Directed Study Presentations – An Investigative Think Tank!
Also, my camera battery died, so there aren’t pictures of each project. ~Valerie
Frank Murphy, former Sumer Session student and Summer staff member, said, “This course is like an investigative think tank!”
Insructor Scott Chesebro said, “These findings will be of interest to your supervisors at your internship sites. You’ve done the legwork that sometimes the sites don’t want to take a look at – your findings are important, as you have looked behind the facts and asked questions.”
The Directed Study Projects
Keith
Black Female Entrepreneurs
What do they face that white women and/or black men don’t face?
There are approx 22 million companies and 63% earn less than $50K
86% of black owned companies earn less than $50K
Keith interviewed 8 black women entrepreneurs and found similar issues with all:
No long-term black networks
Challenges of clients trusting you and balancing family life with owning a business
Most came from families that stressed education and entrepreneurship was part of life
Maggie
Sight-Seeing in the Projects
Compared and contrasted two tours of public housing on the South Side of Chicago
Beauty Turner: “Ghetto Tours” – former resident of CHA
Derrick Hill: Spokesperson for CHA
Jen
This hospital (also her internship site) moved 200 patients in less than 5 hours into a new building. The new building tripled in size and is state-of-the-art,
Interviewed 2 Administrators, 3 Physicians and 2 Nurses
Ashly
Immigration and the Archdiocese of Chicago
Why does the Catholic Church are about immigration policies? Does the Catholic Church support illegal immigration?
Interviewed a priest who has been active in both Cook and Lake Counties
Faina
Black-Jewish Relations in Chicago and the Hyde Park Neighborhood
Interviewed Haki Madhubuti, founder and president of Third World Press, which publishes many black nationalist authors and Rabbi Wolf of KAM Isaiah Israel Synagogue
Chicago has the 4th greatest Jewish population in the United States and the largest contiguous black population in the United States
Kari
A Textual Analysis of News Coverage in Public Housing in the Chicago Defender and Chicago Sun-Times in 2006 and 2007
Examined 2 months of articles in each newspaper each in 2006 and 2007
Used data coding and 14 variables, including interviews with residents, crime, class/income level, self-imrovement, government
Cook County Public Health System and the John H Stroger Public Hospital
– sees 180,000 patients every year
Injustices in health care
Interviewed Deputy County Commissioner, Chief of Staff and a Doctor
Helped conduct a patient survey – in-depth interviews of 48 patients
8 hours for a prescription to be filled
Elimination of mammograms and some primary care clinics
Kyle
Have schools and students picked up on environmental issues after visiting the North Park Nature Center?
Started off as interviews but there wasn’t enough time; focused on elementary school teachers – conducted 10 interviews with teachers
Found teachers and students were more focused on wildlife and nature and not global environmentalism
Annaliese
Does the Oriental Institute Specifically Target Schools from Affluent Areas?
Examined statistics and interviewed staff
Steve
Civil Rights: The Nazis Come to Chicago
Chicago neighborhood Marquette Park was 99.9% white and working class in 1950s
60,000 people (whites) moved out of West Englewood in 4 years – a large number went to Marquette Park
As the 2nd wave of the black migration happened, the Black population began growing. This challenged some whites’ identity and they feared economic change, and competition for political, social and cultural resources
1962 Civil Rights Act signed and led to the Chicago Freedom Movement
Open housing – most clearcut form of discrimination in the North and most easily resolved and could capture national attention
Deep complexities
Found old early documentary and interviewed a couple of residents about that time
Leader was Frank Collins, later to be found to be half Jewish and later convicted pedophile
Kevin
Merrill Lynch Experience
A Merrill Lynch brokerage firm was his internship and during his time there, CEO Stan O’Neil was canned. Under his leadership lost 8 billion dollars in 3 months Merrill Lynch is the 32nd biggest in the exchange
Interviewed brokers about what happened
He over-invested in sub-prime lending and
“Deserved what he got” was the general attitude.
Abby
Youth Violence in Chicago
Learned new terminology: vulnerable communities, youth at rist,
Looked at Funding sources and grant reviewers
McCormick Tribune Foundation
Teen report card
Profiled several organizations that serve youth in Chicago
AJ
After School Programs & Gangs
Interviewed and spoke with the kids at his after schcool program, CTVN – none of them were in a gang, but most were familiar with gang culture
After school programs help with the development of skills crucial to a working future
At CTVN, it’s camera work, working with groups, work ethic, leadership