CESL  TODAY

Volume 58, Term 051, January-March 2005-03-08
Center for English as a Second Language
Southern Illinois University at Carbondale
Carbondale, Il 62901-4518

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Southern Illinois Environment

Southern Illinois Bobcats

In the article, Bobcat, the author describes bobcats and their distribution, etc. To begin with, he talks about the bobcat's appearance: that it is double the size of a house cat, and its height can be 20-23 inches. Its length can be 30-35 inches and weight can be 10-40 pounds. Bobcats were distributed in Illinois when the first Europeans came here. Unfortunately, the bobcat began to decrease in the 1880s, and it was the first threatened species of Illinois' list in 1977, because of its "Habitat changes and unregulated harvest". Until the early 1990s, bobcat's number was beginning to increase, and in 1998 bobcats were put away from the Illinois' threatened species list in 1998. Its distributions are in the southern and northwestern Illinois. Bobcats like to live not only in forest land or wooded areas, but also close to humans. They are a kind of nocturnal animal. Male may need about 8 square miles of activities area, and female may need about 3 square miles. Because Illinois has better protections of bobcat from hunting, the there begin to increase the number of bobcats in the early 1990s. Currently most deaths are caused by car, and small cats are usually killed by "coyotes, domestic dogs, and owls". Bobcats use their sharp visioning and hearing to catch their food. They usually eat rabbits, squirrels, birds, and mice, etc. Their mating season is from January through June, and the mating peak is in February, one female can generate 1 to 6 babies, but usually 2 to 3 kittens. Finally, the author writes that protecting forests is most important for animals because it is the home of plants and animals. Appropriate cutting down of trees is good for wildlife because forests, animals, and plants need enough sun-light.

I learned from the article of Bobcat, which let me know about the bobcat and its condition. Illinois did a good job for bobcat because in the past, the bobcats were an endangered species in Illinois, but now they had been getting away from the endangered species list since 1998. According to the article, the author talks about how humans should cut down some trees to offer more sunlight to wildlife, but I don't agree with the author's idea, because a long time ago, when the humans never touched these forests, most wildlife could live well without human activities or cutting trees. I don't know why human should cut down some trees in order to give more sunlight to forest's animals and plants. So, I think that human should let the natural world makes its own ecosystem without human activities, because the natural world has its own rules.
Retrieved from Bobcat.
By Yen

Scientists tracking cougars' eastward migration

Cougar is a deer hunter in the mountains. He seems to be seeking the simple things in life. Actually there are 21 cougars in the Midwestern states and one Canadian province. And some data is the most credible of data on cougars' eastward migration. So scientists have started to about how cougars may fare. Rising cougar populations and habitat loss are main factors in the felines' recent forays east. In that case, these cougars should be released like pets. There are no reasons to lock cougars. And they are not dangerous animals for people. So we would like to help their successful arrival and we could co-exist.

I think that cougar is nor dangerous animal but necessary. This is because there are so many deer in the mountains. They eat grass or something. If their numbers are more incredibly increased, their living patterns will be changed in the near future. So cougars could maintain the number of deer. This is the most important reason to unlock cougars. And the second reason I think that cougars are protected. Because they are important ecological like other animals. So we should help cougars to have their habitat.
-by Sang Hee

New plant for Illinois air pollution

According to PR Newswire US (2004), The Illinois Clean Coal Review Board gives $2.5 million to Steelhead Energy Company LLC for making new coal gasification plant which can help the Illinois coal industry and the Southern Illinois environment. Steelhead Energy indicates that this new plant will not produce much air pollution and this will be "the cleanest coal-fueled energy facilities in the world." The new plant is able to use coal made from Illinois that will create "545 MW of electricity and 95 million standard cubic feet per day." The new plant removes pollutants which are sulfur and mercury before burning coal for generation of electricity. In addition, those wastes, such as sulfur and mercury, can be sold for other uses. This method is cleaner than existent coal power plant. So, environmental organizations like this project. Southern Illinois University organized The Illinois Clean Coal Review Board to consider southern Illinois environment and much coal resources. The Steelhead Energy must reward this project for investors.

I believe that this new power plant can aid with cleaning southern Illinois air pollution because that pollution mostly comes from present coal power plants. Moreover, southern Illinois has a large amount of coal, and that is cheaper than other resources for getting energy. So, this plan is a good solution for keeping clean air, getting energy, and maintaining jobs. However, soil pollution might increase for mining coal, because mined coal makes pollutants, such as mercury. That pollutant might go to ground and flow into rivers and lakes. If this plant succeeds decreasing air pollution, the soil pollution problem will be increasing. We need to think about how to be in safe keeping mined coal on the ground. -by Masaki

"Bambi has outgrown the forest, and alternatives for control are elusive, inefficient or unpleasant"

I have read about an article called "Bambi has outgrown the forest, and alternatives for control are elusive, inefficient or unpleasant," and I have found that there is a big problem about it and there are also many people concerned about the white-tailed deer destiny. In the North East of the U.S especially in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, New Jersey, Wisconsin, New York and Massachusetts the white-tailed deer are overwhelming their habitat over these parts of the United States. People have many deer-auto collisions and each year more that 29,000 human injuries and the vehicle repair costs are too high. As a result, there is an enigma about what we should do with the deer and what is the best option for the species. Some of the possible solutions are:

1. Reintroduce natural predators
2. Kill some
3. Immunocontraceptives (birth control)
4. Relocation
5. Combination bait and shoot plans
6. Surgical sterilization


However, those solutions results hard to go over because of many reasons, for example the birth control have limited effectiveness and it includes high costs. The relocation is not an option because it is stressful for the deer. To introduce natural predators, which is where we life, we have to teach people about how to deal with it and study about it too, because people could be killed. About the combination of bait and plants have low public acceptance. The surgical sterilization is expensive.

I think the best solution could be to reintroduce natural predators. I know that is hard and dangerous because there is where we life and where we interact with everything, but we are humans and we should be able to learn about how to deal with predators and how to be away from those areas, or what to do in those cases, we suppose to have the capacity of learn easier than animals. In addition, in order to develop we should use more our brain and cooperate with the alternatives which will define the white-tailed deer destiny.

If you want to know more about deers "click here" !!!! -by Luciana

Deer Damage

In the article, "Deer Damage: Numbers Climb, Threat Escalates," from the ILFB website, the author states the population of whitetail deer has risen in Illinois since 30 years ago because of the supplies of good food and warm winters. An increase in population of deer leads to a lot of 'deer-vehicle accidents' and spread of disease which could kill the herd of deer. Also, the diseases that come into being because of the overpopulation of deer can threaten human health. In addition, crop damage becomes larger because of the surplus population of wildlife. According to Erickson, The Illinois Department of Natural Resources gives "a nuisance permit to a landowner, allowing the taking of up to 10 deer out of season, as long as it can be proven that there is crop damage"; however, it is "not working as it should". In addition, "Illinois has no compensation program".

To begin with, the overpopulation of a specific living thing affects the ecology and human life badly. Studies have shown that the state suffers damage from the overpopulation of deer in Illinois. I think that The Illinois Department of Natural Resources should try to think of the way of decrease the number of deer, for example, by having a day of deer hunting that has restriction to catch a number of deer for each person. Also, The Illinois Department of Natural Resources should think about the compensation program for the farmer who has crop damage because of wildlife. Moreover, the problem of deer population is not only Illinois' problem. Therefore the government should think about the solution of the overpopulation of deer for the ecology and our life. -by RiNa Park


photo by Ransom, Kenneth. deer002.jpg. April 2004. Pics4Learning. 20 Jun 2005. http://pics.tech4learning.com.

Ideal Spouses

My ideal spouse

If I'm going to marry, I want a perfect husband. He always loves me so sometimes he buy flowers for me and he doesn't look for the other women. His hobby is same as my hobby, so we enjoy our hobbies together. He is not handsome but he is not ugly. He is plain, tall, and he has a medium build. He likes children, so he will play with our children. He has a lot of money, so we help poor people. He likes travel and we are always traveling together in our free time. He is always smiling and he doesn't get angry easily. He is strong, so he protects me and our children. By Jeong Ah Moon, AE1

My ideal husband

There are many things to think about when deciding who will be my ideal husband. In fact, I think there are lots of things I might tell about his looks and actions. For example, my ideal husband has to be a normal person. He doesn't have to be like a movie star because that is not important for me, but he definitely has to be handsome. I would like a man with a medium build and medium height. I prefer short brown hair to long dark hair. He has to have light brown eyes because it is my favorite color. In addition to these qualities, my ideal husband has to wear nice clothes no matter what occasion is. On the other hand, I want a husband with the following personality characteristics. He has to be loving, sensitive, smart, honest, creative and talented. He also has to like children and pets, but only dogs. In the same way, I wish for a husband that will work very hard to buy a new house. Finally, my ideal husband has to be a person with all these characteristics. Therefore, I am so happy because I already have found somebody, whose name is Roberto. He's my ideal husband.
-by Angelica Silva, AE1

Maine and Kansas

Maine & Kansas

There are many differences between Maine and Kansas. First, Kansas has very flat lands called prairies. A common occupation is farmer. Second, in Kansas there are many people are farmers. There are a lot of cows, sheep, horses, colts and dogs. In addition, there is a calm and peaceful atmosphere there. In contrast, Maine is a state near the sea, the Atlantic Ocean. Another difference is the weather in Kansas is warmer than in Maine, where it's often very cold. Another example is the occupation of the people. Maine has fishermen and bigger towns. In conclusion, there are many differences between Maine in Kansas, but I would rather live near the sea.
-Angelica Silva, GE

Differences between Maine and Kansas

There are some differences between Maine and Kansas. Maine is located by the sea facing the Atlantic Ocean, so the people who live there base their economy on the sea, for example, food and job etc. On the contrary, Kansas is located inland, where it is in the center of the USA, so people there mainly raise cows, sheep, dogs. etc. on the farm. I think these pleople enjoy the agricultural life.
By Alisa, AE1

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