’s no place like home.
Especially during Art Fairs week in Ann Arbor.
Many of the potters, photographers, craft workers and painters who make the Ann Arbor area their year-round homes say that despite the fairs; grueling demands, they will still feel a sense of relief when the three fairs comprising the event begin on Wednesday.
It’s four days of the year when they won’t have to book plane travel, stay at motels and live out of their suitcase to show and sell their wares.
“(It’s a relief) just to sleep in your own bed,” said Margo West, a ceramic artist who is participating in the State Street Art Fair for the fourth time.
West, an Ann Arbor native, said she loves participating in the State Street fair—even though each vendor spends typical 12-hour days in the July sun and “it’s hard to get away, even for a moment.”
But, she said, the long days are worth it, since she’s at home.
Artists, even the locals, have to go through a rigorous screening process to be included in one of the art fairs. Many artists applied in February, then waited for the decisions in April.
Michael Waldchen, a furniture maker, said it’s a thrill to be accepted into an Ann Arbor fair. He said he probably shares the feeling with other Ann Arbor artists –“no matter how many years they have been doing it.”
With an estimated half-million people coming to the art fairs, most local artists spent last week completing booth arrangements and waiting for extra orders of business cards.
Most artists said they won’t produce rush artwork in the weeks before the fairs. Brighton-area song-bird painter Catherine McClung said she sent her last painting out in early July to be framed.
Local artists said one advantage of being at home was that they didn’t have to worry about broken pottery, exceeding airline weight limitations or misplacing a bag with important fair information – all of which can cause stress when traveling to fairs far away from home.
The comfort of being around family is also part of the home-turf advantage.
Ann Arbor woodworker Mark Orr and Jan Dutcher, a painter, said they never take their children with them to out-of-state art fairs.
“You can’t be watching your children and watching your booth,” Orr said.
Even weekend out-of-state trips—while their three children stay with Orr’s mother—are difficult, he said.
But when the artists are in Ann Arbor, the children ages 11, 9, and 4 can visit their parents at the fairs.
A long-time State Street art fair artist, McClung said the Ann Arbor fair is now one of the only fairs that she attends. When she was starting out in the late 1970s, McClung recalled 25 shows in a year.
After the birth of her daughter 24 years ago, McClung remembered how she juggled substitute teaching, painting and fairs.
After a year or two, though McClung knew that she wanted to do art full-time which also made it easier to be with her young daughter.
For McClung, the art fairs—both then and now—are fun.
“It’s like going to a big cocktail part, without the cocktails,” she said.
Sidebar
Local Angle
State Street Art Fair:
Total artists: 300
Area artists 7
Ann Arbor Street Art Fair: 190
Area artists: 25
Summer Art Fair: 550
Area artists: 45
Photo Caption One: Mark Orr makes some measurements on a table leg as he and partner Jan Dutcher work the afternoon away in Orr’s Ann Arbor garage recently. The two were preparing to exhibit this week.
Photo Caption Two: Roann Ogawa glazes a giant ceramic bead recently at her Ann Arbor home. Ogawa and other members of the Ann Arbor Potter’s Guild will have display space on South University Avenue.
Photo Credit: Lon Horwedel
Originally published Sunday, July 18, 1999
The Ann Arbor News
By Pamela Appea
Even many local artists who regularly tour the annual art fairs in places like New York City or Santa Fe say there’s no place like home.
Especially during Art Fairs week in Ann Arbor.
Many of the potters, photographers, craft workers and painters who make the Ann Arbor area their year-round homes say that despite the fairs; grueling demands, they will still feel a sense of relief when the three fairs comprising the event begin on Wednesday.
It’s four days of the year when they won’t have to book plane travel, stay at motels and live out of their suitcase to show and sell their wares.
“(It’s a relief) just to sleep in your own bed,” said Margo West, a ceramic artist who is participating in the State Street Art Fair for the fourth time.
West, an Ann Arbor native, said she loves participating in the State Street fair—even though each vendor spends typical 12-hour days in the July sun and “it’s hard to get away, even for a moment.”
But, she said, the long days are worth it, since she’s at home.
Artists, even the locals, have to go through a rigorous screening process to be included in one of the art fairs. Many artists applied in February, then waited for the decisions in April.
Michael Waldchen, a furniture maker, said it’s a thrill to be accepted into an Ann Arbor fair. He said he probably shares the feeling with other Ann Arbor artists –“no matter how many years they have been doing it.”
With an estimated half-million people coming to the art fairs, most local artists spent last week completing booth arrangements and waiting for extra orders of business cards.
Most artists said they won’t produce rush artwork in the weeks before the fairs. Brighton-area song-bird painter Catherine McClung said she sent her last painting out in early July to be framed.
Local artists said one advantage of being at home was that they didn’t have to worry about broken pottery, exceeding airline weight limitations or misplacing a bag with important fair information – all of which can cause stress when traveling to fairs far away from home.
The comfort of being around family is also part of the home-turf advantage.
Ann Arbor woodworker Mark Orr and Jan Dutcher, a painter, said they never take their children with them to out-of-state art fairs.
“You can’t be watching your children and watching your booth,” Orr said.
Even weekend out-of-state trips—while their three children stay with Orr’s mother—are difficult, he said.
But when the artists are in Ann Arbor, the children ages 11, 9, and 4 can visit their parents at the fairs.
A long-time State Street art fair artist, McClung said the Ann Arbor fair is now one of the only fairs that she attends. When she was starting out in the late 1970s, McClung recalled 25 shows in a year.
After the birth of her daughter 24 years ago, McClung remembered how she juggled substitute teaching, painting and fairs.
After a year or two, though McClung knew that she wanted to do art full-time which also made it easier to be with her young daughter.
For McClung, the art fairs—both then and now—are fun.
“It’s like going to a big cocktail part, without the cocktails,” she said.
Sidebar
Local Angle
State Street Art Fair:
Total artists: 300
Area artists 7
Ann Arbor Street Art Fair: 190
Area artists: 25
Summer Art Fair: 550
Area artists: 45
Photo Caption One: Mark Orr makes some measurements on a table leg as he and partner Jan Dutcher work the afternoon away in Orr’s Ann Arbor garage recently. The two were preparing to exhibit this week.
Photo Caption Two: Roann Ogawa glazes a giant ceramic bead recently at her Ann Arbor home. Ogawa and other members of the Ann Arbor Potter’s Guild will have display space on South University Avenue.
Photo Credit: Lon Horwedel
Originally published Sunday, July 18, 1999
Saturday, July 17, 1999
Firefighters Focusing on Safety
Firefighters Focusing on Safety
Training sessions teach specialized techniques for efficient rescue
The Ann Arbor News
By Pamela Appea
Most fire fighters worry about the safety of others at the scene of a fire before they think of themselves.
However, the focus is on firefighter safety this week as the Ann Arbor Fire Department hosts 16 veteran firefighters from southeast Michigan as part of a statewide effort to teach specialized safety techniques.
The Rapid Integration Team training program is being conducted at an abandoned building at 436 S. Main Street that will be demolished in the next few weeks. The program focuses on teaching firefighters quick and effective methods of firefighter rescue.
Another firefighter team is working with makeshift structures at the Resource Recovery Center landfill.
Jim Baldwin, the Ann Arbor Fire Department bureau chief will help firefighters approach their work differently.
“For years and years and years, we’ve practiced saving occupants of buildings,” he said. “But we’ve never really done—on a formal basis—enough to save our own people.”
Each graduate of this “train the trainer” program will go to their local departments and teach others what they have learned.
During the course, firefighters review ways to tear down walls, ceilings and floors as quickly as possible. They also practice hoisting methods for injured firefighters using mannequins and other trainees.
According to many of the course participants, rescuing firefighters can be difficult because of the uniform and firefighting equipment which can weigh up to 70 pounds.
The annual firefighter mortality rate is about 100 in the United States, according to National Fire Protection Association statistics.
Last year, the federal government passed a bill mandating that three or fewer firefighters cannot enter a burning structure until they have backups.
Baldwin said Ann Arbor is one of the first cities in Michigan to train individuals using new rescue techniques, allowing the fire department to “better comply with the law.”
“This is probably the greatest thing that I’ve ever worked on,” said Lt. Don Fisher, of the Ann Arbor Fire Department and a 28-year fire department veteran.
Fisher said the training continues Ann Arbor’s “progressive” tradition. He and four other firefighters helped develop the program curriculum at Michigan State University.
Fisher and Baldwin will start training all the 120 Ann Arbor firefighters in the next few months. Baldwin said training should be completed by the end of the year.
Full funding for the training was provided by a $50,000 federal grant.
Photo Caption: Ypsilanti Firefighter Fred Williams lowers Lt. Dave Fisher, of the Ann Arbor Fire Department, from a second-story window as party of a training session in Ann Arbor.
Photo Credit: Alan Warren
Originally published Thursday, June 17, 1999
Training sessions teach specialized techniques for efficient rescue
The Ann Arbor News
By Pamela Appea
Most fire fighters worry about the safety of others at the scene of a fire before they think of themselves.
However, the focus is on firefighter safety this week as the Ann Arbor Fire Department hosts 16 veteran firefighters from southeast Michigan as part of a statewide effort to teach specialized safety techniques.
The Rapid Integration Team training program is being conducted at an abandoned building at 436 S. Main Street that will be demolished in the next few weeks. The program focuses on teaching firefighters quick and effective methods of firefighter rescue.
Another firefighter team is working with makeshift structures at the Resource Recovery Center landfill.
Jim Baldwin, the Ann Arbor Fire Department bureau chief will help firefighters approach their work differently.
“For years and years and years, we’ve practiced saving occupants of buildings,” he said. “But we’ve never really done—on a formal basis—enough to save our own people.”
Each graduate of this “train the trainer” program will go to their local departments and teach others what they have learned.
During the course, firefighters review ways to tear down walls, ceilings and floors as quickly as possible. They also practice hoisting methods for injured firefighters using mannequins and other trainees.
According to many of the course participants, rescuing firefighters can be difficult because of the uniform and firefighting equipment which can weigh up to 70 pounds.
The annual firefighter mortality rate is about 100 in the United States, according to National Fire Protection Association statistics.
Last year, the federal government passed a bill mandating that three or fewer firefighters cannot enter a burning structure until they have backups.
Baldwin said Ann Arbor is one of the first cities in Michigan to train individuals using new rescue techniques, allowing the fire department to “better comply with the law.”
“This is probably the greatest thing that I’ve ever worked on,” said Lt. Don Fisher, of the Ann Arbor Fire Department and a 28-year fire department veteran.
Fisher said the training continues Ann Arbor’s “progressive” tradition. He and four other firefighters helped develop the program curriculum at Michigan State University.
Fisher and Baldwin will start training all the 120 Ann Arbor firefighters in the next few months. Baldwin said training should be completed by the end of the year.
Full funding for the training was provided by a $50,000 federal grant.
Photo Caption: Ypsilanti Firefighter Fred Williams lowers Lt. Dave Fisher, of the Ann Arbor Fire Department, from a second-story window as party of a training session in Ann Arbor.
Photo Credit: Alan Warren
Originally published Thursday, June 17, 1999
Monday, July 12, 1999
Evening of Entertainment to aid safe haven for youth
Evening of Entertainment to aid safe haven for youth
The Ann Arbor News
By Pamela Appea
During a typical workday, Wil Seegars has to wear the hats of a bus driver, psychologist, grant writer, secretary, programmer, coach—and executive director of Pinelake Cooperative Center in Ann Arbor.
With a focus on positive uplift, the youth center—where the walls are adorned with pictures of black leaders and information on African-American history—provides recreational activities during the school year. It also provides “life skills” training year round, as well as community service opportunities.
Seegars’ role as fund-raiser takes priority as the center hosts a jazz musician, dancers and other entertainment at a fund-raiser at Washtenaw Community College.
But his work continues year round at the center.
With a lot of director and staff turnover over the past decade, Pinelake has lost regular members—particularly girls—and some community support, said several Pinelake youths and a parent.
Detroit native, Seegars, 29, has held his current position for three years. He believes he has provided “a safe haven” for the 50 or so youths who regularly drop into what they affectionally call the “clubhouse,” located at the Pinelake Village Cooperative housing development off Maple Road in west Ann Arbor. He also recently hired a full-time female staffer who makes a special effort to work with teen-age girls.
When only one of four high school seniors who attended the Pinelake Center graduated last year, Seegars stepped up tutoring and encouragement efforts. This year, all four of the members who were seniors—Aliaa Meadows, Freddie Brann, Wyland Kirkland and Edrick McBoy—graduated this past spring from either Pioneer or Roberto Clemente high schools.
Many who regularly stop by Pinelake, which has been in existence for 10 years, have been coming sine they can remember.
Jason Cooper, 7, who has been active at the center for two years, said that he thinks Seegars is “pretty cool” and enjoys the frequent field trips the center organizes.
“I live here basically. When I wake up, I come to the clubhouse and see what they’re doing,” said Shamise Jones, 15, a Roberto Clemente 10th-grader who has been coming to Pinelake since 1990.
She added that a regular University of Michigan Pinelake tutor was “really helpful breaking algebra down” when Jones had difficulty with math during her junior high school years.
Many others see Seegars as a father figure who gives constant uplifting talks and coaching. He, along with two other Pinelake members and several volunteers, also works to aid Pinelake teens in finding their first jobs and applying to community colleges.
Seegars, who runs Pinelake with the aid of local and city grants along with individual donations, believes however Pinelake children should not assume everything will be handed to them for free. Parents are asked to contribute $35 for summer activities.
“We’re a small operation with big ideas,” he said.
As a former member of the Air Force and a police officer, Seegars believes strongly in the importance of trips not only to places like Kings Island or Disney World, but also to the Wayne County Jail, where he took one Pinelake male as a lesson when the teen was going through a difficult period.
Seegars believes that children living in the surrounding Pinelake Village Cooperative neighborhood, home to about 250 residents, should felt that they have opportunities.
As Pinelake resident Cynthia McCoy, mother of Edrick and two younger sons, said, “The crime (in this area) is not totally gone, but it’s tolerable. The (center has) helped me a lot. My children can come in and get advice and guidance.
Fund-Raiser Details
Pinelake Center will hold a fund-raiser Sunday featuring jazz artist Althea Renee’, African dance, and spoken word. The event will be held 5-9 p.m. at the Morris Lawrence Building on the campus of Washtenaw Community College, 4800 E. Huron River Drive. Tickets are $7 in advance or $10 at the door. For more information, call (734) 994-0431.
Photo Caption: Pinelake Cooperative director Wil Seegars takes up Brandon Fortson (not pictured) on a bet that Seegars couldn’t do 50 push-ups. Parents and youths at the center say Seegars has greet rapport with kids there.
Photo Credit: Michael Sugrue.
Originally published Saturday, July 12, 1999
The Ann Arbor News
By Pamela Appea
During a typical workday, Wil Seegars has to wear the hats of a bus driver, psychologist, grant writer, secretary, programmer, coach—and executive director of Pinelake Cooperative Center in Ann Arbor.
With a focus on positive uplift, the youth center—where the walls are adorned with pictures of black leaders and information on African-American history—provides recreational activities during the school year. It also provides “life skills” training year round, as well as community service opportunities.
Seegars’ role as fund-raiser takes priority as the center hosts a jazz musician, dancers and other entertainment at a fund-raiser at Washtenaw Community College.
But his work continues year round at the center.
With a lot of director and staff turnover over the past decade, Pinelake has lost regular members—particularly girls—and some community support, said several Pinelake youths and a parent.
Detroit native, Seegars, 29, has held his current position for three years. He believes he has provided “a safe haven” for the 50 or so youths who regularly drop into what they affectionally call the “clubhouse,” located at the Pinelake Village Cooperative housing development off Maple Road in west Ann Arbor. He also recently hired a full-time female staffer who makes a special effort to work with teen-age girls.
When only one of four high school seniors who attended the Pinelake Center graduated last year, Seegars stepped up tutoring and encouragement efforts. This year, all four of the members who were seniors—Aliaa Meadows, Freddie Brann, Wyland Kirkland and Edrick McBoy—graduated this past spring from either Pioneer or Roberto Clemente high schools.
Many who regularly stop by Pinelake, which has been in existence for 10 years, have been coming sine they can remember.
Jason Cooper, 7, who has been active at the center for two years, said that he thinks Seegars is “pretty cool” and enjoys the frequent field trips the center organizes.
“I live here basically. When I wake up, I come to the clubhouse and see what they’re doing,” said Shamise Jones, 15, a Roberto Clemente 10th-grader who has been coming to Pinelake since 1990.
She added that a regular University of Michigan Pinelake tutor was “really helpful breaking algebra down” when Jones had difficulty with math during her junior high school years.
Many others see Seegars as a father figure who gives constant uplifting talks and coaching. He, along with two other Pinelake members and several volunteers, also works to aid Pinelake teens in finding their first jobs and applying to community colleges.
Seegars, who runs Pinelake with the aid of local and city grants along with individual donations, believes however Pinelake children should not assume everything will be handed to them for free. Parents are asked to contribute $35 for summer activities.
“We’re a small operation with big ideas,” he said.
As a former member of the Air Force and a police officer, Seegars believes strongly in the importance of trips not only to places like Kings Island or Disney World, but also to the Wayne County Jail, where he took one Pinelake male as a lesson when the teen was going through a difficult period.
Seegars believes that children living in the surrounding Pinelake Village Cooperative neighborhood, home to about 250 residents, should felt that they have opportunities.
As Pinelake resident Cynthia McCoy, mother of Edrick and two younger sons, said, “The crime (in this area) is not totally gone, but it’s tolerable. The (center has) helped me a lot. My children can come in and get advice and guidance.
Fund-Raiser Details
Pinelake Center will hold a fund-raiser Sunday featuring jazz artist Althea Renee’, African dance, and spoken word. The event will be held 5-9 p.m. at the Morris Lawrence Building on the campus of Washtenaw Community College, 4800 E. Huron River Drive. Tickets are $7 in advance or $10 at the door. For more information, call (734) 994-0431.
Photo Caption: Pinelake Cooperative director Wil Seegars takes up Brandon Fortson (not pictured) on a bet that Seegars couldn’t do 50 push-ups. Parents and youths at the center say Seegars has greet rapport with kids there.
Photo Credit: Michael Sugrue.
Originally published Saturday, July 12, 1999
Thursday, July 08, 1999
Children find fun in themes of science
Children find fun in themes of science
The Ann Arbor News
By Pamela Appea
Bengamin Lehman shook the jar of homemade butter and chanted “better butter, better butter” until a teacher gently reminded him to give the next person a turn.
The Ann Arbor boy was having fun at Logan Elementary School—and learning about science at the same time.
Science has never been this fun, said Becky Hatner, the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum’s summer science camp coordinator. The camps offer classes that take a specific theme in science and make such subjects as polymers, paleontology and physiology both fun and educational, she said.
“It gives kids who are already interested in science a chance to create and explore and to discover new things,” she said. “It can also interest kids who may not like science as much, hooking them in.”
Each class in the seven-week program is one-week long, with a morning or a afternoon shift. Sessions are offered for children in kindergarten through 8th grade. Twice-weekly classes are offered for children ages 1 to 5.
Near the classroom where the butter was being made in the “Gobbledy-Gook” session, the 12 kindergartners and 1st-graders in “Sense-sational” learned about their sweet, salty and sour tongue tastebuds using Toostie Rolls, pretzels and pickles.
Classes at the science summer camp, said Hattner, are truly hands on, she said, adding that children get to take the time in finding the answer to such questions as “how much they would weigh on Jupiter” or what a dinosaur bone feels like.
For the several new teachers who work at the science summer camps, many said they also learn a lot by approaching science through a child’s point of view.
David Consiglio, a recent college graduate who will teach chemistry and physics in a Detroit-area school in fall, said that while making rockets in his “Flighty Fliers” class he has been amazed at the “kids’ ability to solve problems.”
The program, which is in its 12th year, allows teachers to think of creative ideas for class experiments. Consiglio said instead of using the typical paper airplane approach, he came up with the idea of a balloon hovercraft.
Sandra Finkel said her son, Micah Warschausky, enjoyed the program so much from last year, she knew it would be a good idea to enroll him again.
Photo Caption: Charmaine Redman, 9, left, watches her balloon float around the floor during a gravity experiment in Flighty Fliers class. The Ann Arbor Hands on Museum is sponsoring Summer Science Camp, housed in Logan Elementary School.
Info: Classes, which go until Aug. 13, cost $60 for each weekly session. They last two hours per day. Scholarships are available. For information, call (734) 994-6449.
Originally published Thursday, July 8, 1999
The Ann Arbor News
By Pamela Appea
Bengamin Lehman shook the jar of homemade butter and chanted “better butter, better butter” until a teacher gently reminded him to give the next person a turn.
The Ann Arbor boy was having fun at Logan Elementary School—and learning about science at the same time.
Science has never been this fun, said Becky Hatner, the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum’s summer science camp coordinator. The camps offer classes that take a specific theme in science and make such subjects as polymers, paleontology and physiology both fun and educational, she said.
“It gives kids who are already interested in science a chance to create and explore and to discover new things,” she said. “It can also interest kids who may not like science as much, hooking them in.”
Each class in the seven-week program is one-week long, with a morning or a afternoon shift. Sessions are offered for children in kindergarten through 8th grade. Twice-weekly classes are offered for children ages 1 to 5.
Near the classroom where the butter was being made in the “Gobbledy-Gook” session, the 12 kindergartners and 1st-graders in “Sense-sational” learned about their sweet, salty and sour tongue tastebuds using Toostie Rolls, pretzels and pickles.
Classes at the science summer camp, said Hattner, are truly hands on, she said, adding that children get to take the time in finding the answer to such questions as “how much they would weigh on Jupiter” or what a dinosaur bone feels like.
For the several new teachers who work at the science summer camps, many said they also learn a lot by approaching science through a child’s point of view.
David Consiglio, a recent college graduate who will teach chemistry and physics in a Detroit-area school in fall, said that while making rockets in his “Flighty Fliers” class he has been amazed at the “kids’ ability to solve problems.”
The program, which is in its 12th year, allows teachers to think of creative ideas for class experiments. Consiglio said instead of using the typical paper airplane approach, he came up with the idea of a balloon hovercraft.
Sandra Finkel said her son, Micah Warschausky, enjoyed the program so much from last year, she knew it would be a good idea to enroll him again.
Photo Caption: Charmaine Redman, 9, left, watches her balloon float around the floor during a gravity experiment in Flighty Fliers class. The Ann Arbor Hands on Museum is sponsoring Summer Science Camp, housed in Logan Elementary School.
Info: Classes, which go until Aug. 13, cost $60 for each weekly session. They last two hours per day. Scholarships are available. For information, call (734) 994-6449.
Originally published Thursday, July 8, 1999
Annual event celebrates Huron River
Annual event celebrates Huron River
Wide array of activities planned for Huron River Day on Sunday
The Ann Arbor News
By Pamela Appea
When Huron River Day first took place in 1980, it was organized by a handful of environmentalists and concerned locals. The event, which featured bluegrass music and water-testing displays, attracted several hundred people, said longtime Ann Arborite Eunice Burns, one of the original organizers.
Now Huron River Day regularly brings as many as 5,000 individuals to Gallup Park for canoeing, bike tours, races, entertainment and other family activities, sponsored mostly by select corporations.
Organized by the Ann Arbor Parks and Recreation Department, the 19th annual Huron River Day will take place Sunday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Despite changes since its inception, the event still brings people together to celebrate the Huron River, said Irene Bushaw, department marketing specialist.
The river, which extends nearly 130 miles from its main outlet, is a major source of drinking water for nearly 60 surrounding communities in the Michigan area. In addition, residents and visitors regularly fish or canoe in the river.
Coordinators say the event will feature both new and old activities, including educational exhibits on recycling, drinking water safety and organic farming. Many organizations, including the National Wildlife Federation, the Ecology Center and the Ann Arbor Department of Landscapers, will educate the public with displays on local environmental issues from noon to 4 p.m.
“We think we have something for every age, every interest: athletes, environmentalists, music and nature lovers and vegetarians,” said Bushaw.
“It is a time for to be with their families,” she said.
Children can enjoy workshop theaters and music will be performed by various groups, including the Ann Arbor Civic Band.
Events that require paid admission and/or registration include the youth fishing derby, the mile run and various bicycling tours.
However the event hasn’t been without its mishaps. Burns aid just a day before the second annual Huron River Day, two canoeists almost drowned. An article in The Ann Arbor News at the time reported that a surge from a dam malfunction caused the canoe to overturn. Efforts from concerned onlookers aided the rescue of both canoeists.
Another year, said Burns, some individuals enthusiastically proposed jousting contests on a bridge over the river, but event organizers rejected the idea, fearing that participants might accidentally fall into the water.
Among the most popular spectator events are the Corporate Challenge and the Community Cup Mayor’s canoe races.
Event admission and parking at Huron High School are free. Call (734) 994-2284.
Originally published Thursday, July 8, 1999
Wide array of activities planned for Huron River Day on Sunday
The Ann Arbor News
By Pamela Appea
When Huron River Day first took place in 1980, it was organized by a handful of environmentalists and concerned locals. The event, which featured bluegrass music and water-testing displays, attracted several hundred people, said longtime Ann Arborite Eunice Burns, one of the original organizers.
Now Huron River Day regularly brings as many as 5,000 individuals to Gallup Park for canoeing, bike tours, races, entertainment and other family activities, sponsored mostly by select corporations.
Organized by the Ann Arbor Parks and Recreation Department, the 19th annual Huron River Day will take place Sunday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Despite changes since its inception, the event still brings people together to celebrate the Huron River, said Irene Bushaw, department marketing specialist.
The river, which extends nearly 130 miles from its main outlet, is a major source of drinking water for nearly 60 surrounding communities in the Michigan area. In addition, residents and visitors regularly fish or canoe in the river.
Coordinators say the event will feature both new and old activities, including educational exhibits on recycling, drinking water safety and organic farming. Many organizations, including the National Wildlife Federation, the Ecology Center and the Ann Arbor Department of Landscapers, will educate the public with displays on local environmental issues from noon to 4 p.m.
“We think we have something for every age, every interest: athletes, environmentalists, music and nature lovers and vegetarians,” said Bushaw.
“It is a time for to be with their families,” she said.
Children can enjoy workshop theaters and music will be performed by various groups, including the Ann Arbor Civic Band.
Events that require paid admission and/or registration include the youth fishing derby, the mile run and various bicycling tours.
However the event hasn’t been without its mishaps. Burns aid just a day before the second annual Huron River Day, two canoeists almost drowned. An article in The Ann Arbor News at the time reported that a surge from a dam malfunction caused the canoe to overturn. Efforts from concerned onlookers aided the rescue of both canoeists.
Another year, said Burns, some individuals enthusiastically proposed jousting contests on a bridge over the river, but event organizers rejected the idea, fearing that participants might accidentally fall into the water.
Among the most popular spectator events are the Corporate Challenge and the Community Cup Mayor’s canoe races.
Event admission and parking at Huron High School are free. Call (734) 994-2284.
Originally published Thursday, July 8, 1999
Thursday, July 01, 1999
City seeking goose population solutions
City seeking goose population solutions
The Ann Arbor News
By Pamela Appea
When a particularly territorial Canada goose knocked a Gallup Park visitor off her bicycle this past spring, Ann Arbor park officials were reminded of the ever-present and often annoying goose population.
Park workers and state wildlife specialists spent hours Wednesday putting bands on 257 city geese, an early step in an effort that could limit the birds’ reproduction.
David Borneman, coordinator of the natural-area preservations in the city, said the DNR came to Ann Arbor to put plastic bands on the necks and legs of the geese as part of an ongoing study by U.S. and Canadian conservationists.
“It is simple, low-tech, but very effective in figuring out what is happening with the population,” said Earle Flegler, a state Department of Natural Resources wildlife biologist.
Using canoes, the dozen or so people rounded up the birds from Gallup Park and the Huron Hills and Leslie Park golf courses.
DNR wildlife experts are trying to determine how many of the geese are year-round city residents.
If experts classify 90 percent of the geese as “Big Michigan” or native area geese, then Ann Arbor may qualify for a federally funded egg replacement program by spring 2000.
This program, Borneman said, would lead to goose population control. It’s a problem, he said that has been an issue in Ann Arbor for years.
The high goose population –which rough estimates place at 3,000 in the area—causes pollution and upsets the ecological balance in Gallup Park, he said. Each adult goose, he estimated, produces about a pound of manure per day, making cleanup an impossible chore for park maintenance.
And while attacks are rare, he noted that many Ann Arbor residents have complained about the potential hazard of aggressive geese.
If the DNR funds that Ann Arbor does qualify for the egg replacement program, biologists and conservationists would take goose eggs from nests, substituting the original eggs for plastic eggs.
After several week, Borneman explained, the geese would realize that the eggs will not hatch, and then abandon the nest.
“We would certainly give the public a chance for comment (before any decision is made), he said.
Borneman also noted that the National Humane Society supports such egg replacement programs.
The species of Canada geese that consider Ann Arbor to be their home base leave during the winter for warmer climates. However, Flegler said, many Ann Arbor geese won’t venture more than 20-30 miles away from the area, unless the weather becomes excessively cold.
Photo Caption One: A Canada goose protests Wednesday while waiting to be banded at Gallup Park. The plastic bands do not harm the birds, said Ann Arbor Parks and state wildlife officials.
Photo Caption Two: A flock of Canada geese is shooed to a pen Wednesday where the birds were banded, tested and released at Gallup Park. Ann Arbor Parks and DNR officials processed 257 birds in a study to see whether the city is eligible for a program that would reduce the goose population.
Photo Credit: Robert Chase
Originally published Thursday, July 1, 1999
The Ann Arbor News
By Pamela Appea
When a particularly territorial Canada goose knocked a Gallup Park visitor off her bicycle this past spring, Ann Arbor park officials were reminded of the ever-present and often annoying goose population.
Park workers and state wildlife specialists spent hours Wednesday putting bands on 257 city geese, an early step in an effort that could limit the birds’ reproduction.
David Borneman, coordinator of the natural-area preservations in the city, said the DNR came to Ann Arbor to put plastic bands on the necks and legs of the geese as part of an ongoing study by U.S. and Canadian conservationists.
“It is simple, low-tech, but very effective in figuring out what is happening with the population,” said Earle Flegler, a state Department of Natural Resources wildlife biologist.
Using canoes, the dozen or so people rounded up the birds from Gallup Park and the Huron Hills and Leslie Park golf courses.
DNR wildlife experts are trying to determine how many of the geese are year-round city residents.
If experts classify 90 percent of the geese as “Big Michigan” or native area geese, then Ann Arbor may qualify for a federally funded egg replacement program by spring 2000.
This program, Borneman said, would lead to goose population control. It’s a problem, he said that has been an issue in Ann Arbor for years.
The high goose population –which rough estimates place at 3,000 in the area—causes pollution and upsets the ecological balance in Gallup Park, he said. Each adult goose, he estimated, produces about a pound of manure per day, making cleanup an impossible chore for park maintenance.
And while attacks are rare, he noted that many Ann Arbor residents have complained about the potential hazard of aggressive geese.
If the DNR funds that Ann Arbor does qualify for the egg replacement program, biologists and conservationists would take goose eggs from nests, substituting the original eggs for plastic eggs.
After several week, Borneman explained, the geese would realize that the eggs will not hatch, and then abandon the nest.
“We would certainly give the public a chance for comment (before any decision is made), he said.
Borneman also noted that the National Humane Society supports such egg replacement programs.
The species of Canada geese that consider Ann Arbor to be their home base leave during the winter for warmer climates. However, Flegler said, many Ann Arbor geese won’t venture more than 20-30 miles away from the area, unless the weather becomes excessively cold.
Photo Caption One: A Canada goose protests Wednesday while waiting to be banded at Gallup Park. The plastic bands do not harm the birds, said Ann Arbor Parks and state wildlife officials.
Photo Caption Two: A flock of Canada geese is shooed to a pen Wednesday where the birds were banded, tested and released at Gallup Park. Ann Arbor Parks and DNR officials processed 257 birds in a study to see whether the city is eligible for a program that would reduce the goose population.
Photo Credit: Robert Chase
Originally published Thursday, July 1, 1999
Wednesday, June 30, 1999
Workers labor to set up carnival, The Ann Arbor News
The Ann Arbor News
Workers labor to set up carnival
By Pamela Appea
Jaycee-sponsored event runs through Sunday in Ann Arbor’s Pioneer High School parking lot.
It takes 150 people to put together and run a carnival the size of the annual event sponsored by the Ann Arbor Jaycees at Pioneer High School.
The carnival opens today and runs through Sunday in the high school parking lot. Hours, carnival workers said, are 3-10 p.m. through Friday, then noon to midnight Saturday and noon-6 p.m. Sunday.
The workers have been on the site since Monday, unloading more than five dozen trailers and converting the contents into 19 rides, assorted games and various food booths.
It’s like being on tour—every week you go somewhere different,” said John Marquette, a W.G. Wade Show manager.
On Tuesday, most vendors had set up and spent some of the afternoon moving from their trailer homes to outdoors.
Marquette, 51, a Michigan native employed in the carnival business since 1957, said families come to carnivals expecting a professional, yet customer-oriented affair.
That, said Marquette, is exactly what they will get this week at Pioneer High School.
“We try to bring safe family entertainment to people’s backyards,” he said.
In addition to the rides and games, Marquette said all the “traditional” carnival foods, including cotton candy, Polish and Italian sausages, and caramel apples will be sold.
The Ann Arbor Jaycees also will offer children face painting, chalk for sidewalk art, and juggling demonstrations.
Rides include a double-edge Ferris Wheel, a merry-go-round and bumper cars. Other rides include the “gravity defying” Zen Dar; “The Zipper,” a water ride; and children’s rides.
Ride safety, said Marquette, is an issue constantly on the minds of the staff. He noted that the carnival company does daily machine inspections.
Admission to the annual event is free, with tickets sold for rides.
Concessions manager Corky Jones said his priority is to make sure each patron leaves happy. The 35-year carnival veteran said the key to having fun at a carnival is not spending money “all in one place.”
“Not that we don’t want people to spend their money,” he said with a smile.
Photo caption: Ronald Wright, left, and a co-worker who didn’t give his name install one of the horses on the merry-go-round in preparation for the opening of the annual carnival sponsored by the Ann Arbor Jaycees at Pioneer High School. It opens today.
Originally Published Wednesday, June 30, 1999
Workers labor to set up carnival
By Pamela Appea
Jaycee-sponsored event runs through Sunday in Ann Arbor’s Pioneer High School parking lot.
It takes 150 people to put together and run a carnival the size of the annual event sponsored by the Ann Arbor Jaycees at Pioneer High School.
The carnival opens today and runs through Sunday in the high school parking lot. Hours, carnival workers said, are 3-10 p.m. through Friday, then noon to midnight Saturday and noon-6 p.m. Sunday.
The workers have been on the site since Monday, unloading more than five dozen trailers and converting the contents into 19 rides, assorted games and various food booths.
It’s like being on tour—every week you go somewhere different,” said John Marquette, a W.G. Wade Show manager.
On Tuesday, most vendors had set up and spent some of the afternoon moving from their trailer homes to outdoors.
Marquette, 51, a Michigan native employed in the carnival business since 1957, said families come to carnivals expecting a professional, yet customer-oriented affair.
That, said Marquette, is exactly what they will get this week at Pioneer High School.
“We try to bring safe family entertainment to people’s backyards,” he said.
In addition to the rides and games, Marquette said all the “traditional” carnival foods, including cotton candy, Polish and Italian sausages, and caramel apples will be sold.
The Ann Arbor Jaycees also will offer children face painting, chalk for sidewalk art, and juggling demonstrations.
Rides include a double-edge Ferris Wheel, a merry-go-round and bumper cars. Other rides include the “gravity defying” Zen Dar; “The Zipper,” a water ride; and children’s rides.
Ride safety, said Marquette, is an issue constantly on the minds of the staff. He noted that the carnival company does daily machine inspections.
Admission to the annual event is free, with tickets sold for rides.
Concessions manager Corky Jones said his priority is to make sure each patron leaves happy. The 35-year carnival veteran said the key to having fun at a carnival is not spending money “all in one place.”
“Not that we don’t want people to spend their money,” he said with a smile.
Photo caption: Ronald Wright, left, and a co-worker who didn’t give his name install one of the horses on the merry-go-round in preparation for the opening of the annual carnival sponsored by the Ann Arbor Jaycees at Pioneer High School. It opens today.
Originally Published Wednesday, June 30, 1999
Saturday, June 26, 1999
Runners carry torch for peace
Runners carry torch for peace
The Ann Arbor News
By Pamela Appea
Kapila Castoldi is modest about her two-mile daily running habit.
But the Ann Arbor resident can take pride in her efforts to coordinate Peace Run volunteers who have been running longer distances--eight to 10 miles a day, every day--for the past three months.
“Peace run 1999: the run to 2000” started with a team of European runners in Portugal on Jan. 1. U.S.-based Peace Run athletics started passing the torch April 17 at New York City’s U.N. building, where the team will conclude its segment on Aug. 17. Participating runners from 119 other countries will continue the run until Dec. 31.
The runners--who take turns carrying a lit peace torch symbolizing world-wide peace--trekked Sunday through Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti.
“It’s a simple idea, but we get enthusiastic responses from many people,” said Castoldi, a visiting Oakland University assistant physics professor.
Peace Run volunteers, a 12-person team with U.S. and international members, visit various schools, community centers and city halls, where they talk to local children and community groups.
“It’s exciting for the kids and it puts a seed in their mind about .. Peace,” said Castoldi, who coordinators the Michigan and Tennessee runs.
Tom Taylor, a Peace Run captain and a carpenter in New York City, said he took the time off work to focus on ways of being a peace-oriented person.
“I don’t think about peace every day when I’m working. (But now) I think of peace every day, 100 times a day when I am running … an I meet good people (who also care about peace),” he said.
During the runners’ stop in Gallup Park at 10:40 a.m. Sunday, the volunteers were joined by U.S. Rep. Lynn Rivers D-Ann Arbor, who walked a half-mile.
The group also was joined by Ann Arbor YMCA runners along with some local citizens.
In Ypsilanti, where the runners stopped at 12:40 p.m., a few Eastern Michigan University students ran three miles with the team toward Depot Town.
“I really liked the idea of getting people involved in peace,” said G. Summer Scarbough, an EMU senior and the student body vice president.
“People don’t get involved unless it is reactionary like the protest against the … (1998) Khan (rally) in Ann Arbor. (the Peace Run) is proactive, and something positive,” she said.
Castoldi who couldn’t run with the group due to a recent injury, said that since the event fell on the weekend, it was low-key.
She predicted that the Peace Run shop in Detroit today might have a higher attendance.
Mary Roberts, YMCA senior program executive, said even if the Ann Arbor event was on a smaller scale, the principles of peace are still important.
“(Peace Run) is something that we believe in,” she said.
Originally published Monday, July 26, 1999
The Ann Arbor News
By Pamela Appea
Kapila Castoldi is modest about her two-mile daily running habit.
But the Ann Arbor resident can take pride in her efforts to coordinate Peace Run volunteers who have been running longer distances--eight to 10 miles a day, every day--for the past three months.
“Peace run 1999: the run to 2000” started with a team of European runners in Portugal on Jan. 1. U.S.-based Peace Run athletics started passing the torch April 17 at New York City’s U.N. building, where the team will conclude its segment on Aug. 17. Participating runners from 119 other countries will continue the run until Dec. 31.
The runners--who take turns carrying a lit peace torch symbolizing world-wide peace--trekked Sunday through Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti.
“It’s a simple idea, but we get enthusiastic responses from many people,” said Castoldi, a visiting Oakland University assistant physics professor.
Peace Run volunteers, a 12-person team with U.S. and international members, visit various schools, community centers and city halls, where they talk to local children and community groups.
“It’s exciting for the kids and it puts a seed in their mind about .. Peace,” said Castoldi, who coordinators the Michigan and Tennessee runs.
Tom Taylor, a Peace Run captain and a carpenter in New York City, said he took the time off work to focus on ways of being a peace-oriented person.
“I don’t think about peace every day when I’m working. (But now) I think of peace every day, 100 times a day when I am running … an I meet good people (who also care about peace),” he said.
During the runners’ stop in Gallup Park at 10:40 a.m. Sunday, the volunteers were joined by U.S. Rep. Lynn Rivers D-Ann Arbor, who walked a half-mile.
The group also was joined by Ann Arbor YMCA runners along with some local citizens.
In Ypsilanti, where the runners stopped at 12:40 p.m., a few Eastern Michigan University students ran three miles with the team toward Depot Town.
“I really liked the idea of getting people involved in peace,” said G. Summer Scarbough, an EMU senior and the student body vice president.
“People don’t get involved unless it is reactionary like the protest against the … (1998) Khan (rally) in Ann Arbor. (the Peace Run) is proactive, and something positive,” she said.
Castoldi who couldn’t run with the group due to a recent injury, said that since the event fell on the weekend, it was low-key.
She predicted that the Peace Run shop in Detroit today might have a higher attendance.
Mary Roberts, YMCA senior program executive, said even if the Ann Arbor event was on a smaller scale, the principles of peace are still important.
“(Peace Run) is something that we believe in,” she said.
Originally published Monday, July 26, 1999
Saturday, June 19, 1999
Program teaches children safety basics, The Ann Arbor News
Program teaches children safety basics
By Pamela Appea
The Ann Arbor News
Despite some lingering sniffles, after most of the parents have left, a group of 15 or so future kindergartners listened attentively to first-grade teacher Cheryl Schroeder talk about how safety can be fun.
Standing in a Bryant Elementary School classroom, Schroeder calmed the group by reaching the group a story.
It prepared the children for learning such things as “stranger danger,” their home phone numbers and addresses, and why everyone should wear a bicycle helmet and seat belt.
Over the next two weeks, as many as 800 children ages 5 and 6 in Ann Arbor will go through the Safety Town program, which the Ann Arbor Police Department and the Ann Arbor Public Schools System has sponsored since 1979.
The classes are at Bryant Elementary School, and participating schools include Haisley, Allen, Mack, Burns Park and Logan.
Ann Arbor Police Officer Tom Hickey, who helps run Safety Town, said children get to practice making 911 calls and rehearse fire drills in a “simulated smoky environment.”
Hickey helped get grants and donations for 800 new bike helmets and 16 tricycles, which Safety Town leaders will use in program exercises this year. Children also color and review worksheets to reinforce safety techniques.
Hickey, who has helped lead the program for about four years and has a son in this year’s class, said on the first day of the program, there is usually some crying.
But by “graduation” day, he said, “kids are sorry they have to leave.”
“I’ve heard so many parents talk about the program … I wanted to make sure my son was part of it,” said Vickie Malcolm of Ann Arbor.
Malcolm said her son Xavier, 4 1/2 , will attend Bach Open School this fall.
“I don’t want to overwhelm my son, but now is definitely the time (for this kind of class),” she said.
“We have to teach our kids and make them more aware.”
The program requests that parents register in advance and pay $40, although some scholarship are available.
For more information, call (734) 994-8587.
Originally Published Tuesday, June 19, 1999
By Pamela Appea
The Ann Arbor News
Despite some lingering sniffles, after most of the parents have left, a group of 15 or so future kindergartners listened attentively to first-grade teacher Cheryl Schroeder talk about how safety can be fun.
Standing in a Bryant Elementary School classroom, Schroeder calmed the group by reaching the group a story.
It prepared the children for learning such things as “stranger danger,” their home phone numbers and addresses, and why everyone should wear a bicycle helmet and seat belt.
Over the next two weeks, as many as 800 children ages 5 and 6 in Ann Arbor will go through the Safety Town program, which the Ann Arbor Police Department and the Ann Arbor Public Schools System has sponsored since 1979.
The classes are at Bryant Elementary School, and participating schools include Haisley, Allen, Mack, Burns Park and Logan.
Ann Arbor Police Officer Tom Hickey, who helps run Safety Town, said children get to practice making 911 calls and rehearse fire drills in a “simulated smoky environment.”
Hickey helped get grants and donations for 800 new bike helmets and 16 tricycles, which Safety Town leaders will use in program exercises this year. Children also color and review worksheets to reinforce safety techniques.
Hickey, who has helped lead the program for about four years and has a son in this year’s class, said on the first day of the program, there is usually some crying.
But by “graduation” day, he said, “kids are sorry they have to leave.”
“I’ve heard so many parents talk about the program … I wanted to make sure my son was part of it,” said Vickie Malcolm of Ann Arbor.
Malcolm said her son Xavier, 4 1/2 , will attend Bach Open School this fall.
“I don’t want to overwhelm my son, but now is definitely the time (for this kind of class),” she said.
“We have to teach our kids and make them more aware.”
The program requests that parents register in advance and pay $40, although some scholarship are available.
For more information, call (734) 994-8587.
Originally Published Tuesday, June 19, 1999
Friday, June 18, 1999
Knot a Bad Idea, The Ann Arbor News
Knot a Bad Idea
Baker’s patrons trade ugly ties for free loaf of bread
By Pamela Appea
The Ann Arbor News
Customers this week at the Great Harvest Bread story in Ann Arbor are feasting their eyes on more than bread and cookies.
Ties of all colors, sizes and less-than-pleasing designs adorn the walls of the bakery’s beloved life-sized cow figurine.
In honor of Father’s Day on Sunday, bakery owners and husband-wife team Dan and Janene Centurione will give a loaf of freshly baked bread to each customer who brings in an ugly tie until Saturday.
Janene Centurione said she came up with the idea for an ugly tie trade-in last year. She knew many fathers who received ties on Father’s Day that were, in her opinion, less than fashionable.
“We were trying to think what would warm the hearts of fathers, and we just thought it would be funny to see what ugly ties would come in,” she said.
Centurione feels the ugly tie trade-in will “help people give dad an interesting gift for Father’s Day by taking away one of his ugly ties and giving him some great bread.”
By Thursday, at least 50 people had dropped off ties, which are all worthy of winning an ugly-tie contest, she said. Last year’s Father Day ugly tie trade-in attracted 300 to 400 people to the store at 2220 S. Main St., in the Woodland Plaza.
Pointing out some of her favorite ties, Centurione said that many of the ties give her customers an amusing overview of tie fashions from years or decades ago. Her favorite ugly ties are the “power ties” of the early ’80s, the polyester ties of the ‘70s, and ones which she said she feels belong in a category of its own: a 15-year-old Australian tie that shows several koala bears holding flowers.
Many Great Harvest employees at Woodland Plaza have amusing stories why customers trade in their husband or father’s ties. Employee Becky Smith said one woman saw a tie in the store that she really liked for her husband. So she brought in another of her husband’s ties and replaced it for the tie she liked, getting a tie and a loaf of bread.
Photo Caption: Mollie Mintz, 3, trades a necktie for a loaf of bread at the Great Harvest Bread Co. in the Woodlands Plaza shopping center Thursday. This is the second year the company has sponsored the pre-Father’s Day promotion calling for ‘ugly ties’ in trade for bread. Last year, all the ties were donated for an art project. Lauren Foley, a customer service representative, makes the trade. Photographer Robert Chase, The Ann Arbor News
Originally Published Friday, June 18, 1999
Baker’s patrons trade ugly ties for free loaf of bread
By Pamela Appea
The Ann Arbor News
Customers this week at the Great Harvest Bread story in Ann Arbor are feasting their eyes on more than bread and cookies.
Ties of all colors, sizes and less-than-pleasing designs adorn the walls of the bakery’s beloved life-sized cow figurine.
In honor of Father’s Day on Sunday, bakery owners and husband-wife team Dan and Janene Centurione will give a loaf of freshly baked bread to each customer who brings in an ugly tie until Saturday.
Janene Centurione said she came up with the idea for an ugly tie trade-in last year. She knew many fathers who received ties on Father’s Day that were, in her opinion, less than fashionable.
“We were trying to think what would warm the hearts of fathers, and we just thought it would be funny to see what ugly ties would come in,” she said.
Centurione feels the ugly tie trade-in will “help people give dad an interesting gift for Father’s Day by taking away one of his ugly ties and giving him some great bread.”
By Thursday, at least 50 people had dropped off ties, which are all worthy of winning an ugly-tie contest, she said. Last year’s Father Day ugly tie trade-in attracted 300 to 400 people to the store at 2220 S. Main St., in the Woodland Plaza.
Pointing out some of her favorite ties, Centurione said that many of the ties give her customers an amusing overview of tie fashions from years or decades ago. Her favorite ugly ties are the “power ties” of the early ’80s, the polyester ties of the ‘70s, and ones which she said she feels belong in a category of its own: a 15-year-old Australian tie that shows several koala bears holding flowers.
Many Great Harvest employees at Woodland Plaza have amusing stories why customers trade in their husband or father’s ties. Employee Becky Smith said one woman saw a tie in the store that she really liked for her husband. So she brought in another of her husband’s ties and replaced it for the tie she liked, getting a tie and a loaf of bread.
Photo Caption: Mollie Mintz, 3, trades a necktie for a loaf of bread at the Great Harvest Bread Co. in the Woodlands Plaza shopping center Thursday. This is the second year the company has sponsored the pre-Father’s Day promotion calling for ‘ugly ties’ in trade for bread. Last year, all the ties were donated for an art project. Lauren Foley, a customer service representative, makes the trade. Photographer Robert Chase, The Ann Arbor News
Originally Published Friday, June 18, 1999
Saturday, March 27, 1999
Sweatshop Debate Students Seek Changes In Clothes-Licensing Deals
Sweatshop Debate Students Seek Changes In Clothes-Licensing Deals
[CHICAGOLAND FINAL Edition]
Pamela J Appea
Washington Bureau. Chicago Tribune Chicago, Ill.:Mar 27, 1999. p. 10
Subjects:
Demonstrations & protests, College students, Unfair labor practices, Work environment, Clothing industry, Licensed products, Activism
Locations:
United States, US
Author(s):
Pamela J Appea, Washington Bureau
Article types:
News
Dateline:
WASHINGTON
Section:
NEWS
Publication title:
Chicago Tribune. Chicago, Ill.: Mar 27, 1999. pg. 10
Source Type:
Newspaper
ISSN/ISBN:
10856706
ProQuest document ID:
40062720
Text Word Count
764
In response, some colleges and universities are adopting measures intended to remedy sweatshop conditions at overseas apparel factories. Seventeen colleges and universities, including Harvard, Yale and Duke, earlier this month announced they would join a new factory-monitoring group, the Fair Labor Association, which has established a code of conduct for apparel producers in addition to providing measures for monitoring plants for violations.
Full Text (764 words)
(Copyright 1999 by the Chicago Tribune)
In a burst of campus activism, college students around the country are staging sit-ins and other protests in hopes of ending "poor and inhumane" working conditions at factories licensed to produce clothing bearing their school names.
In response, some colleges and universities are adopting measures intended to remedy sweatshop conditions at overseas apparel factories. Seventeen colleges and universities, including Harvard, Yale and Duke, earlier this month announced they would join a new factory-monitoring group, the Fair Labor Association, which has established a code of conduct for apparel producers in addition to providing measures for monitoring plants for violations.
The anti-sweatshop movement has gained momentum with successes on campuses such as Georgetown University, where students in February occupied the president's office for 85 hours before reaching an agreement for the university to exercise stricter control over its apparel licensing, including disclosure of plants producing university-branded apparel.
Anti-sweatshop action also has increased in recent weeks at universities such as the University of Arizona, University of North Carolina and UCLA. Student activists say they are "actively" negotiating with school administrators over apparel-licensing provisions that include "livable" wages, protection against child labor and sexual harassment, and measures permitting factory workers to unionize.
"Many of us are proud of our universities and can't live with the idea of seeing our mascots dragged through the mud by our universities' collusion with sweatshop labor," said Thomas Wheatley, 24, a sociology graduate student at the University of Wisconsin- Madison and member of the Madison Anti-Sweatshop Coalition.
Students at the University of Michigan, after a 51-hour president's office sit-in, claimed victory earlier this month when the administration endorsed a code of conduct and said it will require licensees to provide full disclosure of manufacturing locations.
However, Michigan sophomore Peter Romer-Friedman, 19, a founder of Students Organizing for Labor and Economic Equality, said many Michigan students think they have not yet reached a "complete agreement, but rather a down payment to an agreement," because the university has not accepted a timeline on obtaining livable workers' wages.
In the past several years, public awareness on sweatshops has spurred student activists who say they are motivated by the desire to uphold a truly "global economy" in which factory workers have fair and safe conditions.
According to Tico Almedia, 22, a senior at Duke University, public awareness of factory conditions became a pressing issue after the media spotlighted Kathy Lee Gifford's popular clothing line--which reports revealed were made in a Honduran sweatshop--and conditions at plants producing Nike products.
The student activism has support from organized labor, including UNITE, the textile and apparel workers union, which often has sought to draw attention to abusive working conditions at foreign apparel manufacturing plants that supply U.S. retailers.
Stanley Ikenberry, president of the American Council on Education, said the Fair Labor Association provides an effective way for colleges and universities to address sweatshop code-of-conduct issues. The association, developed with the encouragement of the White House and the Labor Department, is composed of several human- rights groups and some prominent manufacturers such as Nike Inc. and Reebok International Ltd., whose practices have been criticized in the past.
The FLA code of conduct prohibits forced labor, discrimination and child labor in internationally based factories or free-trade zones, where collegiate apparel is produced. "We will enter into licensing agreements only with companies that meet FLA standards," said a spokesperson for Princeton University.
In his letter to the education council's membership of 1,800 colleges and universities, Ikenberry said that while the Fair Labor Association accord is "not a perfect agreement, it does lay the foundation for creating a practical and enforceable monitoring system that will help improve working conditions."
The colleges and universities affiliating with the Fair Labor Association are the University of Arizona, Brown University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Duke University, Florida State University, Harvard University, Marymount University, the University of Notre Dame, the University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University, Rutgers University, Smith College, Tufts University, Wellesley College and Yale University.
But some student activists, including Nora Rosenberg, 19, a Brown University sophomore, are skeptical that the Fair Labor Association will produce results.
Charging that its code of conduct is "inherently flawed," Rosenberg asserted that the agreement embodies a "conflict of interest" that may enable the association's corporate board members to influence how their plants and suppliers are monitored.
Under the Fair Labor Association's proposed code of conduct, selected factories will be inspected at announced times to receive the Fair Labor Association's stamp of approval. Rosenberg said that FLA board members may be able to influence the selection of supposedly independent factory monitors.
[CHICAGOLAND FINAL Edition]
Pamela J Appea
Washington Bureau. Chicago Tribune Chicago, Ill.:Mar 27, 1999. p. 10
Subjects:
Demonstrations & protests, College students, Unfair labor practices, Work environment, Clothing industry, Licensed products, Activism
Locations:
United States, US
Author(s):
Pamela J Appea, Washington Bureau
Article types:
News
Dateline:
WASHINGTON
Section:
NEWS
Publication title:
Chicago Tribune. Chicago, Ill.: Mar 27, 1999. pg. 10
Source Type:
Newspaper
ISSN/ISBN:
10856706
ProQuest document ID:
40062720
Text Word Count
764
In response, some colleges and universities are adopting measures intended to remedy sweatshop conditions at overseas apparel factories. Seventeen colleges and universities, including Harvard, Yale and Duke, earlier this month announced they would join a new factory-monitoring group, the Fair Labor Association, which has established a code of conduct for apparel producers in addition to providing measures for monitoring plants for violations.
Full Text (764 words)
(Copyright 1999 by the Chicago Tribune)
In a burst of campus activism, college students around the country are staging sit-ins and other protests in hopes of ending "poor and inhumane" working conditions at factories licensed to produce clothing bearing their school names.
In response, some colleges and universities are adopting measures intended to remedy sweatshop conditions at overseas apparel factories. Seventeen colleges and universities, including Harvard, Yale and Duke, earlier this month announced they would join a new factory-monitoring group, the Fair Labor Association, which has established a code of conduct for apparel producers in addition to providing measures for monitoring plants for violations.
The anti-sweatshop movement has gained momentum with successes on campuses such as Georgetown University, where students in February occupied the president's office for 85 hours before reaching an agreement for the university to exercise stricter control over its apparel licensing, including disclosure of plants producing university-branded apparel.
Anti-sweatshop action also has increased in recent weeks at universities such as the University of Arizona, University of North Carolina and UCLA. Student activists say they are "actively" negotiating with school administrators over apparel-licensing provisions that include "livable" wages, protection against child labor and sexual harassment, and measures permitting factory workers to unionize.
"Many of us are proud of our universities and can't live with the idea of seeing our mascots dragged through the mud by our universities' collusion with sweatshop labor," said Thomas Wheatley, 24, a sociology graduate student at the University of Wisconsin- Madison and member of the Madison Anti-Sweatshop Coalition.
Students at the University of Michigan, after a 51-hour president's office sit-in, claimed victory earlier this month when the administration endorsed a code of conduct and said it will require licensees to provide full disclosure of manufacturing locations.
However, Michigan sophomore Peter Romer-Friedman, 19, a founder of Students Organizing for Labor and Economic Equality, said many Michigan students think they have not yet reached a "complete agreement, but rather a down payment to an agreement," because the university has not accepted a timeline on obtaining livable workers' wages.
In the past several years, public awareness on sweatshops has spurred student activists who say they are motivated by the desire to uphold a truly "global economy" in which factory workers have fair and safe conditions.
According to Tico Almedia, 22, a senior at Duke University, public awareness of factory conditions became a pressing issue after the media spotlighted Kathy Lee Gifford's popular clothing line--which reports revealed were made in a Honduran sweatshop--and conditions at plants producing Nike products.
The student activism has support from organized labor, including UNITE, the textile and apparel workers union, which often has sought to draw attention to abusive working conditions at foreign apparel manufacturing plants that supply U.S. retailers.
Stanley Ikenberry, president of the American Council on Education, said the Fair Labor Association provides an effective way for colleges and universities to address sweatshop code-of-conduct issues. The association, developed with the encouragement of the White House and the Labor Department, is composed of several human- rights groups and some prominent manufacturers such as Nike Inc. and Reebok International Ltd., whose practices have been criticized in the past.
The FLA code of conduct prohibits forced labor, discrimination and child labor in internationally based factories or free-trade zones, where collegiate apparel is produced. "We will enter into licensing agreements only with companies that meet FLA standards," said a spokesperson for Princeton University.
In his letter to the education council's membership of 1,800 colleges and universities, Ikenberry said that while the Fair Labor Association accord is "not a perfect agreement, it does lay the foundation for creating a practical and enforceable monitoring system that will help improve working conditions."
The colleges and universities affiliating with the Fair Labor Association are the University of Arizona, Brown University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Duke University, Florida State University, Harvard University, Marymount University, the University of Notre Dame, the University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University, Rutgers University, Smith College, Tufts University, Wellesley College and Yale University.
But some student activists, including Nora Rosenberg, 19, a Brown University sophomore, are skeptical that the Fair Labor Association will produce results.
Charging that its code of conduct is "inherently flawed," Rosenberg asserted that the agreement embodies a "conflict of interest" that may enable the association's corporate board members to influence how their plants and suppliers are monitored.
Under the Fair Labor Association's proposed code of conduct, selected factories will be inspected at announced times to receive the Fair Labor Association's stamp of approval. Rosenberg said that FLA board members may be able to influence the selection of supposedly independent factory monitors.
Thursday, March 11, 1999
Group: Immigrants Missing Aid Benefits
GROUP: IMMIGRANTS MISSING AID BENEFITS
[CHICAGOLAND FINAL Edition]
Pamela J Appea,
Washington Bureau.
Chicago Tribune
Chicago, Ill.:Mar 11, 1999. p. 11
Subjects:
Welfare reform, Aliens, Federal legislation
Author(s):
Pamela J Appea, Washington Bureau
Article types:
News
Dateline:
WASHINGTON
Section:
NEWS
Publication title:
Chicago Tribune. Chicago, Ill.: Mar 11, 1999. pg. 11
Source Type:
Newspaper
ISSN/ISBN:
10856706
ProQuest document ID:
39636023
Text Word Count
303
Article URL:
http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?RQT=309&VInst=PROD&VName=PQD&VType=PQD&Fmt=3&did=000000039636023&clientId=9269
Abstract (Article Summary)
The 1996 welfare reform law imposed restrictions on access to welfare by legal immigrants and refugees. But the authors of the report, Urban Institute researchers Michael Fix and Jeffrey Passel, said the decline in welfare use by non-citizens and refugees was due more to the "chilling effect" of recent policy changes than to shifts in eligibility due to welfare reform.
Full Text (303 words)
(Copyright 1999 by the Chicago Tribune)
Welfare reform has caused "confusion and fear" among immigrants, reducing their use of public aid for which they were eligible, a new study says.
Immigrant households' use of public benefits sharply decreased in comparison with non-immigrant households from 1994 to 1997, according to an analysis of census data by the non-partisan Urban Institute, which released the study Tuesday.
The 1996 welfare reform law imposed restrictions on access to welfare by legal immigrants and refugees. But the authors of the report, Urban Institute researchers Michael Fix and Jeffrey Passel, said the decline in welfare use by non-citizens and refugees was due more to the "chilling effect" of recent policy changes than to shifts in eligibility due to welfare reform.
"Welfare reform seems to be playing a significant role in discouraging immigrants from using health, nutrition or other benefits despite the fact that most immigrants remain eligible," Fix said. "It appears that these chilling effects originate in confusion and fear among immigrants and lack of understanding on the part of providers over who is eligible for benefits."
The release of the study comes as the Clinton administration prepares to defend budget requests to further extend health, nutrition and cash benefits to the most vulnerable legal immigrants, in particular children, pregnant women and disabled people who recently entered the U.S.
The study found that, from 1994 to 1997, welfare use by non- citizen households fell by 35 percent while citizen households' use of public benefits declined by 15 percent. The report also found a similar drop in non-citizens' use of Medicaid and food stamps.
However, rates of welfare use by non-citizen households remained higher than that of citizens both before and after passage of the 1996 welfare reform law--in large part because non-citizen households are more likely to include children and be poor, the report said.
[CHICAGOLAND FINAL Edition]
Pamela J Appea,
Washington Bureau.
Chicago Tribune
Chicago, Ill.:Mar 11, 1999. p. 11
Subjects:
Welfare reform, Aliens, Federal legislation
Author(s):
Pamela J Appea, Washington Bureau
Article types:
News
Dateline:
WASHINGTON
Section:
NEWS
Publication title:
Chicago Tribune. Chicago, Ill.: Mar 11, 1999. pg. 11
Source Type:
Newspaper
ISSN/ISBN:
10856706
ProQuest document ID:
39636023
Text Word Count
303
Article URL:
http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?RQT=309&VInst=PROD&VName=PQD&VType=PQD&Fmt=3&did=000000039636023&clientId=9269
Abstract (Article Summary)
The 1996 welfare reform law imposed restrictions on access to welfare by legal immigrants and refugees. But the authors of the report, Urban Institute researchers Michael Fix and Jeffrey Passel, said the decline in welfare use by non-citizens and refugees was due more to the "chilling effect" of recent policy changes than to shifts in eligibility due to welfare reform.
Full Text (303 words)
(Copyright 1999 by the Chicago Tribune)
Welfare reform has caused "confusion and fear" among immigrants, reducing their use of public aid for which they were eligible, a new study says.
Immigrant households' use of public benefits sharply decreased in comparison with non-immigrant households from 1994 to 1997, according to an analysis of census data by the non-partisan Urban Institute, which released the study Tuesday.
The 1996 welfare reform law imposed restrictions on access to welfare by legal immigrants and refugees. But the authors of the report, Urban Institute researchers Michael Fix and Jeffrey Passel, said the decline in welfare use by non-citizens and refugees was due more to the "chilling effect" of recent policy changes than to shifts in eligibility due to welfare reform.
"Welfare reform seems to be playing a significant role in discouraging immigrants from using health, nutrition or other benefits despite the fact that most immigrants remain eligible," Fix said. "It appears that these chilling effects originate in confusion and fear among immigrants and lack of understanding on the part of providers over who is eligible for benefits."
The release of the study comes as the Clinton administration prepares to defend budget requests to further extend health, nutrition and cash benefits to the most vulnerable legal immigrants, in particular children, pregnant women and disabled people who recently entered the U.S.
The study found that, from 1994 to 1997, welfare use by non- citizen households fell by 35 percent while citizen households' use of public benefits declined by 15 percent. The report also found a similar drop in non-citizens' use of Medicaid and food stamps.
However, rates of welfare use by non-citizen households remained higher than that of citizens both before and after passage of the 1996 welfare reform law--in large part because non-citizen households are more likely to include children and be poor, the report said.
Friday, March 05, 1999
Sexual Abuse Of Women on Prison Called an Epidemic
Sexual Abuse Of Women on Prison Called an Epidemic
Pamela J Appea, Washington Bureau.
Chicago Tribune.
Chicago, Ill.: Mar 5, 1999. pg. 5
Full Text (395 words)
Stepping up its attack on human-rights violations in this country, Amnesty International charged Thursday that widespread sexual abuse of female inmates is "virtually a fact of life" in U.S. prisons.
Amnesty's report cited court records and accounts by female inmates of sexual abuse by prison guards, including being sold to male inmates for sex, groping pat-down searches, rape and prurient viewing of women while dressing and showering.
"These degrading and dangerous abuses reflect an epidemic of violence against women and the continued second-class status of women in the U.S.," the report said.
Amnesty International said that, although it is difficult to estimate how many women are victims of sexual abuse or assault, the number of women in U.S. prisons and jails has more than tripled since 1985, to 138,000, increasing the likelihood that a greater number of women will be subject to human-rights abuse in a prison system primarily designed for male inmates.
Amnesty claims that 12 states lack laws prohibiting prison guards from having sexual contact with female inmates. Coercive sexual abuse was the report's most frequently cited abuse, said Christine Haenn, media director for Amnesty International in Washington.
The report cites the case of a female inmate at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago who alleged in a federal court hearing last October that she was forced into a sexual relationship with a staff member in return for contraband hair products and food.
The woman said she was groped and fondled by another employee on a number of occasions after the first employee bragged about what he had done. One of the employees has been reassigned to a job where he has no contact with female inmates, Amnesty said.
Amnesty's report also said the penal system's medical system and prenatal resources for female inmates are inadequate. It said shackles are sometimes used during hospitalization, including childbirth, by various institutions, including Cook County Jail.
The report recommends that prisons place women with infants in halfway houses so they can be with their children for at least part of their prison term. Illinois permits qualified inmates--those without a history of violent behavior or severe mental illness--in residential programs for up to two years.However, only 15 slots are available for this program.
In 1997, the report states, at least 120 pregnant women were incarcerated in Illinois state prisons, and 51 babies were born to prisoners.
Pamela J Appea, Washington Bureau.
Chicago Tribune.
Chicago, Ill.: Mar 5, 1999. pg. 5
Full Text (395 words)
Stepping up its attack on human-rights violations in this country, Amnesty International charged Thursday that widespread sexual abuse of female inmates is "virtually a fact of life" in U.S. prisons.
Amnesty's report cited court records and accounts by female inmates of sexual abuse by prison guards, including being sold to male inmates for sex, groping pat-down searches, rape and prurient viewing of women while dressing and showering.
"These degrading and dangerous abuses reflect an epidemic of violence against women and the continued second-class status of women in the U.S.," the report said.
Amnesty International said that, although it is difficult to estimate how many women are victims of sexual abuse or assault, the number of women in U.S. prisons and jails has more than tripled since 1985, to 138,000, increasing the likelihood that a greater number of women will be subject to human-rights abuse in a prison system primarily designed for male inmates.
Amnesty claims that 12 states lack laws prohibiting prison guards from having sexual contact with female inmates. Coercive sexual abuse was the report's most frequently cited abuse, said Christine Haenn, media director for Amnesty International in Washington.
The report cites the case of a female inmate at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago who alleged in a federal court hearing last October that she was forced into a sexual relationship with a staff member in return for contraband hair products and food.
The woman said she was groped and fondled by another employee on a number of occasions after the first employee bragged about what he had done. One of the employees has been reassigned to a job where he has no contact with female inmates, Amnesty said.
Amnesty's report also said the penal system's medical system and prenatal resources for female inmates are inadequate. It said shackles are sometimes used during hospitalization, including childbirth, by various institutions, including Cook County Jail.
The report recommends that prisons place women with infants in halfway houses so they can be with their children for at least part of their prison term. Illinois permits qualified inmates--those without a history of violent behavior or severe mental illness--in residential programs for up to two years.However, only 15 slots are available for this program.
In 1997, the report states, at least 120 pregnant women were incarcerated in Illinois state prisons, and 51 babies were born to prisoners.
Thursday, February 25, 1999
Senate bill seeks firm handgun wait period
Senate bill seeks firm handgun wait period
The Chicago Tribune
By Pamela Appea
Washington—Gun control advocates on Wednesday called for resuming a waiting period for handgun buyers, saying the new national system of instant background checks of firearm buyers is inadequate.
Six Democratic senators, including Dick Durbin of Illinois and Republican John Chafee of Rhode Island proposed legislation imposing a three- to five-day waiting period for handgun purchases.
"This is literally a matter of life and death," Durbin said.
Rep. John Peter (R-Ill.) plans to introduce a similar measure in the House to permanently restore the Brady law waiting period.
The original 1993 Brady Bill, which expired in November, imposed a five-day waiting period on handgun purchases.
In most states, a potential handgun owner now can buy a gun through the FBI's National Instant Check System, a method that allows guns to be purchased in minutes.
However, gun control advocates assert that the computer check system is incomplete and cannot thoroughly check a person's record in such a short time.
Durbin and other gun control advocates point to a shooting in Salt Lake City as evidence of problems with the new system.
Last month, AT & T employee Anne Sleater, 30, was killed in her office building by a woman who was angry with NBC affiliate KSL Televion.
The 24-year-old allegedly purchased the gun—allegedly without any extensive background check—the day before her alleged rampage of the office building that houses the television station and other tenants.
Sleater’s husband, Christian, said at a Capitol Hill press conference that a three-day waiting period is a “small thing to ask to avoid such tragedies.”
Gun control advocate James Brady said that while the FBI check system is better than no gun regulation at all, the system is flawed and incomplete. “We can do better,” Brady said. “For the last five years, the Brady law has worked.”
National Rifle Association spokesman Jim Manown said that waiting periods are unnecessary and antiquated.
“The instant check system is the standard for the nation,” he said.
While Illinois conducts its own background checks on potential gun owners, Durbin said he is concerned about the guns that are often trafficked into Illinois with less stringent gun laws.
Co-sponsors of the Brady extension act include Sens. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), Robert Toricelli (D-N.J.), Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Jack Reed (D-R.I.) and Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.)
Originally published Feb. 25, 1999
Originally published Feb. 25. 1999
The Chicago Tribune
By Pamela Appea
Washington—Gun control advocates on Wednesday called for resuming a waiting period for handgun buyers, saying the new national system of instant background checks of firearm buyers is inadequate.
Six Democratic senators, including Dick Durbin of Illinois and Republican John Chafee of Rhode Island proposed legislation imposing a three- to five-day waiting period for handgun purchases.
"This is literally a matter of life and death," Durbin said.
Rep. John Peter (R-Ill.) plans to introduce a similar measure in the House to permanently restore the Brady law waiting period.
The original 1993 Brady Bill, which expired in November, imposed a five-day waiting period on handgun purchases.
In most states, a potential handgun owner now can buy a gun through the FBI's National Instant Check System, a method that allows guns to be purchased in minutes.
However, gun control advocates assert that the computer check system is incomplete and cannot thoroughly check a person's record in such a short time.
Durbin and other gun control advocates point to a shooting in Salt Lake City as evidence of problems with the new system.
Last month, AT & T employee Anne Sleater, 30, was killed in her office building by a woman who was angry with NBC affiliate KSL Televion.
The 24-year-old allegedly purchased the gun—allegedly without any extensive background check—the day before her alleged rampage of the office building that houses the television station and other tenants.
Sleater’s husband, Christian, said at a Capitol Hill press conference that a three-day waiting period is a “small thing to ask to avoid such tragedies.”
Gun control advocate James Brady said that while the FBI check system is better than no gun regulation at all, the system is flawed and incomplete. “We can do better,” Brady said. “For the last five years, the Brady law has worked.”
National Rifle Association spokesman Jim Manown said that waiting periods are unnecessary and antiquated.
“The instant check system is the standard for the nation,” he said.
While Illinois conducts its own background checks on potential gun owners, Durbin said he is concerned about the guns that are often trafficked into Illinois with less stringent gun laws.
Co-sponsors of the Brady extension act include Sens. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), Robert Toricelli (D-N.J.), Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Jack Reed (D-R.I.) and Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.)
Originally published Feb. 25, 1999
Originally published Feb. 25. 1999
Friday, February 19, 1999
Chicago Tribune, Settlement Reached in Housing Bias Case
Settlement Reached in Housing Bias Case
Chicago Tribune, Metro Section
By Pamela Appea
Niles—Federal officials on Wednesday announced the settlement of a housing discrimination charge against the owners and manager of a Niles apartment complex who refused to rent to families with children.
Housing and Urban Secretary Andrew Cuomo said that Irwin and Muriel Lippman, who owned the apartment complex at 7920 Caldwell Ave., agreed to pay $26,500 in damages to Nicole Donaldson and the Interfaith Housing Center of the Northern suburbs, which assists families with children to find suitable housing.
Donaldson, a single mother with a 3-year-old daughter, had sought to rent a one-bedroom apartment in the complex in October 1996 but was told that the unit was not available to families with children, according to Donaldson’s lawyer, Miriam N. Geraghty.
HUD said four tests at the apartment complex showed discrimination against families with children, which is prohibited by the Fair Housing Act.
Lippman and Siegel have sold the property and are no longer involved in the rental property business, according to the settlement.
Originally published in the Chicago Tribune on February 19, 1999.
Chicago Tribune, Metro Section
By Pamela Appea
Niles—Federal officials on Wednesday announced the settlement of a housing discrimination charge against the owners and manager of a Niles apartment complex who refused to rent to families with children.
Housing and Urban Secretary Andrew Cuomo said that Irwin and Muriel Lippman, who owned the apartment complex at 7920 Caldwell Ave., agreed to pay $26,500 in damages to Nicole Donaldson and the Interfaith Housing Center of the Northern suburbs, which assists families with children to find suitable housing.
Donaldson, a single mother with a 3-year-old daughter, had sought to rent a one-bedroom apartment in the complex in October 1996 but was told that the unit was not available to families with children, according to Donaldson’s lawyer, Miriam N. Geraghty.
HUD said four tests at the apartment complex showed discrimination against families with children, which is prohibited by the Fair Housing Act.
Lippman and Siegel have sold the property and are no longer involved in the rental property business, according to the settlement.
Originally published in the Chicago Tribune on February 19, 1999.
Wednesday, February 10, 1999
Voting rate for youths declining, study finds
Voting rate for youths declining, study finds
Downward trend continued in 1998
The Chicago Tribune
By Pamela Appea
Washington—Even though he’s preoccupied with LSATs, job interviews and school work, Howard University junior and Chicago native Louis Sterling believes in taking time to vote in every election because it’s his “responsibility as a citizen.”
The Washington student’s perspective is unusual among 18 - to 24-year-olds, according to a study released Wednesday. When it comes to government and politics, a majority of American youths are disengaged, disinterested and distrustful, according to the study by the National Association of Secretaries of State.
Across the nation, fewer than one in give 18 - to -24-year olds found their way to voting booths in the 1998 congressional elections, the study showed, and only 32 percent of youths voted in the 1996 presidential elections, continuing a downward trend since the voting age was lowed to 18 in 1971.
The research, conducted by the Tarrance Group and Lake, Snell, Perry & Associates, found “distrust, disinterest, and ignorance” among young people towards politics and government.
For instance, 58 percent of young people surveyed agreed with the statement, “You can’t trust politicians because most are dishonest.”
Being involved in a democracy and voting is “extremely important” to only 26 percent of young people.
William Gardner, president of the secretaries of state group, said the downward trend is “ a grave matter that will only get worse in time.”
The study conducted a national telephone survey of 1,005 people ages 18 to 24 in Iowa, Baltimore and Salt Lake City. In six focus group meetings, many participants said they felt too uninformed to vote, especially in congressional elections.
The difference in voting patterns between students and non-students was striking.
On college campuses, many student leaders said they felt frustrated with their peers’ lack of involvement.
Elizabeth Maki, president of the University of Chicago Republicans and a fourth-year English major, said, “I certainly believe that college students nowadays are becoming less politically involved than in previous years or decades.”
Maki noted that while involvement with the U of C Republicans has increased in recent years, only 30 to 40 students out of 3,5000 regularly attended political meetings and events.
More 18-to 24-year-olds are beginning to distance themselves from the Democratic and Republican parties, embracing independent status of the relatively new Reform party, the study showed.
For instance, almost half of voters under 30 in Minnesota voted for Reform Party candidate Jesse Ventura for governor last fall.
Originally published Wednesday, February 10, 1999
Downward trend continued in 1998
The Chicago Tribune
By Pamela Appea
Washington—Even though he’s preoccupied with LSATs, job interviews and school work, Howard University junior and Chicago native Louis Sterling believes in taking time to vote in every election because it’s his “responsibility as a citizen.”
The Washington student’s perspective is unusual among 18 - to 24-year-olds, according to a study released Wednesday. When it comes to government and politics, a majority of American youths are disengaged, disinterested and distrustful, according to the study by the National Association of Secretaries of State.
Across the nation, fewer than one in give 18 - to -24-year olds found their way to voting booths in the 1998 congressional elections, the study showed, and only 32 percent of youths voted in the 1996 presidential elections, continuing a downward trend since the voting age was lowed to 18 in 1971.
The research, conducted by the Tarrance Group and Lake, Snell, Perry & Associates, found “distrust, disinterest, and ignorance” among young people towards politics and government.
For instance, 58 percent of young people surveyed agreed with the statement, “You can’t trust politicians because most are dishonest.”
Being involved in a democracy and voting is “extremely important” to only 26 percent of young people.
William Gardner, president of the secretaries of state group, said the downward trend is “ a grave matter that will only get worse in time.”
The study conducted a national telephone survey of 1,005 people ages 18 to 24 in Iowa, Baltimore and Salt Lake City. In six focus group meetings, many participants said they felt too uninformed to vote, especially in congressional elections.
The difference in voting patterns between students and non-students was striking.
On college campuses, many student leaders said they felt frustrated with their peers’ lack of involvement.
Elizabeth Maki, president of the University of Chicago Republicans and a fourth-year English major, said, “I certainly believe that college students nowadays are becoming less politically involved than in previous years or decades.”
Maki noted that while involvement with the U of C Republicans has increased in recent years, only 30 to 40 students out of 3,5000 regularly attended political meetings and events.
More 18-to 24-year-olds are beginning to distance themselves from the Democratic and Republican parties, embracing independent status of the relatively new Reform party, the study showed.
For instance, almost half of voters under 30 in Minnesota voted for Reform Party candidate Jesse Ventura for governor last fall.
Originally published Wednesday, February 10, 1999
Thursday, January 28, 1999
Angela Davis draws capacity crowd
Angela Davis draws capacity crowd
The Chicago Maroon
By Pamela Appea
Originally published Tuesday, January 20, 1998
Political activist and writer Angela Davis spoke yesterday to a crowd of nearly 2,000 people in Rockefeller Memorial Chapel, as part of the University of Chicago’s Tenth Annual Dr. Martin Lutjer King Day celebration.
The event, organized and sponsored by The Coordinating Council for Minority Issues (CCMI), was free and open to all members of the University and greater Chicago. However, due to overcrowding, over 100 people were turned away.
“I’m delighted by the response, the support that people showed. Given the fact that we had over 2,000 people cramming themselves into Rockefeller Chapel shows that we picked the right speaker,” said Kathy Stell, deputy dean of Students in the University; assistant to the Provost; and chair of CCMI.
Davis’s speech focused on what she called “The Prison Industrial Complex” a modern phenomena which she believes exists in the United States.
According to Davis, the number of inmates in U.S. prisons and jails are increasing at an alarming rate. “Almost 2 million people are currently locked up in U.S. prisons and jails. They are, as Barbara Fletcher puts it, ‘the truly forgotten,’ she said.
Davis asserted that the majority of incarcerated individuals in the U.S. are black males, and the real root of crime is produced by “poverty and racism.” In addition to this, Davis pointed out that while the majority of inmates are male, the number of women being put “behind bars is increasing at an even greater rate than men.
Davis sees the growing reliance of imprisonment as the government’s solution to complex social problems, combined with corporate interests in the punishment industry.
“We often assume prison has nothing to do with us if we aren’t there,” said Davis. “But it has permeated our culture.”
Davis believes that the privatization of prisons benefits U.S. capitalist interests. “In some places, prisons contract labor well below minimum wage, ten cents to 44 cents per hour,” Davis alleges that some major companies such as IBM, Motorola, Microsoft, Honeywall, and Nordstrom are implicated in prison labor violations.
Davis said that Martin Luther King believed that individuals do have the power to realize change. While she said that many attempt to take a neutral position in socio-political matters, she believes that “adopting a manner of acquiescence” is not appropriate.
“Where are the wars against corporate crime, Where are the wars against police crime? Where are the wars against hate violence? Davis asked.
“The growth in prison [inmates] was what really hit me about Davis’ speech,” said Lawrence Pausback, a former Friendship House volunteer and staff member who attended The University of Chicago in the 1950s.
“Especially, the emphasis on the incarceration of women. I thought the percentage was smaller.”
Over the past few weeks, students and student leaders at the U of C have either applauded or decried the choice of Davis as a speaker for the commemoration of King.
Many U of C conservatives have expressed concern with the selection of Davis for the King Day Celebration.
“I believe that Martin Luther King stood for equal opportunities for al Americans, regardless of
race. But key to his vision was the believe that a color-blind America was to achieved through non-violent means. Angela Davis, whose Marxist views and association with such militant groups as the Black Panthers, in my opinion, does not properly represent Martin Luther King’s legacy of non-violence,” said John Roland, president of the University of Chicago Republicans, and a third-year in the College.
King Day organizers disagreed, however. “The idea of the Martin Luther King Day speaker is to have someone speak who has an interesting perspective on Dr. King. We are not having a contest to see who most resembles King,” said Stell.
The University of Chicago Republicans have established another event celebrating DR. King, which is scheduled for Wednesday, January 21. The event will feature conservative black radio talk show host Reginald Jones.
Many at the event, however, express their support in the choice of Davis as a key note speaker.
“King had a passion for justice. King and Davis had a different means of achieving that same end.
For that, Davis embodies the King spirit,” said Tiffany Rockette, vice president of the Organization of Black Students (OBS), and a third-year in the College.
Others felt that the event was organized by the College Republicans would provide another diverse viewpoint on King.
“I think it’s great that that College Republicans are celebrating Martin Luther King Day in their own way. Bringing in different points of view is what academic exchange is about. Their response is perfectly appropriate,” said Stell.
Some in attendance disagreed.
“The Republicans tried to divide us. Basically, the Republicans called King a Communist. Now, it’s strange that they are trying to promote his image. [Reginald Jones] speaks for no one but himself. He does not represent the black community,” said Albert Thompson, a Hyde Park resident.
The King Day celebration included performances from various other student and community organizations.
The celebration began with a traditional Native American dance entitled ’La Danza de los Concheros’ performed by Grupo Folklorico Internacional, a troupe which includes children and adults.
The Evangelistic Crusaders Church of God sang two songs as well. Soul Umoka, and Make a Joyful Noise (MAJ’N,) two University music groups, also sang two selections.
An afternoon reception with Davis was held from 3:00-5:00 p.m. at Ida Noyes Hall. Along with CCMI, eleven other student organizations sponsored the event, including OBS, Hispanic Association for Cultural Expression & Recognition, Jewish Students Union (JSU), Sexual Violence Prevention Resource Center (SVPRC) and SistaFriends.
Planning for the King day celebration has been ongoing since spring of last year. Davis was selected to be the keynote speaker in August of 1997 according to a representative of CCMI.
Past speakers for the U of C King celebration have included Dr. Joycelyn Elders, former U.S. Attorney Surgeon General, Bishop Arthur Frazier, and Clarence Page, a columnist for the Chicago Tribune.
Davis’ political activism began as a young woman in Birmingham, Alabama in the 1950s and 1960s. She traveled and lectured extensively throughout the U.S., several countries in Africa, Europe and the former Soviet Union.
Davis has long been an advocate for civil and human rights, especially the U.S. prison system. In the early 70s, Davis’ name was placed on FBI’s Ten Most Wanted List and she was later incarcerated for a period of sixteen months.
Along with the help of a “Free Angela Davis” campaign, she was released from prison. All charges against Davis were dropped in 1972.
Davis continues to be active with the fight for improving the U.S. penal system. She is a member of the Advisory Board for the Prison Activist Resource Center.
Davis is currently working on a comparative study of women’s imprisonment in the U.S., the Netherlands and Cuba.
Photo Caption: The choir of the Envangelistic Crusaders Church of God in Christ performed as part of Monday’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Day celebration
Photo Credit: Andrew Fish
Originally published January 28, 1999
The Chicago Maroon
By Pamela Appea
Originally published Tuesday, January 20, 1998
Political activist and writer Angela Davis spoke yesterday to a crowd of nearly 2,000 people in Rockefeller Memorial Chapel, as part of the University of Chicago’s Tenth Annual Dr. Martin Lutjer King Day celebration.
The event, organized and sponsored by The Coordinating Council for Minority Issues (CCMI), was free and open to all members of the University and greater Chicago. However, due to overcrowding, over 100 people were turned away.
“I’m delighted by the response, the support that people showed. Given the fact that we had over 2,000 people cramming themselves into Rockefeller Chapel shows that we picked the right speaker,” said Kathy Stell, deputy dean of Students in the University; assistant to the Provost; and chair of CCMI.
Davis’s speech focused on what she called “The Prison Industrial Complex” a modern phenomena which she believes exists in the United States.
According to Davis, the number of inmates in U.S. prisons and jails are increasing at an alarming rate. “Almost 2 million people are currently locked up in U.S. prisons and jails. They are, as Barbara Fletcher puts it, ‘the truly forgotten,’ she said.
Davis asserted that the majority of incarcerated individuals in the U.S. are black males, and the real root of crime is produced by “poverty and racism.” In addition to this, Davis pointed out that while the majority of inmates are male, the number of women being put “behind bars is increasing at an even greater rate than men.
Davis sees the growing reliance of imprisonment as the government’s solution to complex social problems, combined with corporate interests in the punishment industry.
“We often assume prison has nothing to do with us if we aren’t there,” said Davis. “But it has permeated our culture.”
Davis believes that the privatization of prisons benefits U.S. capitalist interests. “In some places, prisons contract labor well below minimum wage, ten cents to 44 cents per hour,” Davis alleges that some major companies such as IBM, Motorola, Microsoft, Honeywall, and Nordstrom are implicated in prison labor violations.
Davis said that Martin Luther King believed that individuals do have the power to realize change. While she said that many attempt to take a neutral position in socio-political matters, she believes that “adopting a manner of acquiescence” is not appropriate.
“Where are the wars against corporate crime, Where are the wars against police crime? Where are the wars against hate violence? Davis asked.
“The growth in prison [inmates] was what really hit me about Davis’ speech,” said Lawrence Pausback, a former Friendship House volunteer and staff member who attended The University of Chicago in the 1950s.
“Especially, the emphasis on the incarceration of women. I thought the percentage was smaller.”
Over the past few weeks, students and student leaders at the U of C have either applauded or decried the choice of Davis as a speaker for the commemoration of King.
Many U of C conservatives have expressed concern with the selection of Davis for the King Day Celebration.
“I believe that Martin Luther King stood for equal opportunities for al Americans, regardless of
race. But key to his vision was the believe that a color-blind America was to achieved through non-violent means. Angela Davis, whose Marxist views and association with such militant groups as the Black Panthers, in my opinion, does not properly represent Martin Luther King’s legacy of non-violence,” said John Roland, president of the University of Chicago Republicans, and a third-year in the College.
King Day organizers disagreed, however. “The idea of the Martin Luther King Day speaker is to have someone speak who has an interesting perspective on Dr. King. We are not having a contest to see who most resembles King,” said Stell.
The University of Chicago Republicans have established another event celebrating DR. King, which is scheduled for Wednesday, January 21. The event will feature conservative black radio talk show host Reginald Jones.
Many at the event, however, express their support in the choice of Davis as a key note speaker.
“King had a passion for justice. King and Davis had a different means of achieving that same end.
For that, Davis embodies the King spirit,” said Tiffany Rockette, vice president of the Organization of Black Students (OBS), and a third-year in the College.
Others felt that the event was organized by the College Republicans would provide another diverse viewpoint on King.
“I think it’s great that that College Republicans are celebrating Martin Luther King Day in their own way. Bringing in different points of view is what academic exchange is about. Their response is perfectly appropriate,” said Stell.
Some in attendance disagreed.
“The Republicans tried to divide us. Basically, the Republicans called King a Communist. Now, it’s strange that they are trying to promote his image. [Reginald Jones] speaks for no one but himself. He does not represent the black community,” said Albert Thompson, a Hyde Park resident.
The King Day celebration included performances from various other student and community organizations.
The celebration began with a traditional Native American dance entitled ’La Danza de los Concheros’ performed by Grupo Folklorico Internacional, a troupe which includes children and adults.
The Evangelistic Crusaders Church of God sang two songs as well. Soul Umoka, and Make a Joyful Noise (MAJ’N,) two University music groups, also sang two selections.
An afternoon reception with Davis was held from 3:00-5:00 p.m. at Ida Noyes Hall. Along with CCMI, eleven other student organizations sponsored the event, including OBS, Hispanic Association for Cultural Expression & Recognition, Jewish Students Union (JSU), Sexual Violence Prevention Resource Center (SVPRC) and SistaFriends.
Planning for the King day celebration has been ongoing since spring of last year. Davis was selected to be the keynote speaker in August of 1997 according to a representative of CCMI.
Past speakers for the U of C King celebration have included Dr. Joycelyn Elders, former U.S. Attorney Surgeon General, Bishop Arthur Frazier, and Clarence Page, a columnist for the Chicago Tribune.
Davis’ political activism began as a young woman in Birmingham, Alabama in the 1950s and 1960s. She traveled and lectured extensively throughout the U.S., several countries in Africa, Europe and the former Soviet Union.
Davis has long been an advocate for civil and human rights, especially the U.S. prison system. In the early 70s, Davis’ name was placed on FBI’s Ten Most Wanted List and she was later incarcerated for a period of sixteen months.
Along with the help of a “Free Angela Davis” campaign, she was released from prison. All charges against Davis were dropped in 1972.
Davis continues to be active with the fight for improving the U.S. penal system. She is a member of the Advisory Board for the Prison Activist Resource Center.
Davis is currently working on a comparative study of women’s imprisonment in the U.S., the Netherlands and Cuba.
Photo Caption: The choir of the Envangelistic Crusaders Church of God in Christ performed as part of Monday’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Day celebration
Photo Credit: Andrew Fish
Originally published January 28, 1999
Thursday, October 01, 1998
Gang Economics, The University of Chicago
Gang economics
University of Chicago Magazine
October 1998
By Pamela Appea
http://magazine.uchicago.edu/9810/html/invest5.htm
It's not every economist who decides to tackle the topic of urban youth's involvement with gangs and drugs. Yet, says Steven Levitt, assistant professor in economics and the College, "crime is an extremely important issue and one that is really not studied enough, especially in academe-an economist might have something interesting to say."
As gang-related juvenile crime has increased during the past 15 years, Levitt explains, it has affected both participants' employment rates in the legitimate sector and the overall economic infrastructure of certain neighborhoods of big cities like Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles.
In 1997, Levitt, now 31, and Harvard sociologist Sudhir A. Venkatesh, AM'92, PhD'97, combined their quantitative and qualitative analytical skills to study the finances of street gangs. Their recent paper, presented in April at the U of C's Center for Race, Gender, and Politics, explored the socioeconomic structure of an inner-city, African-American gang. They found that, contrary to public perceptions, few gang members pocket lots of money. Indeed, says Levitt, the gang members could not make a living off their profits from drug sales alone.
Over a four-year period in the late 1980s and early 1990s, a former gang member, who now works in the legitimate business sector, kept careful records of his gang's profits, passing the information to Venkatesh on looseleaf sheets copied from the gang ledger. Levitt then created an economic model based on the gang's general expenses and its revenue from drug dealing and membership dues. For safety reasons, Levitt and Venkatesh chose to keep confidential their sources and the now-defunct gang's whereabouts and members.
The focus gang had a leader, three officers, about 75 foot soldiers, and some 200 rank-and-file individuals. The gang leader pocketed a documented average of $100,000 a year. Officers, who managed gang funds and drug operations, received an average of $1,000 a month, says Levitt, while the foot soldiers, the equivalent of part-time workers, earned no more than minimum wage selling drugs on the streets. Rank-and-file individuals, the freelancers of the drug world, did sporadic drug dealing for the gang.
During a profitable period, each gang member's earnings increased, and during times of infighting or gang wars, the foot soldiers got a boost in salary for the same amount of work. This cause-and-effect relationship in the gang's pay scales fits perfectly with an economic theory called compensating differentials, says Levitt. According to this theory, when a worker exerts more effort, or has to work with higher-than-usual risks, the worker will be compensated for the added labor and risk-taking.
Another economic theory, called tournament economics, became apparent during interviews with members of the focus gang about why they stayed in the group. Each member had a chance-albeit a small one-to become the gang leader, the person who takes the lion's share of the gang profits. Such a "tournament" situation, explains Levitt, emphasizes risk-taking for the chance of financial gain.
Levitt plans to do further multi-disciplinary research on gangs and crime, focusing on school-age children in Chicago and the socioeconomic factors that lead to gang alliance. "I think we are just getting started," Levitt says. "This financial data has raised a lot of questions on why people join gangs, since it is not that lucrative."-P.J.A.
University of Chicago Magazine
October 1998
By Pamela Appea
http://magazine.uchicago.edu/9810/html/invest5.htm
It's not every economist who decides to tackle the topic of urban youth's involvement with gangs and drugs. Yet, says Steven Levitt, assistant professor in economics and the College, "crime is an extremely important issue and one that is really not studied enough, especially in academe-an economist might have something interesting to say."
As gang-related juvenile crime has increased during the past 15 years, Levitt explains, it has affected both participants' employment rates in the legitimate sector and the overall economic infrastructure of certain neighborhoods of big cities like Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles.
In 1997, Levitt, now 31, and Harvard sociologist Sudhir A. Venkatesh, AM'92, PhD'97, combined their quantitative and qualitative analytical skills to study the finances of street gangs. Their recent paper, presented in April at the U of C's Center for Race, Gender, and Politics, explored the socioeconomic structure of an inner-city, African-American gang. They found that, contrary to public perceptions, few gang members pocket lots of money. Indeed, says Levitt, the gang members could not make a living off their profits from drug sales alone.
Over a four-year period in the late 1980s and early 1990s, a former gang member, who now works in the legitimate business sector, kept careful records of his gang's profits, passing the information to Venkatesh on looseleaf sheets copied from the gang ledger. Levitt then created an economic model based on the gang's general expenses and its revenue from drug dealing and membership dues. For safety reasons, Levitt and Venkatesh chose to keep confidential their sources and the now-defunct gang's whereabouts and members.
The focus gang had a leader, three officers, about 75 foot soldiers, and some 200 rank-and-file individuals. The gang leader pocketed a documented average of $100,000 a year. Officers, who managed gang funds and drug operations, received an average of $1,000 a month, says Levitt, while the foot soldiers, the equivalent of part-time workers, earned no more than minimum wage selling drugs on the streets. Rank-and-file individuals, the freelancers of the drug world, did sporadic drug dealing for the gang.
During a profitable period, each gang member's earnings increased, and during times of infighting or gang wars, the foot soldiers got a boost in salary for the same amount of work. This cause-and-effect relationship in the gang's pay scales fits perfectly with an economic theory called compensating differentials, says Levitt. According to this theory, when a worker exerts more effort, or has to work with higher-than-usual risks, the worker will be compensated for the added labor and risk-taking.
Another economic theory, called tournament economics, became apparent during interviews with members of the focus gang about why they stayed in the group. Each member had a chance-albeit a small one-to become the gang leader, the person who takes the lion's share of the gang profits. Such a "tournament" situation, explains Levitt, emphasizes risk-taking for the chance of financial gain.
Levitt plans to do further multi-disciplinary research on gangs and crime, focusing on school-age children in Chicago and the socioeconomic factors that lead to gang alliance. "I think we are just getting started," Levitt says. "This financial data has raised a lot of questions on why people join gangs, since it is not that lucrative."-P.J.A.
Friday, August 21, 1998
Rainbow/PUSH Coalition gathers in Hyde Park
Rainbow/PUSH Coalition gathers in Hyde Park
The Chicago Maroon
By Pamela Appea
Religious leaders, civil rights activists, and community residents came together Saturday morning to promote racial unit in Hyde Park as part of the 27th annual Rainbow/PUSH Coalition’s four day conference in Chicago. The gathering attracted hundreds of people, and took place on site at the South-Side based organization on East 50th Street.
At the conference, individuals from all over the country discussed civil rights issues in the 1990s. During the week, workshops and speeches focused on decreasing urban violence, poverty and prejudicial attitudes.
The conference theme, “Leave no one Behind” aims to unify members of the black community in addition to promoting the benefits of a truly multicultural and equal society, the Reverend Jesse Jackson explained.
“Our community has been in trouble. And has been said before, it takes a village to raise a child. Well sick villages raise sick children and well villages raise well children. We want well children. We must stop the violence and save the children,” Jackson said.
The conference also addressed the importance of economic independence, especially for minorities and lower-income individuals.
“All black people should have some interest in learning how the markets work,” said Roy Brown, a Bronzeville resident and a in Rainbow/PUSH Coalition member. “Investing in stocks is one of the avenues this country offers in order to become financially independent,” he said.
Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr., said “Until we can reach back and grab every American who has been left behind, we cannot say we have a better union, we cannot say the economy is experiencing unparalleled growth.” Jackson Jr. explained that everyone should be included in this vision.
Other issues addressed at the conference included political involvement of the black community. U.S. Senator Carol Mosley Braun urged members of the audience to go out to the polls in November with the idea that every citizen can make a difference.
The Rainbow/PUSH Coalition held a blood drive in order to donate blood to the recent injured victims of the terrorist bombing in Kenya and Tanzania.
Other speakers at the Saturday event included Minnesota Senator Paul Wellsteon, Reverend Al Sharpton of New York City, Congressman Bobby Rush and Ambassador Andrew Young.
Originally published August 21, 1998
The Chicago Maroon
By Pamela Appea
Religious leaders, civil rights activists, and community residents came together Saturday morning to promote racial unit in Hyde Park as part of the 27th annual Rainbow/PUSH Coalition’s four day conference in Chicago. The gathering attracted hundreds of people, and took place on site at the South-Side based organization on East 50th Street.
At the conference, individuals from all over the country discussed civil rights issues in the 1990s. During the week, workshops and speeches focused on decreasing urban violence, poverty and prejudicial attitudes.
The conference theme, “Leave no one Behind” aims to unify members of the black community in addition to promoting the benefits of a truly multicultural and equal society, the Reverend Jesse Jackson explained.
“Our community has been in trouble. And has been said before, it takes a village to raise a child. Well sick villages raise sick children and well villages raise well children. We want well children. We must stop the violence and save the children,” Jackson said.
The conference also addressed the importance of economic independence, especially for minorities and lower-income individuals.
“All black people should have some interest in learning how the markets work,” said Roy Brown, a Bronzeville resident and a in Rainbow/PUSH Coalition member. “Investing in stocks is one of the avenues this country offers in order to become financially independent,” he said.
Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr., said “Until we can reach back and grab every American who has been left behind, we cannot say we have a better union, we cannot say the economy is experiencing unparalleled growth.” Jackson Jr. explained that everyone should be included in this vision.
Other issues addressed at the conference included political involvement of the black community. U.S. Senator Carol Mosley Braun urged members of the audience to go out to the polls in November with the idea that every citizen can make a difference.
The Rainbow/PUSH Coalition held a blood drive in order to donate blood to the recent injured victims of the terrorist bombing in Kenya and Tanzania.
Other speakers at the Saturday event included Minnesota Senator Paul Wellsteon, Reverend Al Sharpton of New York City, Congressman Bobby Rush and Ambassador Andrew Young.
Originally published August 21, 1998
Rainbow/PUSH Coalition gathers in Hyde Park
Rainbow/PUSH Coalition gathers in Hyde Park
The Chicago Maroon
By Pamela Appea
Religious leaders, civil rights activists, and community residents came together Saturday morning to promote racial unit in Hyde Park as part of the 27th annual Rainbow/PUSH Coalition’s four day conference in Chicago. The gathering attracted hundreds of people, and took place on site at the South-Side based organization on East 50th Street.
At the conference, individuals from all over the country discussed civil rights issues in the 1990s. During the week, workshops and speeches focused on decreasing urban violence, poverty and prejudicial attitudes.
The conference theme, “Leave no one Behind” aims to unify members of the black community in addition to promoting the benefits of a truly multicultural and equal society, the Reverend Jesse Jackson explained.
“Our community has been in trouble. And has been said before, it takes a village to raise a child. Well sick villages raise sick children and well villages raise well children. We want well children. We must stop the violence and save the children,” Jackson said.
The conference also addressed the importance of economic independence, especially for minorities and lower-income individuals.
“All black people should have some interest in learning how the markets work,” said Roy Brown, a Bronzeville resident and a in Rainbow/PUSH Coalition member. “Investing in stocks is one of the avenues this country offers in order to become financially independent,” he said.
Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr., said “Until we can reach back and grab every American who has been left behind, we cannot say we have a better union, we cannot say the economy is experiencing unparalleled growth.” Jackson Jr. explained that everyone should be included in this vision.
Other issues addressed at the conference included political involvement of the black community. U.S. Senator Carol Mosley Braun urged members of the audience to go out to the polls in November with the idea that every citizen can make a difference.
The Rainbow/PUSH Coalition held a blood drive in order to donate blood to the recent injured victims of the terrorist bombing in Kenya and Tanzania.
Other speakers at the Saturday event included Minnesota Senator Paul Wellsteon, Reverend Al Sharpton of New York City, Congressman Bobby Rush and Ambassador Andrew Young.
Originally published August 21, 1998
The Chicago Maroon
By Pamela Appea
Religious leaders, civil rights activists, and community residents came together Saturday morning to promote racial unit in Hyde Park as part of the 27th annual Rainbow/PUSH Coalition’s four day conference in Chicago. The gathering attracted hundreds of people, and took place on site at the South-Side based organization on East 50th Street.
At the conference, individuals from all over the country discussed civil rights issues in the 1990s. During the week, workshops and speeches focused on decreasing urban violence, poverty and prejudicial attitudes.
The conference theme, “Leave no one Behind” aims to unify members of the black community in addition to promoting the benefits of a truly multicultural and equal society, the Reverend Jesse Jackson explained.
“Our community has been in trouble. And has been said before, it takes a village to raise a child. Well sick villages raise sick children and well villages raise well children. We want well children. We must stop the violence and save the children,” Jackson said.
The conference also addressed the importance of economic independence, especially for minorities and lower-income individuals.
“All black people should have some interest in learning how the markets work,” said Roy Brown, a Bronzeville resident and a in Rainbow/PUSH Coalition member. “Investing in stocks is one of the avenues this country offers in order to become financially independent,” he said.
Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr., said “Until we can reach back and grab every American who has been left behind, we cannot say we have a better union, we cannot say the economy is experiencing unparalleled growth.” Jackson Jr. explained that everyone should be included in this vision.
Other issues addressed at the conference included political involvement of the black community. U.S. Senator Carol Mosley Braun urged members of the audience to go out to the polls in November with the idea that every citizen can make a difference.
The Rainbow/PUSH Coalition held a blood drive in order to donate blood to the recent injured victims of the terrorist bombing in Kenya and Tanzania.
Other speakers at the Saturday event included Minnesota Senator Paul Wellsteon, Reverend Al Sharpton of New York City, Congressman Bobby Rush and Ambassador Andrew Young.
Originally published August 21, 1998
Friday, August 07, 1998
Hiroshima survivor shares memories at anniversary, Chicago Maroon News Articles
Hiroshima survivor shares memories at anniversary
Pamela Jane Appea
University Wire
08-07-1998
(Chicago Maroon)
(U-WIRE)
CHICAGO, Ill. -- One pleasant summer day, nine-year-old Hideko Tamura said goodbye to her mother, who was going to the center of town to run some errands.
Before Mrs. Tamura walked out the door, she turned to her daughter and said, "I'll be back before lunch time."
That was the last time Hideko saw her mother.
On that day, August 6, 1945, the United States dropped a nuclear bomb on Hiroshima, Japan.
Thousands of people died in the intense inferno in the center of town.
Hideko Tamura Snyder, a survivor of the Hiroshima bomb, gave a lecture Thursday as part of the 53rd commemoration of the dropping of the Hiroshima bomb.
The Illinois Peace Action (IPA) sponsored the event, which took place at the Henry Moore Nuclear statue on Ellis Avenue between 56th and 57th streets.
Over 70 community residents and students attended.
The organization aims to bring about the elimination of nuclear weapons across the world. IPA has hosted a commemoration of the bombing at Hiroshima at the site of the Henry Moore statue for the past 25 years, said Bernice Bild, the former director of IPA and a Hyde Park resident.
This marks the first time that Snyder has spoken at the site of the Henry Moore statue.
In the 1940s, Chicago scientists participated in a collective effort called the Manhattan Project, a think tank that helped create the nuclear bomb.Snyder took members of the audience back to World War II, and related her experiences as a young girl.
"Fifty-three years ago my life changed, my city disappeared," Snyder said to the audience.
On that day, Snyder lost not only her mother but a cousin who Snyder said was like a brother to her.
According to Snyder, when she and other people went out to find their relatives, they were greeted with chaos and despair."From rescue station to rescue station, I hummed my mother's favorite song, hoping [to find my mother]," she said.
Snyder said that she hoped that her mother did not have a painful death.
"I saw a girl who was too weak to walk, who was asking for water, softly, please give me water," she said.
"With the burning and the heat of a 1,000 suns, our bodies melted. Our bodies were naked. People's skin hung like rags with our insides showing. That was truly naked. It was the most terrifying experience" she said.
In addition to the harm the atomic bomb had on the residents of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Snyder stated that the water, plants, grass were affected by radiation.
"The people who ate the vegetables and drank the water had a terrible time and died. The water in Nagasaki was contaminated for over 32 years.
"If it takes us 100 years, or more, we must work together eliminating such lethal, lethal machinery. The bomb is so counter to civilization, it is so counter to human life. We are so easily swayed by arguments for defense. How absurd it was for human beings to be killed and perish in this fashion." she said.
Activist musicians performed before and after Snyder's talk.
Kevin Martin, executive director of IPA, spoke of current issues on nuclear energy. "The U of C astrophysics department has a computerized nuclear testing system which they use to continue nuclear capability," he alleged.
He went on to suggest that this information on nuclear energy is used by the U.S. Department of Defense."It is very important to remember what happened 53 years ago. It is important to rededicate ourselves to make sure that it never happens again," said Martin.
"I have a long term commitment to anti-nuclear activity," said Ron Chew, a Vietnam war veteran and longtime IPA member living in Oak Park, Illinois.
"[Hideko Tamura] was so authentic and you could just feel her experience. It was the most heart warming and heart wrenching talk of who we so loosely deal with nuclear energy," he said.
Snyder is currently a psychotherapist and social worker for radiation patients in the Chicago Hospitals.
She is the author of One Sunny Day: A Child's Memories of Hiroshima.
Pamela Jane Appea
University Wire
08-07-1998
(Chicago Maroon)
(U-WIRE)
CHICAGO, Ill. -- One pleasant summer day, nine-year-old Hideko Tamura said goodbye to her mother, who was going to the center of town to run some errands.
Before Mrs. Tamura walked out the door, she turned to her daughter and said, "I'll be back before lunch time."
That was the last time Hideko saw her mother.
On that day, August 6, 1945, the United States dropped a nuclear bomb on Hiroshima, Japan.
Thousands of people died in the intense inferno in the center of town.
Hideko Tamura Snyder, a survivor of the Hiroshima bomb, gave a lecture Thursday as part of the 53rd commemoration of the dropping of the Hiroshima bomb.
The Illinois Peace Action (IPA) sponsored the event, which took place at the Henry Moore Nuclear statue on Ellis Avenue between 56th and 57th streets.
Over 70 community residents and students attended.
The organization aims to bring about the elimination of nuclear weapons across the world. IPA has hosted a commemoration of the bombing at Hiroshima at the site of the Henry Moore statue for the past 25 years, said Bernice Bild, the former director of IPA and a Hyde Park resident.
This marks the first time that Snyder has spoken at the site of the Henry Moore statue.
In the 1940s, Chicago scientists participated in a collective effort called the Manhattan Project, a think tank that helped create the nuclear bomb.Snyder took members of the audience back to World War II, and related her experiences as a young girl.
"Fifty-three years ago my life changed, my city disappeared," Snyder said to the audience.
On that day, Snyder lost not only her mother but a cousin who Snyder said was like a brother to her.
According to Snyder, when she and other people went out to find their relatives, they were greeted with chaos and despair."From rescue station to rescue station, I hummed my mother's favorite song, hoping [to find my mother]," she said.
Snyder said that she hoped that her mother did not have a painful death.
"I saw a girl who was too weak to walk, who was asking for water, softly, please give me water," she said.
"With the burning and the heat of a 1,000 suns, our bodies melted. Our bodies were naked. People's skin hung like rags with our insides showing. That was truly naked. It was the most terrifying experience" she said.
In addition to the harm the atomic bomb had on the residents of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Snyder stated that the water, plants, grass were affected by radiation.
"The people who ate the vegetables and drank the water had a terrible time and died. The water in Nagasaki was contaminated for over 32 years.
"If it takes us 100 years, or more, we must work together eliminating such lethal, lethal machinery. The bomb is so counter to civilization, it is so counter to human life. We are so easily swayed by arguments for defense. How absurd it was for human beings to be killed and perish in this fashion." she said.
Activist musicians performed before and after Snyder's talk.
Kevin Martin, executive director of IPA, spoke of current issues on nuclear energy. "The U of C astrophysics department has a computerized nuclear testing system which they use to continue nuclear capability," he alleged.
He went on to suggest that this information on nuclear energy is used by the U.S. Department of Defense."It is very important to remember what happened 53 years ago. It is important to rededicate ourselves to make sure that it never happens again," said Martin.
"I have a long term commitment to anti-nuclear activity," said Ron Chew, a Vietnam war veteran and longtime IPA member living in Oak Park, Illinois.
"[Hideko Tamura] was so authentic and you could just feel her experience. It was the most heart warming and heart wrenching talk of who we so loosely deal with nuclear energy," he said.
Snyder is currently a psychotherapist and social worker for radiation patients in the Chicago Hospitals.
She is the author of One Sunny Day: A Child's Memories of Hiroshima.
Saturday, August 01, 1998
The University of Chicago Magazine
On the Shelf
Two Lucky People
In October 1932, students in Jacob Viner’s graduate course in economic theory, Economics 301, found themselves seated in alphabetical order, an arrangement that put Rose Director beside Milton Friedman.
Over the next six years, the two fell in love, got married, and began an intellectual partnership fueled by their interest in economics and social justice.
In Two Lucky People (University of Chicago Press), Rose Director Friedman, PhB’32, and Milton Friedman, AM’33, tell their story.
The 1976 Nobel laureate in economics, Milton taught at the U of C for 31 years, leaving in 1977 to become a senior research fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution.
Though Milton received most of the recognition, he credits Rose with helping him develop his economic and public-policy theories. Authors of countless articles and books, including the best-selling Free to Choose, the Friedmans have now written a personal account of their lives, including travel and work in France, Chile, and Japan.
They also make some economic arguments, not unexpectedly calling for the deregulation of industry and private life.—P.J.A.
http://magazine.uchicago.edu/9808/html/books.htm
Two Lucky People
In October 1932, students in Jacob Viner’s graduate course in economic theory, Economics 301, found themselves seated in alphabetical order, an arrangement that put Rose Director beside Milton Friedman.
Over the next six years, the two fell in love, got married, and began an intellectual partnership fueled by their interest in economics and social justice.
In Two Lucky People (University of Chicago Press), Rose Director Friedman, PhB’32, and Milton Friedman, AM’33, tell their story.
The 1976 Nobel laureate in economics, Milton taught at the U of C for 31 years, leaving in 1977 to become a senior research fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution.
Though Milton received most of the recognition, he credits Rose with helping him develop his economic and public-policy theories. Authors of countless articles and books, including the best-selling Free to Choose, the Friedmans have now written a personal account of their lives, including travel and work in France, Chile, and Japan.
They also make some economic arguments, not unexpectedly calling for the deregulation of industry and private life.—P.J.A.
http://magazine.uchicago.edu/9808/html/books.htm
Apocalypse-not yet
In June the keepers of the Doomsday Clock, a symbol of nuclear apocalypse, moved its hands forward five minutes closer to midnight-the largest forward jump in 30 years. The clock, which appears on the cover of every issue of The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists and has been reset 15 times since its 1947 inception, now reads 11:51 p.m.
After India and Pakistan-previously undeclared nuclear powers-conducted nuclear tests this May, the Bulletin's board of directors, chaired by Leonard Rieser, SB'43, decided to reset the clock in hopes of increasing public awareness of the continuing international nuclear threat.
While cold war tensions have eased, there has been no subsequent move toward nuclear disarmament; indeed, according to Rieser, "opportunities have been missed and open doors have been closed."
By resetting the clock, the Bulletin's board also wants to underscore the failure of the U.S. and Russia to ratify a 1996 United Nations nuclear-test ban treaty; signed by 150 countries, it has been ratified by the governments of only 15. "Our leverage with the other countries is just much reduced," Rieser says of the U.S.'s ability to get other nations to sign the treaty, "when we haven't done what we signed on to do."
When the Doomsday Clock was last reset in 1995, it stood at 14 minutes to midnight, the second earliest setting in its history. The clock came closest to midnight in 1953, when it was reset at 2 minutes before 12 after U.S. testing of hydrogen bombs, while the earliest setting came with the end of the cold war in 1991, at 17 minutes before midnight.
The clock, like the Bulletin itself, was part of a larger, post-World War II movement by a group of scientists (including Rieser) who had worked on the Manhattan Project and were concerned about the need to regulate nuclear energy and promote its peaceful use. Current board members include two U of C faculty members: Stephen Walt, professor in political science, and Don Q. Lamb, Jr., professor in astronomy & astrophysics. U of C physics professor emeritus John A. Simpson, who helped found the Bulletin, is president of its board of sponsors.
http://magazine.uchicago.edu/9808/html/adinfinitum.html
Originally published August 1998
After India and Pakistan-previously undeclared nuclear powers-conducted nuclear tests this May, the Bulletin's board of directors, chaired by Leonard Rieser, SB'43, decided to reset the clock in hopes of increasing public awareness of the continuing international nuclear threat.
While cold war tensions have eased, there has been no subsequent move toward nuclear disarmament; indeed, according to Rieser, "opportunities have been missed and open doors have been closed."
By resetting the clock, the Bulletin's board also wants to underscore the failure of the U.S. and Russia to ratify a 1996 United Nations nuclear-test ban treaty; signed by 150 countries, it has been ratified by the governments of only 15. "Our leverage with the other countries is just much reduced," Rieser says of the U.S.'s ability to get other nations to sign the treaty, "when we haven't done what we signed on to do."
When the Doomsday Clock was last reset in 1995, it stood at 14 minutes to midnight, the second earliest setting in its history. The clock came closest to midnight in 1953, when it was reset at 2 minutes before 12 after U.S. testing of hydrogen bombs, while the earliest setting came with the end of the cold war in 1991, at 17 minutes before midnight.
The clock, like the Bulletin itself, was part of a larger, post-World War II movement by a group of scientists (including Rieser) who had worked on the Manhattan Project and were concerned about the need to regulate nuclear energy and promote its peaceful use. Current board members include two U of C faculty members: Stephen Walt, professor in political science, and Don Q. Lamb, Jr., professor in astronomy & astrophysics. U of C physics professor emeritus John A. Simpson, who helped found the Bulletin, is president of its board of sponsors.
http://magazine.uchicago.edu/9808/html/adinfinitum.html
Originally published August 1998
Wednesday, June 03, 1998
Wife of Black Panther leader calls for community activism
Wife of Black Panther leader calls for community activism
Pamela Jane Appea
University Wire 06-03-1998
(Chicago Maroon) (U-WIRE) CHICAGO --
Akua Njeri, National People's Democratic Uhuru Movement (NPDU) president, spoke last Friday evening at Ida Noyes Hall. The event was sponsored by the U of C Students for the Freedom of Fred Hampton.
The U of C organization was founded several months ago in order to increase awareness of the imprisonment of Fred Hampton, Jr. Hampton is the son of Fred Hampton, renowned 1960s Chicago Black Panther organizer.
Five years ago, the younger Hampton was sentenced to 18 years in prison for a 1992 Chicago arson. The fire, according to Chicago police files, did not warrant a fire truck, and onlookers allege that the store did not close for more than 15 minutes.
Njeri, Hampton mother, along with other individuals and organizations, are lobbying for the freedom of Hampton Njeri's speech addressed the effects of police brutality, the "drug economy," and racism on black individuals in Chicago.
"There is no tradition of democracy for African people under U.S. law," Njeri said. "In the '60s, we were united in the Civil Rights movement, and then the Black Power movement.
Black power challenged white liberalism." Njeri explained how the Black Panthers started programs that allowed "blacks to liberate themselves."
"The government said our children were... [unable to be educated]. Poverty meant that children were going to school without food in their bellies."
The Black Panther movement began a free breakfast program for elementary school children in order to help black and underprivileged children in their school careers. The Panthers also began a free sickle cell anemia test and a specialized Afrocentric school curriculum.
"I thought it was important how [Njeri] constantly related the movement to what is going on now was the key," said Hoang Phan, co-founder and president of the U of C Students for the Freedom of Fred Hampton, Jr., and NDUP member.
While the Black Panther movement is now defunct, Njeri still said she believes in community activism as a way for blacks to help themselves."I believe that we're at a real historical turning point. African people are rising up to take charge of our lives," said Njeri.
"The NPDU's goal is to allow freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and freedom of determining ourselves as a people. We believe that social development and economic development are the solution. We are building a movement that will change the political terrain of the people," she said.Njeri also discussed how youths must undergo police searches and police brutality.
The lecture was followed by a question and answer period.
"As a white person living in Chicago, I see the differences of how blacks and whites are treated. I think that African people have democratic rights like everyone else. Njeri's courage to keep on fighting for the African community is striking," said Sandy Thompson, member of the NDUP, and North Side resident.
"It was eye opening to hear the specifics of Fred Hampton Jr.'s arrest. It would have been nice, however, if Njeri had gone into more specific correlation of the laws and the effects that they have on the black community," said Lynn Headley, a fourth-year student in the College.
A U of C Students for the Freedom of Fred Hampton member stated that more RSOs, including members of Organization of Black Students and Sistafriends, should become more involved in political organization and community activism.
"I think it's problematic that a lot of the cultural groups on campus -- not just SF and OBS -- don't get involved with political organizing. Their main concern seems to be cultural shows. I can't say what people should do," he concluded.
Njeri is a former Black Panther member who was present during the 1969 police raid that assassinated husband, Hampton Sr., and Mark Clark, another Black Panther officer.
Members of the Free Fred Hampton, Jr. coalition will be hosting a march on June 10 to Mayor Richard Daley's office, the federal building, 230 South Dearborn Street.
The lecture was funded by the Center for Race Studies.
Pamela Jane Appea
University Wire 06-03-1998
(Chicago Maroon) (U-WIRE) CHICAGO --
Akua Njeri, National People's Democratic Uhuru Movement (NPDU) president, spoke last Friday evening at Ida Noyes Hall. The event was sponsored by the U of C Students for the Freedom of Fred Hampton.
The U of C organization was founded several months ago in order to increase awareness of the imprisonment of Fred Hampton, Jr. Hampton is the son of Fred Hampton, renowned 1960s Chicago Black Panther organizer.
Five years ago, the younger Hampton was sentenced to 18 years in prison for a 1992 Chicago arson. The fire, according to Chicago police files, did not warrant a fire truck, and onlookers allege that the store did not close for more than 15 minutes.
Njeri, Hampton mother, along with other individuals and organizations, are lobbying for the freedom of Hampton Njeri's speech addressed the effects of police brutality, the "drug economy," and racism on black individuals in Chicago.
"There is no tradition of democracy for African people under U.S. law," Njeri said. "In the '60s, we were united in the Civil Rights movement, and then the Black Power movement.
Black power challenged white liberalism." Njeri explained how the Black Panthers started programs that allowed "blacks to liberate themselves."
"The government said our children were... [unable to be educated]. Poverty meant that children were going to school without food in their bellies."
The Black Panther movement began a free breakfast program for elementary school children in order to help black and underprivileged children in their school careers. The Panthers also began a free sickle cell anemia test and a specialized Afrocentric school curriculum.
"I thought it was important how [Njeri] constantly related the movement to what is going on now was the key," said Hoang Phan, co-founder and president of the U of C Students for the Freedom of Fred Hampton, Jr., and NDUP member.
While the Black Panther movement is now defunct, Njeri still said she believes in community activism as a way for blacks to help themselves."I believe that we're at a real historical turning point. African people are rising up to take charge of our lives," said Njeri.
"The NPDU's goal is to allow freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and freedom of determining ourselves as a people. We believe that social development and economic development are the solution. We are building a movement that will change the political terrain of the people," she said.Njeri also discussed how youths must undergo police searches and police brutality.
The lecture was followed by a question and answer period.
"As a white person living in Chicago, I see the differences of how blacks and whites are treated. I think that African people have democratic rights like everyone else. Njeri's courage to keep on fighting for the African community is striking," said Sandy Thompson, member of the NDUP, and North Side resident.
"It was eye opening to hear the specifics of Fred Hampton Jr.'s arrest. It would have been nice, however, if Njeri had gone into more specific correlation of the laws and the effects that they have on the black community," said Lynn Headley, a fourth-year student in the College.
A U of C Students for the Freedom of Fred Hampton member stated that more RSOs, including members of Organization of Black Students and Sistafriends, should become more involved in political organization and community activism.
"I think it's problematic that a lot of the cultural groups on campus -- not just SF and OBS -- don't get involved with political organizing. Their main concern seems to be cultural shows. I can't say what people should do," he concluded.
Njeri is a former Black Panther member who was present during the 1969 police raid that assassinated husband, Hampton Sr., and Mark Clark, another Black Panther officer.
Members of the Free Fred Hampton, Jr. coalition will be hosting a march on June 10 to Mayor Richard Daley's office, the federal building, 230 South Dearborn Street.
The lecture was funded by the Center for Race Studies.
Tuesday, May 19, 1998
Thai cultural show features traditional dances, music, food
Thai cultural show features traditional dances, music, food
The Chicago Maroon
By Pamela Appea
The sound of Thai classical symphonic music greeted attendees of the first annual U of C Thai Cultural Night. The event took place Saturday night, May 16, at Hutchinson Commons in the Reynolds Club. Siam Square hosted the show, which attracted 130 students and community residents, Pechluck Suwatanapongched and Justin Ruaysamran, fourth-year students in the College, served as emcees for the event.
“It went well. I liked the performances. Everything went very smoothly. All in all, the event was very successful,” said Sompid Saamipak, president of Siam Square and a fourth-year student in the College.
Members of the Buddhadharm Temple began the program with three selections of classical music. Traditional classic music instruments include thereat thum, a rectangular instrument which curves outward, the zither, a stringed instrument with a hollow body, roughly similar to a guitar, the timbrel, and the gong kettle similar to a stringed instrument with a hollow body, roughly similat to a guitar, the timbrel, and the gong-kettle drums.
The instrument selections combined religious and secular themes of love, nature and spirituality. Thai classical music is no harmonic and combines melodic and rhythmic elements. One of the selections paid homage to a famous Thai waterfall, and the instruments imitated the sounds of water in nature.
Fon Tien, or the candle dance, followed. The six dancers synchronized their hand and body body movements to the music while swirling each of the two candles in an arch-like shape.
“The candle dance was magnificent. It was delicate and slow, and they danced together very well,” said Raksapok Thanaanuwong, a second-year student in the College.
Next, Pariya Phualsuk, of the Northwestern Thai Student Organization, read a Thai poem. “The poem stressed that women should be educated. It stressed the importance of being well-rounded both inside and outside the home,” explained Samipak.
Following the poem, the Manora dance was performed by Judy Pongched, a first-year student at Hinsdale High School. This classical dance originates from an ancient Thai folktale Manora was a princess who was kinari, or a mythical creature, half-bird and half human.
Suwatanapongched explained the story. Manora’s guardian wanted to keep her confined in a castle, so the guardian took Manora’s wings and claws away so that she would not be able to escape. One day, it was decreed that in order to escape terrible destruction of the kingdom, one animal of each kind would be sacrificed.
“Manora asked for her wings and claws back to do one last dance. In the end, Manora flies to freedom,” Suwatanapongched said.
Pallop Karnchanapanurach, treasurer for Siam Square and a third-year stydent in the College, then performed the Sai Phon song.
King Bhumiphol of Thailand actually composed the song which extols the importance of rain. The song praised the essence of nature after rainfall because trees are greener and crops will grow about being nourished by water.
A similar celebration, Loi Krathong is an annual festival celebrated in Thailand where the people pay homage to the Mother of waters by gathering at all the rivers, ponds, and lakes under the full moon.
The program concluded with the Ramwong Matrathan, which means a dance in a circle. This traditional dance is from central Thailand is usually celebrated after the harvest.
“It is an ancient village performance. Usually a guy flirts with a girl and they pair up with each other,” Samipak said.
“It is a great effort of the students here. They worked very hard. This [show] demonstrates the pride in their heritage,” said Achara Raz, MA ‘76 and director of business affairs at the International House.
A member of the Buddhadharm Temple agreed. “I just feel good and proud that I can be part of the show. If people who’ve seen the show travel to Thailand [one day]. I know they’ll love it,” said Busaba Pardungkiattisak, a resident of Wheaton, Illinois.
Dishes served at the dinner included Ar-Jard, cucumber salad, Nua Dad Dream, a beef dish, Gai Yang, traditional thai chicken, basil eggplant, and Musmun Gai, a spicy chicken and potato dish cooked with peanuts and coconuts. The event was funded by the Buddhadharm Meditation Center, Siam Restaurant, Student Government, the Pongched family, and the Thai Association of Illinois and other businesses.
Photo Caption: Dancers perform at the first annual Thai cultural show Saturday night.
Photo Credit: David O.
Originally published May 19, 1998
The Chicago Maroon
By Pamela Appea
The sound of Thai classical symphonic music greeted attendees of the first annual U of C Thai Cultural Night. The event took place Saturday night, May 16, at Hutchinson Commons in the Reynolds Club. Siam Square hosted the show, which attracted 130 students and community residents, Pechluck Suwatanapongched and Justin Ruaysamran, fourth-year students in the College, served as emcees for the event.
“It went well. I liked the performances. Everything went very smoothly. All in all, the event was very successful,” said Sompid Saamipak, president of Siam Square and a fourth-year student in the College.
Members of the Buddhadharm Temple began the program with three selections of classical music. Traditional classic music instruments include thereat thum, a rectangular instrument which curves outward, the zither, a stringed instrument with a hollow body, roughly similar to a guitar, the timbrel, and the gong kettle similar to a stringed instrument with a hollow body, roughly similat to a guitar, the timbrel, and the gong-kettle drums.
The instrument selections combined religious and secular themes of love, nature and spirituality. Thai classical music is no harmonic and combines melodic and rhythmic elements. One of the selections paid homage to a famous Thai waterfall, and the instruments imitated the sounds of water in nature.
Fon Tien, or the candle dance, followed. The six dancers synchronized their hand and body body movements to the music while swirling each of the two candles in an arch-like shape.
“The candle dance was magnificent. It was delicate and slow, and they danced together very well,” said Raksapok Thanaanuwong, a second-year student in the College.
Next, Pariya Phualsuk, of the Northwestern Thai Student Organization, read a Thai poem. “The poem stressed that women should be educated. It stressed the importance of being well-rounded both inside and outside the home,” explained Samipak.
Following the poem, the Manora dance was performed by Judy Pongched, a first-year student at Hinsdale High School. This classical dance originates from an ancient Thai folktale Manora was a princess who was kinari, or a mythical creature, half-bird and half human.
Suwatanapongched explained the story. Manora’s guardian wanted to keep her confined in a castle, so the guardian took Manora’s wings and claws away so that she would not be able to escape. One day, it was decreed that in order to escape terrible destruction of the kingdom, one animal of each kind would be sacrificed.
“Manora asked for her wings and claws back to do one last dance. In the end, Manora flies to freedom,” Suwatanapongched said.
Pallop Karnchanapanurach, treasurer for Siam Square and a third-year stydent in the College, then performed the Sai Phon song.
King Bhumiphol of Thailand actually composed the song which extols the importance of rain. The song praised the essence of nature after rainfall because trees are greener and crops will grow about being nourished by water.
A similar celebration, Loi Krathong is an annual festival celebrated in Thailand where the people pay homage to the Mother of waters by gathering at all the rivers, ponds, and lakes under the full moon.
The program concluded with the Ramwong Matrathan, which means a dance in a circle. This traditional dance is from central Thailand is usually celebrated after the harvest.
“It is an ancient village performance. Usually a guy flirts with a girl and they pair up with each other,” Samipak said.
“It is a great effort of the students here. They worked very hard. This [show] demonstrates the pride in their heritage,” said Achara Raz, MA ‘76 and director of business affairs at the International House.
A member of the Buddhadharm Temple agreed. “I just feel good and proud that I can be part of the show. If people who’ve seen the show travel to Thailand [one day]. I know they’ll love it,” said Busaba Pardungkiattisak, a resident of Wheaton, Illinois.
Dishes served at the dinner included Ar-Jard, cucumber salad, Nua Dad Dream, a beef dish, Gai Yang, traditional thai chicken, basil eggplant, and Musmun Gai, a spicy chicken and potato dish cooked with peanuts and coconuts. The event was funded by the Buddhadharm Meditation Center, Siam Restaurant, Student Government, the Pongched family, and the Thai Association of Illinois and other businesses.
Photo Caption: Dancers perform at the first annual Thai cultural show Saturday night.
Photo Credit: David O.
Originally published May 19, 1998
Conference panelists examine causes, effects, solutions of Asian economic crisis
Conference panelists examine causes, effects, solutions of Asian economic crisis
The Chicago Maroon
By Pamela Appea
The Singaporean and Malaysian Students’ Union and the Hong Kong Students Association (HKSA) at the University of Chicago hosted an economic conference last Saturday afternoon at the Biological Sciences Learning Center.
The conference entitled “The Asian economic crisis: Is There a Solution?” featured several academic and business representatives.
Before the conference, members of the Spartacist League and the Spartacus Youth Club congregated outside the building to protest International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) recent offer to lend $43 billion dollars to Indonesia to aid the country’s faltering currency, the ruppiah.
IMF offered the loan in an attempt to avert economic collapse, but a representative of the organization said that employees of “U.S. Imperialism” and the CIA should not be involved.
Peter Ho, president of HKSA and a second-year student in the College, said the aim of the conference was not only to increase awareness of the economic problems in East Asian countries and their significance in the global economy, but also to analyze the origins of the crisis and propose plausible solutions.
The first panel discussion featured James Yuen, director of the Hong Kong Trade Council; Jack Chiang, deputy director General of the Tapei Economic and Cultural Office in Chicago; and Glenda Wenchi Kao, professor of Finance at DePaul University. Other panelists included Dali Yang, assistant professor of Political Science atthe U of C and Robert Z. Aliber, professor of International Economics and Finance at the Graduate School of Business (GSB),who served as moderator for both panel discussions.
Yuen discussed the continued viability of the Hong Kong market since the 1997 reunification of Hong Kong into Communist China.
He explained how How Kong has continued its free trade system, despite political changes.
According to Yuen, investment and business opportunities still exist in Hong Kong. He said his main concern was currency devaluation and rising price of land and property, but added that Hong Kong’s current economic policy has spelled prosperity.
“Our recovery will be faster than any other country,” he concluded.
According to several other panelists, countries such as Thailand, Indonesia, mainland China and Japan have been more seriously affected.
“You really have to have a prudent economic policy. Probably what went wrong in Thailand is that people were getting overzealous with the stock market,” said Kao. She pointed to the fact that in the nineties, property companies were building numerous condominiums and shopping malls, especially in the capital city of Bangkok.
“Banks gave out loans without checking. The end result was that it brought a lot of uncertainty,” she said.
According to Kao, when investors began to realize a possible economic slump, they panicked.
“People were trying to change the currency,” she explained. The baht deeply depreciated in mid-to-late 1997 and Thailand went into a state of economic depression.
“There are no winners in the Asian economic crisis. There are survivors and there are losers. If you run on borrowed money, you run on borrowed time,” added Yang.
“The [first] panel wasn’t as effective because two of the panelists were representatives of the government,” said Jennifer Rim, a fourth-year student in the College.
“It didn’t really address any of the issues that we came here to talk about: hard core social problems [in Asia,]” she said.
The second panel discussion focused more on strategies for economic reform. Kim Young-guen, director of Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy of the Republic of Korea, Mary Ainger, senior Information Analyst at Northern Trust Corporation, and Robert LeFleur, chief Investment Strategies at Northern Trust Corporation, gave the keynote speeches. Other panelists were Professor David E. Altig, adjunct professor of Economics at the U of C, Francesco Caseli, assistant professor of Economics, and David Hummels, assistant professor of Economics.
Ainger discussed the Japanese economy. [S]He said that lower interest rates and excess capacity are not viable solutions for Japan.
According to LeFleur, Asia has had to contend with new factors which affect its prosperity. He discussed new competition, deteriorating trade bubbles, excess capacity and over-leveraged debt.
LeFleur stated that the two keys to recovery for East Asian markets were strong economic growth in the U.S. and positive policy responses. According to LeFleur, countries such as Taiwan and Hong Kong will begin to differentiate themselves as players in the global market.
Originally published Tuesday, May 19, 1998
The Chicago Maroon
By Pamela Appea
The Singaporean and Malaysian Students’ Union and the Hong Kong Students Association (HKSA) at the University of Chicago hosted an economic conference last Saturday afternoon at the Biological Sciences Learning Center.
The conference entitled “The Asian economic crisis: Is There a Solution?” featured several academic and business representatives.
Before the conference, members of the Spartacist League and the Spartacus Youth Club congregated outside the building to protest International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) recent offer to lend $43 billion dollars to Indonesia to aid the country’s faltering currency, the ruppiah.
IMF offered the loan in an attempt to avert economic collapse, but a representative of the organization said that employees of “U.S. Imperialism” and the CIA should not be involved.
Peter Ho, president of HKSA and a second-year student in the College, said the aim of the conference was not only to increase awareness of the economic problems in East Asian countries and their significance in the global economy, but also to analyze the origins of the crisis and propose plausible solutions.
The first panel discussion featured James Yuen, director of the Hong Kong Trade Council; Jack Chiang, deputy director General of the Tapei Economic and Cultural Office in Chicago; and Glenda Wenchi Kao, professor of Finance at DePaul University. Other panelists included Dali Yang, assistant professor of Political Science atthe U of C and Robert Z. Aliber, professor of International Economics and Finance at the Graduate School of Business (GSB),who served as moderator for both panel discussions.
Yuen discussed the continued viability of the Hong Kong market since the 1997 reunification of Hong Kong into Communist China.
He explained how How Kong has continued its free trade system, despite political changes.
According to Yuen, investment and business opportunities still exist in Hong Kong. He said his main concern was currency devaluation and rising price of land and property, but added that Hong Kong’s current economic policy has spelled prosperity.
“Our recovery will be faster than any other country,” he concluded.
According to several other panelists, countries such as Thailand, Indonesia, mainland China and Japan have been more seriously affected.
“You really have to have a prudent economic policy. Probably what went wrong in Thailand is that people were getting overzealous with the stock market,” said Kao. She pointed to the fact that in the nineties, property companies were building numerous condominiums and shopping malls, especially in the capital city of Bangkok.
“Banks gave out loans without checking. The end result was that it brought a lot of uncertainty,” she said.
According to Kao, when investors began to realize a possible economic slump, they panicked.
“People were trying to change the currency,” she explained. The baht deeply depreciated in mid-to-late 1997 and Thailand went into a state of economic depression.
“There are no winners in the Asian economic crisis. There are survivors and there are losers. If you run on borrowed money, you run on borrowed time,” added Yang.
“The [first] panel wasn’t as effective because two of the panelists were representatives of the government,” said Jennifer Rim, a fourth-year student in the College.
“It didn’t really address any of the issues that we came here to talk about: hard core social problems [in Asia,]” she said.
The second panel discussion focused more on strategies for economic reform. Kim Young-guen, director of Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy of the Republic of Korea, Mary Ainger, senior Information Analyst at Northern Trust Corporation, and Robert LeFleur, chief Investment Strategies at Northern Trust Corporation, gave the keynote speeches. Other panelists were Professor David E. Altig, adjunct professor of Economics at the U of C, Francesco Caseli, assistant professor of Economics, and David Hummels, assistant professor of Economics.
Ainger discussed the Japanese economy. [S]He said that lower interest rates and excess capacity are not viable solutions for Japan.
According to LeFleur, Asia has had to contend with new factors which affect its prosperity. He discussed new competition, deteriorating trade bubbles, excess capacity and over-leveraged debt.
LeFleur stated that the two keys to recovery for East Asian markets were strong economic growth in the U.S. and positive policy responses. According to LeFleur, countries such as Taiwan and Hong Kong will begin to differentiate themselves as players in the global market.
Originally published Tuesday, May 19, 1998
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