	Wetlands preservation issue caught up in policy quagmire Wen Huang 10
	Republican conservative agenda and Gov. Edgar Peggy Boyer Long and Ray Long 14
	The health care system in Illinois: an emerging crisis needing urgent care Robert F. Rich and Richard J. Arnould 18
	Words: demeaning of meaning Neil Postman 24

*Columns*		*Departments*
Politics Finding the avenue to equity for school funding Charles N. Wheeler III	4	Legislative Action State funding for schools Michael D. Klemens	26
The state of the State Redistricting 1991: soap opera of Illinois politics Michael D. Klemens	6	Judicial Rulings F. Mark Siebert	27
The Rostrum No one paying attention to Illinois' 6,626 local governments The Illinois Commission on the Future of Public Service	31	Names	28
The Pulse Enough on candidate preference: How about baseball teams? Ellen M. Dran and Matthew E. Wetstein	32	Book Reviews Inner and outer voyages Eugene B. Redmond	29
Chicago The Harold Washington Library Center Manuel Galvan	34	State Reports Anna J. Merritt	30
		State Stix Margaret S. Knoepfle	33

Cover illustration: Pictured is a farm field in Kane County with a wet spot. Is it a wetland? In the background is a new home nestled among farm buildings and trees. The photograph is by Marvin E. Hubbell, wetlands program administrator in the division of planning, Illinois Department of Conservation. Wen Huang's article on the issue of wetlands begins on page 10.

January l992/Illinois Issues/3

Published by Sangamon State University/ cosponsored by the University of Illinois

Dear Reader,

Because of you and other like minded citizens, Illinois Issues' circulation averaged over 6,800 last year. As a founding staff member who has worried about circulation figures as if they were the temperature of a sick child, I am pleased that the magazine has become a staple for involved, caring citizens of Illinois. As a departing staff member, I am grateful to you for buying and reading the magazine, grateful to my hardworking colleagues who write and edit and handle its business affairs, and grateful to the generous board and the two state universities who guide and support it. Thanks also to our other patrons, those who advertise in the magazine and those who send annual contributions. You are vital to our continuance.

Illinois Issues, like public radio and television, is a public partnership. In a partisan state with continuing fiscal woes and myriad complex issues, the magazine's success is testimony to the desire of citizens for reliable information; balanced, clear analysis and informed, unbiased commentary. One of the things that has pleased me most during my 14 years as publisher is that the magazine has been criticized for being too conservative and too liberal, a tool of labor and the pawn of business.

Please continue to read this magazine, no longer a fledgling, but a teenager just beginning its 18th year.

Excelsior,

J. Michael Lennon Publisher

2/January 1992/Illinois Issues