Readers: Two tired, old and often ignorant criticsims of the media that I hear regularly are these: We only print the bad stuff, and we go out of our way to be negative even though many non-newsmakers labor rather decently day after day and never get any recognition. Well, take a look at page 41, where we introduce a new department called "Innovations." Edited by Beverley Scobell, "Innovations" was designed to give you short stories on creative ideas that try something new in government or business, approach an old problem in a different way, or apply technology as an investment in the future. The first group of vignettes talks about ethanol-powered cars, a traveling Illinois Small Business Telecommunications Discovery Center, and holograms that make it more difficult to use fake driver's licenses. I think you'll enjoy these brief glimpses at innovations in our state. On a related note, Illinois Issues is now available electronically, on a service called Access Illinois, which includes a lot of information about state government and business. Details are on page 41. The Illinois Issues menu on Access Illinois features much more than the texts of our magazine articles and columns. For example, we are also hosting an "electronic forum" on which Illinois people c.in discuss this year's election campaigns and legislative session, among other topics. You can't beat the price. Anyone with a computer and modem can register absolutely ¦fee by dialing (217) 787-6255. Find out for yourself how easy this menu-driven program is. And how informative! Access Illinois' e-mail function includes a gateway to the Internet; so anyone with an lulernet address can use e-mail to and from persons registered on Access Illinois. One of the most prominent early users is Gov. Jim Edgar, who is now receiving e-mail via Access Illinois. In this issue of the magazine, we feature our annual Summer Book Section. We hope you like the selection of books. To lead into the section is an essay by Nancy Stevenson, who explains why society needs to take better care of its children, and how this can be approached. Two feature articles in this issue might surprise you a bit. Did you know: • That leaders of the state's Department of Central Management Services and the AFSCME labor union are using very conciliatory, partnership kind of language in discussing their new contract? See page 17.
• That Highland Park, a wealthy suburb of Chicago, has found a way to coexist with scattered site subsidized housing units in its neighborhoods? There are obvious lessons to be learned here, because in my own city of Springfield, the topic of scattered site housing continues to arouse only bad sentiment when- ever the issue is raised. See page 13. Finally, William Baton of SlU-Carbondale raises a number of good arguments in resurrecting the idea of a need to consolidate more school districts in Illinois. Maybe you'll think they're all old ideas, but nonetheless, Baton offers several reasons why these ideas deserve to be discussed, again. See page 10.
Interestingly, only three replies suggested biographies, and they were in two categories: positive and negative comments about the subjects. A positive evaluation dealt with David McCullough's Truman, one of two books to receive more than one recommendation (it got two). The man getting heavy criticism was J. Edgar Hoover ("He failed his public trust and caused great harm to all Americans," the reader said) as described in Anthony Summers' Official and Confidential — the Secret Life of J. Edgar Hoover. Similar to biography in that they look at the past or interpret the present by investigating how we got to this point were two books — interestingly, both about religion in American life. Judging from the comments, Stephen Carter's The Culture of Disbelief and Garry Wills' Under God, Religion and American Politics both suggest religious beliefs deserve more serious attention in the public discourse. There were four other suggestions that probably take a dim view of the current scene, including the other double recommendation, Rush Limbaugh's See, I Told You So (oh, my, Rush's name made our magazine!). Three other suggestions concerned the development and current status of some aspect of American life: Edge City by Joel Garreau, Latinos by Earl Sharris, and The Dream and the Nightmare by Myron Magnet (on the development of current social pathology). The comments suggest that all three are worth attention. Two offerings look to the future, with suggestions about how things ought to be. Betty Friedan's The Fountain of Age is about "how to age successfully," while Negotiating the Future by Bluestone and Bluestone (no given names supplied) concerns the critical area of "establishing a new 'compact' between labor and management to meet economic challenges." Two novels suggested both cast light on social issues. The Gate to Women's Coventry by Sheri Tepper is a sci-fi look at living in the post-nuclear age, while Merry Men by Carolyn Chester has as its scenario "today's business downsizing world." The book reviews in this issue are meant, of course, to inspire some of our subscribers to acquire the book discussed, and these reader suggestions may have the same function. We hope so. Allow me to make one recommendation of my own, after I admit I sometimes fall behind in my reading. Maybe two decades ago I bought Saul Bellow's Humboldt's Gift but never got around to it. The news last year that the Nobel Prize-winning Bellow was leaving the University of Chicago inspired me to locate Humboldt in my closet and finally read it. It was well worth saving, and reading. Ed Wojcicki July 1994/Illinois Issues/3
|
|||||||||||||||
