V O L . 17 N O . 45 Buy StreetWise only from a badged vendor
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H E L P P E O P L E H E L P T H E M S E LV E S TO S E L F - S U F F I C I E N C Y T H R O U G H G A I N F U L E M P L OY M E N T
Celebrating 1 year as a magazine By Bruce Crane Executive Director This issue marks the one-year milestone of the transition of StreetWise from a newspaper format to a magazine format. Like any change, there are lots of concerns to juggle and issues to prepare for. It has been a relatively seamless change and a successful migration. For more than a year we utilized a wonderful grant to interview vendors and the public, study our publication, evaluate potential improvements, and create a transition plan. Through this grant, we met Lee Barrie and his wife Cindy Kurman, of Kurman Communications. They helped develop an energetic committee who did all of the “heavy lifting” work with our publications staff and a couple board members. The goals of the change were varied: •In general, the public preferred a magazine format for its improved readability and ease of handling. •Our vendors wanted a “wage increase” having not had one in 16 years. Many expressed that they had to sell more papers to make enough money to keep up with the inflating costs. This required them to work longer hours, year after year. •Our advertisers were pointing to our low resolution black and white graphics as a major reason for our continuing decline in advertising. •We have always had wonderful journalism interns to assist and write for us. Some of our volunteer writers expressed that they choose where to donate their writing skills partially based on how respected and “valuable” the byline is perceived to be. An article published in a colorful and graphic magazine would better assist them in building a portfolio of their publications. •With better graphics we could make better use of photography, have more appealing graphic covers and content, and we could include a broader range of articles whose content lends itself to the higher quality.
•An improved product would help to justify the increased selling price. •The increased revenue to StreetWise would help us expand our services to our clients. I believe any serious business needs to strive for continuous improvement. We have done so and will continue to look for ways to improve our publication. We pay attention to the feedback from surveys, our vendors, and our readers. I thank those of you who have taken the time to write or email with your suggestions or concerns. We value your input. I’d like to share with you our progress in this first year toward meeting these goals. The majority, about two-thirds, of the feedback from the public is positive regarding the format and content change. The vast majority of our vendors report that the new format has allowed them to earn more income or to spend fewer hours selling to meet their financial needs. Both have been a wonderful benefit to the clients we serve. For about 12 of our vendors, the fewer hours working has allowed them to spend that time going back to school or job training programs. This has been a huge step forward for them, and furthers the StreetWise mission of offering our men and women “a hand up, not a hand out.” In this first year, our advertising revenue has increased 10%, stemming a downward trend of many years; our magazine sales revenue has increased 32%, a major improvement necessary to our financial stability. We have a wonderful increase in writers offering to help us serve our mission. We have covered a few stories we would not have been able to, and increased our use of graphics and pictures. And finally, I believe we have succeeded in delivering a better quality product, one we continue to strive to improve. When I buy a magazine at the newsstand, it seems to cost about $5 these days. I may get entertainment and enjoyment for that purchase. However, I don’t have the sense that I am directly helping an individual working to improve himself, nor helping an organization that serves hundreds of men and women as a result of my purchases. I get entertainment with a purchase of StreetWise, plus so much more. We hope you do to.
Where the money goes... Vendors buy StreetWise for 75 cents, and the remaining $1.25 goes directly to the licensed vendor.
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STREETWISE STAFF EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR/PUBLISHER BRUCE CRANE BCRANE@STREETWISE.ORG EDITOR-IN-CHIEF SUZANNE HANNEY SUZANNESTREETWISE@YAHOO.COM DIRECTOR OF DISTRIBUTION GREG PRITCHETT GPRITCHETT14@YAHOO.COM
& VENDOR SERVICES
PRODUCTION & MARKETING MANAGER BEN COOK BCOOK@STREETWISE.ORG DIRECTOR OF ADVERTISING CORPORATE DEVELOPMENT GRACE FEDERIGHI GRACE@STREETWISE.ORG
&
ADVERTISING SALES EXECUTIVES MARY FAITH HILBOLDT PROOFREADER ROBERT CASS
BOARD OF DIRECTORS ROB FEDERIGHI—PRESIDENT CHICAGOBROKER.COM
JOHN J. LEONARD MORGAN STANLEY
PETE KADENS—VICE PRESIDENT SOCORE ENERGY
JUDD LOFCHIE—FOUNDER LOFCHIE & ASSOCIATES, INC.
JUDD R. HORWITZ—TREASURER JUDD R. HORWITZ & CO. P.C.
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STREETWISE IS PUBLISHED WEEKLY AND IS SOLD BY THE POOR AND HOMELESS OF CHICAGO. STREETWISE IS A REGISTERED 501(C)3 NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION AND IS A MEMBER OF THE NORTH AMERICAN STREET NEWSPAPER ASSOCIATION.
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N O V E M B E R 4-N O V E M B E R 10, 2009
GreenWise The State of Our Water
The Chicago River has been improving annually for the last 40 years, but much is still to be desired across the country as 232 million pounds of toxic waste entered the US water supply in 2007. page
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Events Calendar
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Lincoln, Reeling Film Fest
Umbrella Jazz Fest, HighSpeed train forum, The Day of the Dead, 56th Annual Powwow, Why We Need Comics, and more in this week’s events calendar.
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page
Chicago Innovation Awards A look behind this year’s top outside-the-box thinkers, who are creating better businesses, technology, and civic participation across economic levels. p a g e
Entrepreneur Spotlight Meet Dawn Knoceczny StreetWise newcomer talks about her new job, and how it allows her to make ends meet while spending time out of the house with her friendly customers.
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news
entertainment
streetwise
volunteer
The Good Life page 4 WorldWise page 5 This Week in Chicago page 11 Cover Story page 12-13
Ginny & the Chef page 6 DineWise page 6-7 Health & Fitness Page 7 Theatre Page 10
The Playground page 14 Vendor Profile page 15
Volunteer Chicago
N O V E M B E R 4-N O V E M B E R 10, 2009
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Online at www.streetwise.org
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The Good Life with Temple Hemphill
A StreetWise one-on-one with filmmaker Lee Daniels the January 16 issue of MovieMaker magazine, Daniels said, “I read Push 12 years ago and it was so powerful that I slept with it under my pillow. My obsession with the story superseded any drug or love affair to which I had ever been addicted.” In the following conversation he talks more about his past, including a performance that changed his life and a low point in his career.
Temple Hemphill: How’s Chicago treating you? Lee Daniels: I’m loving it! I had deep-dish pizza last night—I sweat it out on the treadmill today. (laughs)
(introduction and interview by Temple Hemphill)
There’s Oscar buzz swirling around Precious, the new movie based on the 1996 novel Push by Sapphire. It’s the story of a 16-year-old black girl who deals with incest, obesity, poverty, and illiteracy. Pregnant with her second child by her own father, Claireece “Precious” Jones (Gabourey “Gabby” Sidibe) gets another chance at life with a transfer to an alternative high school. What happens next is nothing less than a miracle. The movie showcases A-list entertainers in unexpected ways, including comedian Mo’Nique, singer Mariah Carey, and rocker Lenny Kravitz, who plays a nurse. The 2009 Chicago International Film Festival recently honored Precious director Lee Daniels during a special screening and tribute held at AMC River East. StreetWise chatted with him on the red carpet before he accepted the festival’s Artistic Achievement Award. The first sole African-American producer of an Oscarwinning film (2001’s Monster’s Ball, for which Halle Berry won Best Actress), Daniels appears seemingly humble—and humorous. (He started our conversation by joking and fluffing the fancy collar on my blouse.) He’s also extremely passionate about his new film. In
TH: Have you talked to Oprah on the phone lately? [Oprah Winfrey is one of the executive producers of Precious, as is Tyler Perry. She also committed to a full-blown promotional blitz on behalf of the movie.] LD: I e-mailed her. She had a day off yesterday. She’s so behind me and the film. I’m so appreciative and humbled by it.
LD: Everything else has been sort of good . . . When I’m traveling, lows are not being with my kids.
LD: I saw Paula Kelly in a musical called Sweet Charity [1969] many, many, many years ago. I saw her with Chita Rivera and Shirley MacLaine. I remember the brilliance of [her] dance, of her acting, of her blackness. It was an inspiration.
TH: The good life—what does that look like in your world?
TH: Our StreetWise vendors are trying to rebuild their lives. Looking back at your career lows, are there times when you wanted to walk away from the film industry?
Temple Hemphill is a Chicago-based journalist, author, media professor, and children’s advocate. If you know of a Chicagoan who’s significantly impacting the community and deserves attention, please send spotlight suggestions to templehemphill@alumni.indiana.edu; write “The Good Life” in the subject field.
StreetWise Staff
ocal watchdog group Environment Illinois recently gathered by the Chicago River to raise awareness of the declining standards of water quality. Responding to the Environmental Protection Agency’s Toxics Release Inventory for 2007, which was issued this past March, the group called for increased enforcement of the Clean Water Act. According to the EPA’s Web site, the Clean Water Act (CWA), which was implemented in 1972, “is the cornerstone of surface water quality protection in the United States. (The Act does not deal directly with ground water nor with water quantity issues.) The statute employs a variety of regulatory and nonregulatory tools to sharply reduce direct pollutant discharges into waterways, finance municipal wastewater treatment facilities, and manage polluted runoff.” Environment Illinois says that although the CWA provides the architecture for better water quality, it
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LD: Yeah, I did . . . For a moment I was attached to Brokeback Mountain. I was [set to produce] that film and I couldn’t get it made. It was about two gay men who were in love, and no one wanted to [finance it]. I’m so used to doing things that are impossible to do . . . I missed out on something I loved. That was a low point. TH: Has the universe made it up to you? (laughs)
TH: Stedman [Graham] always talks about how one person can change a person’s career. Who is that person for you?
By Ben Cook
GreenWise: The State of Our Water
Gabourey “Gabby” Sidibe, star of Precious
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LD: The good life is being with my kids. Right now that’s the good life.
counts for nothing if those measures aren’t being enforced. According to the Toxics Release Inventory, in 2007 industrial facilities dumped 232 million pounds of toxic chemicals into American waterways, including approximately 1.5 million pounds of chemicals linked to cancer that made their way into more than 1,300 waterways. The Ohio River received the greatest amount of cancer-causing chemical discharges, followed by the Catawba River (in North and South Carolina) and the Tennessee River. The report found that pulp and paper mills, along with coal-fired power plants, were among the largest dischargers of cancer-causing chemicals. The Ohio River, which runs through Illinois, Indiana, Kentuc ky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, was by far the worst-polluted river in every measurable category. It carried 31,064,643 pounds of toxins into various waterways, more than twice as much as the second-most polluted river, the New River (North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia), and almost three
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WorldWise
International Network of Street Papers: Street News Service
News Roundup textbooks and other materials as well as deteriorating working conditions and the resultant low morale for teachers. Most affected are girls, who form the majority of children at primary and secondary schools. According to a newly published report by the National Education Advisory Board, there is now “a high level of absenteeism [being] reported.” (Courtesy of Inter Press Service)
Uruguay: Black population still invisible Japan: A new type of homeless Japan’s recession has hit the country’s class of young professionals particularly hard. The lives of thousands of highly educated, ambitious young men and women are being torn apart as they find themselves homeless, without a job, and with little prospect of life improving. Tsuyoshi Inaba, a representative of Moyai, an NGO that helps people get their lives back on track, explained that “these individuals lose unemployment insurance and savings, then they cannot pay their rent, and so they lose their homes. The majority are young professionals, roughly 20 or 30 years old.” Moyai has documented how this new type of homelessness has been growing over the past five years. (Courtesy of The Big Issue Ja pa n )
Experts taking part in the recent seminar on “Afro-descendant Women and Latin American Culture: Identity and Development,” sponsored by the United Nations Development Programme, have stressed the need to raise awareness about the region’s black population and heritage. Making visible the contributions of black people to the cultural heritage of Latin America is one big step toward pulling people of African descent out of poverty. Participants have pointed to the election of Barack Obama to the U.S. presidency as a powerful symbol that can be used to provide marginalized black communities with the chance to highlight their mistreatments and fight to be treated equally in society. (Courtesy of Inter Press Service)
Primary- and secondary-school education in Zimbabwe has “fallen woefully behind” other southern African countries due to shortages of
StreetWise is a member of the North America n Street Newspa per Associa tion a nd the Interna tiona l Network of Street Pa pers, which ma inta ins the Street News Service.
times as much as the entire Mississippi river system. Illinois was responsible for 4 to 7.5 million pounds of chemical discharge, though its neighbor to the east, Indiana, contributed more than 27 million pounds—the highest in the nation. The industrial discharge and agricultural runoff have far-reaching effects, including cancer, reproductive disorders, developmental harm, and damage to wildlife, and they can contribute to the slow buildup of hazardous elements in animal tissue systems, including humans’. Some of the solutions advocated by Environment Illinois include using safer chemicals, issuing stiffer fines against repeat offenders, and ensuring that pollution permits are renewed on schedule. According to the group’s report, as of September 2007 nearly one out of every five discharge permits for major industrial facilities had expired. Also, Environment Illinois advocates establishing strong standards for power plant discharges of toxic heavy metals, as coal-fired power plants have increasingly employed scrubbers
to remove dangerous substances from smokestack emissions. Unfortunately, these same pollutants now often wind up in power plants’ water pollution streams, either through the discharge of wastewater from the plants or leakage from coal ash storage facilities. The EPA, which hasn’t revised the rules for power plant discharges in more than a quarter-century, has announced a target date of 2012 for new regulations to address the problem. Another local environmental group, Friends of the Chicago River, has also discussed the need to disinfect the river. Although its quality has improved each year for the past 40 years, it still has an abnormally high amount of bacteria due to sewage effluent, the byproduct of the sewage treatment process. Each day 1.2 billion gallons of effluent-containing bacteria from human sewage are poured into the Chicago Area Water System (CAWS) from three sewage treatment plans located upstream. Friends of the Chicago River argues that since so
Zimbabwe: African schools failing children
N O V E M B E R 4-N O V E M B E R 10, 2009
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Contributing Writers Ginny & the Chef: Originally a professional chef, Chef J now writes a syndicated weekly column on food and fitness in Chicago. He’s also the president of the Chicago Research Chefs LLC and president emeritus of the Chicago Nutrition Association. Ginny has written nutrition and fitness articles for several local and national publications, such as the Chicago Tribune and On-Health magazine. She has a bachelor’s degree in nutrition science and dietetics and a master’s degree in nutrition communications and marketing. Stephanie Taylor graduated from Columbia College Chicago, where she earned a degree in Magazine Journalism. Her work has been seen in the campus newspaper, The Columbia Chronicle. She also wrote for Chicagoland Tails pet magazine, where she interned. Soon she will begin writing for an upcoming art magazine called Upsurge. Barrett Newell is a former StreetWise intern and recent journalism graduate of Loyola University Chicago. He has an interest in arts journalism and has also interned for the Chicago Sun-Times. John Godoy is a Chicago-based wellness consultant and personal trainer with a leading preventionbased, integrative health and wellness provider. John Patrick Pazdziora is a freelance writer, editor, and critic. His writings embrace ideas that concern everyone, like social justice, spirituality, and pigeons. Recently, he began hosting mrpond47.wordpress.com , where he blogs about literature and speculative fiction. He and his wife divide their time between Chicago and Dallas. Shea Gibbs is a Chicago-based writer and editor. He is senior editor of trade publications Modern Casting and Metal Casting Design & Purchasing and a copyeditor for the American Law Enforcement Association’s Air Beat magazine. Gibbs earned his master’s degree in journalism from Columbia College Chicago in 2005.
Environment Illinois and Friends of The Chicago River present their findings in front of the Trump Tower
many people use the river—and the lake—the cleanup is worth the investment. Specifically, they advocate the use of ultraviolet light to eliminate the bacteria, saying that the cost would be outweighed by the increased economic benefits of a healthier, more accessible water system. The full report is available at https://www.environmentillinois.org/reports/clean-water/cleanwater-program-reports/wasting-our-waters-toxic-industrial-pollution-and-the-unfulfilled-promise-of-the-clean-water-act.
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FoodWise with Ginny & Chef J
By Ginny & Chef J StreetWise Contributors (www.ginetics.org, www.researchchefs.us)
Seven Deadly Sins... ...against Health Part 7: Wrath rath. It’s a word we don’t hear much anymore, yet it’s just as powerful today as it was when Egypt’s pharaoh sent his armies into the wilderness in pursuit of Moses. It was wrath that caused the king of the Egyptian empire to lead his soldiers to their deaths in the sea. It was wrath that stopped him from thinking clearly. In the past, wise men saw and understood that no good ever comes from wishing revenge on others. They knew that those who wished to unleash their wrath were the ones who eventually suffered in the end. Today it seems like people have forgotten those hard-earned lessons. We only need look to the evening news to see that the deadly sin of wrath is on people’s minds; once again it may be
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DineWise By Lee Barrie & Cindy Kurman Barrie StreetWise Contributors
Wishbone offers a fine casual excursion into Southern food delights Anytime we hear that our friends have gone down South for a vacation or business, we immediately have visions of hearty, delicious Southern food. Calories aside, there is no regional American cuisine that is more interesting or comforting than this never-ending feast of the senses. From Louisville to Memphis, Charlotte to Charleston, Atlanta to Savannah, all the way down to New Orleans, this culinary journey is a most satisfying trip indeed. Thankfully, Chicagoans can take this adventure by travelling to Wishbone in any of three locations: North Center and the West Loop in the city and Berwyn in the near western 'burbs. These colorful and rustic eateries attract all age
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clouding folks’ thoughts, leading to some bad decisions. Choosing to eat right and exercise is a good decision. And voicing your views about eating is everyone’s right—we have a constitutional right to free speech. Of course, becoming a wild fanatic and screaming at people you see eating meat because it makes you “mad” is over the top. Passing laws that would make it illegal to eat meat would be a very bad idea, because most people would become angry and resentful and disobey those laws. The majority of our population would lose respect for our lawmakers. The people who want to “force” others to do what they believe is right might just suffer in the end. It’s happened before in Chicago. Al Capone was there in the 1920s to take advantage of such a well-meaning ban—on alcohol. The federal government banned booze to reduce crime and improve family values. No one believed it could ever get so bad. They didn’t think clearly. Wrath truly is a deadly sin. Today we have some folks who want to ban junk food. Others are saying we should tax soda pop or candy. These people passionately believe that they know what’s best for you and your children. They’re ready to unleash their wrath. History really is the best teacher. We simply need to start using common sense. We know it’s best to eat fresh, wholesome foods. We know it’s best to exercise every day. Yet doing it, or not doing it, is everyone’s individual right.* Perhaps it’s time for us to let the politicians know that we know. Because if things keep going the way they are now, it may soon be the politicians who are the focus of people’s wrath, and history has shown us that wrath is never a good thing. * Ginny believes tha t ta xing soda a nd ca ndy is a ctua lly a useful way to incentivize people to ma ke better choices a nd reduce the burden on our hea lth ca re system. Just beca use it’s your right doesn’t ma ke it right.
ranges, for good reason. They’re come-as-you-are-spots, the food is reliably good, portions are large and the prices are reasonable. The seating is comfortable, a combination of booths and tables. Wishbone serves breakfast all day; lunch begins at 11 a.m. and dinner service begins at 5 p.m. The menu is extensive and there are daily specials. For many, breakfast (it's more like brunch), is the main draw. You can go with traditional, Southern inspired breakfast creations or choose a more complex, savory one. Our personal favorites are the zesty Corn Cakes, with corn, scallions and a creamy red pepper sauce on the side. The cakes have the right touch of heat and sweetness and don't need additional syrup. We also love the decadent Shrimp and Grits, with bacon, scallions, mushrooms, wine and cream over cheese grits. Wow. Omelette choices are plentiful. If you like yours on the traditional side, you’ll enjoy the Bacon or Sausage Omelette, the Denver Omelette and the Wishbone Omelette, with potatoes, onions, cheddar cheese and salsa. A little more on the creative side are the Light Spinach Omelette, made with egg whites, fresh spinach, tomato and mushroom; the Kentucky Scrambled Eggs, scrambled eggs with corn, onion, and green pepper topped with strips of bacon. The Southern Benedict is W W W. S T R E E T W I S E . O R G
Chef J’s Secret Recipe: Seasonal Harvest Squash (serves 4)
FoodWise Shopping List: •½ C. fresh zucchini squash (chopped) •½ C. fresh yellow/summer squash (chopped) •½ C. fresh baby carrots (peeled) •½ tbs. fresh cooked bacon (diced) •¼ tsp. fresh green onion (chopped) •1 tb. fresh garlic (minced) •2 tbs canola oil (or butter) •2 tsp Italian seasoning blend (spices) •1tb. chicken stock (sodium free) •¼ tsp. black pepper
FoodWise Cooking Instructions: •Combine all fresh vegetables in a small steamer-pan or sauce pot and cook – over simmer water- until tender. Nutritional Info •Place the cooked vegetables into a small, preheated saute’ pan. Add the bacon bits, oil, Italian seasoning and garlic. •Cook mixture quickly – just until all ingredients are heated well. Add chicken stock. Bring to a simmer. •Season with black pepper. * garnish with grated cheese if desired. Serve with crusty Italian bread.
another tasty choice, two poached eggs served on biscuit with ham and topped with sausage gravy. If you’re in the mood for a grain-based breakfast, there are plenty of interesting picks. The Crunchy French Toast is dipped in corn flakes; the Wishbone Fruit Pancakes can be ordered with mango, blueberries, bananas, chocolate chips or strawberries. The Biscuits & Gravy features homemade biscuits smothered in white sausage gravy with plenty of sausage. If you’d rather go with a savory breakfast entrée, you’ll be pleased with the many Southern inspired creations. Choose farm raised Blackened Catfish with Cajun spices, two eggs, home fries, black beans or grits and choice of corn muffin, biscuit or toast. Crawfish Cakes are served with sweet red pepper sauce, two eggs, home fries, black beans or grits, and choice of corn muffin, biscuit or toast, or the North Carolina Crab Cakes, blue claw patties in spicy outer banks style served with lemon butter sauce, two eggs, home fries, black beans or grits and choice of corn muffin, biscuit or toast. The entrées come with choice of side dishes and there are even more ala carte sides to enhance your meal, plus freshly squeezed fruit juices, espresso beverages and baked goods. Lunch kicks in at 11 a.m. and dinner begins at 5 p.m.; you can design either a lighter meal or a comfort food
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Health & Fitness Age is nothing but a number By John Godoy StreetWise Contributor
y great-grandmother Sarah had a saying: “It’s a grand life if you don’t weaken.” Part of the aging process involves the gradual breakdown of the body. Muscles tend to atrophy, bones lose their density, and the protective coating around the nerve cells of the brain thin out. Exercise— both cardiovascular and resistance based—is among the best tools we have to slow down this inevitable process. In her book The Schwa rzbein Principle, endocrinologist Diana Schwarzbein discusses the difference between cellular aging and accelerated aging. Cellular aging, in short, is the natural rate of cellular decline that dictates when we will die; it’s unique to each person. Accelerated aging reflects how our lifestyle choices speed up the rate of natural cellular aging and thus shorten our life spans. In other words, our habits—good and bad—can dramatically influence the quality and duration of our lives. If we want to live the best and most productive lives we can, we must focus on doing whatever we can to positively affect how our lifestyle choices affect our aging process. This means diligently doing what may seem very obvious to all of us: eating right, minimizing stress, getting plenty of sleep, eliminating toxic habits such as excessive alcohol and any amount of smoking, and, of course, exercising. Among these good habits, the variable that’s almost always neglected is exercise. Unless they
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delight—the menus are similar for both. Salad choices include Louisiana Chicken Salad, blackened chicken breast served warm on a bed of lettuce, tomato/cucumber, with a Corn Muffin; you can add fresh or sautéed spinach. Sandwiches include the Chicken Breast Sandwich, with charbroiled or blackened breast and the Backyard Burger made from 8 oz. of naturally raised, hormone-free Meyers Angus Beef. Vegetarian choices include the Virginia Veggie Burger made with a homemade vegan patty of brown rice, lentils, black beans and roasted vegetables and the Hoppin’ John, featuring black-eyed peas or the Hoppin’ Jack, featuring black beans, either one served on rice and topped with cheddar cheese, scallions and tomatoes. If you’re ready to indulge in a Po’Boy sandwich, you can select either Crawfish or Chicken Andouille sausage. Entrées are hearty, served with cole slaw, corn muffin and choice of two sides. Interesting choices include the Atlantic Salmon Cakes, Crawfish Cakes, Blackened Catfish and Chicken with Mango Salsa. Wishbone also offers traditional Southern specials on the weekdays, such as Fresh Turkey Breast with sausage stuffing, gravy and cranberry sauce; North Carolina Crab Cakes; North Carolina Pulled Pork in a vinegar & BBQ sauce; Herb
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have a history of exercise, people tend to skip it more and more as they age, when in reality it becomes more important than ever before. Without exercise, and the results that come from a stronger, more agile body, we lose the capacity to perform the skills and movements required to live an independent, free life. Exercising as one ages helps reduce falls and improves bone density (which combats osteoporosis in both men and women) and muscle strength (which helps us with movement). It’s never too late to start. Either way, it’s the perfect time to do more than you’re currently doing. Remember, the quality and duration of your life rests significantly in your own hands, starting with your lifestyle choices. Choose well.
Crusted Tilapia; Jambalaya; Chicken Fried Steak; Pan Fried Chicken and Blackened Atlantic Salmon. Since you’ve already stretched your stomach, why not finish off the meal in true Southern style with a piece of pie? Have fun choosing: Banana Cream, Sweet Potato, Chocolate Pecan, Chocolate Mousse, Apple Cranberry Crisp, Apple, Pecan, Peach Cobbler, Bread Pudding, Key Lime Pie, Pumpkin Pie, even Brownie Pie. Wishbone has just the right mix to keep you coming back for more and more and more.
Wishbone www.wishbonechicago.com Hours: Breakfast: 7-11 a.m., Monday-Friday Lunch: 11 a.m.-3 p.m., Monday-Friday Dinner: 5-9 p.m., Tues., Wed., Thurs., Sun.; 5-10 p.m. Fri., Sat. Brunch: 8 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Sat., Sun.
West Loop 1001 W. Washington Blvd. Chicago, IL (312) 850-2663 North Side 3300 N. Lincoln Ave. Chicago, IL (773) 549-2663 Berwyn 6611 W. Roosevelt Rd. Berwyn, IL (708) 749-1295
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Pricing: Breakfast: Omelettes, $6.50-$11.95; pancakes, etc., $4.95-$9.95 Lunch/Dinner: Sandwiches and Entrees, $5.95$14.95 Cindy Kurman Barrie and Lee Barrie are the principals of Kurman Communications, Inc., a Chicago-based marketing and public relations agency. Please follow all StreetWise restaurant features on Twitter @DineWise and subscribe to the blog at: http://dinewisechicago.blogspot.com. Or visit their blog at gotbuzzatkurman.com
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PHOTOS COURTESY OF CHICAGO HISTORY MUSEUM
November 4-10 events Wednesday As newspapers continue to shrink in number and size, the future of cartoonists is in question. At Cartoons: Why We Need Them, panelists Ivan Brunetti and Teresa Prados-Torreira, who teach at Columbia College, will discuss the critical role cartoons and comics have played in American society. They’ll also examine the effects of economic conditions and new media. Brunetti has created illustrations for The New Yorker and The New York Times Sunday Magazine and edited two volumes of An Anthology of Graphic Fiction, Cartoons, & True Stories; Prados-Torreira created the Pfeiffer-Odim Political Cartoon Contest for Columbia students and is working on a book of political satire. 6 p.m., Garland Room (first floor), Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington St. 312-744-6630.
At left: The Railsplitter painting, c. 1860. Used by Lincoln supporters to exploit his hard working humble origins.
Above: Benito Juarez by Jorge Gonzalez Camarena, 1968. Oil on Canvas. Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia.
Lincoln & Juarez at History Museum By Suzanne Hanney Editor-in-Chief
braham Lincoln and Benito Juarez were contemporaries, presidents of neighboring countries who had a great deal in common. They knew of each other, but never met. Both men came from humble origins. Lincoln was born in a one-room Kentucky log cabin, Juarez in a Zapotec Indian village in rural Oaxaca, Mexico. Two new companion exhibits at the Chicago History Museum familiarize visitors with Juarez, who was president of Mexico from 1858 till his death in 1872, and force a second look at Lincoln. (Both exhibits run through April 12.) “Abraham Lincoln Transformed” examines the 16th president’s shift from dual concerns about slave owners’ property rights and slaves’ human rights to his willingness to grant slaves citizenship. Thanks to the National Museum of Mexican Art, which co-curated “Benito Juarez and the Making of Modern Mexico,” the exhibit showcases 25 national treasures never before seen in the United States. These items include Juarez’s bronze death mask, an oversized portrait, his suit (significant because he was the first leader to eschew military or royal trappings), and a stovepipe top hat similar to Lincoln’s. Museum officials candidly admit to savvy marketing of this year’s Lincoln bicentennial as well as next year’s 200th anniversary of Mexico’s independence from Spain and the 100th anniversary of its revolution. Museum visitors benefit from the juxtaposition, too. Through their study of law, both presidents shared similar views about constitutional government. Influenced by the European Age of
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Enlightenment, Juarez became a Mason and fashioned a constitution in 1857 with three major reforms: it separated church and state, it made the clergy, the military, and the common man equal before the law, and it privatized the church and tribal lands as a means of spurring economic growth. Lincoln gained fame in 1854 for opposing the Kansas-Nebraska Act because it extended slavery to free western states. “He always abhorred slavery but was accepting of it in the South in order to keep the Union together,” said Olivia Mahoney, the History Museum’s chief curator. “He believed blacks had a fundamental right to be free, but before the war he did not know how to get rid of slavery.” Initially, Lincoln waged the Civil War to preserve the Union because he believed “it served a higher moral purpose of protecting the universal ideals of human freedom and equality,” according to the “Lincoln Transformed” exhibit. As Union losses mounted, the president faced criticism, but fugitive slaves were simultaneously digging trenches or building fortifications for the Union army, whose officers refused to send them back to their owners. Lincoln also met at the White House with Frederick Douglass, the first AfricanAmerican to be received by a U.S. president. In 1863 Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed three million slaves, and on April 11, 1865, right after the Civil War ended, he spoke from the White House about Reconstruction and limited black suffrage. John Wilkes Booth heard that speech of Lincoln’s “and vowed ‘to put him through,’” according to the exhibit. Three days later he shot Lincoln, whose deathbed is in the exhibit, along with the American flag Union soldiers used to wrap his body. W W W. S T R E E T W I S E . O R G
Presented in cooperation with the National Museum of Mexican Art, this final day of the Mexican cultural celebration Day of the Dead (El Dia de los Muertos) honors the departed and uses symbols of rebirth. Witness artists as they install and decorate ofrendas (altars), enjoy traditional live music and dance, and participate in craft activities such as painting sugar skulls and making masks. Free. 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Crystal Gardens of Navy Pier, 600 E. Grand Ave. 312-595-7437.
Thursday Transportation experts have talked for years about making Chicago a hub for a Midwest high-speed rail network. Billions of dollars in federal and state funds have now been allocated to this purpose, so the reality has never been closer. Kevin Brubaker of the Environmental Law and Policy Center will discuss what projects might happen first (and when!), how fast the trains will go, the costs, and the benefits to downtown, as part of High-Speed Rail in Chicago, a “Brown Bag Luncheon” presented by Friends of Downtown. Free. 12:15 p.m., Millennium Room, Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington St. 312458-9454. The fourth annual, multivenue Umbrella Music Festival, which celebrates the diverse and cooperative nature of the Chicago jazz and improvised music scene, opens with a special evening titled “European Jazz Meets Chicago,” featuring ensembles from Lithuania, Austria, Sweden, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Chicago; see umbrellamusic.org for details. Free. 6 p.m., Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington St. Below are the festival’s other concerts, with each night’s headlining act listed first: Fri 11/6, 9 p.m., Elastic, 2830 N. Milwaukee (2nd floor): Bobby Bradford Quartet, Matthew Shipp, New Horizons Quartet. $15 requested donation. 773-773-3616 or elasticarts.org. Sat 11/7, 9 p.m., Hideout, 1354 W. Wabansia: Sakata/Parker/McBride/Herndon, People Places and Things with Bobby Bradford, Vox Arcana. $15 cover. 773227-4433 or hideoutchicago.com. Sun 11/8, 9 p.m., Hungry Brain, 2319 W. Belmont: Topology with Joe McPhee and Ken Vandermark, Akira Sakata & Chikamorachi, Head With Wings. $15 donation requested. 773-935-2118 or eiorg.org.
N O V E M B E R 4-N O V E M B E R 10, 2009
November 4-10 events
Reeling Festival has something for everyone By Barrett Newell StreetWise Contributor
High speed rail coming to Chicago? You better believe it. Representing the plaintiffs in the civil rights case Hampton v. Hanrahan, attorney Jeff Haas engaged in a 12-year battle with the Chicago police and the FBI to prove that Black Panther Fred Hampton’s death—40 years ago this December 4— was a premeditated government attack. In The Assassination of Fred Hampton, Haas unfolds each part of the highly publicized case. He’ll read from his book, answer questions, and sign copies at the following events: Thu 11/5, 5:30-8:30 p.m., Thorne Auditorium, Northwestern University School of Law, 375 E. Chicago, Chicago (Moderated by Bernadine Dohrn of Northwestern’s School of Law, the panel includes Martha Biondi of Northwestern University, Adam Green of the University of Chicago, Salim Muwakkil of WVON and In These Times, labor organizer Prexy Nesbitt, Barbara Ransby and David Stovall of the University of Illinois at Chicago, and Flint Taylor, an attorney with the People’s Law Office. A reception honoring the families of Hampton and Mark Clark will follow. Free to the public, but registration is required at 312-503-0395 or by e-mailing e-curtis@law.northwestern.edu.); Fri 11/6, 6:30 p.m., 57th Street Books, 1301 E. 57th, Chicago; Sat 11/7, 9 a.m., Heartland Cafe, 7000 N. Glenwood, Chicago, and 1 p.m., Chicago Public Library, Mable Manning Branch, 6 S. Hoyne, Chicago; Sun 11/8, 3 p.m., Barbara’s Bookstore, 1100 Lake, Oak Park; and Mon 11/9, 7 p.m., Book Stall, 811 Elm, Winnetka.
Friday Before Dr. Frankenstein, there was The Golem, an ancient Jewish morality story about politics, power, magic, and survival. This 1920 classic silent film by Paul
N O V E M B E R 4-N O V E M B E R 10, 2009
Wegener is brought to life as five members of Fulcrum Point New Music Project, a string quartet and clarinet ensemble, perform the original score by Betty Olivero. Free. 7 p.m., Claudia Cassidy Theater, Chicago Cultural Center, 77 E. Randolph St. 312-744-6630. An aural exchange between master trumpeter Orbert Davis and master tap dancer Martin “Tre” Dumas, Jazz City: Jazz/Tap will show how both the jazz and tap traditions have evolved by fusing individual responses into a collective whole. Part of the Jazz City concert series sponsored by the Jazz Institute of Chicago. 7:30 p.m., South Shore Cultural Center, 2059 S. South Shore Dr. Free. 773-256-0149.
Weekend The American Indian Center of Chicago brings singers and dancers from across the nation, 40 authentic arts and crafts vendors, and native food to the UIC Pavilion, 1150 W. Harrison St., for its 56th Annual Powwow. Doors open at noon on Sat 11/7, and dancing takes place at 1 and 7 p.m.; on Sun 11/8 doors open at 10 a.m. and dancing starts at noon. $12 adults, $6 children and seniors. Call 773-275-5871 or visit aicchicago.org for more info.
Monday For one night only (6-9 p.m.), Site Unseen 2009: (dis)abling conditions features performances, installations, and video works all centered on issues of disability, created by individual artists and ensembles of local and international acclaim specifically for the rooms and architecture of the Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington St. Free. 312-744-6630.
Reeling, the Chicago Lesbian & Gay International Film Festival, now in its 28th year, has a target audience: anyone who loves film. The festival boasts an incredible breadth of documentaries, shorts, pictured: Oy Vey! and full-length feature films this My Son is Gay!! year, with over 150 screenings to be COURTESY OF REELING FESTIVAL held at four locations around the city, starting Thursday, November 5, and ending Sunday, November 15. Reeling provides movie lovers the opportunity to enjoy a wide variety of films, many of which will never be released commercially. Started in 1981, Reeling is the second-oldest gay and lesbian film festival in the country, and regularly features films from around the world. This year’s lineup is no exception and promises to reflect the diversity of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (GLBTQ) community. Because members of the GLBTQ community, like anyone else, identify themselves as being more than just their sexual orientation and gender, films addressing social issues like race and class have become increasingly more common in “gay and lesbian” cinema. John G. Young’s Rivers Wash Over Me, for instance, explores class, regional differences, and sexual abuse through the eyes of a gay New York youth forced to relocate to Alabama after his mother’s death. The diversification of topics in gay and lesbian films have made them increasingly relatable to larger audiences, as illustrated by the commercial success of Milk (2008) and Brokeback Mountain (2005) in recent years. Gay cinema isn’t suddenly attempting to go “mainstream,” but it is safe to say Reeling is far from a special-interests festival. Marketing and public relations director Angelique Smith explains, “[Gay] films today seem to move more towards, ‘You’re a person and you happen to be gay.’” Reeling’s admission prices are roughly the same as most commercial theaters. This is good news for moviegoers who are spending less on entertainment in a slow economy. Aware of the economic blues many suffer from, the festival’s staff intentionally scheduled more uplifting films this year, opening with an energetic comedic musical aptly titled Big Gay Musical! and closing on a high note with the family comedy Oy Vey! My Son Is Gay!! Other comedies, horror films, and genre-defying tales, like Stuck!, director Steve Balderson’s homage to women-in-prison exploitation films, will also be screened. For those willing to pay a little extra, Reeling has planned a series of nightly filminspired events in order to give viewers a space to mingle, discuss movies, and enjoy food, drink, and music. For example, a jail-themed party hosted at the nightclub Circuit might appeal to those looking to let loose after a screening of Stuck!, while film buffs who like to dress up and socialize might enjoy the Fish Out of Water afterparty taking place at the wine store and bar In Fine Spirits. Smith estimates that at least 50 percent of the festival’s selections will have some sort of representative present at the screenings or afterparties, which isn’t always the case at film festivals. Reeling encourages newcomers to catch a screening even if they’re unfamiliar with the issues of the gay community. In the documentary Fish Out of Water, local filmmaker Ky Dickens uses animation and interviews to explain how different Bible verses are used to condemn homosexuality. For those who normally wouldn’t consider attending a gay film festival, Smith thinks Fish is worth the trip. “I would love for people with different points of view to come see it. Very often a lot of films that attempt to educate can be preaching to the choir,” she said, adding, “A great film is a great film. I would hate to see anyone put off because it’s a gay or lesbian film.” More information on Reeling’s films, screening times, ticket prices, and theater locations can be found at reelingfilmfestival.org.
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Young Frankenstein at Broadway Chicago Winner of both the 2008 Outer Critics Circle Award and Broadway.com Audience Award for best new musical, Young Frankenstein brings Mel Brooks’s 1974 movie to life onstage. The Broadway in Chicago production runs Tue 11/3Sun 12/13 at the Cadillac Palace Theatre, 151 W. Randolph St., in Chicago. Brooks’s wickedly inspired spoof of horror movies is a reimagining of the Frankenstein legend. It centers on Dr. Frederick Frankenstein (pronounced “Fronk-en-steen”), the bright young grandson of mad scientist Victor Frankenstein. After he inherits his grandfather’s castle and finds his journal, he attempts to bring Victor’s monster to life, but not without scary and hilarious complications. The Chicago cast includes original Broadway stars Roger Bart and Shuler Hensley—as Dr. Frankenstein and the Monster, r espectively— delivering classic moments from the film along with brand-new, show-stopping musical numbers, including Transylvania Mania, He Vas My Boyfriend, and Puttin’ on the Ritz. Three-time Tony Award winner Brooks wrote the music and lyrics himself and wrote the book with fellow Tony winner Thomas Meehan, who also collaborated with Brooks on The Producers.
As You Like It at Loyola stage WWW.YOUNGFRANKENSTEINTHEMUSICAL.COM
That play’s director and choreographer, five-time Tony winner Susan Stroman, reprises her roles for Young Frankenstein.
One night: Tribute to Motown Greats Talented Chicagoland vocalists perform classic hits in V. Holmes’s A Tribute to Motown Greats. The one-night-only performance takes place Sat 11/7 at 7:30 p.m. at the Center for Performing Arts, in celebration of the 40th anniversary of Governors State University. Take a trip back in time with selections such as Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On, Smokey Robinson & the Miracles’ Tears of a Clown, Stevie Wonder’s Uptight (Everything’s Alright), and Gladys Knight & the Pips’ Midnight Train to Georgia. “The way they throw down gives the audience a realistic flashback to the days when no party was complete without the sounds of Motown,” said critic Richard Steele of Chicago Public Radio, WBEZ 91.5 FM, on GSU’s Web site. The 40th-anniversary celebration package is $50 and includes a reception at 6 p.m. as well as dancing and DJ music at a postshow party, where you can meet the stars of A Tribute to Motown Greats; 1960s attire is encouraged. Call the GSU alumni office at 708-534-4128 for tickets. Regular prices are $23-$43, and group discounts
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are available; call 708-235-2222 or visit centertickets.net. Located at 1 University Pkwy. in University Park, Illinois, the Center for Performing Arts is wheelchair accessible and there’s free street parking. —Suzanne Hanney W W W. S T R E E T W I S E . O R G
If “all the world’s a stage,” can you possibly have “too much of a good thing”? The answer is “probably not,” since the question is quoting As You Like It, considered to be one of William Shakespeare’s greatest comedies. It runs Fri 11/6-Sun 11/15 at Loyola University’s Kathleen Mullady Memorial Theatre, 1125 W. Loyola Ave., in Chicago. What happens when you’re banished from your kingdom, you’re in love with a wrestler, and you have to dress as a boy just to get by? It’s a classic case of mistaken identity and forbidden love in this pastoral comedy, which focuses on relationships between young refugees finding shelter and discovering romantic possibilities in the countryside. The beautiful, banished Rosalind—one of the Bard’s most inspiring characters, with more dialogue than any of his other female characters—disguises herself as a boy to survive in the forest and win the heart of Orlando, challenging social boundaries in the process. In the end, however, exile and readjustment result in unexpected pairings and a reinvented expatriate community in this classic gender-bending romp. Director Mark Lococo, who heads up Loyola’s theatre program, previously directed the theatre arts division of Northwestern University’s National High School Institute. He received a Joseph Jefferson Awards nomination for Best Director of a Play in 2007 for The Miser (Northlight Theatre), and he directed the Chicago premiere of A Man of No Importance (Apple Tree Theatre), which won the 2004 After Dark Chicago Award for Best Production of a Musical. Performances are Thu-Sat 7:30 p.m. and Sun 2 p.m. General admission is $15, $10 for Loyola faculty, staff, and alumni, $8 for seniors and non-Loyola students, and $6 for Loyola students with ID. Call 773-508-3847 or e-mail boxoffice@luc.edu. —Suzanne Hanney
N O V E M B E R 4-N O V E M B E R 10, 2009
By Suzanne Hanney Editor-in-Chief
25 Years Ago... rominent national civil rights leaders were telling African-Americans to “ignore” polls that put President Ronald Reagan, the Republican incumbent, ahead of Walter Mondale, the Democratic nominee, just three days before the 1984 presidential election. “Don’t believe the polls,” Atlanta mayor Andrew Young said in the November 3, 1984, Chica go Defender . “They belong to those people who take them. Anyone who earns less than $7,000 a year should be about the business of helping to get Reagan out of the White House. Twenty-five hundred [people] can’t say what 100 million voters are going to do on election day.” Young made his remarks while campaigning for the Mondale-Ferraro ticket in Memphis,Tenn., and West Memphis, Ark. Maxine Smith, an NAACP official at the organization’s Memphis branch, told the Defender that Reagan won Tennessee by only 4,700 votes in 1980, but the organization had registered an additional 40,000 voters in Shelby County and “we are ready to claim victory Tuesday. If Blacks in other major cities ignore the polls and vote in record numbers, we will have a sweet victory Tuesday.” An NAACP spokesman argued that white media were attempting to influence the election by making the outcome seem already determined. Reagan secured a second term with 58.8 percent of the popular vote and a landslide 525 electoral votes, compared to just 13 for Mondale, who won only the District of Columbia and his home state of Minnesota. Roughly 93 million Americans—just 55.3 percent of eligible voters—went to the polls on November 6, 1984, which was a disappointment for Democrats: they had hoped for a turnout of at least 100 million, on the theory that greater voter turnout worked in their favor, according to encyclopedia.com.
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N O V E M B E R 4-N O V E M B E R 10, 2009
Rumors of the death of the New Deal coalition were premature: Mondale won a majority of votes from unemployed and low-income people, along with African-American, Hispanic, Jewish, and urban voters. However, Reagan also attracted key components of the New Deal coalition: Catholics (55 percent) and white Southerners (72 percent). Encyclopedia.com noted that Reagan “also benefited significantly from an eight-year drift of so-called middle Americans—people of moderate income, blue-collar workers, and high school graduates—toward the Republican camp, where they joined its traditional coalition of white Protestants, high-income people, and individuals with highstatus employment.” Exit polls indicated that the president won on the basis of personality, not philosophy. (A standard campaign joke was that even though the 73-year-old president might fall asleep in Cabinet meetings, it was the members of the Cabinet who would fall asleep if Mondale was elected.) Simultaneously, the ‘84 election showed the end of party loyalty: two out of five voters were baby boomers, who were more likely than their parents to consider themselves independents. Also in the November 3 issue of the Defender , local African-American leaders were reported to be wary of the Illinois GOP. Aldermen William C. Henry (24th Ward) and Danny K. Davis (29th Ward), along with a representative of the Independent Voters of Illinois, accused Cook County Republican Party chairman J. Robert Barr of hiring black election judges for $140 each in a plot to undermine voter turnout in the community. Sending white federal troops to 46 cities was also part of the alleged intimidation plot. Barr, of Evanston, responded to the Defender that he had the best civil rights record in Springfield, that he had a right to install Republican judges, and that there would be no federal troops. Locally, the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) was also considering a
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PHOTO COURTESY OF TIME MAGAZINE
This Week in Chicago
Republican idea: allowing public housing residents to purchase their units, thus giving people with low income the chance to build equity. Besides housing, HUD was concerned about community development, acting regional administrator Judith Brockman told the Defender . The continuing saga of the City Council’s 29-21 split between supporters of aldermen Edward Burke (14th Ward) and Edward Vrdolyak (10th Ward) and those of Mayor Harold Washington was chronicled in the November 3 Defender . Burke, the City Council’s finance chairman, charged that Washington was planning a property tax hike for the city’s $1.9 billion budget.The mayor had said he wouldn’t increase taxes, but Burke pointed to recently negotiated firefighter pay increases, and said he would cut 2,000 out of 2,195 vacant positions unless they were funded by state or local government. Similarly, Chicago Teachers Union officials designated a December 3 strike after the Board of Education told 41,000 staff personnel that they would have to begin to pay part of their own insurance premiums.
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Chicago Innovation By Shea Gibbs, John Pazdziora, & Stephanie Taylor hicago firefighter Michael Weilgat may end up saving more lives because he was off duty during the LaSalle Bank fire of 2004 than he could have by being on duty. Sitting at home that evening watching his colleagues control the blaze with an exterior water stream from an adjacent rooftop, Weilgat decided to forge ahead with an idea he had almost axed a year before: he decided to develop a device that could provide an exterior water stream from within a burning building. Five years later, his award-winning Hero Pipe was finished. With current technology, fires occurring higher than 12 stories up must be contained from within. The Hero Pipe is a portable telescoping waterway that can be installed on the floor below a fire, positioned out of a window, and aimed back at the burning building above. “It’s not designed to completely extinguish the fire but to bring temperatures down so firefighters can get in there and secure it,” Weilgat said. “I wanted to protect firemen.” Weilgat is now seeking a Chicago company to manufacture the productiongrade Hero Pipe; he then plans to take it to market. With the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and others already expressing interest, he hopes to do so in a few months. Weilgat’s invention won him the Visionary Award at this year’s Chicago Innovation Awards, held October 20 at the Goodman Theatre.The Visionary isn’t presented every year, and during the presentation the Chicago Fire Department lieutenant thanked his colleagues for cooperating as he tested and retested prototypes. “Innovation Through Collaboration” was in fact the theme of this year’s awards. But Weilgat isn’t the first Chicagoan to solve a fire department problem, said Tom Kuczmarski, who along with publisher Dan Miller is founder and cochair of the Innovation Awards. Kuczmarski introduced a previous winner who developed the “Bionic Wrench,” which can open any fire hydrant. Before, fire trucks had carried more than a dozen different types of wrenches. Kuczmarski thanked Mayor Richard M. Daley for “creating a city so supportive of innovation, from the public sector to the private sector, and creating a city that welcomes entrepreneurs.” The Chicago Innovation Awards began in 2002 and celebrate the most significant new products created in the region—the ones that fill unmet needs, spark a competitive response, and improve people’s lives. Awards officials say creative productivity is especially important during difficult financial times,“when there may be more pressure to hunker down than to reach out,” according to prepared material. LeNardo Nelson, inventor of the TriTrak Eco Blade, or “three windshield wipers in one,” is one of four nominees geared toward helping the community as well. Invention runs in Nelson’s family.“My father and grandfather were inventors,” he said. “I was just born into a lineage of very creative men and women, [and]
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The Hero Pipe stands tall in the Goodman Theater lobby at the Chicago Innovation Awards, similar to how it would look in a high rise fire.
Among the 250 nominees for the 7th annual Chicago Innovation Awards, the other winners: Heart Sounds, Inc. Invented by Matthew Norris and Michael McCoy, former MBA students at the University of Illinois at Chicago, this fetal heart monitor allows you to hear the heart from outside the body.
At left: Michael Weilgat creator of the Hero Pipe. At right is Tim Stahl, who's been involved with the Hero Pipe for about four years. He is a friend of Weilgat's, and his company Ad House Creative Group has been working on marketing the product free of charge.
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Abbott Laboratories Winner of the first annual People’s Choice Award for its new Similac formula package, which can be used with one hand.
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Aircell A Wi-Fi hotspot application now on 600 commercial airplanes. ComScore, Inc. Its Ad Effx technology measures online advertising campaign effectiveness. EveryBlock A local-news site that uploads all stories happening near the address the user enters in the “search” field. In August, MSNBC acquired EveryBlock’s news feed, which now covers 15 cities, although the company remains headquartered in Chicago.
Groupon Offering daily deals on stuff to do, eat, buy, and see across the U.S., Groupon has saved consumers $22 million while still providing businesses with new customers. Rescue Vac Systems, Inc. Victims of trench collapses have often died when rescues took six to eight hours using shovels. Rescue Vac’s product reduced the time by 80 percent—from hours to minutes—thus saving lives. Suncast Corporation The No Crank Water Powered Hose Reel has a three-piston, water-powered hydraulic pump that can rewind your garden hose effortlessly.
N O V E M B E R 4-N O V E M B E R 10, 2009
Cover Story
Left: Hero Pipe wins the Visionary Award. Above: The CEO of Groupon accepts the award.
some of that rubbed off on me. I have a book full of different ideas.” Economic hardship inspired him to design the TriTrak some years ago. Nelson, who describes himself as “faith-filled,” believes the design was God’s answer to his prayers for “an idea to help out my family.” The idea was the TriTrak, three interlocked wiper blades that rotate to become their own refills, which saves money on changing the blades. It was, Nelson said,“divinely inspired.” Although the market slump after 9/11 hampered initial sales, Nelson is optimistic about the product’s future. He remains eager for new ideas, and welcomes assistance in promoting the TriTrak. Ultimately, he hopes its production will create jobs for the community and help families like his own. The National Collegiate Scouting Association helps high school athletes and their families find scholarships in 16 men and women’s sports, from football and basketball to water polo. Founded by former student football player Chris The Art Institute of Chicago Designed by renowned Italian architect Renzo Piano, the new Modern Wing rekindles the museum’s relationship with the surrounding city by using modest technology that takes advantage of natural light. Tripp Lite Its UPS (uninterruptible power supply) prevents “phantom loads,” a waste of electricity even when the electricity is turned off. Robotic Surgery Program at UIC UIC’s advanced robotic laboratory is the only one in
Illinois, and has trained 250 surgeons from across North America in techniques that will translate to fewer blood transfusions, less pain from surgery, and quicker recovery in the future. Visible Vote Compatible with Facebook, iPhone, Blackberry, and Windows, this application allows users to tell their representatives in Congress how to vote— and whether or not the politicians did as the users requested. —Stephanie Taylor
N O V E M B E R 4-N O V E M B E R 10, 2009
Krause in 2000, NCSA has a high-tech database called Recruit-Match. This database helps track over 100,000 top high school athletes and has contact information for coaches in over 1,700 colleges and universities. NCSA is open to all students regardless of economic background. Jump Forward LLC, another finalist, is a pioneer in sports relationship management for high school athletes and their parents as well as college coaches and rule regulators. Its Jump Forward Traveler application is compatible with Blackberrys and iPhones for information on tuition, majors, and coaches at more than 2,600 colleges. Inner City Computer Stars (or I.C. Stars), although not sports-related, is also helping the community’s youth. This program is for inner-city young adults with high school diplomas or GEDs. I.C.’s mission is to develop three kinds of civic leaders: •Civic: involved in the community through local school councils or chambers of commerce; •Business: job placement and mentoring toward manager positions; •Service Leaders: student participation in the community via teaching and mentoring. The 16-week program teaches skills in business and technology, then offers career services for three to five years. I.C. pays stipends twice a month during the four-month workshops. During this time students develop Web sites for a nonprofit organization. I.C. has 175 graduates and had a 100 percent job placement rate until the recession; it now maintains an 80 percent rate. “I am still confident that we’ll be able to place our graduates,” said founder Sandee Kastrul. I.C.’s vision is to develop 1,000 leaders for the community by the year 2020. “The future belongs to those who innovate with technology and who invest in a quality education for us—and our city and our country—to move forward,” Mayor Daley said. “Thanks for all that you innovators are doing to better our city, our country, and the world.” —Gibbs on Hero Pipe, Pa zdziora on TriTra k, Ben Cook & Stepha nie Taylor contributing W W W. S T R E E T W I S E . O R G
Above: Visible Vote’s CEO and founder accepts his Innovation Award. Below: Richard M. Daley, The Most Innovative Mayor in America according to the night’s presenters
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Dear Eugene, What is the best way to keep in touch with old friends? —Dan Dear Dan, Although Facebook has more users than there are people in the United States, don’t let that steer you too quickly to embrace the online social network. What could be better? May I suggest you try messenger pigeons. Like I always say, if it worked in the Franco-Prussian War, it can work for you. When electrity came along, these intrepid birds fell by the wayside, and now you can see their fat, burnt-out decendents pooping on our sidewalks strung out on fast food. It’s sad really. These dirigibles should prove easy to catch, and once you do, go to http://www.ehow.com/videos-on_4543_breedtrain-homing-pigeons.html to learn from Mr. Joseph Shung Chiang Lee, a name well known in pigeon racing circles in India. After taking in his 29-part video series, it’s time to fly. By using such a unique mode to communicate with your friends, you’ll never have to worry about people forgetting just how they know you, exactly. Imagine the look on your friend’s face when your pigeon flies up to them, feathers hanging loose and stretched out on its crash-diet frame, bearing your good tidings. Now try and replicate that on Facebook. You can send Eugene your questions at 1201 W. Lake, Chicago, IL, 60607 or e-mail him at supreme_eugene@yahoo.com.
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N O V E M B E R 4-N O V E M B E R 10, 2009
Entrepreneur Spotlight
Dawn of a new Dawn By Ben Cook StreetWise Staff
awn Konieczny describes herself as borderline homeless, meaning she considers herself low-income and draws social security and disability to support herself. After her rent is paid, however, she barely has enough money left to buy food. She has a high school education, but like many others has had a hard time finding a job. Before coming to StreetWise, Dawn worked as a medical assistant, but she became disabled. “I have tremors now, so I can’t give injections or anything like that. I’d be a liability. My disability threw me a curveball—but what are you going to do?” At the urging of her friend, fellow vendor and professional shoeshiner Christian Jacobson, Dawn decided to give StreetWise a try. “I’m a people person, so StreetWise is giving me an opportunity to be out there with people,” she says.“I like talking to everyone, and hopefully I can help change the perception of what homelessness is about. I’m almost homeless, I needed to make some extra money. We’re out there selling StreetWise to make an income, not for it to be a handout. This is a way to be self-sufficient. There are people out there who are undergoing treatment for drugs and alcohol—it doesn’t mean that they are still using.” (Dawn is concerned that people might perceive her as a drug user because a side effect of her medication is that it sometimes causes her to shake.) Despite some of her initial nervousness, she likes where she’s at. “I’m also glad that my job gets me out of the house a couple days a week. I have a lot of side effects from my medication, so if I don’t feel well and can’t work five days a week and only work three, it’s not a problem—I can work when I want without getting fired. I can work mornings, evenings, or all day—it’s up to me and how I feel. It’s a wonderful opportunity. I’ve seen more and more people—working people—who lost their job and then in a month they are in the same place that
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I am, on the verge of homelessness. It’s not like you think it would be. It’s not just a certain group or type of people.” Dawn’s had a couple rough starts working near major stores; managers have run her off even though there weren’t any complaints from customers about negative behavior on her end. It confused Dawn since, to her knowledge, she hadn’t done anything wrong, but rather than stay discouraged, she looked for another location where she could sell StreetWise. Three months later, she’s happy with where she’s at.“I’m mostly working near the Jefferson Park and Cumberland Blue Line CTA stations. I sometimes do the Harlem station, too.” Having regular customers is starting to make Dawn’s time selling StreetWise—more profitable— and more fun. “I try to be very friendly, nice, and respectful, and help people understand what StreetWise’s mission is and what stories there are to read inside.” Although it was a tough start, Dawn has been overwhelmed by the generosity of her customers, and she’s developed friendships with many of the CTA bus drivers who take her to and from her spot every day. “This is working out good, and makes me feel like I’m getting out again, seeing people. I don’t have to worry about my lights getting turned off, or my phone, or if some of my medicines stop getting covered—I’ll be okay. I’m looking to keep being self-sufficient so I don’t end up homeless, and that I can keep my studio apartment and keep paying my bills. Someone else may need the social services that I have had to rely on more [than I do], so I would like that option to be available to them.” As soon as Dawn is eligible in six months, she plans to enroll in LEED computer training courses to improve her future job prospects.“My computer skills are rusty, so in the meantime StreetWise is giving me the opportunity to brush up on my skills in their work empowerment center.”
Meet: Dawn Konieczny
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Hopefully I can help change ther perception of what homelessness is about.
—Dawn Konieczny
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N O V E M B E R 4-N O V E M B E R 10, 2009
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