Wednesday, July 10

 

Donley-Rankin

Announcement is made of the engagement of Brian Rankin and Malisa Donley.

Brian’s parents are Carl and Margaret Rankin of Lincoln. Malisa is the daughter of Jack and Goldie Sampson of Lincoln.

Brian is a sergeant in the Illinois National Guard Military Police and a field auditor for the Illinois Secretary of State Police.

Malisa is employed as a bank representative at State Farm Insurance Companies in Bloomington.

Both are 1982 graduates of Lincoln Community High School

They plan to be married in Lincoln in September.


Watering lawns

Watering lawns

[JULY xx, 2002]  URBANA — Even with the extremely wet spring, water is still the best medicine to keep lawns thick and healthy through the summer months.

"Most of the lawn problems I’m aware of are related to hot, dry conditions. Everything is really spotty, though. While it may rain 10 miles away, we get nothing here, so it’s difficult to make statements that apply to everybody. In general, we should treat our lawns properly in the spring and fall to help them survive our typically hot, dry summers," said Tom Voigt, U of I Extension turf specialist.

Summer lawn watering can be handled two ways. To keep lawns green, Voigt recommends watering once or twice a week instead of every day and applying a total of 1 to 1.5 inches of water per week under normal summer conditions. To allow grass to go dormant, he recommends cutting back to one-quarter to one-half inch every two or three weeks. This will keep the grass hydrated enough so that it will not die, but it will go dormant.

"It’s too early to say this isn’t a normal summer. If the drier areas get rainfall in the next week or so, we won’t have any unusual problems. Under prolonged drought conditions, we don’t recommend watering heavily then stopping for a month then starting again. Each time grass is brought out of dormancy, it uses stored nutrients that would be exhausted from doing that."

 

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Homeowners using an ordinary lawn sprinkler instead of an irrigation system can use straight-sided cans to measure how much water their lawn is getting. Several cans should be spread throughout the range being watered because the area closer to the sprinkler often receives more water. Overlapping the sprinkler pattern will make up for the lack of water farther from the sprinkler.

Also, during the summer homeowners should not apply any fertilizers or pest-control chemicals, other than grub controls, to dormant lawns. Most fertilizers and weed control chemicals should be applied in the spring and fall when the lawn is actively growing. Be aware that, if a lawn reaches dormancy, the potential for heat-tolerant weeds to appear increases.

"When the turf is actively growing, homeowners should try to optimize root growth by reducing soil compaction and ensuring there is adequate oxygen in the root zone," Voigt said. "For summer-stressed turf, we recommend keeping off the turf and not trying to force a lot of growth with fertilizers. If we have a nice fall with cool temperatures and periodic rainfall, most of our turf will recover very well."

[U of I news release]


Headline

[JULY 6, 2002]  Lead

 

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[News release]


home and family/ unsched

Stop! Think! Talk! The fine art
of sibling relationships

[JULY xx, 2002]  URBANA — Sibling rivalry is as old as the hills. Going way back to Cain and Abel, the siblings fought to biblical proportions. But disagreements between siblings don’t necessarily have to be a negative part of life, according to Laurie Kramer, University of Illinois clinical psychologist.

Kramer sees these squabbles as a golden opportunity for children to learn how to manage conflict. "It’s a chance for children to learn to deal with negative emotions, such as anger and frustration, in a safe environment," said Kramer. "Conflict can also help children to define their beliefs. It helps foster the development of one’s sense of self."

Through a research and outreach program, "Fun with Brothers and Sisters," Kramer found that with instruction, modeling, role-playing and positive feedback, young children can be taught social skills that facilitate healthy sibling relationships. These children can then go on to use the skills in relationships outside the home.

In the study, 4- to 6-year-old children with younger siblings were taught six important relationship skills. In a laboratory setting, with their parents watching out of sight, the children learned how to invite their siblings to play, how to accept an invitation to play and how to turn down an invitation. They also were exposed to simple strategies for

"perspective-taking" (considering the other’s point of view), handling frustration and negotiating conflicts.

"As they played and conflict arose, the children learned to verbalize their angry feelings instead of enacting them," said Kramer. "And they developed strategies to manage conflict that combined skills in communication, perspective-taking, emotional control and problem-solving. These skills helped them respond to conflict situations constructively and without aggression."

The children were given instruction, but in addition, toys and dolls were used to model appropriate behavior. Then they had hands-on opportunities to try out these new skills in role-playing games in which each child took turns pretending to be the older or younger sibling.

 

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The instructors used large signs to serve as visual clues, helping the children avoid impulsive behavior. One sign indicated "stop," another triggered them to "think" and the third to "talk." Finally, the children received positive feedback as they attempted these newly learned skills.

"After four sessions in the laboratory, a final session was held in the children’s home to encourage the use of conflict-management skills in their own environment," said Kramer.

These children, when compared with those who merely received instruction through discussion, books and videotapes, were more likely to respond positively to their brothers’ or sisters’ requests to play and to consider their siblings’ point of view. Parents noticed improvements in their children’s relationships and reported that their older children were also using the new social skills with their friends.

"These techniques may be useful for parents," said Kramer. "When the inevitable conflict arises, parents can encourage children to stop, think about their siblings’ perspective and talk things through."

"Learning how to get along with brothers and sisters can contribute to children’s social skills for better or for worse," said Kramer. "Highly divisive sibling relationships can be predictive of later problems, such as anti-social and disturbed behaviors in adolescence. On the other hand, healthy relationships with siblings, where conflict is well-managed, can last a lifetime and can enhance a child’s social competence in the world."

[U of I news release]


Top Stories (on bsns page)

ALMH among top 10 percent of hospitals surveyed

[JUNE xx, 2002]  Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital received a score of 97 on a recent survey by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. This places ALMH in the top 10 percent of all hospitals surveyed against a comprehensive set of standards applied to all hospitals equally, regardless of size.

Founded in 1951, the commission is dedicated to continuously improving the safety and quality of the nation’s health care through voluntary accreditation. A team of health-care professionals conducts an on-site survey of the hospital, interviewing staff and patients, reviewing documents, examining physical surroundings, and observing patient care. The commission’s on-site survey of Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital occurred in May.

"Above all, the national standards are intended to stimulate continuous, systematic and organization-wide improvement in an organization’s performance and the outcomes of care," says Russell P. Massaro, M.D., executive vice president of accreditation operations for the commission. "The community should be proud that Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital is focusing on the most challenging goal — to continuously raise quality and safety to higher levels."

 

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F. G. "Woody" Hester, president and chief executive officer of ALMH, spoke of his pride in a staff that not only works hard to achieve accreditation by the Joint Commission, but also strives to be the best. "At ALMH the number one priority of our staff is to be the best rural hospital in America. That means that safety and quality, the things the JCAHO team are most interested in, are always job one," stated Hester.

Hester said of the staff’s reaction to the survey results, "They are rightfully proud of their accomplishment but they aren’t satisfied to be among the top 10 percent of hospitals surveyed … they truly want to be the best … what a team!"

[News release]


History and lessons offered in Underground Railroad signal quilts

History and lessons offered in Underground Railroad signal quilts

[JUNE xx, 2002]  Because of a recent surge of interest in Underground Railroad signal quilts, an exhibit of replicated quilts will be displayed in the rotunda of the Logan County Courthouse during Lincoln’s sesquicentennial celebration Aug. 21-31, 2003. Lessons on making these historic quilts will be offered monthly through next April.

 The history of the signal quilts dates to the days of slavery, in the low country of South Carolina. There, some blacks who were planning to escape their bondage were taught an intricate code of signals that would help them successfully complete their journey north to freedom.

The signals were pieced into colorful quilts that were displayed on the plantations prior to the trip as mnemonic devices, or reminders, of what they had learned, to increase their chances of success. Because quilts were such a common household item, they aroused no suspicion. The signals were "hidden in plain view."

The quilt code remained a highly guarded secret, passed down through oral tradition only to those deemed trustworthy. As time passed, fewer and fewer people remembered the code, and some of those who learned it considered it no longer important.

The late Ozella Williams of Charleston, S.C., was one of the people who learned the code from her grandmother and mother. Childless, Williams tried to share the code with a niece, who found no value in it. In her old age, seeking to complete her obligation to pass the code on, Williams shared the information with Denver writer Jacqueline Tobin.

Tobin teamed with quilter and historian Raymond Dobard to produce a book, "Hidden in Plain View," which became an overnight sensation in the quilting world. The book is available at Lincoln Public Library.

Sue Bidwell of Sew Many Friends quilt shop, 127 S. Kickapoo St., will give a series of lessons on preparing signal quilt blocks. All lessons will be presented from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. at Sew Many Friends. The shop is handicapped-accessible.

The lessons are for people who would like to learn about and make the signal quilt blocks, either to make into a quilt for the display or for their own pleasure. Quilters will retain ownership of the blocks they make.

Beginning quilters, as well as those with experience, are encouraged to participate in both the quilting workshops and the show. One class will be given for each of the 10 primary signal blocks listed in "Hidden in Plain View." Because of limited space, each class will be limited to 15 participants, who must preregister.

 

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The fee for each class is $5, which includes a free pattern and hands-on instructions. Each person who completes the class will receive a $5 gift certificate good for fabric from Sew Many Friends.

• Participants have the following choices: Buy a pre-cut quilt block kit at a cost of $5; or bring pre-washed and ironed fabric and cut the block pieces at the workshop. Those who plan to cut their own fabric should also bring a plastic ruler, rotary cutter and mat. Information on the shades and amount of fabric needed will be available when you register.

• Bring your own sewing machine, or bring a quilting needle and thimble and sew by hand.

• Each participant also should bring his or her own choice of thread, scissors, a ripper and a gallon-sized reclosable bag for storing the quilt pattern and pieces.

The quilt blocks will be completed in order of ease of sewing, rather than the order of the code. Lessons have been scheduled as follows:

• Bow Tie, July 14; reservation deadline July 6.

• Crossroads, Aug. 17; reservation deadline Aug. 10.

• Log Cabin, Sept. 15; reservation deadline Sept. 7.

• Bear’s Paw, Oct. 12, reservation deadline, Oct. 5.

• Flying Geese, Nov. 10, reservation deadline Nov. 2.

• Monkey Wrench, Dec. 14, reservation deadline Dec. 7.

• Drunkard’s Path, Jan. 12, reservation deadline Jan. 4.

• Double Wedding Ring, Feb. 15, reservation deadline Feb. 8.

• Wagon Wheel, March 16, reservation deadline March 8.

• The April 19 class will provide tips for setting the blocks together into a quilt top. Students will be responsible for quilting or tying their own quilts or having them quilted or tied.

[Thressia Usherwood,
Lincoln sesquicentennial publicity chairman]


Lincoln College athletic center
and museum are $2 million closer

[JUNE xx, 2002]  "It’s fantastic! Fantastic!" said Lincoln College President Jack Nutt of the $2 million in additional capital funding for the school in the state budget approved by the General Assembly Sunday.

Nutt said he had received no word but assumes the money is an Illinois FIRST grant resulting from the letter he sent Gov. George Ryan six months ago. He emphasizes that the grant is "not a done deal" since it could still be removed. But since the General Assembly has adjourned and the governor approved the funding, Nutt is optimistic it won’t be removed or vetoed.

Nutt also said he does not know whether the grant is for the proposed museum, athletic center or unspecified "capital construction," as in the case of two previous Illinois FIRST grants totaling $1.1 million. If either of the last two is the case, Nutt said, he’s ready to "put the hole in the ground."

Once designed as a single structure, the proposed Lincoln College athletic center and museum now stand separate in architectural drawings. At graduation on May 11, Nutt formally kicked off the fund drive for the two buildings, with a substantial sum from individual and governmental sources already in the coffers.

The athletic and convocation center site is on Nicholson Road, just beyond where it bends off Ottawa Street. Tentatively called the Lincoln Center, the building includes a multipurpose gymnasium with bleacher seating for 1,000, wrestling area, offices for all members of the athletic department, locker rooms, a community fitness center, hall of fame and training room.

The proposed Lincoln College Museum is located on the corner of Keokuk and Ottawa, across from the college library, on the former site of the college tennis courts. The facade, including limestone columns and facing, is designed to remind the viewer of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., and the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum to be built in Springfield. "A stately museum to a stately president" is how curator Ron Keller puts it.

Though Nutt expects both structures to be built within a couple of years, the athletic center will come first because it directly affects the students. "We have to have the gym," Nutt said. The Davidson-Sheffer Gymnasium, in current use, was built in 1933.

The construction budget for both projects totals $6.5 million, with the athletic center accounting for $4.5 million. The college already had $4.5 million in May, Nutt said, but some of it is designated for scholarships and restricted gifts. Besides the fund drive and Illinois FIRST application, he has asked for a federal grant to cover approximately half the $2 million cost of the museum.

A factor in fund-raising is the proposed federal Charity Recovery and Empowerment Act, which has already passed the House of Representatives. Retroactive to Jan. 1, 2002, it provides for the conversion of IRAs to charitable purposes without tax consequences. If the Senate passes the bill, Nutt expects to raise any money he still needs in a short time.

Several reasons account for splitting the original building plan. First, Nutt said, vouchers for the first two Illinois FIRST grants totaling $1.1 million, which were expected to be earmarked for the museum, said capital construction instead, so the money can be used for the athletic center. The two checks have time limits ending in June and July of 2003. Second, the combined structure grew too large for its site. Finally, some donors prefer to support a separate museum.

Dennis Shoemaker of Diversified Buildings in Morton is architect for both projects. The athletic and convocation center comprises 40,000 square feet. Nutt said that with chairs on the floor the gymnasium will seat up to 3,000. Besides hosting graduation ceremonies and being home to Lynx teams, it can accommodate end-of-the-season tournaments.

Plans also include a fitness center with aerobic, cardiovascular and ergonomic equipment. Membership will be available to the public. A pet project of Nutt’s is the Logan County Hall of Fame, with photos of famous LC residents from a variety of fields, though he expects sports to predominate.

Nutt hopes to install a composition floor and dropped ceiling in Davidson-Sheffer Gymnasium and use it for a variety of purposes. Physical education classes, however, will be located in the new field house.

The 10,000-square-foot museum has an open design, specialized lighting and environmental controls to protect the collection. Separate rooms house the college’s rare-book collection and a 50-seat tiered lecture room, which will also be used for presentations to tour groups. Work areas, a vault and a kitchen complete the main floor. There is also a full basement.

Ron Keller, curator of the museum, is in no hurry to build. The museum must last for 50 years, he said, so it is important to take time and be sure all needs have been anticipated. Besides, Keller and assistant Paul Gleason, both at LC for about two years, have not yet completed inventorying the collection.

Museum collections and tourism

Most impressive to tourists are artifacts such as the rails split by Lincoln’s cousin John Hanks in 1830 and the replica of Lincoln’s chair in Ford’s Theatre. These three-dimensional objects are on display in the current museum in McKinstry Library.

However, the museum has many documents that are not displayed. These include letters from every member of Lincoln’s cabinet, correspondence between Lincoln and his eldest son, Robert Todd Lincoln, and documents from people ranging from Robert E. Lee to Frederick Douglass.

Although most of the collection deals with Lincoln’s presidential years, Keller plans to emphasize the young, unbearded, pre-presidential Lincoln in the new museum because that was the man who lived here. Tourists want to know Lincoln as he was in Logan County, Keller said.

 

 

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He sees the LC museum and the Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield as "both in business doing the same thing — increasing awareness of Lincoln and educating the public." He and Nutt believe both will increase tourism in the area.

About 2,300 visitors toured the college museum last year, representing at least 30 states and five foreign countries. The single biggest month is May, with its many school tours, but the LC Parents Weekend logs the biggest day. Most school tours are elementary classes, with five scheduled this week. In summer, charter tours often have an Abraham Lincoln theme but sometimes focus on Route 66.

Admission is free and expected to remain so in the new structure. Keller said that because the museum has "so many great benefactors" it need not be self-sustaining. However, some revenue is generated by sale of items such as Lincoln busts and statues, beanbag Lincolns, prints, placemats, pens and pencils, toy soldiers, Lincoln penny earrings, and over 40 book titles.

In the new museum Keller plans exhibits consisting of panels using local sources, such as Lawrence Stringer’s 1911 "History of Logan County, Illinois," with Lloyd Ostendorf prints as background. Ostendorf was widely known for his depictions of Abraham Lincoln. The college owns one of his paintings, "Lincoln and the Women He Loved," showing portraits of Lincoln, his mother, stepmother and sister. Keller has obtained permission to use other prints from Ostendorf’s heirs, who he says are "quite excited" about the project.

The museum design allows space for rotating displays as well as the permanent collection. Nutt expects to see loaned exhibits from other institutions at least twice a year. "We send Lincoln artifacts to museums all over the world," he said, "so a lot of museums owe us." He envisions exhibits on various themes, not necessarily Lincoln-related, put together with pieces from several collections.

The LC museum’s collection contains a repository of presidents, including signatures of all U.S. presidents.

It also holds many Logan County articles and maps. These are mostly documents and not of high interest to tourists, but Keller does currently display a 1905 plat book and an 1800s document about building a road to Middletown. Artifacts of local interest include a table owned by Robert Latham and a chair from the Scully house. The new museum will have a somewhat larger local history display. Keller said this idea is still evolving.

For about a year the college museum has been home to the Edward Madigan Collection, consisting of papers dealing with the Lincoln native’s years as congressman and secretary of agriculture, books on state government and agriculture which he collected as a state representative, pictures, and some personal items. At the request of Madigan’s family a few books and letters were de-acquisitioned from the Bush Presidential Library. Again, the collection is not of high tourist interest but noteworthy in Logan County and Lincoln College history. Madigan was a 1955 graduate and trustee of the school. "It’s a priority in our minds" and worthy to be part of the permanent exhibition, Keller said, even though the display will not be large.

The Lincoln Group of Illinois, consisting of over 100 amateur Lincoln scholars currently based at Illinois Benedictine College in Lisle, is moving its headquarters to the LC museum in June. The group has some archives and produces a newsletter, which will be coordinated with the one published by the museum. Keller sees the move as a step toward creating a research center.

Although architectural drawings show stoplights and crosswalks at the intersection of Keokuk and Ottawa, Nutt does not anticipate much foot traffic across Keokuk. "I don’t view the museum as a part of the college," he explained, expecting most visitors to be tourists.

Keller, on the other hand, dreams of a museum and history program that will be a magnet for students. Rosemary Porter, Keller’s first student intern, has worked this year at "transcribing and documenting material on Logan County history and Civil War warrant records, researching and writing about Abraham Lincoln, assisting in the preparation of museum displays, and giving tours for visitors to the museum," he said. Her article on the Lincoln courtship appeared in the spring 2002 issue of the museum’s quarterly, The Lincoln Newsletter.

Ron Keller grew up in Newton, Ill., and earned baccalaureate and master’s degrees in history at Eastern Illinois University. He came to Lincoln College after teaching one year at the elementary level and six years in middle and high school. Besides being curator of the museum, he teaches four courses per semester in history and government.

Former Lincoln Junior High School history teacher Paul Gleason is assistant curator. Among other tasks, he researches and answers questions on local history. The two are organizing, cataloging and preserving materials on Logan County in the 1860s borrowed from the local courthouse. This project sparked collaboration on a book on Logan County soldiers in the Civil War. Gleason is currently writing an article to submit to The Lincoln Newsletter on how Logan County became involved in the war, the number of troops and their experience at Shiloh. He expects to use the article as prelude to the book.

After the museum’s move, its present quarters in McKinstry Library will become an art gallery, and the current Layman Gallery, with entrance beside the card catalog, will be absorbed into the college library.

[Lynn Shearer Spellman]

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