“Much of the southern and central Midwest has been dominated by the oak-hickory forest-type for nearly 8,000 years,” according to Jeffrey D. Brawn in Illinois Natural History Survey Reports (May/June). But now “oaks are gradually being replaced by shade-tolerant species, especially Sugar Maples.” Should managers and conservationists try to maintain the status quo by prescribed burning or by “weeding” out maple saplings? The Natural History Survey will study the question, but it already seems clear that there is no “natural” answer. Some species of forest birds–redheaded woodpeckers, indigo buntings, northern orioles–favor open habitat and would benefit from prescribed burning. Other species–wood thrushes, ovenbirds, Kentucky warblers–would probably benefit from just letting the maples come in.
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Upward mobility. “In 1985 [United Neighborhood Organization] earned all but $25,000 of its $258,000 total revenue from services it provided to affiliates and other neighborhood groups,” writes Helena Sundman in the Chicago Reporter (May/June). “By 1993, the organization’s income had jumped by 240 percent, to $876,000. And with the growth came variety. Only 9 percent of UNO’s money came from program services; grants, contracts and the annual dinner [$150-$200 per ticket] accounted for the rest, tax records show.” Critics connect this move away from the grass roots with the group’s abandonment of such causes as the preservation of the Maxwell Street market.
(2) The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money and Power, funded by Paine Webber, which invests in oil exploration and production, and featuring author and oil-company consultant Daniel Yergin.
Should young men be allowed to drive? According to the state’s 1993 DUI Fact Book, the DUI arrest rate for men in their early 20s is 21.1 per 1,000 licensed drivers, compared to a rate of just 6.1 per 1,000 for everybody else.
