My thought on the NIU shooting

By now, I’m sure everyone is aware of the Valentine’s Day shooting at Northern Illinois University. It saddens me to know that there is nothing the University or any of Chicago’s top security can do to prevent a situation like this. Since UIC is a very public campus and anyone can walk into our main campus (the east side) at any time of the day, people have a reason to feel unsafe traveling to class.

After reading about the NIU massacre in the Chicago Sun-Times, I was very shocked to see that the shooter was a former student himself and that he showed no signs of committing these criminal acts. Steven Kazmierczak was a 27-year-old former student and T.A. of NIU who was seen as polite and calm by many family members and friends. Nobody really knew what he was going through except his former girlfriend who calms he stopped taking his medication. In addition to Steven not taking his medicine anymore, he was able to purchase firearms both through the internet and through a gun store in Urbana Champaign. I think schools need to put in a lot more time monitoring students and the medications that they are on. Gun shops also need to be stricter in selling their weapons and not just releasing them to anyone who has a certified gun license. In today’s society, it is so easy for young people to get a hold of things that can cause harm to both themselves and others. I hope in the future, there will be more effort put into raising the security standards.

What is a great city?

I think the top 4 things that would make a great city are

1) public transportation
2) safety
3) tourism
4) affordability

Public transportation is very essential because so many people are employed within the city and it is the cities job to provide people with different ways of getting around. Vehicles, trains, buses, and bike routes are provided in Chicago but I think there can be so much more done to improve transportation services to make them quicker and more efficient for everyone.

Safety in Chicago was always very questionable? Since I am attending UIC which is in the middle of the city and apart of the West side where crime is very usual, I always have to be very precautious and watch my surroundings. I do however believe that UIC police do a great job when they are patrolling the campus especially around the residential areas.

Tourism is a great aspect of Chicago! I believe our most famous tourist spots are Navy Peer, Michigan Ave., and the Water Tower. Although I appreciate all that Chicago has to offer, I feel we are behind many other cities in this aspect. For instance, unlike Vegas Chicago doesn’t have strip of different attractions where people can do other things than shop. Vegas also has a famous rail-line that gives tourists the whole look of the strip.

Affordability is very important because without it, it seems as though Chicago is very segregated in class and there is not much diversity in most parts of the city. When gentrification occurs, the same classes of families are forced to live together because the wealthy will live where old houses were torn down and the poor will all migrate to areas where housing is somewhat affordable. Overall, I think Chicago has much improving to do on affordable housing, but they are doing a good job in a few parts of the city.

Chicago safe enough?

I always hear of stories about people being abducted and sexually harassed. Sometimes it happens so close to UIC that I often feel very unsafe which causes me to go out less often. Here are a couple of articles about people who are approached and sometimes harmed by random predators.

Man tried to abduct girl, 12, on North Side, police say

Tribune staff report

3:35 PM CST, February 11, 2008

An unidentified man tried to abduct a 12-year-old girl on Chicago's North Side Friday, Chicago police said Monday.

The girl was walking to school in the 1400 block of West Montrose Avenue at about 8:45 a.m. Friday when a man approached her and asked whether she wanted to go with him, police said. The victim ran to her school and reported the incident.

The man is described as a Hispanic man in his 20s, 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighing 120 pounds. He has very short dark brown hair and crooked and overlapping teeth. He was wearing blue jeans and a short black jacket.

South Side man charged with attempted child abduction

By Jeremy Gorner | Tribune reporter

8:39 AM CST, February 4, 2008Digg

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Chicago police have arrested a man they say tried to abduct an 11-year-old girl as she walked to school Thursday on the South Side.

The man, identified by police Monday as Mister Pearson, 28, of the 500 block of East 36th Place, has been charged with one count of attempted child abduction, Chicago Police Officer Laura Kubiak said.

At about 8:20 a.m. Thursday, the girl was on the 1300 block of West 82nd Street when a man driving a blue Ford sedan began following her and motioned for her to come his vehicle, police said.

When she refused, he rolled down the window and told her to approach it. The girl then ran to a school crossing guard, who notified police.

Police last week said they thought the same individual was responsible for a similar incident that occurred Jan. 28 in the Bronzeville neighborhood, but Kubiak said Monday that investigators do not believe that Pearson is connected to that second attempted child abduction.

In the Jan. 28 case, a man driving a blue, four-door Ford or Mercury sedan called to a 13-year-old girl walking on the 3700 block of South Ellis Avenue.

After the teen ignored the man, he drove away, police said Tuesday. But he returned, got out of the car and grabbed her, police said.

The teen screamed, and the man displayed a knife before fleeing the scene.

That man is described as 22 or 23 years old, 5-feet-10 to 6 feet tall, African-American and about 200 pounds, police said. He also has a scar over his right eye that extends beyond the bridge of his nose.

Jordan Sparks Tattoo

Jordan Sparks Tattoo

Oooh... Oooh... Ohhh..No matter what you say about love,I keep coming back for more,My head in the fire,sooner or later I get what i'm asking forNo matter what you say about life,I learn every time I bleed.The truth is a strangerMy soul is in danger,I gotta let my spirit be free to,Admit that I was wrong and then change my mind.Sorry but I have to move on and leave you behind.I can't waste time so give me the momentI realize nothing's brokenNo need to worry about everything I've doneLived every second like it was my last one.Don't look back got a new directionLoved you once, needed protection.You're still a part of everything I do, you're on my heart just like a tattoo,Just like a tatto, I'll always have you.I'm sick of playing all of these gamesIt's not about taking ties.When I look in the mirror,Didn't deliverIt hurt enough to think that I could stopAdmit that I'm wrong and then change my mind.Sorry but I gotta be strong and leave you behindI can't waste time so give me the momentI realize nothing's brokenNo need to worry about everything I've doneLived every second like it was my last one.Don't look back got a new directionLoved you once, needed protectionYou're still a part of everything I do, you're on my heart just like a tattoo, I'll always have you.If I live every momentWon't change any momentStill a part of me and you.I will never regret youStill the memory of youMarks everything I do.I can't waste time so give me the momentI realize nothing's brokenNo need to worry about everything I've doneLived every second like it was my last oneDon't look back got a new directionLoved you once, needed protection.You're still a part of everything I do, you're on my heart just like a tattoo.Just like a tattooI'll always have you.(Repeat chorus)

Election 2008

The election is very interesting to me because both candidates for the Democratic Party are new faces in the history books. This is why there is so much unnecessary controversy that has flooded the media about Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton. With these two candidates, people are confused about who they should vote for because of many different issues. Obama seems to pull in a lot of votes because he attracts the younger people with his meaningful speeches and he also attracts minorities because he is a black male. With Clinton, she seems to pull in a lot of older voters because of her experience and that the former president Bill Clinton is her husband. She also seems to pull in a lot of women voters because she promises to take care of issues that mostly concern women. In my opinion, no candidate is really that much better than the other. I must say this is the hardest election for me because I am a mixed female who is caught in between who I should vote for. In a way, I feel I owed my vote to Obama because he represents the struggle that blacks have dealt with for hundreds of years with slavery and the fact that they are very underrepresented when it comes to political issues and their say so on things. I also feel I owe a vote to Clinton because women have always been given the lower hand when they tried to take on a position that is usually geared for men. No matter what though, I am glad to see the change that has been brought about in 2008 and may the best candidate win!

Hagedorn's website

John Hagedorn is very dedicated to doing research on gang economics. He is an associate professor of criminal justice and studies violence in Chicago communities. While Hagedorn studied gang relations throughout many Chicago land areas, he quickly discovered that gangs are a way for young people to organize their selves on the street just as regular people decided to join fraternities and sororities to feel like they belong to a family who cares. His website: http://gangresearch.net is very interesting in that it talks about gangs in Chicago and how the black metropolis is constantly expanding over the near west and south sides.

As I look at his map labeled Chicago’s Black Ghetto 1910-2000. I see the large change that the state of Illinois has undertaken including the majority of white populations decreasing almost everywhere except for the northside. In poor economies, gangs are a huge economic force and there is no sign of them disappearing anytime soon. So what is society to do about this gangs and violence? In my opinion, I think there is a lot of work to be done by our federal government and our politicians. Instead of them just trying to find ways to arrest and punish all of these gang members, I think there should be more public funding for programs that will work with these members to help them get off the streets and encourage them to make better life choices. As Hagedorn suggested, I believe gang members should write their own stories so that we can not only get more insight on the problem, but that a variety of approaches to better our economy can come from hearing their sides of the story.

Chicago poem by Carl Sandburg

CHICAGO

    HOG Butcher for the World,
    Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat,
    Player with Railroads and the Nation's Freight Handler;
    Stormy, husky, brawling,
    City of the Big Shoulders:

They tell me you are wicked and I believe them, for I
    have seen your painted women under the gas lamps
    luring the farm boys.
And they tell me you are crooked and I answer: Yes, it
    is true I have seen the gunman kill and go free to
    kill again.
And they tell me you are brutal and my reply is: On the
    faces of women and children I have seen the marks
    of wanton hunger.
And having answered so I turn once more to those who
    sneer at this my city, and I give them back the sneer
    and say to them:
Come and show me another city with lifted head singing
    so proud to be alive and coarse and strong and cunning.
Flinging magnetic curses amid the toil of piling job on
    job, here is a tall bold slugger set vivid against the
    little soft cities;

Fierce as a dog with tongue lapping for action, cunning
    as a savage pitted against the wilderness,
         Bareheaded,
         Shoveling,
         Wrecking,
         Planning,
         Building, breaking, rebuilding,
Under the smoke, dust all over his mouth, laughing with
    white teeth,
Under the terrible burden of destiny laughing as a young
    man laughs,
Laughing even as an ignorant fighter laughs who has
    never lost a battle,
Bragging and laughing that under his wrist is the pulse.
    and under his ribs the heart of the people,
              Laughing!
Laughing the stormy, husky, brawling laughter of
    Youth, half-naked, sweating, proud to be Hog
    Butcher, Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat, Player with
    Railroads and Freight Handler to the Nation.

My transition over the years

When I first moved on campus in the year 2005, I felt so out of place in the city. Coming from the south suburbs where a diverse range of people and CTA transportation barely exist, I was hoping that I could adjust to my new environment.

Once I moved into my dorm from with my roommate, who I already knew from high school I got much more comfortable with my university. We would attend almost all of the events that were held around campus and before I knew how time consuming college really was, I was always hanging out in one of my friend’s rooms. Hanging out started to be something I had to take off my agenda because classes and course work were beginning to be very overwhelming.

As time passed and the semester got closer to ending, I realized how bad my grades were. I knew that I couldn’t let my parents down after I knew how much tuition cost and how much they counted on me to not let them down. I begin to get my act together by studying in the library for hours and getting tutoring help from different organizations. This helped me a lot to both mature and realize my goals while also helping me boost my test scores and get better homework grades.

I decided to write this blog because I realized how much I’ve changed as a person over my three years as an undergraduate student at UIC. Presently, I am very content with the way things are going with my college experience and I plan to continue on in the future in graduate school.