LETTERS TO THE EDITOR (08/02/98)

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Professionals are grunts, too

Dear Editor:

In his July 12 column, Myron Kuropas divides the community into three tiers, or sub-groups: the academics, the business and professional people, and the so-called "grunts," or community activists. While this division is somewhat artificial, his point on greater interaction within the community is well taken. Indeed, conferences put on by professional groups, such as The Washington Group (TWG) Leadership conferences, have attempted to facilitate the kind of interaction he speaks to, and they are designed not just for members of professional groups, but for anyone interested in the substance of a particular conference, be it academics, "grunts," or whoever.

While Dr. Kuropas allows for occasional overlap among his three tiers, I think the overlap is considerably greater than he acknowledges. I can't speak definitively for the academics or for all professional groups (Ps and Bs), but a substantial number of members of The Washington Group (TWG), the largest of the Ukrainian American professional groups, easily fall into the category of "grunts." Many active members of TWG - and I believe this holds true with other Ps and Bs - are also active in other community organizations.

Professional groups are an integral part of the community, so it seems to me that those active solely in their professional groups also are "grunts," even if they aren't active anywhere else. What makes activists of professional groups any less "grunts" than someone, say, who is active in his or her parish, dance group, fraternal or credit union? Are professional groups somehow less "community" organizations than the others? Professional groups may not always have the membership or financial resources of some other community organizations, but they, too, contribute to the life of the community.

The Washington Group, to cite just one example, is virtually the only Ukrainian American organization in the Washington metropolitan area that stages high-caliber functions on a consistent basis and whose membership cuts across all the parishes and other community entities in the D.C. metro area. TWG provides a platform for U.S. or Ukrainian officials to inform and share their perspectives on Ukraine with TWG members and non-members, including many non-Ukrainians, providing them with an opportunity to interact with these officials. These functions often are reported on in The Ukrainian Weekly and other Ukrainian-American newspapers, the Voice of America, Radio Liberty, the BBC, thus reaching a broad audience beyond the TWG membership.

TWG funds internships at the Embassy of Ukraine, brings high quality Ukrainian cultural events to the nation's capital (which are also often attended by the wider American public), stages Ukrainian Independence Day picnics and social events, and engages in other activities, either by itself or in cooperation with other organizations, that serve to advance Ukrainian American life.

Furthermore, TWG has provided - and will continue to provide - a platform for other community organizations to inform TWG members about their respective organizations. TWG, like other professional organizations to varying degrees, not only contributes, it also increasingly fills gaps in a Ukrainian American community that is steadily diminishing.

I wholeheartedly agree with Dr. Kuropas that it is the "grunts" who carry the community, but those grunts include members of professional groups who volunteer their time, effort and often financial resources for the benefit of those groups.

Another point: A minority of members of professional groups are not involved in any other Ukrainian American community entity and, if it wasn't for their membership in a Ps and Bs group, probably wouldn't be involved anywhere. The same holds true, by the way, for many members of Ukrainian churches or fraternals. Nevertheless, it's better to be involved with one community entity - and that includes professional groups which are integral components of the larger Ukrainian-American community - than not to be involved with any.

Finally, while I haven't read Volume XIX of Harvard Ukrainian Studies, which Dr. Kuropas criticizes for providing a forum for Russian studies, I do think that one has to look at the big picture. On balance, the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute and the Ukrainian studies chairs have been a tremendous asset in furthering objective knowledge about Ukraine, hence, almost by definition, an asset to the Ukrainian American community.

Orest Deychakiwsky
Washington

The writer is president of The Washington Group.

HURI programs marked by vitality

Dear Editor:

Having recently returned from a visit to the Ukrainian Research Institute at Harvard and its summer program, I would like to offer my impressions of some of its activities. This was my second time lecturing at the Harvard Ukrainian Summer Institute, and I was again impressed by the vitality of this program. During my stay I had the opportunity to meet more than 50 students in this year's class; they represent the best and brightest from Ukraine and the Ukrainian American/Canadian communities.

Based on my dealings with the Ukrainian Research Institute, I consider it to be a most important link between Ukraine and the West. The institute hosts countless scholars from Ukraine, as well as visiting delegations, and helps these Ukrainian visitors establish ties with other American institutions.

In December 1996, the institute organized a conference on Ukrainian foreign policy that brought together scholars and policymakers from Ukraine, the United States and many other countries. Last December, the institute worked with the Kennedy School of Government to host a conference on civil-military relations in which more than 30 top Ukrainian military officers participated.

Finally, I would add that the institute's willingness to publish a book of my diplomatic addressees and lectures shows that it is interested in more than simply publishing for a small and specialized academic audience.

In closing, my experience with the Ukrainian Research Institute has shown it to be not isolated or inward-looking, but an active participant in the process of change in contemporary Ukraine.

Yuri Shcherbak
Washington

The writer is Ukraine's ambassador to the United States.

Kuropas column hits the mark

Dear Editor:

Dr. Myron Kuropas in his "Faces and Places" of July 12 hits the mark once again. Our communities must face reality and find solutions as to how we will exist in the 21st century.

The University of Illinois has done an outstanding job in providing critical information to the communities through the yearly conferences held in Urbana, Ill. Unlike Harvard, the University of Illinois focuses on today's realities of life in the U.S. and how it relates to Ukraine.

According to Dr. Kuropas, it is the "grunts" in the community who essentially move programs forward and maintain the communities so that our younger generations can benefit from our senior citizens.

If it were not for the current senior citizens, including teachers, the U.S. military would not have highly qualified Ukrainian interpreters. If it were not for these senior citizens and their persistence in teaching the "younger" generation the difference between democracy and communism, these interpreters would not be able to refute illogical questions from former Communists. These teachers include our parents who expected us to learn Ukrainian as well as English; for them, failure was not an option.

How do we maintain our vibrant communities in the 21st century? Good question. I firmly believe that they have to be all-inclusive. We cannot afford to ostracize anyone; we must accept the differences and build a strong foundation.

The Ukrainian Weekly will have a major role in this program, disseminating information as well as challenging the communities to become more fully engaged in the process. Let us begin today.

Roman G. Golash
Schaumburg, Ill.

More on U.S. policy regarding visas

Dear Editor:

I read with sympathy the article by Mary Walkiewicz (The Weekly, July 5) about her cousin's tribulation in trying to get a tourist visa at the American Embassy in Kyiv.

From my own experience I know that once the American Embassy in Kyiv makes a mistake you will have to move heaven and earth to get it corrected. It's as if the clerks have been instructed never to correct mistakes.

In 1994 a person I know very well, a 37-year-old Ukrainian teacher at an institute, went to apply for a tourist visa to the embassy. The clerk could only speak second-rate Russian and got the idea that my acquaintance was a student without a job; she was rejected. Letters, faxes and telephone calls from the United States could not get this error corrected.

I understand that the embassy tries to reduce the number of tourists who want to remain illegally in the United States - and that the applicants sometimes lie on their applications - but it's a shame that innocent people suffer.

It's also a shame that the United States welcomes so many Russian and Ukrainian crooks. If you have a large sum of money in a Swiss bank, and declare yourself to be a businessman who wants to invest in the United States, getting a visa is a snap.

More troubling is a new practice started by some Caribbean countries to sell "economic citizenships." For $25,000 to $50,000, Dominica and St. Kitts will be happy to sell you their citizenship. Dominica is even kind enough to let you change your name on the Dominican passport they will issue to you.

As one IRS official said: "If you're a Russian crook, you get a condo in Miami, a bent bank in the Caribbean, and you're in heaven."

Bohdan Hodiak
Miami Beach, Fla.

Canadian Embassy no better with visas

Dear Editor:

I write in response to Mary L. Walkiewicz's article of July 5 recounting her cousin's "Saga of a visa experience in Kyiv." As it turns out, the Canadian Embassy is no easier to deal with than that of the United States.

In the spring of 1997, I wrote to Ukraine to invite a friend who is on the faculty of Lviv University to come to Canada for a couple of months in the summer. We intended to collaborate on some professional work. The visit was also to be an opportunity for her to meet Canadian scholars in Ukrainian and Russian studies.

Although my invitation was sent on official university letterhead, the members of the embassy would have none of it. She had to visit the Canadian E mbassy in Kyiv three times before she was finally granted a visa. Each time she queued for hours and paid $50 for the interview. As a final insult, the agent with whom she dealt claimed not to know the Ukrainian language; they spoke Russian.

The first time she was refused, it seems to have been on the grounds that what she really wanted to do was to visit her daughter in Toronto. The second time she was told that she did not have enough money to support herself. In addition to the initial invitation, I had to write another two letters, each one more detailed than the first.

It took her right back to the good old days of the USSR, of course. To both of us, the procedure was insulting.

Elizabeth V. Haigh
Halifax, Nova Scotia

The writer is professor of history at St. Mary's University in Halifax.