CST Weekly 9-25-2019

Citizen Week of Sept. 25, 2019

| Vol. 3 | No. 7 | www.thechicagocitizen.com

SUBURBAN TIMES WEEKLY

SOUTH SUBURBAN GIRL HOSTS FUNDRAISER AND BLOOD DRIVE FOR CHILDREN WITH SICKLE CELL DISEASE

A 9-year-old resident from Matteson, Oliva Shorter, recently hosted her third annual Olivia’s Sickle Cell Awareness Party at the Matteson Community Center.

Like the children who will benefit from the party, Olivia lives with sickle cell disease and before her 7th birthday, she decided she no longer wants to have a party for just herself, but a party for all the kids living with sickle cell disease.

SEE PAGE 2

Nine-year-old Olivia Shorter (pictured) from Matteson recently hosted her annual Olivia’s Sickle Cell Awareness Party to celebrate her birthday and to bring awareness to the realities of sickle cell disease which she has lived with since she was born. Photo Credit: Provided by the family of Olivia Shorter

POLITISCOPE Want to reform America’s police? Look to firefighters PAGE 2

NEWS

NEWS

How Close Is Too Close When It Comes to Living Near Your Family?

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Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park celebrates annual Sculpture, Wine & Dine benefit PAGE 4

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2 | CITIZEN | Suburban Times Weekly | Week of Sept. 25, 2019

COMMUNITY

South Suburban Girl Hosts Fundraiser And Blood Drive For Children With Sickle Cell Disease Continued from page 1

BY KATHERINE NEWMAN

A 9-year-old resident from Matteson, Oliva Shorter, recently hosted her third annual Olivia’s Sickle Cell Awareness Party at the Matteson Community Center. Like the children who will benefit from the party, Olivia lives with sickle cell disease and before her 7th birthday, she decided she no longer wants to have a party for just herself, but a party for all the kids living with sickle cell disease.

Olivia was born with sickle cell disease which is an inherited blood disorder that causes anemia, lung and tissue damage, strokes, and chronic pain, according to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

“We’ve been blessed and fortunate enough to give Olivia the best care. It’s been okay but it is very saddening during the times when she has to go through some [of] her pain crisis. We try to prevent the pain crisis as much as possible but it’s still tough when we’re unable to. And just to see your daughter in pain, it’s a very humbling experience,” said Adam Shorter, Olivia’s father and a Village of Matteson Trustee.

“It’s really tough on [Olivia]. When she isn’t sick, she is getting over a cold or on her way to get another blood transfusion,” said Danielle Shorter, Olivia’s mother.

Not only does Olivia invite children from all over the Greater Chicagoland Area to come and celebrate her birthday, but she also encourages the adults who attend to

donate blood during the party which can help kids who are currently living with sickle cell diseases and regularly need blood transfusions.

“It’s a blessing for her to be so knowledgeable and so aware, because what one adult can’t communicate to a child, a child can communicate to another child. This event brings kids together and brings awareness to the youth so that they will be aware of what the disease is and it wouldn’t be a scary situation for them because they’ll be more aware. I’m very happy that Olivia is knowledgeable and energetic. It’s exciting to know that the future is bright for this disease because we have young, active individuals such as Olivia pushing the information forward,” said Trustee Shorter.

For those who were unable to attend Olivia’s Sickle Cell Awareness Party, Trustee Shorter encourages them to consider making a blood donation to help those living with sickle cell disease or to make a financial donation to help Olivia continue on with her sickle cell awareness efforts.

“We would love for individuals to go to the website and to continue to contribute or donate. What is more important for us is that we are able to create a long-lasting impression and we want to create a scholarship for students that are battling this disease so they can go to college,” said Trustee Shorter.

To learn more about sickle cell disease and what you can do to help Olivia bring awareness to the disease, visit www.sickleschmickle.org.

POLITISCOPE

Want to reform America’s police? Look to firefighters firehouse dash to the engine, demand exceptional firemanship from themselves and their peers, and risk their lives on scene.

The nature of the call, not the demographics of the neighborhood or the race of the victim, shaped the type and speed of the response.

BY ROSCOE SCARBOROUGH

Freddie Gray. Eric Garner. Michael Brown.

The deaths of black youth and men at the hands of police have sparked a nationwide conversation on discriminatory policing practices.

Media and the public often look to psychological explanations for discriminatory behavior, such as obvious prejudices and implicit biases.

However, in my view as a sociologist, policymakers and organizational leaders should focus less on the psychology of public servants and more on institutional culture.

From 2012 to 2015, I served as a volunteer firefighter in a busy suburban department to understand how fire service organizations recruit and retain volunteers. Through my research project, I wanted to learn why people risk their lives, spend time away from loved ones and forego paid employment to serve their community.

But I learned much more about how a strong institutional culture can suppress individual dispositions, including prejudice. Firefighting culture may provide a model for reforming law enforcement.

On the ground with firefighters After completing the requisite training, I served as a volunteer firefighter for three years and interviewed 30 firefighters.

I spent my days training, eating and sleeping in the firehouse and re-

Roscoe Scarborough

sponding to motor vehicle crashes, medical emergencies and fires.

My ethnographic field notes are full of vulgar humor, “fire stories” about notable calls, and commentary on the public that reveal the explicit prejudices held by firefighters.

Many of the white, working-class male firefighters characterize minorities encountered on recent calls as “Speedy Gonzaleses” or other racist names. During downtime, a favorite pastime is to watch “Family Feud” and shout answers at the television that draw on racial stereotypes, like “watermelon” or “grape drink.” It would be unusual to hear one of the guys condemn a racist, classist or sexist joke.

But when the alarm sounds for a fire in a lower-income or majority-minority subdivision, the same firefighters who vociferously engage in prejudicial banter around the

Fire service culture So why do firefighters risk their lives for those whose heritage and culture they deride?

I believe that fire-service culture suppresses individual prejudice.

This causes biased individuals to treat all members of the public equitably.

Sociologists contend that group culture shapes behavior in everyday life. Immersion in a strong organizational or group culture – such as a fraternity, church, sports team or police department – impacts how they act, especially when immersed in that social group.

The fire service is a close-knit brotherhood with a shared culture that generates solidarity. Firefighter culture is based upon masculine notions of emotional fortitude, physical strength, a high tolerance of risk, technical competence and a public service ethos.

The fire service’s culture of service is taught alongside a practical curriculum of raising ladders, packing hose and live fire training.

On the very first day of my fire academy class, the department’s chief opened his lecture with the declaration: “Risk a lot to save a www.thechicagocitizen.com

lot. Risk a little to save a little. Risk nothing to save nothing. We’re all here to help people… but you need to have your priorities straight: life safety first, incident stabilization second, and property conservation last.”

Saving lives and helping those in need are shared virtues in the fire service. Firefighting culture extols selfless service to the community and excellence at performing fireground tasks.

The fire service also has its shortcomings. The firefighting brotherhood is overwhelmingly male and mostly white. Internally, sexism and racism are dysfunctions of a culture derived from traditional notions of masculinity.

Yet, these internal inequalities do not translate into inequitable public service. Exclusionary practices around the firehouse do not translate into discriminatory treatment of the public.

Applying research to reform policing I believe that cultural reform offers an additional approach to help first responders serve all members of the community in an equal, fair and respectful manner.

From this research, I see three ways that police departments could try to limit discrimination at the hands of first responders through cultural reform.

1. Departments should formally focus their mission and goals on the community.

Police and fire departments both have strong institutional cultures, yet there are differences in the missions and challenges of these emergency services organizations.

Police are tasked with enforcing the law, maintaining order and protecting people and their property.

Fire departments are tasked with preventing, suppressing and investigating fires, as well as performing emergency medical services.

Changing the behavior of police may involve a conversation about what Americans ask their police to do.

A mission statement could provide a moral compass for a department, reflecting underlying values of service, respect, inclusion or community.

Many fire departments distribute awards at annual banquets or recognition dinners, often acknowledging “Rookie of the Year,” training accomplishments, or lifesaving actions. Police departments could adopt a formal recognition process and commend behavior that reflects a department’s community orientation.

Promoting a clear vision of organizational values and helping staff to find meaning in a shared destiny are essential steps to changing institutional culture.

2. Departments can enforce standard operating guidelines that promote equitable treatment of the public.

The department where I completed my research mandates a Continued on page 4

CITIZEN | Suburban Times Weekly | Week of Sept. 25, 2019

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NEWS

How Close Is Too Close When It Comes to Living Near Your Family?

StatePoint - While you can’t choose your family, you can choose how close you live to them. A new survey suggests some healthy boundaries between parents and in-laws make for a happier family relationship -something to keep in mind when shopping for a home.

Fifty-seven percent of respondents in the survey from Ally Home, the direct-toconsumer mortgage arm of Ally Bank, say there should be at least some driving distance between where their parents and/or in-laws live and where they live. An even greater percentage of gen Z respondents (63 percent) -- and millennials (62 percent) -- felt some distance was important.

“We’re deep into the home buying season, and we’re seeing first-hand how excited consumers are to find and then be able to afford the home of their dreams,” says Glenn Brunker, mortgage executive with Ally Home. “But as Ally Home goes through that home-buying journey with them, it’s clear that there’s more than just the house and yard that go into making a home the right fit.

Buyers are thinking through things like the neighborhood, school system, access to good hospitals, and yes, just how near or far they prefer to be to family.”

Fifty-seven percent of respondents in the survey from Ally Home, the direct-to-consumer mortgage arm of Ally Bank, say there should be at least some driving distance between where their parents and/or in-laws live and where they live.

Other survey findings included: • Call First Before Popping In: Thirtyseven percent of respondents agree family should not live close enough to just pop in and say hi. An even greater percentage of

millennials -- 42 percent don’t like the idea of the unannounced pop-in.

• Adults Need Their Own Space: Almost B:10” two-thirds of Americans say that while they T:10” love their adult children, they don’t want

them living with them. Millennials don’t like how things are trending, either. They worry more than any other age group that at some point they will have their adult children, their parents or in-laws living with them.

• Proximity is a Top Stressor: The survey also presented respondents with a number of stress points and asked which ones ranked top when dealing with family. Thirty-eight percent of respondents named “living within five minutes of parents or in-laws” as their top stressor, out-ranking “cooking a complicated meal for a mother or mother-in-law” and “hosting family for the holidays.”

“Much of a person’s preference regarding location has to do with cultural norms, since extended families living together or nearby one another is common in certain cultures.

But more often, having some physical distance between family can help create a healthy boundary. Ultimately, it’s up to family members to be open and honest about their own boundaries and what makes them most comfortable,” says William X. Kelly, a marriage and family therapist.

A good choice for a home is one that makes you happy. When shopping for a home, don’t forget to take the family factor into consideration.

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4 | CITIZEN | Suburban Times Weekly | Week of Sept. 25, 2019

NEWS

Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park celebrates annual Sculpture, Wine & Dine benefit The Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park at Governors State University (GSU) recently hosted its annual benefit—Sculpture, Wine and Dine—attracting more than 300 guests who dined al fresco amidst the park’s unparalleled collection, and experienced artist meet-andgreets, golf-cart and self-guided tours of the park, and a speaking program with campus and park leadership.

Heralded as one of the top sculpture parks in the world, the Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park holds a collection of more than 30 master works of large-scale sculpture situated within 100 acres of prairie landscape at Governors State University, which is located in University Park. This “museum-in-the-prairie” is free and open to the public 365 days a year, and also provides programs for adults and children integrating art and nature.

Announced at the event, the newly established Lewis Manilow Common Ground Initiative— named after the park’s founder, philanthropist, and University Park

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and Park Forest developer—will serve as a dedicated fund to support arts education for the community.

The initiative will make it possible for additional school children and youth groups to make regular visits to The Nate and to learn from the experience.

“Governors State University is proud that our campus is an internationally recognized Sculpture Park. In fact, Lew Manilow invited sculptors to create artistic works here even before GSU was officially a university. We can think of no better way to honor Lew Manilow than to establish the Lewis Manilow Common Ground Initiative to unite our community through art—from Frankfort to Ford Heights to Millennium Park,” said GSU President Elaine P. Maimon.

The event hosted several of the artists represented in the collection, including Mike Baur, Michael Dunbar, Ted Sitting Crow Garner, Richard Hunt, Terrence Karpowicz, Richard Rezac, Christine Tarkowski, Tony Tasset, and Barry Tinsley who mingled with guests and shared

Heralded as one of the top sculpture parks in the world, the Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park holds a collection of more than 30 master works of large-scale sculpture situated within 100 acres of prairie landscape at Governors State University.

insights on their works within the collection. The event also celebrated the park’s recent new addition, “Rudder,” a long-term loan by sculpture artist Neil Goodman, as well as a number of recent restorations and a sculpture relocation.

“Sculpture, Wine and Dine is always an exceptional arts and culture event, but this year’s gathering is made extra special as we celebrate the establishment of the Lewis Manilow Common Ground Initiative, as well as a considerable number of

developments within the Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park’s collection,” said Jeff Stevenson, director and curator of the park. “Just this summer, theNate has restored several of its sculptures, and relocated ‘Lanleff-Demure No. 4’ by French Artist Henri Etienne-Martin, which was the result of a student-led and crowd-funded campaign in support of the sculpture. It’s these types of community-led improvements that make theNate a truly special place to visit, and we’re thrilled at the sup-

port we receive each year through Sculpture, Wine and Dine.”

This year’s Sculpture, Wine and Dine event is also a core component of Governors State University’s celebration of 50 years of education and excellence. To learn more about GSU’s and its 50th anniversary celebration, visit: www.govst.edu.

To learn more about the Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park, its programs, events, and ways to support the park, visit: www.govst.edu/ sculpture.

POLITISCOPE

The Cognitive Connection: Blood Pressure and Brain Decline

Want to reform America’s police?

Look to firefighters

The American Heart Association (AHA) estimates that more than 100 million adults in the United States are living with high blood pressure.

That’s almost half the adult population in the country.

Now, new research suggests there is yet another reason for middle-aged and older adults to keep a close watch on their blood pressure: hypertension can impair cognitive abilities as a person ages. Researchers studied nearly 11,000 adults to find how the condition affects a person’s memory, language, and thinking skills.

“What it basically showed is if you have hypertension, and if it’s not being treated, your risk of declining cognition, or cognitive function is higher,” explained Dr. Sudhir Mungee, an interventional cardiologist at OSF HealthCare Cardiovascular Institute. He continued, “In fact, people who are appropriately treated, their declined rate was the same as people who did not have high blood pressure. So it’s clearly defining hypertension as one of the risk factors for cognitive skills lost.”

90-second turnout time to all calls, providing a formal mandate to achieve equitable responses. This sort of standard operating procedure can ensure that an officer’s bias does not consciously or unconsciously impact their behavior.

A minimum crew of two firefighters is required to respond to all incidents. Conversely, many police operate independently, in an effort to increase efficiency or due to officer shortages. Operating in one-man patrols may allow one’s personal biases to impact their occupational performance.

Requiring peer accountability through minimum crews of two could compel officers to act in a manner that aligns with the institutional culture of the department.

This can produce equitable treatment of all community members, if public service is a pillar of departmental culture.

3. Departments can increase community ties, with the goal of eliminating an “us ver-

Continued from page 2

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sus them” orientation toward the community members they serve.

Historically, volunteer fire departments rely on the community for funding and membership. Community involvement is achieved through open houses, public education events, fundraisers, recruitment efforts, station tours, parades and public services such as child car seat installation.

Police departments can partner with community organizations and increase community engagement through citizen’s police academy, public education events and volunteer opportunities.

Police can engage community members, even if this involves an uphill effort to overcome a history of distrust.

This story has been updated to correct the list of shooting victims in the introduction.

Roscoe Scarborough is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the College of Coastal Georgia.

CITIZEN | Suburban Times Weekly | Week of Sept. 25, 2019

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