Browsing: Lifestyle

“It has been a frustrating spring, with all the rain leaving me with a yard that has been consistently wet and nearly unusable. Water will also pool in a back corner of the yard after heavy or long periods of rain. Is there something I can do to dry my garden out, like adding a dry well to absorb water?”— Antonio Martinez, Highland ParkAdvertisementA dry well is simply a hole dug in the ground and filled with gravel. This is unlikely to do much to improve drainage, as it will quickly fill with water and continue to pond while the surrounding soil remains too wet.To correct drainage problems, you need to collect the excess water from the site and then move it out of the area — water flows from the high point to the low point. There are different ways to do this, depending on each site’s conditions.AdvertisementInstalling drain tile can help. The drain should be installed in the lowest area of the bed, and the soil above the drain should not be compacted or heavy clay, which would prevent water from reaching the drain. A very thin layer of clay soil over the drain tile can block water from reaching it.The pipe must slope evenly from the highest point of the bed to the lowest point, where water can discharge out of the garden to work properly. Use perforated PVC pipe or a flexible black pipe and install No. 8 gravel or ⅝-inch roofing gravel around the pipe to help collect water and help prevent silt from plugging up the pipe.Perforated PVC pipe will last longer and can be installed with a drain cleanout so a plumber can unclog the piping if it gets filled with silt or tree roots in the future. Pipes that are 4 inches in diameter are typically adequate for most home applications.A French drain is a trench filled with gravel and will help dry out an area, providing the trench is pitched properly and there is a place for the water to run to. A trench with gravel will not improve the drainage in a garden unless the water runs out of the lowest end of the trench and away from the area. Otherwise, the trench with gravel will fill up with water while the surrounding soil remains too wet.Another strategy is to modify the grading to improve surface drainage and move water out of the area. This can be very effective when you are able to install a swale or add soil to low areas to direct water out of the garden.Just adding soil to a low area will not work if the water does not run out of the garden, but you may be able to move water to a garden zone that has less impact on your use of the yard. Grading can be a complicated project, especially if there are shade trees involved.Grade changes under and around shade trees can have a negative effect on the trees’ health, so consulting with an arborist during the planning process is important.If the corner of your garden is the lowest part of your garden with grading not an option, then explore adding a drain tile system. Install a catch basin in the lowest spot to collect the surface water.AdvertisementYou would need to pitch the underground drain tile to run water away from the corner and out of the garden. This can be a more complex installation and may require a permit from a local governing body to install. The best solution for some gardens may be a combination of strategies to improve drainage. If you have catch basins as part of an existing drainage system, be sure to clean debris out of them on a regular basis to keep the drainage system working properly.Debris will build up in the bottom of the catch basin and eventually plug up the piping. Try installing plants that are adapted to the conditions in that area of your garden if you are unable to improve the drainage.For more plant advice, contact the Plant Information Service at the Chicago Botanic Garden at plantinfo@chicagobotanic.org. Tim Johnson is senior director of horticulture at the Chicago Botanic Garden.

Dear Amy: I am a husband and father of an 18-month-old daughter.I’m concerned about how my mother-in-law treats my wife and daughter.AdvertisementShe calls my wife multiple times a day to FaceTime with her granddaughter.My wife answers as often as she can.AdvertisementThe problem I have is that my mother-in-law keeps saying things to our toddler like: “Don’t worry — whenever grandma is talking to you, you don’t have to listen to your mom.”Or when my wife tells my daughter to stop doing something, her mother will say, “Grandma says it’s OK.”The last time I heard this I wanted to grab the phone and say: “Mom makes the rules, if you can’t follow them, you can’t see our daughter” and hang up on her.My wife says that it isn’t my place (I agree) but she hasn’t set boundaries, yet.My MIL is coming to visit in about a week and I’ve been stressing about it constantly.She is sleeping on our couch for three days, and I don’t think I want to hold my tongue if she tries to say the same things when she is in our home.I’m all for grandparents spoiling grandkids, but when my daughter is throwing food on our floor and grandma says, “It’s OK — make your parents clean it up” I want to ground grandma.Your suggestions?Advertisement– NervousDear Nervous: Keep your cool. The calmer and more consistent you are, the more effective your response will be.If your mother-in-law directly countermands you, and if you are certain she isn’t just being playful, you can say, “Oops. I’m going to have to stop you. We are her parents and we need to make the rules for her, even if you don’t agree with them. Can you help us out here and not contradict us?”She may say, “Oh, I’m only joking, don’t take this so seriously.” And you can respond, “I get it, but we’re trying to be consistent, and her sense of humor isn’t quite developed yet.”Dear Amy: My sister has been with her fiancé for four years.They live together and plan to marry in July. This will be the second marriage for both. They’re in their 50s, and both have grown children.AdvertisementThey live in a wonderful city and enjoy a nice lifestyle, playing tennis, traveling, etc. He is a doctor and she, a corporate recruiter.My sister couldn’t be happier, as her previous marriage was full of grief and frustration.All was going well until her fiancé’s daughter (in her 20s) dropped out of college and moved in.Apparently, her dad covers this daughter’s expenses and does not require much (if anything) in return. He lets her basically do as she pleases, and that means sleeping until noon, not working, and asking my sister, “What’s for dinner?”You can probably see where this story is going. My sister’s blissful pre-honeymoon phase is being interrupted by this third person’s constant presence. It frustrates my sister (to no end) that her fiancé has not set down any ground rules. My sister works from home and feels she has lost her peaceful “space” due to his daughter’s lax lifestyle.Further, she fears that the daughter may end up living with them for many years to come; something she didn’t bargain for when she moved into his house and accepted his marriage proposal.AdvertisementYour take?– ConcernedDear Concerned: It’s “his house,” “his proposal,” and “his daughter,” but it’s HER life.This is not the way to enter a family system where two smart, successful, and advanced-age adults should be holding hands and in basic agreement about their marital partnership.This also sets your sister up for failure, as the hard-working future stepmother of a young adult.Every couple should receive pre-marital counseling – but especially couples blending families, finances, and property.AdvertisementI would suggest that your sister put the wedding on hold until she and her fiancé get on the same page regarding all of their children.Life will deliver many unforeseeable events that will require them to pivot, but this situation is easily remedied.Ask AmyDailyNo-nonsense advice for better living delivered to your inbox every morning. For a limited time, sign up for the Ask Amy newsletter and get the book “Ask Amy: Essential Wisdom from America’s Favorite Advice Columnist” for $5.Dear Amy: Not a question, but a comment: Why are some of the issues raised in your column so trivial? It seems like people really work hard to get worked up about things.– TiredDear Tired: I find that generally, if someone isn’t interested in a particular cultural issue, they will find that topic trivial.My take is that our world is wide enough to accommodate issues of all sizes.AdvertisementGot a question for Amy? Enter it here and we’ll send it to her.Sign up here to receive the Ask Amy newsletter to get advice e-mailed to your inbox every morning, and for a limited time — get the book “Ask Amy: Essential Wisdom from America’s Favorite Advice Columnist” for $5.©2021 Amy Dickinson.

When you’re shopping in the garden center, how do you know you’re getting a healthy plant?“Don’t just judge by the green part you can see,” said Stephanie Adams, a pathologist in plant health care at The Morton Arboretum in Lisle. “Look at the roots, which are just as important.”AdvertisementHere are some tips from Adams for choosing good plants:Read the label. “The first step is to make sure you’re buying the right kind of plant for the place where you’re going to put it,” she said. Consider the amount of sunlight the plant requires, and be sure it is hardy in USDA winter hardiness zone 5, which applies to most of the Chicago area. If the plant is a tree or shrub, find out how tall and wide it will ultimately grow so you know if it will fit in the space you have available. Make sure the plant is a good match for the soil conditions in your garden.AdvertisementJudge the color. Most plants should be a uniform medium green. If a plant’s leaves are not uniformly green, make sure the white splotches or the purple tinge is the appropriate color for that cultivated variety and doesn’t represent a problem. Some cultivated varieties are bred to have differently colored leaves. For example, a plant with yellowish leaves might have been bred that way, or it might be a naturally green plant that is losing chlorophyll because of a disease. The label should make it clear what the plant is intended to look like.Look for symmetry. Among perennials and shrubs, choose plants with evenly distributed leaves and stems all the way around.Check for healthy roots. “Ask permission to gently pull the plant from its pot and examine the roots,” Adams said. “It’s common sense, like looking under the hood before you buy a car.” In annuals, vegetables and most perennials, roots should be white. Roots of trees and shrubs may be yellowish or brown. You should be able to see plenty of roots distributed throughout the soil. The roots and soil should be moist.Avoid plants with diseased roots. “If you buy a plant with bad roots, you’re set up for failure,” Adams said. A sickly plant will disappoint you, and it also may introduce disease-causing fungus spores or bacteria to your garden soil, where they may infect other plants. “Diseased roots are usually brown, sometimes even black,” she said. “They might look squishy or flat, like a shoelace, because they’ve collapsed.” Avoid dried-out roots too.Spot-check flats. “When I’m buying a flat of plants, I usually pull up one or two plants from the middle to check the roots,” Adams said. “If any plants in the flat look poor — either the leaves or the roots — I won’t buy it. A disease could be spreading through the whole flat.”Too many roots? No problem. On a plant that you will transplant, it’s not a problem if it looks pot-bound, with roots that completely fill the pot, or if it has circling roots. “You can correct that at planting,” she said. For pot-bound plants, make cuts around the outside of the root ball and fluff out the fine roots to encourage them to grow out into the soil. For circling roots, cut them or pull them apart to direct their growth outward into the soil. “The main roots should grow out like the spokes of a wheel.”Avoid pot-bound houseplants and container plants. It is important to avoid buying a that is pot-bound if you will be keeping it in the same container. Or, transplant it to a larger pot so its roots won’t be overcrowded all summer.Get a guarantee. For major purchases, such as trees and large shrubs, make sure the garden center gives you a written guarantee, and be prepared to do your part. “The guarantee will only protect you if you have correctly planted and cared for the plant,” Adams said. “It won’t cover a plant that dies because you forgot to water it.”AdvertisementFor tree and plant advice, contact the Plant Clinic at The Morton Arboretum (630-719-2424, mortonarb.org/plant-clinic, or plantclinic@mortonarb.org). Beth Botts is a staff writer at the Arboretum.

Dear Amy: My older sister is 75 and unmarried.She has three grown children in their 50s. I am eight years younger than she.AdvertisementMy sister has always avoided aging and seems in denial about mortality.When I visited the family a few months ago for her 75th birthday party, my niece expressed concern to me that my sister has made no provisions for death or unexpected illness.AdvertisementShe has no will, power of attorney, advance medical directive, or burial or cremation instructions. Attempts by my niece and her siblings to discuss any of this with my sister are quickly dismissed. My sister refuses to talk about it.Last year I shared with my sister my general estate plan, including the fact that I have a will, power of attorney, trust, and advance medical directive, and gave the names of my appointees.I had hoped that sharing such information might nudge her to do similar planning. No luck. My niece is concerned that she and her siblings will be left holding the bag to make critical medical and other decisions for their mother without any idea of what she would want, and that the three siblings might not agree.This is not about monetary inheritance, as my sister doesn’t have a lot of money. My niece has asked me to try to influence my sister to at least prepare an advance medical directive and burial or cremation instructions.Should I stay out of this or get involved — and, if so, how?– Concerned SisterDear Concerned: Yes, you should attempt to speak to your sister about this. It might be best not to overwhelm her with estate planning, but do encourage her to appoint a health care proxy as a start.Given that you are savvy, well-prepared, and substantially younger than your sister, might you be the right person to take this on?AdvertisementMy home state has health care proxy forms and very easy to understand instructions on the state’s government website. A directive can be simply worded or very detailed. You will need two witnesses but (in my state) it is not necessary to have it notarized.Do a search for the state your sister lives in, discuss the forms with her, and if she would like you and you are willing, fill the forms out with her and notify her children of her decision. She can always change her mind later.Dear Amy: My grandmother was married and widowed four times. Her resting place remains unmarked because the family had a very ugly argument about what should go on her headstone.It has been 20 years now. All of her children have passed away.I would like to put a nice headstone up for her, but have no idea what to put on it.She had children with the first two husbands, so I do think that it might be appropriate to use all of her names. What do you suggest?Advertisement– WonderingDear Wondering: It is such a good thing for you to finally mark your grandmother’s gravesite.My answer is assuming that your grandmother’s four husbands are not buried in this particular family plot.If I were doing this, I would include her full birth name, as well as her final surname (assuming that she legally took her last husband’s surname). I would also include her children’s names, if allowable.For instance: Mary Besemer Clark Jones (birth and death dates)Loving mother of Stacy Randolph Carter (birth and death dates)AdvertisementAnd Steven Alden Fox (birth and death dates)The cemetery will have guidelines and suggestions. Some cemeteries will only allow names of people included on headstones if those persons are actually buried in that plot. Make sure to check with the cemetery director before you make your decision.Dear Amy: Several years ago, you suggested that a woman “make friends with her fears,” name them “Stan,” then tell Stan to “get lost.”Like everyone, I have my issues. The most destructive to me are my tendency to live in the past and to hold grudges.Every time I start re-living negative events from my past, I tell my “Stan” I simply don’t have time for him now, and then deliberately distract myself, just like you said.Ask AmyDailyNo-nonsense advice for better living delivered to your inbox every morning. For a limited time, sign up for the Ask Amy newsletter and get the book “Ask Amy: Essential Wisdom from America’s Favorite Advice Columnist” for $5.IT WORKS! Immediately and easily!AdvertisementI’m a lot happier, now that I’ve made friends with Stan.– A Friend of StanDear Friend: I remember writing that advice, and although I am unable to find the original column, I’m so happy you’ve made friends with your own “Stan.”Got a question for Amy? Enter it here and we’ll send it to her.Sign up here to receive the Ask Amy newsletter to get advice e-mailed to your inbox every morning, and for a limited time — get the book “Ask Amy: Essential Wisdom from America’s Favorite Advice Columnist” for $5.©2021 Amy Dickinson.

Many Ukrainian families around the world and in Chicago celebrate the Orthodox Easter this Sunday but like the resurrection of Christ in their faith, this year they hope to see suffering turning into joy become a reality for Ukraine.Liliya Lymar, 54, the director of Ukrainian Studies at St. Volodymyr Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral, is one of those people.AdvertisementAfter returning from Sunday Easter Mass at 5 a.m., Lymar and her family — as in many Ukrainian houses in Chicago — will begin their feast with their blessed Paska bread, eggs, and meats.But before feasting, she plans to FaceTime her sisters who recently were displaced from Kyiv and are now refugees in Europe to tell them “Він воскрес” (“He is risen!” in Ukrainian). Her sisters will reply “Indeed, He is risen” and they will begin to eat together miles away but united by a screen.Advertisement“It’s not going to be as joyous as it has been all the time,” said Lymar, 54, who moved to the United States with her family from her home in Kyiv in 1999.“We are very happy to be in America, to have everything and to have a home, but our minds are always in Ukraine and worrying about the people who we have there,” Lymar said. “Most of our conversations will be about Ukraine and about how the victory will come soon.”The Orthodox Ukrainian Church is the biggest religion in Ukraine, with over 67% of the population declaring adherence to this faith in a 2018 survey by the Razumkov Centre.Since the Christian Orthodox church is also the main religion in Russia, the U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed on Tuesday for a halt in fighting in Ukraine during the Holy Week, invoking the Easter holiday to plead for a four-day “pause” to allow humanitarian aid and evacuations, The Associated Press reported.Additionally, the head of Ukraine’s Orthodox church asked clergy and the faithful on Wednesday to forgo night Easter services in areas of the country affected by fighting, fearing Russian bombardments will continue during the Orthodox Easter period, Reuters reported.This year’s Holy Week celebrations began on Holy Thursday.At St. Volodymyr Cathedral, 2250 W Cortez St. in the city’s Ukrainian Village neighborhood, the 7 p.m. service was well attended with over 50 people who went to see the service in Ukrainian with a bit of English from the Archbishop Daniel Zelinskyy, who came to Chicago from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church’s national headquarters in New Jersey.“His sermon was so good!” said Lymar, who lives near the cathedral.Advertisement“It was all about Ukraine because he takes care of a lot of aid that is sent to Ukraine and he was telling his experience of how things are and people were crying. It was a bit of a very somber service, but this is what the Passion of Christ is for us,” Lymar said.Around noon on Good Friday, Lymar began preparing the dough for her Paska, the traditional egg bread with a soft and airy crumb. These intricately braided loaves are proud centerpieces of the Easter dinner table in Ukraine and other Eastern European countries.After letting the yeast rise, she made the dough and left it to rest “the Ukrainian American way” in a coffee tin. After baking the Paska, she decorated it with a sugar frosting and colorful sprinkles. “Paska” also means Easter in Ukrainian.Although many Ukrainian families bake their own Paska breads, many also buy them in some of the famous bakeries and restaurants in Chicago’s Ukrainian Village like Shokoland, Ann’s Bakery & Deli, and Old Lviv. Their reservations for Paska breads and other traditional Ukrainian Easter meals, however, were already completely booked weeks in advance.Good Friday was about venerating the Holy Shroud by walking it around the temple three times, symbolizing the burial of Christ, she said. After the ceremony by Father Ivan Lymar, who is Liliya Lymar’s husband, they left the Holy Shroud in the center of the church and people placed flowers around it, like they would put flowers in the tomb of a loved one.The Liturgy of the Great Saturday begins at 10 a.m. in St. Volodymyr Cathedral with the sorrow of Jesus Christ’s death, complete with black fabric decorations. But during the middle of the service, the priests proclaim “Let God arise” and the atmosphere changes.AdvertisementSaturday at 11:30 p.m., around 500 Orthodox Christians reunite under the roof of the cathedral to witness the resurrection of God by the coming of midnight. Families from Chicago and its suburbs traditionally visit the church every year for Easter, but due to COVID-19, some haven’t been able to, making this year’s celebration even more special.During the Easter service, the archbishop, the priests and deacons bless every family’s basket with Psyanky (traditional ornamented Ukrainian Easter eggs), raw eggs, Paska and meats.The service ends at 3 a.m. Sunday, when families return to their homes to celebrate this important holiday for Ukrainian Orthodox Christians.

For several months, the Chicago Tribune and Injustice Watch teamed up to report on the challenges facing Illinois’ aging undocumented population in a four-part series of stories focused on access to health care and housing.The project was inspired by ongoing stories of community members undergoing financial hardship, yet remaining resilient. And it was backed by a report that revealed that the senior undocumented population will increase by 1,300% in the next decade in Illinois.AdvertisementMost immigrants without legal status arrived in the country decades ago and have lived here without a viable pathway to citizenship. Mexican immigrants will make up two-thirds of the undocumented older adult populations in Illinois, followed by immigrants from Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeastern Asia, and Central America.Now, this generation of immigrants faces the prospect of having lived and died in the shadows. Undocumented immigrants are blocked from accessing social programs that many seniors rely on, such as food stamps, public housing, Medicare and Social Security insurance — programs that they pay billions of dollars into every year. Their families and communities weave a patchwork of formal and informal resources to make up the difference.AdvertisementLocal activists and organizers say it’s up to state and local governments to protect all seniors regardless of their immigration status at the lack of federal assistance.What does it all mean? At noon on Wednesday, join Chicago Tribune reporter Laura Rodríguez Presa and Injustice Watch reporter Carlos Ballesteros for a Facebook Live conversation in Spanish, featuring a panel of experts who will help dissect the series, its meaning and potential effect.Panelists:Luvia Quiñones: Serves as the Health Policy Director at the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR). In this role, Quiñones oversees the Immigrant Health Care Access Initiative and in collaboration with ICIRR’s members develops ICIRR’s health policy agenda with a special focus on access to health care and on health care reform.Erendira Rendon: Vice president of Immigrant Justice at The Resurrection Project (TRP). Rendon created TRP’s Immigrant Justice Department and serves as the organization’s lead strategist and manager of local and statewide campaigns that affect the lives of immigrants. Rendon is the daughter of undocumented seniors.Adela Carin: A community lawyer helping to connect undocumented seniors to resources available in the Chicago area.

Dear Amy: Occasionally, I get together with a few of my neighbors.Recently these people have commented negatively about people not getting the COVID vaccine. I refuse to get this shot.AdvertisementShould I admit my decision not to vaccinate — and tell them about it?Should I just not be their friend anymore?AdvertisementWhat is your advice?– I RefuseDear You Refuse: You have the right to roll the dice regarding your refusal to vaccinate against a highly contagious virus that is the cause of a global pandemic.You do NOT have the right to withhold your decision – when you know this is important to people you have been spending time with.You likely believe this is a personal and private decision, but – unlike other choices you might make — this is a personal choice with communal consequences.Their vaccinations would likely protect your neighbors from the more severe forms of this illness, but – they may have elders or other more vulnerable people in their circles who might not be so lucky.Where I live, currently cases are way up and hospitalizations are down. But getting sick from this virus can have a huge impact on people who get it (and vaccinated people do get it). The symptoms can be lingering and severe, and they (and family members) will be forced to quarantine.Whether you wish to attempt to continue on in friendship with these neighbors is up to you. But honesty is a necessary aspect of friendship, and so you should disclose your vaccination status, and give them the opportunity to reconsider in-person contact.AdvertisementGiven that you haven’t disclosed something obviously very important to them, they may reconsider having a friendship with you, and you should prepare yourself for that.Dear Amy: Our granddaughter has a 5-year-old daughter whose father, “W,” was convicted of a felony involving a gun. He was a previous felon.W has been in and out of my great-granddaughter’s life for the past five years. He is now facing some serious jail time.W’s mother and his sister have been involved with our great-granddaughter and have been consistently in her life.What is the best way for our granddaughter to deal with her child’s grandmother and aunt when it comes to the child visiting them?My granddaughter doesn’t want her daughter going to jail to visit, nor does she want her to talk to W on the phone, because the child becomes too emotional.AdvertisementI asked her to see a counselor, but she says she cannot afford one.I think it would be good for the child to continue to have contact with her father’s family members.Your suggestions?– ConcernedDear Concerned: I agree that this child is too young to visit her father in prison. I disagree, to some extent, regarding phone calls. Depending on the context and on the father’s ability to communicate appropriately with his daughter, monitored phone or video calls should be considered.The child’s father should be encouraged to write to his daughter, and – once the mother has vetted his communication – the daughter can write back.AdvertisementNot knowing the context, backstory, or personalities of any of the people involved, I mainly note that this child’s mother is the custodial parent, and it is her duty to always make choices in the child’s best interests. If she decides that no-contact with “W” is best for her child for the next few months, then “W’s” family members must respect that.Studies show that having an incarcerated parent can have a profound impact on a child’s physical and mental health.Your granddaughter should research the impact of incarceration on families. She is mistaken that she can’t afford a counselor. Licensed social workers are eminently qualified to work with this family, and by making some phone calls, she can get low or no-cost help.Youth.gov has a wealth of information for families of those incarcerated. A film featuring four young people reflecting on their experience with an incarcerated parent is both illuminating and heartbreaking. (Youth.gov/coip)Ask AmyDailyNo-nonsense advice for better living delivered to your inbox every morning. For a limited time, sign up for the Ask Amy newsletter and get the book “Ask Amy: Essential Wisdom from America’s Favorite Advice Columnist” for $5.Dear Amy: I’m laughing about your issue with the use of the term “maiden name.”Aren’t there bigger fish to fry? Some women, such as my daughter, took her husband’s last name when they got married, so if she’s filling out any legal paperwork, it will ask for her maiden name. What’s the issue?Advertisement– A ReaderDear Reader: “Maiden” as a term refers – or implies a reference — to a woman’s presumed “maidenhood,” or virginity. Some women really don’t want our surnames characterized that way.Got a question for Amy? Enter it here and we’ll send it to her.Sign up here to receive the Ask Amy newsletter to get advice e-mailed to your inbox every morning, and for a limited time — get the book “Ask Amy: Essential Wisdom from America’s Favorite Advice Columnist” for $5.©2021 Amy Dickinson.

Students at the University of Illinois at Chicago are only two weeks away from finishing the semester, but now graduate student workers and teaching assistants are not holding office hours or helping professors after they went on strike Monday.On Wednesday, more than 50 graduate and undergraduate students organized a rally with leaders from other Chicago-area labor unions to show support and help form protest pickets around the UIC campus.AdvertisementThe Graduate Employees Organization has been bargaining with the university for more than a year over a contract for the 2021-22 school year. The organization is seeking a raise in wages, reduction of student fees that workers are charged, better health care, adding no-lockout language to the contracts and trying to overhaul their nondiscrimination and harassment policy. The university and the union have yet to reach an agreement. The graduate student workers have been working without a contract since August 2021.GEO members held a strike vote after a semester and a half without a contract, and earlier this month the union announced that 97% of its 1,500 members voted in favor of a strike, said Adam Pratt, 26, co-president of GEO who is a Ph.D. student and teaching assistant in the mathematics department.AdvertisementGraduate Employees Organization workers march on the University of Illinois at Chicago campus as they begin a strike over wages and fees April 18, 2022. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)UIC posted a statement on its website saying normal operations would continue during the work stoppage. In some cases, this might mean more work for faculty and students.“I know my boss is really worried about getting grades submitted and that’s something that just cannot happen right now with the strike,” Pratt said, referring to the professor of the class he is assisting. There are 150 students in the class, so if the strike continues, the professor will have to grade all the final exams without help. “We’re all just gonna have to hope that the university starts making improvements and we can move together towards a fair contract and the strike can be over.”Pratt said other classes in his department, like Calculus I, have around 1,000 students and five professors. Without the T.A.s in those courses, the five professors will be left to grade all of the final exams, again without help from assistants.“We started with raises equal to Loyola University (around a 30% raise), but we’ve come significantly down since then to a 21% raise,” Pratt said. “We wanted to cut all of our fees and have them reimburse because the fees are a way of basically doing wage theft to our graduate workers.”These fees, paid by all students, account for around 10% of the workers’ $20,615 minimum salary for the nine months of the school year. “We also wanted to decrease the cost of health care both for graduate workers and their dependents and the university wants to increase the cost even for the same coverage, which is not particularly good coverage,” Pratt added.Lidia Aguilar, 36, was one of the students singing chants in the picket line at the UIC Science and Engineering Labs. She is a doctorate candidate in the Hispanic studies department and a T.A. for the Spanish for bilinguals undergraduate course.“I don’t want to be here, I want to be with my students; it’s our last two weeks together,” said Aguilar, who is an international student from Spain. “This lack of raise has affected my ability to pay my (university) fees, the ability to see my family once a year because it’s $1,000 to go to my hometown in the south of Spain, so I spent a whole year saving so I can spend Christmas with them and I haven’t been on a summer break in my country for eight years.”Graduate Employees Organization workers march on the UIC campus on April 18, 2022, as they begin a strike over wages and fees. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)“Also something very important about international students is that we cannot work outside of campus,” Aguilar said. “I cannot be a barista at Starbucks, a T.A. is the only option that I have a job while I am a student in this country because of my visa status, and it’s not enough. … My landlord raised my rent by $100 and I cannot afford to stay in my apartment, so it’s really hard not (to) know what the future contract brings to my paycheck.”AdvertisementMeg Rock, 35, a doctoral student in the College of Education and an assistant, also sees the strike as the only way to get fair treatment.“I’m here because I want to be a teacher,” Rock said. “I’m not here because I like sitting outside in the cold. I want to be supporting my students, but it doesn’t feel good to know how much my fellow workers are hurting. There have been many times where I’ve been on bargaining sessions on Zoom and I have to turn off my camera so that I can cry because of the experiences of harassment or difficulty of fellow workers are so painful.”In a statement released by UIC hours after the rally on Wednesday, officials said they wish to reach an agreement soon. “With 21 of 27 issues agreed upon in our good-faith negotiations to date and sessions scheduled for today and tomorrow, April 20 and 21, we believe much can be resolved through continued dialogue at the bargaining table.”“U of I was able to provide the president of their system a 40% pay increase (in 2020). Enough is enough,” said John Miller, president of University Professionals of Illinois Local 4100. “The university has to get its priorities right. … It is not a time to prioritize administration and management, it is time to prioritize the students and the people who do all the work, including all of the graduate employees.”Susan Hurley, executive director of Chicago Jobs With Justice, said there is an issue with the University of Illinois system. “There is no reason why the boss of a public institution being paid with tax dollars should be making over $600,000 a year,” she said. “The value of the education that is provided here is the fruit of your labor and I think you deserve to be compensated fairly for that. This university wouldn’t function without all of you.”AdvertisementGraduate Employees Organization workers march on the UIC campus as they strike over wages and fees on April 18, 2022. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)In a coffee shop in the UIC area, two undergraduate seniors, Maahi Shah and Yesha Prajapati, were talking about the recent protests on campus.“I think it is a little bit stressful for some students because they don’t know how their next few weeks of academics might be affected,” Shah, 22, said. “But at the same time, I think it’s pretty understandable because the T.A.s have to use that pressure point to be able to get the university to make some compromises and be able to discuss something urgently.”Prajapati, 21, remembered there was a similar strike by GEO during her first year, in 2019, and thinks not a lot of progress has been made. “I feel like it’s really repetitive and I feel like UIC should be providing T.A.s with what they need instead of just repeating the cycle.”tmijares@chicagotribune.com

Charm City is home to Oriole Park at Camden Yards, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. Before or after the game, swing by Eutaw Street, where an array of bars and restaurants stretch along the east side of the stadium, including Dempsey’s Brew Pub, named for Orioles Hall of Fame catcher Rick Dempsey; and Boog’s BBQ, which serves barbecue beef, pork and turkey.

I shared your query with my friend the writer Anne Lamott, author of many books, including an important book on writing, which has guided many stuck writers home: “Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life” (25th Anniversary edition, 2019, Anchor Books).