echo magazine stories

7/29/2019 Echo Magazine Stories

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G r a n t P a r k S t u d i o s

S ince every f i lm student shoots at

least on e film in Grant Park, why not just

convert a portion of it into a real movie

studio? T elevision, film, photography and

video majors will be able to walk across

the Michigan Avenue Skyway to enterthe biggest and best independent film

studio in the midwest. What is now the

setting for five-minute 16mm film pro-

duct ions can one day support three-hour

epics.

C o l u m b i a S t u d e n t C e n t e r

Th e lack of a talented profess iona l

football team in Chicago makes the new

Soldier Field the perfect place to put a

state-of-the-art Columbia Student

Center Since the Bears aren't doing any-

thing worthwhile with the stadium, why

not give The Columbia College Cynics achance to debut in the fall of 2004?

T h e M i n i M a g M i l e 6

This anti-tourist attraction will offer

Columbia students the essentials: restau-

rants, banks, shops and late night enter-

tainment. Students finally will be able to

go somewhere other than Chicago

Carry-Out andWarehouse Liquors

between classes at Th e Towers.

- Matthew joster

S i l e n t N i g h t sF e s t iv a l h o n o r s g o l d e n a g e o f c i n e m a

This summer; step back nearly 70

years into movie history: the silent film.

Audiences can take in the 1924 Russian

classic Ae/ita: Queen of Mars, with a 30-

piece orchestral accompaniment. It's on e

of the six films featured at the Gateway

Theatre's 5th Annual Silent Film Festival

of C hicago, which runs from July 23 to

Aug. 27 .

Th e festival is the brain child of the

I Silent Film Society ofChicago

I 1998 by Denn is Scott andIWolkowicz.

The l ineup for this year's fIincludes the physical comedy

| Buster Keaton in1928 's SteaIas wel l as the chil l ing imageIscreen's irst rue vampire in

INosferotu.

"Graphically, cmematically

these f i lms are tel l ing a compl

ic story without the use of wo

Joshua Rothkopf, former film

These Times. "That's the signif

silent f ilms."

The Gateway, located at 5

Lawrence Ave., opened in 19

2,045 and is the last surviving

ic theatre in Chicago from arc

Rapp and Rapp. It features or

Romanesque architecture and

well as the Grande Pipe Orga

of 1 , 2 4 1 pipes, ranging in heig

feet to the size of a pe ncil , th

imitate a huge range of sound

harp to cathedral ch imes to th

Aud iences tend to be live

real interact ion there," says W

wh o also plays the organ duri

v a l . "That's magical unto itself.

typical Friday night movie."

For this year's l ineup call t

at (773) 205-SFSC or visit ww

filmchicago.com.



Byja'nai Luis

H o u s i n g

Privacy is a luxury in the Jackson household. With

tw o adults and four kids occupying a two-bedroom apart-

ment, the only place to find some peace an d quiet is inthe bathroom. The two older children share one bed-

room; their parents share the other one with the tod-

dler and the baby.

Rachel and Mike Jackson have been look-

ing for a larger apartment, preferably a

three-bedroom on the city's north side.

But Rachel, 29 , says potential land-lords ask intrusive questionswhen she calls.

"They ask me how

many people are going

to be occupying the

apartment, the ages ofthe children, if I'm

married or not and if

I'm legally married,"says Jackson. When she

admits she has two pre-teens, a toddler and a

newborn , apartmentssuddenly becomeunavailable fo r rent,

she says.

It is illegal in

Chicago for landlords

to ask questions about

potential renters' fami-

ly or marital status, letalone refuse to rent on

the basis of these fac-

tors. But these and otherforms of housing dis-

crimination are not uncommon.Every year, nearly3 .7 million incidents of housing discrimination

occur in the U.S., according to the National Fair

Housing Alliance.

Breaking the lawThe federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimi

tion in the rental, sale an d financing of dwellings baon race, color, religion, national origin, gender, famil

tus or disability. State, county and city agencies pro

most but not all of the same categories of reside

For example, the Chicago Commission on Hu

Relations and Cook County Commission o

Human Rights accept complaints of dis

ination based on sexual orientation,the Illinois Department of Huma

d i s c r i m i n o t i o n s t i l lR i g h t s d o e s n o t b e c a u s e

s ^a n

lo c k s s o m e C h i c a g o a n s o u t .

T h e k e y f o r r e n t e r s is k n o w i n g t h e i r r ig h t s .

lesbians are not a protected

class under th e state staRace remains the

common reason fo r h

ing discrimination. In

2003, more than half

complaints filed withU . S . Department of

Housing an d UrbanDevelopment (HUD)

for discrimination basrace or national origin

In 2000, HUD co

ducted a study to see

whether or not housin

discrimination based o

race had decreased sin

1989, when the last m

study was conducted.Housing Discriminatio

Study 2000 was based

4,600 paired tests coned in 23 metropolitan

nationwide. In each test, two people with similar ed

tional and income levels but of different races—one

minority and one white—visited rental or real estate

agents to inquire about housing units that were adve



S o m e s t u d e n t s f i n d t h e m s e l v e s o u t o n t h e s t r e e t b e c a u s e

l a n d l o r d s a r e w a r y o f r e n t i n g t o t h e m .

tised for rent.

The 20 oo study found that discrimination has

declined slightly but still is widespread. Black renters

received unfavorable t reatment in 21.6 percent of theirinquiries, down from 26.4 percent in 1989. Hispanic

renters received unfavorable treatment 25.7 percent of

the time in both years.But race is far from the only reason landlords deny

requests fo r housing. Renters also may be turned away

when landlords feel their income is too low.

Rita Thompson (not her real name), 21, a student at

Columbia College Chicago, and her partner were looking

for an apartment on Chicago's north side. When they

filled out an application at one realty office, they weretold that they had to show an annual income of at least

$40,000 in order to rent an apartment. Even when

Thompson's mother offered to cosign the lease, theywere turned down.

"She was like, 'The three of you don't make enoughcollectively for two of you to be living there,'" says

Thom pson. "My mom called and raised hell."Eventually the women were able to sign the lease,

but the sting of the experience stuck with them. "I

think it was because of our financial status, because weweren't Lakeview-type people," Thompson says.

"It's unlawful to refuse to rent based on source of

income within the city of Chicago," says attorney F.

Willis Caruso, director of the John Marshall Law School

Fair Housing Legal Clinic in C hicago.

The protection against discrimination on the basisof ag e refers to people who are at least 40 years old.

This means that students are not protected against dis-crimination for being too young, Caruso says.

Landlords may be wary of renting to students

because they fear out-of-control parties, loud music at

al l hours of the night and sloppy housekeeping. But

there may be other reasons, too. "Much discrimination

against students is based on one of the protected

(continued on page 60)

Every year, near ly

3.7 mil l ion inc idents of housing

d iscr iminat ion occur, accord ing

to the National Fair Housing

Aliia n c e .



(continuedfrom page 59 )

classes," Caruso says. "It is more likely they are

being discriminated against because of sex or

national origin."

Recou rse for rentersPeople who believe they are victims of housing

discrimination ca n seek help from federal, state

and local agencies. Still, few victims report housing

discrimination. In 2003 in Illinois, 145 housing dis-crimination complaints were filed with the Illinois

Department of Human Rights, 101 were filed with

the Chicago Commission on Human Relations,

and 1,220 were filed with the HOPE Fair Housing

Center in Wheaton. This represents a small

fraction of the number of cases of discrimination

that occurred.

"The major portion of people do not act upon

their rights, I believe, because they do not know

they have rights," Caruso says. "There isn't enough

publicity"

That's something HOPE aims to change. "We

try to accomplish this through education, research,outreach, enforcement, training an d advocacy," says

executive director BernardJ. Kleina. When neces-

sary, HOPE also investigates, mediates, offers legal

referrals or helps to file a HUD complaint.

"Very often, because of the manner of discrimi-

nation, they { the victims] don't even know it's hap-

pening," adds Kleina. "Historically doors would be

slammed in people's faces, and now they're more

politely told, 'Oh, it's been rented.' And so people

would leave not thinking it's discrimination and not

take any action. So that's a very difficult problem to

overcome."

Jackson is among those who have never filed a

complaint. "Youcan call the city, you can report

these people, but how many times do you have to

report it? You're still not going to get the apart-

ment," she says. "Myconcern is getting the apart-

ment, not calling and making all these allegations.

It's too much."

Rocco J. Claps, director of the IDHR, wants to

change this way of thinking.

"Our goal is to let people know that we exist

an d we're here and we're a resource," says Claps. "I

strongly encourage people if they feel they've been

discriminated against in housing, employment, pub-

lic accommodation or financial credit that they

familiarize themselves with the law and with our

website. Or just calling our office and asking will be

a helpful resource. I'm really just happy to let them

know we're here."

RESOURCES

Depending on where you live and why you feel you've

excluded, these agencies can assist you:

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban D evelopment

Federal agency protects people from discrimination ba

race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status

ability

77 West Jackson Blvd.Chicago, IL 60604

(312)353-5680

Illinois Department of Human Rights

State agency protects people from discrimination bas

race, color, national origin, ancestry, age (40+), religion

familial status, marital status, physical or mental handi

itary service and discharge and parental status.

100 West Randolph St., Suite 10-100

Chicago, IL 60601

(312) 814-6200

Cook County Commission on Human RightsCounty agency that protects people from discriminati

on race, color, national origin, ancestry, age, religion, s

parental status, disability, military discharge status, sou

income (not Sect.8), marital status, housing status, gen

tity and sexual orientation.

69 West Washington St., Suite 3040

Chicago, IL, 60602

(312) 603-1100

Chicago Commission o n Human Relations

City agency that protects people from discrimination

race, color, national origin, ancestry, age, religion, sex,

status, disability (mental or physical), military dischargsource of income, marital status and sexual orientation

740 North Sedgwick Ave., 3rd Floor

Chicago, IL 60610

(312) 744-4111

The John Marshall La w S c h o o l Fair Housing Legal Clinic

Provides legal representation, testing, counseling and r

28 East Jackson Blvd., Suite 500

Chicago, IL 60604

(312) 786-2267

H O P E Fair Housing Center

Non-profit agency that investigates, meditates and liti

cases of discrimination by referring cases to attorneys

cialize in fair housing. Serves Chicago's western suburb

counties in north and north central Illinois.

2100 Manchester Rd., Suite iO7O-Building B

Wheaton, IL 60187

(877) HOPE FH C

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