EDITORIAL

Attention, Kids: Trend-Spotting 4 Us

We want U 2 tell us about your exciting first day of school. What did U C? The RoundTable would like U 2 B reporters 4 us. We plan to keep a record of first days of school for the next several years.

And we'll start with yours.

Tell us about the first day of school:
What grade are you in?
What was the date?
How did you get to school?
How many bicycles were in the bike rack at your
school?
How many kids are in your classroom or home
room?
What flowers were in bloom?
What was the temperature outside?
What leaves were turning?
What changed at your school over the
summer?
What was the cafeteria serving for lunch?
What kind of shoes did you wear?
What was the most popular color of clothing
among your friends?
How much does a gallon of gasoline cost?
What ward of the City of Evanston do you live in?
Who is your alderman?
Who do you hope will be our next president?
What is the Cubs' record?
What is the White Sox's record?

PLS send your info 2: info@evanstonroundtable.com.
ATTN: BFF.
THX. C U next year 2 :)

Aging and Friendships

By Charles Wilkinson

"Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be ..." Robert Browning

I was 13 years old when I first read these words. They were on a sundial in a garden at the seminary I had entered days earlier. At the time, growing old was incomprehensible to me and Robert Browning's poetry an experience yet to be savored.

Almost 60 years later in the throes of aging, I find myself fortunate to be among others who help me believe that, indeed, the best is yet to be. They are my friends.s

Truth be told, aging is not an easy process. One's body seems to protest against it most mornings as joints struggle to remember their functions, screaming for reminders. And one's mind tends to get lazy and moody and lost for moments, chasing down fleeting thoughts or trying to remember someone's name. Is it any wonder I sometimes think that my friends are so appreciated these days because misery loves company?

Yet, when I think of it, there is no stage of life where friends are more important to one's well-being than the later years, if only because they let you know you are not alone. Even if they look older than you think you do, they are a mirror of self and a life lived. If they are long-term friends and close to your soul they can keep you honest with your memories; if they are friends come lately to your life they help you create new ones.

My friends refuse to let me settle into growing old. They keep me from isolating because they are more available then they could ever have been in earlier years. Whether breakfasting or "doing lunch" or sharing a really good "read," taking in a movie or just stopping by, or connecting by phone or on the Internet, friends can make retirement seem like another career, one in which I could never be paid enough to compensate for the joys of their presence.

In a sense, these years are years of harvest. Friendships from those early seminary years and so many others along the way have grown to a fruition I could never have imagined at the time of their seeding. And I am grateful.

Of course, the best friends of all are family. No one is more aware of the changes aging brings and of the challenges they present, not only to me but also to them. The "best" that Browning writes of is mostly about their love and support in these grown-to years.

Browning's words in his poem, "Rabbi Ben Ezra," also defines a faith in the process of aging no 13-year-old could ever comprehend:

Grow old along with me!
The best is yet to be,
The last of life, for which the first was
made:
Our times are in his hand
Who saith, "A whole I planned,
Youth shows but half; trust God: see all,
nor be afraid."

Recreational Eating

By Peggy Tarr

I grew up in a small town surrounded by farms. On Saturdays farmers brought their eggs, chickens, fruits and vegetables into town to be sold. Included in my mom's purchases from the farmers were bushels of corn. My sister and I loved corn on the cob. As kids we would eat so many ears of corn that we would be miserable. Although our mom did not prevent us from overstuffing ourselves, she would ask us if we really wanted another ear. The questions should have been, "Did we need another ear?" Aaaah, but the corn was so delicious. Why stop?

While visiting a family, we sat in the kitchen as usual. My friend's husband came into the kitchen, went to the refrigerator and heaped food on his plate. "Michael," I said, "Be careful. Your shoes are untied." "I'll be all right," he replied.

When Michael left the kitchen with his heaping plate of food, his daughter told me, "Dad has gained so much weight he can't bend over and tie his shoes any more."

We laughed, but it was not really funny. Not being able to bend over and tie one's shoes because one is too fat raises all kinds of flags for real or potential health problems. Food, food, more food. Got to keep that stomach up.

A couple of my coworkers and I went to a Chinese restaurant. Both of my coworkers had high blood pressure. I do not. My coworkers grabbed the soy sauce and started pouring it all over their food. "Hey," I said. "I thought you told me you had high blood pressure. Why are you using that salty soy sauce? The food is salty enough." The two looked at each other, laughed and kept pouring. One of them said, "It tastes better with soy sauce. Why don't you have some?" Grrrrrr. My pressure is rising.

I was a lunch break during a conference: We were encouraged to sit with people we did not know. After finishing several of the main entrees, one of the women at my table went over tot the dessert tables and returned with a heaping plate of desserts. "I know I shouldn't eat all of this with my diabetes," she said. "Then why are you?" I asked. She gave me a this-is-none-of-your-business look and rolled her eyes. I wondered why she had bothered to tell me she was diabetic, since I did not know her and would not have known she had diabetes. Hmmmm. If nothing else, she gave me second thoughts about getting any dessert.

Need I say that I am also abusive when it comes to eating? ("Before healing others, heal yourself." - the Gambia) Too often, I stuff myself at a restaurant, using the excuse that there are not enough leftovers to take home in a doggie bag. And of course I can hear my mom's constant reminder of "all the starving children in the world" as another reason to eat all my food. Any excuse will do.

Well, now that I've chopped away at recreational eating and, I hope, inspired all of us to eat more sensibly, "Bon appétit."

Letters to the Editor

Hang Up on Unsightly VRADs
Editor:

What is going on in Evanston? Isn't it enough that we don't have a Design Review Committee that could have prevented some of the architectural disasters we've ended up with? Now we have 110 VRADS popping up on parkways all over town creating unbelievably distasteful eyesores.

How was this allowed to happen? Who was responsible for reviewing the permits AT&T submitted? Who knew about this and did nothing to stop it? City staff?

Alderpeople? This community deserves to know who should be held accountable for this visual mess.

Yes, it's a good thing to offer an alternative to Comcast. But not at the expense of ruining streetscapes with these huge metal boxes. AT&T should have been required to bury them underground as is being done with other cable necessities in communities today. This is just a travesty and I want to know who signed off on the permits. Let's make sure there's an extra special big VRAD right in front of their house.
-- Lois Roewade

Community Art Projects
Editor:

Your article on the history and future of the Wall of Struggle and Dreams by Jordan Graham was excellent, detailed and informative. We would like to just add some information.

The restoration of this important mural has been made possible by a new aspect of the Evanston Public Art Committee's work - the Community Art Project. Under this program, using a small grant from the City Council, several areas of the City have been enriched. We were able to help the Willard PTA complete a wonderful tile mural created by the school community and executed by students and adults in the area.

We were able to provide the missing funding needed to complete the Evanston Art Center project, "Among the Nereid, Voices Seek Repose," in which Evanston residents of all ages wrote and decorated notes expressing their thoughts and ideas about Lake Michigan - notes that are sealed into the individual bottles that compose the large ship-like structures of the sculpture.

A lighted gateway at the Custer Street bridge in south Evanston is in the last stages of planning and will soon be commissioned.

The Public Art Committee urges all members of the community to contact their alderman or the Cultural Arts Center, 847-448-8260, with any idea, an area in their community that could be enriched by art, or an area that needs help visually. Our goal is to respond to each community that seeks to enrich the visual aspect of their surroundings.
-- Gerry Macsai and Lyn DelliQuadri,
Community Art Project, Evanston Public Art Committee

A Tree With a History
Editor:

Libby Hill's column on the black alder is fantastic. Keep publishing her.

You know it is just a short walk from our house to the "two handsome parkway specimens on the south side of Grant Street just east of its intersection with Pioneer Road." Ellen and I will take a look later today.

You probably also know that Calypso not only helped Odysseus construct a boat of "alders and poplar and firs," but also advised him to "steer by Polaris" which is the first recorded navigational aid.
--Donald R. Allen

Bicycle Registration
Editor:

Could you list the following in your events bulletin board?

Bicycle Registration at Farmers' Market, August 23, 2008 from 8:00 a.m. to noon University Place and Oak Avenue.

Bicycle Registration at Bent Park, September 6, 2008 from 9:00 a.m. to noon Harrison Street and Hastings Avenue.

Bicycles are increasingly important modes of transportation for adults and children. A number have been stolen, sometimes used in thefts, and later abandoned. Without registration, Evanston police have no record of the serial number and registration sticker number as means for returning recovered bikes to the owners. By offering bike registration at various events, in addition to the 24-hour accessibility at the police station, we hope to reach more Evanston residents.
--Martin Egelston

Reader Finds Editorial Insulting
Editor:

The argument presented by the editorial entitled "Defending the Weapons Ordinance" in the Aug. 6 edition is insulting and a common product of the anti-gun hysteria.

The main point of the piece was that citizens of Evanston should continue to be denied their constitutional right guaranteed by the Second Amendment to possess a firearm in their own home for self-protection because it may be used to injure an emergency responder, a family member, or by someone to attempt or commit suicide.

Does the author of this editorial also propose that the City Council ban baseball bats, golf clubs, kitchen knives, sleeping pills, razor blades, glass containers, paperweights, letter openers, or any number of other common household items that have been used with the same "devastating consequences" listed in the editorial?

Law-abiding gun owners understand that owning a firearm is a tremendous responsibility and welcome any discussion that will end of the senseless crimes committed by gang members and drug dealers. However, it is naïve to think that these violent members of society will abide by a law that prohibits them from possessing a firearm when they do not abide by any of our other laws.

Under the current ordinance, home invasions are far safer for the invader, because it is highly unlikely that he/she will be greeted by a homeowner with the means to protect him- or herself. If the City Council amended the ordinance as originally proposed, the invader may think twice about entering a home.

I recently heard a Chicago police officer on a local radio show encouraging the City to lift its ban on handgun ownership for self-protection. His comment, "when seconds count, the police are minutes away," struck a chord with me. What events with "devastating consequences" will I and my family have to endure while we are waiting for the police? That is, if we have an opportunity to contact the police.
-- Peggy Miller

Heads Up - City Elections Are Coming
Editor:

We elect our friends and neighbors to local public office, and then are surprised that they are no more competent to run a City than we would be. Shame on us.

There is an election next year; we could have a new mayor and all the new aldermen we want.

Maybe this year's performance by the present mayor and aldermen even convince us to take the election seriously. If the aldermen's sudden discovery (despite annual warnings in writing) that they owed $140,000,000 to the pension funds doesn't convince us of their collective incompetence (or, if you prefer, their collective will to ignore the problem because it interferes with their favorite TIF project), then I fear nothing will ever move us to actually care about who runs for office in Evanston.

Then there is the departure of the new City Manager. Either the City Council is telling the truth, and none of them has a clue as to why she left, or they know and won't tell us, because the reason was them. Either way, it's a pretty sorry performance.

So this is a plea that some civic-minded group put together a slate of newcomers, including a new mayor.

I know it's hard to divert attention from the national election, but we really know how Evanston, and Illinois, will vote in that one, and thus can afford a little time to look for willing new faces, particularly a new mayor. Who knows, maybe it will be a stepping stone to fame. I suspect we're unlikely to find a Barack Obama; one hopes that we can avoid getting a Rod Blagojevich.

To make time and space for a search for candidates, it would be good if the current Council declared a moratorium until after the election on discussing how to extract money from not-for-profit institutions. It's an issue which resurfaced again this week (see the RoundTable of August 6, p.5), because some Council member raises this red herring whenever they need to divert attention from their own failings.

Please stop, for a little bit, treating us like children, capable of being diverted by the crudest of bread and circuses. Instead of diversions, we need to find out if we are capable of real democracy, by finding competent candidates for next year's elections for mayor and alderman, who can then find a competent City Manager to whom they will defer.

If that miracle occurs, the aldermen will have lots of spare time to discuss whether to coerce charities into making charitable contributions to each of us.
-Dan Feldman

To the Community, From the Evanston History Center
Editor:

As president of the Board of Trustees of the Evanston History Center I want to thank all of you who have supported and encouraged us during this past difficult year.

As most of you are aware, Northwestern University has decided that the Dawes House should not be open to the public at this time. While we are extremely disappointed in this turn of events, we want you to know that the Board is aware of the historical value of the Dawes House and its significance to the Evanston community.

Currently we are in negotiations with Northwestern University, exploring ways that the Evanston History Center will be able to stay in the Dawes House and continue to provide all the services and events associated with the History Center and the house.

We are hopeful, and at this writing, encouraged that these talks will conclude successfully. Our ultimate goals are twofold - allowing the Dawes House to continue to be the Evanston History Center's home, and continuing to be a research and education center open to the community.

We look forward to a successful outcome and await the day the Dawes House will reopen to the public.

Please be assured that we will continue to survive and thrive as your Evanston History Center and are working tirelessly for a positive outcome. Your heartfelt efforts, encouragement and championing to retain the Dawes House as a community asset has been appreciated, and we thank all of you for your support.
-- Margaret Wold, president, Board of Trustees of the Evanston History Center

Kids Without Health Insurance Suffer
Editor:

A new report released on Aug. 14 by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) shows that having health insurance makes an enormous difference in whether kids receive the care they need, especially if they are chronically ill.

The study shows that insured children are three times more likely to visit a doctor's office in the course of a year than are uninsured children. Insured kids are also far more likely to have had a regular check-up to keep them healthy.

This report should remind us all how important SCHIP and Medicaid are for America's families, especially those with seriously ill children.

When kids with asthma or diabetes go without care, what could be a minor health problem can quickly turn into a major one.

In Illinois, about 130,000 children with chronic conditions are covered by SCHIP or Medicaid, allowing them to get the regular check-ups, medication and treatment they need. Without these programs, they would likely be uninsured, forced to gamble each day that their chronic illness won't require any medical attention.

Despite the success of public insurance programs, millions of kids remain uninsured. The latest Census numbers show that more than 9 million children remain uninsured nationwide and 250,000 of those children live here in Illinois.

Campaign for Better Health Care (CBHC) is committed to reducing the number of uninsured children in Illinois.

By working with legislators, advocates for health and children, and others at the state level, we are promoting state policies that expand coverage for kids. We know our state's leaders care about children.

The present report explains why providing them with health insurance matters. It is wrong and against our values as Americans that children of working families are denied health care. Politics as usual in Springfield is what got us into this cancerous health care crisis in the first place. Not taking action to resolve it for the past two years means that nothing has changed.

Once again, it is the budgets of families, businesses, providers and health care consumers of Illinois that continue to suffer needlessly. Because of ALL Kids hundreds of thousands of Illinois children have access to care. However, other barriers caused by the insurance industry have negated many of these successes.

CBHC is currently sending out a pledge/questionnaire for candidates running for state office to fill-out. Their pledges will tell voters if the candidates will be part of the solution, or if they will embrace the "Do Nothing" mentality that has engulfed our State Capitol.
-- Jim Duffett, executive director, Campaign for Better Health Care

Disagrees With Reader About VRADs
Editor:

I respectfully have to disagree with Mr. Baker's recent opinion against the AT&T Project Lightspeed VRAD utility boxes.

First, his church probably pays little or no property taxes on that land anyway. Why complain to begin with? We all pay a ton of property taxes, as we all know.

Second, the introduction of the AT&T boxes is to provide us, the consumers, with a choice in services: "The VRADs are part of AT&T's Project Lightspeed program, which gives Evanston consumers a choice between AT&T and Comcast." (Evanston RoundTable, Aug. 6, 2008). Is this not a good thing?

Third, this is technology, and in order for our community to continue to benefit from new technologies, these infrastructures have to be installed.

I guess my question is - how come no one is complaining about the prior and existing utility boxes that reside all around Evanston? What about stop-light utility boxes at every corner, phone utilities, etc.?

Instead of spending time opposing this and questioning prior legislation, commit your resources to getting the beautification check ($1500, I believe) to green up the area around the box on the church property.

And, is it really a priority for the Rules Committee to now object to these structures, so much so that our State Senator has been invited to tour the area?

Have we declared it a disaster area yet?

Please... do we not have other issues that take precedence?

Oh, and by the way - I have yard signs for sale - "Save Evanston, Stop the VRAD Boxes"
-- Dan Bloedorn

How Can a Gun Legally Be Used to 'Defend' Oneself?
Editor:

Regarding the issue of gun control, you could do a lot by explaining to your readers under what conditions a gun can be used to "defend" oneself. I am not a lawyer, but believe to know the following rules:

If the burglar is unarmed or armed but does not threaten you personally and you shoot him, you will be condemned for murder, even if he takes your laptop. You cannot shoot an "intruder" and "defend" your home. If he is unarmed and takes your gun away, there is nothing you can do. He does not have to "freeze" when you tell him to. You are a murderer if he ever turns away and you shoot him in the back. You cannot stop him from walking away and carrying the loot away with him. There is very little you can do with a gun. Your best bet is to run away and call the police on your cell phone.

The City could also do a lot. It could require insurance from gun owners. It could impose serious penalties if ever an accident happens or murder is done with the gun they own, even if it is stolen, because they would have been negligent. Unregistered guns can be confiscated.
--John Tuzson

More City Give-Aways
Editor:

A City of Evanston panel recommended giving back $500,000 in sales taxes to Farmers Best Market 430 Asbury Ave.

Has the City not learned by now that selecting particular businesses for it largess does not work?

Sites, business and developments have been singled out time after time for 'special' privileges only to see nothing be done with the site [and wind-up paying compensation to the displaced business] or the business fail after a short time - and we have yet to see the full effect on the sky-high prices of condos as result of the credit/mortgage crisis.

Instead of "picking winners," the City should seek to lower taxes on all businesses and individuals so the businesses can survive and citizens afford to buy from them.

I have nothing against a new store or the people in the Asbury/Oakton area, but there is already a grocery at Dempster and Dodge.

While everyone would like a grocery close to them [or for that matter clothing, electronics, appliance, drug stores, etc. and would have them if the City had not forced so many out], there are stores closer to Asbury and Oakton than a lot of us are lucky enough to have.

In case the Economic Development Committee has not talked to the City Council, we have enough budget, pension and infrastructure issues to deal with first before "picking winners."

Unfortunately experience shows that [to change an old story] like the student who was called on and said "I'd didn't hear the question professor but the answer is to increase taxes on everyone, pick a fight with Northwestern to humiliate them to pay taxes, pick winners, make promises due in the distant future [when we served our terms and are long gone from resultant problems] and let the rest leave [Evanston]."
-- John Fuqua

Lobby to Reduce Pension Liabilities
Editor:

There has been much talk and hand-wringing regarding the effects of outstanding pension liabilities on the City of Evanston. Evanston can't be unique in this quandary. As I understand it, our State of Illinois government negotiates firefighter and police pensions and then passes the liability to the municipalities.

What I don't understand is why the State's municipalities don't band together to lobby for the reduction of the pension liabilities? This game can be played both ways.

The free ride is over for the automobile industry. Now it's government's turn. As Secretary Wilson said in the 1950s, "What's good for General Motors is good for America."
-- John Wertymer