LETTERS TO THE EDITOR (10/06/02)

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Thanks to activists of scholarship fund

Dear Editor:

I would like to express my gratitude to those individuals who were instrumental in establishing a scholarship fund in memory of my late husband, professor of music, Wolodymyr Czyzyk.

First among them are cellist Natalia Khoma, Ms. Khoma's mother, Marta Khoma, who acted as the fund's president and Oksana Kuzmowycz Shpot, fund officer, as well as my dear friend Ruta Halibey of Chicago. Mmes. M. Khoma and Kuzmowycz Shpot were the fund's representatives in Lviv, and oversaw the according of the stipends to the students.

Since its founding in 2000, "Children and Music: The Natalia Khoma Fund in Memory of Wolodymyr Czczyk," has been supporting talented young musicians in Lviv by awarding a stipend to a gifted student on an annual basis. With the aim of benefiting the permanent fund, a series of five concerts, featuring Ms. Khoma in collaboration with guest performers, was held in Ukraine and in the United States.

Since I will no longer be involved with the fund, I would like to make it known that Account No. 37365 at Selfreliance Ukrainian Federal Credit Union in Chicago, to which donations were made, has been closed effective July 14.

Henceforth, the fund will be managed by Ms. Khoma; all inquiries should be addressed to her at 1291 Sebewaing Road, Okemos, MI 48864.

Once again, I would like to express my gratitude to all those who have made the creation of the fund possible, to all contributors, as well as to those individuals in the United States and in Ukraine who will continue in their efforts to ensure that the fund continues its beneficial work.

Dr. Maria Pohoretska-Czyzyk
Chicago

Clenched-fist salute inappropriate

Dear Editor:

During the "Requiem 2002" ceremony in front of the Taras Shevchenko monument in Washington, singer Vika Vradii raised a clenched-fist salute (The Ukrainian Weekly, September 22).

Perhaps Ms. Vradii did not even realize the meaning of the clenched fist salute. This salute was introduced by the Bolsheviks, and was used especially in the early 1920s to signify the violence of the proletarian revolution.

Subsequently, Antin Makarenko, employing dialectical logic, coined the phrase "paradoxical humanism" to justify terror and cruelty. He believed that cruelty is the highest form of humanism because it forces an individual to change his/her behavior. Makarenko even glorified Feliks Dzerzhinsky, head of the GPU, as "a man of kind heart," a great "humanist."

In the 1960s on campuses in the U.S. the clenched first salute became a symbol for misguided student groups such as Students for a Democratic Society and the Black Panthers.

The issues of the Gongadze case are too complex and painful, and will not be resolved by slogans or demonstrations, especially, if they are not carefully planned out.

Ivan Z. Holowinsky
Somerset, N.J.

Congratulations on "Ukraine Lives!"

Dear Editor:

Thank you very much for sending me the 10th anniversary publication "Ukraine Lives!" You have done an excellent job. This is a book of historical value. I read with great satisfaction and emotion your survey of the activities of Rukh in the years 1989-1991, the proclamation of the independence of Ukraine on August 24, 1991, the referendum of December 1 and the election of the first president of Ukraine.

Your survey of the activities for the years 1991-2001 is also most interesting, as are various comments of Ukrainian historians. I like the one given by Dr. Roman Szporluk.

I have given the book to read to some of my American friends and they were truly impressed by Ukraine's peaceful revolution and rebirth.

Again, I congratulate you for your work on publishing this excellent account of the rebirth of Ukrainian independence.

Wolodymyr Petryshyn
Cranford, N.J.

The Ukrainian Weekly welcomes letters to the editor. Letters should be typed (double-spaced) and signed; they must be originals, not photocopies. The daytime phone number and address of the letter-writer must be given for verification purposes.

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