Latest news with #LoyolaUniversity
Chicago Tribune
a day ago
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Editorial: Can Chicago State University build a vibrant community a la University of Chicago in Hyde Park?
Chicago is blessed with a bounty of colleges and universities within its borders. Most of them, from the University of Chicago in Hyde Park on the South Side to Loyola University in Rogers Park on the North Side, act as economic drivers for their neighborhoods. They spawn housing, restaurants and retail that serve employees and students at the institutions, as well as the fortunate residents of those 'cities within a city.' One of the few exceptions to this rule is Chicago State University in the Roseland neighborhood on Chicago's Far South Side. The public university, which has served primarily Black students for more than 50 years, sits on a gorgeous, 161-acre campus, clustered with copses of stately trees that make the grounds look something like an East Coast institution with a far longer lineage than CSU. But one look at 95th Street, the Chicago arterial that borders CSU to the north, lets you know you're not in Princeton, New Jersey, or Charlottesville, Virginia. From Cottage Grove Avenue west to Halsted Street, 95th is dominated by modest single-family homes, mainly small churches, a few fast-food spots and a massive storage building. (A multistory U-Haul facility occupies an entire block.) Just east of Cottage Grove is yet another sprawling storage facility. These are not the sorts of uses that create foot traffic, which understandably is scant. That's not to say the neighborhood is blighted. Far from it. Residential communities just to the north of the school feature well-kept brick bungalows with immaculate lawns — all the hallmarks of a classic working-class Chicago neighborhood. For many, it's surely a pleasant place to live. There just aren't places to gather, nor shops to speak of, within walking or biking distance. Residents have to leave the neighborhood for those amenities. CSU President Zaldwaynaka 'Z' Scott has ambitious plans to create the sort of community — with coffee shops, bookstores, apartments and eateries — that most other universities and colleges inspire, support and take for granted. The university, partnering with real estate outfit CBRE, has issued a request for proposals to develop buildings with 528 student units and 25,000 square feet of attached retail on land that currently is the site of a bus turnaround and expansive lawns near the entrance to CSU's main parking lot. The timetable to complete that part of Scott's vision is 2027. But it's supposed to be just the first of four phases. Like we said, the plans are ambitious. Nothing wrong with that. This is Chicago, after all, where Daniel Burnham's 'make no little plans' philosophy is invoked routinely. And we are rooting for success here. The part of the South Side that's home to CSU is underpopulated and underdeveloped. Like many other neighborhoods in Chicago's geographically largest area, Roseland and the 95th Street corridor cry out for creative development ideas and investment. It helps that other unrelated improvements to the area are in the offing. The 95th Street Metra Electric station within an easy walk of CSU is getting a desperately needed upgrade, which should draw more commuters out of their cars and onto the street once there are places to visit other than the school. A few blocks west of CSU, we have serious misgivings about the ballooning cost of the much-delayed Red Line extension south from the 95th Street station that currently is the terminus of that line. But as long as that CTA expansion remains in the works, a more densely populated, economically vibrant college community along 95th Street could help make that multibillion-dollar investment begin to pay off with more ridership — and perhaps catalyze more transit-oriented residential development around the Red Line station there. These are lovely dreams, but realism is important to keep in mind here as well. Taking the baby steps in Scott's first phase of what she's calling 'University Village 95' is necessary before any giant leaps happen. CSU currently is mainly a commuter school, which explains in part why 95th Street looks nothing like 53rd Street in Hyde Park, 5 miles to the north. Scott says there's pent-up demand from CSU students to live on or near campus, and that's what will fuel the first phase of this project. If those projections are overblown, this effort won't go far. In addition, like many colleges and universities around the country, CSU, with 2,300 students, is struggling to keep enrollment up. We know little about how Scott thinks the first phase will be financed other than that it will have to be done with private funds and not money that CSU frankly doesn't have for any kind of development of this sort. That's a stark difference from the well-endowed University of Chicago, which fronted much of the cash to transform 53rd Street from the tired retail strip it was not long ago to the vibrant corridor it is today: 53rd Street now serves as a destination for young and old from all parts of the South Side, a boon both to Hyde Park and to the university. Loyola has done much the same in its North Side neighborhood. Still, 95th Street holds plenty of promise. If the CSU initiative can get a little momentum, who knows what can be achieved?
Indian Express
3 days ago
- Business
- Indian Express
Trump announces peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a US-brokered peace agreement on Friday during a meeting with US President Donald Trump that would boost bilateral economic ties after decades of conflict and move them toward a full normalization of their relations. The deal between the South Caucasus rivals — assuming it holds — would be a significant accomplishment for the Trump administration that is sure to rattle Moscow, which sees the region as within its sphere of influence. 'It's a long time — 35 years — they fought and now they're friends, and they're going to be friends for a long time,' Trump said at a signing ceremony at the White House, where he was flanked by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. Armenia and Azerbaijan have been at odds since the late 1980s when Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountainous Azerbaijani region mostly populated by ethnic Armenians, broke away from Azerbaijan with support from Armenia. Azerbaijan took back full control of the region in 2023, prompting almost all of the territory's 100,000 ethnic Armenians to flee to Armenia. Trump said the two countries had committed to stop fighting, open up diplomatic relations and respect each other's territorial integrity. The agreement includes exclusive US development rights to a strategic transit corridor through the South Caucasus that the White House said would facilitate greater exports of energy and other resources. Trump said the United States signed separate deals with each country to expand cooperation on energy, trade and technology, including artificial intelligence. Details were not released. He said restrictions had also been lifted on defense cooperation between Azerbaijan and the United States, a development that could also worry Moscow. Both leaders praised Trump for helping to end the conflict and said they would nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize. Trump has tried to present himself as a global peacemaker in the first months of his second term. The White House credits him with brokering a ceasefire between Cambodia and Thailand and sealing peace deals between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Pakistan and India. However, he has not managed to end Russia's 3-1/2-year-old war in Ukraine or Israel's conflict with Hamas in Gaza. Trump on Friday said he would meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on August 15 to work on ending the war. US officials said the agreement was hammered out during repeated visits to the region and would provide a basis for working toward a full normalization between the countries. The peace deal could transform the South Caucasus, an energy-producing region neighboring Russia, Europe, Turkey and Iran that is criss-crossed by oil and gas pipelines but riven by closed borders and longstanding ethnic conflicts. Brett Erickson, a sanctions expert and adviser to Loyola University's Chicago School of Law, said the agreement would help the West crack down on Russian efforts to evade sanctions. 'The Caucasus has been a blind spot in sanctions policy,' he said. 'A formal peace creates a platform for the West to engage Armenia and Azerbaijan … to shut down the evasion pipelines.' Tina Dolbaia, an associate fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said Friday's signing was a big symbolic move, but many questions remained, including which US companies might control the new transit corridor and how involved Armenia and Azerbaijan would be in its construction. She said Russia would likely be irritated by being excluded from the agreement and the US role in the corridor. 'Now the fact that … Armenians are shaking hands with Azerbaijanis, and they are talking about US involvement in this corridor — this is huge for Russia,' she said. Olesya Vartanyan, an independent regional expert, said the deal added greater predictability to the region, but its long-term prospects would depend on continued US engagement. 'Armenia and Azerbaijan … have a much longer track record of failed negotiations and violent escalations than of peaceful resolutions,' she said. 'Without proper and continued US involvement, the issue will likely get deadlocked again, increasing the chances of renewed tensions.' Senior administration officials said the agreement marked the end to the first of several frozen conflicts on Russia's periphery since the end of the Cold War, sending a powerful signal to the entire region. Armenia plans to award the US exclusive special development rights for an extended period on the transit corridor, US officials told Reuters this week. The so-called Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity has already drawn interest from nine companies, including three US firms, one official said on condition of anonymity. Daphne Panayotatos, with the Washington-based rights group Freedom Now, said it had urged the Trump administration to use the meeting with Aliyev to demand the release of some 375 political prisoners held in the country. Azerbaijan, an oil-producing country that hosted the United Nations climate summit last November, has rejected Western criticism of its human rights record, describing it as unacceptable interference.
AsiaOne
3 days ago
- Business
- AsiaOne
Trump announces peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia, World News
WASHINGTON - Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a US-brokered peace agreement on Friday (Aug 8) during a meeting with US President Donald Trump that would boost bilateral economic ties after decades of conflict and move them toward a full normalisation of their relations. The deal between the South Caucasus rivals - assuming it holds - would be a significant accomplishment for the Trump administration that is sure to rattle Moscow, which sees the region as within its sphere of influence. "It's a long time - 35 years - they fought and now they're friends, and they're going to be friends for a long time," Trump said at a signing ceremony at the White House, where he was flanked by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. Armenia and Azerbaijan have been at odds since the late 1980s when Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountainous Azerbaijani region mostly populated by ethnic Armenians, broke away from Azerbaijan with support from Armenia. Azerbaijan took back full control of the region in 2023, prompting almost all of the territory's 100,000 ethnic Armenians to flee to Armenia. Trump said the two countries had committed to stop fighting, open up diplomatic relations and respect each other's territorial integrity. The agreement includes exclusive US development rights to a strategic transit corridor through the South Caucasus that the White House said would facilitate greater exports of energy and other resources. Trump said the United States signed separate deals with each country to expand co-operation on energy, trade and technology, including artificial intelligence. Details were not released. He said restrictions had also been lifted on defence co-operation between Azerbaijan and the United States, a development that could also worry Moscow. Both leaders praised Trump for helping to end the conflict and said they would nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize. Trump has tried to present himself as a global peacemaker in the first months of his second term. The White House credits him with brokering a ceasefire between Cambodia and Thailand and sealing peace deals between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Pakistan and India. However, he has not managed to end Russia's 3-1/2-year-old war in Ukraine or Israel's conflict with Hamas in Gaza. Trump on Friday said he would meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Aug 15 to work on ending the war. Ending sanctions evasion blind spot US officials said the agreement was hammered out during repeated visits to the region and would provide a basis for working toward a full normalisation between the countries. The peace deal could transform the South Caucasus, an energy-producing region neighbouring Russia, Europe, Turkey and Iran that is criss-crossed by oil and gas pipelines but riven by closed borders and longstanding ethnic conflicts. Brett Erickson, a sanctions expert and adviser to Loyola University's Chicago School of Law, said the agreement would help the West crack down on Russian efforts to evade sanctions. "The Caucasus has been a blind spot in sanctions policy," he said. "A formal peace creates a platform for the West to engage Armenia and Azerbaijan ... to shut down the evasion pipelines." Tina Dolbaia, an associate fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said Friday's signing was a big symbolic move, but many questions remained, including which US companies might control the new transit corridor and how involved Armenia and Azerbaijan would be in its construction. [[nid:720408]] She said Russia would likely be irritated by being excluded from the agreement and the US role in the corridor. "Now the fact that ... Armenians are shaking hands with Azerbaijanis, and they are talking about US involvement in this corridor - this is huge for Russia," she said. Olesya Vartanyan, an independent regional expert, said the deal added greater predictability to the region, but its long-term prospects would depend on continued US engagement. "Armenia and Azerbaijan ... have a much longer track record of failed negotiations and violent escalations than of peaceful resolutions," she said. "Without proper and continued US involvement, the issue will likely get deadlocked again, increasing the chances of renewed tensions." Senior administration officials said the agreement marked the end to the first of several frozen conflicts on Russia's periphery since the end of the Cold War, sending a powerful signal to the entire region. Armenia plans to award the US exclusive special development rights for an extended period on the transit corridor, US officials told Reuters this week. The so-called Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity has already drawn interest from nine companies, including three US firms, one official said on condition of anonymity. Daphne Panayotatos, with the Washington-based rights group Freedom Now, said it had urged the Trump administration to use the meeting with Aliyev to demand the release of some 375 political prisoners held in the country. Azerbaijan, an oil-producing country that hosted the United Nations climate summit last November, has rejected Western criticism of its human rights record, describing it as unacceptable interference.
New Straits Times
3 days ago
- Business
- New Straits Times
Trump announces peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia
WASHINGTON: Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a US-brokered peace agreement on Friday during a meeting with US President Donald Trump that would boost bilateral economic ties after decades of conflict and move them towards a full normalisation of their relations. The deal between the South Caucasus rivals – assuming it holds – would be a significant accomplishment for the Trump administration that is sure to rattle Moscow, which sees the region as within its sphere of influence. "It's a long time – 35 years – they fought and now they're friends, and they're going to be friends for a long time," Trump said at a signing ceremony at the White House, where he was flanked by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. Armenia and Azerbaijan have been at odds since the late 1980s when Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountainous Azerbaijani region mostly populated by ethnic Armenians, broke away from Azerbaijan with support from Armenia. Azerbaijan took back full control of the region in 2023, prompting almost all of the territory's 100,000 ethnic Armenians to flee to Armenia. Trump said the two countries had committed to stop fighting, open up diplomatic relations and respect each other's territorial integrity. The agreement includes exclusive US development rights to a strategic transit corridor through the South Caucasus that the White House said would facilitate greater exports of energy and other resources. Trump said the United States signed separate deals with each country to expand co-operation on energy, trade and technology, including artificial intelligence. Details were not released. He said restrictions had also been lifted on defence co-operation between Azerbaijan and the United States, a development that could also worry Moscow. Both leaders praised Trump for helping to end the conflict and said they would nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize. Trump has tried to present himself as a global peacemaker in the first months of his second term. The White House credits him with brokering a ceasefire between Cambodia and Thailand and sealing peace deals between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Pakistan and India. However, he has not managed to end Russia's three-and-a-half-year-old war in Ukraine or Israel's conflict with Hamas in Gaza. Trump on Friday said he would meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on August 15 to work on ending the war. ENDING SANCTIONS EVASION BLIND SPOT US officials said the agreement was hammered out during repeated visits to the region and would provide a basis for working towards a full normalisation between the countries. The peace deal could transform the South Caucasus, an energy-producing region neighbouring Russia, Europe, Turkey and Iran that is criss-crossed by oil and gas pipelines but riven by closed borders and long-standing ethnic conflicts. Brett Erickson, a sanctions expert and adviser to Loyola University's Chicago School of Law, said the agreement would help the West crack down on Russian efforts to evade sanctions. "The Caucasus has been a blind spot in sanctions policy," he said. "A formal peace creates a platform for the West to engage Armenia and Azerbaijan ... to shut down the evasion pipelines." Tina Dolbaia, an associate fellow at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, said Friday's signing was a big symbolic move, but many questions remained, including which US companies might control the new transit corridor and how involved Armenia and Azerbaijan would be in its construction. She said Russia would likely be irritated by being excluded from the agreement and the US role in the corridor. "Now the fact that ... Armenians are shaking hands with Azerbaijanis, and they are talking about US involvement in this corridor – this is huge for Russia," she said. Olesya Vartanyan, an independent regional expert, said the deal added greater predictability to the region, but its long-term prospects would depend on continued US engagement. "Armenia and Azerbaijan ... have a much longer track record of failed negotiations and violent escalations than of peaceful resolutions," she said. "Without proper and continued US involvement, the issue will likely get deadlocked again, increasing the chances of renewed tensions." Senior administration officials said the agreement marked the end to the first of several frozen conflicts on Russia's periphery since the end of the Cold War, sending a powerful signal to the entire region. Armenia plans to award the US exclusive special development rights for an extended period on the transit corridor, US officials told Reuters this week. The so-called Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity has already drawn interest from nine companies, including three US firms, one official said on condition of anonymity. Daphne Panayotatos, with the Washington-based rights group Freedom Now, said it had urged the Trump administration to use the meeting with Aliyev to demand the release of some 375 political prisoners held in the country. Azerbaijan, an oil-producing country that hosted the United Nations climate summit last November, has rejected Western criticism of its human rights record, describing it as unacceptable interference.
CBS News
24-07-2025
- Business
- CBS News
An analysis found more Americans are investing. A Maryland accounting professor is raising concerns.
A Maryland accounting professor is raising concerns after new research found more Americans are moving their money from checking and savings accounts to accounts with a return on investment. The analysis by JPMorganChase Institute examined 4.7 million Chase households. It found that checking and savings account balances are lower than expected based on historical trends. Total cash reserves, which include brokerage accounts, money market funds and CDs, have been rising since mid-2024 and are approaching historical growth trends. More Americans investing signals confidence in the U.S. economy, according to Accounting Professor JP Krahel with Loyola University Maryland. "I think a lot of people, and this may be due in part to apps like Robinhood and Acorn kind of democratizing the investment process, making a lot of people realize…investing is not that scary," Krahel said. "I think a lot of people are starting to become confident in their ability to invest." While keeping money in the bank runs the risk of missing out on opportunities, Krahel said investing also comes with risk. He has two concerns about the findings. One is that people are investing money that they cannot afford to lose if the market takes a downturn. Most stocks rise over time, Krahel said, but it's not a guarantee. Money needed for food next month or your kids' tuition should not be money that you're investing in the stock market, he advised. His other concern is about how much credit card debt American households carry. The average U.S. household with credit card debt has a balance of around $6,065, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. "The reason why that's a problem is because if your investments are growing at, say, eight, maybey 10%, if you're doing really well, that's nice, but if your debts are growing at a credit card interest rate, that's closer to 25%, really, what are you doing here?" Krahel said. Krahel recommends paying off credit card debt before putting money in investments, because it's a guaranteed tax-free rate of return that will also help your credit score. Young people should start investing and saving for retirement now, to really make an impact, according to Krahel. He recommends learning about how the system works and doing your research before investing in companies. Check financial statements and be able to answer the question, "Is this company growing in profitability?" Krahel also recommends taking a financial accounting class to understand the information that publicly listed companies are required to provide. "So, the information's out there, and you're choosing not to digest and incorporate it. Well, you're kind of playing at a disadvantage here, and that advantage, once you know how to read statements, is free, so you may as well take advantage," Krahel said. For people who are getting into investing, Krahel encourages taking a little bit of throw-away money, investing it, and seeing how it turns out. See if you can stomach losing money, and if all you see is winning and you decide to double down, be prepared if things take a turn, Krahel said.
