Facing suburban times october 11 2017

Week of October 11, 2017 | Vol 1 • No 9 • www.cstweekly.com

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Community

Filling the healthcare gap As the need for access to affordable healthcare services grows, community health care centers are playing an important role More Inside Community > PAGE 3

w Tips on Trips TRAVEL > P2 advertising@cstweekly.com

w Noise pollution and poor neighborhoods POLITISCOPE > P3

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October 11 2017

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ARTSCENE

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Javaka Steptoe Conducts Youth Workshop for Students

By Christopher Shuttlesworth Author and Illustrator Javaka

Author and illustrator Javaka Steptoe Steptoe conducts a art workrecently conducted an art workshop at the shop in front of 300 hundred Harold Washington Library Center (HWLC). students at the Harold WashingThe event was hosted by the Chicago Public ton Library Center. Photo Credit: Library (CPL) and included 300 second and Christopher Shuttlesworth third grade students.

Steptoe is the 2017 recipient of the American Library Association’s Randolph Caldecott Medal and Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award for his book Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist John Michel Basquiat, according to a CPL press release.

Elizabeth McChesney, director of children services and family engagement for the Chicago Public Library, explained that during the art workshop Steptoe discussed his new book Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist John Michel Basquiat.

“Radiant Child is about The Story of Young Library because it helps deepen kids’ creativity, their Artist John Michel Basquiat, which allows kids to find connection to Steptoe’s book and [it] strengthens their their own voice through recycled objects, construction literacy skills,” McChesney said. “It’s also empowering paper and simple art materials,” she said. for kids to tell their own stories and that is a message of “We love to do this event at the Chicago Public Steptoe’s work.”

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Students also participated in a hands-on, introductory tour of the new STEAM-focused Thomas Hughes Children’s Library at HWLC, according to a CPL press release.

“Art is an important vehicle for self-expression during childhood and it’s also important in developing creativity, which is a critical 21st century learning skill,” McChesney said. “We have kids solving problems, collaborating and communicating together and hitting all of the important 21st century skills.”

McChesney said the children enjoyed seeing Steptoe in his true artistic form.

Steptoe’s debut work included, “In Daddy’s Arms I Am Tall: African Americans Celebrating Fathers, an anthology featuring poetry from notable poets, including Folami Abiade, Dinah Johnson and Carole Boston Weatherford, Angela Johnson and Sonia Sanchez, which earned him his first Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award, in 1998.

For more information, please call (312) 747-4050 or visit chipublib.org.

TRAVEL

Vacation Planning Simplified: Making Your Dollar Go Farther (NAPSI)—Beach or mountains? Domestic or international? Deciding where to take a vacation can seem a daunting task—but it doesn’t have to be. Although the explosion of online options vying for travelers’ dollars makes choosing where to book your vacation challenging, the best option for many travelers is a full-service online travel agency.

Why Use An Online Travel Agency Here are three good reasons.

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One-stop customer service: By using a full-service online travel agency, all parts of your trip, including car rental, hotel and air reservations, are in one place. Not only does that save you from having to track down multiple reservations from different providers, it also means that should a problem arise regarding any part of the trip, a single point of contact is available to help resolve the issue.

Online travel agencies also offer a variety of benefits to make the entire travel journey—before, during and after the trip—easier and more worry-free. In the case of online travel pioneer Travelocity, the Customer First Guarantee offers such benefits as 24/7 social media customer service, a price guarantee and more.

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Cost savings: Along with periodic sales and promotions, another way to save money is a little-known “travel hack” made available by online travel agencies known as a “split ticket.” A split ticket is created when the price of two one-way tickets on different airlines is less than the same itinerary booked as a traditional round-trip.

Perhaps best of all, it doesn’t require any additional effort. Many online travel agency websites will automatically search for split

ticket options during any round-trip flight query and return them as an option if savings are identified.

According to Travelocity Director of Online Marketing, Alan Cunningham, “When a split ticket option was selected, Travelocity customers saved about 10 percent on average compared to the traditional round-trip itinerary.”

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Unique lodging options: You may think major hotel chains are all you’ll find on an online travel agency site, but with more than 321,000 lodging options around the world, Travelocity.com has thousands of unique properties that reflect the true nature of the destination.

Some of these properties include a 300-year-old hotel in Massachusetts, a Wisconsin motel dedicated to recording live music, an Arizona motel featuring a room 200 feet below ground and a luxury tree-house hotel in Mexico.

After all, who hasn’t dreamt of spending the night in a tree house?

Learn More For further travel tips and facts or to book a trip, go to www. travelocity.com.

Vacationing in a luxurious tree house can be much better than being up a tree about where to travel.

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COMMUNITY

Recent mass shooting reignites discussion about gun control, violence and mental illness CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

stalemate in Washington over gun control seemed to be The recent mass shooting softening as a growing number in Las Vegas, Nevada which of Republicans reportedly left 59 people dead and over opened up to considering limits 500 injured, brought center on Americans’ ability to turn stage once again a discussion semiautomatic weapons into about violence, gun control and essentially fully automatic mental illness. firearms.

As law enforcement officials There is also a growing work to sort out the details bipartisan push to ban bump of what is being described as stocks, the device used to allow the deadliest mass shooting in the gunman in Las Vegas to fire U.S. history, authorities are off almost ten rounds a second, still grappling over a possible close to the rate of fire from an motive in the case. On Oct. 1, automatic weapon.

64 year-old Stephen Paddock Meanwhile, just weeks opened fire on thousands of ago, Congress laid to rest concertgoers from his Manplans to repeal and/or replace dalay Bay hotel suite described the Affordable Care Act also as a virtual “sniper’s nest.” known as Obamacare. IronPaddock later turned the gun ically, before the shooting, on himself, according to police, President Donald Trump’s first while he remained holed up in legislative accomplishment Raul Garza, President & CEO of Aunt Martha’s Health & his room. during the beginning of his Wellness. Aunt Martha’s has offices located throughout According to a deposiadministration was to make it Chicago and in the South Suburbs. tion exclusively obtained easier for the mentally ill to buy

by CNN regarding a lawsuit firearms. That change came against Cosmopolitan Hotel, Paddock told lawyers he had a by way of House Joint Resolution 40 and was a rollback of doctor “on retainer” to receive prescriptions for Valium, an initiatives under the Obama administration. Passed by Conanti-anxiety medication. In a press conference, Las Vegas gress and signed by the president, the legislation specifically Sheriff Joseph Lombardo declined to comment on any spetargets people adjudicated to be mentally ill. cific type of drug Paddock may have been taking and added While the assailant in the Las Vegas case was well-to-do, no complete comprehensive profile on the shooter’s mental according to reports and likely had access to some of the best condition has been compiled. healthcare offered, others seeking healthcare services often Debates over gun control laws resurfaced after the turn to community health centers where healthcare is more shooting as lawmakers searched for solutions to the ongoaffordable. It’s those same centers that previously were the ing escalation of gun violence in America. A longstanding beneficiaries of Obamacare, that is, up until very recently.

By Lisette Gushiniere

“Community health centers, and our patients, benefited from Obamacare,” said Raul Garza President & CEO of Aunt Martha’s Health & Wellness.

“Since 2010, a significant portion (70 percent) of health center funding has been mandated and paid out of the Community Health Center Fund that was established under the Affordable Care Act,” he stated. “The Fund, originally established for five years, got a two year extension in 2015,” he said.

“But the Fund expired on September 30, 2017, so even though efforts to repeal and/or replace Obamacare have not succeeded, health centers are facing a good deal of uncertainty,” he added.

Changing gun control laws might be a part of the solution to curbing gun violence, but having access to mental healthcare services is another important piece to the puzzle, especially where there’s a propensity for violence.

“Access to care is important,” Garza stated, “but it’s only the first step. Even more important is the effort to encourage people to take advantage of services, and particularly in the case of mental health care, to break through the stigmas that keep people from getting the care they need,” he added.

After recently celebrating 45 years of service, Garza said, Aunt Martha’s has reached some important milestones.

“Over the last year, 85 percent of our mental health patients have made the transition to have their care managed in the primary care setting,” he said.

“In the next 12 months, over 80 percent of our mental health visits will be provided over our telepsychiatry network,” he continued, adding, “these changes mean our psychiatrists are free to focus their work on our patients with the greatest needs.”

Garza said community healthcare centers are also filling an important gap.

Aunt Martha’s serves, “the patients that private physicians will not. We serve almost four times as many Medicaid patients, and six times as many uninsured patients as private physician practices,” he continued.

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POLITISCOPE Urban noise pollution is worst in poor and minority neighborhoods and segregated cities

Most Americans think of cities as noisy places – but some parts of U.S. cities are much louder than others. Nationwide, neighborhoods with higher poverty rates and proportions of black, Hispanic and Asian residents have higher noise levels Joan A. Casey Peter James than other neighborhoods. In addition, in more racially segregated cities, living condiScientists have documented that envitions are louder for everyone, regardless of ronmental hazards, such as air pollution and their race or ethnicity. hazardous waste sites, are not evenly disAs environmental health researchers, tributed across different populations. Often we are interested in learning how everyday socially disadvantaged groups such as racial environmental exposures affect different minorities, the poor and those with lower population groups. In a new study we detail levels of educational attainment experience our findings on noise pollution, which has the highest levels of exposure. These dual direct impacts on public health.

Mapping city sounds

Rachel Morello-Frisch

stresses can represent a double jeopardy for vulnerable populations.

Our research shows that like air pollution, noise exposure may follow a similar social gradient. This unequal burden may, in part, contribute to observed health disparities across diverse groups in the United States and elsewhere.

In 2015 we stumbled across a Smithsonian Magazine post about the National Park Service sound map. The sound estimates are meant to represent average noise levels during a summer day or night. They rely on 1.5 million hours of sound measurements across 492 locations, including urban areas and national forests, and modeling based on topography, climate and human activity.

National Park Service colleagues shared their model and collaborated on our study.

By linking the noise model to national U.S. population data, we made some interesting discoveries. First, in both rural CONTINUED ON PAGE 4

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with median annual incomes below US$25,000 were nearly 2 decibels louder than neighborhoods with incomes above $100,000 per year. And nationwide, communities with 75 percent black residents had median nighttime noise levels of 46.3 decibels – 4 decibels louder than communities with no black residents. A 10-decibel increase represents a doubling in loudness of a sound, so these are big differences.

Why worry about noise?

A growing body of evidence links noise from a variety of sources, including air, rail and road traffic, and industrial activity to adverse health outcomes. Studies have found that kids attending school in louder areas have more behavioral problems and perform worse on exams. Adults exposed to higher noise levels report higher levels of annoyance and sleep disturbances.

Scientists theorize that since evolution programmed the advertising@cstweekly.com

human body to respond to noises as threats, noise exposures activate our natural flight-or-fight response. Noise exposure triggers the release of stress hormones, which can raise our heart rates and blood pressure even during sleep.

Long-term consequences of these reactions include high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseaseand lower birth weight.

As with other types of pollution, multiple factors help explain why some social groups are more exposed to noise than others. Factors include weak enforcement of regulations in marginalized neighborhoods, lack of capacity to engage in land use decisions and environmental policies that fail to adequately protect vulnerable communities. This may lead to siting of noise generating industrial facilities, highways and airports in poorer communities.

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We also found higher noise levels in more racially segregated metropolitan areas, such as Milwaukee, Chicago, Cleveland, Trenton and Memphis. This relationship affected all members of these communities. For example, noise levels in communities made up entirely of white Americans in the least segregated metropolitan areas were nearly 5 decibels quieter than all-white neighborhoods in the most segregated metropolitan areas.

Segregation in U.S. metropolitan areasis a process that spatially binds communities of color and working-class residents through the concentration of poverty, lack of economic opportunity, exclusionary housing development and discriminatory lending policies. But why would even allwhite neighborhoods in highly segregated cities be noisier than those elsewhere? Although we did not find conclusive evidence, we believe this

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Dan Credit:

Urban noise pollution is worst in poor and minority neighborhoods and segregated cities

E K IN

Photo

to meet the needs of growers around the (NAPSI)—According to the world.

Centers for Disease Control and In 2017, Syngenta celebrated 150 years Prevention, most Americans of in the vegetable seeds business. Sluis and all ages consume too few fruits Groot, a legacy company of Syngenta, and vegetables1, while the United was founded in 1867 in the Netherlands States Department of Agriculture as exporters of cabbage seeds. Today, (USDA) recommends that AmeriSyngenta is one of the world’s leading cans fill half their plate with fruit vegetable seeds companies with 30 crop and vegetables. species and 2,500 varieties.

A focus on healthier lifestyles In the United States, Syngenta’s hisis having an impact, though. In 2016, for example, U.S. farmers tory in the vegetable seeds industry is sold $390 million worth of caufurther enhanced by the strong legacy liflower, a significant increase of ROGERS® brand seed. The principles from 2012 and a trend that can be upheld by its founders years ago conattributed to the growing fretinue to inspire Syngenta today—produce quency with which cauliflower is superior vegetable seeds and invest in showing up on menus and being research and development to continually used as a replacement for rice and offer the best in the industry.

When it comes to fruit and vegetable consumption—more matters. The USDA indicates potatoes.

Syngenta vegetable seeds research and Americans should fill half their plate with these healthy choices. Plant breeding innovation is development is conducted at several sites Seed companies are doing their making this recommendation tastier and more convenient. part to help increase vegetain key production regions of the U.S. Trible consumption through plant aling occurs throughout the year, allowing breeding practices designed to Syngenta to continually introduce innodeep understanding of needs from field to fork, help make vegetables tastier and more convevative new varieties that fulfill grower needs and including those of growers, packers, shippers nient to consume. Through breeding innovation, and retailers, helps seed companies to guide meet consumer demand for high-quality, tasty, consumers enjoy flavorful tomatoes year-round, their plant breeding programs. Taste, for examnutritious vegetables every day of the year. helping round out a healthy diet in any season.

1 Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, ple, is a complex interaction between taste, The consumption of just one medium tomato 2013 smell, color and texture. Shelf life is another per day can help provide 40 percent of daily 2 Time, July 24, 2017 area where plant breeding can make a signifirecommended vitamin C and 20 percent of rec3 Produce for Better Health Foundation cant difference, developing varieties that stay ommended vitamin A3. ©2017 Syngenta. ROGERS® is a registered fresher, longer.

A combination of consumer research and a trademark of a Syngenta Group Company.

For generations, Syngenta has been innovating

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Recent mass shooting reignites discussion about gun control, violence and mental illness

By Christopher Shuttlesworth

National organizations recently celebrated the sixth annual National Voter Registration Day (NVRD), which is a nationwide effort that encourages hundreds of thousands of eligible voters to register to vote.

Jeanette Senecal, senior director of elections for the League of Women Voters (LWV) said nearly a quarter of Americans are not registered to vote, including a high number of young adults, people of color and low-income individuals. “ Twenty-five percent of eligible voters are missing the opportunity to vote because they’re not registered to vote is really a big hurdle,” she said.

Senecal said LWV has affiliates in 50 states and 700 communities and reaches individuals who are most likely to be unregistered. They also work with people who didn’t have an opportunity to register during voter registration drives. “ The whole point of National Registration Day is to create more energy around registering and voting and making it a celebratory activity,” she said. “Also, this Day continues to bring in corporations, celebrities and nonprofits together.”

Senecal said due to National Voter Registration Day’s efforts, 1.4 million

“And unlike a typical private practice, a patient at Aunt Martha’s is also going to benefit from the integration of services. So they can come to us for a primary care visit, but then be connected to mental health, dental, or any number of other services,” he said.

Since its inception, Aunt Martha’s has evolved, Garza added, but has remained true to its mission. Founded in 1972 as a resource for children, youth, and families, after 45 years, its connection to the community is still the same.

“We started as a drop-in center in south suburban Park Forest. We were a response to an unmet need, a place that young people could go to share their concerns.

Almost immediately, though, we had kids and their parents coming to us. They had real needs, and solutions didn’t exist. What Aunt Martha’s did then is what we continue to do today – it grew, it evolved. What was clear in 1972 is even more clear today.”

As far as the level of support Aunt Martha’s is receiving to address mental health needs, Garza said, “federal data shows that Aunt Martha’s is absolutely addressing the needs of our mental health patients at a level that is more than adequate. Unfortunately, there are still unmet needs; but this is not unique to the South Side of Chicago or to most communities in the country,” he said. “In most places, in fact, there are shortages of mental health professionals,” he added.

The statistics on mass shootings in America are staggering, while cuts in public funding for mental health have been deep.

In America, there is one major mass shooting every two months, according to Gun Violence Archive. At the same, in the aftermath of the 2008 recession, states were forced to cut over $4 billion in public mental health funding, according to reports.

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The U.S. government has done relatively little to regulate noise levels since 1981, when Congress abruptly stopped funding the Noise Control Act of 1972. However, Congress did not repeal the law, so states had to assume responsibility

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people have regis tered around the country.

LWV focuses on helping high school students, specifically African Americans in low-income communities, prepare to register to vote because they currently have a low voter registration rate.

“We’re really trying to get in those communities to make sure the students a r e ge tt i n g r e g i s t e r e d t o v o t e a n d increasing their registration activities,” Senecal said. “Just a tiny increase can have a major impact for any group. Ten high school students who turn out to vote could make a difference.”

She continued to explain that people don’t realize how votes towards local races continue to impact their daily lives.

“People don’t connect voting to how much money is going into building playgrounds or public libraries’ activity,” she said. “Small things that impact people on a daily basis are really impacted by who they elect into office and until we have people of the general population turning out to vote, then we’re never going to have elected officials who represent the need of our great country.”

Voters nationwide can find out if they have elections, their states’ voter registration deadlines, and information about who is on the ballot in their area at VOTE411.org.

Urban noise pollution is worst in poor and minority neighborhoods and segregated cities

Curbing noise pollution

October 11 2017

National Voter Registration Day Encourages Minorities to Vote

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happens because in highly segregated cities, political power is often unequally distributed along racial, ethnic and economic lines.

These power differences may empower some residents to manage undesirable land uses in ways that are beneficial to them – for example, by forcing freeway construction through poorer communities. This scenario can lead to higher levels of environmental hazards overall than would occur if power and the burdens of development were more equally spread across the community.

Segregation can also physically separate neighborhoods, workplaces and basic services, forcing all residents to drive more and commute farther. These conditions can increase air pollution and, potentially, metro-wide noise levels for everyone.

SuburbanTimes

for noise control. Few states have tried, and there has been scant progress. For example, in 2013-2014 New York City received one noise complaint about every four minutes.

Without funding, noise research has proven difficult.

Until recently the United States did not even have up-todate nationwide noise maps. In contrast, multiple European countries have mapped noise, and the European Commission funds noise communication plans, abatement and health studies.

In 2009 the World Health Organization released a report detailing nighttime noise guidelines for Europe. They recommended reducing noise levels when possible and reducing the impact of noise when levels could not be moderated. For example, the guidelines recommended locating bedrooms on the quiet sides of houses, away from street traffic, and keeping nighttime noise levels below 40 decibels to protect human health. The agency encouraged all member states to strive for these levels in the long term, with a short-term goal of 55 decibels at night.

Nonetheless, inequalities in exposure to noise still exist in Europe. For example, in Wales and Germany, poorer

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individuals have reported more neighborhood noise.

The most successful U.S. noise reduction efforts have centered on the airline industry. Driven by the introduction of new, more efficient and quieter engines and promoted by the Airport Noise and Capacity Act of 1990, the number of Americans affected by aviation noise declined by 95 percent between 1975 and 2000.

Moving forward, our findings suggest that more research is needed for studies on the relationship between noise and population health in the United States – data that could inform noise regulations. Funding and research should focus on poorer communities and communities of color that appear to bear a disproportionate burden of environmental noise.

Joan A. Casey is a Postdoctoral scholar at the University of California in Berkeley, Peter James Is Assistant Professor at the Harvard Medical School and Rachel Morello-Frisch is a Professor in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management & School of Public Health at the University of California in Berkeley.

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Chance the Rapper and Clark Atlanta University (CAU) President Ronald A. Johnson discuss CAU’s academic opportunities during the 20th Annual Chicago Football Classic. Photo Credit: Clark Atlanta University (CAU)

CAU President Shares the Importance of Attending HBCU’s

By Christopher Shuttlesworth As Clark Atlanta University (CAU) President Ronald A. Johnson recently returned to Chicago for the 20th Annual Football Classic, Johnson spoke with the Citizen on the importance of students attending Historic Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU).

Johnson said he was very excited for CAU to be invited back to the annual Football Classic because the Classic represents one of the great, long traditions of HBCU’s.

Second to Atlanta, Chicago sends the largest pool of student applicants to CAU and this year’s Football Classic provided more than $1.7 million in scholarships.

“The Chicagoland is a major market for us in terms of student applicants and we enjoyed coming to Chicago because it’s a great city,” he said.

Johnson explained that HBCU’s were defined in the

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Higher Education Act of 1965 as institutions that provide higher education for Black people.

“HBCU’s were founded to be inclusive,” he said. “They were not founded to be exclusively for Black people but inclusive for people who were excluded. The other major state institutions excluded Black people but Black folks didn’t exclude anyone.”

Johnson continued to say it’s important that HBCU’s continue to provide Black youth with opportunities that match their gifts and talents for today’s global world.

“We have to make sure our youth are given the opportunities to excel because if they don’t excel then they’re going to just look back,” he said. “Then corporations will turn to China to get talent and if you’re not in the talent line, then you, your family and community will be ignored and become irrelevant to the future.”

Johnson explained that his parents weren’t able to complete high school but encouraged him to further his education and as a result, he obtained a PHD.

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Grammy-Award winning rapper, social activist and philanthropist, Chance the Rapper recently expressed his desire to attend Clark Atlanta University (CAU) on Twitter.

“I was [trying] to go to Clark ATL,” tweeted the 24-yearold rapper. “I’m still [trying] to go. Like not honorary, the full blown you dig. Can someone help me sign up?”

Chance, whose real name is Chancellor Bennett, was raised on the South Side of Chicago and recently contributed one million dollars to the Chicago Public School system.

During the Football Classic, Chance told CAU Officials that he wanted to apply his ‘creativity in a stimulating environment,’ according to a CAU press release.

Dr. Nsenga Burton, Chair and Professor of New Media Production at CAU, said he discussed with Chance about the opportunities that CAU’s Mass Media Arts Department could offer him along with the universities’ Africana Studies and Political Science majors. To learn more about CAU, visit www.cau.edu.

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