St. Viator students travel to Chicago to protest today

A group of St. Viator students, along with the Rev. Corey Brost and Br. John Eustice, will stage a peaceful protest downtown Chicago today.

In front of the Chinese Consulate and the WMAQ Channel 5 studio, the group will present two letters. The first is to the Chinese Consulate calling for China to end economic ties with the Sudanese government and support future United Nation resolutions. The second is to the TV station to urge NBC to publicize China's role in Darfur during Olympic coverage.

With the Summer Olympics in Beijing approaching, the students feel now is the ideal time to expose China's role in the genocide in Darfur. The group says China is the main purchaser of Sudan's oil, and the Sudanese government uses proceeds to buy weaponry to kill its own people. China has effectively blocked U.N. resolutions to improve the situation.

Students also feel it necessary to address NBC regarding China's funding of Darfurian genocide. NBC is the sole provider of Olympic TV coverage in the U.S.

The students will be led by St. Viator senior Derek Kiebala.

Best tappers in the state: A team of Arlington Heights public works employees recently won the Illinois State Tapping Competition and is moving on to the national water tapping stage.

The four-member team was honored Monday by the village board and advanced to the national American Water Works Association championship in Atlanta.

"It's all about water main tapping, not beer keg tapping as the joke goes," said Scott Shirley, the village's director of public works.

Arlington Heights also won the state championship in 1999 and 2006.

The event is sponsored by the American Water Works Association. This is the 10th year Illinois teams have participated. Nationwide, the competition has been going on for 20 years.

South program tonight: The South Middle School PTA is hosting a parents-only session called "Now we're talking -- tools to coach adolescents toward healthy sexuality and relationships," at 7 p.m. tonight. The speaker is Katie Tucker, a professional speaker on the topic of teen pregnancy prevention and healthy life choices. The community is invited to attend.

South is located at 400 S. Highland Ave.