•March 14, 2018•

By Jim Nowlan
NP Guest Columnist

Whenever kicked out of Illinois government and politics (frequently), I have taken refuge as a visiting professor at several Illinois colleges and universities, primarily the University of Illinois. And I admit a soft spot for the sector.

Yet, higher education across the country is out of favor at present, especially so in Illinois. Since 1978 (when I was Gov. Thompson’s assistant for education), state appropriations for higher education shrank from 10 percent of the total state budget to just 3 percent in 2014.

Excluding state funding for university pension programs, Illinois has lost, in real terms, one-third of its state funding for higher education in the period.

Consider also that many citizens are also upset with colleges for, on some campuses, blocking conservative speakers, and for creating “safe zones” for students who feel harmed by controversial statements. Read More

Associated Press photo U.S. Sen. Everett Dirksen in 1968.

•March 14, 2018•

By Kerry Lester
The Daily Herald

The Gettysburg Address. Hull House. The nation’s first African American president — and first lady. All of these are due to Illinois’ bumper crop of political figures and politicians, who represent a diverse range of viewpoints and contributions throughout history.

Here, in alphabetical order, are some of the leaders who came from our state:

Jane Addams

A social worker and a leader in the women’s suffrage movement, Addams was the first American woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. She ran Hull House, a settlement house for poor immigrants in Chicago, and co-founded the American Civil Liberties Union. She also chaired a women’s conference for peace in the Netherlands in 1919 and worked unsuccessfully to get the United States to serve as a mediator between warring countries in World War I. She died in 1935 in Chicago. I-90 in Illinois is named after her. Read More