Beacon News

Band leader looks back at first year at West Aurora

Fri, 24 May 2013 02:30:33 -0500

I love it when the right person is in the right place at the right time. That’s when there’s the potential for magic. Last year I told you about Dr. Rod Schueller, the consummate overachiever and former associate professor of Conducting at Texas State University, who had been invited to be West Aurora High School’s new director of bands. I caught up with Schueller earlier this week to talk about his busy first year at West. I asked what has surprised him most. “I didn’t expect this to be one of the most rewarding years of my teaching career,” he …

Reflections on the passing of a very special editor

Tue, 21 May 2013 12:04:39 -0500

All relationships teach you something. Some teach you many things. Reporting to Tim West at two different junctures during my years with the Sun-Times News Group was one of the best learning experiences I’ve ever had. Tim was both my favorite and least favorite editor. The first time I reported to him we didn’t get along very well. I come from the world of academia and knew very little about the world of journalism. I couldn’t understand why whole paragraphs were removed because they didn’t fit, why they never used the titles I suggested, or why certain things could not …

Glorious season for markets, sales and spring cleaning is here

Fri, 17 May 2013 02:31:37 -0500

You know it’s spring when you see the markets and garage sales. Nothing says spring has finally arrived quite like garage sales and farmers’ markets. It was a very long cold winter (in fact last weekend I felt like we were still trying to pry winter’s icy fingers away as temperatures hit the 30s again). So I’m anxious to get started on some of Aurora’s warm weather traditions. First stop tomorrow is the Aurora Transportation Center where, from 8 a.m. to noon, the Fox Valley Garden Club will host a plant sale and give us a preview of the 2013 …

Difficult transition to being a full-time mom

Fri, 10 May 2013 13:09:55 -0500

With Mothers’ Day approaching, I remembered that I had heard that a fellow Auroran, Dawn Staszak, had recently published a book about motherhood. It’s called “A Guru in the Nursery: 50 Ways to Remember Your Spirit While Changing Diapers,” and comes right on the heels of her book “A Fish Out of Water,” that tells about her transition from working outside the home to being a stay-at-home-mom (SAHM). I phoned Staszak to talk about her book and her experiences these past few years. I learned that we had many things in common. Both of us — as very extroverted, type …

Trying to understand why bad things happen

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 11:40:00 -0500

When bad things happen, people often ask why God allows it. School shootings, hurricanes, homemade bombs and other explosions, natural disasters like hurricanes and floods . . . . all these things prompt people to question God’s power and purpose. I’d like to offer some answers. By the way, I don’t just offer my random musings, but I speak from a good bit of theological training. Following some of my comments about marriage equality, Beacon readers — like R.K. Harrison of Aurora — responded that they doubted I had any real religious background. It’s seldom a good idea to make …

Book on faith, politics is well worth reading

Mon, 06 May 2013 06:21:00 -0500

My colleague, Anthony Stanford, just published a book that couldn’t possibly be more timely. As national debates rage about homosexuality, marriage equality, and the roles of Church and State in deciding legislation, his book, “Homophobia in the Black Church: How Faith, Politics, and Fear Divide the Black Community” is an absolute “must read.” I had sometimes wondered why the church, an institution that anchored black culture through generations of oppression and violence, did not show more tolerance for LGBTs, another group that has been reviled and violently opposed in this country. The answer is complicated. Stanford masterfully tells how African-American …

Young election judges a true inspiration

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 18:03:12 -0500

Sometimes all the strife and bad news in the world seems overwhelming, so I go intentionally looking for some good news to share. Here’s what I found to make Aurorans smile this week: Get ready to see some new young faces at the polls. The Aurora Election Commission has been recruiting civic-minded high school students to become election judges. “The high schools have been very responsive,” said Linda Fechner, executive director of the Aurora Election Commission. “We’ve had students from East Aurora, West Aurora, Rosary, Aurora Central, Kaneland, and Marmion participate. It’s a wonderful way to learn about civics. Some …

Nation can’t turn away from responsible family planning

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 13:33:48 -0500

If I told you that most of society’s challenges — hunger, poverty, homelessness, bullying, violence, high crime rates, climate change, human trafficking, etc. — could be largely solved through addressing one single issue, wouldn’t you want to turn our energy toward addressing that? The issue at the root of so many others is responsible family planning. When women bear children they can neither afford nor are prepared to properly raise, it leads to a myriad of other problems, beginning with poverty, hunger, even homelessness, and progressing to unparented children who become bullies or even criminals. On a wider scale, the …

West residents can be heard at the ballot box

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 11:12:23 -0500

This past year has been controversial for local school boards. Debates about the work they’re doing will likely intensify as election day approaches. On the West Side of Aurora, there have been many issues, but the underlying problem is the longstanding perception among parents, staff and community members that the School Board and administration do not really listen to anyone’s opinion but their own. My personal experience has been mixed. My first encounter with the board and administration was in February 2006. With children in middle school, I had some concerns, which I was also considering writing about in my …

Marriage does not need a defense

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 06:08:21 -0500

Last week I read in The Beacon-News how local Roman Catholics had marched in “defense of marriage.” Monsignor Archimedes Vallejo was quoted as saying, “This is God’s law, no one can change God’s laws.” I see three different problems here: confusion about the separation of church and state; ignoring some important history; and a misguided desire to put words in Jesus’ mouth. First, legislation should be based on our Constitution, not one particular religion’s view of “God’s law.” Thanks to the separation of church and state, each religious group — including the Roman Catholic Church — sanctifies only those marriages …

Aurora shows it’s community that cares

Sat, 23 Mar 2013 06:09:07 -0500

Gary Schramer graduated from West Aurora High School in 1973 and has owned a business in Aurora — Twin Liquors — for 30 years. On Jan. 29 two men, driving an older maroon Oldsmobile, entered his store at about 6:20 p.m. They beat Schramer and robbed him. He was lucky to survive his injuries. When I spoke with his sister, Gill Schramer Iverson, she said, “When they wheeled him out, the left side of his head was so swollen, he looked like the elephant man.” She told me he had suffered a brain bleed and that the doctor who treated …

Speak out for our Post Office

Thu, 09 May 2013 14:29:19 -0500

In the immortal words of Joni Mitchell: “Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you got til it’s gone?” Right now America has an agency that is self-funding; does not ask for taxpayer money; is the nation’s second largest employer; provides solid middle class jobs that support families; offers rates for its services that are lower than its competitors; and is capable of reaching nearly every American citizen quickly in the case that something such as vaccines need distributing. It’s called the United States Postal Service and you’ve probably been hearing some lies about it recently. …

Appreciating our men on Valentine’s Day

Sat, 09 Mar 2013 06:10:57 -0500

When we think of Valentine’s Day, we picture chocolate hearts and roses — usually with guys giving them to ladies. This year, I think we should take time to honor the gentlemen in our lives. Anyone who knows me well, knows that I’m absolutely crazy about my husband. He’s a big, strong, burly, bearded guy who can be found brewing beer or fixing cars when he’s not working long hours as an electrical engineer. I’ve never seen a math problem he couldn’t solve, a machine he couldn’t fix, or a project he couldn’t figure out. While I understand that all …

What is news and what is not

Sat, 02 Mar 2013 07:43:18 -0500

There’s news, there’s entertainment, and then there is useless gossip. I’m noticing lately that television “news” seems to contain all of these, sometimes seeming to intentionally blur the lines between news, entertainment, gossip and advertising. My husband and I were out to dinner recently with “sports news” on a big screen TV. The story about Manti Te’o make-believe girlfriend repeated in an endless loop for what seemed an eternity. Disgusted, we asked to change the channel. This, Kim Kardashian’s “baby bump,” or whether Beyonce lip synced, are not news. They’re barely even entertainment. They’re pretty much just gossip that eats …

Common sense advice on gun control? Just ask mom

Tue, 26 Feb 2013 06:16:59 -0500

I grew up with guns. My family sold guns and hunting supplies for a living. I loved hunting and I miss having fresh venison for dinner. I spent endless hours target practicing and was a very good shot, though I’m sure my mother was better. She not only hunted, but also worked as a security guard and had to prove her skill at the shooting range each year to keep the job. Mom and I recently talked about the gun debate going on in this country. She wondered why people were talking about gun regulation as if it were a …