LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Prochorenko right on aid to Ukraine
Dear Editor:
In his commentary "Aid to Ukraine and why it does not work" (April 9), Walter Prochorenko hits the nail on the head. It's certainly no secret that Ukraine has been the second largest recipient of foreign aid from the United States in recent years. There's also not much dispute about Ukraine's dismal economic performance.
Mr. Prochorenko attributes the country's malaise to rampant corruption, to a dependency syndrome of hand-outs and to ineffectual consultants from the West. His principal advice is to clean up the endemic corruption.
Of course, this is easier said than done, especially as the Ukrainian saying goes "ryba z holovy smerdyt," freely translated as "the rot starts from the top." Understandably there has to be a political will to change this state of affairs, but a Ukrainian Robespierre is not waiting in the wings at the moment.
Another serious problem is the attitude of the Ukrainian power brokers dealing with mismanagement, ie., theft of the aid received. Most of them are there primarily for self-aggrandizement without much concern for improving the lot of their fellow citizens. For them, Ukraine is still a colonial entity to be exploited by whatever means available.
How is this cleansing of the proverbial stables from corrupt officials to be accomplished? The obvious solution is a political one: kick the rascals out and prosecute them to the full extent of the law. So far this approach has mainly been confined to rhetoric. The other way, however draconian it may sound, is to cut off aid completely. This shock therapy may be just the prescription needed to begin regenerating Ukraine's societal underpinnings.
Corruption has extended its tentacles so insidiously throughout the societal infrastructure that a Herculean effort will be required to eradicate it. It's even unclear to what extent Ukrainians are willing to tolerate this problem or to what efforts they are willing to expend in arresting it.
Let's be clear on one thing: only by implementing a process of moral cleansing and by earnestly attempting to build a normally functioning nation state, will Ukraine make it through the next decade of the 21st century.
Yurij Hanas
Hamilton, Ontario
Eleanor Roosevelt helpful to our cause
Dear Editor:
Regarding Boris Danik's letter "More observations on FDR's legacy" (April 30), written in response to Jaroslaw Sawka's letter, permit me to confirm his point that Eleanor Roosevelt was most helpful to my brother Stephen Shumeyko when he was working on behalf of several organizations and for the "Ukrainian cause."
I remember the day Steve came home and told us about the phone call he received from Mrs. Roosevelt and how sympathetic she was to the cause. At that time he was writing appeals on behalf of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America and the Pan American Ukrainian Congress in desperate attempts to reach key people in our government and the United Nations.
Upon receiving copies of various appeals and communications, she called my brother. Thanks to her interest and help, doors that were closed to Stephen were opened so that he eventually managed to reach and influence people on Ukraine's behalf, such as Sens. Arthur Vandenberg and Howard Taft; Anne O'Hare McCormick, The New York Times' top international correspondent; Hessell B. Tiltman, British political writer; and many others.
Theodore Shumeyko
Saddle River, N.J.
There are more Odessas in U.S.
Dear Editor:
As to of localities in the United States with the name "Odessa," my article "U.S. Post Office Names with Ukrainian Connections" that appeared in Ukrainian Philatelist No. 44, 1981, (pages 23-25); No. 45, 1982, (pages 17-21); No 46, 1983, (pages 31-32) and No. 48, 1985, (ages 14-16) lists eight "Odessa" post offices in this country.
Besides these eight there are "Lake Odessa," MI 48849, Ionia County and "West Odessa" TX 79763, Ector County post offices.
In addition A. Wlasenko-Bojcun in "Ukrainian Place Names in the U.S.A." (Bismarck: 1977) lists three localities named "Odessa" in North Dakota located in Pierce, Ramsey and Grant counties.
It might be added that there are only two "Odessa" post offices in Canada - one in Ontario named "Odessa" in 1854, and the other in Saskatchewan (Andrij D. Solczanyk, "Canadian Post Offices with Ukrainian Names," Ukrainian Philatelist, No. 43, 1980, pages 20-21).
Anyone interested in having a cover with an "Odessa" post office cancellation should mail a letter to the postmaster of the post office with an enclosed self-addressed, stamped envelope and ask for a post office cancellation.
Sometimes you might be surprised, as I was when in the returned letter there was a note from one postmaster stating that he, too, is a Ukrainian.
Andrij D. Solczanyk
Media, Pa.
Kuropas promotes right-wing agenda
Dear Editor:
Like many other Ukrainian Americans, I depend on The Ukrainian Weekly for news and discussion about events in Ukraine and Ukrainian life in the United States. The newspaper almost always does a great job at covering both topics and I am glad to be a subscriber.
For years, one of The Weekly's strengths has been the writing of Dr. Myron Kuropas, whose column, "Faces and Places," appears every two weeks. I admire Dr. Kuropas for his decades of energy as an activist on behalf of the Ukrainian community, his great knowledge of Ukrainian history and the Ukrainian immigration and his intimate understanding of many Ukrainian American (and Ukrainian Canadian) organizations, including the Ukrainian National Association. He has brought this experience to his column and enlightened us all many times. For this reason, a number of readers have sent in letters of praise for Dr. Kuropas, which The Weekly has published.
However, I join with a growing chorus of letter-writers to complain about recent columns in which Dr. Kuropas has moved from specifically Ukrainian concerns to American politics and social issues more generally. My larger complaint is that these columns are written in a tone that is offensive and hateful toward those who would disagree with the conservative Republican viewpoints that Dr. Kuropas espouses, and can only be divisive within The Weekly's readership.
Among others, he alienates Ukrainian Americans who might support feminist issues, gun control, gay rights, the Democratic Party and its candidate, and the right of Juan Miguel Gonzalez to raise his own son. This complaint adds to those about earlier.
I have considered stopping my subscription, but choose not to do so because I depend on The Weekly for its news and announcements.
Dr. Kuropas is, of course, entitled to his opinions, as I am entitled to think that he has overstayed his welcome. The issue is the following: The Ukrainian Weekly is a unique community resource, one that no single columnist should be allowed to appropriate, no matter what his or her politics. To do so is to disenfranchise members of the community who happen to think differently. The bigotry and name-calling that mark Dr. Kuropas' recent columns make the situation worse and raise legitimate questions about his fitness for the job.
What do the editors of The Weekly think? If they agree that Dr. Kuropas' recent columns are divisive, as more and more letter-writers are saying, then they should tame him, drop him, or take on additional columnists with different viewpoints. From these choices, I would recommend dropping him. The extra-splenetic column of April 30, venting at both our government and majority opinion in the United States on the Elian issue, showed that Dr. Kuropas is every bit the outdated and inflexible old fossil that he says Castro is, although with opposing politics. If, on the other hand, the editors endorse his right-wing approach, then they should say so directly, telling those of us who are offended that we matter less.
Roman Cybriwsky
Fort Washington, Pa.
Editor's note: As we have repeatedly underlined, opinions expressed by columnists, commentators and letter-writers are their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of either The Weekly editorial staff or its publisher, the Ukrainian National Association. The Ukrainian Weekly has always welcomed letters to the editor and commentaries expressing a diversity of opinions on a variety of topics that concern the Ukrainian American and Ukrainian Canadian communities.
Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, May 21, 2000, No. 21, Vol. LXVIII
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