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Letters to the Editor Plaindealer™> Public Pulse (Th» HsInMtt Invito* th« public to u»» this column ot an npryiilsn ol Iholr vlowt on iub|»<1» of (tiwrd In- our.communlty. Our only roqumt It that tho wrltora glvo • tlgmMuro. full oddroii and phono numbor. Wo •tk too. that on* individual not wrlto on tho iomo «ub|oct moro than one* ooch month. Wo roaorvo tho right to doloto ahy motorial which wo contidor llbolout or In objoctlonoblo tatto.) GYPSY MOTH CONTROL "Editor: "At a meeting on March 27 in the McHenry city hall, Norman Seaborg of the Illinois Bureau of Plant and Apiary Protection informed those in attendance that gypsy moths have been found in small numbers in areas around Whispering Oaks. He recommended that this area be sprayed by helicopter with the poisonous insecticide Sevin. "I would like to present an alternative plan of attack against this insect enemy. The publication, The Gypsy Moth Handbook The Homeowner And The Gypsy Moth: Guidelines For Control, published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Home and Garden Bulletin No. 227, and issued in August, 1979, has been used extensively for these recommendatioig?. "The gypsy moth is truly a damaging insect and a 'fierce vexation'. Since a clean and healthy planet should be the heritage we pass on to our children, the use of poisons seems a poor way to maintain the planet's health. In their stead, the many natural enemies of the gypsy moth could collec­ tively be use to destroy or tontrol this pest. "These enemies fall into three categories: parasites, predators, and disease. Parasites such as the trichogramma wasps (no bigger than the dot of an i on the printed page) lay their eggs in the eggs of the gypsy moth and destroy them before they can develop. Other parasitic insects which are available com­ mercially would serve a similar purpose. "For those eggs which are not destroyed by the parasites, several predators lie in wait for the larvae and adults. Birds that are im­ portant in the control of this pest are nuthatches, chickadees, towhees, vireos, orioles, catbirds, robins and bluejays. Flocking species such as grackles, red-winged blackbirds and crows can be attracted to areas containing gypsy moths and serve to help control the insect. In addition to the birds listed above, any nesting bird would feed its young with gypsy moth larvae.' "Less noticeable than birds but equally effective are spiders, ants, and daddy- long-legs (harvestmen) which consume many larvae and pupae that rest on or near the ground. Since their activities are difficult to measure, the collective value of such organisms has not been widely recognized. "Mammals such as chipmunks and squirrels feed on various life stages of the gypsy moth The role that they could play in moth control in a suburban area might be somewhat limited since these animals are often eliminated by cats and dogs and by the lack of their natural habitat - forest litter. "A disease which attacks only caterpillars, known as Bacillus Thuringiensis, can be purchased in most garden stores under such trade names as Dipel, Thuricide and Biotrol. Dusted or sprayed on infested plants, it is eaten and enters the in­ sect's stomach where it penetrates the lining and multiplies in the blood stream. The caterpillars stop feeding, become paralized and die. Bacillus Thuringiensis is harmless to man and other vertebrates, plants and non-leaf eating insects. "In order to make use of the natural or biological control methods, funds that would have been spent for spraying the area with Sevin (estimated at $20,000) could be used as follows: "Purchase of vials of trichogramma wasps or other parasitic insects for each homeowner in the anticipated area of in­ festation; "Spray or dust area with Bacillus Thuringiensis; "Purchase traps baited with gypsy moth pheromone for each'homeowner; "Encourage homeowners to install bird feeders (suet and seed). , "Environmental groups such as McHenry County Audubon, Illinois Audubon, McHenry County* Defenders and local garden clubs would probably be willing to help purchase and install this equipment; "Hold meetings to inform area residents of the program and their role in it, such as monitoring the traps and keeping the feeders well supplied. "I am interested in organizing a citizen's group to discuss this approach. Persons interested in this matter should contact me at 459-2312 (8 a.m. to 5 p.m.) and 385-6047 after 6 p.m. With the professional ex­ perience of Mr. Seaborg and his staff and the cooperation of an interested community, it would seem that the problem can be solved by working in harmony with nature. "Louis E. Marchi" "Editor: "We would like to voice our strenuous objections to the proposed spraying of the chemical Sevin for the eradiation of the gypsy moth. "It is our understanding that this spray will remain toxic on our yards for at least 20 days. "Real consideration has not been given to all of the possible ramifications of the , proposed spraying. "Only a one-sided view has been presented to the people of McHenry. "Recent tests have demonstrated that Sevin may be instrumental in producing major health problems. One's suscep­ tibility to viral > diseases may be increased. Sevin is now being studied as a viral enhancer. Viral enhancers allow a virus to survive and reproduce more easily in human cells. "The chemical Sevin is also linked to the following: birth defeats, miscarriages, Reyes Syndrome, multiple sclerosis, Guillain-Barrie Syndrome, cleft palate and skeletal malformation. "The above consequences are of vital importance to everyone especially Senior Citizens, pregnant women and children. "We realize that the gypsy moth presents a serious problem and everyone desires to save the trees. However, we encourage the City Council to consider safer solutions to the problem. "As concerned citizens, we encourage attendance at the special meeting to be held April 17, 8 p.m., at city hall. "Sincerely, "Mike & Donna Shanahan "Jerry & Jean Gudauskas" PAGE II - PLAINDEALER - FRIDAY. APRIL II. ItM Invitation To Reading Reform Keeping Hams Refrigerate whole hams no longer than 7 days, cured half hams, slices of fresh ham, no more than 3 to 5 days. Fresh hams may be kept in the freezer from 4 to 8 months, but cured hams no more than 1 to 2 months. Main McHenry The most important skill that a child can learn- or that a teacher can teach-is how to read. Forty-nine workshops demonstrating how children can be taught to read fluently and accurately will highlight the nineteenth annual conference of the Reading Reform foundation in Champaign next Aug. 10- The conference is open to all teachers, parents and other concerned citizens. The workshops are designed specifically to help teachers do a better job in the classroom* and to help parents help their children in the home. i Each workshop session lasts 75 minutes, and each conference participant will be able to attend seven different sessions. The Reading Reform foundation is a single- purpose non-profit organization which for nearly two decades has been working to restore intensive phonics to beginning reading instruction. "The tragedy of the sight word or 'look-say' method of teaching reading is apparent in the appalling number of illiterates coming out of our schools," says Mrs. Raymond Rubicam, national president of RRF. "It's not the teachers' fault-they are teaching the way they have been taught to teach-but often there is madness in their method." With the sight word method the emphasis is on teaching children to memorize whole words by the way they look. Children spend a great deal of time memorizing the various and confusing shapes ofalimited number of words. In sbme^ sight programs, children are encouraged to guess at words they haven't memorized by sight, or to substitute any word which makes sense in the sentence. With intensive phonics, children leard to read, write and spell words by the way they sound. Once they have learned the sounds of letters, alone and in combination, and have learned how to blend these sounds to form words (in just a few weeks or months), they become in­ dependent readers. The sight word system came into widespread use in the schools about 50 years ago, with disastrous results. A fojir-year government study released in 1975 found there were more than 23 million functionally illiterate adults in the United States- people unable to read help- wanted ads or the directions on a bottle of medicine. There were another 39 million who were 'functional but not proficient in such tests as reading a newspaper grocery ad.' "It has all been downhill since that time," Mrs. Rubicam said. "The number of poor readers and non-readers is increasing each year." Interest in the illiteracy problem and in the work of the Reading Reform foun­ dation has skyrocketed in recent months following the iblication of a magazine article, "Why Johnny Still CanVitead," by Dr. Rudolf Flesch/'B^. Flesch first startled the hation 25 years ago with his^b^t-selling books, "Why JohnrijKCan't Read." Featured speakers at the RRF conference include Marva Collins, founder and director of Chicago's famed ^Westside Preparatory school (featured in newspaper and magazine articles and on TV's "60a Minutes" program); Dr. Glenn Griffin, pediatrician of Bountiful, Utah; Thomas Smith, principal of the Lincoln Fundamental School in Davenport, Iowa; Robbert Abbott, special education expert of Waukegan, 111., and Charlsetta Alston, founder and director of the San Francisco Adult Literacy center. "Children taught with the sight word or look-and-guess method don't learn to read," Mrs. Alston has said, "but they do learn some things. They learn humiliation, frustration, anger and hostility." The conference will be held at Champaign's Ramada Inn Convention center. Further details are. available from Char Lockhart, RRF Conference chairman, 570 S. Church St., Apt. 2E, Decatur, 111., 62522. Hospital Staff Members Finish Cardiac Course Two Memorial Hospital staff members who work in the Emergency-Outpatient department have completed the difficult . three-day Ad­ vanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) course developed primarily to provide more advanced training to doc­ tors. However, the two who took-and passed-the in­ tensive course are, not doctors. Mary Ellen Ettner, R.N., has been a registered nurse since 1976. Since then she's worked in several patient car units at Memorial hospital and in the emergency room-- in emergency work for two years about which she says, "I just love it". Vern Wolff is a paramedic. Vern joined the Woodstock Rescue squad in 1969, became an emergency medical technician and then a paramedic. Today he is a qualified Medical Intensive Care unit instructor; so is Ms. Ettner. Both are also qualified CPR instructors. T.V.!! 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