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Agriculture without science would ensure failure
Having read the article
"Seeds of Change" in the
September issue (see page 12), I
must say that the author's bias
on the impact of bioengineering on Midwest agriculture
would "warm the cockles" of a Luddite's heart. Perhaps Bill Lambrecht
prefers to go back to the era of about
100 to 150 years ago when 40 acres
and a mule defined agriculture. If
there ever was a sector in the world's
economy that has benefited more
from improving technology than
farming, I don't know what it is.
For what it is worth, your explanation about Lambrecht's qualifications
warned me as to what his assessment
would be. The conclusion of your
introduction quotes Lambrecht as
saying, "The world grows plenty of
food." I wonder where that "plenty"
is. To blame world hunger on the
failure of distribution is absurd.
Agriculture without science would
ensure a failure of not only distribution but consumption.
This kind of article really turns me
off. Perhaps you should remove me
from the mailing list. But then, I
wouldn't know what other
"persiflages" are being committed.
David E. Connor
Authority to build
tollways conies from
slate legislature
In her recent letter to the editor
commenting on the "Good Sprawl"
article that appeared in the June issue
(see page 34), Theresa Amato of the
Citizens Advocacy Center continues
that group's attempts to mislead the
public regarding the origins of proposed additions to the Illinois tollway
system. In fact, the Illinois State Toll
Highway Authority proceeds with
work on additions to the tollway
system when specifically directed
to do so by a majority vote of the
Illinois General Assembly.
The authority has never
proposed any of these
additions.
Senate Joint Resolution 14,
adopted on July 2, 1993,
directed the authority to
"expand the Illinois toll highway
system to include" two extensions of
1-355 in Will County and a Route 53
tollway in Lake County. Senate Joint
Resolution 35, adopted on May 25,
1995, uses identical language with
regard to the "O'Hare Bypass
Tollway."
The Illinois General Assembly
amended the 1953 Toll Highway Act
in 1967 to give them the authority to
direct the State Toll Highway Authority to build additions to the original
system. Previous examples of their
use of this authority include their
1970 directive that we extend 1-88
from Aurora to Rock Falls and their
1987 directive that we build the
North-South Tollway (1-355).
Don O'Toole
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letters to the Editor
Illinois Issues, K-10
44 / November 1999 Illinois Issues
Peoria
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University of Illinois at Springfield
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