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Edited by Donald Sevener
WELFARE TO WORK
Solving two problems with one job
Colleen Wink has an idea for taking two of society's biggest problems right now — the ticking welfare clock and the countdown to computer meltdown in the year 2000 — and creating one solution. Her goal: Train welfare recipients to program computers that are at risk of failure come the millennium. Her inspiration: a phone call from a girlfriend.
"I have a friend who is on welfare. She called me after talking with her caseworker about all the new reforms. She was like, 'What am I going to do? Do you have a job?' And I said, 'Hmm. Let me think about that.'"
Wink, president of Global Opportunities Inc., a Peoria-based technology consulting firm, did think about it. And she came up with an idea that could be used to put welfare recipients to work nationwide.
With six weeks of intensive computer and life skills training, Wink believes, welfare recipients could start making some of the basic computer software changes that will be needed before the year 2000. (Computers using Cobol programming language will think the year 2000 is the year 1900. That will wreck such programs as payroll, retirement benefits — anything that's time dated.)
"Demand is really high right now. There is a 30 to 40 percent shortage of technologists in this country. I know companies paying $65 an hour for basic Cobol changes," says Wink, adding that 1998 is expected to be the year when most of these changes are made.
"It's important to begin as soon as possible. The niche in the market right now represents the single largest launching pad to move people from welfare into not just a job but a career."
Wink hopes to start training a group of about 20 people by next January, but first she needs to drum up some more money. The United Way and the Urban League have expressed interest in helping. Though Annie Gordon, employment director of the Tri-County Urban League, says her group is just "talking about it at this point."
Ultimately, Wink hopes to get the state interested. And officials say they are. "Generally speaking, we encourage any firm interested in training and employing welfare recipients, even if it's just one, to contact us," says Bill Holland, director of the Department of Human Services' division of transitional assistance. Indeed, the state just released $24 million for such proposals, so "she has a greater opportunity now than ever before to get this type of program funded."
Wink says she may not employ hundreds at first, but her plan will give people a chance to earn $10 to $20 an hour immediately — enough to pay for day care and transportation. Health insurance and retirement benefits are also part of the deal.
Those on welfare, she argues, say, "Just give me the chance and watch me go."
Still, the high demand for Cobol programmers will not last indefinitely. Wink's plan: ongoing technology training.
In an effort to keep former welfare recipients off public aid, it's Wink's idea to help them start their own company. By continuing to hire welfare recipients, this new company could take advantage of two federal tax credits for employers who hire people off public aid. Wink then suggests those savings could be used to fund continued technology training, or perhaps an on-site day care center.
"This is worlds away from working at McDonald's."
Jennifer Davis
QUICK! CALL ANDY WILLIAMS
The weather outside could be frightful, but not if El Nino has any say about it
If you like to warm yourself by the fire listening to the dulcet tones of Andy Williams singing, "Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow," then you'd better head for a more northerly latitude.
Scientists say the Midwest — Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and the vicinity of Lake Michigan — is due for below normal snowfall this winter because of a strengthening El Nino in the equatorial Pacific Ocean.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reports that this El Nino, which is a disruption in oceanic and atmospheric circulation patterns in Pacific waters around the equator, is already one of the strongest on record. And the agency predicts this El Nino will continue over the next several months.
One prominent feature of an El Nino is its development of warmer than usual temperatures, potentially reducing the chances for snow in this region. The Midwest's farmers have more than a romantic interest in such patterns; their livelihood is dependent on adequate precipitation.
"Below normal snowfall this winter would not pose any significant problems for crops planted in the spring, which are dependent on the spring rains," says Daryl Good, an agricultural economist at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. However, Good adds that it's desirable for the winter wheat crop, which is planted after the soybean harvest, to have a blanket of snow for protection during the winter months.
Meanwhile, Illinois has sufficient moisture in the water table going into winter. "If you look at the soil moisture profile for the state overall, it is OK," says Gary Pepper, an agronomist at the U of I's ag department. "Hopefully, we will have the amount of precipitation we need to recharge it in the spring."
Snowfall during normal winters and average of six strong El Nino events
SNOWFALL (in inches)
|
Location |
Normal (all winters) |
Average
(six strongest El Nino events |
|
Illinois Chicago Midway Airport |
44 |
25 (20-33) |
|
Champaign |
27 |
13 ( 8-21) |
|
Rockford |
38 |
24(19-31) |
|
Springfield |
25 |
14(10-21) |
Scientists base predictions on analyses of data from thousands of stations located throughout the Midwest and the United States.
Linda Classen Anderson
Still dreaming?
There's a chance for a white Christmas. The Old Farmer's Almanac, which has a circulation of 4.4 million, predicts a "close to normal" snowfall for Illinois. The best chance for snow in the northern half of the state is in mid- December and after the first of the year. Snow is most likely in the southern region in late November and mid to late February. Several factors go into forecasting the weather, says Mary Anne Jarvela, assistant managing editor, including solar activity. This year the almanac also considered the effect of El Nino. "And, of course, there's the Almanac's secret formula."
Linda Classen Anderson
Illinois Issues November 1997 /9
Field Museum plans footpath to understanding
Mention "cultural diversity" and many folks immediately conjure up those things that separate us: race, ethnic background, age, sexual orientation.
The Field Museum in Chicago is trying to focus on what connects us.
On November 8, the museum opens a new permanent exhibit designed to help people explore and understand the reasons for cultural diversity.
"Living Together" examines how people of different
cultures deal with three common concerns of life:
home, image and community. The exhibit opens with a
display of 135 pairs of shoes from around the world.
From solid-silver Indian wedding shoes to a pair of
leather work boots, each shoe is a different answer to
the universal problem of how to cover the feet.
"People are fundamentally afraid of diversity," says Alaka Wall, exhibit curator and director of the museum's Center for Cultural Understanding and Change. "If we can understand the reasons for cultural differences — why people do what they do — then maybe we can get beyond 'tolerance' to genuine understanding."
Beverley Scobell
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The new Field Museum exhibit displays shoes from around the world, including those pictured here, clockwise from bottom left: an appliqued boot worn by Nanai People in Eastern Siberia; a snowshoefrom Japan; a firefighter's boot from Chicago; a girl's party shoe by Trevi, from Chicago; and a woman's platform shoe inlaid with mother-of-pearl from Turkey. Feet themselves can also be decorative: Shown here is a woman's foot (upper right) painted with henna in the tradition of decorating a bride's feet in India to symbolize good luck and fertility. John Weinstein courtesy of The Field Museum |
New tech center
It's a first for Illinois: a one-stop shop for technology training, job placement and career counseling.
How will it play? We'll see come 1999 when the 10-story tech center goes online in Peoria.
Some major players are betting it will go over well. Caterpillar has already donated $1.2 million. The city, Bradley University and the University of Illinois School of Medicine are also involved.
"We want everyone to be able to come here and learn something about technology," says Bill Wright, the center's interim director. He says other cities have such centers, but, "if someone is doing something on this scale, we have yet to hear about it."
Plans include a free walk-in computer lab with Internet access and volunteer tutors, and technology classes for the uninitiated and the expert.
Jennifer Davis
10/ November 1997 Illinois Issues
GEEKS NEEDED
Elderly recipients find technology a barrier to getting welfare benefits
Linking some elderly welfare recipients to Illinois' new LINK card is not so easy, state officials are finding.
The card, which will be accessible statewide by the end of this month, works much like an ATM card. But instead of drawing on their checking accounts, users draw out cash assistance and food stamps.
It's simple enough if you grew up with today's gadgetry. But, "my God," says Ellen Dixon, social services coordinator for the Morgan County Housing Authority, "these people still have rotary phones." Dixon is referring to the 300-some elderly residents she works with. "This technology is like another world for them."
Only an estimated 10 percent of those 300 went to training on the LINK card. Many, Dixon says, are getting friends, family, visiting nurses — anyone — to use their card for them.
At a recent conference for Illinois housing authorities, several authority directors expressed the same problem.
"Not one of the elderly people I serve attended any training," says Jane Lear, director of the Logan County Housing Authority and president of the Illinois Association of Housing Authorities. "I'm concerned they aren't going to eat or they'll be buying food and not their medicine because they're too proud to let someone know they need help. These are very proud people."
State officials know some elderly aid recipients haven't adjusted to the new computerized card. What is not known is how many, says Edward Jakobsen, director of Illinois' LINK project.
But the state is tracking and contacting people who fail to draw on their benefits after 75 days. "We've also tried to do a lot of outreach and work with groups who serve the elderly. We're not going to be able to force people to use this technology."
But that's all there is come the end of this month. Benefits will no longer be sent through the mail. The remaining seven Chicago metro and 47 southern Illinois satellite Department of Human Services offices will convert to the LINK card sometime in October or November. Then some 500,000 Illinois households will be online with the program.
The federal government has given every state until 2002 to get the LINK card. Eight other states have it statewide.
"We did an overall survey of clients and retailers and, overwhelmingly, they like this process better," says Jakobsen. "They feel more secure. They don't have to walk around with a bunch of money, and if they lose their card, they just get another."
Jennifer Davis
States lack incentive to collect child support
Illinois is a deadbeat when it comes to making deadbeat parents pay. But this state has plenty of company.
And federal officials are beginning to ask why every state is performing so poorly. Why was only $12 billion collected nationwide this past fiscal year when close to three times that amount, $34 billion, was left unpaid?
It's not that deadbeat parents are so hard to find, the feds say. It's just that states have little incentive to improve. A U.S. General Accounting Office study released just over a year ago criticizes the federal program that gives states financial incentives "regardless of how well or poorly they perform." And, in most cases, the federal government is picking up two-thirds of the tab for enforcement nationwide.
Another problem, according to the GAO, is that states may use the incentive payments to fund other programs. That's something Illinois does. And "it may be one distinction between Illinois and some better-performing states," says Joel Bankes, executive director of the National Child Support Enforcement Association, a nonprofit advocacy and education group.
Still, NCSE gave Illinois its most improved award for 1997. "We've seen tremendous strides [in Illinois] the last year, year-and-a-half."
Illinois did collect a record $295.8 million in fiscal year 1997. But there's an accumulated $1.3 billion that has gone uncollected since 1976. And Illinois blew a federal deadline of October 1 to computerize tracking of its 600,000 child support cases. The state now has until December 31.
Going online is a first step. But David Gray Ross, deputy director of the U.S. Office of Child Support Enforcement, proposes tying incentives to performance. By fiscal year 2000, he expects states would get half of what they receive now from the federal government.
Jennifer Davis
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WEB SITE OF THE MONTH Book 'em Dano We are crime junkies. Writes Lawrence M. Friedman in Crime and Punishment in American History: "Crime is endlessly fascinating to the public. The rise of 'yellow journalism' fed the reader's desire for sensational, scandalous, absorbing events. The twentieth century was, if anything, even more obsessed with crime and news of crime." If you're among those fascinated with cops and robbers, good guys and bad guys, the World Wide Web has hundreds, perhaps thousands, of sites to explore. One of the most comprehensive sites is the Justice Information Center at http://www.ncjrs.org/. It contains links to courts, corrections police departments, crime victims, federal law enforcement agencies, prisons, crime prevention, domestic violence, research and crimes against children — to mention a few. If you're interested in statistics about crime and criminals, the Bureau of Justice Statistics at http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/has comprehensive numbers and analyses. The FBI is another good source, located at http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/crimeus/crimeus.htm.
Information about the death
penalty is available through the
Death Penalty Information Center at
http://www.essential.org/dpic/. The
site has links to information and
news about the death penalty, recent
court decisions and legislation. U.S.
Supreme Court rulings in capital
punishment cases since 1900 are
available at The Death Penalty Page,
http://www.fsu.edu/lawtech/deathpen/deathpen.html. And for differing
viewpoints about the death penalty,
surf to: http://www.yahoo.com/Society_and_Culture/Crime/Death_Penalty/Opposing_Views/ or /Supporting_Views/.
Donald Sevener |
12 / November 1997 Illinois Issues
Prairie School architect honored in photo exhibit
If you see elements of Frank Lloyd Wright design in this cottage, you're close. This is the Kenilworth home that architect George Washington Maher designed and lived in for more than 30 years.
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Maher was a contemporary of Wright's and, like Wright, played a significant role in the development of Prairie School architecture. Maher advocated total design, unifying details and furnishings through repetition of decorative motifs that employed plants and flowers. The Architecture of George Washington Maher, a photographic exhibition of Maher's work by Judith Bromley, in collaboration with Maher biographer Kathleen Cummings, will run through November at the Chicago Architecture Foundation Lecture Hall Gallery on South Michigan Avenue. The exhibit displays interior and exterior images of Maher's buildings that offer a comprehensive look at the architect's innovations. Admission is free. Maher designed houses and buildings throughout the Chicago area, including more than 40 buildings in the North Shore suburb of Kenil_____ worth. Maher's John Farson House in Oak Park is considered one of the earliest and finest examples of Prairie School architecture and was recently designated a national historic landmark. |
Examples of Maher's work are also found across the country, including a water tower in Fresno, Calif., a mine shaft headframe in Michigan's Upper Peninsula and several residences on the East Coast.
Beverley Scobell
13 / November 1997 Illinois Issues
