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Rock elected Democratic State Central Committee chairman

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Senate President Philip J. Rock (D., Oak Park) was elected chairman of the 22-member Democratic State Central Committee in Springfield April 13. Rock was elected without opposition after reaching "areas of agreement" with downstate and suburban Democrats, including Waukegan Mayor Bill Morris, who had announced for the chairmanship himself. Rock succeeds John Touhy, Chicago, who retired after serving as chairman for nine years.

Department of Mental Health and Development Disabilities

Ivan Pavkovic, director of the Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities (DMHDD) announced several appointments in April, reflecting a major reorganization of the department's Chicago-area service region. The region covers nine counties and has a population of over seven million.

Barry Fireman, a consultant in mental health and human resources management from California, was named administrator of DMHDD's reorganized Chicago-area field services office. His job is to administer DMHDD programs for both mental health/alcoholism and developmental disabilities which were previously under two separate offices. Fireman had been director of the Alameda County Department of Mental Health in Oakland.

DMHDD is also consolidating 15 geographic subunits in the Chicago service region (eight for mental health/alcoholism and seven for developmental disabilities) into five sectors. The administrators for the new sectors are:

    Edwin Goldman, Hoffman Estates, administrator for the sector covering west and north suburban Cook County, as well as Lake, McHenry, Kane and Kendall counties. Goldman was facility director at Madden Mental Health Center at Hines.

    Richard Bell, Oak Park, for the northern Chicago sector. Bell was an administrator for the developmental disabilities office that served part of that area.

    Louis Williams, Harvey, for the western Chicago sector. Williams was developmental disabilities service area administrator for southern Chicago.

    Ruth Williams, Chicago, for the southern Chicago sector. She was in charge of mental health/alcoholism services in a part of that area.

    Ruth Davis, Frankfort, for the sector covering south suburban Cook County and DuPage, Will, Grundy and Kankakee counties. Davis had headed the developmental disabilities office serving most of that area.

Pavkovic also named facility directors at three Chicago-area developmental centers:

    Delia Klevs, Evanston, as director of the Waukegan Developmental Center. Klevs was a developmental disabilities service area administrator for northern Chicago and north suburban Cook County.

    Art Dykstra, New Lenox, as director of the Ludeman Developmental Center at Park Forest. Dykstra was a regional administrator in the developmental disabilities field services office.

    James Grot, Dixon, as director of Howe Developmental Center at Tinley Park. Grot is deputy superintendent at Dixon Developmental Center which has been targeted for closure. Pavkovic said Grot's appointment would provide continuity for the large number of Dixon residents who will be transferred to Howe. In addition to his responsibilities at Howe, Grot will continue to assist at the Dixon center until closing is completed at the end of the year.

Department of Administrative Services

Fred H. Uhlig, acting director of the Department of Administrative Services (DAS) made several appointments in March as part of a reorganization aimed at increasing supervision of the department's 17 vehicle garages around the state. Earlier this year, investigations into alleged kickbacks at the DAS garage in Carbondale resulted in indictments of former DAS Director Vince Toolen and former Assistant Superintendent of Vehicles Joe Garella. (see Illinois Issues, May, p. 40).

Pete Remmert, Secor, was named manager of the division of vehicles, replacing Garella. Remmert had been coordinator of regional office buildings and surplus real property in the DAS real estate office. He has been Woodford County Republican chairman since 1968 and was manager of the state's property control division under Gov. Richard B. Ogilvie. George E. Jennings, Springfield, was named assistant division manager, and Richard H. Cleary, Springfield, was appointed Remmert's administrative assistant. Jennings had been vehicle superintendent, a post abolished the reorganization, and Cleary had supervisor of licenses and titles.

Supervision of DAS garages has been split into two sections. Emerson L. Roderick, Pawnee, was named supervisor of the southern garage division; previously, he was regional technician. Marvin L. Hunt, Litchfield, was named supervisor of the northern garage division; he had been supervisor of the authorization section. Succeeding him in that post is James P. Morgando, Gillespie, formerly a field technician. Richard J. Bond, Sherman, was named to a post in the DAS procurement office; he had been in charge of garage operations.

Department of Commerce and Community Affairs

M. Edwin Marlin, Kankakee, as assistant director of the Department of Commerce and Community Affairs (DCCA), by Gov. James R. Thompson effective in April. Marlin's duties include managing DCCA's Chicago office on a daily basis and continuing to direct the agency's high technology program. In April 1979, Marlin was appointed to the task force which implemented the creation of DCCA. He became head of DCCA's management analysis unit in October 1979 and was named assistant to Director Peter B. Fox in April 1982. He is a partner in Marlin's Department Store, Inc. in Southern Illinois and from 1974-1979 was staff director of funds development and external affairs for Kankakee Community College.

Lynn Raney, Springfield, as head of the Illinois Home Energy Assistance Program, effective March 1. The program, administered by Department of Commerce and Community Affairs (DCCA), assists low-income families with winter heating problems. DCCA hired Raney on a contractual basis. He was formerly public information officer for the Department on Aging.

Illinois National Guard Study Commission

Maj. Kathleen D. Lesjak of Wood Dale, William B. Jointer of Chicago, Frank A. Cellini of Springfield and David S. Dunn of Bloomington were appointed to the newly created Illinois National Guard Study Commission by the governor in April. The commission, which will disband in February 1983, is studying ways to increase efficiency of the guard and boost membership. Lesjak is a base training offier with the Illinois Air

Concluded on back cover


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National Guard; Jointer is a maintenance engineer and retired National Guard colonel; Cellini is assistant to the Illinois secretary of state and a lieutenant colonel in the National Guard; Dunn is an attorney and a major in the Air National Guard. Commission members are paid expenses; their appointments do not require Senate confirmation.

Other appointments

Andrew J. Martinez, Bolingbrook, as special assistant to the governor on Hispanic affairs, by the governor in April. Martinez is the governor's liaison with the Hispanic community and will work with the community on problems relating to Spanish-speaking people. A prize-winning producer of TV documentaries, Martinez was previously director of public relations and outreach coordinator for the Spanish Center in Joliet. He replaces Rose Mary Bombela.

S. Kenneth Howard, Madison, Wis., as executive director of the Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations (ACIR), by the commission effective in May. Since 1978, Howard had served as state budget and planning director for the state of Wisconsin and is currently president of the National Association of State Budget Officers. He replaces Wayne F. Anderson. ACIR is a national bipartisan commission established in 1959 to monitor intergovernmental relations and make recommendations for change. Interior Secy. James G. Watt is chairman.

Honors

Stanley A. Changnon, Urbana, chief of the State Water Survey Division, Department of Energy and Natural Resources, was appointed to the Advisory Committee to the National Center for Atmospheric Research in November 1981 by the president of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, Washington, D.C. In April 1981, Changnon received the American Meteorological Society's Cleveland Abbe Award for his research on the impact of weather and climate on humanity.

Three of four charges against Toolen dismissed

Three of four charges against Vincent Toolen, former director of the state Department of Administrative Services, were dismissed by Jackson County Circuit Court Judge Richard Richman April 19. Indicted in February by a Jackson County grand jury, Toolen appeared for arraignment on charges of perjury, official misconduct and two counts of obstruction of justice. All but the perjury charge were dismissed and Toolen pleaded innocent to that charge. The jury trial has been set for July 14.

Lincoln Academy honors outstanding Illinoisans

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Bitzer



FOUR Illinois citizens were named 1982 laureates of the Lincoln Academy of Illinois for outstanding achievements in their fields. The awards were presented by Gov. James R. Thompson at the academy's 18th annual convocation held May 22 at the University of Illinois Krannert Center in Urbana. Laureates are selected each December by a vote of the academy trustees. The Lincoln Academy also confers student laureate status on outstanding university graduates each year.

Honored by the academy were: Dr. Donald Bitzer, electronics engineer and systems inventor at the University of Illinois; U.S. Secy, of Agriculture John Block; and Chicago educator Marva Collins. Dr. Delyte Morris, former president of Southern Illinois University, received a posthumous award. Morris died April 10 at the Union County Nursing home after a long illness.

Donald L. Bitzer, a native of Collinsville, has been designing and developing computer-based education systems since 1960. He is the inventor of the PLATO System (Programmed Logic for Automatic Teaching Operations) which is used for direct instruction, research and communication worldwide. Currently, Bitzer is director of the Computer-Based Education Research Laboratory and professor of engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

John R. Block, owner and operator of a grain and hog farm near Galesburg, was named U.S. secretary of agriculture by President Ronald Reagan in December 1980 after serving as Illinois director of agriculture since 1977. One of Block's major concerns is expanding agricultural exports. His extensive work in his field includes supervising the Illinois Department of Agriculture's export offices in Brussels, Belguim and Hong Kong and leading a fact-finding mission to the Soviet Union, Poland, Hungary, Austria and Switzerland. Block also served on the export task force and agricultural export teams for the National Governors' Association.

Marva Collins quit her job as a public school teacher in 1975 and withdrew $5,000 in pension funds which she used to found Westside Preparatory School in West Garfield Park. Beginning with 18 "unteachable" students, she brought them above national test scores in reading and math. Collin's continuing success with her students, her supportive yet demanding teaching methods and her firm belief that people, not money, make the difference in education have brought her national and international fame. In order to remain in West Garfield Park, she has refused many prestigious appointments, including U.S. secretary of education, director of U.S. Children, Youth and Family Services and superintendent of the Los Angeles County Schools. Collins' goals are (1) to prove that all black children, regardless of economic background can become productive citizens and (2) to establish within five years a black high school, college and teacher training center on Chicago's West Side.

Dr. Delyte Morris, 1907-1982, served as president of Southern Illinois University from 1948 to 1970. When Morris came to Carbondale, SIU was an institution devoted to teacher training with an enrollment of approximately 1,000 students. By the time he stepped down as president, SIU was a major university system noted for its innovative programs, with campuses at Carbondale and Edwardsville and an enrollment of approximately 34,000 students.

Major achievements during Morris' tenure include: the creation of the Southern Illinois University Board of Trustees by the General Assembly in 1949, the opening of a new extension center in Belleville that same year, followed in 1957 by residence centers at Alton and East St. Louis, and a new major campus at Edwardsville in 1965. During Morris' presidency, new programs were developed: SIU's Vocational-Technical Institute was established in 1950 in response to the employment needs of local communities and has served as a model program in Illinois and other states. Growing out of the institute's activities were community development and area services programs which since 1952 have provided direct contact between communities and campus experts in municipal government, business and industry.


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