Flood and money Unruly river Jennifer Halperin 17 Down the drain Brett D. Johnson 22 Cover illustration: The town of Meyer, population 120, was among scores of villages and cities inundated by the floodwaters of the Mississippi River and its tributaries. This issue contains two stories about the Great Flood of '93. Jennifer Halperin traces the history of efforts to tame the Mississippi for commerce and asks whether future policies for flood control will bow to the might of the mighty Mississippi. Brett Johnson tallies up the cost of the flood far from the saturated towns, fields and roadways along the river's shores. All the residents of Meyer, an Adams County community north of Quincy, were relocated after a levee broke. The grain elevator pictured here is owned by the Ursa Farmers Co-op Company, according to Adams County Sheriff Robert Nail. Before the levee broke. Nail reports, prison inmates worked to place sandbags around the elevator, and they are now helping with cleanup efforts in the county. The church building, with its cross visible above the water line, is no longer used for religious services, Nail says. Photo by Terry Farmer.

Emil Jones passes muster as new Senate Democratic leader Jennifer Halperin 26 DuPage County Republicans avoid showdown, but rival camps deeply divided Paul M. Green 30 Cook County in last throes of setting new single-member districts David Fremon 34 Can prison inmates be rehabilitated? Beverley Scobell 38

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® 1993 The State Journal Register, Springfield Taming the higher education beast Beverley Scobell 43 Remember Dan Walker, the last Democrat to be governor? Taylor Pensoneau and Bob Ellis 45 Budget put together, once all side deals settled Caroline Gherardini 48

Legislative Action Special Section Children come first, family preservation second Jennifer Halperin __________ 50 Tax credits, some regulatory relief for business Beverley Scobell __________ 51 No giant steps for either labor or business Jennifer Halperin __________ 52 No green light for environment Jennifer Halperin __________ 53 Gun control: the status remains quo Jennifer Halperin __________ 54 No one completely happy with welfare action Jennifer Halperin __________ 55 Carjacking yet another 'get tough' crime Beverley Scobell __________ 56 Steps taken to manage prison overcrowding Beverley Scobell __________ 57 Columns Politics Making deals Illinois-style Charles N. Wheeler III ______ 8 Guest Column Top college students have no respect for, or interest in state government careers Samuel K. Gove __________ 12 The state of the State Surprise! Stricter lobbying law for reporting influence in legislature and agencies Jennifer Halperin__________ 14 Chicago Chicago still waiting for great expectations promised by Clinton Manuel Galvan ___________ 70 Departments Letters ________________ 13 Judicial Rulings F. Mark Siebert __________ 60 Names James Pollock ____________ 62 Book Reviews Slim's Table destroys black male stereotype Rosalind A. Morgan ________ 63 State Reports Anna J. Merritt __________ 65 State Stix The state of the State of Illinois Donald Sevener __________ 68 Esprit de Pol _________ back cover

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Readers:
Living in St. Louis at the time, I still remember standing in the mud along the river. My job was simple: help pile the sandbags to stop the river from flooding the southern part of the metro area. It wasn't my neighborhood, but I wanted to help. Thankfully, the place where I provided a little assistance was spared from floodwater. What I recall even more, however, is that many people called that flood of '73 the big one.

Not any more.

The scope of the 1993 "big one" is almost incomprehensible. The Mississippi River from Minnesota to Missouri. The Raccoon River in Des Moines. The Missouri River in numerous places. The Illinois River backing up. From June to August, the story got bigger as the flooding got worse. Town after town held its community breath day after day, hoping against hope that the levees protecting its businesses, houses and farms would hold on. In many cases, perhaps most, the rivers won.

In the midst of it all. Jay Leno commented that in other places where natural disasters strike, one common reaction is looting and stealing by others. But in the Midwest, what you find is people helping people with sandbagging, food, water and donations of money. People in the Midwest must be different, Leno noted.

Perhaps so. I'm sure many people grew weary of seeing pictures and reading headlines about the flood. But most disasters — fires, tornadoes and earthquakes — strike quickly and leave behind the devastation to be cleaned up. This flood is different. It developed over a period of many days and left its destruction over a geographical area of thousands of square miles. The story will not go away. No way. Everywhere I've gone in the past three months, people have been talking about, asking about, wondering about, the great flood of 1993.

That led our staff to discuss how Illinois Issues could contribute to what already has been written and said. We decided to step back from the daily coverage and raise questions others are also beginning to ask. We have checked into what led to the system of levees, dams and bridges that we took so much for granted until this summer. To what extent, if any, are human decisions responsible for this flood? What is the cost in economic terms? What do the answers tell us about what our efforts at rebuilding should be?

I reminded our staff that at the magazine's Board meeting in May, board member Jim Otis of Hanover in northwestern Illinois advised us to write about society's attempts to control nature. It isn't working, he said, and offered this example: Despite all of the construction on the Mississippi's flood plains, the river will eventually win. When Otis said that, I wrote it down as a future story idea because a massive destructive flood seemed possible but not imminent. (Most of us probably have the same attitude about the theoretically likely great California earthquake.)

Not any more. The river has won, forcing all of us to ponder some very troublesome questions. Have we underestimated the power of nature? Should we rebuild everything? What should be insured, and what should be considered too high a risk? The perspective we provide in this issue is published to help you reflect on these kinds of questions.

As important as the flood story is, I want to add quickly that this annual "double issue" in August-September also includes extensive coverage of the spring legislative session of the General Assembly, where taxes, education financing and gambling were among the major issues. Our statehouse staff gives you a good summary of what happened, and looks ahead to the fall veto session.

Congratulations are in order for Rich Walsh, the former state AFL-CIO president who was honored July 30 at a huge farewell dinner in Chicago. Walsh, who recently left Illinois to become national director of the AFL-CIO's Committee on Political Education (COPE), was a valued member of the Illinois Issues Board. The turnout of political power at his farewell dinner — House Speaker Michael Madigan, Senate Minority Leader Emil Jones, U.S. Senators Paul Simon and Carol Moseley-Braun, among many others — was a visible testimony to the continuing influence of labor unions in Illinois. On behalf of everyone connected with the magazine, best wishes. Rich!

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