Community Work Continues at Chicago State

 In spite of the negative press that the Watson regime has received, much good work continues on this campus and in the surrounding communities.  Unfortunately, the media has conflated the misdeeds of Wayne, Patrick, Angela, Cheri and other FOWs (Friends of Wayne) with the university as a whole.  All of us, students, staff, faculty and mid-level administrative non-FOWs have been tainted by their dishonesty and incompetence.  The students who overcome great odds to be here, the staff who are often overworked and underpaid (see rally by service workers for higher wages and dignity on January 16) and the faculty who excel in spite of the numerous unnecessary barriers erected by administrative incompetence deserve to be seen for what we are and not part of this political plaything, this dishonest patronage pit.  And we deserve better than what we are currently getting.

In a previous post titled, "The Real Story at CSU," I mentioned a small number of the amazing things our faculty and students have been doing.  Last week WBEZ did a pretty good story about one example of community development, community service and community education being conducted by CSU faculty and students.  The Aquaponics Center has been praised in the media before but the amount of important work being done there has yet to be discussed.  The WBEZ story on "The Morning Shift" show presents a picture of what the Aquaponics Center does and what our university could be.  Professor Emmanuel Pratt explains well some of the goals and ethics of the Aquaponics Center at http://www.wbez.org/sections/food/urban-agriculture-center-creates-more-green-space-109569