From the front porch to the computer room:
We can't return to Mayberry
By June Mank

   Our lives have changed dramatically over the past 100 years. Some of the changes have been blessings, and some have not. Remarkable advances have been made in the medical profession that keep the population healthy and help us live longer productive lives. We flip switches that give light to the dark outside and heat to our homes - so much simpler than carrying in the wood for fires to huddle around. We no longer have to hunt for our food, or rely on growing our own fresh vegetables. We are only hours from anywhere we want to go. It boggles the mind to stop and think just how far civilization has come - or not.
   With the advent of the radio, we soon learned about the world around us. And then, the automobile allowed us to get out of our safe cocoon and "see the world." We became a very mobile society. The telephone connected us to others, and television brought us immediate news with a visual impact. And last, but not least, the computer, which has revolutionized every facet of life. All of the "advances" have helped isolate us from each other and a sense of community.
   We have moved from the front porch to the computer room, where our contacts with people are not face to face. Chat rooms, where we can talk endlessly without any personal commitment or involvement. Instead of visiting over the porch rail or over the back fence, we converse with strangers over the Internet. We are too busy for personal contact and are not involved in the day-to-day events of our neighbors' lives. We have no time to help a child with his or her homework or fix their bicycle. We need to know how they are doing and what is important in their daily schedules.
   We DO have a lot of people who volunteer through the various organizations and are involved in the lives of others: services, such as Meals on Wheels, which help keep residents in their homes longer; volunteer drivers to transport those who need medical services; 5 and 10K walks for various charitable causes, and many, many more organized help activities. But even with all the organizations that ask daily for volunteers and support, we need to become more involved in our own neighborhood.
   Growing up in Champaign as a caring community has been good. We did have front porches, where we could observe what was happening in the neighborhood. It was truly a neighborhood that looked after each other. We did not depend on someone else to do it. We didn't call the city to pick up a dead bird in the street or take care of another trivial situation that we could do in a matter of minutes. We didn't rake the leaves into the catch basin or allow the grass clippings to clog up the drains. When the lawns were mowed, the curbs and sidewalks were also swept clean. The neighborhood kid could expect to be reprimanded by the lady down the block if necessary. We knew when there was a new baby on the block or a death, which would bring everyone together. A new resident was welcomed not by the "Welcome Wagon" but by the people next door.
   We are making progress in becoming neighborhoods again. The city of Champaign in the past 10 years has created the Neighborhood Services Department, which is helping organize neighborhoods. Those in the associations are learning to help each other in creative and meaningful ways. They are attempting to bring people together to find solutions for their own problems. Didn't we feel safer when we knew the next-door neighbors, their immediate family and, in many instances, the extended family? We can have that feeling of security with a commitment to become involved. We can no longer say, "The city should do something about that." We must do something about "that" ourselves.
   There are those who will say these ideas have been passed by long ago, and we can't change anything. But what this community is like at the end of the next century will not only depend on more-advanced technology, but also on good old-fashioned neighborliness.
   We can't return to Mayberry, but we can make an effort to bring a little Mayberry into our daily lives by assuming more responsibility for ourselves and each other. This is a good place to live and it will become even better if we do that.

   June Mank has been on the Champaign City Council for more than 20 years. She represents one of the city's five districts, but her concern for her home extends far beyond the boundaries of Champaign's District 3.

   The News-Gazette welcomes comments from readers on the issues raised in this article. Please send your comments to: Editor, The News-Gazette, 15 Main St., P.O. Box 677, Champaign, IL 61824-0677. Send comments by e-mail to news@news-gazette.com.