Black Voters' Disenchantment Could Mean Trouble For Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel

By Mary Wisniewski



CHICAGO, Sept 30 (Reuters) - Rahm Emanuel won election as mayor of Chicago three years ago in part because of his strength in the African-American community, but enough black voters have since soured on him that a black labor leader is emerging as a potential rival in the city's February election.



Emanuel easily won the majority of voters in every African-American ward in 2011 to become mayor of Chicago, the nation's third-largest city. Since then, a persistently high murder rate, the closing of 50 public schools and a sense that Emanuel is out of touch have hurt his position and invited a bid from Karen Lewis, president of Chicago's teachers' union.



Any candidate for mayor other than Emanuel, who served at President Barack Obama's first chief of staff, would start with a financial disadvantage. The mayor has taken advantage of his popularity with the city's business community and his national profile to raise more than $8 million in campaign funds.



Lewis, who has not yet committed to a run, has less than $60,000, including $40,000 of her own money. A national teachers' union has pledged $1 million if she decides to challenge Emanuel.



Support for Emanuel among black Chicagoans, a third of the city's population, has fallen sharply, according to recent polls. About one in four black voters now approves of Emanuel's performance, according to a Chicago Tribune poll released in mid-August. In May 2013, forty percent of black voters approved of the mayor's job performance, the Tribune said.



Citywide, 35 percent of voters approve of his job performance.



"He came in here with the Obama halo, and it was assumed his policies would reflect those of the president," Lewis said in an interview.



In the same Tribune poll, 46 percent of black voters considered Lewis favorably, while results showed she would narrowly best Emanuel in a city-wide race.



Lewis rose to prominence in Chicago politics in 2012 when she led the city's first teachers' strike in 25 years. During strike, which lasted seven days, she led downtown marches by teachers in red shirts.



She then pressed her criticism of Emanuel when the mayor in 2013 moved to cut the schools budget by closing 50 schools - many of them in heavily African American communities.





ROUGH, EVEN FOR CHICAGO



Critics and political observers say Emanuel has had to make unpopular decisions while grappling with big financial problems, including an unfunded pension liability of $19.2 billion. The administration points to progress - the city's projected 2015 $297 million operating fund deficit is the lowest in seven years.



"He came in and inherited a mess, really," said Kwame Raoul, who holds Obama's former state senate seat.



Emanuel defends his hard work and "tough decisions."



"For three-and-a-half years, he has worked closely with people in every neighborhood of Chicago," said Steve Mayberry, campaign spokesman.



Emanuel's manner is tough even for Chicago, where bare-knuckles politics is the norm. His imperious style may have made unpopular decisions, such as school closings, even harder to swallow, said Alderman Roderick Sawyer, son of Chicago's last black mayor, Eugene Sawyer.



"The way it was done, the swiftness of how it was done, that ticked off a lot of people," said Sawyer.



If Lewis does decide to run, she would need to overcome her own vulnerabilities. She is seen by some as divisive. She has called Emanuel "a liar and a bully" and dubbed him "the murder mayor," a reference to the city's high crime rate.



Where Emanuel is famously disciplined as a campaigner and mayor, Lewis is freewheeling and has made occasional gaffes. She was videotaped mocking U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan's lisp. She later phoned Duncan to apologize.



Emanuel already faces a small group of declared candidates. The best known is Alderman Bob Fioretti, who is white. The city election is non-partisan, and a runoff is held only if no candidate wins 50 percent plus 1 vote. Emanuel won in the first round in 2011.



Roosevelt University political science professor Paul Green predicts Emanuel will survive the first round, if he does not win outright. Lewis and Fioretti could face difficulties raising campaign funds, because donors to Chicago mayoral campaigns typically are wary of backing opponents of powerful incumbents.



"If you're going to be a big player and you're going to give money to a challenger, you better have a fairly good notion that person is going to win," Green said. (Reporting by Mary Wisniewski; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)





from Chicago - The Huffington Post http://ift.tt/1vuJx74

via IFTTT

Illinoisans have been trying to reform the pension system for almost 100 years

The condition of Illinois' failing public pension systems has been topic No. 1 in state government for the last five years. Chief Legal Counsel to Illinois Senate President John Cullertain Eric Madiar recently discovered that Illinois officials, legislators and citizens have been trying to reform the state's pension system for almost a century.



He writes:

In 1917, the Illinois Pension Laws Commission warned State leaders in a report that the retirement systems were nearing "insolvency" and "moving toward crisis" because of the State's failure to properly fund the systems. This nearly century old report also recommended action so that the pension obligations of that generation would not be passed on to future generations.



The 1917 report's warning and funding recommendation went unheeded, as were similar warnings and funding recommendations found in decades of public pension reports issued before and after the Pension Clause was added to the Illinois Constitution in 1970.



These reports consistently have warned the public and lawmakers for decades of the dire consequences of the State's continued underfunding, and of the significant burden that unfunded pension liabilities posed for taxpayers. They have also been advised that the Pension Clause bars the legislature from unilaterally cutting pension benefits of retirees and current employees.

Read the rest of Madiar's thoughts at Reboot Illinois.



Illinois' pension crisis is only one of many issues facing the state that our elected officials will have to deal with in the coming years. As the election approaches, choosing the right people to deal with those issues becomes a major responsibility for all Illinois voters. Reboot Illinois' Madeleine Doubek takes a look at what voters and candidates should be considering in the coming weeks.









from Chicago - The Huffington Post http://ift.tt/1wUVNNh

via IFTTT

Education Department Awards $75 Million In Innovation Grants

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Education Department has awarded $75 million to 24 colleges and universities to foster innovation in college value and efficiency.



The new competition is called "First in the World" and 500 schools applied. Applicants submitted proposals with plans in areas such as improving graduation rates, making it smoother to transfer between schools and increasing enrollment in science and technology programs. For example, Purdue University in Indiana says it will use its winning $2.3 million grant to redesign large lecture courses in areas such as science to more fully engage students.



And, in New York, LaGuardia Community College says it will use $2.9 million it was awarded to strengthen its curriculum to better assess students and track their progress.



from Chicago - The Huffington Post http://ift.tt/1DW56RG

via IFTTT

Coyote Found Wedged In Bumper After Being Hit By A Truck

A very lucky coyote is currently recovering in a Chicago-area wildlife rehabilitation center after it was hit by a truck and then trapped in the vehicle's grill.



The driver, who struck the coyote around 6:30 a.m. on Sept. 24, thought he may have hit something but didn't see anything. He drove six more miles to a train station in Waukegan, Illinois, the Lake County News-Sun reports.



There, onlookers noticed an animal they thought was a fox wedged inside his truck's front bumper. They soon learned they were dealing, instead, with a coyote.







An animal control officer with the Waukegan Police Department freed the coyote, who appeared to be in shock. The officer then called the Flint Creek Wildlife Rehabilitation center, which agreed to take the animal in for medical treatment.



The Barrington, Illinois-based facility found that the coyote, which they named Vern, had sustained three fractures to his legs. Vern is now resting after receiving treatment, according to the center, where staff is hopeful for a full recovery. They plan to release him back into the wild after winter.







The center is accepting donations toward the costs of Vern's recovery.



from Chicago - The Huffington Post http://ift.tt/1DW53FA

via IFTTT

Wrigley Field Under the Scalpel

This morning as the sun came up in a warm autumn breeze over Lake Michigan, the iconic baseball park, Wrigley Field, went under the scalpel as streets were blocked off till next April, semi trucks carrying the giant tools of construction chugged on to the once green fields of summer, the ivy that ringed the field quivering because everything would be different now.



One tough problem here. Because Wrigley Field really is a dump. We all get old. And if we don't take care of ourselves? Stuff happens. Not that long ago, giant nets were strung up over sections of the grandstands to catch the falling chunks of concrete before they landed on people's heads.



Still, the planned changes to Wrigley Field seem like flashes of the "Pottersville" Jimmy Stewart runs through on a snow falling night looking for some sort of meaning to his life. Captain Morgan Rum now takes up more space than the statues of Cub icons Ron Santo, Bill Williams and Ernie Banks. When comedian Jeff Garlin was recently asked what he'd do if he had all the money in the world, he said, "I'd buy the Cubs and tear down all the crap they are building and make it real again."



The real money for all this is coming from the family heirs to the Ameritrade fortune. It's their team. They can do whatever they want with it. Perhaps they will see it as a trust. Perhaps they will see themselves as stewards. Perhaps not. We don't talk much. I hear one of the heirs roams the stands talking to fans. That's nice, but I really can't afford to go anymore. I don't have that kind of money.



My first baseball game was old Comisky Park. My Dad took me in that magical Sox year of 1959. I remember the pennant with names like Nellie Fox, Louis Aparicio and manager Al Lopez, that hung on my childhood wall for years.



But the Cubs? My grandfather was a Cubs fan. Took my Mom out of school once to take her to a World Series game. The Cubs run in my blood. I never bought the silly cross-town rivalry, dug up and splayed across the newspapers as some sort of class war. Here is a news flash. Cubs fans had money problems too.



I was there on a gray, rainy afternoon to watch Kerry Wood pitch in a game that will be described for generations. I was there in 1984 when we were winners.



We were winners.



Buried deep in my closet is a glove and uniform from my other grandfather who played minor league ball for a Boston affiliate. Why am I a Cubs fan?



Cause I was born that way.



Is the Wrigley Field makeover a good thing or a bad thing? I don't know. Could go either way. Depends on what it looks like when it's done. But even more then what it looks like, it depends on whether that family cares more about practicing stewardship or quarterly returns.



Which direction do you think they'll choose?



from Chicago - The Huffington Post http://ift.tt/1vtIx2R

via IFTTT

19 Cult Food Destinations Worth Enduring An Insanely Long Wait In Line

5 Illinois Cities With Some of the Highest and Lowest Unemployment in the State

In Illinois, each metro area had unemployment rates drop for the fifth month in a row. Jobless numbers in all 102 counties also fell, according to preliminary figures released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Illinois Department of Employment Security.



The data is not seasonally adjusted, which means the unemployment rate of the current month is compared to the same month of last year -- i.e. August 2014 to August 2013, which removes any seasonal or regular patterns that otherwise affect the unemployment rate. Additionally, people who have dropped out of the workforce are not reflected in these statistics.



On Sept. 18, IDES announced the statewide unemployment rate fell 0.1 percentage points to 6.7 percent in August. The national jobless number stands at 6.1 percent.



"This is encouraging news - more people working than one year ago and fewer people describing themselves as unemployed," IDES Director Jay Rowell said. "We now will look to see how the falling unemployment rate trend unfolds as employers continue to add permanent jobs and we begin to experience seasonal hiring."



The unemployment rates were calculated based on metro areas, counties and cities.



Here are Illinois cities with the tenth through fifth highest unemployment rates in August 2014.



10. Alton -- 10.0 percent

9. Maywood-- 10 percent

8. Dolton-- 10.2 percent

7. North Chicago --10.3 percent

6. Decatur -- 10.7 percent



Here are Illinois cities with the tenth through fifth lowest unemployment rates in August 2014.



10. Oak Park -- 4.7 percent

9. Mount Prospect -- 4.7 percent

8. Downers Grove -- 4.6 percent

7. Wilmette -- 4.5 percent

6. Northbrook -- 4.5 percent



Check out Reboot Illinois to see the cities with the top five highest and lowest unemployment rates in the state and to see these numbers broken down by county and metro area, plus the jobless trends in these areas over the last two years.



NEXT ARTICLE: Six weeks until the Illinois election and we want to help you decide

1. Check out our Election Scorecards and find out where the candidates stand on the issues before you vote!
   


2. Use our Sound Off tool to tell your local representatives what you think about some of the state's most important issues
   


3. Guest: Can "Moneyball" method work to improve Illinois government?
   


4. The prettiest and ugliest Illinois college campuses

from Chicago - The Huffington Post http://ift.tt/10kkUyh

via IFTTT

15 Times The World's iPhone Obsession Went Entirely Too Far

Each time Apple launches a lustrous new iPhone, it's a spectacle. Crowds cheer as they rush to stores in the eternal quest to obtain the latest and greatest gadget.



But the blind fervor over Apple devices masks a darker aspect of iPhone mania: People go to truly desperate lengths to get their hands on one.



Since the first iPhone shipped out in 2007, fans have gotten in fist fights, sold organs and even trafficked children in exchange for the devices. Others risked their own safety to recover lost phones. Robbers have killed just to make a buck feeding the iPhone black market.



Here are some of the most extreme things people have done in the name of an iPhone.











1. One couple sold three newborn babies.

A couple in China was charged with child trafficking after they sold three of their children over several years to pay for iPhones and high-end shoes.



2. A teenager sold his kidney.

A Chinese teenager sold a kidney in 2011 and used the money to buy an iPhone and an iPad. Five people were later charged with intentional injury, including the surgeon who removed the kidney.



3. Another teenager got stuck in a storm drain.

In April, a teenager in England got herself stuck in a storm drain trying to retrieve her phone. Firefighters were called to help her out.



4. One guy tried to "rent" his girlfriend.

A Chinese man was photographed holding up a sign at Songjiang University in Shanghai advertising platonic dates ("no funny business" allowed) with his girlfriend to finance a new phone. The woman in question appeared to be a willing participant.



5. Another guy demanded a dowry from his future brother-in-law.

A Saudi man took advantage of marriage customs by requesting a new iPhone 6 in exchange for a woman's hand in marriage.



6. A supposed "businessman" hired homeless people to wait in line at an Apple store, and didn't pay them as promised.

An unidentified businessman transported vans full of homeless people to a Pasadena, California, Apple store last fall to wait in line for the iPhone 5S and 5C. Each one received two vouchers to purchase phones, but when some of the vouchers didn't work, chaos ensued. The businessman was escorted out by police, leaving scores of homeless people without pay or transportation back to skid row.



7. Several people have tried to buy sex.

People have posted ads on Craigslist attempting to trade sexual favors for the iPhone 6.



8. A 15-year-old girl fell off a car and died.

A girl in Santa Ana, California, ran after a thief who stole her iPhone in July, jumping onto the back of his car as he sped away. Witnesses told police that the driver "swerved back and forth in what appeared to be an intentional manner to get her off the car." She fell off and died from her injuries. A number of other people have been killed by thieves looking to cash in on high demand for the phones.



9. One lady traded a $2,000 bag for a better place in line at the Apple store.

A woman who was already fifth in line for the iPhone 5S traded her Louis Vuitton bag in order to move up to third place last fall after an Apple store employee hinted at a limited supply of phones.



10. Thieves formed a gang with the singular goal of stealing iPhones.

New York City police dubbed the gang, which they believe to be responsible for around 40 iPhone robberies, "Apple Pickers." More than 3 million Americans were victims of smartphone theft in 2013.



11. A teenager allegedly offered to sell her virginity.

In 2011, a teenager in China allegedly wrote on social media that she'd sell her virginity to anyone who'd buy her an iPhone 4. We're hoping it was just a bad joke.



12. Many people have been in physical fights outside an Apple store.

There were numerous reports of fights after the iPhone 6 release. It's not a new phenomenon.



13. A police chief sent 10 officers to find his son's phone.

Berkeley, California, police chief Michael Meehan was criticized in 2012 for having 10 investigators work overtime to search for his son's missing iPhone. They didn't find it.



14. One man stole from a baby.

In 2012, a surveillance camera picked up a man stealing an iPhone from a 20-month-old baby whose mother had been letting her use it to watch "Barney the Dinosaur."



15. People stood in line for 22 days.

A bunch of people camped outside the Apple store on Fifth Avenue in New York City weeks before the iPhone 6 became available. One Japanese man attempted to line up seven months before the release date, but was told to leave.



from Chicago - The Huffington Post http://ift.tt/1vtRzMx

via IFTTT

What It Would Look Like If Women Catcalled Men

It's no secret that the street harassment women are subjected to is invasive, ridiculous and, often times, downright bizarre -- and it's only more apparent when the gender roles are swapped.



In the Buzzfeed video "If Women Catcalled Men" published on Sept. 28, we see what life would be like if women made up the majority of street harassers and men were the victims.



The gender-swapped parody is a comedic reminder that street harassment is not only scary, but often times simply ridiculous. The catcalling in the video is definitely different than real-life street harassment with women yelling "Ay baby, I bet you'd let me choose what to with my own body," to "Bet those arms could put together my IKEA furniture," at random men on the street.



The video ends with a variation on a more vulgar line that most women will recognize: "How do you fit all that d*ck in your jeans?!" Yea, that (sadly) sounds more like it.



from Chicago - The Huffington Post http://ift.tt/1uWVkbM

via IFTTT

Many Universities Don't Want You To Know How They Punish Sexual Assault

More than a dozen colleges and universities, when asked by The Huffington Post, declined to reveal how they've punished their students for committing sexual assault.



HuffPost requested information from 50 schools about the sanctions imposed on students found responsible by the colleges for sexual assault. A Huffington Post analysis of information provided by the nearly three dozen schools that did provide data on sexual violence cases showed fewer than a third of students found guilty of sexual assault are expelled.



Ten institutions, however, declined to provide any information, four did not respond to multiple requests and several others provided incomplete information.



Several cited the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act as preventing them from disclosing such information. However, FERPA does not block an institution from providing these numbers. U.S. Department of Education guidance allows schools to release information, including specific sanctions, if a student is "an alleged perpetrator of a crime of violence or non-forcible sex offense" who violated university policy. While FERPA permits this disclosure, it does not require it, and a college is free to withhold such information.



"Defenders of the campus disciplinary process have always pointed fingers at the criminal process and said, 'Look how bad the criminal process is,' but they've never actually disclosed any numbers of the efficacy of the campus process," said Adam Goldstein, an attorney advocate at the Student Press Law Center.



But that may soon change.



Legislation, known as the Campus Accountability and Safety Act, introduced on July 30 by a bipartisan group of senators would require colleges and universities to disclose the number of sexual assaults adjudicated and their outcomes. Staffers who worked on the bill say it was born out of Sen. Claire McCaskill's (D-Mo.) survey of colleges, which found that many schools use adjudication processes that do not comply with best practices, such as imposing a unusually high standard of proof, and fail to educate judicial panels about "rape myths," such as the myth that stranger assaults are a majority of sexual violence cases. Advocates argue that requiring transparency from universities could shed light on whether schools are properly handling rape investigations.



"I think that's a good idea, as long as it's current," said Scott Coffina, a former deputy White House counsel who was recently hired to advise the University of Connecticut on sexual violence cases. "I'm a lot more supportive of that than merely identifying schools that are under investigation."



Survivor advocates believe that the prospect of releasing such data has colleges concerned about a backlash should it seem they are doling out light punishments for sexual violence.



Colleges currently have no incentive to publicize anything about sexual violence on campus, Goldstein said, because "schools don't want their name to appear next to anything more sinister than a candy cane."



"I know what they're so afraid of," Goldstein continued. "Most of the time a school doesn't find people responsible at all, and when it does, their sanction is between walking the street as a free man or write a 500-word essay about why you shouldn't rape so much."



Many administrators, however, cited the concern that, without context, it's difficult to present a real picture of how various offenses are sanctioned.



"These cases are so fact-specific, I don't think those statistics in and of themselves are helpful to the reader," said Amy Forester, Bucknell University's general counsel and member of the National Association of College and University Attorneys. "If you see someone was suspended for six semesters, I don't know what that tells you if you don't understand the underlying circumstances there."



The Association for Student Conduct Administration, which advises schools to be "educational" and "not punitive" in adjudicating sexual assault cases, is also hesitant to support disclosure as to the outcomes of such cases. Instead, ASCA President-elect Laura Bennett suggested that it would be beneficial for colleges to outline scenarios for when a certain punishment would apply. Yale University created such scenarios last year, but only after students raised concerns about a lack of severe punishments for "nonconsensual sex."



"That's really helpful for students to see, 'OK, this is where the community is at with this,'" Bennett said.



Bennett suggested it would be best for colleges and universities to provide upfront information about how they sanction students in cases of sexual assault. Otherwise, she explained, "People tend to fill in the gaps and make stuff up when they don't know what's going on."



The schools listed below were among the 50 from which The Huffington Post requested data on sexual assault cases. Colleges and universities were chosen to represent a geographical variety, both public and private, and include elite schools and others that are not household names. HuffPost obtained data from 32 institutions, which collectively represent 705,000 students. The comments below are from the schools that declined to provide that information.



University of Notre Dame



The University of Notre Dame declined to release any information.



American University, Baylor University and Bowdoin College



Officials with American University, Baylor University and Bowdoin College did not respond to multiple requests for data.



University of Virginia



The University of Virginia confirmed that since 1998, 13 students were found guilty of sexual assault, but denied a request for a breakdown of the data. The university directed HuffPost to fill out a Freedom of Information Act request for disciplinary action taken against students for sexual assault since 1998, but then denied it, saying no document contained that information. The university denied another FOIA request for any sanctioning letter or letter of findings in cases where a student was found responsible for sexual assault, saying providing such information would violate federal privacy law.



UVA spokesman McGregor McCance agreed that a FOIA request was not needed to supply the information, but that the university would not release any additional information about how sexual assaults were punished.



University of Montana



The University of Montana declined HuffPost's request, instead referring to its annual Clery report of how many assaults were officially reported to the school, and noting, "We don't collect statistics in the manner that you've requested."



Massachusetts Institute of Technology



MIT noted it's currently reviewing how the university handles sexual violence. It provided a pre-existing breakdown of sanctions against students imposed by the Committee on Discipline, but it lumps all sexual misconduct cases in with academic misconduct cases, and does not list separately how students were punished for sexual assault.



HuffPost asked the university to list punishments for students found responsible for sexual misconduct, but MIT declined.



"I can't break this information out for you, but I can tell you that as part of the chancellor's overall review of sexual-assault issues at MIT, we will be considering changes to the way we report publicly," said Nate Nickerson, associate vice president for communications.



The University of Massachusetts-Amherst



UMass Amherst did not initially respond to a request for the data, then later said the request had been forwarded to the student affairs office. HuffPost's followup requests since May 20 have not been returned.



University of Oregon



The University of Oregon provided a snapshot of how sexual assault cases were handled in one academic year, but declined to provide additional information. The school directed HuffPost to submit an open records request. In response, it provided a document detailing all misconduct cases, ranging from plagiarism and theft to rape, with aggregate totals of how many students were disciplined, suspended or expelled. When HuffPost followed up, the university clarified that because no pre-existing document specifically tracked sexual misconduct cases over the past several years, the university would not release this information.



University of California-Berkeley



UC-Berkeley provided information on sanctions for cases of sexual misconduct between 2008 and 2013, and indicated that nine students were found responsible and suspended or dismissed during that period. When HuffPost requested the university specify how many were suspended, dismissed or expelled, UC-Berkeley declined, citing FERPA and university policy. "When the numbers are so small that they can be identifying (meaning someone can use that data and link it with other information to identify the case) we cannot disclose that information," spokeswoman Janet Gilmore said.



HuffPost noted that the university had previously confirmed that six students were suspended for sexual misconduct between 2011 and 2013, and the question was how many of the remaining three were expelled between 2008 and 2010.



The university said it believes "such disclosure could lead to identification of students who were part of the disciplinary process. The data provided to you is grouped in a way to provide information about case outcomes without violating FERPA or UC policy." UC-Berkeley noted that while FERPA may permit an institution to share information about how many students are expelled, it does not require it, and UC system policy "recognizes the privacy of these records and does not permit us to disclose them."



Princeton University



Princeton declined to provide any information that wasn't already public as part of its annual Clery report listing.



Tufts University



Tufts declined to provide information about how sexual assault cases were adjudicated because the school is deliberating on how to disclose the data to the community. "We are currently exploring how best to provide statistics regarding sexual misconduct on campus while balancing the confidentiality that is expected by our community," Tufts spokeswoman Kimberly Thurler said in a statement. "As result, at this time we are not able to provide information relative to complaints received and adjudicated by our Office of Equal Opportunity. We are also unable to discuss individual cases given the confidential issues involved."



Northwestern University



Northwestern declined to provide information on how students are adjudicated for sexual misconduct. Instead, the university referred to a report that indicated there were five cases of sexual assault in 2012-13. However, the report does not provide any further information as to the number of students who were found responsible for sexual assault, or what sanctions were imposed, if any, but only the total aggregate number of punishments for all cases ranging from cheating to rape. No one was expelled during 2012-13.



Sewanee: The University of the South



Sewanee told HuffPost that the staff members needed to sort through the data were unavailable. It also noted it had revamped its sexual misconduct adjudication process in ways that would make it difficult to compare the two most recent years to prior years.



University of Chicago



The university referred to its annual Clery reports and daily police crime log, though those sources do not provide information on student sanctions for sexual assault. University spokesman Steve Kloehn, however, said the school "does not report on disciplinary matters the way some" other institutions do, and that he was not in a position to obtain the requested data. The University of Chicago also "declined to comment on any individual disciplinary matters."



Rice University



Rice said it was unable to provide information because it is in the process of considering new options for disclosing sexual misconduct adjudication data.



Rice spokesman Jeff Falk said in a statement: "Rice is a small institution with about 3,800 undergraduate students. We are in the process of establishing a working group, including representatives of the student body, to review our policies, procedures and outreach on sexual assault, including analyzing data on sexual assault and developing the best way to add this information to the educational materials offered to all of our students, faculty and staff. That report will differentiate between cases of sexual assault and other forms of sexual misconduct. We do not have this report available at this time, and will use what we learn to ensure that our education, prevention and adjudication programs are as effective as possible."



University of Missouri



Christian Basi, Interim Director of the university's News Bureau:



"The number of adjudications for sexual assault at the University of Missouri during calendar years 2012, 2013 and 2014 are 5, 4 and 4, respectively. Because of the small number of such adjudications over the applicable time period, I respectfully decline to provide a further breakdown as to the disposition in each category in order to protect the student privacy rights under the provisions of the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)."



from Chicago - The Huffington Post http://ift.tt/1uWVj7I

via IFTTT

FAA Orders Review After Traffic Control Sabotage Causes Widespread Flight Delays

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Federal Aviation Administration is reviewing security practices and how it deals with unexpected incidents throughout its air traffic control facilities following last week's fire at a Chicago-area air traffic facility, agency administrator Michael Huerta said Monday.



The fire brought flights at the city's two busy airports to a halt and disrupted air service across the country. Authorities say it was set by a contract employee who also tried to commit suicide.



By shifting controllers from the damaged facility to other air traffic centers and expanding operations at other Chicago-area control facilities, the FAA has been able to bring service at O'Hare International Airport back to 60 percent of normal and Midway International Airport to 75 percent of normal, Huerta said.



The team of FAA employees and labor union representatives conducting the review has been asked to "think as creatively as possible" and to complete their work within 30 days, he said.



"If we need to make changes because of the incident that happened in Chicago on Friday I will not hesitate to do so," Huerta told an Air Traffic Control Association conference.



The employee who set the fire worked for the Harris Corporation, which provides the FAA's communications network for its air traffic centers, he said. The room where the fire took place contained communications equipment. Of 29 racks of communications boxes and wiring, 20 will have to be replaced, he said.



The FAA has heightened security at all its air traffic facilities in response to the incident, but the review will look at what more can be done on background checks and access, Huerta said. "Everything needs to be on the table," he said.



from Chicago - The Huffington Post http://ift.tt/1uWVj7A

via IFTTT

The Food Waste Fiasco: You Have to See It to Believe it

You may have already heard a few appalling facts about food waste but just in case you haven't, here are a few tidbits of information to catch you up on the issue.



-We throw away 165 billion dollars worth of food per year in America. That's more than the budgets for America's national parks, public libraries, federal prisons, veteran's health care, the FBI, and the FDA combined.



-About 50 million of our 317 million Americans are food insecure yet we produce enough food to feed over 500 million Americans.



-To create just the amount of food that ends up in the landfills we waste enough water to meet the domestic water needs of every American citizen.



Even with these mind-blowing statistics you probably still need to see it to believe it. That is where I come in.



This weekend I arrived in New York City from my second bike ride across America living on food from grocery store dumpsters. On my first ride dumpster diving across America, about 70% of my diet came from dumpsters, totaling up to about 280 pounds of food over 4,700 miles of cycling.



This is what a typical dumpster score looked like:








This time around, halfway across the country, I vowed to eat exclusively out of grocery store dumpsters until I reached New York City. For the 1,000 miles and seven weeks of riding from Madison, Wisconsin to New York City you could have spotted me in any of 300 or so dumpsters across America. I admit I slipped up on my vow a few times. Once when a brownie was set down in front of me in Baltimore, another time over some freshly popped popcorn, and a few times I picked a fresh tomato or leafy green out of a garden. Plus I used oil and some herbs for cooking when visiting friends in their homes. Other than that I ate like a dumpster king and gained five pounds even with all of the time spent on my bike.



Here's what a guy who eats straight from the dumpster looks like:






I'm not just dining from the dumpster to meet my needs though. I'm doing this to inspire America to stop throwing away food. My interactions with whomever I crossed paths with helped them to see the food waste fiasco firsthand but still I said I would help YOU see it to believe it.



That is where photos from my public demonstrations come into play. In seven cities along the tour I went out dumpster diving, usually just for one night, and set up my find in a public park the next day. Many people were shocked by what I showed them and even more were angry, not at me, but at the waste of our society when millions of Americans are hungry.



I had just a few days at most in each city to pull these fiascos together. Here is what my friend Dane and I managed to scrounge up in Madison, Wisconsin in two days:






I found a volunteer via social media with a vehicle to help in each city since I couldn't carry all of the food on my bicycle. This was is what we gathered in Chicago, Illinois:






None of the volunteers even had dumpster diving experience and I was completely new to the dumpster scene in each city. In Detroit, Michigan we started diving the morning of the event and the car was filled with this in 2 hours:








In Cleveland, Ohio we spent seven hours at the dumpsters the night before the event and brought this food to Cleveland Public Square. It was 90 degrees that day so much of the food we found in the dumpsters was spoiled. This is just the good stuff that we pulled out:






In Lancaster, Pennsylvania we had two vehicles and we hit about ten dumpsters between the two teams. This is what we took home in four hours.








Two days later I rolled up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at 9:00 PM, started diving an hour later, and was sound asleep with this score by 1:00 AM.








The food was still very high quality stuff but I never intended to even give it away. I just wanted to show people what we are wasting. But then people started to take the food and that made the mission all the better. Guys like David were so happy to eat and to share it with their friends:








Between all of the demonstrations that I hosted we ended up giving away over $10,000 worth of food and fed well over 500 people. To me that is proof of how good the food is that we are throwing away.



I've learned that I can roll up in nearly any city across America and collect enough food to feed 100's of people in a matter of one night. The only thing that limited me was the size of the vehicle I had to transport it. My experience shows me that grocery store dumpsters are being filled to the brim with perfectly good food every day in nearly every city across America, all while children at school are too hungry to concentrate on their studies.



My intentions with these photos are to help you to get an idea of the scale of this issue. Even still these are just photos. Seeing it in person is a whole different story. So my mission continues. If you are in New York I invite you to join me in person this Tuesday, September 30th, in Union Square Park for the final fiasco of the tour. I'll have been out diving in the area for the weekend and you'll be able to see first hand what America is throwing away. The food will be set up for display by 5:00 PM and after a few hours of viewing it will be free for the taking.



I know not all of you are in New York though and I also want YOU to see it for yourself. So I encourage you to go to your grocery store and do something a little different from your normal routine. I want you to walk around to the back of the store, find their dumpster, and take a look inside. You don't have to take any of the food home with you. You don't have to get in the dumpster either. Just take a peak and see this problem for yourself. The dumpster may be locked or it may have just been emptied so check out a few places if needed. The first time you see a dumpster full of food your life could be changed forever. If you feel inclined to be a part of the solution I encourage you to photograph or video the wasted food you find and spread it on social media using #DonateNotDump. Tweet it at the store and let them know that we are not going to stand for their waste anymore.



With that action in mind you should be versed in this a little bit more before you hit the dumpsters. Our message to the grocery stores is that we want them to stop dumping their excess food and start donating it to non-profits so it can be distributed to people in need. Through my hands on experience and research I have found that it is a win-win situation for grocery stores to do this. They are protected from lawsuits by the Good Samaritan Food Act, they get tax write offs, they spend less on dumpster fees, and most importantly they are doing what is right for their community when they donate their excess food! The most common excuse for not donating is that they fear liability but they are protected and according to a University of Arkansas study not a single lawsuit has ever been made against a grocery store that has donated food to a food rescue program.



Thousands of food rescue programs, such as City Harvest, Feeding America, and The Food Recovery Network are already feeding people across America and thousands of stores are already donating to these non-profits and food banks. However it is a very small fraction of what could be done. We need more stores donating more often and we need them to compost what they can't donate rather than sending it off to the landfill.



You don't even have to peak into their dumpsters if you don't want to. Share this article with supermarkets or simply talk to the manager while you are at the store and let them know that it is important to you, their customers. Humans with hearts run these stores and we can get them to change for the better! It's up to us to hold them accountable to treat the environment and our hungry Americans with the respect they deserve.



I believe that we are at a tipping point for ending food waste and with citizen action we can solve this. The excitement inside me tells me that my generation will drastically reduce food waste in our time.



Start by telling your grocery store to #DonateNotDump!



from Chicago - The Huffington Post http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rob-greenfield/the-food-waste-fiasco_b_5896154.html?utm_hp_ref=chicago&ir=Chicago

via IFTTT

How Can We Make Our Cities Better? (VIDEO)

Hosted by The Atlantic in partnership with The Aspen Institute and Bloomberg Philanthropies, CityLab is one of The Aspen Institute's most innovative programs of the year, bringing together more than 300 of the world's top mayors, urban experts, city planners, writers, technologists, economists and designers. The goal of the three day program is to foster constructive dialogue and create scalable solutions for city leaders to share with their constituencies across the world.



from Chicago - The Huffington Post http://ift.tt/1vpT3bq

via IFTTT

Halloween Costumes For Women Who Don't Want To Be Sexy Cops Or School Girls

This Chicago Train Performance Has So Much Energy, Passengers Can't Help But Dance

Commuters on a Chicago train were recently treated to a very unusual ride thanks to a local band's spontaneous jam session.



A video uploaded last week by Teo Lopez captured a performance of his Afro-Puerto Rican band, Buya, singing and drumming aboard the CTA Blue Line train.



The result? Something that's really difficult not to smile about.



Turns out this recent jam session wasn't the first time Buya has brightened the day of some CTA riders, check out this 2012 video:







h/t Chicagoist



Like Us On Facebook

Follow Us On Twitter



from Chicago - The Huffington Post http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/29/bomba-con-buya-chicago_n_5900742.html?utm_hp_ref=chicago&ir=Chicago

via IFTTT

Does Rauner have his facts right?

With the November election now just five weeks away, both candidates for Illinois governor are campaigning at full-speed ahead. But Rich Miller of Capitol Fax says Republican Bruce Rauner should check his facts before making claims about his Democratic opponent Gov. Pat Quinn.



From Miller:

Just a quick note to Bruce Rauner: The next time you try to claim that Gov. Pat Quinn is "personally" under federal investigation (an allegation that, as far as anyone can tell, is not true), it's probably best not to say it while standing next to a different governor who actually is "personally" under federal investigation.



Rauner held a relatively brief press conference last week to talk about Chicago's violence problem with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie at his side. Rauner attempted to claim that Quinn was somehow responsible for the murder of a nine year old boy by a convict on probation - even though it appears right now that all state laws and procedures were followed. And not mentioned, of course, is that Newark, NJ has a murder rate almost twice that of Chicago, which sorta undercut Christie's contention that Gov. Quinn had "failed" to protect Illinois' public safety.

Read the rest of Miller's column at Reboot Illinois.



Talking to the media isn't the candidates' only option for getting their messages out to voters. With social media pervading almost every aspect of public life, politicians can just log onto Twitter and converse directly with voters. But are Quinn or Rauner taking full advantage of this line of communication? Watch at Reboot Illinois to find out how the gubernatorial candidates are using Twitter in the campaign.







from Chicago - The Huffington Post http://ift.tt/1pm7ck8

via IFTTT

How to Get Away with Murder, Where Race Doesn't Matter

How to Get Away with Murder, where race doesn't matter, it's the content of their characters.



Remember President Bill Clinton's strategists James Carville, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and company, when they bested President George H.W. Bush's campaign staff with the slogan that won Clinton his first term as president, "It's the economy, stupid!" Fast forward to The New York Times on September 18, 2014, "Wrought in Rhimes's Image: Viola Davis Plays Shonda Rhimes's Latest Tough Heroine". It's the content of their characters not race in Shonda Rhimes' dramas that matter, but I won't say "stupid." Meaning where NYT writer Alessandra Stanley sees an "angry black woman," others see rainbows. And who isn't inspired by a rainbow? It's the contents of the characters' characters, not their races that cause us to tune in. Would that our world we live in, were to mirror this. And why not? It's been said that life often imitates art.



For in creator Shonda Rhimes' ABC Network Thursday night three-show slate of Grey's Anatomy, Scandal, and How to Get Away with Murder, race doesn't matter. We are too caught up in the characters and their characters. My surgeon brother James critiques the medical protocols, an integral part of the medical drama Grey's Anatomy, while his lawyer sister, yours truly, watching the new legal drama, debuting yesterday, How to Get Away with Murder, pays attention to the legal strategies, battered back and forth.



When I chaired the Law & Media Committee of the American Bar Association, I put together a seminar in 1992 about the lack of diversity in casting and the emergence of nontraditional casting, meaning the lawyer, doctor, police officer, judge, firefighter doesn't -- whether the star of the show or not -- always have to be a white male. Instead, more diverse casting options work with audiences, too. Why can't women, persons with disabilities, persons of color play roles previously closed to them like judges, police officers, firefighters, presidents. There was also a panelist representing LGBTQ concerns. NYU Law School graciously donated the space where the seminar was held. Fortunately nowadays, nontraditional casting is not such a revolutionary concept, but it was then when Broadway productions such as Miss Saigon, Will Rogers Follies, Death and the Maiden, were all under fire for their casting decisions. To their credit, management representatives from those Broadway productions, donating their time, showed up for a vigorous two hour discussion.



So who is the real-life Shonda Rhimes? To find out, why not check out her 2014 online commencement address at Dartmouth College last June? I did. A Dartmouth graduate herself, Rhimes is one of only a handful of Dartmouth alums invited back to speak at a Dartmouth commencement. I went to Dartmouth, too, during its first year of coeducation. One of my younger brothers Jeffrey, I like to say followed me there. (I don't think he likes it though, when I say that.) It's not easy being among the first women at Dartmouth as I was, nor is it easy creating and writing award-worthy television shows like Shonda Rhimes, Dartmouth '91, does.



Fittingly, at this morning's Mass celebrated by Bishop Thomas Doran at Holy Family Church in the Rockford, Illinois diocese, a reading from the Book of Ecclesiastes 3:1 about how for every time, there is a season. A time to be silent, a time to speak. This is Shonda Rhimes season. May she have many more!



____________


Lonna Saunders has blogged on the Huffington Post since 2010. She has filed reports broadcast on the CBS Radio Network from Cleveland, Seattle, Washington, D.C. At Northwestern U. Law School, she was on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology, at the time the third most widely circulated student law review. She studied drama and government at Vassar and Dartmouth. Lonna may be reached at lonna2@msn.com.



from Chicago - The Huffington Post http://ift.tt/1rnBqJn

via IFTTT

Derek Jeter, and Our Own Mortality

The baseball great Jackie Robinson was famously quoted as saying, "athletes die twice." And I found that thought echoing in my mind as I watched the final games of Derek Jeter. What must this past season have been like for a man with still so much life before him, hearing all those eulogies to his youth? "Ballplayer" is the only identity Jeter has ever known, and now, at an age when many are only getting started, he will have to redefine his life.



Throughout his career Jeter has earned a reputation for being circumspect with the press, for keeping his private life private, along with his thoughts, hopes, and fears. As a journalist you want people to talk but I always respected Jeter's short answers and silence. He was, as so many fans and commentators have noted, a throwback to a time when the mark of a professional was do your job well and let that speak for itself. But one always wondered whether Jeter was so quiet because he didn't have much to say or whether he had a lot to say but was keeping it to himself. I always sensed the latter, and now, after some remarkably un-Jeter-like press conferences, we are getting a window into this man who for two decades lived in the spotlight without casting much of a shadow. We have learned that this star athlete, who played on baseball's biggest stage and whose private life glittered with the bright lights of Hollywood, is human like the rest of us. He spoke of holding back tears and some of the uncertainty of what's to come. And that glimpse of vulnerability seemed to only raise his mythic status.



But this outpouring of emotions surrounding Jeter is much more than just about him, or even baseball. We tear up at a Gatorade commercial not just because we will miss Jeter playing shortstop but because we recognize that we are all moving towards our own final curtain. Twenty years, we think, has it all gone by so fast? We measure the milestones in our own lives over that time: births, and deaths, graduations, marriages, and divorces, new jobs, retirements, and everything else that marks the human condition.



I think it is poignant that Jeter's departure from a game that was once accurately called America's Pastime comes at a moment when our nation's current most popular sport, football, is facing so much controversy. Growing up in Texas, I played football and have always loved the strategy and power of the gridiron. But I always thought that baseball captured the better instincts of our republic. When I would travel the world and hear some of the negative stereotypes about the United States, I would often shake my head and think to myself if only they understood baseball. Americans have no appreciation or sense of history? Tell that to the guys at the bar arguing over whether Clayton Kershaw is better than Sandy Koufax. Americans are impatient? Tell that to the father who brings his daughter to Cubs games, year after year. Americans don't appreciate nuance? Tell that to the fans wondering what the pitcher is going to throw after setting up a hitter with two consecutive sliders in the dirt.



But more than the games or players themselves, it is the baseball season that I find so resonant. It starts in spring, when, as I heard one Mets fans say, "spring hopes eternal" (or maybe the punctuation should read "Spring! Hope's eternal"). The season, then, peaks through the long days of summer, only to invariably wind down with the coming chill of fall. And if your team is really good, it cheats death for a couple weeks into the postseason -- closer to winter. Baseball is a game where the best teams will have losing streaks and the best hitters will fail more than they succeed. It's a game where you don't have to be freakishly tall or big to succeed. And throughout it all, it is a game that marks time. One former Major League outfielder told me what he misses most about his playing days was the sense of seasons. Over those 162 games, he would find comfort in tracking the shift of the arc of the sun in the sky, as human beings have been doing since before recorded history. It's no wonder that the renaissance of baseball stadium architecture returned the game to one that is best played outdoors.



After Jeter's remarkable game-winning hit in his final at bat at Yankee stadium, he walked out to his spot at shortstop to take in the view. It is a view that none of the rest of us will ever experience. And yet anyone who has ever sat at a desk on a final day of work for those last few minutes, or hugged a daughter before walking her down the aisle, or took one last tour of a childhood home after selling it following the death of a parent, knows what Jeter was feeling. We want time to stop -- just for a second, but it won't. And yet the beauty of the circle of life is that it is unbroken. The arc of the sun in the sky continues on its prescribed path. And come spring there will be a new shortstop taking in the view at Yankee Stadium.



As for Derek Jeter, I am eager to see what the future holds. I hope that he continues to feel freer to share his thoughts. For with baseball, and life, no matter how much you think you know, there's always more to learn. And I think on both fronts Number 2 can teach us a lot.



from Chicago - The Huffington Post http://ift.tt/1rnBt7Y

via IFTTT

13 Savory Cupcakes You Can Legitimately Eat For Dinner

Brady Hoke Needs To Be Fired From Michigan, But Maybe Not For The Reason You Think

Brady Hoke has been the head football coach at the University of Michigan since 2011. In his last nine games against Power 5 schools, he has compiled an almost inconceivable 1-8 record. And over Michigan's last three games against Power 5 conference opponents this season, they have been outscored 87-24 in the process, including a brutal 30-14 drubbing at home to the lowly University of Minnesota this past Saturday. In fact, this is the first time in the 135-year history of the Michigan Wolverines that the team has recorded three losses before the end of September, according to ESPN Stats & Information.







After Saturday's game, Hoke, 55, provided the normal coach-speak: "We're disappointed in how we played football today. When you look at different aspects of our game, I don't think we played as well as we can. I don't think we executed as well. That always comes back to me first as a coach."



What also comes back to a coach, however, is how he handles the health of his players. In fact, the main reason why Hoke should be fired has nothing to do with wins or losses. During Saturday's game, Wolverines quarterback Shane Morris took a brutal hit from Minnesota defensive end Theiren Cockran. It was flagged for a personal foul, although it probably should have been targeting. Morris, visibly shaken, stayed in the game for one play, then hobbled off the field. Soon after, he re-entered the game only to be carted off the field. The entire incident was a gross mismanagement of the concussion protocol that all football programs are required to enforce.



"I don't know if he had a concussion or not," Hoke later said. "Shane's a pretty competitive, tough kid. And Shane wanted to be the quarterback, and so, believe me, if he didn't want to be, he would've come to the sideline or stayed down."







To say Hoke's tenure in Ann Arbor has been a disappointment would be an understatement. Despite high-ranked recruiting classes, Hoke and his staff have been unable to develop players -- notably quarterback Devin Gardner, who has regressed from rising star to backup. During Saturday's game, the half-vacant student section started chanting "Fire Brady," to which Hoke replied: "This is a big-boy business."



Indeed it is. The issue with Morris is one that assumes far more significance. For all its faults, the NCAA has made it a priority for teams to carefully monitor players with concussion-like symptoms, both in practice and in games. Morris, even if he wasn't concussed, displayed all of the symptoms of having been. And Hoke didn't do a thing -- except to keep him in harm's way.



Email me at jordan.schultz@huffingtonpost.com or ask me questions about anything sports-related at @Schultz_Report, and follow me on Instagram @Schultz_Report. Also, be sure to catch my NBC Sports Radio show "Kup and Schultz," which airs Sunday mornings from 9 to 12 EST, right here.



from Chicago - The Huffington Post http://ift.tt/1rnBt7R

via IFTTT

Smoking, Eating, Drinking Man On Cell Phone Doesn't Care About Your Rules

There are some hardcore rebels out there. Maybe you know of one, or maybe you ARE one.



Either way, it's time to step up your game, because this guy has taken the rebel lifestyle to a new level.







Via Imgur







from Chicago - The Huffington Post http://ift.tt/1BvZBp4

via IFTTT

Best Graduate Schools in Illinois

U.S. News and World Report's 2015 higher education rankings included lists for graduate programs in six different categories: business schools, education schools, engineering schools, law schools and medical schools in both research and primary care.



While there are a limited number of Illinois universities that would be ranked for graduate programs (liberal arts colleges such as Knox College or Augustana College don't offer graduate programs), Illinois is still well represented, especially in the business school ranking where two Illinois universities appear in the top 10.



The Illinois schools ranked as the best business, education and engineering schools by U.S. News and World Report are listed below, along with their overall rank, their enrollment and their location if it is different from the university's main campus.



Best business schools



1. University of Chicago (Booth) (4th)

Full-time tuition: $58,760

2. Northwestern University (Kellogg) (6th)

Full-time tuition: $59,085

3. University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign (tie 35th)

Full-time tuition: $19,975 (in-state); $29,976 (out-of-state)

4. DePaul University (Kellstadt) (tie 85th)

Full-time tuition: $980/credit

5. University of Illinois - Chicago (Liautaud) (tie 92nd)

Full-time tuition: $19,766 (in-state); $31,764 (out-of-state)



Best Education schools



1. Northwestern University (tie 11th)

Full-time tuition: $45,120

2. University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign (tie 26th)

Full-time tuition: $11,626 (in-state); $25,118 (out-of-state)

3. University of Illinois - Chicago (tie 42nd)

Full-time tuition: $11,066 (in-state); $23,064 (out-of-state)

4. Southern Illinois University - Carbondale (tie 77th)

Full-time tuition: $1,115/credit (in-state); $1,706/credit (out-of-state)

5. (tie) Illinois State University (tie 106th)

Full-time tuition: $345/credit (in-state); $716/credit (out-of-state)

5. (tie) Loyola University Chicago (tie 106th)

Full-time tuition: $930/credit

7. DePaul University (tie 147th)

Full-time tuition: $595/credit



Best Engineering Schools



1. University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign (tie 6th)

Full-time tuition: $16,754 (in-state); $30,246 (out-of-state)

2. Northwestern University (McCormick) (tie 22nd)

Full-time tuition: $45,120

3. University of Illinois - Chicago (tie 63rd)

Full-time tuition: $13,966 (in-state); $25,964 (out-of-state)

4. Illinois Institute of Technology (Armour) (tie 71st)

Full-time tuition: $1,204/credit



See the lists of the best law schools and medical schools in Illinois at Reboot Illinois.



NEXT ARTICLE: The top 10 Illinois universities, according to U.S. News and World Report

The average Ilinois home price is very...average

Property taxes and home values by county in Illinois

What's the housing inventory in your county?

Check out these Illinois roadside attractions on your next road trip



from Chicago - The Huffington Post http://ift.tt/1qNWVfY

via IFTTT

Fewer Than One-Third Of Campus Sexual Assault Cases Result In Expulsion

Students found guilty of sexual assault can rest assured there's a good chance they won’t be kicked out of school. If they want someone to thank, they might send their praise to the Association for Student Conduct Administration for telling universities across the nation not to be "punitive" when handling campus rape.

Intense focus on sexual assault by college activists, members of Congress and the Obama administration was a catalyst this year to prompt multiple pieces of federal legislation and a White House task force to address how universities deal with campus rape.



But who should be punishing students found guilty of sex assault, and how they should be punished, remains a grey area.



Since lawmakers haven’t stepped up to offer definitive guidance, trade groups and consultants have filled the void. The result: Not even a third of college students found guilty of sexual assault are kicked out of school, according to a new Huffington Post analysis.



Students found responsible for sexual assault were expelled in 30 percent of cases and suspended in 47 percent of cases, according to The Huffington Post’s review of data collected from nearly three dozen colleges and universities. At least 17 percent of students received educational sanctions, while 13 percent were placed on probation, sometimes in addition to other punishments.



The Huffington Post also surveyed data on cases at more than 125 other schools from fiscal year 2011 through 2013, obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request to the U.S. Department of Justice. An analysis of that data, which reported on colleges that receive federal grants to combat rape on campus, reached a similar conclusion: A conservative estimate of the cases shows 13 percent of students found responsible for sexual assault were expelled; at most, 30 percent were expelled. In addition, between 29 to 68 percent were suspended.



Meanwhile, dozens of college administrators, attorneys, experts and consultants agree: Someone who rapes another student shouldn't get to stick around campus. But in four cases that became public this year, at the University of Kansas, Michigan State University and the University of Toledo, students found responsible for sexual assault weren't suspended or expelled, but rather received probation and educational sanctions.



In another incident at James Madison University, students found responsible for an assault captured on video were punished with "expulsion after graduation."



Why? All four schools cited ASCA guidance.



"The worst thing we can do is tell someone they can't go to school at our institution," said ASCA president-elect Laura Bennett, noting that mandating sanctions could deter victims from reporting attacks.

The ASCA doesn't outright declare what punishments should be meted out, but it does distribute literature emphasizing that "campus proceedings are educational" and "the process is not punitive." The organization recommends that "legalistic language," such as "rape," "judicial," "defense" or "guilty" should be yanked from policies and procedures.



"'Rape' is a legal, criminal term," Bennett said. "We're trying to continue to share we're not court, we don't want to be court -- we want to provide an administrative, educative process."



The effects of this guidance can be found throughout the United States. Student sexual assault victims at the University of Southern California, the University of Kansas and Brandeis University were all told their school didn't intend its responses to be punitive. Universities also are using phrasing like "nonconsensual sex" to represent sexual assault, enraging students and alumni alike.



ASCA membership has been growing rapidly ever since the U.S. Department of Education issued a Dear Colleague letter to all colleges in April 2011, telling them they must adjudicate sexual assault cases on campus. The letter served as a wake-up call for schools, and since then, ASCA's membership almost doubled, Bennett said. The group currently has about 3,100 members, she said, and adds an average of three new members a day.

Yet oft-cited research by David Lisak, formerly of the University of Massachusetts-Boston, illustrates the concern about leaving guilty students on campus: Around 6 percent of college men surveyed in Lisak's study had committed rape, but the majority of them were repeat offenders, usually undetected. This is why advocates and experts are worried about leaving sex offenders on campus or allowing them back.



"These are educational institutions, and they view their principle function to be educators," said S. Daniel Carter, ‎director of 32 National Campus Safety Initiative at VTV Family Outreach Foundation, a group born out of the 2007 mass shooting at Virginia Tech. "They believe it to be part of their responsibility. That doesn't mean there can't be an educational element -- expelling someone can be an educational tool."



Even the group responsible for colleges substituting the term “sexual misconduct” for “rape” balks at this reaction.



"Our writings and position are consistent for 17 years," said Brett Sokolow, president & CEO of the National Center for Higher Education Risk Management, which is frequently hired to advise schools on sexual assault policies. "And we have pushed higher ed to be tough on sanctions because they were already soft when I started consulting."



"The softness and focus on rehabilitation come from student development theory, which encourages progressive discipline to promote maturation and better decision making," Sokolow continued. "Fine, I say, but not in sexual misconduct cases."



Even Bennett, of the ASCA, recognizes the need for expulsions.



"You've got to keep thinking about this person being a threat," she said. "Suspension or expulsion might keep 10 or 20 other students safe on campus. Sometimes the best thing is to actually remove the student."



Yet the fact remains, university expulsion is rare for rape -- and other crimes, too. HuffPost reviewed another 221 cases in which students were found guilty of sexual misconduct, a term that includes rape and assault, as well as harassment, stalking and other violations. In these misconduct cases, universities expelled or dismissed students 17 percent of the time. Another 26 percent of students were suspended. Almost half of students found guilty of sexual misconduct -- 44 percent -- received “educational sanctions,” sometimes in addition to probation or a formal warning.



Information came from the colleges, obtained through open records requests, information published proactively by the school, requests directly to the schools, and through other HuffPost sources. Schools were selected to represent geographical diversity and include large state universities and flagship campuses; elite and Ivy League private institutions; and smaller liberal arts colleges. A large majority of the cases reviewed were adjudicated between the fall of 2011 and spring of 2014.



HuffPost's analysis of the data from Justice Department figures was presented as a range of possible sanction rates because there was some overlap of sanctions, and the exact number of cases included in this set is not known. This information, which is not a database, is collected by the Justice Department through a questionnaire sent to all institutions receiving campus grants to combat sexual assault. The DOJ sends the responses to Congress in regular reports, but does not make the information public.

from Chicago - The Huffington Post http://ift.tt/1CAuIly

via IFTTT

Dick Durbin To Seek Probe Of Control-Center Sabotage That Caused Massive Flight Delays

CHICAGO (AP) — U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin said Sunday that he will seek an investigation into how a contract employee was able to sabotage a regional control center and bring Chicago's two international airports to a halt.



The Illinois Democrat told The Associated Press that he will ask inspectors general at the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration to investigate whether there was a security breach when the employee entered the building early Friday with a suitcase without causing suspicion. He then started a fire in the basement telecommunications room before attempting to commit suicide by slashing his throat. Brian Howard, 36, of Naperville, who had access to the control center in suburban Aurora via a swipe card, entered around 5 a.m. Friday, and about 30 minutes later posted a suicide note on Facebook, according to a federal criminal complaint.



Minutes later, someone at the facility called 911 to report the fire. A relative who saw the Facebook post also alerted authorities. Paramedics followed a trail of blood past a gas can, two knives and a lighter and found the suspect slashing his throat, the complaint said. He also had cuts to his arms.



Durbin said he is grateful that the FAA was able to get all planes on the ground safely. He said FAA Administrator Michael Huerta told him that 23 of 29 computer racks were damaged, and the FAA said Sunday that it decided to replace the entire central communications network at the center.



"Thank God nobody lost their lives, but it could have happened in this circumstance," Durbin said.



Sen. Mark Kirk said Saturday that he wanted an immediate review of the FAA screening process at the site, and a report within 30 days outlining future changes.



On Sunday, 550 flights were canceled at O'Hare and 50 at Midway. At the height of the travel misery Friday, more than 2,000 flights in and out of the airports were canceled, disrupting travel nationwide.



FAA spokeswoman Elizabeth Cory said improvements were expected on Monday, although the system would not be fully functional.



The facility in Aurora, about 40 miles west of downtown Chicago, handles planes cruising at high altitudes through the air space as well as those just beginning to approach or completing a departure from airports in the Chicago area. Its responsibilities have been transferred to centers in Cleveland, Indianapolis, Kansas City and Minneapolis.



Cory said the FAA has been able to increase air traffic and reduce delays by improving direct communication between the centers now handling Chicago's air traffic, and by developing new ways to automatically file and transfer airline flight plan information.



The FAA said it conducts employee background checks on contract workers like Howard who have access to FAA facilities, information or equipment. Contract employees, like other staff at the Aurora facility, also must have their identification inspected by a perimeter guard and must swipe their cards to gain access to the building.



Howard worked at the facility for eight years and was involved with the facility's communications systems. He was recently told he was being transferred to Hawaii.



Durbin said it's possible that Howard's suitcase did not cause concern because security believed he was retrieving personal belongings in preparation for his move.



Howard was charged with destruction of aircraft or aircraft facilities, a felony. If convicted, he could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison.



___



Follow Tammy Webber on Twitter at http://ift.tt/O2o8jw



from Chicago - The Huffington Post http://ift.tt/10a9sFB

via IFTTT

Rauner Still Silent on Ohio Racketeering Lawsuit

Fallout from Illinois GOP gubernatorial nominee Bruce Rauner's private equity firm's ownership and operation of Trans Healthcare, Inc., a nationwide nursing home chain, continues to dog the challenger's campaign. The trial which started this week in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Tampa, Florida, is raising even more disturbing questions about Rauner's involvement in the now insolvent nursing home business.



Guys like Rauner, accustomed to operating their whole lives largely under the radar in the world of private equity, are just not accustomed to the kind of scrutiny a big political campaign brings. You can see it all the time in Rauner's stunned reaction to even the mostly softball questions from reporters about his business dealings.



The fear of heightened public disclosure may be the reason why Rauner's firm GTCR decided to settle a civil racketeering lawsuit back in 2006, shortly after the federal judge set a trial date for the case.



As Rauner was chairman of GTCR at the time, we can probably safely assume he had to personally sign-off on a decision to settle a big racketeering case.



I wrote about the details of that racketeering lawsuit back in May. The terms of the settlement remain confidential, but a reference to the case in court filings in other Trans Healthcare litigation suggests the amount was easily in the millions.



The lead plaintiff in the 2006 case was Aegis Services, Inc. ("Aegis"), a landlord which leased land and facilities to defendants for use in their nursing home business throughout Ohio.



Aegis claimed defendants had been ignoring their rent obligations because they were engaged in a "massive and wholesale pattern of wrongful and fraudulent conversion" of nursing home monies which defendants were unlawfully diverting to themselves. Those nursing home monies of course included tax dollars in the form of Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements.



All of this exposes yet another lie by Rauner. As the current trial proceeds in Florida, Rauner attempts to bamboozle gullible reporters into thinking this is all new and that his company has never been accused of wrongdoing before. Of course it's all hogwash. The Ohio racketeering case is just one example evidencing that this "bust-out" model was Rauner's common practice and not some isolated event.



Aegis's suit included not only civil racketeering claims -- as in the Racketeer Influence and Corrupt Organizations statute, or "RICO" -- but also other federal and state civil claims including allegations of mail fraud, wire fraud, fraudulent transfer, unlawful conversion of assets, and intentional submission of false financial information. Those allegations sound like they could also have been brought criminally, but we find no evidence that the matter went beyond Aegis's civil claims.



The main defendants were the GTCR-created-and-controlled Trans Healthcare, Inc. and Trans Health Management, Inc. While Rauner was not personally named, GTCR Fund VI, L.P. (one of GTCR's investment funds) was a named defendant due to its ownership and control of Trans Healthcare.



Two of Rauner's then-fellow GTCR principals, Edgar Jannotta, Jr. and Thomas Goldberg were also personally named. Also named as defendants were Trans Healthcare's Chairman Thomas Erickson, and its President and CEO W. Bradley Bennett - both were officers installed by GTCR.



Anyone following the trial going on now in Florida will note many of the same players.



More importantly, if Pat Quinn had once settled a RICO case, does anyone honestly think it wouldn't be front page news? And Rauner's campaign would get another million or two from his billionaire pal Ken Griffin to guarantee every voter in Illinois knew about it.



But when it comes to Rauner, almost everyone is silent.



Finally, I'll note Bruce Rauner earns a distinction even disgraced former governor Rod Blagojevich can't claim. Recall the Feds actually dropped racketeering charges against Blagojevich.



Granted, in Blagojevich's case we are talking about the criminal side of the federal RICO statute. The suit Aegis brought was a federal civil RICO case and the standard of proof is lower, and obviously the penalties are quite different. Nevertheless, it's a very serious matter and the fact remains Rauner's firm decided to settle a civil RICO case instead of going to trial.



--



Doug Ibendahl is a Chicago Attorney and a former General Counsel of the Illinois Republican Party.



from Chicago - The Huffington Post http://ift.tt/1rB77xO

via IFTTT

Charges Filed After Intentionally-Set Fire At FAA Traffic Center Shuts Down Chicago Airports

CHICAGO (AP) -- Airlines were scrambling to accommodate travelers whose flights were canceled after a contract employee allegedly set a fire at a suburban Chicago air traffic control center where he worked, halting flights at two of the nation's busiest airports.



Brian Howard, 36, of Naperville, Illinois, was charged Friday with destruction of aircraft or aircraft facilities, a felony. When paramedics found him, he was trying to cut his own throat, according to the criminal complaint. The FBI said Howard remains hospitalized and no court date has been scheduled.



The fire halted all traffic in and out of O'Hare and Midway airports. Delays and cancellations rippled through the air travel network from coast to coast after the fire. The ground stoppage at O'Hare and Midway raised questions about whether the Federal Aviation Administration has adequate backup plans to keep planes moving when a single facility has to shut down.



By Friday night, more than 2,000 flights in and out of Chicago had been canceled. Flights resumed after a five-hour gap, but planes were moving at a much-reduced pace, and no one could be sure when full service would be restored.



The FAA said in a statement Friday evening that it was managing the Aurora facility's traffic through centers in Cleveland, Indianapolis, Kansas City and Minneapolis. The agency said it would continue working with those centers over the weekend to reduce disruptions.



The fire forced the evacuation of the control center in Aurora, about 40 miles west of downtown Chicago. It was the second unexpected shutdown of a Chicago-area air traffic facility since May.



Howard worked for the FAA contractor that supplies and maintains communications systems at air traffic facilities, said Jessica Cigich, a spokeswoman for Professional Aviation Safety Specialists, the union that represents FAA technicians. Howard was recently told he was being transferred to Hawaii, according to the complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago.



The complaint says a relative who saw a suicidal Facebook note posted on Howard's account early Friday alerted authorities. Meanwhile, a 911 call from the control center brought a suburban fire department to the scene, where paramedics followed a trail of blood past a gas can, two knives and a lighter, the complaint said.



Howard told the paramedics who found him, "Leave me alone," the complaint said.



Howard used a key card to access the center, according to the complaint, and video surveillance shows him dragging a rolling suitcase as he entered. Authorities don't believe there's any surveillance video of the crime itself, Thomas Ahern, a spokesman for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said.



When the center was evacuated, management of the region's airspace was transferred to other facilities, FAA spokeswoman Elizabeth Cory said.



The shutdown quickly spread travel misery around the country, with airports as close as Milwaukee and as far as Dallas canceling flights.



Online radar images at one point showed a gaping hole in the nation's air traffic map over the Upper Midwest. Some passengers already in the air headed for Chicago wound up elsewhere. Southwest Airlines said it scrapped all of its flights at Midway and Milwaukee for the entire day.



"This is a nightmare scenario when we thought systems were in place to prevent it," said aviation analyst Joseph Schwieterman of DePaul University in Chicago. "Technology is advancing so fast that ... there's less of a need for air traffic control to be so geographically oriented. I think the FAA's going to find itself under a microscope."



The disruption was also likely to deliver a financial hit to airlines, Schwieterman said.



The FAA's statement did not address the delays, and a spokeswoman in Chicago did not respond to a request for comment about the agency's backup planning.



Brothers Glenn and Gary Campbell, of suburban Chicago, had planned to travel to the Orlando, Florida, area to attend their father's 80th birthday party. Instead, they settled for refunds.



"That it is so easy to disrupt the system is disturbing," said Gary Campbell, a carpenter from Crystal Lake, Illinois. "They need to see how to make sure this kind of thing doesn't happen again."



In May, an electrical problem forced the evacuation of a regional radar facility in suburban Elgin. A bathroom exhaust fan overheated and melted insulation on some wires, sending smoke through the facility's ventilation system and into the control room. That site was evacuated for three hours, and more than 1,100 flights were canceled.



The Aurora facility, known as an enroute center, handles aircraft flying at high altitudes, including those approaching or leaving Chicago airports. Air traffic closer to the airports is handled by a different facility and by the control towers at the airfields.



---



Associated Press writers Michael Tarm in Chicago, David Koenig in Dallas and Joan Lowy in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.



from Chicago - The Huffington Post http://ift.tt/1t4Fr0F

via IFTTT