Letters policy
We welcome letters, but please include your full name, address and a daytime
telephone number. We edit all letters for libel, length and clarity.
Send letters to: Letters, Illinois Times. P.O. Box 5256. Springfield, Illinois
62705. Fax: (217) 753-3958. E-mail: editor@illinoistimes.com
CLUB 10 OWNERS APPLAUDED
Thank you, Illinois Times, and Todd Spivak for your article
“Unplugged,” about the closing of Club 10 [July 29]. As parents, my husband
and I were delighted that our children, ages 17 and 14, and their friends had
a safe place to enjoy hearing live music. We have been on the grounds before,
during, and after shows and never seen untoward activity, and our children have
never experienced “trouble” at Club 10. Parents also attend these shows, which
offer young local musicians an opportunity to be heard.
Doug Dennis and Justin Ford are to be commended for their efforts to provide
kids of all ages a club to enjoy music and the company of others. It is truly
a shame that this secure, chaperoned all-ages venue is being closed. We hope
the County Board will open their minds and their hearts and allow Club 10 to
open their doors.
Julie Bulli
Springfield
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY
Here’s a tip if you want to follow up on the big heroin bust on Manor
Court [Dusty Rhodes, “Comeback,” July 29]: Keep your eye on area emergency rooms
and the county morgue. Addicts who were supplied by the Manor Court operation
are going to go to another source for the heroin they crave. That heroin is
likely to be either more or less pure than the stuff they’re used to. The predictable
result will be a rash of overdoses. After all, illegal heroin suppliers aren’t
as interested in quality control as Bayer was when heroin was sold alongside
aspirin in every drug store.
If we treated drug addiction as a medical problem rather than a criminal one,
the shooting on the East Side would stop and addicts would have a much better
shot at cleaning themselves up. The lessening of demand for weapons would in
turn result in an easing up on the demand to further restrict legitimate gun-owners’
rights.
I would go so far as to predict a renaissance of inner cities all across the
country if the simple and sane drug policy recommendations of people as diverse
as Milton Friedman and Jocelyn Elders were enacted. Ah, but that would deny
opportunities for politicians to use the war on drugs as a never-ending photo
op.
Larry A. Stevens
Springfield
SAVE STRATTON, MODERNIZE INTERIOR
I support former city historian Ed Russo’s statements concerning the
Stratton Building and other Springfield buildings constructed in the International
Style, or “postwar modern,” style of architecture [Bob Cavanagh, “The Stratton
Building’s midlife crisis,” July 15].
When I was a young man in the early 1970s, driving east on Monroe Street after
dark, I noticed all the lights in the Stratton Building used to be left on (presumably
for cleaning). I felt proud to believe that so many state office workers were
putting in extra hours to accomplish the “people’s work.” I wanted to be a part
of that scene. To me, the building conveyed an image of the size and power of
state government. It was awe-inspiring. In more recent years, I have had occasion
to visit the Stratton Building — for meetings, to take tests for state jobs,
to pick up application forms, and so on. The lobby of the building and rows
of elevator banks confirmed my early impressions — elegant, contemporary, and
powerful. However, the office space I’ve visited is nondescript and appears
to have shown signs of being reconfigured for many different uses and agencies
over the years. I would advocate preserving the exterior and lobby of the Stratton
Building and modernizing the interior, improving ventilation, and removing asbestos.
A good cleaning of the limestone exterior would be a good first step in improving
the building’s appearance.
Ed Russo also mentioned the Town House as an example of the underappreciated
International Style. It is truly a gem of a late-1950s luxury apartment building
and is little changed, to the delight of preservationists. For those who haven’t
seen it (and if you aren’t buzzed in by a resident, you can’t go in), the lobby
is a riot of black and white marble, red mosaic-tile pillars, half-moon brass
wall sconces encircled by a constellation of small brass disks, and serpentine
brass tulip chandeliers extending from ventilation ducts in the ceiling. There
is a wonderful meeting room with a mosaic-tiled bar at one end and an original
1950s industrial grade stainless steel kitchen. The large windows in the condominiums
make the units exceptionally bright because supporting columns are located behind
the glass. This building has also been invited to apply for inclusion in the
National Register of Historic Places, and its board of trustees recently won
one of the Springfield’s historic-preservation awards. The Town House would
be a great place to live for urban pioneers wanting to experience big-city luxury
living circa 1958.
Richard Herndon
Springfield
PACIFYING NEIGHBORS ISN’T ENOUGH
I have been following with interest and amusement your articles and
letters dealing with various business establishments causing noise problems
in neighborhoods. I was happy to see that the owners of the Inn at 835 may have
pacified their neighbors [Dusty Rhodes, “Folding their tent,” July 29]. From
my experiences, it is not just the neighbors you have to satisfy, it is the
politicians. You can go deeply in debt to do further soundproofing and pass
any noise ordinances the city may have and still be forced out of business.
Once you say something against some politicos — say, the mayor — and they retaliate
with “I don’t care what it takes, I want that place closed,” you might as well
fold your tent. After all, in some cases, adhering to the law is secondary to
what some people think is right.
Greg Bouillon
Chatham
Editor’s note: Greg Bouillon is the former owner of Thirsty’s in Chatham.
IT’S NOT FAST FOOD, IT’S OVEREATING
Morgan Spurlock wanted to be in a movie. And he was in a movie — one
he made himself. The subject was the fattening of Morgan Spurlock: He managed
to gain 25 pounds in a month by overeating at McDonald’s restaurants [see Marc
Sigoloff, “McDiet proves hard to digest,” July 22]. The name of his documentary,
Super Size Me, should serve as a warning to the rest of us that eating
too much will make us fat.
Actually, Mr. Spurlock is simply following an old Hollywood tradition — gaining
weight to suit a movie role. Robert DeNiro did it for Raging Bull, as
did Renée Zellweger for Bridget Jones’s Diary, and most recently, Charlize
Theron for Monster. As far as I know, none of these thespians restricted
their weight-gaining efforts to any particular type of food or eating venue.
But that won’t stop Mr. Spurlock (and others) from blaming McDonald’s for
his own foray into gluttony. This despite the fact that Americans are overindulging
in virtually all venues, not just fast food outlets like McDonald’s. Recent
reports of food consumption and calorie intake indicate that between national
surveys performed in the late ’70s and the mid-’90s, intake increased significantly
almost across the board. Americans over 2 years of age consumed nearly 200 more
calories per day in the ’90s than in the ’70s. And whether one looks at french
fries, desserts, salty snacks, meals or Mexican food, the increases were statistically
significant.
And since the ’90s, the picture hasn’t improved. Recently, the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published the results of another survey
summary — this one examining energy intake between 1971 and 2000 by adults between
the ages of 20 and 74. Again, total reported daily calorie intake increased
for both men and women. For men, the increase was on the order of about 170
calories and for women more than 300 calories.
The finger-pointing indulged in by Spurlock and others is misleading because
it suggests that “fast foods” are the main culprits for the nation’s increasing
prevalence of overweight and obesity. But the problem is bigger than just one
type of food. In fact, any calorically-dense foods, eaten to excess, can add
inches to one’s girth, especially if unaccompanied by calorie-burning exercise.
That should be the real message — not that cheeseburgers and fries (or carbohydrates
or fats) automatically make one fat!
Dr. Ruth Kava
Director of Nutrition
American Council on Science and Health
New York City
Editor’s note: The ACSH is a nonprofit consumer foundation. It receives
partial funding from the food industry.
This article appears in Aug 5-11, 2004.
