LETTERS TO THE EDITOR (08/15/99)

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

An indispensable source of information

Dear Editor:

I would like to commend you for your excellent coverage of the "Synergy" conference in Washington.

Also noteworthy was Mykola Ryabchuk's recent insightful analysis of the cultural and political crossroads in Ukraine: "One Nation, Two Languages, Three Cultures."

The Weekly is indeed an indispensable source of information on current developments in Ukraine and the Ukrainian American community.

Roman Wolchuk
Jersey City, N.J.

Let's boycott CBS because money talks

Dear Editor:

I read The Ukrainian Weekly each week and enjoy all of it. However, the letter by Oles Cheren, titled "60 Minutes continues its bias," has me upset. Mr. Cheren is quite correct in his complaint about CBS's bias against Ukrainians. However, it will do little good because the exposure is not in the "mainstream" of events.

I have been boycotting CBS since the original broadcast, even though I also wrote letters to the producers without any responses. Now is the time to "hit them where the money is," so to speak. Every Ukrainian, Ukrainian American, all Slavic people and others should boycott CBS until they see their "bottom line" affected.

When CBS complains about the boycott affecting them, then, and only then, shall we be in a position to direct terms. In the United States this is what really matters: the bottom line. It is up to us, the Ukrainian diaspora, to start fighting for our due recognition in society. It will not be easy but it will be worth it!

Ihor P. Petrenko
Springfield, Va.

What about wave of new immigrants?

Dear Editor:

As a subscriber I have been reading this newspaper for seven months now. While the paper seems to attempt to cover everything Ukrainian from the North American perspective, it and the community it speaks for apparently have a huge blind spot. This spot has to be huge if they don't see the current wave of immigration from Ukraine involving tens of thousands of people.

Ignoring a phenomenon has always been the worst way of dealing with it.

I also am a recent arrival and I would like to say a few words through this paper to the North American Ukrainian community and, with some luck, to open a dialogue.

Most of you are aware that Ukraine is an extremely harsh place to live in, and many leave it for the same reason and under similar circumstances as the previous waves of immigrants - out of despair and the hopelessness of their situation. So please don't look down your noses at recent arrivals, while you ostensibly have an exclusive right to live in the comfort and safety of your American homes and love Ukraine vicariously.

Isn't it time for the North American Ukrainian community to stop acting like an exclusive club and try to help and involve the new arrivals in Ukrainian life in America? This is going to be a difficult challenge, because the new arrivals are not organized and not used to active involvement in social life. But a lot is at stake here - like the future of North American Ukrainian community. Will it grow and become a powerful voice in the United States and Ukraine, or will it just linger on without the influx of fresh blood?

Sergey Chikakov
Brooklyn, N.Y.

Congratulations to Helen Smindak

Dear Editor:

I want to congratulate and thank Helen Smindak for her many years of service. Her "Dateline New York" and other in-depth articles have enlightened us all. What a delight to have read about the success of so many Americans of Ukrainian descent succeeding in the various fields of entertainment.

Her research and talent combined have produced pages of cultural information that have enriched my background and helped to instill in me an appreciation of my heritage. Mnohaya Lita to you, Mrs. Smindak!

Mary (Danyluk) Plaskonos
Hamden, Conn.

Koropeckyj's reaction was unwarranted

Dear Editor:

Re: "Column's rationale was questionable," the letter by Roman Koropeckyj (June 13).

As a longtime reader of The Ukrainian Weekly I appreciate very much the articles written by Dr. Myron Kuropas, who is very knowledgeable in Ukrainian history and also very objective in his work.

I find the "questionable" column by Dr. Kuropas to be very informative, based on well-documented material without any anti-Semitic remarks, which I assume exist only in Mr. Koropeckyj's imagination.

There is no reason at all to call the column questionable. No one in his right mind would suspect every Jewish neighbor of working for the Israeli Mossad. I am old, but not paranoid.

Jaroslaw Kaczaj
Cheltenham, Pa.

The Ukrainian Weekly welcomes letters to the editor and commentaries on a variety of topics of concern to the Ukrainian American and Ukrainian Canadian communities. 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.

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