EDITORIALS

Getting to 'Everyone's Downtown'

The five-member consortium charged with coming up with a plan for downtown Evanston has presented its first draft, which will be subject to public comment on Nov. 6. The plan ultimately adopted will succeed the 1989 plan.

With an eye to the future, the draft plan looks at ways to grow the downtown area and to manage the growth it promotes.

As proposed, this new downtown would be full. To compensate, the consultants have suggested open spaces: extending Oldberg Park across Clark Street, extending the Chandler Plaza across Orrington Avenue, and - countering the Joni Mitchell prediction - turning the library parking lot into open green space. 

 "Smart growth" is a term for what is being proposed for our downtown: transit-oriented development and a dense, compact commercial district near the core of the downtown. It is the antidote to urban sprawl. But Evanston, bordering on Lake Michigan and landlocked on three sides, was not a candidate for urban sprawl. If it grows, it must grow up.

The consultants appear to have proposed a spiral, or maybe a Moebius strip, of continued growth. The City needs more growth to attract more growth, they seem to say; it needs more growth because it has attracted more growth.

They propose a "wedding cake" form for downtown, with the highest point in the center, the Fountain Square block, suggesting that the present Evanston downtown resembles a wedding cake less than it does a fallen soufflé.

We agree that this community needs a plan for downtown, whether it is based on a dessert metaphor or not. It almost takes one's breath away to look backward and forward at this point in Evanston's development, because it seems we are equidistant from the Evanston of 1989 and the Evanston of the next decades.

No question, the City has changed. At 74,000, our population is still about 8 percent below what it was in the 1960s. We have more racial and ethnic diversity, fewer children per household and greater economic disparity.

City officials have said they wish Evanston's downtown to become everybody's downtown. We like that idea, too. Our downtown should make everyone happy and comfortable: diners, commercial shoppers, professionals with offices here, Northwestern students and residents new and old.

It is important, then, that the proposals be sensitive to the needs of the Evanston community. Already there are some policy proposals that appear to make a lot of sense for the community - form-based zoning, for example, and making use of alleys for commercial space, creating green space, offering a bonus of allowable height to developers who provide certain public benefits.

The proposal appears to presume growth, and growth of a certain kind - residential developments supporting large-scale retail beneath. One troubling issue is the added height that appears to permeate the entire draft proposal, and we are sure that many residents and concerned citizen groups will thrash out this issue.

What we would like to see in the plan - and maybe it was not part of the original request - is the spillover effect. What effect will the growth of downtown have on our neighborhoods? Will downtown become a discrete entity, isolated from the vitality of the neighborhoods? Will our new residents participate in the community engagement and activism that characterize what has fondly been called the People's Republic of Evanston? What can we do to ensure that for the residents of our new high-rises Evanston will not be just a stop on the way to the wealthier, more homogenized and (we think) sleepier northern suburbs?

There have already been a lot of words and a lot of work: Community meetings and the design charette over the summer gave people an opportunity to be heard, and the consultants have already made two presentations of the draft plan. We may still have a long way to go before we get to everybody's downtown, but now we have something concrete on which to build and re-draft.

I Know, I Know, I Understand

By Charles Wilkinson

When two people talk,
That is all they do - talk,
and that is a problem,
especially when they talk about
            important issues.
As one is talking to the other,
the other is usually talking to self
instead of listening.
"I know, I know; I understand,"
punctuates the conversation,
telling the other 
he or she is being heard
when actually what is being listened to
is what needs to be said next.
"I know, I know; I understand,"
pushes aside what needs to be heard
so that what needs to be said
may make its noise if not its point.
The art of conversation
should be judged by what is listened to,
not by what or how something is said.
"I know, I know; I understand,"
is self-claiming language that goes nowhere.
It is a dead giveaway that someone
is thinking past the noise of an other,
dismissing what that other needs to have heard
so that what someone needs to say
can make its own noise.
Listening is not about noise; it is about meaning.
It is especially about other, not self.
When two people talk
They need to listen
So that what they say in turn
may be heard, not as noise,
but as meanings of one's mind.
"I know, I know; I understand,"
Should be a stop sign
in any conversation of importance
for anyone being run over by those words.
All it takes is for one to ask,
"What? Can you tell me, please,
what it is you understand?
 I need to know -
And understand as well."

Brown, Black and Blue*

By Peggy Tarr

A Latino friend of mine told me about a joke he played on a black coworker/friend.  He had to take some business papers to this coworker who was at some club or golf course. 

He told his black coworker that when he arrived, an employee at the club told him where he could find the rakes.  Do you get it?  Remember the stories about black homeowners working in their yards being asked by white passersby if they would be interested in working in their yards?   Oops!  I forgot to laugh.

Brown people and black people are certainly not encouraged politically to ally themselves with each other.  The pie of opportunity for browns and blacks is divided into unequal parts.  Green is the color of the knife cutting the pie, and I'm not talking about environmental efforts.  It's money as usual.

Anyway, I want to tell a story about compassion between the "coloreds."

This same Latino friend told me he was attacked on a street without provocation.  He was in the right place but at the wrong time.  A group of thugs beat him to a pulp, leaving him in a heap on the ground. 

He told me he could hear a woman running toward him, screaming at the thugs to leave him alone; he hadn't done anything to them.  He said the woman got down on the ground next to him, pulled him onto her lap, held him and told him not to worry, that she was not going to leave him until someone came to help him.

When my friend told me this story, the way in which he described the female made me assume that she was a black woman.  He calls me "Nana" and made a reference to this woman as "another Nana like you held me in her arms and rocked me on her lap."  

Recently, with Hispanic Heritage Month on my mind (Sept. 15 through Oct. 15), I asked him to tell me this story again.  I wanted to write something about browns and blacks caring for each other.

For whatever reason, at the end of his story this time, I asked:  "This was a black woman?"  "No, Nana," he said, "She was white."   Good grief!  This killed my brown-black angle.  But then I thought:  Same difference!  Scientists say that color is a political division, not a genetic one. Color is only skin deep, homo sapiens, to the bone.

 *Brown - the color; brown people;  a political, racial, ethnic, societal and cultural classification similar to black people and white people;

Black - the color; black people = of African origin; a political, racial, ethnic, societal and cultural classification similar to brown people and white people;

Blue - the color; feeling of sadness; in religion it often symbolizes divinity, height and depth, equilibrium, truth, the sky; tto indicate injury as in "black and blue" (=color of a bruise).

Letters to the Editor

Working Together to Improve Conditions in the Fifth Ward

Editor:
When the West End Area was first developed a little over 50 years ago the City of Evanston planted trees on the City portion of the residential lots.

With the passage of time the trees situated in the West End Area matured and created lovely, shaded streets. While the residents appreciated the benefits of the beautiful trees, they started to become frustrated with some issues related to their growth. On the 1700 block of Leland Avenue the ever expanding roots of many of the mature trees caused several sections of the sidewalks to "bow up," creating dangerous walking conditions for neighborhood residents and guests, including injuries to children and elderly/disabled individuals who slipped and fell.

Since the West End Area is home to one of Evanston's most successful block clubs, neighborhood residents were already knowledgeable about what steps to take to improve area conditions. When several block club members finally decided to take action to get the numerous sections of damaged public sidewalks repaired/replaced, they turned to fellow West End Area resident Alderman Delores Holmes for assistance.

When members of the block club learned that the City would repair/replace sidewalks that were damaged by City trees, they proceeded to identify the sidewalk sections that met the repair/replace criteria. Ms. Holmes then contacted Evanston's Engineering Department and urged them to give the sidewalk replacement issue priority. The Engineering Department responded in a timely fashion, and the sidewalks were replaced. Alderman Holmes' vow that "Together We Will Get It Done" is truly in practice in the 5th Ward.

Here are some comments by the neighbors: "The sidewalk's former condition was a major stumbling block to walking safely down the street."

"Two weeks before the work started on the sidewalks, after getting off the bus at the corner of Leland and Church and walking toward my home, my mother fell face first and hurt her knee on the crack that was on the east side of the street right before the alley. After I saw my neighbor looking into it, it was great to see them getting fixed so soon. Kudos to Alderman Holmes and everyone else involved in making this happen."

"I was in the process of replacing my concrete front porch and personal walkway when the public sidewalk in front of my house was replaced. Thanks to the City's program, I was able to save a little money by not having to replace that part of the public sidewalk."

The West End Area Block Club: Join us the first Tuesday of each month from 6-7 p.m. at Shore Center, 2525 Church St. We urge you to make the effort to improve your neighborhood by creating or restarting a block club.  Persevere even if the initial group is very small - the rewards are vast and can't be counted. Change can happen even if only one person makes the decision to live differently.
--Brigitte A. Rody

Let Professionals Administer Tests
Editor:

As a retired Dist. 65 teacher I remember that in the 1960's Dist.65's annual standardized norm based tests were given by impartial test coordinators who came into the various classrooms to administer the tests. No one, including the classroom teacher, had a previous view of the test. The coordinators proctored the tests and took them with them when they left. If more testing was needed they returned and repeated the process.

Isn't this the correct professional way to handle testing? So much emphasis is placed on test results that it seems administrating them deserves proper attention.
-- Lois Norris

We Must Show the Way Through Our Example

Editor:
As a Marine who served two tours of duty in Vietnam working in graves registration, I personally experienced the death of thousands of soldiers.

As a volunteer in the educational outreach program at the National Vietnam Veterans Art Museum for the past nine years, I have spoken to approximately 18,000 students and adults about those war experiences.

As a member of Veterans for Peace since 2005, I have participated in counter-recruiting efforts in high schools.

All of these activities have convinced me that Americans today never even consider alternatives to war.

Many don't even recognize that alternatives exist. When will we as a nation come to realize that alternatives to war cause less harm to all parties involved and are more effective and more efficient in their application?

I am also convinced that people are ignorant about alternative methods for dealing with conflict because many of our leaders - in all walks of life - favor a militarized society and all it encompasses.

If you, like me, want a different world, then we must lead through our example. We must show that there are alternatives to war and provide support to these methods for resolving conflict. Our silence and compliance with the status quo changes nothing.
-- Rick Davis

Too Much Crime Will Drive Families Out of Evanston
Open Letter to 7th ward Alderman Elizabeth Tisdahl and Police Chief  Richard Eddington :

My name is Barbara Murphy.  I live very close to the alderman's house on Martha Lane. Recently our car was rummaged through and things were stolen from it.  The car was parked in the driveway, and this happened during the night.

This is the third time our cars have had things stolen from them.  A while ago someone came in our house and stole things while we were asleep.  One of our cars was stolen this summer.  

Despite the thousands of dollars worth of things we've had taken from us, our biggest concern is the safety of our children.  Our son was punched at Eggleson Park a year ago.  Recently the son of a dear friend was threatened right outside of E.T.H.S., his wallet taken from his pocket and a gun flashed at him.  Needless to say, we are exasperated.

We have contemplated moving out of Evanston - or maybe at least out of this ward.  This is difficult, however, for many reasons but mostly because of our children's attachment to the house, neighborhood and school district.  

When the policeman came to our house to fill out the incident report last week, he mentioned that the police department has the same number of police officers it had 30 years ago.  I know the issues of crime in Evanston are extremely complicated, but one simple question is this:

Do we need more police in Evanston?
-- Barbara Murphy

Thanks to Many for Green Living Festival Success

Editor:
Evanston's first Green Living Festival, Oct. 6, was a wonderful event which exceeded our expectations.  Hundreds of visitors came to learn more about how to better protect natural resources in the course of their everyday lives.  From test driving an electric car to learning how to cultivate a pesticide-free landscape, the festival featured numerous activities for Evanstonians of all ages.

This event would not have been possible without the generous support of the City of Evanston, Commonwealth Edison, Presbyterian Homes, Rubloff, Northwestern University and numerous other supporters.  As always, Linda Lutz and her staff did an outstanding job in managing the event.  Very special thanks should be given to EEA board member Fred Schneider who put in countless hours pulling the event together.   Finally, the support of the Evanston community made the event the success it was.

The Evanston Environmental Association looks forward to delivering more environmentally focused programming to the community. 
-- Elizabeth O'Connor, president
Evanston Environmental Association

Reader Takes Issue With Coverage

Editor:
I was aghast to see Bill Smith's coverage of my testimony before the Plan Commission at the Oct. 10 hearing on the proposed tower for 708 Church St. 

At that hearing, I testified for about 25 minutes with respect to two main subjects:  (1)  how the developers' application for map amendment and planned development did not meet the standards articulated in the City's zoning code and (2) how the allegedly evaluative report by City staff of the developers' application contained material which could have come straight out of developers' marketing materials. 

The latter section of my testimony, based as it was on the Aug. 2 staff report on the proposed tower, demonstrated, in black-and-white terms, the current pro-developer stance that appears to exist within Evanston City government - and which is widely noted among citizens.

Of the approximately 25 minutes of my testimony, less than one minute was devoted to the subject on which Mr. Smith quoted me in the Oct. 17 RoundTable article entitled, "Tower Vote May Be Delayed." 

There are few issues more critical in Evanston today than those involving development, land use, and the manner in which aldermen and City staff do - or don't - represent the interests of the people who actually live here. 

In order to maintain the credibility that the RoundTable has worked so hard to establish, this newspaper should cover these issues fairly and with journalistic integrity in the future.
-- Barb Rakley

Re: The Proposed Tower

Editor:

Zoning height revisions on table
Resemble that of Hebrew-based fable:
The people carry on
Arguing pro and con -
Fresh meaning for Tower of Babel.
--Robert Bagby

Praise for Jr. Wildkits Football

Editor:
When you drive past Foster Field mid-week in the fall, you will witness a sea of orange jerseys - players working on their football skills. If you go inside the fence to take a closer look, you will hear the coaches motivating their players to take their game to a higher level. This is the world of Junior Wildkit Football. We are new to this program and didn't know anything about it when we signed up. Of course the coaches want their players to win games and give 100 percent on the field, but they want more than that. They want the boys and girls to become responsible and respectful young people, and they have dedicated themselves to make sure that happens. We have been a part of a couple different athletic organizations before, but none compares, when considering teamwork and community, to the Junior Wildkit program.

I believe the organization and the coaches have taken their commitment to their players to a new level. My son broke his leg during the first game of the season. From the minute it happened, I felt the support of the coaches. Immediately after the game, his coaches were at the hospital waiting to hear if he was okay. They came to visit again during his stay in the hospital.

Every day they called to check on his progress. As if this was not enough, the entire team ran to our house from Foster to cheer him up. Close your eyes and imagine that sea of orange jerseys running down Hartrey, coming to make their teammate feel better. One would think that having 120 football players in full gear in one place would be a bad idea. All the coaches had to say was, "Come in by 2's" and "Down on one knee," and we could hear a pin drop.

We will forever be grateful to the players, parents and coaches for coming to visit that Wednesday night. Thank you for helping us get through this difficult time. Thank you for making us feel a part of the Junior Wildkit family. Thank you for being such a positive influence on the players and their families.
 --Liz Brieva

NCLB Notwithstanding, ETHS Is Ahead of the Game

Editor:
As a retired teacher, I've been waiting for the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act sanctions to start penalizing excellent schools. Each year the percent of students who must pass keeps rising until all students must pass in 2012. Unless you give a test that is so simple that everyone can pass, there will always be students who won't pass it. Every educator knows this.

If the subgroups couldn't pass with a 55% rate this year, how is anyone going to get them to pass at a 62% rate in 2008? Nobody at the Illinois State Board of Education. Nobody at the US Department of Education.

ETHS is facing sanctions it shouldn't. Maybe now is the time to consider not accepting any federal money for its budget. I believe the amount was around $300 thousand last year. The only option that makes sense is the restructuring which would be the System of Support that is being started this year.

In summary, the NCLB Act needs to be abolished, not revised or overhauled. Before 2012 comes, nearly all schools in the United States will face the same sanctions that ETHS is now confronting. What sense does that make?

ETHS has always been ahead of the game when it comes not to being satisfied with the achievement gap. Since no one has designed the perfect program, ETHS has tried various ones, seeking the one that works best for its students. They're still seeking and trying.
-- Rachel Fowler

Keep Evanston As It Is; Stop the Pro-Density Downtown Plan

Editor:
Evanstonians need to oppose the recently unveiled downtown "development" plan with unified vigor. If the City approves this watershed plan, which allows an historic building to be razed to make way for a skyscraper (benignly labeled a "tower"), we will be opening the floodgates to increased pollution, traffic and demands on City services. Rather than experiencing a windfall in tax revenue, we will experience a dramatic change in Evanston's character and quality of life.

I have spoken with residents who have been involved in trying to slow down growth, and they have all expressed extreme frustration with the current decision-making process.

For example, the City believes it has carried out a very democratic process because it asked residents to participate in "visioning" sessions this summer. Indeed, hundreds of residents generously offered their time and participated. A survey of participants (posted on the City's web page) reveals that many residents expressed serious concerns about re-zoning (allowing for taller structures), protecting historic buildings and increased traffic and density.

After looking at these "survey" results, as a social scientist, I noticed that many citizen concerns were sometimes characterized in a way that underestimated resident concerns about higher buildings, preservation of historic buildings and increased density.

The new plan just revealed by consultants (costing residents a hefty sum), however, largely ignores the chief concerns of the residents who "participated" in the visioning process. One resident involved in one of these consultant visioning sessions for the Central Street re-zoning plan described the process as one that allowed citizens to express their opinions on trivial things, such as streetscape, while the important decisions seemed to have already been made. 

Now that the new downtown plan is "public" (if you know about it) you must find it on the City's web page or in the library - and residents will have just two weeks to read, absorb and begin to respond to it. And simply allowing citizens to express their opinions at a public meeting is not the equivalent of resident participation in decision-making.

To use a simple analogy, residents are being asked to arrange deck-chairs on a ship while only a few (many of whom don't live in Evanston) get to set the course for Evanston's future.

Most of us were attracted to this magnificent city precisely because it combines the charm of a small, yet vibrant, city with tranquil, peaceful neighborhoods.

The City produced an excellent downtown development plan in 1989 that combines sensible development while preserving the City's historic downtown character. The recently unveiled downtown plan will allow buildings to rise to new heights, leading to the frenetic pace and congestion of a major urban center.

What we need now is solid and vocal resident support behind a much more reasonable option: Keep Evanston as it is - vibrant, charming and livable. All of us who want to preserve the beauty and historic architecture of Evanston need to become engaged in a concerted effort to stop this new, pro-density, high-rise rezoning plan.

Evanston will be around for many more years.  We don't need to rush a new downtown plan just because some outside developers want to destroy an historic building in order to build a skyscraper. If we don't act now to stop this new plan, then this process will engulf us, and before too long we will ask ourselves: How on earth did this happen to our lovely city?
-- Peter Sanchez, Evanston resident and professor of political science, Loyola University of Chicago

Education and ETHS

Editor:
Both of my children are graduates of ETHS, class of 2002 and class of 2006. During their course of studies, with rare exception, they had teachers who were well versed in subject matter, pedagogically skillful, dedicated, put in long hours, and worked their proverbial tails off to reach all students.

Notwithstanding such a reality, while the overwhelming majority of the students completed their course of studies successfully, some did not.

Why not? There is no one answer to this legitimate question. However, there is one factor that stands out in coming up with an answer.  What did those "failing" students have in common?

If one were to look at the surface of the matter, one would say lack of academic preparation and skills, acting out in an inappropriate manner in the classroom, not believing in themselves sufficiently to do what was necessary in order to succeed, all of which appeared to be largely linked to status as a minority.

However, if one were to look deeper, one would see that it was the socio-economic background of the students that was at the core of the matter; and in Evanston, race and class go together like a horse and carriage.

In the field of educational research numerous studies, including a path-breaking one by Christopher Jencks of Harvard University, entitled "Inequality," have concluded that the most significant contributing factor to a child being a successful student is the socio-economic background of the student's family. 

I experienced the truth of such a conclusion first hand. Growing up in a slum tenement in Brooklyn, N.Y., during the 1940s, my mother having completed only the second grade and my father a high school dropout, I attended the local public school.

This being a neighborhood school, virtually all of my peers, most of whom were Caucasian, came from similar backgrounds. We had very dedicated teachers. Yet only a few of us were able to overcome to any appreciable degree-in the realm of academic success-the limitation of our socio-economic realities. Yet those who didn't make it in school, including two of my brothers, were able to find gainful employment at a level that allowed them to support a family and serve as a foundation for their children to be successful in their studies.

The culture of poverty in the U.S., especially since race remains a weighty factor in one's standing in life, plays a large role in student's lives. To sanction ETHS for not solving America's problems is to punish the messenger and not those responsible for maintaining a class-based society harmful to those at the bottom in so many ways, including success in the classroom.

Does this mean that ETHS is not to aspire to do its very best in assisting its entire student body to be all they can be? Of course not. Yes, we need to stay on their case. However, it is insulting to the racially, ethnically, culturally diverse and committed faculty, administration and staff of ETHS to assume that, before NCLB, they were not committed to minority achievement.                        

It is up to those who set the agenda for America to do their part in solving America's educational crisis, which means providing jobs paying a living wage for all, quality health care for all, decent housing for all, etc. - in essence, an opportunity and support system for all.

The "No Child Left Behind Law," the brainchild of an Administration whose hostility to minorities and keeping them in their place appears to have no boundaries, was never intended to assist minority children to succeed in school.

Its goals were to further destroy the public school system, allowing private interests to get their greedy hands on the funds expended on public education; to punish racially and economically diverse communities, leading to a return to the good old days of "being with your own kind," and to destroy teacher unions that have always followed a progressive social agenda.

It is the Bush Administration that is deserving of a failing grade. It is badly in need of restructuring, replacing its staff with competent people concerned with social justice in all realms of human endeavor, including our schools.
--Louis Silverstein, Ph. D.

"The Politicization of English Classes" -  A Response"

Editor:
This is in response to a letter in the Oct. 17 edition of the Evanston RoundTable, in which an ETHS junior, Daniel Schwartz, expressed his frustration with the English Department's curriculum at Evanston Township High School. Being a senior at ETHS and having gone through the same curriculum, I feel are several issues Mr. Schwartz addressed need clarifying.

First, I wonder how reading books such as "The Narrative Life of Frederick Douglass," "Black Boy," " The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother," "The Autobiography of Malcolm X," and "The Joy Luck Club" could be construed as the "politicization of English classes." Mr. Schwartz fails to consider that perhaps these books were not put on the syllabus purely because they are biographical works.

Because they were not required for my English classes, I cannot attest to the quality of the Autobiography of Malcolm X or of Frederick Douglass's biography. However, I would think that both "Black Boy" and "The Color of Water" were added to the syllabus not only because of the ethnicity of the authors but because they are truly wonderful works of literature.

"The Color of Water" was an exceptionally touching, thoroughly engaging book that offered a child's perspective to the turbulent times of the 1960s. And while "Black Boy" was not my favorite book, it was an eloquently written account and commentary of racism and discrimination in the South in the early 20th century.

Mr. Schwartz also fails to consider the large number of books read in ETHS English classes that are not biographies and are not written by minority authors.
By the time they graduate, most ETHS students will have read at least two Shakespeare plays. In freshman year, students read "The Odyssey," and "A Tale of Two Cities."

In junior year, students read "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," "The Grapes of Wrath," and "The Great Gatsby," as well as other books.  During senior year, students will read a variety of books considered to be great works of literature, and few of them will be biographical works. In the midst of all these "typical" great works of literature, I see no problem with adding contemporary books by minority authors to the syllabus.

It will not take away from a student's experience; if anything, it will add to it. I am offended that Mr. Schwartz thinks "nine years of education in District 65" is enough time to learn about the lives of great African Americans and "the plight of slaves and other discriminated peoples." We've had nine years of District 65 education about the lives of great white people and their histories, yet we don't stop learning about them now.

History should include all peoples, of all races and genders, all the time. This is especially relevant in Evanston, with its large population of African-American students. Furthermore, if Mr. Schwartz simply has a problem with history lessons being taught in English, he should consider how closely related the two subjects are.

 Learning about the lives of African Americans should not be shunted aside, no matter how many years students have learned about it previously.

I would agree with Mr. Schwartz in questioning the value of teaching "The Joy Luck Club" and "The Secret Life of Bees." I thoroughly enjoyed both books but don't feel that they are necessarily meaty enough for proper analyses and discussions.

I am extremely alarmed at (though not surprised by) the knowledge that no one in Mr. Schwartz's class finished all of "The Joy Luck Club." Yet I can't help but notice that, although Mr. Schwartz claims that ETHS should teach "great literature" in place of these books, he fails to be specific. Would he rather read "Moby Dick?" The problem with falling reading rates lies with students themselves and the technology surrounding them, not with the choices made by the English department.

I would agree that the ETHS English Department has room for improvement, especially in terms of teaching important writing and critical thinking skills to students. However, the issue does not lie with the books and reasons listed by Mr. Schwartz.

If anything, I think that the English department should be applauded for introducing such engaging and thought-provoking books into the classroom as a viable alternative to the typical curriculum. Mr. Schwartz should stop for a moment and consider how lucky he is to go to a school where such books are taught.
--Suzanne Walker, ETHS Senior

Clarifications on "The Politicization of English Classes"

Editor:
Thanks for publishing my piece on English class, I believe that your doing so was very beneficial for stimulating positive discussion in our community.

I was really shocked and overwhelmed by the amount of feedback I received from both teachers and students. It is my own fault that my letter was misinterpreted in various ways. I came off to many as a racist in my attack on biographers, which truly were coincidentally all written by minority authors.

To others I came off as saying that I wanted only the classics to be taught. My real points were two: Biographies should not be taught in English classes; and ideologies are being taught through biographies.

Teachers should choose books that would particularly engage Evanston Township High School students (e.g., not the overly dense "Scarlet Letter"(a "classic"), which is a book that teenagers like myself can barely read while still understanding what on earth Mr. Hawthorne is really describing or saying. Instead they should chose books like Charles Bukowski's "Post Office" or Philip Roth's "The Plot Against America."

What I didn't say, which I very much regret, is that I think that English class and its expectation of what students "should" have had to read by the time they enter college has to change logically with our times, and for the future of the written word.

I would have liked to say that our English departments in America should not ignore the alternatives that are replacing books but should adapt to that fact. The system of making every high schooler read "The Scarlet Letter" operates under an extremely outdated assumption about how books factor into people lives.

Today instead of giving books out like "The Scarlet Letter" (which students are merely going to read spark notes for instead of reading) it would be far better if students were given books like "The Plot Against America" that they can read and will want to read and will change their mind about reading, and plant the seedlings for a lifelong love of learning and reading.
-- Daniel Schwartz

Contribute to the United Way

Editor:
It's Fall, and your mailbox, like mine, is probably filled, not only with Christmas advertisements, but also with requests for contributions to the many fine agencies and organizations serving Evanston residents. You may even have received a request from the Evanston Chapter of the United Way of the North Shore. 

I'd like to make a case for contributing to this request from the Evanston Chapter which annually distributes funds, last year more than  $625,000, to 24 agencies providing health and human services to needy Evanston residents of all ages. These dollars are contributions from residents like you as well as employees of our local businesses, government, and educational and medical institutions

I myself make contributions to some individual agencies and organizations.  However, even before joining the Evanston United Way board of directors, I knew that my largest contribution should go to the United Way.  I am convinced that giving to the United Way is an effective way to help many health and welfare agencies serve individuals whose pressing needs I know little about.  I also know that United Way board of 24 takes great care to identify viable agencies addressing needs that are community priorities.  Helping fund these agencies makes our community stronger.

Identifying agencies to receive United Way funds is not an easy task.  There are many worthy ones in our community.  However, the Evanston United Way bases its initial and continued funding to agencies on two criteria.  One, the service provided by each agency has been identified as a community priority in a United Way needs assessment that is conducted every four years.  Second, each agency is visited at least annually and reviewed for ability to provide the needed services, financial stability, good management, and achievement of established goals.
    
In August, the Evanston United Way published its most recent Health and Human Services Assessment Report which can be found at www.uwnorthshore.org.  By survey and a review of three city of Evanston initiatives, a number of health and human service issues were identified as community priorities.  Quality Affordable Housing was the top priority identified. Currently the Evanston United Way helps fund housing for persons experiencing mental illness, homelessness, domestic violence, and developmental disabilities.

Mental and Behavioral Health Care, Comprehensive Youth Services, and Low Crime/Safe Neighborhoods were also identified as high priority issues.   Currently the Evanston United Way funds agencies in these three priority areas that provide education, prevention and advocacy programs, as well as day programs for preschool children and after school programs for older children to help them meet the challenges of life in school and out of school.

I encourage you to consider making a United Way contribution.  No matter how large or small, all contributions add up so that Evanston's health and human service agencies can continue to provide quality services, primarily to individuals and families who could not obtain them otherwise.  If you did not receive our annual appeal and would like to learn more about the Evanston Chapter of the United Way of the North Shore and how to make a contribution, please call 847-999-2990.
--Karen Vroegh,Vice-President, Community Impact Evanston Chapter/United Way of the North Shore