Text and Photos by Sarah Miller, Class of 2015

"The history of Chicago is very interesting.  I'm well-versed in my hometown's history, but I don't know as much about Chicago.  Living here and working on the Charnley House is giving me wonderful opportunities to learn more about Chicago's past," said Emma Kinsley, a student in Dr. Rebecca Graff's Archeology Practicum.

According to Chicago Police reports, last year there were over 400 homicides in Chicago, approximately half of which were victims under 26 years old. One year earlier in 2009, the city made national news when the story of Derrion Albert's beating death made headlines. Two months prior to his death, CNN aired a special report on "Chicago's Deadly Streets", investigating the cause of violence in the city. The attention the city has received is not desired, but certainly needed. Stories of tragedy can be insights of empathic understanding and warrants for change; however we should recognize that not all actions and events can be explained. It's nearly impossible to imagine that statistically a person dies every day in Chicago from some form of violence. It's even harder to understand the reason why these events occur, but many are trying and are using this understanding to stop cycles of violence.

The Interrupters is a new documentary that bridges the gap between those who do work to address the problem of violence in Chicago and those who want to be informed. The Kartemquin Films produced work has received much praise for its ability to metaphorically pull audiences into what some call the "war zone" of West and South sides Chicago. Filmmakers follow CeaseFire, a Chicago-based violence prevention group which has one goal in mind: to save a life. CeaseFire employs "Interrupters" - themselves ex-offenders - who intervene, mediate and attempt to prevent violent acts from occurring, one incident at a time. Interrupters have lived the life of those they seek to influence, which makes it great strategy in effectively reaching out to their communities. It is through the words and actions of these Interrupters that audiences of the film leave with a better understanding of what CeaseFire calls the disease of violence.

Video: Mollison Elementary & CUIP video honors MLK

King's legacy in Chicago is complicated. Forty-five years ago this month, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. moved into an apartment at 1550 S. Hamlin in Chicago's North Lawndale neighborhood on the west side. He worked with local leaders for open housing. Chicago challenged him in new ways.  Of his time in Chicago, he said: "I have never seen, even in Mississippi and Alabama, mobs as hostile and as hateful..."

• Video: Dr. King - Housing March in Gage Park Chicago, 1966
• Tribune coverage of march in Marquette Park
• Tribune video from 2006
  
• Encyclopedia of Chicago Entry on King in Chicago
  

by Lynda Lopez, News and Public Affairs Intern, published in the University Community Service Center Newsletter

In the past few years, college campuses across America have made it a priority to protect the environment by implementing "greener" programs on campus. One place where students are forcing green changes is the dining hall. According to the Sustainable Endowments Institute's 2007 report card, which looks at environmental initiatives at the 200 colleges and universities with largest endowments assets in the U.S. and Canada, 70 percent of these schools now devote at least a portion of food budgets to buying from local farms and/or producers.

Another area where college campuses are leading the way is in water conservation. According to Niles Barnes of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), most of the 3,800 institutions of higher education in the U.S. have engaged in some sort of water-saving program.

The University of Chicago is one of the colleges moving forward with green innovation. In 2008, the Office of Sustainability was opened on campus in order to encourage greener programs on campus. One of the first major initiatives by of the newly formed office was the Recycles Program. The free campus bike share program launched in the fall of 2009 and grew to nearly 1,000 users within its first years. Students, faculty, and staff have found it an efficient and easy way to navigate the campus. In May 2010, the University of Chicago held its first e-wasting recycling event which netted 23,000 pounds of materials for recycling. Hundreds of community members and University staff, faculty, and students dropped of their unwanted items for recycling at different drop off sites on campus.

In addition to the amount of work the university itself has been putting into making the campus a "greener" place, student activists have been looking to improve the environment in the city as a whole. The Southside Solidarity Network and Students for a Just and Stable Future (part of the Green Campus Initiative) are some of the UChicago student groups making clean air in the city a main priority.

This year, the groups are rallying in support of the Chicago Clean Power Ordinance, a piece of legislation that would help clean up or shut down two coal power plants in Chicago. According to the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization, the coal power plants cause 41 premature deaths per year, 2,800 asthma attacks, and close to 600 emergency room visits (related to asthma).

On October 10, 2010, 20 UChicago students attended the Chicago Clean Power Coalition Rally in Pilsen. Caroline Wooten, a third year in the College and member of the Southside Solidarity Network, thinks that the event was a huge stepping stone to reaching the group's goals. "While the rally was powerful in and of itself, individuals were also given the opportunity to contact city government directly," she said. "Participants signed a petition, made calls to their aldermen, sent postcards to Mayor Daley, and contributed to a public art project."

The rally had about 100 people attend, so UChicago constituted a fifth of the participants. "This turnout definitely showed that students are an important part of the climate movement, and we need to continue to strengthen this movement through participation and leadership," said Wooten.
In addition to the rally in October, Students for a Just and Stable Future teamed up with Students for a Democratic Society on November 1st for a Day of the Dead Rally in Pilsen. This rally pushed for the Chicago Clean Power Ordinance and was organized by local environmental groups in Little Village and Pilsen.

Wooten says that she hopes to continue to phone bank and canvas for the Chicago Clean Power Ordinance, along with other UChicago students. She feels optimistic that the efforts can make a difference. "I think a lot of students care about the environment, and are specifically concerned about climate change."

Thursday, Nov. 4

The 2010-11 Schweitzer Fellows Presents: Health Disparities and Solutions: Tackling the Complex Health Issues of Marginalized Communities
Time: 6:30 - 8:30pm
Location: UIC College of Medicine Research Building - Moss Auditorium (1st Floor)
According to the event organizers, the featured speakers are:
"-Dr. Gregory Scott, Sociology Professor, Director of the Social Science Research Center at DePaul University and documentary filmmaker; Dr. Scott's work focuses on harm reduction, clean needle exchanges, crime and delinquency, community studies, and street gangs.
-Linda Wesp, Family Nurse Practitioner and Director of Adolescent Health at the Howard Brown Health Center, one of the nation's largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) healthcare organizations. Wesp specializes in providing care to lesbian, gay and bisexual teens, transgendered teens, and individuals with HIV.
"Speakers will share stories of their work, including identified health disparities in specific marginalized populations; programs/approaches to combat disparities; the evaluation of their progress; their successes and failures; and how others might apply to their work in the effort to improve health issues in Chicago and beyond."
**Light Refreshments Will Be Served
FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
RSVP encouraged: email rsvp@hmprg.org or call 312.372.4292 ext. 24

Saturday, November 6th
Illinois Student Environmental Coalition Fall Conference
Key note speaker: State Senator Heather Steans
To register visit www.GreenStudents.org
Deadline to register is November 3rd.
Time: 10:00am-4:00pm
Location: 33. East Congress, Columbia College

Monday, November 8th
Summer Links Internship Program Info Session

Time: 6:30pm-7:30pm
Location: Harper Memorial Library Room 130
Summer Links, a program of the University Community Service Center, offers intensive 10-week internships to 30 returning College and graduate students committed to public service, community building, and social change. Interns receive a $4 000 stipend and the option of subsidized on-campus housing, and participate in weekly day-long and evening trainings about Chicago and social justice issues. Returning college, graduate, and professional school students are welcome to apply.
Can't make it? We will also present information sessions on the following dates:
Thursday, December 2nd 6:00-7:00 pm, in the 5710 OMSA Community Lounge, 5710 S. Woodlawn Avenue
Questions? Please contact the Student Intern Ian Williams at summerlinks.ucsc@gmail.com or Program Director Trudi Langendorf at trudi@uchicago.edu or 773.834.2699.

COAL PANEL
When:Tuesday 26th, 7PM, Harper 130
Details from the organizers: Join Green Campus Initiative, Students for a Democratic Society, Students for a Just and Sustainable Future, and the Southside Solidarity Network for presentations and discussion of the University's investment in mountaintop removal coal mining and Chicago's heavily polluting coal power plants. Free Diner from Rajun Cajun!

You Are Here: Screening and Discussion
When: Thursday, October 28th
What: From UCSC: Join Graduate Student Affairs and the University Community Service Center for this film screening and discussion, moderated by Wallace Goode. "You Are Here, Too" was produced by students, and explores the University's civic engagement on the South Side of Chicago - both today and in the past. Free lunch!
Contact: Rosa Yadira Ortiz at ryo@uchicago.edu
Time and Location: 12-1pm in Ida Noyes Hall, East Lounge

CSRPC/Black Star Project: "Beyond the Bricks"; documentary screening & town hall meetings
When: Saturday from 11am - 12:30pm
Location: International House - International House, Assembly Hall 1414 East 59th Street
What: According to the CSRPC: "The Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture at the University of Chicago and The Black Star Project are the Chicago hosts for the national community engagement campaign for the documentary film, "Beyond the Bricks", which focuses on one of America's critical problems in education: the consistently low performance of black males in school. This event includes a screening of the film (30 minutes) and a town hall discussion with panelists Dr. Cathy J. Cohen, Professor of Political Science at U of C; Salim Muwakkil, Senior Editor, In These Times; Bryan Echols, Executive Director, MAGIC, Inc.; Jonathan Lykes, Third year student at U of C and blogger for The Black Youth Project; Cheo Tyehima Taylor, National Media Director, 2025 Campaign for Black Men and Boys; and Trevor Wilkins, Princeton Undergrad and Collegiate Scholars Alumni.
Contact: Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture (CSRPC),773-702-8063"

Two Sundays ago, I joined a crowd at the viaduct at 16th Street and Halsted, in the Pilsen community. There were men in (fake) bloody butchers' aprons, three piece suits, an Alan Pinkerton (with squirt gun), and a brass band on a carriage drawn by a white horse. I donned a Keystone cops helmet & trenchcoat, grabbed a fake billyclub and waded into the mob of angry workers.

All of this activity was organized by UofC grad student Paul Durica, whose Pocket Guide to Hell tours and reenactments treat participants to little known pieces of Chicago's history that illuminate a larger picture of the city.

• Viceland's Coverage of the Battle of Halsted Viaduct
• Pocket Guide to Hell Tours on Facebook
  

Here's some application information on the Urban Teacher Education Program:

What can you get for less than $23,000 that will last you a lifetime?

A Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) degree from the University of Chicago's Urban Teacher Education Program (UTEP).

2 year program, hands on in-classroom experience, reduced tuition and post-graduate support.

Applications accepted NOW until March 15,2010. Apply at: http://utep.uchicago.edu

Questions? Email kthreatt@uchicago.edu

To save money this holiday season, many Chicagoans are taking up a new trend: the "stay-cation," a vacation you take without going anywhere. While Chicago has a host of holiday festivities in the Wintertime, from ice skating in Millennium Park to viewing the new exhibit on Victorian photocollage at the Art Institute. But most of us students are fleeing the city for Winter Break, so now is the time to experience Chicago's holiday season with a "stay-cation" of our own.

Here's a list of some fun events to get you out of Hyde Park tonight, to celebrate the end of Autumn Quarter!

What: Goodbye Cinema, Hello Cinephilia: Film Culture in Transition
Where: Newberry Library 60 W Walton St (between Dearborn and Clark Sts)
When: 6:15

Description by TimeOutChicago: Designed for those whose love of film goes beyond quoting Big Lebowski lines while drunk, this lecture by film critic and author Jonathan Rosenbaum will touch on the recirculation of classic films as well as the social and aesthetic impact of technological changes. A reception precedes at 5:30pm and a book signing follows.
Tickets: $9, Newberry Library Associates members at the Author level or above $6

What: Decorate Christmas cookies at Beijo de Chocolat
Where: (3334 W. Foster Ave., 773-267-0138)
When: 6-8:30 p.m. attendees will receive a dozen sugar cookies to decorate and get to enjoy mulled cider. Cost is $20.

What: Christkindlmarket
Where: Washington and Dearborn Sts
When: Today-Tomorrow 11am-8pm , Fri-Sat 11am-9pm , Sun-Tue 11am-8pm Ongoing through Dec 24.
Description by TimeOut Chicago: Every year, genuine Germans make the trip across the Atlantic to Daley Plaza, where they set up small stands packed with gifts and culinary delicacies. The traditional-style Christmas market offers hearty holiday fare such as sauerkraut, grilled sausages, potato pancakes, glühwein and sweet candied almonds. The wooden huts also brim with candy, blown glass, European Christmas decorations and other delights.

What: Earth Days, at the Siskel FIlm Center
Where: On State Street between Randolph & Lake (right across from the Chicago Theater).
When: Wednesday December 2nd--6:00pm, 8:00pm, Thursday December 3rd--6:00pm, 8:00pm
Tickets are $7 if you show your student ID.
Description from http://www.siskelfilmcenter.org/node/437: A look back at the transformative history of the environmental movement combined with a cautionary look ahead, EARTH DAYS revolves around nine gurus of green whose groundbreaking work is largely responsible for creating present-day consciousness of the earth's consumption-induced plight. Director Stone's key innovators include: former Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall; Denis Hayes, organizer of the original 1970 Earth Day; and Stewart Brand, editor of the Whole Earth Catalogue. A colorfully engaging use of archival footage pinpoints the public mindset and environmental challenges of each era from the 50s through the 80s, through vintage PSAs, TV commercials, and news footage. 35mm. (BS)

A student in my history class said: I can't recommend it enough! Go see it! It's totally worth the bus fare + ticket price!