LETTERS TO THE EDITOR (04/28/96)

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Rep. David Bonior deserves support

Dear Editor:

Christina Milburn's letter (April 14) urging Ukrainians to thank Rep. David Bonior should resonate loudly within the Ukrainian American community. We have too few friends willing to support us when Ukraine and Ukrainians are cast as villains in the public eye.

It was truly courageous of Rep. Bonior to cast his lot with Ukraine in the battle with "60 Minutes". As chairman of the Ukrainian Heritage Defense committee of the UNA, I called on countless politicians, journalists and others to relay our side of the controversy, and almost without exception, they were totally disinterested at best, and overtly hostile at worst.

Working with Arthur Belendiuk, Esq., and with Bohdanna Pochoday, Esq., both of whom deserve public kudos for their selfless endeavors before the FCC on this issue, I soon came to realize that the only realistic chance for the FCC to take us seriously came as a result of the letter written by Rep. Bonior. Unfortunately, one letter from a Congressman was not enough. We certainly could have used more. How can we ensure that we will get them? Certainly not by ignoring the one representative who stuck his neck out when no other Congressman would raise his voice.

Until our community learns how to express appreciation to our allies, our influence on American politicians will remain at the insignificant level at which it now resides. We should learn from other ethnic communities who honor their allies with fund-raisers, banquets and votes. We must show David Bonior that it will be to his benefit to have stuck his neck out for us. We must not forget that there will be consequences in the future if we do not. We must not establish a reputation in Washington as a community that comes scurrying around looking for help when we need it, without ever paying our political dues. It is time we learned how the game is really played.

Nestor L. Olesnycky
Maplewood, N.J.

More on survival of our species

Dear Editor:

Re: Articles in the March 10 issue: "Survival of the species" by Christopher Guly and "A primer on e-mail lists..." by Bohdan Rekshynskyj.

Mr. Guly's article has certainly raised an issue that is of major concern to us with respect to preserving our contribution to both Canadian and American history. We, as a federation, will be encouraging our member-associations to financially support the Ukrainian Canadian media in order to preserve our place in this society. There appears to be belief that these vehicles of communication in our community will continue without any support from us. In this time of economic uncertainty, we must maintain and continue our financial support - through subscriptions and advertisements - nothing will continue for free. In our national operational budget, we have marked funding for advertising in the Ukrainian Canadian media. It is our responsibility to ensure its continuity. If we lose these tools of linking our community together, we have no one to blame but ourselves

Mr. Rekshynskyj's e-mail directory was most appreciated; however, I would like to clarify that the UCPB is really the Ukrainian Canadian Professional and Business Federation's (UCPBF) homepage, which is extremely extensive and consists not only of federation information but information about all our member-associations across Canada. In addition, it provides links to countless other Ukrainian-related groups. It is one of the only major Ukrainian Canadian organizations that has a homepage on the Internet and as such, should be described in more detail.

Individuals wishing more information about our homepage can contact our vice-president of communications, Michael Kostiuk, at [email protected]

Raya Shadursky
Etobicoke, Ontario

The writer is president of the Ukrainian Canadian Professional and Business Federation.

An appreciation for Weekly writers

Dear Editor:

I want to take this opportunity to thank you for the interesting articles each week. You have excellent writers, and two of your best are Orysia Tracz and Marta Kolomayets.

Ms. Tracz's holiday articles are read and reread. They take me back to my dear mother's kitchen with the coal-burning range. How she managed to cook all the traditional food continues to amaze me. Ms. Tracz has the uncanny ability to portray so accurately those long-gone days. Her article on the trials and tribulations of coping with guests from Ukraine also hit a sore spot. But she made me laugh also.

No one, but no one, can write about life in Ukraine as it is today better than Ms. Kolomayets. I'll never forget her article on her experience in trying to get into a Benetton store in Kyiv.

I send packages of food and clothing to nine families in Poland and Ukraine. The agency told me they will no longer handle any money transfers to Ukraine - that crime in Ukraine is worse than in Russia. I would like to read something about this from your correspondents.

Meanwhile, thanks for an informative newspaper. One more thing: I wish you would write more about Ukrainians in baseball and football. You know there are more sports than just hockey.

Sophie Pachowka
Woodlyn, Pa.

What about Taras Bulba?

Dear Editor:

Reading the March 31 "Turning the pages back" column on Nikolai Gogol (Mykola Hohol), I was flabbergasted to find no mention of the great writer's Kozak novella "Taras Bulba," a powerful presentation of the Ukrainian Kozak struggle against the Poles.

"Taras Bulba" made absurd the charges leveled by Ukrainian chauvinists that Gogol was indifferent to the Ukrainian question. Written a quarter of a century before Henryk Sienkiewicz's "With Fire and Sword," the widely read novel depicting the Polish version of the Ukrainian Kozak uprising led by Bohdan Kmelnytsky, it was acclaimed by eminent critics as a superior work from both a literary and historical standpoint.

John Switalski
Barrington, R.I.

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