A civic lesson that hits home

Let me preface this column by saying the pot will be calling the kettle black here.

Recently moving from Chicago, I failed to update my voter registration before the April 7 election. After Tuesday's election, I likely won't make that oversight again.

Elgin Community College's bond referendum race was the closest, as a reporter, I've ever had the chance to cover.

By the time our printing presses were set to start at midnight Tuesday, the $178 million bond request to update campus facilities, build a new library and health careers center, was losing by a mere 49 votes, with five precincts left to count.

The story printed, and my editor and I hung out in the newsroom to watch the final votes roll in, and to update the Web with any changes.

Two more precincts came in around 1 a.m. The request was losing by just 13 votes. At 1:33 a.m., the final precinct's votes were reported, and the referendum passed by 29 votes.

Less than 30 votes made a difference in hundreds of thousands of taxpayers' pocketbooks in Kane, McHenry, Cook, DuPage and DeKalb County.

The request, according to college estimates, works out to about three-and-a-half cents per $100 of equalized assessed valuation.

For the owner of a $200,000 home, taxes will rise by approximately $23 in the first year; for the owner of a $350,000 home, about $40.

In an interview Wednesday, college President David Sam called the experience "a civic lesson that every single vote counts. To the younger generation looking at this, know the right to vote is precious."

ECC student lauded twice:

Elgin Community College student Andrea Andrada raked in two prestigious awards this week.

Andrada, of Elgin, was one of 20 community college students named to USA Today's Community College Academic Team and receiving a $2,500 scholarship. She's the third ECC student named to the team in its 19-year history.

She was honored at the American Association of Community College's annual convention in Phoenix, Ariz. on Monday.

Andrada, who has a 4.0 grade point average, was also named a New Century Scholar by the Coca-Cola Scholars foundation. This honor comes with a $2,000 scholarship.

In a college news release, Andrada said she was humbled to receive both awards.

Andrada, 20, a graduate of Burlington Central High School, is active in the Asian Filipino Club and Student Government. She the sole student representative on the ECC board of trustees, where she helped initiate a program where students.

She will graduate from ECC in May and enroll at the University of Illinois, with the ultimate goal of becoming a lawyer. Congratulations, Andrea!