LETTERS TO THE EDITOR (11/21/99)

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Compliments on coverage of UOC

Dear Editor:

I compliment you and your staff - in particular Irene Jarosewich - for a balanced, well-written article in the November 14 issue about Patriarch Filaret's visit to the United States as well as the news story about the UOC/USA vs. Holy Ascension controversy.

The issues raised are of utmost importance to all Ukrainians. We do not need more divisions within our Ukrainian American community; there are enough divisions in Ukraine which we, as a united Ukrainian American entity, must influence and bring to unity.

Freedom of the press is alive and well within the Ukrainian community in America. Let's open up the dialogue on this topic in the public forum as was the case in 1998.

Victor Babanskyj
Watchung, N.J.

A reader's reaction to 'complex answers'

Dear Editor:

My response to the editorial "Complex Answers" (October 10) was anger. The leadership of the Ukrainian National Association has failed its membership dismally by allowing things to slide until solutions further devastate our community.

As policy holders in a fraternal organization, we are not merely clients. We are members and a community. To be viable, a fraternal organization has a two-pronged responsibility. One is building a financial base through insurance policy sales (and possibly other means), and the second is providing membership benefits in the organization for the Ukrainian American community. It is precisely due to these two reasons combined that the UNA grew and prospered.

The publication of two newspapers, one in the Ukrainian language and the other in English, is among the benefits to the community. Each carries an important responsibility and should be treated equally. The Ukrainian Weekly has been a cogent tool in our lobbying efforts outside Ukraine by presenting issues from the Ukrainian perspective. Being non-denominational and politically non-aligned, it is positioned to deal with a wide range of problems and issues in our community. The second, third and future generations of Ukrainian descendants need The Ukrainian Weekly. There is no other medium like it.

To abrogate The Weekly's capacity, or move towards its extinction, is unforgivable and irresponsible. Existing donations to the publishing fund should be dealt equally, but this is only a temporary solution.

What we see is gross neglect. Mismanagement turns people away and that may be the greatest cause of the UNA's failures. First it was Soyuzivka, now The Weekly and tomorrow the UNA. Americans don't need the UNA. Ukrainian Americans do - individually and organizationally.

Later this year the delegates to the last UNA convention (held in May 1998) are to vote on a corporate structure for the UNA to bring about better accountability. The question of the fraternal face of this institution is essential to our future as the Ukrainian diaspora in America and an ethnic group in the United States.

The Ukrainian American community built the UNA, a fraternal financial institution, to assure the existence of the Ukrainian community outside the borders of Ukraine. In turn, the UNA kept the community together by being responsive to its needs. We, the community and the UNA, have to solve this problem together.

Roma M. Hayda
Easton, Conn.

Disappointed with Wynnyckyj's layoff

Dear Editor:

It is with some hesitation and concern that I am renewing my subscription to The Ukrainian Weekly. I was extremely disappointed and angry that Andrij Kudla Wynnyckyj was relieved of his duties and will no longer contribute as a full-time staffer to the newspaper. Mr. Wynnyckyj's journalistic style brought with it objectivity, analysis and wit, which will sorely be missed by this reader.

The newspaper has come a long way and provides excellent coverage of Ukrainian affairs worldwide. My only hope is that you plan to maintain the caliber of journalism which Mr. Kudla Wynnyckyj provided.

Nadia H. Skop, Ph.D.
Toronto

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