Lynn to remain as UIS chancellor — for now
Amid upheaval in the process to name her successor, Naomi Lynn has put her retirement on hold. Lynn, the chancellor of the University of Illinois at Springfield, was set to leave her post May 31. But last month, she agreed to university President James Stukel’s request that she remain.

At press time, the university’s board of trustees was set to meet early this month to discuss criteria for candidates for the Springfield chancellorship. The selection process seemed all but complete early last month. But the search was halted after stukel received a letter from Gov. George Ryan, an ex officio member of the board. Days before interviews of four finalists for the position, Ryan suggested Stukel and the UIS search committee expand the criteria for the position to include candidates who don’t have traditional academic backgrounds. Stukel then postponed the interviews.

Campus faculty organizations cried foul. Some professors and students protested the governor’s last-minute intervention by picketing at commencement ceremonies. And the UIS campus Senate approved a resolu-tion saying that “even the appearance of the chancellor’s position becoming subject to political pressures will dam-age the university and the campus.” The resolution — drafted before Lynn’s decision to stay — noted the campus is at critical stages on several initiatives and would not fare well with an interim or acting chancellor. The U of I Chicago campus Senate endorsed the UIS resolution. That campus is also looking for a new chancellor.

SHIFT AT THE TOP
Sharon Brown of Chatham has joined Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka's staff as deputy press secretary, based in Springfield. Brown previously served on the Republican staff for both the Illinois House and Senate.

APPOINTMENTS
The first 17 of 25 members have been appointed to the Environmental Regulatory Review Commission. Created last December by executive order, the commission will determine whether the Environmental Protection Act should be revised. Former state Rep. Ted Meyer of Chicago, who serves as legal counsel to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and as a member of the Pollution Control Board, was named chairman. The commission will not meet formally until all members are appointed. In any event, Meyer says he suspects “there is a strong move to do nothing.”

Those named to the commission are:
 William F. Abolt of Chicago, commissioner of the Chicago Department of Environment.
 Kenneth A. Alderson of Springfield, executive director of the Illinois Municipal League.
 Gregory W. Baise of Lemont, president of the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association.
 Mark A. Biel of Springfield, executive director of the Chemical Industry Council of Illinois.
 Jack Darin of Chicago, director of the Illinois Chapter of the Sierra Club.
 Matthew J. Dunn of Chicago, chief of the environmental enforcement division with the Illinois Attorney General’s office.
 William J. Fleischli Sr. of Springfield, executive vice president of the Illinois Petroleum Marketers Association.
 Keith Harley of Lockport, director of the environmental department of the Chicago Legal Clinic Inc.
 Cecil Lue-Hing of Chicago, president of Cecil Lue-Hing & Associates.
 Claire A. Manning of Williamsville, chairman of the Illinois Pollution Control Board.
 Sidney M. Marder of Springfield, owner of Marder & Associates.
 Lynne P. Padovan of Charleston, executive director of the Illinois Environmental Council.
 Jane DiRenzo Pigott of Winnetka, chair of the environmental department of Winston & Strawn.
 Michael W. Rapps of Springfield, president of Rapps Engineering and Applied Science.
 Thomas V. Skinner of Lake Bluff, director of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.
 David A. Sykuta of Springfield, executive director of the Illinois Petroleum Council.
 Sheldon A. Zabel of Chicago, a partner with Schiff, Hardin & Waite. Members of the commission are paid expenses, and appointments do not require Senate confirmation.

Five new members were appointed to the Juvenile Justice Commission, which advises the Department of Children and Family Services on juvenile justice and delinquency prevention programs and services. They are:
 Robert Brown, 23, of Chicago.
 Christelle A. Fullwood, 24, of Country Club Hills.
 Lucas Hale, 18, of Rantoul.
 Courtney McNiff, 18, of Normal.
 Robert Mendoza, 18, of Chicago.
Two of the criteria regarding the makeup of the 25-member commission are that five members be under 24 years of age and three members have a history as a juvenile offender. Members are paid expenses only, and appointments do not require Senate confirmation.

Illinois Issues June 2000 | 34 ----- Available - in PDF
For PDF, you will need the Adobe Acrobat Reader Plug-in (FREE)for your browser.

This spring Jean Driscoll, who lives and trains in Champaign, won her eighth Boston Marathon. Illinois Issues' Heather Nickel talked to Driscoll about racing and the pressures of representing people with disabilities. What follows is an edited version of that conversation.

Q. Do you feel bound to represent people with disabilities and, if so, are you comfortable with that?
I think bound is kind of a silly word because I don't feel bound by anything. One of the neatest things that came out of winning Boston this year is I read the Boston Globe and Herald and the Chic-ago Tribune and all the other articles. There was not one mention of disability, of spina bifida, of paralysis. It was a sports story. And I was so excited about that because people are understanding that this is elite-level sport and on that end then I do feel that I am a spokes-person, not just as a person with a disability, but also as a female sports figure.

Q. There is a perception that sometimes people are afraid to talk to those with disabilities. Obviously you don't mind talking about your experiences. Do you think you help people without disabilities in that regard?
I would hope so. I hope that people can come to understand that it's not always a lifelong tragedy. When people go through their day with their contact lenses or glasses, they're not thinking, "Ugh, another day with farsightedness!" I feel that because of the success I have I am recognizable, and because I am conscious of that, I try to remain approachable.

Q. Can you tell me about your most humbling experience?
I don't know about humbling, but difficult. I went through a series of five hip operations when I was a freshman in high school. And when I got the body cast off I had to start walking on crutches and then using a chair. At that time I was 15, and at that age you're try-ing to figure out who you are in the first place. I was pretty devastated by all of it. I had all the same ideas about using a chair that a lot of people do, but I have come to realize that disability is just a characteristic like hair color or eye color. It's not a defining principle. And I've also come to realize that walking is overrated.

Racing-wise, the most difficult moment I've experienced was at the 1998 Boston Marathon. I was coming in to the finish line and the announcer announced, "Jean Driscoll, eight-time winner of the Boston Marathon." I started to take my last strokes and raise my arms to cut the tape and the Australian [Louise Savage] cut the tape 2/10 of a second before I did. Here I thought I had the race won.

Q. You could go anywhere in the world. What keeps you in Champaign?
That is a really good question. I was just going to be down here through my undergrad degree and then I was head-ing straight back to Wisconsin. But the coaching was so good, and the way that I started to feel about myself and the education that I got relative to disability was just so good. It has just all worked out so well that I decided that I wanted to stay here in Champaign. It's been the perfect place to train. It's a very well-educated community because of what's been in the news, and people training in racing chairs are a familiar sight.

Reagan honared at Eureka College
A chunk of the Berlin wall now rests in a garden in central Illinois.
Last month, Eureka College dedicated the Ronald W. Reagan Peace Garden. The ceremony commemorated two events in the life of the former president. Reagan graduated from Eureka in May 1932. Fifty years later, as president of the United States, the alum returned to deliver a commencement speech challenging the Soviet Union to engage in strategic arms reduction talks.

Some historians point to that address as the beginning of the end of the Cold War.

The garden includes a bronze bust of Reagan and a 4-foot-by- 5-foot section of the Berlin Wall, a gift from the Federal Republic of Germany.

Reagan, who suffers from Alzheimer's disease, did not attend. His eldest daughter Maureen Reagan spoke at the ceremony, which drew an estimated 1,500 spectators.

Engraved on the pedestal are selections from the president's 1982 speech: "Peace is not the absence of conflict, but the ability to cope with conflict by peaceful means."

Illinois Issues June 2000 | 35 ----- Available - in PDF
For PDF, you will need the Adobe Acrobat Reader Plug-in (FREE)for your browser.