The best emergency kits tend to be specific to the owner. This kit belongs to a woman with a young child and includes a toy along with more standard items such as a flashlight and nonperishable food. (PHOTO: Mackenzie Allen/MEDILL)

In an emergency, sometimes just counting on the Federal Emergency Management Agency or the Red Cross to take care of you isn’t enough. Sometimes you need to be able to take care of yourself —and an effective way to do that is with an emergency preparedness kit.

“You have to be able to care of yourself and your family in the case of a disaster because first responders might not be able to get there,” Mary Rhedin of FEMA Region V said. “In an emergency, you, yourself are your own first responder.”

Some experts say that many people aren’t prepared because they don’t think that they need to be.

Rhedin compared having an emergency kit to the no-brainer of owning a fire extinguisher or putting a seatbelt on when getting into a car.

“We witnessed it a couple weeks ago, starting the morning of April 17. That’s when the rain started falling and it didn’t stop for days…and a lot of people had to leave their homes,” said Patricia Kemp of the Chicago Red Cross, referencing the floods that caused a state of emergency declaration in Illinois.

“We don’t live on the banks of the Mississippi but these rains can come and just completely annihilate homes and turn lives upside-down,” Kemp added.

Weeks after the flood, the Red Cross and other organizations were still working to get people back into their homes and on their feet.
Sometimes called go-bags, emergency kits can also be used when the only option is sheltering in place, like with a blizzard or tornado.

The National Weather Service was only able to give Oklahoma residents a 16-minute advance warning that a tornado had touched down before it hit. Residents had minutes to grab what they needed and get to shelter. Even then, that 16 minutes was three better than the weather service average.

In some of the harder hit areas, if you didn’t have it on you it was long gone.

“Yes, hopefully, if you don’t need [a kit] that’s great,” Rhedin said. “But if you do need it and you don’t have it then it’s going to be a personal tragedy for you.”

Former Marine Cpl. Jermaine Sheppard recently became involved with the Chicago Community Emergency Response Team, a FEMA-run organization that trains everyday people in emergency preparedness.

Sheppard, 28, has owned several emergency kits since his time with the military, but has begun putting even more effort into maintaining them in the last year.

“I’m constantly upgrading, I’m constantly adding to it,” Sheppard said. “You know, it’s something where you always want to renew certain things. I’m always making sure that I’m looking at things that might expire, like hand-warmers.”

More than just bandages and enough food and water to last for three days, an emergency kit should contain some not-so-obvious items as well.

“Everyone thinks food, water and appropriately so, but you also have to think, if I have to be gone 24 to 48 hours what do I need? A lot of times people forget prescription medication,” Rhedin said, adding that other oft forgotten items include eyeglasses and pet supplies.

“Ever since Hurricane Katrina…taking your pet with you is more of an accepted practice,” Rhedin said.

Nearly every agency has a recommended list of items for an emergency kit, so knowing where to start and how to stay within budget is sometimes the biggest challenge.

The Red Cross sells emergency kits online, but buying a premade kit isn’t always the best option, according to experts.

Kemp says that many people already have most of the items they need and that the trick is taking the time to put it all together.

“If you have the time to prepare for it…then when the time comes that you need it, you don’t even need to think about it, you can just grab it and go,” Kemp said.

Sheppard said that his multiple kits have cost him about $500, acknowledging that most people don’t need to spend anywhere near that.

“I estimate that the average person should spend about $70 to $100 for the essentials,” Sheppard said.

Do 1 Thing, a nonprofit based out of Lansing, Mich., suggests putting together kits piece-by-piece to make them more affordable. The organization recommends checking one item off the list each month.

“For instance, in the month of January, you get a couple bottles of water,” Rhedin said. “In the month of February, maybe when you go to the store you get a couple cans of beans. In this way, this whole Do 1 Thing is a program that helps people put aside the basics that they might need… to not have it be a burden financially.”

One of the ways to save money is to put a kit together well in advance so you can pay attention to when things will go on sale and shop around for some of the pricier items.

Even with a premade kit, most will still need to make some additions because they tend to be very standardized and the most effective kits are tailored to the owner’s specific needs.

Have young kids? Toss in a few coloring books or games to keep them entertained. Are you a light sleeper? Pack some earplugs in case you need to stay at a shelter overnight.

According to experts, what matters most isn’t how much a kit costs, or even the specific item it contains, but that an individual has what they need to take care of themselves.

Mackenzie Allen/MEDILL
As the deadline for gun legislation gets closer without a broadly supported bill many wonder what will happen if a solution isn’t reached

Illinois is the only state that does not allow gun owners to carry a firearm outside of their home. On June 9 that is set to change.

The consequence of failing to act remains unclear, with some thinking that almost anyone will be able to carry a gun anywhere while others believe that local municipalities will be responsible for handling the issue.

Mackenzie Allen/MEDILL
Sen. Kwame Raoul’s bill includes an endorsement from the Chicago Police Department for anyone wanting to carry a gun inside the city.

There are currently 1.5 million active Firearm Owner Identification cards in the state, according to Illinois State Police spokeswoman Monique Bond.

The Illinois State Police estimate that 300,000 people will apply for a concealed carry permit once it becomes legal — and that establishing a task force to deal with concealed carry could cost $25 million.

A judicial mandate
Last December a federal court ruled that it is unconstitutional for Illinois to prohibit the carrying of firearms. This decision came after the 2008 Supreme Court ruling in District of Columbia v. Heller.

“The Heller decision involved a District of Columbia ordinance that banned handguns completely,” said Lindsay Nichols, an attorney with the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. “It banned them in the home, it banned them outside of the home, everywhere.”

Mackenzie Allen/MEDILL
Riders board a bus at the intersection of State and Lake Streets in downtown Chicago. One of the issues being debated in Springfield is whether or not concealed weapons should be allowed on public transportation.

The Supreme Court ruled that there is a guaranteed right through the Second Amendment to firearms inside a home. 
Unfortunately, in answering one question, Heller created a slew of others.

“The court found for the first time that there is an individual right for a responsible person to possess a handgun in the home for purposes of self-defense,” Nichols said. “It’s been very unclear how far the holding would go and there has been a flood of litigation in the lower courts since that time challenging all sorts of gun laws.”

While Heller dealt with “the right of law-abiding, responsible citizens to use arms in defense of hearth and home,” according to Judge Richard Posner of the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, the issue his panel had before it was whether the Second Amendment guaranteed the right of self-defense outside of the home.

According to the court of appeals, it does.

Mackenzie Allen/MEDILL
Handgun related murders in Chicago are down from their peak in the most recently available data. Information compiled from the Chicago Police Department.

“When a person needs a gun for self-defense, if it’s a responsible person and legal qualifications are met, they may have the right to have a gun,” Nichols said.

Writing for the majority, Posner gave Illinois 180 days, until June 9, to pass legislation legalizing the carrying of firearms outside of the home.

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan has until June 24 to appeal the ruling, but has not decided if she will. “We are continuing to analyze the decision and monitor the legislative activity underway,” said Natalie Bauer, communications director for the attorney general.

“That 7th Circuit decision may still be appealed, but regardless of whether it’s appealed or not and regardless of the results of the appeal there is a deadline for the state of Illinois to enact a law,” Nichols said.

Mackenzie Allen/MEDILL
Mark Walsh of the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence supports a more restrictive version of conceal carry legislation.

Finding the right words
For months the state legislature has been working on concealed carry bills and in many cases the success of a bill has been based on one thing — whether the bill is “shall” legislation or “may” legislation.

With may legislation, the issuing body, in this case the Illinois State Police, would take all of the relevant information into account and decide whether or not to issue a permit. With shall legislation the issuing body is compelled to issue a permit if all of the qualifications are met.

“There’s been sort of a recognized dichotomy between these two kinds of permitting schemes, but I think that there are many permitting schemes that fall in the middle,” Nichols said.

Shall legislation is typically supported by the Illinois State Rifle Association, and may legislation is typically supported by the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence. Both shall and may legislation has previously failed to make it out of the Illinois House of Representatives.

Though organizations like the Illinois State Rifle Association support legislation with fewer restrictions, as a whole they do support some form of regulation and training for a concealed carry permit, according to Executive Director Richard Pearson.

Pearson wants a bill that establishes a reasonable cost and amount of training to qualify for a concealed carry permit. To him, a reasonable permit would cost less than $100 and require fewer than eight hours of training.

“A lot of people have all kinds of crazy ideas about training,” Pearson said. “You’re really only trying to defend your life until the police get there, you’re not trying to be a policeman.”

Don Haworth has carried a concealed weapon for 25 years as a private investigator and supports concealed carry for everyone that qualifies.

“I don’t have bodyguards, my friends don’t have bodyguards. I walk out of my backdoor and into the alley, who’s going to stop the attacker, the police or me?” said Haworth.

One of the pieces of legislation looking most likely to be successful is coming from state Sen. Kwame Raoul (D-Chicago).

His bill, SB848 has shall wording but enough restrictions in place to satisfy the council against handgun violence. The rifle association does not support his bill.

“People are getting caught up on this language, I think in the final analysis public safety has to be the top priority,” Raoul said.

One of the restrictions opposed by the rifle association in SB848 is the prohibition of guns on public transportation.

Knowing that many people in Chicago do not have a car and rely on either the CTA or Metra, Pearson does not believe firearms should be banned so long as they are in a locked case.

The Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence supports taking that a step further and requiring that guns also be disassembled before being carried on public transit.

“The fact of the matter is that a law-abiding gun owner on public transportation would be able to carry their gun in a secured case with the gun unassembled and unloaded just like you could if it was in your car,” said Mark Walsh, campaign director for the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence.

Other gun-free zones would include schools, stadiums and anywhere alcohol is served.

“What the politicians are doing with this concealed carry is ridiculous,” Haworth said. “Once you outlaw a firearm in a certain place … that’s a slippery slope.”

Raoul’s bill would require applicants to state why they want a permit.

“It’s officially a shall issue bill, it says the state police shall issue a license,” Raoul said. “But there are those from the NRA that believe that not withstanding the shall issue language, that the language of having to state a proper reason … that that language in their eyes shifts it to a may issue.”

The bill stops short of an individual needing to prove a need for a gun in order to get a concealed carry permit as several states do.

According to Nichols, the legality of such a requirement has been upheld every time it has been challenged. Some of those states include New York, Maryland, Hawaii and New Jersey.

After passing through committee on May 16, the bill was scheduled to be voted on the next day, but has since been held back. It reportedly did not have the votes needed.

In order for the bill to pass the Senate, Raoul will need 30 votes. He has not yet said when he plans to bring his bill for a vote or if he will amend it first.

“Sen. Raoul, my conversation with him on Friday was that he still thought he would be able to pass something and didn’t want to have to bring a bill back that has failed once,” said Walsh.

Walsh said that at this point his organization is re-evaluating Raoul’s bill while looking to see if something might come out of the House instead.

What it means for Chicago


Another particularly contentious portion of the bill involves the issuing of permits for gun owners inside the city of Chicago. If someone plans to carry within city limits, they would need to indicate it on their application and the Chicago Police Department superintendent would need to approve it in addition to the state police.

The requirement that CPD endorse concealed carry permits within the city of Chicago is based on a New York law.

“In the state of New York a person can get a permit outside of the city but if they want to carry inside New York City they have to get a special permit,” Nichols said.

Walsh said that the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals repeatedly upholding New York’s law gives his organization hope that Chicago could legally do the same.

Due to the size, population density and number of people that travel to Chicago from outside the city, Raoul believes that it is in the best interest of public safety to give CPD the authority to review applications.

The rifle association does not support this qualification.

“Because [Chicago has] such tight gun laws is why you have such high violence, because a criminal will do anything he wants to,” Pearson said, adding that criminals know people in Chicago don’t have guns to defend themselves.

Camiela Williams grew up in Chicago’s South Side and is a strong advocate for stricter gun laws, including a ban on assault weapons. She supports Raoul’s bill, but would prefer concealed carry did not become legal in Chicago. She is primarily concerned about the easy access to guns that could happen as a result of concealed carry.

“If they legalize conceal carry in Chicago … I believe that it will be a war zone,” Williams said. “Guns will be more accessible to young people.”

A looming deadline
With less than two weeks before the state legislature adjourns for the summer, and only 18 days until the June 9 deadline, both sides remain confident that a bill will be passed.

Whether or not it will require a special legislative session is yet to be seen.

“I think it would be in the best interest of the public that we have a statewide policy,” Raoul said.

Mackenzie Allen/MEDILL The vast majority, 72 percent, of student visas were issued to students in Asia. Less than 1 percent were to students from Oceania. Information compiled from U.S. State Department databases.

U.S. Department of State website

U.S. officials are scrutinizing student visa holders to ensure compliance, but the director of an international student program says that it likely won’t impact foreign exchange students.

Last week, the Department of Homeland Security requested that border agents verify “effective immediately” that every international student entering the country has a valid visa, according to an internal memorandum obtained by The Associated Press on Friday.

This decision came after it was discovered that a friend of suspected Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev had re-entered the country on an expired student visa.
Last year more than 500,000 student visas were issued by the U.S. Department of State.

“DHS is reforming the student visa system to ensure that [Customs and Border Protection] is provided with real time updates on all relevant student visa information,” the agency said in a statement.

Ravi Shankar, director of Northwestern University’s International Office, thinks that some of these announcements have been blown out of proportion.

“What you’re reading in the press is just the Custom and Border Protection people actually just beefing up their own current regulations,” Shankar said. “There have been no new rules or regulations issued. There is nothing new about this.”

“Whatever happened in Boston I think was just an oversight of a CBP official.”

There are two primary types of student visas, F-1 visas and J-1 visas. To qualify for an F-1 visa a student must be self-sponsored, while a J-1 visa is for students whose education is sponsored by a private organization or a government.

Northwestern University is home to 3,000 students with F-1 or J-1 visas.

Grace Kim, a South Korean who grew up in India, first entered the United States on an F-1 visa in 2006 to attend a university in New York. She lists the “room to explore” offered by American schools as her reason for seeking education here.

Kim has traveled abroad and re-entered the U.S. roughly a dozen times without hassle. She in part credits that to being a citizen of an American ally country.

“In light of September 11, a lot of Muslim students are profiled — they have difficulty coming back sometimes or when they do, they go through hours and hours of interrogation,” Kim said.

As part of the visa application process Kim, 26, took part in an interview at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi — a process she described as the most difficult part of getting a visa.

“It really depends on who your visa interviewing officer is,” Kim said. “Some are really rough and make your life a living hell. It’s kind of nerve-racking, the way you answer a question and your opportunity to study in the United States can no longer be possible.”

Kim said that the two most important things during the interview are being able to prove that you have the finances to pay for school and that you intend on returning to your home country when the program concludes.

Rather than return home, Kim chose to accept a work visa after graduation through the Optional Practical Training program, OPT, that allows international students to use their skills in country.

If a student stops complying with the rules of their visa it is up to their school to report that information to the Student Exchange Visitor Program, a branch of DHS.

“In the event that there is a violation of status, say a student stops attending classes or drops below full time, we are obligated to report to SEVP within 20 days,” Shankar said. “Suffice it to say, most of our students are fine.”

If a student is found in violation they are responsible for addressing the issue through DHS.

If a student visa is terminated based on failure to enroll or dismissal from a school, students have generally been given 30 days to correct the situation, officials say. If a student has no criminal history or other derogatory information, then they typically do not present a priority case for Homeland Security.

The official also said that DHS has been looking to update its system for several months.

“I think by the end of the month, certainly, we probably will have a technological solution to this particular issue,” Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano was quoted as saying by Politico. “One of the things that we are doing now is checking manually the most recent student visa information because … it changes all the time, students add, students drop, etc., with customs information, which is held in a different place.”

Kim doubts that additional measures will deter people from entering the country — peacefully or otherwise.

“If it’s like an extra hour in line or extra paper work, I would still do it,” Kim said. “On the other hand, would I think adding scrutiny to people whose visas have expired will prevent terrorists from attacking America again? No.”

Mackenzie Allen/MEDILL
Chicago mail carrier Edward Ivory loads his truck with Wednesday’s mail. Nationally USPS processes about 528 million pieces of mail each day.

Mackenzie Allen/MEDILL
As part of USPS security, parcels weighing more than 13 ounces cannot be sent through a mail drop box. They must be taken in person to a post office branch.

The United States Postal Service has processed more than 2 trillion pieces of mail since anthrax was mailed to politicians and members of the media in an attack that killed five and sickened 17 in 2001.

Last week letters containing the deadly toxin ricin were mailed to President Obama, U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, a Republican from Mississippi and Mississippi judge Sadie Holland. This week Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) said that an envelope found at a Washington, D.C. military base was an “alleged ricin incident.”

With the recent attacks it’s easy to question how easily someone might use the USPS to launch future attacks.

But chemical attacks are so few and far between — nationally USPS processed 160 billion pieces of mail last year alone — Chicago USPS spokesman Mark Reynolds said that security procedures have not been changed in response to the ricin letters.

“USPS places a high premium on protecting its employees, customers, facilities and the mail,” Reynolds said. “We are proud of our record in this area, and working with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and our other federal, state and local partners, we are confident that the mail will remain safe throughout the foreseeable future.”

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is the federal agency tasked with enforcing and investigating all mail-related crimes ranging from mail fraud to dangerous mailings. They are also in charge of ensuring that the billions of pieces of mail in the USPS system are safe.

One USPS employee, a letter carrier for 19 years who chose not to give his name out of concern for possible repercussions, wasn’t quite as confident as Reynolds.

Estimating that he handles a couple thousand pieces of mail a day, he said on Thursday, “we don’t know what we pick up because we don’t see it. So (a toxin) could be anywhere in there. Anybody could be a nut out there that sends stuff through the mail.”

But not everyone feels that way.

“I think that with how things are going now you can never say never, but I’m not concerned that it would ever affect me personally,” said Phil Schmitz, one of several customers interviewed, as he was dropping mail off at the USPS Loop station on Thursday. “I would say I trust more than I don’t trust.”

According to Reynolds, Chicago is home to between 2,500 and 2,800 mail drop boxes and 48 Post Offices. From there mail is sent to one of the six mail processing facilities in Cook County.

“Once a suspicious mail piece is detected, the employees on site activate a specific plan of action, which includes contacting the U. S. Postal Inspection Service, and taking measures to protect the employees and any customers in the vicinity,” Reynolds said.

Julie Kenney, spokeswoman for the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, said that one part of the action plan is to isolate the suspicious piece along with any additional mail that it might have contaminated.

Kenney said that some of the red flags that the public should watch for include: no return address, misspelled words, leaking unknown powder or a suspicious substance, if the package has excessive postage, excessive tape, oily stains, if it is omitting a strange odor, “and of course, protruding wires.”

As frightening as that sounds, Kenney said, “the chances of ever receiving a true dangerous piece of mail is very rare.”

According to the USPS website, nationally last year “inspectors responded to more than 3,300 incidents involving suspicious items, substances, powders or liquids in the mail or at postal facilities. Of those, 161 involved potential improvised explosive devices. No injuries or fatalities were reported.” Inspectors also preformed roughly 28,000 security reviews in 2012.

“While customers should use common sense when handling mail, the mail has remained essentially safe since the anthrax attacks,” Reynolds said.

Hundreds of people enjoyed the sun in Millennium Park, most probably unaware that security cameras may be watching. Millennium Park is one of the many city agencies that has partnered with Chicago’s surveillance system.

“I don’t think there is another city in the U.S. that has as an extensive and integrated camera network as Chicago has,” said Michael Chertoff, former secretary of Homeland Security.

Chicago, although the third largest city in the country, has the largest number of surveillance cameras with estimates placing the total number at more than 10,000, a number that concerns privacy advocates.

Camera advocates say they help to deter and solve crimes, but groups like the ACLU worry about the potential of the system to invade personal privacy.

Chicago’s camera network is based in part on a combination of police cameras, those clearly identified with flashing blue lights most often found on the top of telephone poles, more discrete cameras placed at city agencies, including Chicago Public Schools, Chicago Housing Authority, Chicago Transit Authority, Chicago Parks Department, Millennium Park and Solider Field, as well as privately owned cameras that the city has been granted access to.

“What concerns is simply that we are reaching a point of saturation when you look at the combinations of both the public cameras that are linked to the system, and you combine that with the private cameras that have been linked into the system,” said Ed Yohnka, spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois.

Police and FBI in Boston sifted through surveillance frame by frame following the bombing and on Wednesday police sources reported that surveillance from a Lord & Taylor store was being used to identify a suspect.

Investigative use of cameras, where officers review footage after the fact to recreate an event, is difficult due to the resources required, said Rajiv Shah, a video surveillance expert who teaches in the communications department at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

“Cameras are usually just one part of the overall policing tactic, so just throwing cameras out there doesn’t really help at all,” Shah said. “You could get rid of 80 percent of the cameras in Chicago and it isn’t going to affect the police’s ability to reduce crime.”

An Urban Institute study from September 2011 showed that crime was reduced in Humboldt Park but not in West Garfield Park after cameras were installed.

“There really isn’t any good data for Chicago on whether our cameras reduce crime,” Shah said. “The city has their own kind of statistics, but those aren’t very rigorous from an analytical standpoint. Often it is hard to separate out what happens with the cameras versus the other things the police do when they focus on an area. Usually the cameras are tied to a bunch of other tactics the police are using.”

Yohnka is concerned that the camera system crosses the line between protecting the public and endangering their personal privacy. Of special note to the ACLU are the abilities of the cameras to zoom in on and track a subject.

“There is no question that these cameras, given their capacity and given their link to technology, have the ability to invade individual privacy,” Yohnka said. “If they are going to be deployed, what we believe is essential is a very well-defined, incredibly detailed and open set of policies that protect individual privacy.”

Yohnka said the ACLU requests for information related to camera misuse have been denied.

The city did not respond to numerous requests for comment.

“That kind of government surveillance is just rife for abuse and misuse and yet the city refuses to share even a limited amount of information about how they oversee the system, about what rules are in place,” Yohnka said.

Still, not everyone is concerned about Big Brother looking over their shoulder. Chicago resident Tula Goglak had been unaware of the breadth of the city’s camera system, but supports efforts to make the city safer.

“It’s a large city with a lot of different people, so I don’t really have any issues with being videotaped in the event that something should happen,” Goglak said while visiting Millennium Park. “At least the person would be caught and the city would be safer at least. I wouldn’t be somebody that would be hurting anybody so I don’t have anything to hide.”