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Illinois
Rural Education and Technology Center would link state, nation A new Rural Education and Technology Center could be open in Springfield by August 1999. The center, a 31,000-square-foot facility at Lincoln Land Community College (LLCC), would link the college's main campus with satellite campuses throughout its service district, as well as provide interactive audio, video and data communications between the college and sites around the state and nation.
"Two years for a project of this magnitude is ambitious," admits Chuck Dillon, LLCC's vice president. "We believe we can get it done." The University of Illinois at Springfield is a partner in the project and is to provide technical support staff. In addition to interactive classrooms and conference rooms, the new center would enable students to take courses from their homes or anywhere else they have access to a computer. More than $1.8 million is to be provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and another $1.5 million is to come from the state. In addition, the LLCC Foundation is working to find more money in grants and donations. The design is expected to be completed and approved by March, with construction to begin in the summer. LLCC and the Association of Illinois Electric Cooperatives have long had a cooperative relationship. The community college is the site of a 20-acre outdoor electric line personnel training center. Sustainable projects highlighted The USDA's Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program's annual report, "1997 Highlights," which describes the program's most innovative projects, is now available. The report features management-intensive grazing, an increasingly popular way to raise livestock that uses a nutritious mix of grasses and legumes as feed in fenced pastures. In the "Highlights" cover story, researchers and farmers who receive SARE grants attest to the economic, environmental and quality of life benefits of grazing compared to more traditional livestock confinement systems. Since 1988, SARE has funded more than 1,000 projects to help develop agricultural systems which are economically viable, environmentally sound, and supportive of farmers and rural communities. SARE is funded by the the U.S. Department of Agriculture and administered through the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service. For a copy, call (301) 405-3186. Or point your browser to www.ces.ncsu.edu/san to view some of SARE's educational publications, to learn how to apply for grants, or to see a list of SARE-funded research projects. Illinois gaining ground in conservation Soil erosion remains a threat to almost one of every three acres of productive farmland. Unfortunately, only 35 percent of the nation's cropland is farmed using conservation tillage. The good news is Illinois' farmers are among the nation's conservation leaders, reports The Natural Resources Conservation Service. In Illinois, 40 percent of cropland is farmed using no-till and mulch tillage practices. How your cooperative works October is Co-op Month, a time to remind ourselves of the value of the cooperative form of business. In Illinois, 26 electric distribution cooperatives provide electricity to more than 230,000 members. Each member has an ownership share in the utility and one vote in elections. Directors are elected from the membership and serve without pay (except for a per diem and expenses). Electric cooperatives, like all cooperatives, are not-for-profit businesses. Margins are either reinvested in the cooperative or returned to members in the form of capital credits. But there is something else that sets cooperatives apart; improving the quality of life in the rural communities they serve is at the heart of every electric cooperative's reason for being. Whether it means providing leadership for rural water projects, a special economic development project, or putting lights up at the local baseball field, cooperatives care. Member involvement is what it takes to make a cooperative succeed. During Co-op Month, take another look at the cooperatives that serve your community and see what you can do to get involved too. OCTOBER 1997 ILLINOIS COUNTRY LIVING 5 Electric cooperatives honor leaders Wallace "Wally" Furrow, state director of USDA Rural Development, received the first Illinois Electric Cooperative Rural Leadership Award. Additionally, state Rep. Donald L. Moffitt and the late Rep. Terry W. Deering each received IEC Public Service Awards. The awards were presented at the Association of Illinois Electric Cooperative's annual meeting in August. Furrow was honored for his efforts to improve rural areas and to secure funding for rural water projects throughout the state. He also was given a framed letter of commendation from U.S. Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman. Moffitt played a part in sponsoring legislation that aided electric cooperatives. AIEC President Earl Struck accepted the posthumous award for Deering, who died in an automobile accident in June. Struck called Deering an honest, tenacious legislator who fought to benefit people.
Coal byproduct recycled The Illinois Clean Coal Institute (ICCI) has opened a 300-foot, two-lane strip of experimental road made from concrete mixed with "bottom ash," a by-product of burning coal. The bottom ash replaces sand in the concrete mix, and the experimental stretch of road is located at Coal Development Park in Carterville. It is the result of a four-year study done by Southern Illinois University at Carbondale researcher Nader Ghafoori. His research was aided by grants from the Material Technology Center of SIUC and ICCI. "Bottom ash's high silica content makes it an excellent substitute for siliceous sand in concrete," because it has properties which react with the lime in mix, and become very binding, said Ghafoori. He said the use of bottom ash alleviates the shortage of natural aggregates such as sand, recycles a waste byproduct and offers a cheaper recipe. The Illinois Clean Coal Institute, is the research arm of the Illinois Department of Commerce and Community Affairs Office of Coal Development and Marketing.
Medical attention
Wayne-White Counties Electric Cooperative has received a $400,000 grant from the Rural Utilities Service to lend to Fairfield Memorial Hospital to assist with a $4.1 million building project. Loan repayments will be used to establish a revolving fund for other economic and community development programs. Wayne-White previously assisted a Carmi industry with a loan from RUS, with the loan repayments going to RUS. Rural recycling An Illinois Rural Life Panel Survey reports rural Illinois residents want to recycle their trash, but lack services to do so. The survey found 43 percent don't recycle because their community has no such program, and 42 percent said it was inconvenient. Sharon Mills, an Illinois State University researcher, said many people reported that only monthly services were available. "Some people said they had to travel great distances," she said, adding, "so they just didn't see it being cost-effective for them." Nevertheless, most people said they were able to recycle something, usually aluminum or newspaper.
6 ILLINOIS COUNTRY LIVING OCTOBER 1997 |
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