About $2 million. But don't try using it for collateral.

Apparently that's the unofficial cut-off point for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Food and Drug Administration when deciding whether to regulate a cancer-causing chemical. "If it costs more than $2 million per life saved, the regulation isn't put into effect. If it costs less, it is." according to Ernest Klema of Tufts University, one of the people who researched this question.

The researchers found that the federal agencies almost always act to reduce very high cancer risks and almost never act on very low ones. It's when the risks fall in between these extremes that the $2-million figure comes into play.

Source: "R-D News in Brief," Research and Development, April 1987.

That's the price of a good motorcycle helmet. On the average, 194 motorcyclists died in accidents each year in Illinois from 1981 through 1985. Motorcycles accounted for 1.76 percent of all motor vehicle accidents during that period and for 12.46 percent of all fatal motor vehicle accidents. About two-thirds of those killed were between 20 and 34 years of age, and 40 percent died of head injuries.

Source: Division of Traffic Safety, Illinois Department of Transportation.

About 69 cents on the dollar in fiscal 1985. That's what the feds allocated back to Illinois — the lowest return in the 50 states according to the Congressional Research Service.

Per capita federal spending in Illinois was $2,491, or 24.1 percent less than the national average of $3,283.

Source: Office of the Comptroller.

The median wage in the U.S. is $163 a week or $8,500 a year if you work full time, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. If you are supporting two children on that wage, you would qualify for welfare.

Source: "Editor's Note." American Demographics. May 1987.

In terms of cost to taxpayers and lost opportunities, the 12,804 nongraduates of the class of '82 are worth about $60 million a year or $2.5 billion over their lifetime. The money covers welfare payments, unemployment, losses due to crime and lost tax revenues.

Source: The State of the Region, Final Report of the Regional Agenda Project, January 1987. Metropolitan Planning Council, Chicago.

The men of the baby boom generation are getting too old and tired to commit felonies, and there are fewer young men to replace them. Since the number of crimes committed in the U.S. seems to fluctuate in direct proportion to the number of 15-to-29-year-old males in the population, we can look for a decline in crime through the year 2000. Burglaries and thefts go down when employment goes up. Improvements in the criminal justice system also help reduce crime. But the sheer absence of young men is the best deterrent of all.

Source: "Why Crime is Down." American Demographics. October 1986.

The Illinois State Police say that reports of serious crime went up by 4.8 percent statewide in 1986, the largest increase since 1979. Even worse, violent crimes increased by more than 13 percent, and in all regions of the state there was in increase in the number of crimes reported. In urban areas the increase was 5.4 percent: in the suburbs it was 3.5 percent and in rural areas 2.6 percent.

Source: Department of State Police.

A study of shoppers in a Loop department store revealed that one person in 20 came to the store to steal something.

Source: The State of the Region.

By the year 2000 the High Tech Corridor could be a just another front for illegal sports betting. Law enforcement officials fear DuPage bettors will lose their businesses to the syndicate for debts incurred in the county's computerized gambling dens.

Source: "Chicago's Modern Mob: At home in the Suburbs." Newsweek. May 1 1. 1987.

Police officers in the six-county metro area hired during the 1950s and 1960s are now reaching retirement age. In the Chicago Police Department, for example, the average age of a policeman is between 40 and 45 years.

Some departments will be seeing turnovers of as much as 25-40 percent.

Source: State of the Region.

Illinois turkey hunters harvested a record 1,411 turkeys during the spring firearm season.

Source: Department of Conservation.

The general funds balance at the end of May was $132,617 million. The average daily available balance was $219,699 million. Increased revenues are still outpaced by spending.

Source: Office of the State Comptroller.

The national seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained at 6.3 percent in May, but in Illinois the rate rose to 8.4 percent, up from 8.2 percent in April. In May the state's civilian labor force was 5.680 million, an increase of 28,000. There were 5.201 million workers with jobs, 15,000 more than in April, and 479,000 workers were unemployed, an increase of 13,000. As in March good weather brought out more jobseekers than seasonal jobs, though activity was brisk in construction.

Final March unemployment rates for the state's major metro areas were:
Aurora-Elgin, 6.8 percent.
Bloomington-Normal, 4.8 percent.
Champaign-Urbana-Rantoul, 5.0 percent.
Chicago. 7.2 percent.
Davenport-Rock Island-Moline (Illinois sector), 9.7 percent.
Decatur, 10.2 percent.
Joliet, 8.6 percent.
Kankakee, 9.8 percent.
Lake County, 5.2 percent.
Peoria. 9.2 percent.
Rockford, 10.8 percent.
Springfield, 5.8 percent.
St. Louis (Illinois sector), 10.1 percent.

Source: Department of Employment Security.

Margaret S. Knoepfle