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Illinois Times, P.O. Box 5256, Springfield, IL 62705; fax 217-753-3958;
e-mail editor@illinoistimes.com.
INSPIRED TO TEACH CHILDREN Thank you very much for the article on Sherry
Williams [Dusty Rhodes, “Getting them back on track,” Oct. 11].
Your column served as a reminder to me why I am pursuing my teaching
certificate. I am cutting your column out and hanging it up. Thanks for the
inspiration.
Melissa Hostetter Springfield
SUPPORTING VICTIMS OF DARFUR Thank you to the people of central Illinois who
donated money to the “‘Giving’ Darfur: Palette for
Life” fundraiser on Oct. 7. You are awesome! Your response to the
plight of the victims of the genocide in Darfur was extraordinary. The
$13,000 you donated will buy solar stoves, provided by Jewish World Watch,
for 430 families who live in the refugee camps in Chad (860 stoves, 860
pots with lids, 860 hot pads, a year’s supply of heat-resistant
plastic bags for those families, and training to use and make the stoves).
In the refugee camps, the average family consists of a mother, three to
four of her children, and orphans, totaling eight people. Thanks to your
generosity, the women using the solar stoves will be able to stay inside
the refugee camps to avoid rape, torture, and more.
The need for humanitarian aid is not over, nor will
it be soon. Beside [giving] a safer way for the women and children to eat,
we need to be encouraging our elected officials to give aid to the United
Nations and African Union peacekeeping forces by providing funds for
equipment to fight the Sudanese government, which is responsible for the
genocide in their country. If there is peace, the country will need help
rebuilding after so many years of civil war and the continuing conflicts.
Write to our elected officials and U.N. officials or call to express your
concern. With your support, central Illinois will keep working for the
victims of the Darfur genocide.
Olu-Jimi
Adeniyi
Mike Wilson
Anna Moore
Sheri Ramsey
Committee for “‘Giving’ Darfur: Palette for
Life”
MILLS ABUSED THE PUBLIC TRUST Prior to reading “Blown away” [Dusty
Rhodes, Oct. 25], I had no ax to grind with Dan Mills or anyone mentioned
in the story. Frankly, I hadn’t given any of it a thought since the
stories originally ran. But the Mills story has an important message for
every public servant. Regardless of whether Mr. Mills was treated unfairly
by State’s Attorney John Schmidt, U.S. Attorney Rodger Heaton, or
others, his actions, while a public servant receiving his salary from our
tax dollars, are at issue here. The importance of those actions
shouldn’t be diminished by the information in the story. With public life comes a higher standard. We expect
our public servants to abide by and uphold the law. When they choose not
to, they need to be held accountable. Dan Mills admittedly purchasing
illegal drugs while working as a public servant on our payroll. The public
needs to hold him accountable and echo his own words back at him,
“You’re a punk, you’re a criminal, and [we] don’t
have to be nice about it.” Dan Mills abused the public trust, plain
and simple. He is paying the price for that, as he should.
I wish Mr. Mills good luck in his future endeavors. I
am a big believer in second chances. He should get one, and I hope he makes
good use of it. Steve Brubaker Rochester
NO FREE LUNCH — OR ROAD Has gambling solved the problem with funding
education in Illinois? Casinos were first legalized in Illinois for
economic development. That didn’t work, either. In 1999 an expansion
of gambling was tied to Illinois FIRST, a capital construction bill that
legalized dockside gambling. What happened to the projects that were
supposed to be funded by this capital bill? The governor, who was elected on the pledge that he
would not expand gambling, changed his position. First he was prepared to
expand gambling to pay for health care. Then a bridge collapsed in
Minnesota. Now he has tied bridges and road repairs to the expansion of
gambling in the Illinois Works program. Casino gambling and slot machines are products with
known problems of addiction, bankruptcy, crime, and suicide. Mayors from
the south suburbs spoke at the House Gaming Committee hearing in Chicago in
favor of a casino in Country Club Hills. The area has the highest Section 8
housing and highest unemployment rate and is the home of three of the
poorest communities in the state.
Remind your mayor and aldermen that there are no free
lunches and no free roads. Preying upon the poor, the addicted, and the
vulnerable to gamble and lose is a cynical way for the government to pay
for bridges and roads. Anita Bedell Executive director
Illinois Church Action on
Alcohol & Addiction Problems
Springfield
CATHOLICISM ALWAYS A TARGET Catholicism nurtures art, charity, and compassion,
sponsors freedom, confirms man’s free will, and in general opposes
the power of the state, sometimes directly, sometimes passively.
Catholicism’s main tenet is that salvation is available to anyone,
through good works. Catholicism is oriented towards the community of man.
Yet Catholicism has always been a target. By 1800,
with the exception of the U.S., there was not a single country in the world
where Catholicism was free to fully practice its beliefs and where there
seemed any prospect except further enslavement and gradual emasculation.
Catholicism has been used to further secular aims though. The most frequent
example used is the Spanish Inquisition, which was a blatant attempt to
ferret out internal enemies of the state to end centuries of foreign
occupation. Offshoots and secular movements turned the Inquisition into
something notorious. Yet the total estimate of people perished in 350
years’ worth of Inquisition is around 4,000. Compare that to the 150
million killed due to secular atheism from Vladimir Lenin in the 1920s,
Stalin in the 1930s, Hitler in the 1940s, Mao Tse-Tung in the 1960s, Pol
Pot in the 1970s, and Kim Jong-il in the 1980s — all in the attempt
to prop up dream of yet another man-made godless world. Janice Shadley Oak Brook
HOW WE TREAT OUR ELDERS As an advocate of welfare reform legislation in
America, for the past decade, Catholic Charities has addressed issues such
as housing, the working poor, and hunger in annual policy papers. This
year’s document, Honor Your Father and
Mother, draws on our experience of assisting
300,000 seniors annually. As Baby Boomers retire, more older adults than ever
before will experience obstacles that traditional services cannot address.
Emerging needs require new models of service, with better planning among
government, the private sector, individuals, and service groups. What we learned in preparing the document surprised
us, and sometimes shocked us. • Although seniors comprise 12 percent of the
U.S. population, people 65 and older accounted for 16 percent of suicide
deaths in 2004. • People 50 and older who entered treatment for
heroin abuse rose from 7,000 to 27,000 between 1992 and 2002.
• Nationally, 2.4 million grandparents report
that they are responsible for grandchildren who are living with them. • Nationally, between 1 million and 2 million
seniors are victims of elder abuse.
• In Illinois, 44 percent of elderly homeowners
and renters pay more than 50 percent of their incomes for housing costs.
• For individuals 65 to 74, health care
represents 30.6 percent of potential spending. That number is 52.5 percent
for retirees 75 and older. • By 2030, Alzheimer’s Disease alone will
cost Medicare $400 billion annually, nearly the amount of the total current
Medicare budget. As Catholic Charities celebrates 90 years of serving
people, we call upon everyone who learned values, knowledge and skills from
older people to assist us in serving seniors, particularly those living in
poverty. Volunteer your time to enrich the lives of those who are alone.
Financially support programs that address seniors’ needs. Communicate
with your elected officials in support of policies that help the elderly.
Regard elders with dignity and understanding. One of the hallmarks of a civilized society is how we
treat our elders. With the dramatic growth of the older population,
government cannot be expected to address the needs of the poor elderly; we
must all recognize the issues and join in solutions. The Rev. Michael M. Boland Administrator, president, CEO Catholic Charities Chicago
This article appears in Oct 25-31, 2007.
