Education is a vital resource that should be accessible to all people, including adults. One of the most prominent ones in Chicago was the Lakeview Learning Center.
The Lakeview Learning Center specialized in adult education. It provided the resources to get a GED, learn English, and walk the path towards citizenship. The place was well-known as a place for immigrants to learn and was also the place where my parents learned English.
However, in 2018, the Lakeview Learning Center building would be torn down. This after a $7 million sale it sold to BlitzLake Panthers, which is a real estate agency.
As the image shows, all that’s left is of the place is an empty area. In fact, that’s not the only place that was torn down. Many other buildings around the Lakeview Learning Center have also been torn down.
While officials have stated this was made to make direct students to Truman college, some other possibilities are controversial. One possible reason why is that rent in this area is getting expensive. The center was right in the core of Wrigleyville and with the victory of the Cubs in 2016, rent is likely to go up. Although the property could have been sold to benefit from the Cubs 2016 World Championship win.
Lakeview Learning Center in the process of being destroyed (June 2018)
Either way, the cost of losing a historic building that helped immigrants in the United States is a bit steep. While officials say that it will be more convenient to go to Harry S Truman College, the main appeal of the original location was its convenience. This is expressed in a video of immigrants that have benefitted from the Learning Center. While it may be gone, people should never forget the legacy of this great place.
When it comes to benefits a veteran receives after retirement, the state that they are in will heavily affect this result. Illinois is no exception with benefits that can be easily accessed more than others.
According to a WalletHub study, Illinois ranks 38th out of all states, including the District of Columbia. Illinois is excelling in supporting benefits in one manner over others. For example, Illinois has the best quality of life for veterans, being the 8th best. This means veterans in Illinois have an easier time finding a place to live, as well as other benefits like school.
However, Illinois is falling behind in the economic environment and healthcare, being 21st and 33rd best respectively. This means finding a job and finding people to help with health or mental issues are harder in Illinois compared to other states for military retirees. If Illinois wants to be a state that supports its veterans, it should strive to give them a better economic environment and health care privileges.
With information being easily accessible through the Internet, some may believe libraries would go out of style. However, Chicago has proven that libraries continue to thrive.
Chicago has 81 libraries all throughout the city of Chicago. Despite there being only 77 neighborhoods, not every single one has a library in its neighborhood.
As the map shows, 14 neighborhoods (colored yellow) don’t have a library in them. People in neighborhoods such as Avondale, Near South Side, and Burnside have to go the extra mile to access a library.
Libraries are an important place for accessing free information, a place to study, and a gathering place for the community. To not have a library in a community creates a significant disadvantage for everyone in the neighborhood.
Thankfully, more is being done to make libraries more accessible to more people. Near the end of September, Chicago announced that it would stop fining people for overdue books. According to mayor Lori Lightfoot, this move was done to remove an unfair barrier for the young and lower-income people.
With more actions being done to make libraries more accessible, hopefully, this means more libraries will be made soon. In the meantime, feel free to use this map as a guide to accessing a library near you.
Controversial Move Increases Hong Kong Awareness While Damaging Blizzard
Blizzard – creators of games like Overwatch, Hearthstone, and Diablo – have been under fire due to their actions against Hearthstone player Blitzchung. Following a Grandmasters tournament win, Blitzchung made statements to “liberate Hong Kong” during a post-game interview. On October 9, Blizzard suspended Blitzchung from Grandmasters for one year and withheld all the prize money he earned during the season. This action enraged many and made Hong Kong and Blizzard a popular topic on the web.
As the graphic shows, Blizzard and Hong Kong started to rise in Google searches around the time Blizzard suspended Blitzchung. Blizzard’s attempt to censor Blitzchung’s of his Hong Kong sentiments has only backfired as the following days would show a high interest in Hong Kong’s liberation and the condemnation of Blizzard. The following backlash Blizzard received would show up around the same time.
As Google Trends shows, the demand to boycott Blizzard and interests in Hong Kong protests would rise in the United States around October 9. Because of Blitzchung’s actions, many people are realizing the oppressive nature of the Chinese government and have wanted to learn more about Hong Kong protests. Ironically, Blizzard’s actions made people care about the state of Hong Kong despite their attempts to condemn and censor his statements. Civil rights practices are not uncommon in sports, but to happen in an esports event is fairly new and could be seen more in the future.
On the other end, the negativity towards Blizzard continues to grow. Not only are people criticizing Blizzard for its harsh punishment towards Blitzchung, but for censoring free speech and trying to appease China. As the graph shows, this incident made people interested in boycotting Blizzard. Blizzard’s favoring of China and harsh punishments have led the company to face harsh criticism, but it has died down recently. Still, this episode isn’t over as people plan to protest during Blizzcon, Blizzard’s annual convention. No matter what Blizzard’s intentions were, their actions have made Hong Kong more popular and have made themselves look like the villains.
Playstation 5 Surpasses Project Scarlett’s Popularity
Next-gen is finally around the corner with Microsoft and Sony announcing the release date of their respective consoles to come out during the holidays in 2020. It’s Microsoft’s Project Scarlett against Sony’s Playstation 5, although there’s one that has been searched up more than the other.
According to Google Trends, the most searched up console in the past year is the PlayStation 5. This is likely due to several rumors about the PlayStation 5’s development by various sources and developers. One of Playstation 5’s major spikes happened in April where the specs of the console were revealed. The searches would reach its peak on October 8, where PlayStation announced the official release date and announced some details of the new console. This lead to a huge spike, trampling the searches over Project Scarlett.
Project Scarlett has only gained a few spikes of popularity. In e3 2019, Microsoft officially announced Project Scarlett in a video explaining the console’s new specs. Although the Scarlett was searched more after this announcement, it was still overshadowed by the PlayStation 5. The strange part about this is that Sony did not participate in e3 2019, nor did it make any major announcement about the PlayStation 5, yet it was still searched more than the Scarlett.
These Google searches illustrate how much Project Scarlett is laking behind the PlayStation 5 popularity-wise. Whether it’s the lack of an official name or lack of games, Microsoft needs to step up their game next year if they want to compete with the PlayStation 5 and not drown in obscurity.
Evo is the biggest annual fighting game tournament ever drawing competitors from all across the world. Every year the number of people registered-not including spectators-continues to increase with 2019 having a turnout of 9,231 competitors beating 2018’s 7,680 competitors. Despite these impressive numbers, not every game is treated fairly when it comes to the prize pool. Many times games with the highest attendance have a lower prize pool than the lower ones.
For example, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate was the most attended tournament in Evo 2019 with 3,492 entrants. This was one of Evo’s most popular tournaments, but it only had a prize pool of $35,340 for the top 8. As the graph shows, games with higher prize pools actually had less attendance than SSBU. In the same year, Samurai Shodown and Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition had higher prize pools with $47,290 and $69,510 respectively.
It’s clear that certain games are more in favor than others, especially compared to those sponsored by video game companies. For example, Evo is a part of Capcom’s Pro Tour so they added $50,000 to the prize pool of Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition in 2019. In 2016 Warner Bros. and NetherRealm Studios also added $50,000 to their game’s prize pool, Mortal Kombat X.
These inconsistencies represent a common issue with Evo and other major tournaments. Not every game is treated equally when it comes to the payout. If you’re a person that plays a competitive game that lacks support from its developer then the amount of prize money will significantly drop. This is most notable with Nintendo, who is notorious for not supporting the competitive scene.
In the end, this shows how not all games are treated equally in Evo, at least prize pool wise. This isn’t exactly Evo’s fault, but the inconsistent treatment these games are given or lack thereof from their developer. With players coming from all over the world and with Evo growing more popular every year, companies should step up and support their game in the competition if they haven’t done so already.
It’s no secret that the Chicago Cubs have had a rough history. Fans would have to wait 71 years from 1945-2016 for the Cubs to win a world series. Sadly this streak would even affect their numbers in recent years.
The graph shows that the Cubs had the highest attendance in 2008 with 3,300,000. In the same year, the Cubs made it to their postseason for the second year in a row. However, after 2008, the Cubs were unable to make it past the playoffs again. The Cubs wouldn’t make it to the playoffs until 2015. During this time the Cubs would see a drop in attendance, going as low as 2,642,682 attendance in 2013. This downfall would stop in 2014, but it would see a great increase when the Cubs, under the new management of Joe Maddon, would make it to the playoffs again in 2015. The attendance in 2015 would spike up to 2,919,122, a 10% increase from 2014’s attendance which was 2,652,113. Finally, once the Cubs won the World Series, their attendance nearly reached the high attendance of 2008 with 3,232,420 attendants. Ever since that World Series victory, the Cubs have been having high attendance no lower than 3,000,000. If the Cubs continue to succeed under this new management they’ll likely reach a new record in attendance again.
Hello. I am Fernando and this is a site for my data journalism class taught by Mike Reilley. I am majoring in Communications and I look forward to the rest of the class.
