There Is Still Time to Run for School Board

Petitions for candidates for positions on the District 65 and District 202 School Boards may be filed between Jan. 29 and Feb. 5 at the appropriate District office.

That means there is still time for anyone interested in running for either Board to enter the race for one of the three positions open on each Board.

Already at District 202 there is a more sizeable pool of potential candidates than there was for the election two years ago, and at District 65 four persons have taken out packets, indicating an interest in running for that Board.

Evanstonians want to take pride in their schools, and the activism that is the hallmark of life in Evanston is apparent at the School Board meetings. We need to be assured that our tax dollars are being spent well and that our children are receiving a great education.

There is no question that candidates in the April 17 consolidated election will face major challenges. Schools affect the quality of life in a community. If our schools fail, we fail.

There are many reasons to run for School Board, but we think the main one is this: Few, if any, public service commitments are more important than overseeing the education of our children.

Packets for School Board candidates are available for District 65 candidates at the Joseph Hill Education Center, 1500 McDaniel Ave., and for District 202 candidates at the business office of Evanston Township High School 1600 Dodge Ave.

North Side, South Side

By Charles Wilkinson

North side, South side, the Cubbies and the Sox have never been compatible as bagels and lox.

But as last season ended one had to be blind to miss that the teams were two of a kind.

Not in '05 since the Sox took it all while the Cubbies, as usual, put prat before fall.

But who would have thought as last season went on that the Sox, like the Cubbies, would be going, going, gone.

The Cubbies reached first; that's all they could do while the Sox got to third but they never came through.

The dynasty dreams of the South-City nine turned slowly but surely to vinegared wine.

Up north the predictable happened again, not dreams, just reality, packin' them in.

The loveable losers' cash registers rang, most games just a whimper, a few made a bang.

North Side, South Side, the season was blown; both Cubbies and Sox made the media moan.

But as winter descended the moans faded out as Chicagoland found a great reason to shout.

North Side, South Side no longer existed, as the city was suddenly and proudly two-fisted.

Da Bears had become every Chicagoan's team, the Forty-First Super Bowl a tangible dream!

Whether they get there remains to be told but for now there's a moment that's solid as gold.

Whatever the outcome, whatever the prize, Da Bears of Chicago have opened our eyes.

The North Side and South Side may make their own noise But Da Bears, ah Da Bears, are Chicagoland's Boys.

The Color of Their Skin

By Peggy Tarr

Jan.15 was not only a Monday to celebrate the late Dr. Martin Luther King Junior's birthday, it actually was his birthday (1929-1968). Federal (most), state, and many city/local agencies were closed in honor of a man who had done so much to improve the social, political, legal and humanitarian tenor of the United States of America.

Secondarily, I want (need) to emphasize that Dr. King was a black man, because in the United States, people, particularly our children, need to constantly be reminded that a black man had the intelligence, insight, foresight, compassion, eloquence and courage to articulate and lead a struggle against racism (inequality) and poverty. Lest we forget, this struggle led to equal rights legislation not only for black people (race) but also for other categories against which one should not discriminate - color, religion, sex, national origin, ancestry, disability, sexual orientation, etc.

I, as did millions of others, attended programs in celebration of Dr. King's life. At one of these programs, I had mixed feelings as I watched and listened to a predominantly (99 percent) Caucasian choir sing traditional black gospel music in traditional and non-traditional styles. My mind wandered to a joke an older black person told me years ago.

A white person spied a piece of lint in a black person's hair. The white person went up to the black person, and as (s)he was removing the lint, said to the black person, "You have a piece of lint in your hair!" The black person looked at the lint in the white person's hand and ordered, "Put it back! Put it back! That's what I say about you white people. You're always taking everything we have away from us."

I had to remind myself: Today is the birthday of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., whose dream was that (people) "will one day not be judged by the color of their skin."

The reminder that it was Dr. King's day helped ease my discontent, even though I knew (know) the United States has far to go in the struggle for equality for all its citizens and the need for leaders to forge and energize the struggle as it goes on. But the lack of designated leaders should not prevent each of us from playing a part in the struggle.

Speaking up for equality or speaking out against discrimination in our daily lives helps all of us.

"Lift every voice and sing,

'Til earth and heaven ring,

Ring with the harmonies of liberty...

Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us,

Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us,

Facing the rising sun of our new day begun,

Let us march on till victory is won."*

*See "Lift Every Voice and Sing" ("Negro National Anthem")

--James Weldon Johnson

Letters to the Editor

Racism or Misunderstanding?

Editor:

Recently, an editorial in the RoundTable suggested that the Evanston community needs to have a conversation about race. I agree. And I believe that the pages of the RoundTable are an excellent place to start. The RoundTable can ask its readers to submit personal stories, not lectures, diatribes, or sermons, but true-life stories about how racial misunderstanding or racial harmony is reflected in our hometown. I'm happy to submit the following:

It was summer 2005, and the whole family ended up at the downtown branch of the public library after doing some other shopping. As is our habit, we checked out chapter books, picture books, children's videos and DVDs, resulting in a large armful of materials that had to be carried home. As you may know, when checking out a video or DVD from the library, it is handed to you at the return window grill, so as not to pass through the magnetic electronic security system.

Please picture me standing there, at the return window, with a bag of bagels, shoeboxes, a purse, stacks of books, and more. I laid it all out on the counter, with a plan to stuff the DVDs in my purse and cram the books in with the bagels. Out of the corner of my eye I saw another library patron, walking towards the returns window, a book already in his outstretched hand. Concerned that all my stuff was blocking his way, I put my purse on the floor and moved aside the bags, the better to give him more ready access. It was the only polite thing to do.

Imagine my surprise, and horror, when after the older gentleman returned his book, he learned over to whisper in my ear, "Don't worry, I wasn't going to steal your purse," and then walked away. I was literally dumbfounded, unable to speak. In the act of kindly moving aside for him, I was accused of the worst kind of racism; that of prejudging a person's character, based only upon his color.

I do realize that racism can be unconscious. So I had to seriously consider if he was right. Did I move my purse because I was afraid that it would be stolen by a black man? It would not be the first time something of mine was stolen in Evanston. I've had wallets taken out of purses, caught a man with his hands in my bag on the train, had four different baby strollers stolen, and four bikes. While I worked at a downtown bookstore, laptop computers were stolen from customers on a regular basis, and even a librarian will warn you to never leave your purse unattended.

What I saw on that busy day in the Evanston Public Library was a distinguished-looking gentleman returning a book, and I was not afraid. What he saw was something different altogether. He saw a white woman snatch her purse off the counter and put it out of reach the moment he came into view. That could only mean one thing, another sickening combination of racism and fear that black men have to live with every day. His kindly said words were meant to reassure me. Instead, they broke my heart.

I have learned to live with it. It means for me, as it does for many other white women, that when a black man comes into view I don't touch my purse for fear of giving offense. I've learned that offering the first cheerful hello in any new encounter can be disarming and often encourages more conversation, and creates friendships. And I try very hard not to overburden myself at the library. We all live and learn, every day.

Only one thing continues to bother me. I hope that I have not become a story that goes, "Just the other day I was at the library, and you should have seen how fast that white woman grabbed her purse. Racism is alive and well in Evanston."
People do things, and say things, that can be misunderstood and misconstrued. How easy it is to cry the words "racist" or "lynch-mob" without considering how devastatingly hurtful they can be. How easy it is to assume that all problems and struggles suffered by others are self-inflicted. How easy it is to think we know all the answers for people we know nothing about.

But we can try to reach over the racial divide. We can try to be the first person to offer a greeting and a smile. We can try to step a little further and learn a name. Then perhaps if we know each other a little better, we won't be so angry, or heartbroken, when we make honest mistakes.
-- Candace Hill

On Getting Rid of Junk Mail

Editor:

Thanks for the good article on reducing junk mail in the last issue.

I've successfully done the registration with the Direct Marketing Association and the credit card-insurance "opt-out" web sites, but repeated tries to the www.advo.com website produce zero results (using the full address in your article) and so I suggest you try to get the correct address and publish it in the next issue.
--Jim Suhr
Ed. Note: The correct web address is as follows: advo.com/consumersupport.html.

Restore Programs, Don't Increase Fees

Editor:

I am writing in response to a letter to ETHS parents from District 202 Superintendent Eric Witherspoon concerning a possible increase in student fees to reinstate athletic and extracurricular program activities lost in recent budget cuts.

While I appreciate the spirit of restoring the student programs lost to recent budget cuts, I believe the superintendent and the Board are absolutely on the wrong track with an increase in student fees.

We as a community arrived at this position of budget cuts because of fiscal laxity by the District 202 Board of Education. For years the Board has been rubber-stamping double-digit raises to administrators and negotiating unaffordable contracts with the labor unions. With local property tax revenue increases capped, this led to the structural deficit situation that District 202 has faced for the last several years.

We spend more than $17,000 per student per year in District 202 - the third highest in the state - amazing! Yet numerous academic and extracurricular programs have been cut over the past several years; and AP class sizes have increased steadily. We as a community are certainly not undertaxed - or "underfee'd," for that matter. We're overspent on expenditures that in some cases do not contribute to the academic or social development of our children.

In summary, I agree wholeheartedly with the restoration of athletics and extracurricular programs cut in recent years, and I disagree wholeheartedly with any fee increase whatsoever.

The Board and the administration need to find the money elsewhere in the budget to restore cut programs, as far away from the students (i.e., academic and extracurricular programs) as possible. The Superintendent should set a precedent early in his tenure of fiscal responsibility and accountability. Superintendent Witherspoon, please show the Board and the community what your priorities are.

-- Bob Eder

One Vote to Keep the Civic Center

Editor:

If a referendum question appears on the ballot, I will certainly vote for the retention of the Evanston Civic Center as city hall. The building is very beautiful and historic, and works very well with the nearby park, the Avenue of the Righteous and the surrounding neighborhood.

The building needs many millions of dollars of work, but I think this would end up being less costly to the City than acquiring land in booming Evanston and constructing a brand-new complex. Nobody really knows whether this can happen for $20 million.

Many examples can be found of old public buildings that are still in use as council or legislative chambers. New York's city hall dates from 1812. Illinois's state capitol dates from 1888.

There is much evidence that Evanston is an increasingly desirable city in which to live and spend money. There are high taxes and budgetary woes, largely because Illinois has a terrible way of paying for schools, and because the juiciest part of the City's property tax base is still locked in tax-increment financing districts. So repairing and retaining the Civic Center is something that Evanston can afford to do, and it would represent both the heritage and the vitality of the City very well.
--Harry E. La Rock

SEPA Thanks Community

Open Letter to the Evanston Community:

The Southeast Evanston Parents Association would like to thank our supporters for believing in a group of parents with a vision, whose support over the last ten years has been overwhelming. Thanks to the many community partners who came out and did workshops, Ridgeville Park District board and staff, and director Brian Rosinski for ten years of amazing partnership.

Thanks to Childcare Network's Bonnie Dohogne; Cook County Commissioner Larry Suffredin and his outreach director Karen Chavers; Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, her staff Ra Joy and Abby Eusebio; childcare provider Martina Rocha; Dominick's on Dempster Street; the City of Evanston for giving trees and turkeys; Evanston Police Department, Youth Services Bureau; George from U-Haul Truck Rental; District 65 Superintendent Dr. Hardy Murphy and Board member Jonathan Baum; Oakton School principal Q.T. Carter and his staff for allowing us to include the parents of the African-Centered curriculum program with SEPA's.

We thank our new partners, Sherman United Methodist Church and Rev. Dr. Gessel Berry, Jr., Pastor, for allowing us into his home to sort and distribute. Thanks to Circuit City, Target, Sam's Club, Reverend Darlene Bowie for her advice and donation, to the family of late Ida (Toni) Cobb for the generous donation in their mother's name and her ten years of support. Also thanks to support given anonymously and to volunteers Leonard Perkins, Michael Jenkins, Alvin Taylor, Santos Hunt, Duane Harris, and Deacon Lionel Williams, and to SEPA's parent participants, members and friends. Thanks also to my sister, Valerie Perkins who, despite her health problems, still found the time to make the tags and encourage me. Thank you, I love you, and may you soon feel better.

SEPA will be starting new workshops soon and hopes others will support our effort to give children schools supplies before school starts. We would like to do a job-training workshop for parents seeking employment, and volunteers are needed. To become a member, volunteer or donate, contact SEPA at 224-489-5152, or SEPA2006@aol.com.
--Minister Lucia Norris, President and Pearl Johnson, Vice-president

Bring a Project to Central Street That Makes Sense

Editor:

Hopefully the City Council will see the transparency of the theatre project and will tell the developer to bring forth a building that that is not laden with problems for the City's current and future residents and everyone who uses Central Street.

There are numerous reasons that City staff and planning commission should have recommended that the proposed redevelopment of 1700-1722 Central St. be sent back to the drawing board. With an acre of land to work with, the developer is requesting six variances but seems unable to bring to the table a project which supports a business district but which does not create a dangerous traffic and pedestrian situation on Central and surrounding streets.

1. The district is a B2 and with less than 10 percent of the more than 100,000 sq. ft. being developed dedicated to retail it is obvious that this is really a residential project attempting to utilize the more liberal business-district building allowances to maximize development and profit.

2. The layout of the building does not provide adequate support in terms of loading berths, parking and retail depth space to support the limited retail proposed. The Dec. 11 proposal reduced retail even further. If a restaurant were to want to use the space, there are inadequate facilities for garbage storage, parking and deliveries, reducing potential for viable business and retail tax for the City.

3. At 13.8-14 feet, the alley behind the project is one of the narrowest commercial alleys in Evanston. The requested variance of building a 300-foot long wall to within 1.5 feet of the rear lot line rather than the required 10 feet off the rear lot line causes four problems:
a. It would create a dangerous situation for residents on both sides of the alley as well as pedestrians on Eastwood and Poplar when cars will be forced to back out onto these streets when the alley is blocked by service trucks and cars; for people walking in the alley there is little space to move over when a car or truck is passing.
b. It would set up a situation where service and delivery trucks will be stacked in the alley or adjacent streets because there is no room to pull over in the alley to allow other vehicles to pass.
c. Emergency vehicles would have a more difficult time operating in such a narrow space. The 2003 International Fire Code which Evanston adopted in 2005 requires emergency access roads to be 20 feet wide. Although I am not suggesting that Evanston increase the size of the alley, it would seem irresponsible to grant a variance which would prevent that 20-feet wide space from existing.
d. It would reduce the value of the properties on the other side of the alley; in order to fully utilize their garages, residents would need to place their garages further into their rear yards due to the turning radius required to negotiate a turn into their garages. If a proportionate variance were granted to the residents behind the project who are required by code to set their garages 3 feet off the alley, those homeowners would be allowed to build garages within 5 inches of their rear lot line. The setbacks required in alleys create space in the alley for safe passage.

4. Loading berths - The requested variance to only have one short loading berth rather than the required three loading berths for a project of this size demonstrates the lack of planning for supporting businesses which, if successful, will have delivery trucks throughout the day. It will most likely create a situation where trucks are double-parked on Eastwood Avenue (a one-way street) or Central Street ( a major ambulance way) or in the alley, which would block all access to driveways if the building is not set the required 10 feet off the alley.

5. Finally, the project has changed and a zoning analysis now specifies the sixth variation changed in the last four weeks. Most people do not even know what is actually being proposed.

What happens on Central Street affects everyone. It is a major thoroughfare for emergency vehicles to the hospital for Evanston and other local communities. There were 54 reported accidents at Green Bay Road and Central Street last year. There are three schools within three blocks of the project, there are football, basketball, graduations and other events at Northwestern throughout the year which bring an additional 10,000-40,000 people to the area. Currently there are two other projects in the process - one across the street and one two blocks away - which also are in the business district, neither of which have loading berths for deliveries.

A well-thought-out plan that anticipates increased traffic of cars and trucks, and attempts to mitigate the problem would be a great idea. The residents of Evanston deserve a project that enhances the area. I hope all the City Council members examine the domino effects of the requested variances, the cumulative effects of the three projects, anticipate future Central Street projects and stand up for the residents by requiring a plan which truly meets the intent of the zoning ordinance and comprehensive plan and benefits the residents of Evanston.
-- Mary Rosinski

Call to Join March on Washington, D.C., to End Iraq War

Editor:

On Nov. 7, we and millions like us all across America voted overwhelmingly to reject the behavior of a do-nothing Congress and demand an end to the disastrous war in Iraq.

On Jan. 27, thousands of ordinary citizens from all over this country will gather for a mass mobilization and march on Washington, D.C., to demand an end to what retired general and former National Security Advisor William Odom calls "the greatest strategic disaster" in U.S. history.

Many of us will remain until Monday and join hundreds of activists in lobbying members of Congress to live up to the mandate delivered in the last election: to end this disastrous war.

When we meet with our Illinois representatives and senators Obama andDurbin's offices, we will remind them in no uncertain terms that our support cannot be taken for granted, and that we expect meaningful action, not mere rhetoric, on ending the American military presence in Iraq.

Make your presence felt, and let your voice be heard, by signing the petition we will present during these meetings. Make certain to add your personal comments. They do matter. Simply follow this link, and take a step toward bringing a semblance of sanity to this 110th congress:

http://ilcpj.org/petitions/petition-info.php?pid=7

Together, we have been instrumental in changing the face of power in Washington. NOW is the time to redouble our efforts to ensure that those we have entrusted with this mandate have the courage to live up to it.
--Dickelle Fonda, North Shore
Coalition for Peace and Justice and David Borris, North Suburban Peace Initiative