SPRINGFIELD – Several state lawmakers say they didn’t know a law they passed after the Northern Illinois University shootings isn’t being enforced – and some vow to tighten the statute when legislators return to Springfield early next year.

A three-month investigation by ChicagoTalks found that a fraction of Cook County’s 63 higher education institutions appear to be complying with the Illinois Campus Security Enhancement Act of 2008.

The law — unanimously passed by both chambers of the Illinois General Assembly — requires nearly 200 higher education institutions statewide to create violence prevention and all-hazard emergency response plans; establish behavior assessment teams to track suspicious activity on campus; and hold annual training.

Officials at three public agencies named in the law insist none of them is responsible for enforcing it.

“We probably will have what’s called a trailer bill or follow-up legislation to clarify who in fact is going to be responsible for the collection and evaluation of this information,” said Sen. Edward Maloney (D-Chicago), who sponsored the original bill and chairs the Senate’s Higher Education Committee.

Maloney said the new bill will identify the agency responsible for receiving and analyzing the plans.

That may involve collaboration between various agencies, such as the Illinois Board of Higher Education and the Illinois Community College Board, among others, he said.

“Perhaps even some of the police chief associations and security people, maybe even Homeland Security people [will] look at the plans as well,” Maloney added.

Sen. Ira Silverstein (D-Chicago), another co-sponsor of the original legislation, said he, too, plans to tweak the law.

“I’m surprised that they haven’t brought this to anyone’s attention,” Silverstein said. “I find that a little troubling. I’ll look in to this immediately to find out why they can’t implement this.”

Rep. Angelo “Skip” Saviano (R-Elmwood Park) also promised to introduce legislation to ensure the law gets enforced: “We’re going to do a little research on it ourselves before we craft the legislation.”

It’s not just Cook County schools that appear to be breaking the law.

Roy Garcia, who served as the state’s first campus security coordinator before leaving the post earlier this fall, told reporters that dozens of colleges and universities across the state aren’t following the law.

The law lacks penalties for the institutions that don’t comply, making it hard to get schools to follow it, said Garcia, who now works as the district director of safety and security at City Colleges of Chicago.

But Sen. John Millner (R-Carol Stream) said the law wasn’t intended to force colleges and universities to follow it.

Millner said when lawmakers crafted the statute, they didn’t think including penalties or incentives for schools were necessary. He said he had hoped colleges and universities would embrace the responsibility on their own – because it’s the law.

“We want compliance, voluntary compliance,” said Millner, who serves on the Senate’s Higher Education Committee. “That’s the best. And then when you get total voluntary compliance, that means everybody’s working at their best to protect their students and their faculty.”

But after learning more than half of the state’s colleges and universities in Illinois “aren’t doing their part” almost three years after the law took effect, Millner said it’s time for legislators to toughen it.

“I think there has to be some strict enforcement with sanctions for the university and reporting about the fact that they refuse to comply to the general public,” said Millner.

Campus security hits home for Rep. Robert Pritchard (R-Hinkley), whose district includes NIU.

Pritchard, one of the original sponsors of the bill, said he opposes including penalties for schools that don’t follow the law.

“I’m not one that wants to have penalties for things that need to be done in society. I don’t think any of us want to live in a regimented society that tells you precisely what you must do every minute of every day.”

Pritchard said it’s college students who should be responsible for holding their schools accountable.

“Students should be concerned about this,” Pritchard said. “Most schools have student senates; why don’t they ask the question?”

But Austin Quick, speaker of NIU’s Student Association, disagrees, saying elected officials also are responsible.

Pritchard “is the state representative,” Quick said.

“It’s also a part of his job to increase the ‘teeth’ in the bill,” he said. “Maybe rewrite the bill or maybe add more to it to make sure it’s enforceable.”

Quick said lawmakers may have passed the legislation to appease constituents upset by the NIU shootings that left five students and the gunman dead.

“It sounds to me like this was a warm, fuzzy way for the General Assembly to say, ‘Hey, we wrote this bill, it says you’re supposed to do these things, and if they don’t do, it’s not our fault, we at least did our portion,” Quick said.

“If you’re going to create a law,” he said. “You need to do it where it’s actually enforceable and to actually be able to hold people accountable.”

The brutally murdered body of a 19-year-old gay man was found in the late evening of Nov. 13 in Puerto Rico. It has set off a storm of activism across Puerto Rico and the mainland United States.

Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado was decapitated, partially burned and dismembered on an isolated street in Puerto Rico. He was a well-known member of the local gay community.

Jorge was beaten, decapitated, dismembered and partially burned when police found him.

Juan A. Martinez Matos, 26, was charged with first-degree murder as well as three weapons violations in connection with Lopez’s murder. His bail is set at $4 million.

LGBT community members are in shock over the violent murder and are angry at homophobia within the investigation. There is also concern as to whether the murder will be considered a hate crime.

The story, which garnered some media coverage in Puerto Rico, gained nationwide coverage once a CNN iReporter, Christopher Pagan, sent information to media outlets across America. iReporters are independent reporters who submit stories to CNN about issues that have not received enough media coverage.

According to Pagan, Lopez was found a few miles from his hometown, on an isolated road in a city named Cayey.

Mercado’s murder comes at a powerful but saddening time for the LGBT community. Nov. 20 marked the third annual international Transgender Day of Remembrance in honor of all transgender victims of violence.

“As someone who grew up in Puerto Rico and has been very active in its lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, this is a heart-wrenching moment, said Pedro Julio Serrano, Founder of Puerto Rico Para Todos in a press release by the National Lesbian and Gay Task Force.

The head investigating police officer, Angel Rodriguez, gave an offensive quote that has been repeated across media outlets.

“People who lead this type of lifestyle need to be aware that this will happen,” Rodriguez said.
His quote has been used to support the claim that Puerto Rican authorities are not sensitive to the LGBT community.

“It is inconceivable that the investigating officer suggests that the victim deserved his fate, like a woman deserves rape for wearing a short skirt,” said Puerto Rican gay activist Pedro Julio Serrano to PrimeraHora.com.

“We demand condemnation of this investigator.” After much media scrutiny, Rodriguez was pulled off of the case as head investigator, but he may still be involved with the case, according to the Puerto Rico Police Department.

“Juan Martinez apparently believes Jorge’s sexual orientation and gender expression justify this horrific crime,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese in a press release. “It’s clear, however, that prejudice and hate are the true motivations.”

According to Lambda Legal, Puerto Rico has a hate crimes law, but they do not believe it has ever been used to prosecute any crime involving sexual orientation or gender identity.

“Never in the history of Puerto Rico has a murder been classified as a hate crime,” said Pagan. “Even though we have to follow federal mandates and laws, many of the laws in which are passed in the USA such as Obama’s new bill [ the Matthew Shepard Act ] , do not always directly get practiced in Puerto Rico.”

The recently passed the Matthew Shepard Act, which requires the FBI to help with investigations that may be considered hate crimes, applies to all of the U.S. including Puerto Rico.

Harry Rodriguez, an FBI spokesperson, confirmed that the Matthew Shepard Act would be enforced in Puerto Rico.

“The FBI is monitoring this investigation with the police of Puerto Rico because there are federal civil-rights statutes that cover hate crimes,” Rodgriguez said in a statement to Spanish-language media outlet Primer Hora.

Lopez had ambitions of becoming an important figure in the beauty and fashion worlds, according to Pagan.
“All [of his friends and loved ones] have said that all they can remember is laughing constantly with him and his charismatic persona,” said Pagan. “He always dreamt of being an important figure. Well now Jorge is an icon, a messenger of change.”

“We all first heard about Jorge on Saturday [ Nov. 14 ] on local [ Puerto Rico ] television,” Pagan told Windy City Times. “The details were still not very descriptive. On Sunday there was no press whatsoever in Puerto Rico giving info on this case. I decided to take matters into my own hands to avoid this being another hate crime swept under a rug of bigotry and silence.

“The religious fanaticism in Puerto Rico often plants the seed of hate. The government here waters that seed as much as they can.

“The local FBI is monitoring the case. All the indications that it is a hate crime, its still officially a murder, but the FBI has indicated that its not written in stone, it can change. It is still being investigated fully.”
The defense for the crime may involve “gay panic,” defense, according to the Human Rights Campaign. “Gay panic” is the panic of a homophobic straight individual when confronted with a gay person. This somehow leads to murder, according to the press release.

Judy Shepard, who lost her gay son Matthew in a murder that shocked America in 1998, is disappointed to see such murders continue.

“For another young person to lose their life and be taken from their family and community due to fear, prejudice and hatred is simply unacceptable,” Shepard said. “Each of us who believe in freedom and equality must remain vocal, active, and unrelenting in calling for justice.”

Shepard’s son may be there in spirit to bring a stronger conviction to Matos. Time will tell if the act named after Matthew is used to aid in the case’s investigation.

As for Chicago, local activist Robert Castillo told Windy City Times that it will make the Latino community stronger than ever: “It’s helping to galvanize Latino gay groups and leaders here. This was someone’s son that was murdered. You can’t just let that go by without responding. I’m hoping the community will address gay and lesbian issues a little better.”

Our research was eventually published in the New York Times, with each of our names mentioned.

I helped code an interactive Google Fusion map that showcases Cook County colleges and their levels of compliance. View the map here.

Dawn Clark Netsch has been a fierce advocate for the LGBT population before it included powerful fundraising dollars, significant election votes or even safety. Netsch pushed for a non-discrimination law a full 20 years before it passed, and has been ahead of the trend on most other issues.

The former Illinois senator and comptroller celebrated her 85th birthday Sept. 16. Windy City Times sat down with her in her longtime Northwestern University office. ( She is a professor at the university’s law school. )

As the interview started, Netsch was sifting through old campaign materials. Among them was one of her newsletters from her time in the state legislature. The piece—dating back to the early ’80s, when she was a state lawmaker—mentions her endorsement by the Greater Chicago Gay and Lesbian Democrats. Her acknowledgment of the group’s support was among the first such instances for an LGBT political group. Netsch didn’t think anything of it—they were supporting her, after all.

Through the interview, Netsch discusses her strong past as a politician and ally; her continued recognition in the gay community by young and old alike; and what’s next.

Windy City Times: You graduated from Northwestern back in 1952. What was the campus environment like back then?

Dawn Clark Netsch: It was male. Law was basically not for women at that time. I was actually the only woman in my part of the graduating class in June ’52. I still have the picture; I love it.

As we used to fondly say, there were only two faces that stood out: Harold Washington and mine. He was the only Black, I was the only female.

I didn’t take any guff from anyone, obviously. Once the guys got used to me, they thought I was strange, at first. Not just because I was female, but they all thought I had a funny accent, a phony British accent. I don’t know where they got that.

I was not at all timid about speaking up in class, which women still are to some extent. I lecture them if I hear about any of the women being timid about participating. After a while, we all sort of got used to one another and, as they used to charmingly say, Netsch is just one of the boys.

So, we all got along fine. At least, I think we did.

WCT: At what point in your life did you become an advocate for the LGBT population?

Netsch: Well certainly by the time I had started to run for office, but it had to be a few years before that.

I guess it was probably a combination of things. Number one, I think both Walter, my husband, and I had friends that were gay. Sometimes openly so, other times not, but it was sort of known—and they were friends.

Combined with that, I was always a very passionate civil libertarian, and the idea of discriminating against someone or writing them off because, in this case, sexual orientation, was just anathema to me. I would simply not have considered that proper.

A lot of it really was having friends. They were our friends, it was not a big deal in that sense.

I had reason to speak of it openly when I began to run for office. The question didn’t come up quite so much, I mean, we were still fighting the Equal Rights Amendment at that time. But it would sometimes come up.

WCT: What led you to a political career?

Netsch: I can remember when I was in high school, when asked, “what do you want to do when you grow up,” I started with wanting to be a member of the United States Senate, and after a while I went on to president of the United States. Literally. And I wasn’t just being silly; that was sort of the ultimate of what I wanted to do.

I find it more interesting, I find it important, it’s a way to have impact on issues and, indirectly, then on people. It’s just a much more interesting way to make a living in a sense, with all of its frustrations, which are huge and enormous and continuous.

WCT: You mentioned this a little bit, but how does it feel to be an icon to an entire population? That must be the neatest thing.

Netsch: I sort of don’t go around say, “Oh, I’m an icon!” I am aware of the fact that I am very warmly received in that community. I see it not only in the gay-pride parade, but also at Equality Illinois’ pass-through when we all march across the stage and at a variety of other things.

So I’m not unaware of that. It feels good, of course, and what really to me is most interesting about it is that I’ve been out of office for fifteen or sixteen years now. We didn’t even get the non-discrimination act passed when I was there!

But there’s something that just carries through in that community and it’s very touching for me that I’m still very warmly received and I think a lot of it does have to do with the fact that somehow they know that I’ve been there for a long time.

What’s particularly nice is just how far things have changed. I’m sure you don’t really appreciate that. I’m still alive, and when I started in politics this was basically a toxic issue.

With all the ugliness and recriminations and all the other stuff that’s going on in politics right now, to realize that there is a community there which really does stand by someone that they think stood by them, that is a very good feeling.

WCT: You’ve talked a lot about how far we’ve come. Even in my life, it has been beautiful. I never thought I would see Illinois have civil unions.

Netsch: I don’t think most of us did!

WCT: How much further do you think we have to go towards equality?

Netsch: We will reach a point where I think marriage is not prohibited anywhere. That’s not going to happen quite in my lifetime. I think we’ll add a few more states in my life, but it’s going to take a while. But this is going back to the fact that this has moved unbelievably fast, given how deeply held these feelings were.

I think it’s all going in that direction, there’s no question about that. One of those things, of course, is generational. There’s no question that people in your age group [ mid-20s ] , for a lot of them, they don’t care. There’s the huge element of that that has helped to change minds.

I don’t think it’s going to go backward. There’s no question about that.

WCT: How does turning 85 feel?

Netsch: Old. Actually, I was in pretty good shape until the last year. Before that I don’t think I felt or acted 85, I don’t think.

Well, you realize there’s not much time left. It’s terribly important to get more things done, and I feel a little frustrated because I don’t have quite the full-steam-ahead energy level I guess I’ve always had. And yet there are so many things still to be done. You’re a little more conscious of that, I think.

WCT: As an elder, you have a lot of experience. For younger activists who are just putting their feelers out, who might be entering politics or studying law, do you have any advice?

Netsch: A couple things. Number one: You have to decide for yourself where you want your life to go. You shouldn’t be pushed in a direction that you’re not comfortable with, no matter who’s doing the pushing, whether it’s family or friends or whatever. You want to enjoy what you’re doing with your life.

Never, ever compromise your basic integrity.

WCT: Now, on a lighter note, is it true that you’ve never learned how to drive? My best friend still hasn’t learned how to drive and she’s convinced that she’ll be able to live her whole life without a license.

Netsch: That’s correct. I must admit, sometimes my husband would—I hope lovingly—call me a parasite, because I was always looking for someone to get me to a place or give me a ride home. I’ve got a couple of friends who are almost always on the spot for that.

But I have managed. It helps if you live in the city, and it does help if you have friends who are willing to give you rides. There are times when it’s a problem, but you can survive! I hate automobiles!

They could have imagined this, but they didn’t.

“We were upset for about 10 minutes,” said Nicole Thompson, Jon’s mother. “Once [my husband and I] looked at each other, we had a quiet understanding that whether he was deaf, or hearing or something else, he is our son.”

The thought of what a child cannot do is what parents usually dwell on when their baby is diagnosed as deaf. For Nicole and David Thompson, this was not the case.

The day Jon failed his hearing test at three weeks old, his family began using American Sign Language with him. That was also the day that they began looking at other opportunities for Jon, such as cochlear implants, which involve surgically inserting an electronic device to aide hearing. His family is unusual in the hearing world, as they have given him some hearing with cochlear implants, yet are well-educated about deaf culture and still want him to sign.

Their quick acceptance of Jon’s deafness wasn’t by chance. Nicole had ties to the deaf community previously. While in college, Nicole met a friend who was hard of hearing. She provided Nicole with a base of sign language.

“I had a matter of fate,” Nicole said. “I think that relationship was what helped us be okay with him being deaf.”

Throughout the entire journey, the Thompsons have stayed upbeat and optimistic. They attribute their uncommonly proactive approach throughout raising Jon to their personalities, as well as a supportive family.

Jon’s grandparents took an introductory class in ASL after the family found out he was deaf. They sign and speak with him, and don’t view his deafness as a problem.

“We have disabilities in our family,” said Evie Thompson, David’s mother. “I have a brother that’s disabled, I have a niece who’s disabled. His disability is like nothing compared to physical disabilities [such as] cerebral palsy [or] strokes. He’ll be fine.”

After the failed hearing test at Easter Seals on that crisp autumn day in 2008, they went to Giordano’s for lunch and then began making phone calls, Nicole said.

Nicole, a young and hip librarian, talks a mile a minute about her son’s diagnosis. David, while sometimes overshadowed by his wife, has just as much to say. He is quick to make small talk and to relate to whomever he is talking to. Jon is lucky to have a family that is quick to get a second opinion, and doesn’t blindly accept what they are told.

When the original surgeon at another hospital told them that teaching Jon sign on top of English was not a good option, they consulted another surgeon.

“I have a lot of respect for her but she has a very strong stance against signing with an implanted child,” Nicole said. “She was like, ‘that’s really not a very successful way to go.’ We ended up walking out of there with more questions than we had answers.”

Jon Thompson, a deaf infant with parents who want him to speak in addition to sign language.

Jon, now an energetic 15-month-old infant, has some of both the hearing and deaf worlds. At eight months, he underwent surgery to be fitted with cochlear implants at the University of Chicago Comer Children’s Hospital. He was the youngest child to be implanted bilaterally at the hospital. Typically when someone is implanted, they will only get one implant. In Jon’s case, he has two, making hearing more natural.

Jon wore a modified breathing mask to fit his tiny face while he was put under. His mother held his hand until he fell asleep.

“He’s a very trusting little boy, which probably made it even more heartbreaking,” Nicole said. “I laid him on the table, and they put this itty-bitty mask over his mouth and nose. I watched him fall asleep. He just kind of looked at me, his eyes got really happy. It was leaving the room that I really felt it. I was like, whoa.”

The surgery involved making relatively small incisions behind each ear, then drilling small holes into the skull and inserting the internal components into the inner ear.

The biggest concern in Nicole and David’s minds was if they were doing the right thing. The surgery was not medically necessary, and did carry some risk, Nicole said. They both agreed that the entire process was the longest nine hours of their lives.

“We are willingly putting our child in to have a procedure done, and it’s really not necessary,” David said. “We could have basically done nothing [and] raised him in deaf culture. We looked into it, trying to determine what was best for him. It’s not what’s best for us. It’s his life that we’re playing with.”

After surgery was when the true struggle began. They are in the first of many years of audio therapy to give Jon the best chance of talking like his hearing peers.

Cochlear implants provide hope for many families that their child will be able to perfectly assimilate into the hearing world, the Thompsons said. They have a path that is less primrose and more practical, David said.

“A lot of parents seem to think that if they do the implants that their kid is fixed and that he’s hearing, which is ridiculous,” David said. “He’s deaf, he can’t hear a thing right now [Jon had his implants off at the time]. We don’t have any illusions. We understand that when he has them off he has to be able to communicate.”

The Thompsons had several reasons behind their choice to implant Jon so young, one of which was the delicate timeframe in which humans learn language.

“Between zero and three [years] is your real opportunity,” said Dana Suskind, the surgeon who did Jon’s implants. “Oral language is so important for you to be able to read. If you’ve never heard the word dog, it’s much harder to read it. If you don’t get it early, those brain connections that help you with spoken language [do not develop.] The older you are, the more difficult it becomes to develop oral language.”

Another reason was more personally focused, as Nicole noted. They want to be able to hear Jon talk.

“We’re hearing parents, we want our child to say ‘mommy’ and ‘daddy,’” Nicole said. “Let’s be honest. It’s kind of a selfish choice too. I want my son to be able to look at me and say, ‘Mommy I love you.’ That’s just as much of a part of the motivation as it is to give him every opportunity. I don’t think a lot of parents admit that.”

Jon decided to nap while his parents spoke about his surgery

A scenario David explained was if an implanted child had a nightmare and came to his parents for comfort in the middle of the night, speaking is not an option, as the child does not have his or her implants on at night.

“[If] our kid comes in our bedroom at night, scared, he’s had a nightmare, and wants to be in our bed, he can’t hear me,” David said. “I can’t tell them to go into bed, all they see is a moving face and hands, and they don’t understand what that means.”

While they have tried to provide him with every opportunity, every path possible, they openly acknowledge and embrace the fact that the final choice is his.

“Looking into the future, if at some point in time he decides that he does not want to have the implants on anymore for the rest of his life, that’s fine too,” David said. “We want to build a base where he will be able to float between the world of deaf culture and the world of the hearing.”

From their long-term plan for Jon to the cavalier way they handled a potentially earth-shattering bit of news, the Thompsons are unique in the best way.

David summed up this quirkiness well. When discussing the entire process, he just smiled and said, completely honestly, “It’s fun.”

Done for Columbia College’s Oral History Class, we spent 15 weeks researching oral history as a genre, the Anti-Apartheid movement, what kinds of questions to ask and how to ask them, and much more.

The eventual product of my work will forever remain in the Columbia College Library Archives.

Take a listen here cloche.lib.colum.edu/view.php?pid=ccc-lib:4222&record_type=29

While an devout Christian person may be against gay rights and likewise disagrees with a gay rights activist, they may well be equally passionate, just at opposite ends of the spectrum.. View the entire project here: iam.colum.edu/students/blair.mishleau/online_journalism/passion.htm

My work started with traditional, black and white film photography. I’ve taken multiple classes on darkroom B&W photo, and I believe this base of knowledge has helped me achieve a greater understanding a appreciation for photography in all forms.

More recent work includes supplemental digital photography for freelance articles I’ve written, as well as the occasional site-seeing shot.