PeoriaStory

Genetic roulette - save the date

PEORIA -- Here's an interesting event, coming on April 11. From a news release:

FREE PUBLIC SCREENING

Documentary: Genetic Roulette

6:30 p.m. April 11, 2013; Illinois Central College

Performing Arts Center, East Peoria campus

 

Genetic Roulette is an award-winning documentary examining the health risks posed by consumption of GM (genetically modified) food. Bestselling author, filmmaker and consumer advocate Jeffrey M. Smith has investigated GM food and concludes it is “the world’s most dangerous food scam.”

Europeans call GM food “frankenfood,” and 50 countries including the European Union require labeling of GM food. In the U.S., California Proposition 37 calling for labeling narrowly failed to get voter approval in 2012 after the biotech industry and food conglomerates spent more than $45 million on a PR blitz to counter supporters of labeling who raised under $9 million. Now Illinois Senate Bill 1666 sponsored by Sen. Dave Koehler is calling for labeling GM food sold in Illinois.

Koehler said people can argue on both sides about the safety and the need for GM food, but he supports mandated labeling as the public’s right to know and make informed decisions.

In the documentary, Smith interviews physicians and scientists who link consumption of GM food with cancer, birth defects, infertility, allergies, autism and more.

Two reviews of this entertaining and engrossing film:

“Genetic Roulette unveils a world most of us have never seen. It raises alarming questions about GMOs, and we deserve answers. For all that you love, hear this message and act now.”

    -- Frances Moore Lappe, author of “Diet for a Small Planet” and “EcoMind”

 

“In exposing the bullying and deceit of the biotech industry, Jeffrey Smith’s mesmerizing film shines a bright light of hope that we can reclaim our health and our food systems. Meticulously documented, thoroughly comprehensive, and rivetingly presented, this is more than an adventure story with intense drama and high stakes. It is in fact one of the most important stories ever told. Watch it and be galvanized, inspired, and engaged. Then tell everyone you know.”

  --John Robbins, author of “Diet for a New America” and “Food Revolution”

 

This event is sponsored by Illinois Central College’s Student Association for the Environment (SAFE), Heart of Illinois Group Sierra Club  and Peoria Families Against Toxic Waste.

 

Coming events of interest

PEORIA -- Here are some programs and events that look interesting:

 

• "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks:  A Panel Discussion on Biomedical Ethics and Human Research" will take place on Thus., February 28 at 7 p.m. in the Westlake Hall auditorium on the Bradley University campus. Panelists are Jill Wightman, PhD; Lori Wiebold, PhD; Nick Stover, PhD; and Samuel McIntyre, MD.  Admission is free and open to the public.

• Strategic Challenges Facing the New Israeli Government with the Hon Roey Gilad, Consul General of Israel fo the Midwest.

Thursday, February 28,7:00 pm

Horowitz Auditorium, Caterpillar Global Communications Center

Bradley University  (park in Visitor Lot)

Sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Peoria

Free and open to the pubic.

• Reach for the Stars with Scott D. Altman

Register soon for a Sunday afternoon lecture featuring Scott D. Altman, Captain, U.S. Navy (Retired) and NASA Astronaut!

 

Hometown hero Altman will discuss growing up in Central Illinois, his experiences with the Navy, and the wonders of flying and working in space.  Scott graduated from Pekin Community High School in 1977, and his parents, Sharon and Fred Altman, still reside in Pekin.  He is a graduate of the University of Illinois and the Naval Postgraduate School.  A veteran of four space flights, Altman has logged over 51 days in space.  In August 2012, he became Vice President for the newly formed ASRC Federal Space and Defense Agency.

Date: Sunday, March 10,  Time: 2:00 - 3:00 p.m., with refreshments served 30 minutes prior.

Location: Bradley Hall, First Floor Auditorium

Parking:  Available in any white or blue-lined space on campus

Cost:  Free, but advanced registration is required.

• Collision of Religious Tradition and Modern Culture:The Orthodox Church in Russian Politics

Thursday, March 14

2:00 pm - 4:00 pm

ICC North

Angela Weck will discuss recent protest movements in Russia and the role that the Russian Orthodox Church has taken.

This event is sponsored by the ICC Adult Community Programs.  Please register for this program at www.icc.edu/acp or by calling (309) 690-6900.

 

Where ARE those textbooks?

PEORIA -- The Peoria District 150 School Board met Feb. 25, and during the public comment session, at the end of the meeting, heard Sharon Crews' comments on the bar coding of textbooks.  It's reprinted below.

I was not at the meeting, but here is a recording of all the comments. 

Dist150 Feb 25 2013

 

The board continues to mislabel its meeting on the second Monday of the month  as 'committee of the whole' even though the meetings are identical to the regular meetings. It relegates comments to two minutes at the end of the sometimes long meeting.

These 'committee of the whole' meetings take place at 6 p.m., not 6:30 p.m., the regular meeting time.  And they're at a different school every month, an imposition on the schools and the public, as the parking lots often are not lighted and the locations unfamiliar to those outside the neighborhoods.

All this to discourage public comments, apparently.The comments are blacked out during the web-streaming process, I am told.

Here's what Crews said:

"I am never sure what you board members know and what you don’t know.

Do you know that the very expensive bar-coding process is being conducted now and that probably a significant number of students have been without books for a week or more? 

Why shouldn’t we assume that this fiasco shows a complete lack of regard for the educational process, teachers, and students? 

This action was taken without prior notice to teachers that they would be teaching without textbooks.

Also, I wonder if you understood how well the old system worked before you spent close to a million dollars on a new system.  I assume you know that all books were numbered consecutively for each book title and that a number was recorded on the cards students filled out for each book so that there was never any question as to which book was given to which student. 

The card was given to the student as a receipt when the book was turned in. Did you know that there is a very good chance that these cards were not used in the collection of books that is occurring now? 

Do you realize that the books that some students turned in might not be the ones that were originally issued to them?   Students frequently borrow another’s books when they lose their own.  Happens all the time. 

How are students going to be responsible for lost books if the cards weren’t checked? 

Please remember to ask how long the bar-code stickers stay on the books undamaged.

I believe the impetus for buying this expensive machine was that the  administration believed that some schools were hoarding a significant number of books.  The system broke down some time ago because textbooks were no longer sent back to the warehouse at the end of every year to be inventoried. 

That problem could have been fixed without spending so much money on a bar-coding system that is not going to solve the problems of lost books.  The District can’t find lost books.  Books stored at a school could be found with a return to an effective inventory system and without an expensive bar-coding system.   Too late now."

 Well said!

-- Elaine Hopkins

PHA improving Trespass List policy, may be planning to ditch Taft Homes

 

PEORIA -- The Peoria Housing Authority Board received a preliminary draft of an improved Trespass List policy, at its Feb. 25 meeting.

The policy will be tweaked, and submitted formally to the board in March, then posted for 30 days of comments, officials said.  The policy contains an appeals process for those on the list who want to be removed.

In addition, officials are working through the 1,700-name list and taking off names that should not be there.  They include some for which there is no paperwork. meaning there's no record of why the person was placed on the list, the board was told.

Many names date from 20 years ago, PHA public safety officer Jerry McKean said. "We put them on and they were forgotten."

That won't happen again, he said.  "There will be two dates," when they are placed on the list, and when they will come off automatically, he said.

He's having trouble identifying others on the list because of the similarity in names, he said.

Hedy Elliott Gardner first raised the Trespass List issue last summer, asking that an appeals process be developed and obsolete names be removed.  (See these stories under the category 'civil liberties.')

The board also approved a resolution that calls for adopting a master plan by June 24 that will determine the fate of Taft Homes. Meetings will be held with Cong. Aaron Schock, R-18th, who has already participated in some meetings, and with Cong. Cheri Bustos, D-17th, PHA executive director Brenda Coates said.

Taft Homes, open in 1954, provides housing now for 216 households on 20 acres.  Five of these acres are vacant, according to the resolution.

It was renovated in the 1990s, but "Administration anticipates that renovation work to return the site to its useful life and compete with the market would not be cost effective," it says."

The site "is highly visible to the public." Its location "and current property conditions play a critical role in the continuing revitalization of the riverfront district, downtown Peoria, and the surrounding neighborhoods," it states.

"The city of Peoria has adjacent property with a private developer agreeement in place," it says.

This is bureaucratic talk for reasons to get rid of Taft Homes, with a private developer apparently ready to make money from the site, with the help of the politicians. 

Still, it could be argued, and likely will be argued, that getting rid of Taft would be good for Peoria and the neighborhood, and for the residents who would likely be relocated into mixed income neighborhoods where they may have new opportunities. 

Board members expressed concern for those who cannot afford market rents and need public housing. "If we don't build public housing, nobody will," said board president Ken Zika."People in Taft can't afford anything else."

 -- Elaine Hopkins

 

 

Coming events

PEORIA -- Here are some interesting coming events:

• What Are We Doing Here? The Impact of Foreign Aid on Africa with film maker Tim Klein is Thursday, February 21, in the auditorium in Westlake Hall, Bradley University.  The film will run first at 6:30 pm, followed by discussion with the film maker.  

This event is free and open to all.  Please watch the weather - we'll plan to proceed with this event unless Bradley University closes:)  You know the Peoria weather - we might get it, or we might not.  Check out the flyer at www.pawac.org.

• Spotlight on Turkey - a Workshop will be held on Saturday, March 2 in the Executive Suite in the Bradley Student Center.  This event runs from 9 am to 2:30 pm.  There is a nominal fee for this workshop, and it is open to everyone. 
  

There will be special materials provided to teachers, and all teachers grades 6 through 12 are strongly encouraged to apply for a study tour going to Turkey June 27-July 11, 2013.  This heavily subsidized trip is an outstanding way to find materials that can be brought into any classroom curriculum!  You can find the flyer and registration materials on the website at www.pawac.org.

• 43rd Annual Central Illinois World Affairs Conference will be held April 5-6 at the Par-A-Dice Hotel Conference Center, on the topic "Is the Arab Spring Turning to Winter?"  Flyers will be mailed soon.
  

• Bradley University Hillel and the Jewish Federation of Peoria will host Consul General Roey Gilad for a discussion of the priorities of the newly elected government of Israel.

This event is free and open to the public. It will be held at 7 pm on Thursday, February 28 at the Global Communication Building at Bradley.

***

New model for health care coverage

PEORIA -- Here's a  link to a very interesting story in the Community Word by free lance writer Clare Howard, on a new-to-Peoria model for health care coverage.

It's worth reading, and could become widespread in the future, likely a plus for the local community and the nation.   

Jersey Boys good not great

PEORIA -- The road show of the hit musical Jersey Boys plays at the Peoria Civic Center through Feb. 23.

We saw it last night, Feb. 16.  We expected a lot, since numerous friends who have seen it in Chicago loved it. And the Peoria event was well done, well staged, well performed. 

But it's not a great musical.  It's a rather pedestrian story of how some talented guys from New Jersey negotiate and overcome ties with the mob and personal problems to become stars.

There's no satire, just a simple narrative backed up by the songs written and performed by Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. 

If you're of a certain age, you remember them.  They were a bit stupid then, and remain so despite the slick staging of the musical.  I think this music was once called 'bubble gum rock'  for a reason.

So -- the musical was entertaining but forgetable, not on the same stage with Rent, Phanton of the Opera, Spamalot, South Pacific and dozens of others that tackle real issues with stunning new music, and not just strive to entertain.

This was a non-Actor Equity cast with a couple of Equity Actors.  All were good, especially Bryan Hindle, the understudy for the actor playing Frankie Valli. It's amazing how well an understudy can carry off a complicated musical which involves cues, singing, dancing, and acting. He even looks like Valli.

Another note -- the cast sometimes played multiple roles.  I'm wondering if this occurred in the original cast performance, or is a money saving adaptation for the road show.

Anyway, Jersey Boys is entertaining, though not profound, and worth seeing for an evening of light entertainment.

 -- Elaine Hopkins

PJS's horrible service for subscribers

PEORIA -- So it's come to this!

We arrived home on the afternoon of Valentine's Day, Feb. 14, but found no love from the Peoria Journal Star, which once again failed to deliver our daily paper.  So we erected a sign in front of our house. 

 

We are 7-day subscribers.  We like the paper, which despite its diminished size, still has a few interesting stories each day.  We want it.  But we rarely get it.

We have been skipped so many times that we resort to asking friends to give us their used copies of the PJS. 

The other day a district manager, working for the outsourced, non-union company in Arizona, called and left a message, his phone number.  (The district managers, who supervise the carriers, used to be part of the Newspaper Guild and they made a living wage.  No longer. They were bought out, retired, fired.  And the delivery was outsourced with predictable results.)

 So I called the number today. He said he's off work until Sunday, but I could call the paper tomorrow, Friday, and ask for a credit.

Thanks a lot.  I don't want a credit. I want the newspaper. So once again a friend said she would save it for me.

So I will call tomorrow for a credit, though I have no idea whether it will really be applied to my account. They don't even send an email message so the subscriber can keep track of it.

And yes, I can read it on my computer.  And no, I don't want to read it on a computer, much less a tablet or cell phone. 

I want to curl up on a comfy sofa, or sit at the kitchen table, and read it, and share stories and comments with my husband, the way newspapers have always been read and shared. I'm willing to pay for that.  But...

Does the PJS want to discourage subscribers so they will go to the web?

I'll go to the web to post comments, if the story merits it. That's OK, but no substitute for reading the story in the newspaper first.

The real issue here, I suppose, is whether the sign will work. Stay tuned.

 -- Elaine Hopkins 

Fights and disruption at Von Steuben School, people say

PEORIA -- The public comment section of the Peoria District 150 School Board meeting on Feb. 11 focused mainly on fighting and disruption at Von Steuben Middle School.

Many people spoke of the problems there. "Behaviors are out of control. Teachers have no power to curb the escalating behaviors," said a parent who is PTO president there and a part time aide. 

What kind of behaviors?  Children talk disrespectfully, swear, mock teachers, bully others, fight, attack teachers, and worse. the speakers said. They may get in trouble but then an adult complains to the administration which overturns the punishment.  The children know this, the speakers said.

They asked for more security at the school. 

Here is the the Journal Star story on the meeting. 

Here is a recording of their comments.

Dist.150 feb.11

Activist Sharon Crews studied students who were retained by their teachers but were passed on anyway.  She asked who has the power to overturn a teacher's decision. See her report here:

Comments by Sharon Crews:

"At the beginning of the year, I heard that some primary and middle school students who were retained by teacher decisions last year were passed on to the next grade because they attended the Summer Compass Learning program.  The FOIA response revealed that the rumor was false.

However, data seems to reveal that 33 of the 225 students who were retained by their teachers were passed on to a higher grade by someone other than their teachers.  I hope that you board members do know why and by whom these reversals of teacher decisions were made and that, in the interest of transparency, you would be willing to make the reasons public.

Seven of the 19 retained middle school students--who ultimately passed--did attend Compass Learning.  Conversely, eight middle school students were retained even though they did attend Compass Learning.  Clearly, then attendance at Compass Learning was not the criterion for reversing the retentions.  I would think that parents of the 192 students whose retentions were not reversed would like to know why their children missed out on the opportunity offered to 33 others.  And just what was that opportunity?

This data revealed some other information worth consideration.  For instance, the highest number of failures occurred in kindergarten and 1^st grade and in 7^th and 8^th grades. 

Using the teacher numbers, 67 failed kindergarten, 40 the 1^st grade, 41 the 7^th grade, and 26 the 8^th grade.  That means that roughly 78% of the failures were in the two lowest and the two highest grades.

As to the reversals of retentions, ten retained kindergarteners were passed on, three 1^st  graders, one 3^rd  grader, three 5^th  graders, nine 7^th  graders and seven 8^th graders.  Grades were changed at 13 primary or middle schools.  No grade changes were made at Glen Oak, Kellar, Northmoor, Thomas Jefferson, Whittier, Woodrow Wilson, Mark Bills, Rolling Acres, or Trewyn.  I do find myself wondering why teacher decisions were not questioned at those schools.  There were no failures at Jamieson, Lindbergh, Von Steuben, and Washington.

I did find the Quest numbers especially interesting.  Of the ten students retained by Quest teachers, four returned to District 150 schools and two are not enrolled at Quest or in 150.  Therefore, only four of the retained students remained at Quest.  I did find it most interesting that one of the retained Quest students was passed to a higher grade in a District 150 school.

I believe it is worth noting that 40 of the students who failed moved to a different District 150 school for the current year.  Seven moved from 8^th grade to a high school.  Because there seem to be no firm school boundaries in District 150, it is difficult to conclude whether these parents moved to new areas or whether District 150 moved students around for whatever reason.  Also, 31 of the students were not listed as being in any District 150 school.  

I believe this information should raise some eyebrows.  Clearly, I believe there is a need for board members to find out if these reversals of retentions represent a new trend in District 150.  Who and how many have the authority to override teacher decisions about grades and what criteria are used to make such decisions?  What can be said about a District whose administration seems to have such distrust of teacher decisions?   In light of the seemingly arbitrary reversals of teacher decisions, how can we expect students and parents to trust the fairness and honesty of District 150’s decisions that so directly affect students?

Another question I have relates to the number of failures.  192 or 225 seems to me to be a very small number.  Perhaps some studies should be done to compare the failure rates over the last twenty years.  Is, as I suspect, there a trend toward social promotion, disrespect of teachers’ judgments, and lowering of standards?

These are the kinds of questions that the District simply must answer.  We need to know from where we have come, where we are going, and why."

Sharon uncovered some disturbing facts that should generate discussion within District 150.  We'll see if that happens.

 -- Elaine Hopkins

Is religion your boss?

PEORIA -- In Peoria, where the Catholic Bishop Jenky last November compared President Obama to Hitler and Stalin, then ordered Catholics to vote for "religious liberty,"  a speaker at Bradley University on Feb. 11 set the record straight on the true meaning of religious liberty.

It's freedom to believe what you want to believe, but not to impose your religion  on everyone, said Rob Boston, a policy analyst  from Americans United for the Separation of Church and State.

Boston gave a well presented and spirited defense of true religious liberty in the USA. The main guideline, he said, is: "You're not the boss of me."

Religious liberty does not mean employers can impose their beliefs on their workers, and deny them contraceptives.  It does not mean that government can try to impose prayer in school, or mandate the teaching of creationism. That's trying to be the boss.

So why must there be a constant battle against those who try to impose their religious beliefs on others through government?

Nobody wants to lose power, Boston said, but modern society is now so diverse that religious leaders feel threatened.  They have lost the power to control people's lives, and they want it back.

"Religions can speak, but they can't order anyone to listen or follow them," he said.  These ideas are based on the U.S. Constitution, whose creators saw first hand the tyranny that can arise from state-sponsored religion.

In Virginia, the spectacle of Baptist ministers jailed because they had defied the state sponsored Anglican religion led Thomas Jefferson to push for the separation of church and state in the Constitution, he said. 

"Religious freedom means we live in a pluralistic democrcy, not a Christian nation," he said. The founders of the nation didn't support that, and religion is mentioned only twice in the Constitution, in the First Amendment, then to ban a religious test for office. 

Boston said that despite these ongoing battles, there is a long term trend toward tolerance, and that liberation movements have freed women, gays, and likely in the future will be focused on non-believers. 

But there are some real threats to religious liberty, when people try to ban mosques, for example.  That's subverting our values to protect them, he said.

There's a tension now between public accomodation and conscience, that occurs when pharmacists refuse to dispense contraceptives or Plan B which can prevent pregnancy after unprotected sex. "The courts should not allow it," he said of so-called conscience actions, since these involve serious health issues for women.

As for employers who don't want to allow workers to have contraceptives as part of their health insurance packages, contraceptives not only save money from unwanted births, thus do not cost the employer anything, but also may have other uses for women's health. "Are we really going to make women bring a note from a doctor" to an employer to get needed medicine, he asked.

"You don't have the right to make these decisions for others," he said.

 -- Elaine Hopkins