Author: Serkadis

The nearly 660 students at Cotton Creek Elementary School in Island Lake gave a standing ovation to U.S. Army Sgt. Adam Colon, of Lakemoor, after he spoke to them about perseverance.

But that’s not all they gave him.

Colon, who grew up in Lake Zurich, returned to thank students for the care packages, cards and letters he and his unit received while serving in Iraq.

“They really helped us out over there,” Colon said. “They really boosted our morale and gave us comfort.”

Colon was deployed in February 2009, and served for a year in Qwest and at the Joint Base Balad in Iraq.

“Every time we sent a package, we had the kids write letters and cards,” school secretary Jean Musser said.

Students were eager and excited to write to Colon and hear back from him, teachers said. Some students spent recess time writing letters or making pictures for him.

“It’s something we can give to our students beyond the classroom,” Principal Darlene Baker said. “They learned about the contributions the soldiers are making.”

Colon’s visit to Cotton Creek was part of a monthly assembly on a character value. March’s focus is perseverance.

“No matter how hard things get in life, you just have to be strong and persevere.” he told the students.

Musser began sending care packages to Colon this summer. The school sent six to 10 care packages a month to him and his unit.

Colon said he and his unit especially appreciated the Christmas care package because of its size, and because it reminded him the community knew he was there.

“Christmas was a very lonely time. It was like a boost for all us,” he said. “And when Jean baked cookies, that was always a treat.”

Musser has been active in organizing the care packages and letters – some school employees call her Grandma America. The school has been sending care packages to servicemen on and off for 10 years.

Read the original article on DailyHerald.com.

Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services

Bill Parker’s video homage to the never-ending feud between Star Wars and Star Trek fans was so realistic that his mother asked whether she needed to retain a lawyer.

“I was slightly concerned that possibly there was some actual fire involvement in the making of the video,” Julie Parker said. “I was worried about insurance liability and lawyer fees. I didn’t know what was going to come our way.”

The 3-minute 25-second film by the Warrenville native answers the one lingering question of the Star Wars saga: What happens to the introductory words that go floating by at the start of every movie?

In the 20-year-old Parker’s mind, the letters rain chaotically from the skies above Warrenville, decimating the city’s infrastructure and threatening his friends. The terror ends only when Star Trek’s original USS Enterprise suddenly appears in the sky as well and destroys the remaining verbiage with photon torpedo blasts and laser beams.

Parker assured his mother that every exploding cell tower, blasted public works garage wall and flaming pothole was created with computer software he purchased for $100.

“That’s probably one of the best $100 I’ve spent,” said Parker, a sophomore at Indiana’s Taylor University studying media communication with an emphasis on film.

He imagined the concept about four years ago, but had no way of making it a reality without thousands of dollars and access to a team of Hollywood visual effects artists.

“I put it in the back of my mind until I learned enough stuff and was ready to do it the way I knew it could be done,” the 2008 Wheaton Warrenville South High School graduate said.

Parker’s short movie – available for viewing at YouTube by searching for “Star Wars vs. Star Trek” – is one of scores of online videos popping up with visual effects that just a generation ago would have been possible only for big Hollywood studios, with big budgets and armies of computer animators. Today, the falling cost of computing power and cameras, along with the free distribution possible over the Internet, are giving everyday people more chances to follow their creative instincts.

Of course, big Hollywood productions, such as James Cameron’s “Avatar,” are advancing special-effects technology to expensive new heights. But even with a small budget, there are enough special effects available to people creating videos inspired by existing franchises or entirely new imagery for original shorts.

Nearly 500,000 people have watched Parker’s video. Not bad, considering he invested only 30 minutes of shooting, eight minutes of actual footage, but about four weeks worth of editing. It’s also spawned the traditional war of words between devotees of both sci-fi franchises.

Star Trek is the hero of Parker’s video, though he swears equal allegiance to Star Wars’ “Empire Strikes Back” as his favorite movie.

“I actually do appreciate the comments where they say Star Wars is better than Star Trek, but still compliment the video rather than just saying, ‘You suck!’” Parker said.

His mother gets a kick out of the banter between the two camps as well.

“That’s what’s most amusing to me,” she said. “That’s a whole war going on in itself.”

Other than the Web notoriety, Parker hasn’t been inundated with offers to leave school and become a Hollywood filmmaker. But he wasn’t really expecting that, anyway.

“The response has been nice and it will be good for my portfolio,” he said.

But the world may have to wait for a sequel.

“I got to spend a lot of time making this the way I wanted to do it and make it the way I felt was right,” he said. “I’m kind of busy with school right now, so that’s a reason to not jump into any sequel. Plus, I’m kind of empty on ideas. I figured I’ll let them cook a little while until I do something else big.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Planning to shed some pounds by the end of June?

You can help yourself, your family and the Northern Illinois Food Bank in the process.

The St. Charles-based facility stands to gain 14 cents per pound that people pledge to lose by registering at the Pound For Pound Challenge Web site, pfpchallenge.com, between now and June 30.

The food bank will be featured in a recorded segment on Tuesday’s 7 p.m. NBC broadcast of “The Biggest Loser.”

If a person visits the Web site and pledges to lose 10 pounds, the food bank will receive $1.40 from General Mills and other sponsors.

“It’s really easy. It takes less than five minutes if you go online and sign up,” said Shannon Thompson, NIFB spokeswoman. “It’s a personal pledge and personal goal to help other people. We’re only two months into the year and there’s plenty of time to pledge.”

As of Monday afternoon, more than 145,000 people pledged to lose some 4.3 million pounds.

Overall, Illinois was running eighth in terms of pounds pledged, but the NIFB was sixth among organizations with nearly 2,500 people pledging to lose a collective 71,000 pounds.

Organizers also enlisted a Wheaton couple, Jerry and Estella Hayes, who appeared two seasons ago and are the oldest contestants to appear on the show, to help promote the cause.

A television crew in February taped the couple volunteering at the food bank to pack meal boxes for seniors.

Jerry Hayes won a $100,000 consolation prize in the televised live finale for being the eliminated contestant who lost the highest percentage of weight during the show’s seventh season.

Estella Hayes said she and her husband lost a total of 259 pounds.

“We’re not still trying to lose (weight), so we can help in another way,” she said, adding they definitely will tune in for the show. “We’re big fans of ‘The Biggest Loser.’ They gave us great opportunity.”

The food bank distributed more than 27 million pounds of food to 520 partner agencies in 13 counties last year, including Kane, DuPage, Will, Lake and McHenry counties.

Pledges made by Cook County residents will help the Greater Chicago Food Depository.

Read the original article on DailyHerald.com.

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On June 26, 1913, the state of Illinois approved women’s suffrage, and a short time later Clara Colby of Libertyville became the first woman in Illinois to vote.

Illinois was one of many states that approved women’s right to vote in advance of the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1920, which gave all women the right.

Until this time, women were considered second-class citizens, with limited rights and privileges, and were beholden to their husbands. It was the Anti-Slavery Movement of the early 1800s that spurred progressive minded women, including Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902), to begin a women’s rights movement.

In 1848, Stanton held a convention in Seneca Falls, N.Y., to discuss the “social, civil and religious rights of women.” This was the official beginning of the Women’s Suffrage Movement.

Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906) joined the movement in 1850, and became a central figure. Anthony was famously arrested for trying to vote for Ulysses S. Grant for president in 1872.

Many opposed elevating women to the status of voters. In 1905, President Grover Cleveland stated that “Sensible and responsible women do not want to vote.”

The suffrage movement spread, and in 1910, chapter houses of the American Woman’s League were built in North Chicago and Zion. The league worked to “advance, protect and uplift American womanhood,” and spun off into the American Woman’s Republic, which educated women about government in preparation for when they had the right to vote.

In July 1913, Clara Colby cast her historic ballot for a new town hall in Libertyville.

“I’m a very happy woman to have had this opportunity,” Colby said. The papers reported that her husband stayed home to “scrub clothes in the laundry.”

After Colby’s vote, there would be many firsts for women in government.

In 1949, Adeline Geo-Karis became the first woman in Lake County elected as a justice of the peace. In 1971, she began a 34-year career in the Illinois legislature, and become one of its most influential members.

Stephanie Sulthin was the first woman elected to a countywide office when she was elected as Lake County Circuit Clerk in 1960. Grace Mary Stern was elected to the Lake County Board in 1967, and as county clerk in 1970. She went on to serve as a state representative and state senator, and ultimately had a 30-year career in politics.

Though it took more than 70 years to pass women’s suffrage, getting the right to vote was probably the most significant step in improving the status of women in America.

Read the original article on DailyHerald.com.

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Here’s proof of an increasingly spend-ready Asian consumer — Taiwanese consumer confidence just hit a 51-month high according to a survey by the National Central University (NCU). In addition, most people think it’s a great time to buy stocks. Ruh-roh.

China Post: People seemed to be especially rosy about the trading of stocks, as the category, “likelihood to buy stocks over the next six months,” scored 99.4, the second highest figure to date, NCU said. The highest score received for the category was 99.7 in December 2001, NCU said.

Still, from a global economic perspective, it’s great to see bullish consumers in Asia, note that consumer confidence has been soaring in places such as mainland China and Malaysia as well.

The report also showed how Taiwanese are looking to buy long-term goods:

People expressed their confidence for the various categories in the survey, Hsu said. Hsu cited as an example the category titled “likelihood to buy durable goods over the next six months,” which received a score of 101, a rise of 9.45 from January. This was the first time the category received a score over 100 since July 2008, Hsu said. A score between 100 and 200 means people are becoming more optimistic.

It certainly helps when your GDP just surged at an annualized 9.2% rate in the fourth quarter, yet it’s just more evidence that the world won’t be as dependent on the U.S. consumer as it used to be. Stuck in the U.S. and hating the dollar-depreciating actions of the government? Then start exporting to emerging markets because they are the new top consumer:

(Chart via the WSJ)

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See Also:

• Redbook Consumer Sales Down 1.5% In January, Misses Estimates
• WHOOSH: Consumer Credit Drops For 11th Straight Month
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