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
CUTTING-EDGE IN OUR BACK YARD
Thank you for Jane
Adrian’s enlightening article on SIU School of
Medicine’s researchers [“The SIU explorers,”
Sept. 29]. As a recent graduate, I was pleased to see the
faculty’s impressive work brought to the public’s
attention. Few are aware of the impressive number
of research dollars they bring to their local
communities, along with related jobs, treatment in
clinical trials, and knowledge advancement of the doctors they
train. I treat people daily with diabetes, tinnitus, sleep
problems, and other age-related disorders and can
affirm their need for hope. On a more technical note, Adrian cleanly
translated “medical jargon” into “daily
English” without speaking down to her readers. I was
impressed with her delineation of a confusing array
of funding sources, which physicians themselves muddle
through. Most important to readers,
she emphasized that Springfield residents’
dollars, from taxes and charitable donations, do find their way
back to their own community.
Cathy Lamb, M.D. Springfield
MORE BIKE LANES WOULD BE GREAT!
I have a suggestion that would be relatively
cheap and very easy to accomplish [Fletcher Farrar,
“Wouldn’t it be great?” Oct. 6]. If the city of
Springfield would measure out 4 feet from each curb and create a
bicycle lane on each city street, just imagine how much gas the
public could leave in the tanks at local gas stations. How long do
you think that gas prices will remain high when stations are selling
almost no gas?
Why 4 feet, you may ask? Well, if your bicycle has front and rear
baskets, as mine does, the baskets stick out about 33 inches from one
side of the bicycle to the other. The extra foot is for safety. Think of it: If we dress warmly, put away the
gas-guzzlers, and pedal about town, we can increase health, reduce
pollution, and give oil producers no choice but to lower prices. Norman Hinderliter Springfield
A FEW MORE IDEAS
I enjoyed your recent article
“Wouldn’t it be great if. . .?” in the Oct. 6
issue of Illinois Times, especially the proposal to show off Douglas
School. I attended Douglas back in the ’50s, and we called
the land at the bottom of the hill “no-man’s
land.” Back then, the school was surrounded by beautiful
green grasslands.
And why doesn’t Springfield High have a
stadium? Everyone seemed to marvel that SHS had a track field, but
we always had to play our football games out at Lanphier, which was
the stadium for the city. Why not put some money in for SHS to
build one across the street? It would clean up that neighborhood,
too. My husband and I went down to the recent
Route 66 Mother Road event. While walking past the train depot at
Third, between Jefferson and Washington streets, we both said,
“Wouldn’t it be great if they could plant some trees,
have some benches outside, and make a parklike setting for that
entrance into our wonderful city, thus making it more
attractive?” At the present time, the area is an eyesore. Thanks for letting me voice my opinion. Your
newspaper is an asset to Springfield! Pat Sriner Springfield
A THEATER FOR DOWNTOWN
Here’s my great idea: Let’s give
downtown more evening entertainment options! I’ve lived
downtown for 20 years, and while it has been cleaned up
dramatically, I still see little done to attract nightlife.
Certainly the Hoogland Center for the Arts is one option, but can
you name three other nightly venues that don’t involve bars
or restaurants? I find this a lack. Perhaps we could convince
Kerasotes Theatres to build another movie house. After all, with
night bus service coming to Springfield soon, the development of
the presidential library and museum, and the fact that
Springfieldians are coming downtown again, I see no reason we
couldn’t have a downtown theater again. Mark Jensen Springfield
HEARTFELT THANKS FROM NOLA
I wish to submit a heartfelt “thank
you” to so many great family and friends in Springfield and
Alton whose donations, phone calls, offers of a place to stay, and
words of support have helped me so very much. The office of Lt.
Gov. Pat Quinn contacted my niece with phone numbers, Illinois
phone numbers, for me and anyone I knew who needed help in getting
federal and state disaster assistance. The Illinois National Guard
was quick to respond in the rescue effort. I was told that hundreds
of Illinois state employees came to New Orleans and the Gulf Coast
to help people get back on their feet. And in one of the many
freeway evacuations I seem to have participated in lately, I recall
seeing caravans of power trucks, rescue vehicles, and buses with
Illinois plates.
I left New Orleans at 2 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 28,
with my computer, my cat, and the hamster. (Next time, the vehicle
will be full of people and pets!) My journey so far would give
Forrest Gump a run for his chocolates, to say the least. I’ve
worked at a zoo, gained NASA security clearance, secured pens for
an endangered prairie chicken in the midst of the evacuation of
Houston for Hurricane Rita, and assisted with the design of an
eucalyptus grove for a pair of koala bears. I bought a new truck
(mine was under water). The next day I was rear-ended and run off
the road on an insane Houston freeway. I returned to a very different city: My home
— my neighborhood — had been destroyed by 12 feet of
floodwater, and my community, my friends, neighbors, and my
business had been removed overnight. I lived next door to my close
longtime friend Cheryl Courville. Cheryl had grown up in her house
and has two adult children and a grandchild also in New Orleans. Her stories about
the neighborhood by the lake in the ’50s and ’60s were
fascinating. We spent many evenings together on each other’s
porch with cocktails and cigarettes and great New Orleans yat-yat.
Cheryl and I had worn a path in the lawn between our houses. Someone in
Houston asked me what I would miss the most about my home in New
Orleans. That path will be sorely missed! My friend and neighbor Cheryl
now lives in Massachusetts with her grandson and daughter. Seven weeks have passed since I became a
“displaced” New Orleans resident. I am one of more than
a million displaced people, and it was estimated that a
quarter-million of us were in Houston. My sister Nancy, in Springfield, and my niece
Kelly, in Alton, began fundraising efforts on my behalf while the
floodwaters in New Orleans were still rising. My brother David, in
D.C., has been there for me with so much encouragement. I was
overwhelmed by the generosity of my family, friends, and
acquaintances, many of whom I have not seen for years and some I
have yet to meet. I was able to pass on some of my assistance to
two of my New Orleans friends who needed money to get to where they
needed to be. I haven’t lived in Illinois for more
than 15 years. Until Hurricane Katrina, I did not realize what a
wonderful extended family I have there. I will soon forget about my
New Orleans house and the things that were in it, but I will never
forget the phone calls, e-mails, and donations from so many people
in Illinois and other places I have called home. It took the mother
of all hurricanes to allow me to see clearly how fortunate I am. I
will never be “displaced” and will always be proud to
tell people that I am from Illinois. Eric Martin New Orleans
Editor’s note: Eric Martin lived in
Springfield in the early ’90s, where he co-owned and operated
the New Leaf Café on Washington Street. He has been a
gardener and artist in New Orleans since 1995.
BLAGO LOSES THE TATTOO VOTE
I am an 18-year-old female, and I think
it’s pretty funny that we can vote for [the governor] and get
abortions but can’t get tattoos. Why does he care what we do?
We are legally adults — we should have the freedom to tattoo
ourselves. So what if we regret it later? I’m telling all my
friends and family not to vote for him. Tiffany Christine Wheat O’Fallon
This article appears in Oct 13-19, 2005.
