The Chicago Reporter articles from March 2006

The Chicago Reporter archives from March 2006

Letters to the editor.(Letter to the editor)
March 1, 2006... I thought the article, "Building Power," by Casey Sanchez [Jan/Feb 2006] was a great piece of investigative reporting. It was well-researched and written. It's kind of sad that promising, confrontational, Alinksy-style groups like the United...

The Chicago Reporter led the honoree list of 17 "best practice" award winners on the coverage of race and ethnicity in the eighth annual Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism's "Let's Do It Better!" Workshop competition.(Reporter News)
March 1, 2006... The Chicago Reporter led the honoree list of 17 "best practice" award winners on the coverage of race and ethnicity in the eighth annual Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism's "Let's Do It Better!" Workshop competition. The...

Charles Willett Jr., the Reporter's circulation/marketing manager since 2001, was named circulation manager to the Reporter and its sister publication, Catalyst.(Reporter News)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... Charles Willett Jr., the Reporter's circulation/marketing manager since 2001, was named circulation manager to the Reporter and its sister publication, Catalyst. Born and raised in southwest suburban Robbins, Willett earned his bachelor's...

A different take: a unique radio talk show takes a critical look at the way the world views Muslims.(New Voices)
March 1, 2006... Around the corner from a busy street on the West Side of Chicago, the three studios that make up WCEV-AM are, perched above a dance studio. The mom-and-pop station s all letters spell out the quaint motto, "We're Chicagoland's Ethnic Voice." On...

Pain in the neck: nonprofit hospitals are strapped for cash, but critics say they can do more.(Keeping Current)
March 1, 2006... It was a typical weekend afternoon in July when Solecito, 24, and her husband took their 3-year-old daughter to Sears to buy new clothes. Solecito s Honda sedan had just passed the six-corner intersection on Milwaukee Avenue when a red Plymouth...

Catching up: with greater needs, school districts serving mostly poor students often can't provide more than the basics.
March 1, 2006... One Friday morning in early March, the auditorium at General George S. Patton Elementary School in south suburban Riverdale was abuzz with excitement. A pep rally in anticipation of the following week's high-stakes standardized tests featured a...

Growing pains: more students bring more costs to some suburban districts.
March 1, 2006... At the stoplight on the corner of Illinois route 25 and County Line Road in west suburban Carpentersville, an embankment behind an old-fashioned gas station looks as though it should give way to lines of wheat and corn. But instead there are...

The wish list: even with poverty grants, Chicago Public Schools struggle to offer more to their students.
March 1, 2006... From its principals to its chief financial officer, many agree that Chicago Public Schools are underfunded. As a result, the need to keep class sizes small competes with the teachers' pension fund, sports programs, special education and other...

Carbon copies: today's Chicago resembles the deeply segregated city Martin Luther King Jr. encountered 40 years ago.
March 1, 2006... Martin Luther King Jr. often talked about his vision of the "beloved community" in which people from diverse backgrounds lived in loving harmony. He named fear, prejudice, pride and irrationality as obstacles to achieving a truly integrated...

Losing confidence: as Woodlawn gentrifies, some of its poorest residents question whether neighborhood organizers are still on their side.
March 1, 2006... In 1960, activists, neighborhood residents and local ministers formed what would become The Woodlawn Organization to battle racial discrimination and a city government that seemed unresponsive to the South Side neighborhood's needs. "The...

February 12, 2006.(Parting shot)
March 1, 2006... Every Sunday, Mark Dickson disassembles donated computers and builds refurbished ones at Free Geek Chicago, a community group at the corner of Kimball Avenue and Diversey Parkway. The rebuilt computers are provided at low or no cost to poor...