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The article you linked states that the Latin School would only use the field 20% of the time. "I" personally have no problem with this. I don't have a problem with the boat slips at Belmont Harbor, or the Columbia or CYC. Nor do "I" have any issue with Cafe Brauer being rented out for private parties. Renting out facilities is one way the Park district can provide more services to others. I do deeply regret teh Armory land being turned into the MCA.
I used to live in the neighborhood, and I felt very sorry for the kids at Ogden, Latin and the other schools, both public and private for the lack of athletic facilities.
I respect your right to object, but my opinion is different.
And the 20-25% (the PD has changed their number a couple times) of the time will be all the prime time slots. Yeah, Latin is putting money up for the field, but the Public is putting up the money for the scoreboard,lights (and electricity),seating areas, and food stands. The judge stopped the public part of the construction for the time being and took away Latins first dibs on time slots until the ruling in May.
It really is not that great of a deal for the public.
I understand that your opinion is different than mine, my fear is that you have based your opinion on comparing this to situations that are not similar.
I have no problem with the City renting out historic structures that are then maintained by the income stream (though I suspect that a lot more money get funneled into the pockets of private caters), or providing amenities to boaters for a fee(and those firms that run the marinas donate a helluva lot to Richie). There are serious questions about the maintenance that the PD has agreed to perform on this field will be covered by the fees they receive -- it is very likely that this agreement will end up sucking resources that the PD should be using to maintain areas for the use of everyone.
The "20%" of the time that the Latin has exclusive use of the field is basically the ONLY time that any school kids would use such a field. In a 24hr day kids are in school for about 25% of the day so I have a real problem with what the Park District is trying to pull with its fuzzy math... The City already maintains nice stadiums in a few parts of the City that are a lot rougher than the doorstep of Latin -- I wonder if the connected parents had any interest in putting a state-of-art playing surface in at Winnemac Stadium, Hansen Stadium or Rockne Stadium....
I don't feel sorry for any kids where their parents are paying essentially college tuition for an inferior education, kids from Latin basically are part of stupid system of 'connections over everything else' that should not exist but is perpetuated by EXACTLY these kinds of deals -- this is pretty much the same thing that is upsetting so many people about the proposed Museum in Grant Park -- people with connections are getting a prime piece of public land to use for a decidedly private purpose.
This yet another example of how too many people swallow the pathetic "spin" that gets spun out by second rank hacks like Gerry Chico, Daley and Blagojevich. The people that are pulling the levers would not get away with this crap if people would band together and demand that these insider deals and land give-aways stop. All these crumbs that get tossed down to regular folks { Bears get Soldier Field rebuilt for them in some hideous fashion but you can walk along the colonnades, or prime land in the most expensive part of the City gets signed over to the MCA but they widened the sidewalk or a chunk of Grant Park gets to be built on by the Museum that doesn't like being at Navy Pier but it'll be 'for the kids'} are just examples of how easily people get conned into believing that crooks don't need to get voted out of office...
I don't feel sorry for any kids where their parents are paying essentially college tuition for an inferior education,
Whoa! Why are you so hostile about Latin? I understand your other points, but why is education at Latin "inferior"? Do you know that the neighborhood kids that go to Latin would go to Ogden otherwise. Are you really saying Ogden is superior to Latin?
I've known incredibly connected people whose kids did NOt get into Latin, and other kids whose parents were connectionless whose kids did get in.
I understand that your opinion is different than mine, my fear is that you have based your opinion on comparing this to situations that are not similar.
I have no problem with the City renting out historic structures that are then maintained by the income stream (though I suspect that a lot more money get funneled into the pockets of private caters), or providing amenities to boaters for a fee(and those firms that run the marinas donate a helluva lot to Richie). There are serious questions about the maintenance that the PD has agreed to perform on this field will be covered by the fees they receive -- it is very likely that this agreement will end up sucking resources that the PD should be using to maintain areas for the use of everyone.
(SNIPPED)
This yet another example of how too many people swallow the pathetic "spin" that gets spun out by second rank hacks like Gerry Chico, Daley and Blagojevich. The people that are pulling the levers would not get away with this crap if people would band together and demand that these insider deals and land give-aways stop. All these crumbs that get tossed down to regular folks { Bears get Soldier Field rebuilt for them in some hideous fashion but you can walk along the colonnades, or prime land in the most expensive part of the City gets signed over to the MCA but they widened the sidewalk or a chunk of Grant Park gets to be built on by the Museum that doesn't like being at Navy Pier but it'll be 'for the kids'} are just examples of how easily people get conned into believing that crooks don't need to get voted out of office...
Okay, I understand what you're saying here. I think I need to research this more.
Whoa! Why are you so hostile about Latin? I understand your other points, but why is education at Latin "inferior"? Do you know that the neighborhood kids that go to Latin would go to Ogden otherwise. Are you really saying Ogden is superior to Latin?
I've known incredibly connected people whose kids did NOt get into Latin, and other kids whose parents were connectionless whose kids did get in.
The "neighborhood" that kids who all pay to go to Latin that they might instead go to is Francis Parker, Xavier Warde, UofC Lab, or some other private school -- it ain't going to be Ogden. If somebody "didn't get in" it was only because likely that parents didn't have the cash stacked up high and deep enough. I guess the they have some scholarships, but it a mystery how anyone would get one. Unlike the Catholic high schools that actually have organized admission tests and enough kids to turn down based on entrance standards the "selection committe" at Latin is really the "donor screening committe"... I suppose like anyplace else their are only so many slots for the "admission to applicants who are siblings of current students or who are children of alumni or faculty, provided the family has been a supportive member of the school community." The Latin School of Chicago - Admissions (http://www.latinschool.org/admissions/ - broken link) That is "latin" where "supportive" means 'gives us gobs of dough'.
I do see occasionally some kid from Lab, FP or Ignatius or another quality private school show up on a list of achievers. Never seen that for Latin. This place (and yes I have been inside its hallowed halls, in classrooms with 'teachers' that literally would not get hired in ANY magnet school in the CPS system) is simply an institution for the preservation of an elite power structure. See any scientists, entrepreneur, or even prominent physicians on their alumni list? Latin School of Chicago - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The Latin School of Chicago - Alumni (http://www.latinschool.org/alumni/ - broken link)
Tuition for the 2007-08 academic year: JK: $17,425; SK-grade 5: $19,535; grades 6-12: $23,285 ....
They could have at least offered to pay the entire amount for the construction. Most people would smell something fishy indeed without even knowing the details of the deal.
Wouldn't it be great if "mainstreamer" followed this sort of story...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Avengerfire
Tuition for the 2007-08 academic year: JK: $17,425; SK-grade 5: $19,535; grades 6-12: $23,285 ....
They could have at least offered to pay the entire amount for the construction. Most people would smell something fishy indeed without even knowing the details of the deal.
Do you think a guy like Zorn could get off his sofa long enough to actually sit through a Park District explanation of this sort of thing? Do you think that maybe if a "mainstreamer" like him followed the story people would realize just how big a con is being pulled here?
Maybe guys like Zorn are in on it? I wonder where his kid went to school? What sort of connections the guy is lining up so the his offspring will never have to scuff their pinky doing real work?
Then again Zorn did bash the beejeeezus out of the Toddler and that did a fat lot of good once all the shoutin' church goers got to the polls...
The "neighborhood" that kids who all pay to go to Latin that they might instead go to is Francis Parker, Xavier Warde, UofC Lab, or some other private school -- it ain't going to be Ogden. If somebody "didn't get in" it was only because likely that parents didn't have the cash stacked up high and deep enough. I guess the they have some scholarships, but it a mystery how anyone would get one. Unlike the Catholic high schools that actually have organized admission tests and enough kids to turn down based on entrance standards the "selection committe" at Latin is really the "donor screening committe"... I suppose like anyplace else their are only so many slots for the "admission to applicants who are siblings of current students or who are children of alumni or faculty, provided the family has been a supportive member of the school community." The Latin School of Chicago - Admissions (http://www.latinschool.org/admissions/ - broken link) That is "latin" where "supportive" means 'gives us gobs of dough'.
I do see occasionally some kid from Lab, FP or Ignatius or another quality private school show up on a list of achievers. Never seen that for Latin. This place (and yes I have been inside its hallowed halls, in classrooms with 'teachers' that literally would not get hired in ANY magnet school in the CPS system) is simply an institution for the preservation of an elite power structure. See any scientists, entrepreneur, or even prominent physicians on their alumni list? Latin School of Chicago - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The Latin School of Chicago - Alumni (http://www.latinschool.org/alumni/ - broken link)
First of all, I lived on Dearborn, and yes some of those kids did go to Ogden.
Not everyone on the Gold Coast is connected or rich. There are two income families, and single moms. How much do you think a small condo really costs? A lot less than a house in Skokie.
And one of the richest and best connected family I know, did not get their kids into Latin. One of the most beloved women I know, involved in every charity, personal friend of several board members, did not get her kids in. There are 300 applicants for every slot, not every connected kid gets in. This year I personally know a JK family where they have no connections whatsoever, the mother barely speaks English. My friend Lisa was transferred to Chicago 10 years ago, called up and her son started the next week.
As for scholarships, I do know that admissions are income blind and that financial aid at Latin is handled by an outside company, so no one at the school will even know if you are getting a scholarship. I only know this because a friend of mine(single mom) has a daughter on scholarship there. The big benefit that Latin has every years raises funds exclusively for scholarships.
I believe that the college acceptances at Latin are quite good, that is my standard for a school. Merit scholar material will flourish where ever it goes. One of my best friends was a merit scholar, and she went to a rural consolidated high school. My husband and I were commended students and while his high schools was like New Trier, mine was non-academic sports oriented. Good testers are born that way.
You do realize that the "power elite" don't send theri children to day schools. A good percentage of the 8th graders at Latin, Parker, etc will go to boarding schools for their secondary education.
If you are talking about the children of "power brokers" you should really be looking at Chicago City Day. A checkbook will always get you in there. Oh, and UC Lab gives preference to professers and hospital personnel, so there is institutional intellectual elitism there.
I think you made some interesting points about the soccer stadium, but we will have to agree to disagree about Latin.
Maybe guys like Zorn are in on it? I wonder where his kid went to school? What sort of connections the guy is lining up so the his offspring will never have to scuff their pinky doing real work?
...
You are kidding here? Otherwise, I'm going to be looking for a refernce to the Bohemian Club and the Knights Templers in your next post.
I've been reading Eric Zorn since 1979(ha! He wrote for my college paper)and I seriously doubt anyone could buy him off, anymore than Mike Royko could have been bought off.
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Ogden an alternative to Latin? Not_a_chance!
