LETTERS TO THE EDITOR (12/19/99)

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Why the first lady's message was not read

Dear Editor:

I write, reluctantly, as the solemnity of the Great Famine's observance in New York City should not be marred by the disclosure of politicking. Nevertheless, I am compelled to set the record straight since you intimated in your November 28 issue that it was inappropriate to omit reading the First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton's message at the proceedings at St. Patrick's Cathedral.

It was decided at the outset by the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (UCCA), the organizer of the St. Patrick's event that, due to time constraints, no written messages would be read, except for that of the president of the United States. In that regard the UCCA wrote to the White House to request a statement. The White House offered a message from Vice-President Al Gore which we, respectfully, declined. A statement from the vice-president in lieu of a statement from the president was perceived by us as inappropriate and, perhaps, an attempt at politicizing the event in favor of one presidential candidate. The first lady's statement was viewed similarly, albeit as the promotion of a senatorial candidate, especially, given the venue. The White House finally did issue a statement from the president dated November 24 - some four days after the event. It was an unfortunate miscalculation.

Askold S. Lozynskyj
New York

Editor's note: The Weekly's news story and editorial did not "intimate" anything, but simply noted, without offering any judgement, that the first lady's message was not read due to time constraints. Nonetheless, we thank Mr. Lozynskyj for giving our readers a behind-the-scenes account of the planning.

How could Petliura's name be omitted?

Dear Editor:

I do not wish to be overly critical of Andrew Fedynsky's choice of the Ukrainian of the century, because Mr. Fedynsky's heart is in the right place. Still, I am mystified how he could omit the name of Symon Petliura from his list of candidates. To place the leader of a party, Yevhen Konovaletz ahead of a chief of state does not make sense to me.

I was unaware of the attempts by Mr. Konovaletz to organize a nationalist underground in Soviet Ukraine in the 1930s. Such attempts could follow only from lack of knowledge of the conditions in Stalinist Ukraine.

To believe that an isolated armed underground can succeed against a modern tyranny is a pure folly. I share Mr. Fedynsky's respect for the fallen heroes of UPA. The fact that UPA carried their heroic fight until 1950 is almost beyond belief. However, I never understood what the organizers meant to achieve by sending the flower of Ukrainian manhood to near certain death. The sole explanation I could find anywhere was a naive belief that the Western allies would go to war against the Soviet Union shortly after their victory over Germany. Leaders who base their actions on illusions or wishful thinking do not achieve greatness.

Today western Ukraine is the bedrock of patriotism. UPA deserves the credit, but I believe the price paid was too high. There should have been a better way, because the living could have done more than the dead. The tragedy of the Ukrainians is that they always knew how to die. They are still learning how to live.

I disagree with Mr. Fedynsky that the Ukrainian of the next century is still in the kindergarten. Greatness is achieved at the right coincidence of events, time and personality. The time is at hand. Unless such a leader emerges in the next few years, it may be too late for the little kid.

Ihor Koszman
Montgomery, Texas

Ukrainian diaspora needs The Weekly

Dear Editor:

In a recent letter to the editor Boris Danik quite accurately describes the characteristics of a pop culture driven by the "American Dream" of material possessions and the accompanying decline of intellectual content in our civilization. Nowhere is this process more visible than in the declining intellectual quality of the main stream showboats such as Newsweek and Time. This decline, of course, is no more and no less than a reflection on the changing values of the society as a whole and on the economic necessities of industry that services its needs.

Looking from this perspective, the substantive and intellectual content of The Ukrainian Weekly is head and shoulders above many showboats of the main stream media. And a lot of credit for this goes to two and a half or three members of its staff. But The Ukrainian Weekly is more than its capable staff. In a way that Newsweek and Time do reflect substantive and intellectual character of American society as a whole, The Ukrainian Weekly is a reflection and a mirror of substantive and intellectual prowess of the Ukrainian diaspora. And it so happens that the intellectual prowess is the main asset that the diaspora has, and it is the main source of the prestige and respect it enjoys.

The loss of The Ukrainian Weekly would be a major blow to our very existence as a cohesive and successful ethnic grouping in America. I was saddened to read that in a one million strong Canadian Ukrainian society there are only 554 paid subscribers to the newspaper. And on top of this some are threatening to cancel their subscriptions. This is after The Weekly has devoted so much time and space to their affairs. This is not the way to go.

The existence of the Ukrainian diaspora in 2020 will depend very much on the continued existence of The Ukrainian Weekly, which provides essential cohesiveness to our geographically dispersed society. It is up to us to assure its existence. The establishment of The Ukrainian Weekly Press Fund is a step in the right direction. I would like to suggest one more easy step in the same direction. With the coming of the joyful Christmas season and the overwhelming amounts of gifts we give and receive, I would suggest that at least one gift given be a subscription to The Ukrainian Weekly. If each current subscriber to The Weekly makes one such gift, the support base of the newspaper will double. And such a gift to a relative or a friend will be more appreciated than many useless trinkets they and we all receive.

Ihor Lysyj
Austin, Texas

How the UNA selects its Christmas cards

Dear Editor:

I want to explain to Andrew Fylypovych and other interested parties the purpose and process of the selection of works of artists for the UNA Christmas card project.

It is my opinion that there is a need to publish Ukrainian Christmas cards and since it has been the UNA's tradition in the past to do so, of late this tradition has been revived.

There are a few reasons for this particular project. These projects have usually been monetarily successful and this year in particular the profits are assigned to cultural and educational youth programs at Soyuzivka. The UNA always encouraged cultural and educational projects and the Christmas card project lends itself to promoting Ukrainian artists and Ukrainian Christmas traditions, which are depicted in some of the works.

Please be aware that in the summer, both UNA publications, Svoboda and The Ukrainian Weekly, published requests to Ukrainian artists to participate in the project by submitting their works for publication as the UNA's 1999 Christmas cards. This year 15 artists from the United States, Canada and Ukraine submitted their works. The UNA chose 14 of their works for publication. These works are traditional, modern and/or primitive; icons that are religious and somber; traditional cards that are symbolic and happy. They are varied in media - oil, acrylic, ceramic tile, watercolor, mixed media, tempera and gouache.

We regret that some of the cards were not pleasing to Mr. Fylypovych but can we please everybody? Every year we choose from the art submitted by our Ukrainian artists who read our publications. This gives the UNA an opportunity to promote their works in our community since no monetary reimbursement is given to them.

Thank you, Mr. Fylypovych, for your support and your remarks. Hopefully, next year we may have more participants and maybe our selection of cards will be more pleasing to you.

Oksana Trytjak
Parsippany, N.J.

The writer is special projects coordinator at the Ukrianian National Association.

Subscriber in Lviv awaits each issue

Dear Editor:

Greetings from Ukraine.

This is just a brief note of gratitude for your objectivity in publishing my response to Dr. Myron Kuropas' "Faces and Places" article of October 31.

I eagerly await every issue of The Ukrainian Weekly since I often use it to find out what is happening, literally - however paradoxical it may sound - in my backyard. Ukraine is an independent country, but there is limited press freedom.

Illya Matthew Labunka
Lviv

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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