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One of Chicagoist’s things to do before we die is to gamble in a casino. A lofty goal, we know. Our one previous attempt at a Quad Cities riverboat ended in a DQ, as we weren’t old enough and our mother had left her driver’s license at the hotel. We know it’s way less glamorous than movies would have us think, but damn if we don’t want to feel the chips in our fingers and to try to forget all of our training has been online, where people can’t see our horrible poker face.
Houses of gaming within city limits have been a bone of contention in Illinois government since time immemorial. But! If we were to have a chance to know when to hold 'em (and when to fold 'em), Chicago City Colleges would be there to show us the ropes. Inspired by our very own alderman Tom Tunney’s remarks at a city council meeting Monday, CCC chancellor Wayne Watson claims he’d introduce casino training courses into the taxpayer-funded college network. The Colleges would train students to be dealers, but Wayne downplayed the gambling aspect of casinos somewhat, focusing instead on hospitality: “A larger part is wait and support staff,” he said. True, but let’s not kid ourselves, shall we?
None of this will go down without state approval, of course, with newsmaking House Speaker Michael Madigan being the primary opposition. Blago’s for it, Daley’s for it (if the city gets a decent cut), and a sprinkling of Republicans and Democrats in state government have shown recent interest as well. There’s also the issue of where a casino would even go in our crowded little burg, but we hear there’s a little Art Deco gem at Canal and Harrison that’s just begging for a second life. Can you imagine? All glitzed up, looming over the Eisenhower … heck, we’re getting excited just thinking about it. But then, we always were idealists. Now excuse us while we sign up for that roulette course.
Image via murphsplace.com.
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Nice! But I'd leave all upper management Casino courses to be taught at Northwestern and U of C.
Happy Days Are Here Again!
What Me Worried?!?
ah yes, lets train the poor on how to steal from other poor, and then how to gamble it away in order to remain poor.
Nice picture - Croupier!
Yeah, what a way to underestimate the abilities and ambitions of the city's disadvantaged youth. If there are young people out there who are ambitious enough to invest the time and money (even city college courses are not cheap) in going to college, we should encourage them to study subjects and undergo training that will lead to a more promising and rewarding career than one as basically a glorified service employee. I hope they will not fall for this.
I was actually just flipping through a course catalog for Daley College and they are offering a certificate program for learning how to be a bank teller. The program costs $2000. The last I heard, banks train you to work as a teller - you do not need any special training. $2000 is way too much such an unnecessary and limited program.
4: Bank teller? That's a high-growth industry.
Why don't we all just admit we've given up on poor kids in this country? Let's at least be honest.
Nothing against working as a dealer or teller, of course. It's good honest work if you want it (though I suppose the chances of dishonesty are relatively high).
Between:
"ah yes, lets train the poor on how to steal from other poor, and then how to gamble it away in order to remain poor."
AND
"Why don't we all just admit we've given up on poor kids in this country? Let's at least be honest."
There is really nothing for a Spook to say, except, How bout the Cubs! And Of course Sen.
Craig isn't Gay!
Oh! And the irony of a two-grand course at a Community college to teach kids to be a "bank teller" is not lost on me either. Unless its rooted in the fact that kids are being charged two-grand to learn the basics they missed in the Chicago Public Schools, which leads back to
the "Why don't we all just admit we've given up on poor kids in this country?"
But hey I just came back from lunch and South Michigan Ave. sure looks nice, lots of flowers!
Guest #5: It sounds like you've given up on poor kids in this country.
After all, if you really cared about their future, you'd encourage MBA's, not certificates in hospitality. Ain't nothing wrong with becoming a bank teller out of college and working your way up the financial services ladder. But let's be realistic: no certificate in blackjack dealing from the city colleges is going to take you anywhere. Just ask the kids that work at the boats in Gary.
City colleges are excellent for people looking for career advancement, technical and job training as well as an inexpensive way to get into a better university providing you have good grades.
I think if anything city colleges should be celebrated as a godsend for a city this big and they almost always lead to bigger and better things.
I also had a friend who is getting her bio credits out of the way before nursing school.
City Colleges are not giving up on anyone, if anything they are helping everyone.
Please feel free to call me a callous asshole after this post, btw.
Are casino dealing jobs really that hard to come by, where you would need the competitive advantage of getting an associates degree? A roommate of mine from college spent a couple of summers working in an indian casino. He was a moron...a magnificent moron.
Casino's offer this training themselves. Just don't have a police record, and you're in.
Kevin: Huh?
Smoking with the union guys again?
Guest #11: Nope. If I were, I'd probably get down with expanded gambling in Illinois, since it tends to be a union gig.
Nobody can seriously argue that the City Colleges of Chicago should spend tax dollars teaching people to be black jack dealers. Like Matty pointed out, he has a friend that is knocking out her biology credits before going on to nursing school. It's a good way to make higher education more accessible to people that otherwise might not be able to afford a university degree That's exactly the kind of work the City Colleges should be doing: preparing students to go on to more advanced degrees with far better career opportunities later in life.
If we're going to spend our tax dollars on anything, we should work on the CCC should be expanding its course offerings to better serve its educational mission: preparing students "for success in a technologically advanced and increasingly interdependent global society."
Kevin and Spook:
What if the kids you speak of don't want to do anything of value in life? Maybe getting on at the casino isn't such a bad thing? How many kids go on to become carpenters or electricians because they don't really care for school? I'm not saying that the certificate in bank tell-ing or deal-ing is the kind of thing that will make someone into the next Warren Buffet, but come on, it's a job and it's better than walking the streets and working a life of crime.
What irks me is that all of these problems these kids have is somehow the fault of the City. Can you be serious? Yeah, these kids have the deck stacked against them from day one, but isn't 90% of it poor parenting? Education will not change until parents in this City get involved. And maybe it's a matter of some parents getting jobs - whatever jobs they may be - and providing a positive role model for their kids. Maybe by having these jobs they'll show their kids that there is something to be said for an honest day's work and said kids will follow by example, and work themselves upward from where their parents are at.
Guest 13. Let’s make things really easy.
Let’s just say that every poor kid, especially every poor minority kid, doesn’t want to do any thing with their lives. It’s so much easier that way because it’s easier that wa y We don't have to think about the numerous rapidly growing issues that limited economic mobility of the poor and working class. Although these issues are increasing. Lets avoid them.
Let’s also not pay attention to the lack of access to union job (carpenters or electricians) for minority youth. Seriously, let’s make sure, we avoid news papers when they report about this issue from Spring Field.
Let’s also not look at what's going on with Community Colleges in Illinois and Nation wide.
And while we are at it, lets not deal with issues of the increasing in mining accidents.
This issues are all very complicated and would demand that our first paper we pick up in the morning is not the Red Eye and the first section we turn to is not the the sports section.
Spookster: Instead of identifying problems that are rather obvious, and engaging in obvious criticisms of RedEye, perhaps you can bless us with ideas about how to fix these problems. Even small fixes can be useful over the long term.
I tend to agree with the criticisms you have, at least in a general way, but for someone who seems to know it all, you sure have a lack of fixes (or facts) to go along with your insight.
Why are you holding back? Do you simply have nothing to offer?
For instance, what facts back up your idea that union jobs remain relatively closed for minority youth? And how would you change that?
You have passion, but you've not learned how to persuade people with facts and solid argument. You have the same problem Kevin often has--that is, you toss out statements as through they were God-given truth, ignoring the possibility that others are not yet convinced, though might be if you offered more specifics instead of rants.
Did you people not learn this in college?
Amen, Guest 15. That is the biggest problem I have with Kevin and Spook. Lots of problems that definitely exist, but not a lot of solutions. The key to educational reform is parents that actually parent. You take care of that and you fix a whole lot of things right quick. By the way, Spook, I am part of a union that is comprised of approximately 45% minority peoples, and even when I walk by the Red Eye box in the morning, I don't take it (even though it's free!) I prefer to get my news from the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, and even, sigh, the Chicago Sun-Times (I like checking out what Mary Mitchell is complaining about from time to time).
Warmly,
Guest 13