Suburban time february 28 2018

Week of February 28 | Vol 1 • No 29 • www.cstweekly.com

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Catholic Charities Hosts Annual Fundraiser To Benefit South Region More Inside Community > PAGE 3

w Vacation Home Rentals: Tips For First-Timers TRAVEL > P2

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w The Unethical Treatment of Henrietta Lacks Still Lingers In Healthcare NEWS >P7

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TheFirst-Timers Unethical Treatment of Henrietta Lacks Still Lingers In Healthcare Vacation Home Rentals: Tips For

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26TH ANNUAL PAN AFRICAN FILM & ARTS FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES 2018 WINNERS (LOS ANGELES, CA) - It's a wrap!

The 26th Annual Pan African Film & Arts Festival (PAFF) has reached its end, and after 12 full days of showcasing an impressive slate of 173 films, PAFF has finally announced the winners of its 2018 season!

At the highly anticipated PAFF Filmmaker Awards Brunch, which was held recently on festival grounds at the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza, PAFF Executive Director, Ayuko Babu, presented various awards to competing filmmakers who have proven to be the greatest up-and-coming storytellers of our time. The experience was an exciting celebration of both accomplishment and next level success.

ABOUT THE PAN AFRICAN FILM & ARTS FESTIVAL Established in 1992, the Pan African Film & Arts Festival (PAFF) - a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization has showcased a broad spectrum of Black creative works; particularly, those that reinforce positive images and help to advance cultures, races and lifestyles. PAFF also serves as

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a vehicle to initiate dialogue on the important issues of our time and aides in the promotion of cultural understanding between peoples of African descent.

Now in its 26th year, the 12-day 2018 PAFF experience featured 75+ fine artists and 170+ new films from over 40 countries within five continents and in 26 languages. This annual exhibition of film, art, culture and creative expression is the largest Black film festival and the largest Black History Month celebration in the U.S. PAFF attracts a diverse global audience hailing from the United States, Africa, the Caribbean, Europe, Canada, South America and the South Pacific, which translates into over 90K art fest attendees, 40K film enthusiasts and 5000 students, annually.

The Pan African Film & Arts Festival is directed by Hollywood veterans Danny Glover (The Color Purple, Proud Mary), Ja'Net DuBois (Good Times) and Ayuko Babu (Executive Director). For more details, visit www.

PAFF.org.

Filmmaker and comedian, Oduduwa Olatunji, accepts the "Audience Award Narrative Short" from Ayuko Babu on behalf of Kirstin Lorin, director of For Evan's Sake Photo Credit: Koi Sojer, Snap'N U Photos

TRAVEL

Vacation Home Rentals: Tips For First-Timers (NAPSI)—According to a survey rental. “There are still so many people who

by HomeAway®, the world leader haven’t experienced all the joy and benefits in vacation rentals, more than 90 of renting a home for vacation, for many of percent of people say that vacation is whom it will become a habit, based on our very important to them. Yet half of data,” added Fish. She offers these tips for leisure travelers who wanted to take a first-timers: trip in 2017 did not, primarily because • From beach houses to cabins to condos, they didn’t think they could afford it. there are millions of homes to choose from— Costs can add up quickly, especially start with a trusted site like VRBO.com for big families and other large groups and take full advantage of the search filthat book multiple hotel rooms. Savvy ters to narrow results to custom-tailor your travelers are finding other ways to experience. stay, from rediscovering the great • Each vacation home is unique, so find one outdoors through camping to renting that fits the needs of your family. Fancy kitchen cabins, beach houses and even boat or BBQ grill? Big-screen TV or a pool? Bunk houses. Vacation homes offer the beds or a crib? There’s something for everyone. gamut of options that won’t break • Get the best booking experience—look the bank, while providing amenities for listings with the Premier Partner badge to that hotels and other types of lodgensure a quick response, competitive rates, ing often can’t, from private pools to great photos of the listing and more. bikes in the garage.

• Know what you’re getting into—read the “The perception that renting a vacation rental contract before submitting Renting a vacation home can be a lot less expensive and much more fun than many home is expensive is one of the top payment to understand cancellation policies, reasons people don’t do it,” said Mela- people realize. occupancy limits, pet restrictions, etc. booking multiple hotel rooms. Plus, you get more nie Fish, travel expert for HomeAway, • Protect yourself—book with sites that offer space and privacy.” referencing findings by Phocuswright, a leading protections and guarantees to guard against somePhocuswright’s research also revealed that only travel research firm. “However, renting a vacation thing unexpected happening before or during your one-third of Americans have stayed in a vacation home can often be more affordable per person than vacation.

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February 28 2018

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COMMUNITY

Catholic Charities Hosts Annual Fundraiser To Benefit South Region

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

By: Katherine Newman

“The Compassion in Action Award is the signature award that we give out at the Compassion in Action Dinner each year and basically we give it to a person or organization that really supported the community and Catholic charities.”

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The 13th annual Compassion in Action fundraising dinner was held recently by the Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese Chicago.

The fundraiser, held at Glenwoodie Golf Club, hosted over 260 guests who helped raise more than $18,000 that will go directly into service programs for the Catholic Charities South Region.

“I’m always excited to see everybody in one room. You see pastors and you see the board and you see people that you have been interacting with for the last twelve months. It feels like a family reunion when everybody comes into one room and you’ve got a lot of people who are hugging and laughing and enjoying themselves.

I just always feel a sense of family and community when we have these events. It’s incredible and really fun,” said Christopher Torres, Catholic Charities South Region Director.

All of the money raised at the dinner will be used to provide emergency services, according to Torres.

“Emergency services are food, shelter, and housing, we also offer domestic counseling. We follow the basic gospels to feed the hungry, the poor, and clothe the naked. All the money goes back into the region,” said Torres.

Three awards were presented at the event.

Torres said that “it’s always an honor to give the awards out.”

Kathleen Dujsik of South Chicago Heights received the Bert Ellis Award. She serves as a South Regional Board of Advisors member and inspires others to make service a central part of their lives.

“Generally for the Bert Ellis Award we honor a board member who has done long-term

service or work,” said Torres. “The Bert Ellis Award is named after a board member who has been on our board for a really long time. I believe he was one of the founding board members when they moved to the south and started doing regional offices. He has done so much for the region and he’s retired now so the board decided to honor him with an award.”

Dan Wondaal of Blue Island received the Compassion in Action Award for taking the lead in serving the community through Catholic Charities.

“The Compassion in Action Award is the signature award that we give out at the Compassion in Action Dinner each year and basically we give it to a person or organization that really supported the community and Catholic charities.” Torres said.

Rev. Thadeo Mgimba received The Servant of God Father Augustus Tolton Award for emulating Father Tolton’s struggle for social justice and dignity of life for all. Rev. Mgimba is the pastor at both Ascension-St. Susanna Parish in Harvey and Saint Gerard Majella Parish in Markham.

“This one is quite close to my heart because it was something that came about when I came into the region. Father Tolton is an African American man who became the first African American priest in the United States. His story is quite harrowing and quite inspiring for the region. We honor priests and religious organizations and nuns who emulate his struggle,” said Torres.

This is the largest fundraising event for Catholic Charities South Region. They will host another, more casual, fundraiser in October.

For more information on how to get involved with volunteering visit www.catholiccharities. net.

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POLITISCOPE

Government regulation of social media would be a cure far worse than the disease outlets. When tweets and posts can hurt Special Counsel Robert Mueller democracy, America should do something, on Friday charged 13 Russians with right? meddling in the 2016 presidential Wrong. election. The Russians’ primary Late last year, Congress grilled Twitter, tool for meddling was social media, Facebook and Google about their role in allowwhich they used to promote Donald Trump’s presidential candidacy ing foreign interests to place ads and articles Paul Levinson and denigrate Hillary Clinton’s intended to divide the electorate and spread campaign. false information during the 2016 election.

The indictment charges that the Russians violated People in and out of government are calling for fedU.S. laws that forbid foreigners from spending money eral regulation of social media. to influence U.S. elections.

Lay down some rules, the thinking goes, and we The charges, and the confirmation that the Russians would be able to prevent the infestation – now alleged had used social media in an attempt to influence the in Friday’s indictment – of bots and fake news from 2016 election, is likely to fuel the call for government our news feeds and ads. Democracy would be saved – regulation of Twitter, Facebook and other social media or, at least, foreign interference in our elections kept advertising@cstweekly.com

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in check.

However, as someone who has studied and taught the First Amendment for decades, I would argue that if such regulations were enacted, the main victims would be not the purveyors of fake news, but our freedom of expression. In my view, the result would do far more damage to our democracy than any foreign misinformation campaign ever could.

Free speech being attacked from all sides The First Amendment is under a lot of duress.

Arguably, it’s been that way since the Supreme Court’s “clear and present danger” decision in 1919, CONTINUED ON PAGE 4 www.cstweekly.com

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FOOD

Togo's Popular Lemon Pepper Tuna Is Back Togo's Great Sandwiches (www.togos.com) the "California Original" known for its big, fresh, and meaty sandwiches, continues to offer exciting menu items with a relentless focus on premium taste and quality. Now featuring 20% more zesty lemon pepper tuna, Togo's seasonal favorite is a welcome flavor for spring. For an even more delicious deal, participating Togo's locations are offering a regular Lemon Pepper Tuna Sandwich and 20 oz. fountain drink for just $6.50 on Fridays through March 23rd.

The Lemon Pepper Tuna Sandwich starts with 100% Albacore tuna, seasoned with tangy lemon and cracked black pepper, then hand-mixed in store with diced celery, red onions and lite mayonnaise. Prepared on artisan wheat bread that is delivered fresh 7 days a week, this exceptional sandwich is served Togo's Style with crisp iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, sweet red onions, tangy pickles and traditional whole pepperoncini.

For cheesy melty goodness, Togo's also offers the Lemon Pepper Tuna Melt on their fresh San Francisco style sourdough bread, toasted with cheddar cheese and served Togo's Style.

"Togo's features signature breads piled high with premium ingredients to create a true sandwich that you won't find anywhere else," states Glenn Lunde, President of Togo's. "The Lemon Pepper Tuna is a perfect example of this commitment with Albacore Tuna prepared using fresh ingredients and a zesty citrus seasoning that will dazzle the taste buds."

Togo's loyal fans can find Lemon Pepper Tuna at over 220 locations for a limited time only.

To find a location, order online, or for more information visit www.togos.com.

www.togos.com Our Lemon Pepper Tuna Sandwiches are back by popular demand!

Government regulation of social media would be a cure far worse than the disease CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3

which spelled out when limits on free speech could be lawful. It not only held that the government had an obligation to stop someone from “falsely shouting fire in a theater,” but also opened the gates to all manner of government violations of the First Amendment injunction that “Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.”

These range from the FCC’s “Fairness Doctrine,” which was upheld by the Supreme Court, that required broadcasters to present controversial issues in a balanced way (in the FCC’s view), to the FCC’s warning to radio broadcasters in 1971 not to play songs that glorified drug use, which actually had the effect of limiting the airplay of songs that critiqued drug culture.

Indeed, with the exception of Supreme Court decisions in the Pentagon Papers case in 1971 and the Communications Decency Act in 1997, the American government has systematically increased its control of media.

The situation has gotten much worse over the past year. President Trump has tweeted about withholding the licenses of NBC affiliates and lashed out at other advertising@cstweekly.com

media not to his liking.

Although Trump’s bluster about limiting and punishing media may be easy enough to deride, the fact that he is in the White House – and has the ability to appoint FCC commissioners – means his threats must be taken seriously.

Meanwhile, a theory of philosopher Karl Popper – the “paradox of tolerance” – is being widely cited as a justification for outlawing hate speech, notwithstanding the First Amendment. From his 1945 book “The Open Society and its Enemies,” it says that tolerance defeats itself when it permits intolerant speech.

I studied Popper extensively while researching my first book, an anthology of essays about Popper’s work. There are many aspects of Popper’s philosophy to admire, but I don’t believe the “paradox of tolerance” is among them.

To ban hate speech could turn our tolerant, democratic society into precisely the kind of state that hate speech is calling for: It could open up an opportunity for all sorts of speech to be dubbed “hate speech.”

A slippery slope When regulating fake news on social media sites, stweekly@citizen6news

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there’s the danger of the same sort of phenomenon taking place. And it’s exactly why the well-meaning hue-and-cry that the government needs to intervene and forbid social media sites from disseminating fake news or allowing accounts that are actually bots is so dangerous.

Fake news is nothing new. Centuries ago, anti-Semitic publications spread rumors that Jews murdered Christian children and drank their blood on holidays.

Over the past two years, social media have increased the amplitude and reach of fake news. But there’s also been the ascension of a political figure – Trump – who has turned the tables by labeling any unwelcome news as “fake.”

The latter should be more than enough reason to reject calls for government censorship of fake news.

After all, who’s to say a government that determines what’s “fake” won’t simply follow Trump’s lead, and suppress critical and truthful content under the guise that it’s fake?

Instead, social media networks could develop and CONTINUED TO PAGE 6

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Forward-thinking programs get kids to eat better (BPT) - They say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. But for millions of low-income children across the country, the low-cost or free lunch they get at school is the most nutritious, most filling meal they will eat.

In 2016, over 30 million kids across the U.S. received low-cost or free lunches at their school. With such a wide-ranging impact, school meal programs play a huge role in the well-being of our nation’s young people.

According to Wilder Research, nearly one in six children in the state of Minnesota live in food-insecure households. Many of these kids rely on school lunch to get the nutrients they need. To make sure these needs are met, one school district in the state has been blending nutrition with trends in popular culture to create a dynamic program that is getting kids excited about healthy food while also creating better eating habits.

Jr. Iron Chef Question: In an urban school district, how can the idea behind a popular television show be used to raise awareness of healthy meal options?

In essence, this is what happened when Miguel Lopez, a seventh-grader at Anwatin Middle School, along with seven other teams and 16 other students, competed alongside eight professional chefs in one of Minneapolis Public Schools’ “Jr. Iron Chef ” competitions.

Modeled after the popular television show, where teams compete to create the most appetizing dish, this three-year-old program was designed in cooperation with Cargill to teach students about good nutrition and meal preparation. Students from across the district were invited to compete - just as popular celebrity chefs on TV do - in live cooking competitions.

“This night was not so much about the competition, but about what these students have learned about how

to prepare good meals on their own,” said Minneapolis Public Schools’ Director of Culinary and Wellness Services, Bertrand Weber. “We wanted to apply the Iron Chef concept to help improve our students’ health and well-being. Yes, it was a cool night, but the hope is that they will go home and do this for themselves and their families versus choosing less healthy meal options.”

While the Jr. Iron Chef competition was getting students all over the district revved up, Cargill and Minneapolis Public Schools were weaving another popular culinary trend into the district’s nutrition and wellness programs: food trucks.

Nutrition on wheels Parked outside the venue where Jr. Iron Chef was held was a shiny, new food truck purchased with a recent $75,000 grant from Cargill to Minneapolis Public Schools. This is the school district’s second food truck.

The first one hit the road in 2013 and became so popular that it quickly exceeded capacity.

The trucks are staffed by the school district’s nutrition and culinary staff, to bring nutritious meals to students, especially when school is not in session.

The trucks also appear at district-run wellness seminars and cooking demonstrations.

“The value of these food trucks has been recognized by Minneapolis Public Schools and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA),” said Cargill Vice President of Corporate Responsibility Michelle Grogg. “It’s been a successful strategy that community and state partners have found to improve their capacity to reach food-insecure children when school is in and out of session.”

In the summer of 2017, Minneapolis Public Schools served approximately 400,000 free meals and snacks to Minneapolis youth. This coming summer, Minneapolis Public Schools’ two food trucks will operate at a total of eight summer feeding sites in conjunction with community youth and physical activity programming.

A new example As school lunch plays such an important role for millions of urban, low-income students, the importance of steering these kids toward eating more nutritious, wholesome meals cannot be overstated. Though it can be hard to get kids excited about fruits and vegetables, the creative and forward-thinking programs put on by the Minneapolis Public Schools point in a fun, and promising, direction.

“It’s great to see two popular trends in food being applied to the nutritional needs of our students,” says Grogg. “We hope it doesn’t stop here and we hope other communities around Minnesota and the U.S. learn from our successes.”

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NEWS

The Neighborhood Network of Blue Island and Robbins is working to solve the community issue of limited access to grocery stores by teaming with Top Box Foods. Every month Top Box Foods brings boxes of quality groceries to the community that can be purchased at an affordable price. Photo Credit: Top Box Foods

Affordable, Quality Food Distribution Program Available In South Suburbs

By: Katherine Newman

The Neighborhood Network of Blue Island and Robbins is working to solve the community issue of limited access to grocery stores by teaming with Top Box Foods. Every month Top Box Foods brings boxes of quality groceries to the community that can be purchased at an affordable price.

The Neighborhood Network is an initiative from the United Way of Metropolitan Chicago. The United Way provides funding that allows the community members and stakeholders, like schools, businesses, churches, and hospitals, to come together and develop a strategic plan to solve community issues, according to Kentrick Benson, Blue Island/Robbins Neighborhood Network Project Coordinator for Metropolitan Family Services.

The Blue Island/Robbins Neighborhood Network has been in existence for about 2 years now and operates with roughly 40 community organizations. One of their focuses is on healthy lifestyles, and that is where Top Box Foods was brought in, according to Benson.

Top Box Foods is an organization that delivers affordable boxes of food, including fresh fruits and vegetables and frozen meats, poultry, and fish, monthly to convenient locations, typically in communities with limited access to healthy and affordable food. They bundle the food into boxes and partner with churches, community organizations, housing facilities, and schools to spread the word about the program. In Cook

County/Chicago, all boxes are pre-ordered by individuals and are picked up and paid for at the designated community location, according to the Top Box Foods website.

Members of the Neighborhood Network knew that residents of Blue Island and Robbins had limited access to quality groceries and reached out Top Box Foods for help.

“Robbins is a food desert and Blue Island is very close to being a food desert so we as a committee and a network wanted to try and bring in low cost or no cost food options that are easily accessible to our residents.

We have residents from Blue Island, Robbins and from outside communities coming to pick up Top Box in our community,” said Benson A food desert is an area with no grocery store, corner store, or neighborhood market within walking distance for residents. Robbins is already experiencing this and Blue Island is close behind with only a few corner markets left in the community, according to Benson.

“Robbins is an older community where there are a lot of seniors and a lot of them don't drive or use public transportation. There is nowhere in that community where they can go to a corner market or go to a grocery store so they have to get a bus or a ride to a store. In Blue Island we don't have a major grocery store chain, we have a few corner markets but those prices in the corner markets are a little higher than what our residents can afford,” said Benson.

Top Box Foods provides a variety of boxes based on the kind of food you like to eat. You can order a fruit and vegetable box, a beef box, a breakfast box, the list goes on and changes a little bit every month. All of the boxes are affordable and provide healthy food options.

“They have a fruit and vegetable box that is 15 pounds of fruit and vegetables for $15. So your buying fruit and vegetables for $1 per pound, sometimes you can’t even get that in a grocery store. The other great thing about it is that for those residents of ours who are SNAP recipients, they actually take SNAP benefits as well.” said Benson. “The boxes have a lot of organic choices, there are very healthy choices. They do have some fried things here and there, but a lot of it is organic and comes from relationships that Top Box Foods has with various farmers and they bring some very high-quality food into our communities.”

The Blue Island/Robbins Neighborhood Network began offering the Top Box Foods program in September of last year and since that time they have distributed about 750 boxes, according to Benson.

The program is not limited to residents of Blue Island or Robbins, but there is a pickup location in that community. Orders can be placed online, through e-mail, or by fax and are paid for upon pickup. Top Box Foods accepts cash, check, credit/debit cards, and SNAP/LINK cards for payment, according to the Top Box Foods Website.

For information about placing an order visit topboxfoods.com.

Government regulation of social media would be a cure far worse than the disease CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4

implement algorithms for identifying and removing fake news by marshaling the same engines that spread fake news in the first place. These algorithms would not be administered by the government; rather, Facebook and other social media would be responsible.

Twitter has already made considerable progress flagging and removing accounts that spread Islamic State propaganda. There’s no reason to think that the same process can’t be applied to Russian bots seeking to inflame political discord and therein damage America’s political system.

Such self-regulation is in the best interest of these media companies. It would increase the confidence of their users in what they encounter online. It would

also have the added benefit of keeping government regulators at bay.

In the end, the ultimate antidote to fake news and bots is the rationality of the human mind.

As John Milton famously urged in his “Areopagitica,” if you let truth and falsity fight it out in the marketplace of ideas, human rationality will most likely choose the truth. Regulating what can enter that marketplace could impair or destroy this process, by inadvertently keeping truth from public awareness.

Rational thinking’s ability to identify fake news is more than a Miltonian ideal: It’s been demonstrated in a carefully conducted 2015 experiment. When given a small financial incentive, the subjects were able to

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identify fake news as fake, even if the fake news supported the political views of the subjects.

Indeed, rationality is deeply implicit in democracy itself. You can’t have the latter without the former.

The key in combating fake news and kindred attacks on our body politic is to give our rationality maximum access to all information, including the truth. And in my view, this means resisting any attempts by government to limit the information that reaches us.

This is an updated version of an article originally published on Nov. 28, 2017.

Paul Levinson is a Professor of Communication and Media Studies at Fordham University.

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NEWS

The Unethical Treatment of Henrietta Lacks Still Lingers In Healthcare By: Katherine Newman

But the amount of good that has been done Peek said that she knows black people are in the world for everybody is unmealess likely to seek medical attention, hesitant surable. That’s a debt that we can never to trust the advice of their physician, and less repay, but it is a debt that we can honor likely to take medication and that it is directly and should try to repay and I don’t believe related to these past instances of blacks being that we have done a fraction of what could mistreated by medical professionals. be done for that woman and her family,” “These things linger and make it challengsaid Dr. Monica Peek, director of research, ing for African Americans to be fully trusting MacLean Center for Clinical Medical of the health care system. Some of those Ethics at The University of Chicago. logical choices that we make are in response Peek attended Johns Hopkins for to the lived experience we’ve had as people medical school where Lacks story took and those which negatively impact our health. place. Still, she didn’t fully understand the These kinds of things have had a historical story until she read The Immortal Life of legacy that continues to impact the health Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. of African Americans on a daily basis,” said “It’s a miracle really, her cell line is Peek. unlike anything I’ve ever seen or heard of.

There are more racial minorities in If the book wasn’t non-fiction I wouldn’t medicine today, which helps create a more have believed it,” said Peek. comfortable space for African Americans to Unfortunately, it was not uncommon seek medical attention, according to Peek. for black people to be mistreated or used Getting black people to want to seek out medfor medical research during the 50’s. This ical care is still a challenge, but Peek said she history of medical inequity has not been knows it is encouraging for her patients to see forgotten. her as their physician.

Peek is a primary care physician and “There is for the most part comfort, pride, said she spends about 80 percent of her and trust that comes with racial concordance time doing research on health disparities for African Americans. People feel like there and health equity issues primarily for Afrihas been a safe space created where they don’t can Americans. have to be afraid and they can potentially Henrietta Lacks unknowingly donated get better care,” said Peek. “Certainly for “I think about the reasons that black her cancer cells to medical research in people continue to have worse health 1951. Her cell line went on to become the me I see that all the time from my patients and get treated in ways that are less equal greatest asset to medical advancements in addition to just the cultural pride of and saved millions. Photo Credit: Oregon seeing one of us who has made it and in the healthcare system and ways that State University we can do better. Some of those reasons the happiness of seeing successful black are rooted in those historical ways that women.” black people were treat by physicians in The story of Henrietta Lacks will never the public healthcare system in the past and our collective be forgotten, but it cannot be denied that without her cells memory of those things that get handed down generationmillions of people would not have received the healthcare ally,” said Peek. that they need.

Dr. Howard Jones discovered a malignant tumor on Henrietta Lacks cervix in 1951 at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

The events that followed led to the greatest discovery in medical history. Lacks began undergoing radium treatments shortly there after and ultimately died in October of that year, according to John Hopkins Medical.

Samples of her cancer cells were taken, unknowingly to Lacks, during a biopsy. According to John Hopkins Medical, the cells were sent to Dr. George Gey who had been collecting cells from every patient with cervical cancer at The Johns Hopkins Hospital.

All of the other cells Dr. Gey had collected died, but the cells from Lacks multiplied. They were saved and cloned and shared with medical researchers across the world. The cells became known as “HeLa” cells, according to Johns Hopkins Medical.

Since then HeLa cells have been used to develop treatment for Parkinson’s disease, AIDS, influenza, some cancers, a vaccine for polio, and research for space travel, according to The Jackson Laboratory. These are just a few of the endless examples of the ways that HeLa cells have helped advance modern medicine. Without Lacks, none of it would have been possible.

The Lacks family didn’t know that their mother’s cells were being used for medical research until two decades after her death, according to The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

by Rebecca Skloot.

In 1970, doctors returned to the Lacks family home to draw blood from the Lacks children to learn more about their mothers genetics. The doctors did not tell the family why they needed the blood sample, so they assumed it was to screen for diseases. It was during this encounter that the family first heard that their mothers cells were alive and multiplying which was confusing to them, according to The Jackson Laboratory.

“It was a heavy price for her family to have paid, and it doesn’t make it right to say that the ends justify the means.

New Hotline Addresses Sexual Harassment

By Lisette Gushiniere

The Illinois Department of Human Rights (IDHR) recently announced the creation of a toll-free sexual harassment hotline to provide resources to the public, including referrals to counseling and legal services. The hotline, and accompanying website, will also allow for the reporting of sexual harassment allegations in both private and public places of employment.

Illinois’ fiscal year runs from July 1 through June 30 and during that time in 2017, there were 3201 discrimination charges filed with IDHR across all areas, according to Leslie Strain, public information officer for IDHR. Of those complaints, Strain said in 2017, 2748 discrimination charges relating to employment were filed; 282 charges related to housing were filed; three financial credit charges were filed, 165 public accommodations charges were filed and three sexual harassment in education charges were filed with the department.

IDHR was required to create the hotline based on Public Act 100-0554, which was effective November 16, 2017. It amended the Illinois Human Rights Act to require that the Department establish and maintain a sexual harassment hotline to assist in the reporting and filing of sexual harassment complaints, and help the public find necessary resources, including counseling and legal services.

Strain added IDHR uses a five step charge process for

handling complaints including intake, mediation, investigation, findings & results and legal review: Specifically, the complaint process entails: Intake: Charge allegations are filed with IDHR. Mediation: Mediation is an optional step wherein parties may voluntarily agree to mediate.

Investigation: IDHR obtains evidence from parties to determine whether there is substantial evidence of unlawful discrimination.

Legal Review: Complainant’s legal recourses will vary depending on IDHR’s findings following the investigation (i.e., finding of substantial evidence, lack of substantial evidence, lack of jurisdiction, etc.

If IDHR finds Substantial Evidence (SE) of discrimination, the complainant may file a complaint with either the Illinois Human Rights Commission or the appropriate circuit court.

If IDHR dismisses the charge, the complainant may appeal IDHR’s decision to the Human Rights Commission by filing a request for review, or file a complaint with the appropriate circuit court.

In 2017, IDHR found substantial evidence in only 35 cases related to sexual harassment in employment. Before that, in fiscal year 2016 and 2015 respectively, substantial evidence was found in 95 and 134 cases related to sexual harassment charges in employment. In 2014, IDHR found substantial evidence in

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89 instances involving those same types of cases.

In establishing and maintaining the hotline, IDHR enlisted the support of The Chicago Lighthouse, which provides employment opportunities to the blind, visually impaired, disabled, and veteran communities. Staff at The Chicago Lighthouse were trained by IDHR management on legal definitions of sexual harassment and resources available for reporting it, including filing of a charge of discrimination.

“This hotline will allow for a more centralized process for the public to find necessary resources and assistance in the filing of sexual harassment complaints,” said IDHR Acting Director Janice Glenn. “I am proud to establish this partnership with The Chicago Lighthouse to provide essential information to those who are facing sexual harassment.

Through this service, our agency can better enforce laws that protect Illinois residents and prevent acts of sexual harassment.”

The Sexual Harassment Hotline Call Center can be reached Monday through Friday with the exception of state holidays between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. at 877-236-7703. By statute, all communications received by the department via the hotline or accompanying website are confidential and exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, according to an IDHR press release.

For more information, please visit https://www.illinois. gov/sexualharassment.

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February 28 2018

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