LETTERS TO THE EDITOR (09/05/04)

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Re: Ukrainians on U.S. stamps

Dear Editor:

It was very interesting to read Daria Markus's letter on Igor Sikorsky's Ukrainian origin. His father Ivan Sikorsky (1842-1919), a physician by profession was born in the village of Antoniv, now Skvyra raion, Kyiv Oblast, and died in Kyiv.

It has to be mentioned that two more persons of Ukrainian origin appeared on the U.S. stamps. Research by Dr. Ingert Kuzych, titled "Iwo Jima Ukrainian Topical" and published in Ukrainian Philatelist No. 51 of 1987, established that sergeant Michael Strank is the third Marine from the left (partially obscured) on two U.S. stamps issued in 1945 and 1995 featuring the famous image of Marines raising the U.S. flag on Mount Suribachi, Iwo Jima.

Michael Strank (1919-1945) was born to Vasyl and Martha Strank in Conemaugh, Pa. Both his parents came to the U.S. from the Ukrainian village of Oriabyna (Jarabina in Slovak) in the Priashiv (Presov) region of eastern Slovakia.

The second one is Andy Warhol, who appeared on a U.S. stamp released in August 2002. His father, Andrew, immigrated to the U.S. in 1914 and his mother, Julia Zavadak, arrived in 1921. Both were from the Ukrainian village of Mykiv now the Svydnyk district of the Presov region in eastern Slovakia. An Andy Warhol Museum was founded in 1991 in the village of Medzylabirtsi, near his parents' birthplace of Mykiv.

It might be noted that there are more U.S. stamps related to Ukraine and they were described in my article "The Ukrainian Connection" that was published in the journal American Philatelist in March 2003.

Andrij D. Solczanyk
Media, Pa.

Compliments to Zakydalsky

Dear Editors:

I compliment Oksana Zakydalska (August 8) on providing a balanced survey of what, at times, became a heated debate.

One good way of analysing the crisis in political science-Ukraine in Canada is by analyzing the 77 books and occasional papers published in the Western world on post-Soviet Ukraine. The full titles of the 77 works can be found on http://www.taraskuzio.net/ukrainian/bibliography.html.

Of the 77 titles published, four are by scholars living in Canada, or only 5 percent of the total. Of these four titles only two are actually published in Canada. The Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies has only published one political science book on post-Soviet Ukraine (B.Harasymiw).

Of these four titles, two authors are retired (Profs. B. Harasymiw and Wsewolod Isajiw) and one has gone into government employment after failing to find an academic position (Marta Molchanov). The fourth author has a joint history-political science appointment (M. Dyczok). It is patently the case that if there is a direct link between the number of political science positions with an interest in post-Soviet Ukraine, the number of students who take classes and go on to do post-graduate work and publications on Ukraine.

To sum up, the list of four titles on post-Soviet Ukraine written by scholars living in Canada does not include a single political scientist in a current academic position.

A breakdown of the 77 titles of English-language books and occasional papers on post-Soviet Ukraine is as follows:

1. Great Britain: 29 (37.7 percent)
2. U.S.A.: 18 (23.4 percent)
3. Western Europe: 13 (16.9 percent)
4. Ukraine, 6 (7.8 percent)
5. U.S.A./Britain: 4 (5.2 percent)
6. Canada: 4 (5.2 percent)
7. Australia: 2 (2.6 percent)
8. U.S.A./Ukraine: 1 (1.3 percent).

The only conclusion that can be drawn from these statistics is that Canada's contribution to the study of independent Ukraine under Presidents Leonid Kravchuk and Leonid Kuchma (1991-2004) has been very low. Hopefully, in the post-Kuchma era this crisis will be faced and addressed by Canadian Ukrainians.

Taras Kuzio
Washington

The letter-writer is a visiting professor at the Elliott School International Affairs, George Washington University.

Support UUARC via U.S. campaigns

Dear Editor:

In this post-9/11 time of increased social responsibility and the presidential call for volunteerism, employers, from small corporations to the federal government, are presenting guidelines to their employees for suggested charitable donations and publicly praising their generosity. There are built-in avenues for charitable giving, including, but not limited to, the Combined Federal Campaign for federal workers, State Employees' Charitable Campaigns, the United Way and other local drives. Employers routinely process payroll deductions for charitable contributions and, at times, even match them.

The United Ukrainian American Relief Committee Inc. (UUARC), now in its 60th year of humanitarian aid to Ukrainians in need, receives and investigates more than 300 requests for assistance each year, and, due to the generosity of the Ukrainian American community, has been able to allocate and distribute between $500 and $3,500 per month, in addition to funding many other long-term programs, such as a soup kitchen in Lviv, and assistance to homes for the elderly, orphanages and "internaty."

The UUARC is affiliated and listed with Human Care Charities of America (HCCA) in the Combined Federal Campaign and the Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York state employee campaigns, listed as independent in New Jersey, Michigan and United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania, and can be written in on any United Way Campaign by just listing the UUARC's name and address (1206 Cottman Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19111). All this information is also available on the UUARC website at www.uuarc.org.

If an employer calls for charitable giving, please don't forget that the UUARC helps Ukrainians who desperately need our charity and that, by giving though your employer, you give not only funding to help them, but recognition of the UUARC as an international private voluntary organization.

Please remember to ask your employer about matching funds.

Lida Melnyk
Philadelphia

The letter-writer is administrative liaison at the United Ukrainian American Relief Committee Inc.

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