FORGET POLAR PLUNGE
Marist students face icy blast instead to raise money
The screaming, squealing, laughing and silliness was over.
The TV cameras were being packed up in trucks in the parking lot. Just a few people were still around talking in the aftermath of a big day at Marist High School in Chicago’s Mt. Greenwood neighborhood.
That was when St. Barnabas fifth grader Parker Baudo gave his big brother, Nolan, a big hug. It was a sweet moment after 40 minutes of chaotic activity.
Nolan, a sophomore at Marist, had a hand in recruiting fellow students in a couple of events to benefit Special Olympics Chicago. Because the annual Polar Plunge in Chicago was canceled because of coronavirus concerns, Nolan coaxed several students to post videos of themselves plunging into the heavy snow that fell in the area in recent weeks.
He also helped draw hundreds of students to Tuesday’s event at Marist in which they ran through what is called a Polar Cannon — a spraying apparatus built by the Chicago Journeymen Plumbers Union Local 130 that unleashes torrents of water. It is normally used to dye the Chicago River green for the city’s St. Patrick’s Day celebration.
Marist students ran through the cold water in an area west of the football field and some added to the wildness by diving in the snow on this mid-40-degree day.
In the end, it was that hug from Parker, who has Down syndrome, that made all the effort worth it for Nolan.
“Since I was 5 years old, I’ve seen all of the struggles that he has gone through,” Nolan said.
“I just want him to have all of the resources that everyone else has to be able to go out and play sports and different activities that any kid would want to do.”
The two Beverly neighborhood brothers are heavily into sports.
Nolan is a three-sport athlete at Marist — baseball, football and basketball, although he gave up basketball this season because the seasons were switched around by the Illinois High School Association due to the pandemic.
Parker, 11. plans on participating in basketball, gymnastics and swimming when the Special Olympics resume.
In the past, the Parker’s Party group would participate in the Chicago
Polar Plunge but this year, the Polar Cannon event did the trick. Even before the first blast of ice-cold water victimized its first student, Nolan said the videos shot earlier by more than 230 students raised $9,000.
“They were jumping in their yards, off their roofs and off of cars,” Nolan said. “It was crazy.”
On Tuesday, Nolan was one of the participants nailed with the water who then took a headfirst plunge into the snow.
Marist senior Lilly Roche, of Oak Lawn, went through the frigid blast four times.
“The first time was pretty cold,” she said. “It felt pretty good, actually. I like bringing smiles to people’s faces and I kept bringing more people as I went.”
Football coach Ron Dawczak even took a blast for the cause. The Marist football team and other athletes at the school have made the trek to Chicago for past Polar Plunge events and this was a way to keep the
tradition going.
“You know what? This was cold but on a normal year, when we go to Lake Michigan I tell the players that the rule is that it doesn’t count unless your head goes under the water,” he said. “So, this was a piece of cake.”
Chicago Ald. Matt O’Shea, 19th Ward, did not run through the water at this event, but there are other makeshift Polar Plunge activities this week that he did plan on freezing for. This is the 21st year of the Plunge and he said he only missed jumping in one year — the first one.
He was fine having the students doing their part on Tuesday as he dressed warmly in green.
“This was awesome,” he said. “We challenge our high school students each year to support the Polar Plunge. Marist is always our biggest supporter and it was a lot of fun to come out here and get the kids involved. This is athletes supporting athletes.”
BEIJING — Chinese leaders are shifting focus from the coronavirus back to long-term goals of making China a technology leader at this year’s highest-profile political event, the meeting of its ceremonial legislature, amid tension with Washington and Europe over trade, Hong Kong and human rights.
The National People’s Congress, which opens Friday, has no real power. But the ruling Communist Party uses the gathering of 3,000-plus delegates to showcase economic and social plans. The party-appointed delegates endorse decisions already made by party leaders.
The NPC usually focuses on domestic issues but those increasingly are overshadowed by geopolitics, including a feud with Washington over technology and security. In October, party leaders declared that making China a self-reliant “technology power” is this year’s economic priority.
Chinese leaders were rattled after Washington cut off access to U.S. processor chips and other inputs needed by telecom equipment giant Huawei Technologies Ltd. and some other companies. That threatens fledgling industries seen by Beijing as a path to prosperity and global influence.
“China is moving from fighting the coronavirus to returning to long-term development objectives,” said Citigroup economist Li-Gang Liu.
During the congress, leaders will announce closely watched spending plans for the People’s Liberation Army. Last year’s official budget was $178.6 billion, the second-largest after the United States, but outside experts say total spending is up to 40% more than the reported figure.
This year’s session comes amid repeated clashes between President Xi Jinping’s government and Washington, Europe, Japan, India, Australia and others over trade, technology, Hong Kong, human rights, the coronavirus and territorial claims.
Xi’s government also is encouraging Chinese exporters to focus more on domestic markets in response to Washington’s tariff hikes on goods from China.
The congress, to be held mostly by video link to keep Chinese leaders, delegates and reporters separated as an anti-virus measure, provides a platform for announcing initiatives aimed at tightening control over Hong Kong.
The ruling party has spent heavily over the past two decades to build up China’s fledgling suppliers of semiconductor, solar, aerospace and other technology. But its smartphone manufacturers and other industries still need U.S., European, Japanese and Korean processor chips and other advanced components.
That campaign took on added urgency after then-President Donald Trump slapped sanctions on Huawei and other companies starting in 2018.
China is evolving from lower-value manufacturing to “technology intensiveness,” said Zuo Xiaolei, an economist in Beijing.