CONVERSATION WITH THE PUBLISHER

Students came to Springfield as part of welfare reform study

by Ed Wojcicki

A Chicago high school student who was visiting Springfield commented that he noticed something different about our state Capitol complex. No violence around there, he told me — a fact that is in stark contrast to what he said he sees every day in his home neighborhood.

This young man was among a small group of students who came here at my invitation as the guests of Sen. Barack Obama of Chicago and Illinois Issues. They write for New Expression, a publication of Youth Communication that reaches Chicago teens. They are working on a special supplement about how welfare reform is working in Illinois, and came prepared with questions.

The group, which met with several senators, B.J. Walker of the Department of Human Services and Pam Sutherland of Planned Parenthood, asked many insightful questions about the process the state uses for determining who will get welfare benefits. Some- times they seemed to surprise their guest speakers with stories about what is actually happening to recipients. One young man, for example, mentioned that his benefits as a child were cut off completely because his mother did not comply with some of the rules, and he felt this was unfair to him.

The students were told several times during the day the purpose of the new rules is to try to make people on welfare more accountable for their own actions. The responses did not always satisfy the students, but they were more informed.

By the time you get this magazine, Illinois Issues staff member Liz Curl will have retired. She has worked at the magazine since 1975, the year it began publishing. She has been our business and circulation manager in recent years. She is so skillful that I often thanked her for working magic with our tight budget. Our board adopted a well-deserved resolution honoring her, and we wish her all the best in the years to come. 

Senate Minority Leader Emit Jones (left) meets with student journalists from the Youth Communication program in Chicago. Their capital visit was hosted by Sen. Barack Obama of Chicago and Illinois Issues. The Chicago Teachers Union paid their travel expenses.

Illinois Issues May 1999 / 3