LETTERS TO THE EDITOR (02/17/02)

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Zenon Snylyk: leader and pioneer

Dear Editor:

It is with great sadness that I read about Zenon Snylyk's passing. Having played soccer with him during the 1960s for the Ukrainian Sports Club (USC) in New York, I was always impressed with his sportsmanship and leadership qualities.

Although competitive and a hard worker, he played the game thoughtfully, as a gentleman with consideration for his teammates and the opposing players. Zenon was one of the best playmakers in the German American League.

While he made an important intellectual contribution to us as editor of Svoboda and The Ukrainian Weekly, he was also one of the soccer pioneers who contributed in a significant way to soccer's current success in the United States.

I am sure our former teammates join me in offering sympathy and condolences to his family.

Eugene Melnitchenko
Owings, Md.

Why no mention of UAV activities?

Dear Editor:

As a longtime subscriber to The Ukrainian Weekly, each week I look forward to receiving my copy and reading some of the fine articles.

When I read the "Year in Review" (January 6), I was amazed that you mentioned so many organizations in the Ukrainian American community, some of them of questionable value, but failed to mention anything about the activities of the Ukrainian American Veterans. It seems to me that very little, if anything, is ever mentioned about UAV in The Weekly.

As this time we are in the process of obtaining a Congressional Charter. Copies of The Ukrainian Weekly are sent to members of the U.S. Congress. Not including Ukrainian American Veterans' activities and contributions sends a negative message to those in power.

We, veterans, do not like to brag about ourselves, but we, as representatives of our Ukrainian American community, have served our country with honor and distinction. After all, we are the men and women who protected the United States of America, as well as Ukrainian Americans.

I hope that in the future The Ukrainian Weekly is more objective in evaluating Ukrainian American organizations and their contributions to our country. We may be quiet, but we are alive and well.

Jerry Zinych
Venice, Fla.

The letter-writer is commander of UAV Post 40 in Southwest, Florida

Editor's note: We should note that not every Ukrainian organization is mentioned each year in our review of major developments. That does not mean that these organizations are inactive, but is merely a reflection of the fact that a survey of major developments cannot repeat all the news that this newspaper published during the year. In fact, The Ukrainian Weekly carried at least nine stories during 2001 about the Ukrainian American Veterans, reporting on both national and local developments. In addition, the UAV received prominent coverage in the Year in Review issue for 2000, when the issue of a Congressional Charter was most recently updated. Thanks are due to the UAV members who have contributed articles about their valuable organization's activity to The Weekly.

Ukrainian judge should be shamed

Dear Editor:

Vladyslav Petukhov, Ukraine's judge of the pairs skating competition at the Salt Lake City Olympics, should be hounded and publicly shamed for having participated on February 11 in one of the most flagrant and outrageous frauds in the history of a sport that is rife with corruption.

After Canada's Jamie Salé and David Pelletier skated a flawless version of a program that had never lost on presentation marks in competition, they were given a silver medal behind a performance that contained a clear error by Anton Sikharulidze. Mr. Petukhov gave the pair from Canada and Russia equal marks for technical execution.

It is a bottomless disgrace that the day which began with the Cinderella squad from Ukraine bringing their country such glory in their shocking 5-2 upset of Switzerland in hockey should end with the ignominy of Mr. Petukhov's kowtowing, in the manner of the despicable "khakhol," to the Russian imperial skating machine.

If that were not enough, get ready for more. Yurii Balkov, the judge from Ukraine who was suspended in 1998 for presenting a pre-set list to a colleague prior to a competition, will be back in the chair for the ice dance competition.

Andrij Kudla Wynnyckyj
Toronto

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