Editorial

An Unwelcome Guest

While for the last few years Evanston cultivated its image as a destination for arts, entertainment, dining, shopping and the like, no one considered us a destination for chomping.

A few years ago we somehow evaded the destruction of the Asian longhorn beetle. And the tide may have turned in our ongoing fight against the Dutch elm beetle.

Word from the City's forestry staff is that the short-term results are encouraging. In 2005, the first year of the injection program, the City removed 40 percent fewer elms due to DED than in 2004.

In 2005, Forestry crews removed a total of 209 public elms and performed 53 cut- outs; community members removed 237 private elms. In 2004, crews removed 395 public elms and performed 128 cut-outs; and private elm removal totaled 373.

Now we have the long-feared emerald ash borer. Although we have had ample warning that this pest was eating its way into Illinois, we knew there was little that could be done. Some of the best minds in tree care met at Northwestern last week to discuss how to address the problem.

This tiny muncher seems to leave nothing but devastation in its wake; quarantines, removal and vigilance at present seem our best weapons. The City is asking for the cooperation of all residents in trying to spot and report the emerald ash borer.

Saving our trees is no longer a matter of aesthetics, although that is important. Trees also absorb and transform carbon dioxide, easing the devastation of global warming. Right now there are no concrete answers in sight. Too bad birds have not developed a taste for the EAB.

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Summer Heat is Sirius Business

Summer is just about at its peak; gardens are ablaze with the hot blooms of the season. Red and orange lilies; yellow coreopsis, sunflowers and black-eyed susans; bright pink roses; gleaming white or pale yellow daisies and lavender spikes of liatris dare the sun to make them wilt.

The shadows gather a few minutes earlier each evening, with fireflies winking over lawns and parks. Days, though, are still long enough to accommodate summer fun. Bike rides, beach fun, front-porch conversations and evening strolls will be part of our lives for the next few weeks.

By mid-August, if not earlier, teachers will be returning to school; high school sports will be gearing up, and parents will be packing their children off to college. 

This is the season of Sirius, the Dog Star, the brightest star in the summer sky, which rises and sets with the sun. The name "dog star" is said to have come from the ancient Egyptians, who named it Sirius after Osiris, the dog-headed god.

The website "Ask and Astronomer" from Cornell University tells us that "in Egypt, and in ancient Rome, Sirius was in conjunction with the sun in the summer and ancient Egyptians and Romans argued that it was responsible for the summer heat by adding its heat to the heat from the sun. They called the period of time from 20 days before to 20 days after the conjunction ‘the dog days of summer' because it coincidentally fell at the time of year when it was very hot."

The ancient civilizations of the Mediterranean attributed heat to the stars and fled their cities during the dog days. We, further north and on another continent, take these days as a hint to savor what remains of the summer. Our grandparents stored winter's ice to get them through the summer; we would like to find a way to save an hour of summer's heat for even one short, cold January day.

Feelings

By Charles Wilkinson

What is it about feelings that make them so difficult to name, and oftentimes even express? What is it in most of us that needs to ignore or deny what is really going on emotionally within? 

Ask someone, "What do you think about global warming or stem cell research?" and you usually hear more than you need to know. But ask the same person, "How do you feel?" the predictable answer is "Fine," or on a bad day, "Okay, I guess." And that is usually all you get.

Why? Why are our thoughts and ideas usually so easy to express and expand upon and our feelings so opaque and contained? It is not that our thoughts and ideas are devoid of feelings; they would hardly be paid attention to without some emotional content. But when it comes to feelings themselves, putting them into words seems to render one far more vulnerable than our ideas.

Everyone has opinions about something and is willing to let them be heard at the drop of a conversation-seeking question. It is as if we are always willing to give others a piece of our mind, but when it comes to feelings, we are clearly protective of our souls. Perhaps it is because, being human, we need a clear boundary between information and intimacy. Why? Maybe because we are afraid. But afraid of what? Certainly not of what we know!

 A while ago I made a distinction in this column between "puddle people" and "pool people." Puddle people generally live on the surface of themselves. It is not that they lack depth but just that the busy-ness of life keeps them away from the deeper parts of self.

Pool people are busy as well but generally struggle with questions of identity or the meaning of life or the existence of God or the need for a kind of intimacy they cannot find in their puddle.  Daily headlines, sports, news, politics, stock market madness, Hollywood's latest breakup, crossword puzzles and the current sudoku craze are just not enough to make life meaningful for them.

One is not better than the other, nor does anyone live totally in one place. But when one gets in touch with the whole self  feelings generally tell more about that self then anything else. And I have learned, not without pain, sharing one's feelings can be the measure of intimacy more than anything else.

In a therapy group a while back, the therapist always began his sessions by asking everyone to check in by saying how they were feeling - physically, mentally and spiritually. "Fine" or "good" or "great" were unacceptable replies, as were "so-so," "lousy" and "off." 

I quickly learned, first, that feelings in themselves were neither good nor bad and, second, that naming them accurately opened the door into the deeper parts of self.  Only later, outside of therapy, did I learn that sharing those parts with others required a sensitivity about intimacy - and puddles and pools - that should respect the boundaries we all live with and need.

Someone sometime must have said, "Tell me what you think and I will know what you know; tell me what you feel and I will know who you are."

Gay?!

By Peggy Tarr

It's fascinating how words change in meaning. For decades (centuries?) the word "gay" was defined (in Webster's) as "having or showing a merry, lively mood; bright or showy; given to abounding in social or other pleasure; licentious."

It appears that in the 1960s*
Gay" became widely accepted as a politically correct term to indicate homosexuality.

Many of us have heard (but, it is hoped, not used) unacceptable adjectives or nouns to label homosexuals. "Queer" was a word I often heard. "Funny" was another.

Out of curiosity, I looked up these words in Webster's just to se how a dictionary defined them. I found the following: "funny - 1. causing amusement or laughter; 2. facetious; 3. deceitful; 4. impertinent; 5. peculiar."

"queer - 1. strange; 2. suspicious; 3. not feeing physically right; 4. mentally unbalanced; 5. slang (offensive) homosexual; effeminate."

After reading the definitions, I wondered if the words spoke more to the person doing the labeling than to the person labeled.

There were and are other names people call homosexuals, which I won't even mention - words that are intentionally insulting and cruel, words that were and are a waste of breath and time.

"Life is just a short walk from the cradle to the grave - and it sure behooves us to be kind to one another along the way." -- Alice Childress, American playwright.

My mother never used labels for homosexuals. She simply referred to gay individuals by their given name. Now, isn't that a quaint idea?

"I really do believe that every human being has serious value." --  Elaine Brown, American social activist and writer.

* A big thanks to the RoundTable editors and the Evanston Library staff for researching the history of the term "gay" for homosexuals.

Letters

Preparing and Caring for the Next Generation
Editor:

Look at our youngest children and babies. When they grow up they will be living in a drastically different world.

Five years from now it will become very obvious to almost everyone that our current business-as-usual , getting back to the old routine using more oil, coal, and nuclear energy to continue to live as we have (with high levels of waste and pollution) will become a disaster for all of us.

A combination of rising and unstable fuel costs that businesses cannot depend on; more weather emergencies due to climate change; and unstable financial conditions will overshadow any threat from terrorists. Living the way we have lived in this country will have to give way to a new culture using much less energy and relying more on the local community.

America has a lot of work to do. Let us stop fighting each other, roll up our sleeves and get to work. All of us have our part to play. If we have the vison and will do this, we will find the threat that terrorists pose will lessen -  not because of what we do to them but of what we do for ourselves.

What are we doing now to prepare and care for the next generation?

What are we doing now to ensure that they will live in a world that is compassionate, just and peaceful?
--Hal Mead

Directionless Deer?
Editor:

Your animal article reports that "Chief Animal Warden Linda Teckler says that deer have even been seen at the public library downtown" but provides no further details.

Well, several years ago I was in the library and looked out a window, where I saw several deer passing the building as they traipsed from Chicago Avenue to Orrington. 

I don't know if they were illiterate, drunk, confused, arrogant or just sillly: Church Street is a one-way street going east.
 -- Bill Friedlander

Disappointed at Fourth of July Coverage
Editor:

I had admired this publication for many years because its content keeps me updated in so many ways. The RoundTable covers pretty much all the aspects of the news around Evanston.

On your volume IX, number 14, July 12 on the page dedicated to show the parade participants, you had only displayed a little girl's picture from our community float though you know that our float got the second place. Did you feel our presentation was not good enough for RoundTable to have a better picture of more of us in it?

As organizer, I also can skip mentioning once in a while the names of some volunteers who participated in a few events.

But  in your case the rest of us were skipped from this picture completely. It is not easy for me to get volunteers, because many of us depend so much in our jobs to provide for our families or we have little time to be with the family, and we can be discouraged easily when our effort is not recognized.

So I recommend in the future that you take a picture including more participants so nobody feels left out.
-- Fortino Leon,President
Organizacion Latina de Evanston 

Looking for a Vietnam Veteran and Buddy
Editor:

I served on the USS White River LSMR 536 during the Vietnam war with one of your native sons of Evanston.  His name was Robert John Ryan.  Over the years we have lost contact with Robert, and he may not be living in Evanston now. 

Is there any chance you could put a message in your paper assisting us on our search? Maybe one of his relatives or classmates will read it and pass on the message.  I tried this with a newspaper in Florida and had the wrong city, but the person I was looking for worked in the city where I placed the inquiry.

We have a reunion every other year, and the next one will be around Labor Day 2007.  He can reply to my e-mail (semaj47@hotmail.com  or reach me during working hours (8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. EDST) at 864-656-7602.
--Buddy Hood

Thanks for Team Coverage

Editor:
I would like to express my thanks on behalf of the entire 9A Evanston baseball travel team and parents for the submission of the team photo in your July 12th edition.  It was a big deal for the players not only to have performed well in the tournament but also to be recognized in your great paper.

I think these are very positive events for the community to see and hopefully encourage other kids to find a passion and get involved.
 --  Maribeth Smar

Additions to Notes on Ridge Avenue Traffic Signals
Editor:

The "Council Highlights" column in the July 12 Evanston RoundTable ("Bill comes due for signal dispute") complaining about the large ($878,000) additional cost to avoid mast-arm traffic signals on Ridge Avenue misses two salient factors:
    
 1) The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) and the City of Evanston totally failed to conform to the requirements of the Evanston Historic Preservation Ordinance.

Ridge Avenue is the backbone of the National Ridge Historic District. Had they followed the procedures specified in that ordinance, they would have held a public hearing on the project prior to engineering, bidding, contracting, ordering incorrect materials, etc.

Why they did not follow the procedures prescribed by the preservation ordinance is a mystery. But it was their failure to comply with that ordinance - not the "protests by neighbors" - that led to the increase in costs.

Fortunately, the project was stopped before historic Ridge Avenue could be turned into a street more representative of Elk Grove Village or some of the other newer, farther-out suburbs.
   
  2) Ridge Avenue has not been resurfaced for more than 40 years. IDOT has refused to resurface Ridge all this time because it does not meet their width requirements.

As a result of the Traffic Signal controversy, however, and through the efforts of Rep. Jan Schakowsky and her staff, the City of Evanston has been able to obtain sufficient funding from the recently enacted federal highway bill to a) purchase the Ridge Avenue right-of-way from IDOT, and, b) completely and properly replace the road surface.

Under the new ownership of the City of Evanston, the street will be repaved, but it will not be widened, and the large, beautiful elms along Ridge will not be jeopardized.

With the project now approved by the City Council, Ridge Avenue will finally get a state-of-the-art traffic signal system, which will greatly improve the flow of traffic, and a new, state-of-the-art road surface.

 --Gerald M. Gordon

Not All Green Routines Are Time-Consuming, Thank You Very Mulch
Editor:

As always, I applaud your ongoing and comprehensive support for saner uses of our earth's resources, and I agree with almost everything in your July 12 editorial, "Green Routines."

But describing "green routines" as more time-consuming is not at all true for landscape maintenance (except for the possible exception of using a push mower rather than a motorized mower, which you mentioned).

This is because, in the plant world, we have the wisest and cheapest partner - nature. If left alone, nature does the work for free and in the most efficient and timely fashion.  

If a homeowner truly adopted a sustainable yard maintenance routine, here is how time is actually saved (along with a good deal of money).

In autumn, leave the leaves where they fall. Yes, they must be removed from lawn and hardscape, although, given half a chance, the wind often cleans the bare surfaces for you.  But do let them remain in the beds, under shrubs, around trees, even leave some in evergreen groundcovers. And if there are beds where no leaves fall, put some there to protect the roots through the winter, when sun and wind can dry out soils quickly.   

Ideally, as a professional gardener taking care of many gardens, I try to throw out no leaves in the fall; I try to find a place for them within any given yard.  This practice adds up to hours less raking and bagging time (not to mention less leaf-blower time) and less money for bags and labor.

Also, don't cut down every last perennial stalk.  Leave seedheads for the birds; leave the beauty of nature in winter, full of beiges and browns, shapes and designs, sometimes artistically outlined in snow.   

In the spring the stalks will be that much easier to gather, having begun disintegration: less time during fall clean-up, less arduous work in spring.

In the spring, again leave the leaves.  Don't touch them, except maybe to fluff them up a bit or to uncover delicate perennials. 

Now the little critters and the elements get to work (them, not you), shredding and disintegrating the leaves and turning them into nutrients that the growing plants can use and into soil that will hold more moisture (mitigating the need to water).   

When mowing the lawn, leave the grass clippings on the lawn to decompose naturally - then you spend less time bagging them up. Mow only when the grass needs it, not automatically every week - less bagging time, less money.

As for watering, again, the year-round leaf protection reduces need for watering greatly, both because of mechanical protection from wind and sun and from the absorptive power of decaying organic matter - again, less time, much less money.

Replacing dead plants after winter?   Evergreens. especially, have been hit hard in the last few years by drought and reduced snow cover. With year-round leaf protection, hopefully you won't have any plants die from lack of water.

Without the constant disruption of the decay and growth cycles by modern yard maintenance - raking beds bare, eliminating habitat for necessary critters,  disturbing soil, subjecting bare soils to wind erosion and ultra-violet radiation - plants feel at home and grow steadily and strong: less worry, less time. 

Mulching. Whoa! Why are you mulching?  Didn't you leave your leaves?  If you had, you wouldn't have to spend time and money on mulch.

And anyway, what's all this about saving time? Saving time for what? To spend time in the yard? To observe how life gets lived?  To enjoy the colors, shapes and acts of growth outside?  To interact with other beings - plants, worms, butterflies, bees?  Time well spent, if you ask me.  

Sustainable yard maintenance is a win-win-win situation - your yard wins, you win, and nature wins. All with much less work.

Debbie Hillman

The City Should Clarify Some Tax Issues
Editor:

The continuing fight in Evanston pitting preservationists and slow-growth advocates against the demands of developers and TIF concessions to developers is never-ending. What is driving the development of Evanston, often in disregard of planning and urban aesthetics, is the need for revenue.

Yet our City Council refuses to consider new sources of revenue, so planning often goes by the board in the race for revenue. So we engaged in a long legal battle with the Vineyard Church to force them to sell their space in the need for yet more office space to put on the tax rolls, presumably.

Today our Council members,  like most politicians today, run from the tax word as Dracula from the cross. This even applies to Democratic liberals in Evanston who decry Bush's tax cuts but fail to look for non-property-tax sources for revenue here in Evanston.

So what are our untapped sources of revenue in Evanston? Since we have basically a service economy here, revenue sources include tax and legal services, barber and beauty shops, tanning parlors, copy services, and, yes, even college diplomas.

What this harks back to, if you know your history, is the British Stamp Act which was far less regressive than the tax we have on food today.

Yes, it was taxation without  representation, but what I propose is taxation by our constitutionally elected authority, the City Council.

I proposed this some years ago at a badly attended town meeting on the budget and got the "duh" response from our then City manager.

Someone remarked that the old Stamp Act was really bitterly opposed because it hit the two most vocal elements in the colonies - printer-journalists, who were to use the stamped paper, and lawyers.

I do not propose a tax on newspapers, but strangely Evanston today does tax books but not copying services, of which we have many. While these taxes would be passed on to the consumer they would not be oppressive.

A less desirable legacy of the American Revolution is the popular belief that taxes for the government services (except, of course, the military) are oppressive.

Yet in the long list of alleged tyrannies by the British against the colonies in the Declaration of Independence there is only a single reference against "taxation without representation." And of course it was French taxation without representation that provided money for our Revolution.

So today we have self- appointed patriots who put in a tea bag with their tax return to celebrate the Boston Tea Party.

Yet many students do not learn in high school that the tea was dumped not because of a miniscule three-penny tax but because it might set up a monopoly on tea sales to bail out the British East India Company - the Walmart and the Haliburton of its day. (The East India Company went one better the Haliburton, as it controlled India directly and indirectly until ousted after the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857.)

Today our tax- hating libertarians do not agree with Justice Oliver Wendall Holmes, Jr. that "taxes are the price we pay for civilization."

What Evanston residents badly need from the Council is a white paper clearly outlining the non- property tax options under their home rule powers.

In my 50-year residency in Evanston I have never seen publication of such a document in clear non-legalistic terms. I have been told that only the Council can demand such an accounting.

So why not do it? If my assumptions are wrong then I would like to know it and gladly would have my taxes pay for such a service.
-- Gerald Adler