Repository: UIHistories Project: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1976 [PAGE 262]

EXTRACTED TEXT FROM PAGE:

1975]

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

251

less dramatic and continuing contributions to people everywhere have been the first experiments in genetic improvement of corn by inbreeding, selection, and crossbreeding selected lines. These experiments with corn led to the development of hybrid corn which in one human generation has permitted doubling of corn yields. Our Illinois Station also introduced the soybean plant to America and learned how to adapt it to American conditions. Soybeans may yet be the miracle crop of this century in alleviating protein hunger and protein starvation in children among the poor of the world. If agricultural scientists had not developed hybrid corn, today's farmers would need all of tillable acres in Illinois to produce the same number of bushels of corn that were produced in 1940, leaving no tillable acres for the production of soybeans or other crops. Therefore, the returns from the investment in hybrid corn research can be equated to the annual value of the soybean crop produced in Illinois. In 1973, the cash value of soybeans was $1,655,530,000 — 31 per cent of all cash income on Illinois farms. And the Station has contributed much of the technology necessary for doubling the milk yield of the average U.S. dairy cow in twenty-five years from 1945 to 1970. The Illinois Station has contributed mightily to the welfare of the American people in the past, but there remains a great deal yet to be done to assure people of this country and throughout the world that they are on the right course to provide for the existence of people on earth forever. Our challenge, as we celebrate 100 years of work, is to find ways to constantly adjust to changing conditions. While this medallion is a tribute to our past, it is also a reminder of our challenge. I am happy to present it to the Secretary of the Board in this spirit, and hope it will be appropriately displayed and stored with other official documents to commemorate this event. Status Report, Tenure Study President Corbally reported that he would soon send to the Trustees a written status report on the tenure study requested of him at the March meeting. H e indicated the statement would reach the Trustees within the next few days. OLD AND NEW BUSINESS Oakley Dam-Springer Lake Project Mr. Lenz asked to be recognized to speak briefly on this matter. He stated that, at the request of the President of the Board and the President of the University, he had attended, with Vice President Johnson, a legislative hearing in Springfield, initiated by officials from Decatur with regard to investigation of the Board of Trustees in the light of the January action on the Oakley Dam-Springer Lake project. He reported that the investigation proposal had been tabled and no action had been taken. Although Decatur officials had indicated a desire for the Board to reconsider its action, he (Mr. Lenz) did not believe that to be appropriate. He reported that, in the course of discussions, he had expressed his own personal view that the Board ought not to be in contention with the City of Decatur, as well as his hope that the resolution (withdrawing the Board's support of