Alaska News

Letters to the editor (10/11/09)

US like Argentina in some ways

As I write this letter I am sitting at my computer in Rosario, Argentina, and all I need to do is look outside to see the haves and the have-nots.

I am here on a foreign exchange and have come to realize how fortunate I am to have sufficient food, clean clothes, and be able to pay for health care. Unfortunately, this is not just a problem in Argentina.

In the U.S., 30 percent of people ages 19-29 have no health insurance at all. We need to grow up as a mature nation and take action to reform our health care system.

- Mark Jennings

Anchorage

Keep Boys and Girls Clubs open

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In regards to the Oct. 7 article involving the Boys & Girls Clubs of Alaska ("Painful pinch"):

The Boys & Girls Club helped me make new friends, experience new activities that not a lot of people get to have. Taking away the Boys & Girls Clubs around Alaska is ripping those experiences and opportunities away.

Volunteering and helping with BGC would make it so the clubs that are not closed now do not close in the future, saving a lot of kids from losing those great experiences.

- Karimah Shine

Woodland Park Clubhouse member

Anchorage

Boys and Girls Clubs teach youngsters many useful skills

In regard to the Oct. 7 article involving the Boys & Girls Clubs of Alaska ("Painful pinch"):

My name is Michael Whiting. I am 17 years old and I've been a contributing member of the Woodland Park Boys & Girls Club for nine years. Being a part of the 11,000 statewide Boys & Girls Club members has affected me in numerous positive ways.

The Boys and Girls Club's Torch Club and Keystone programs have taught me many things, such as basic leadership skills as well as communication skills amongst my fellow peers. Seeing children in the villages and Interior parts of our state become deprived of such wonderful opportunities not only saddens me, but makes me feel that economic recession is robbing these children of a bright and hopeful future.

I can only hope that granters will become a tad bit more generous during times of need.

Best wishes to the other cities and villages.

- Michael Whiting

Keystone president, Woodland Park

Anchorage

Cyrano's play well worth it

Everyone who was raised in Alaska or lived here in the '50s and '60s should go and see the play "The Courtship of Zack and Ada" at Cyrano's. This delightful story of how Alaska became a state will bring back memories to many and educate everyone on who the movers and shakers in Alaska were during the postwar years.

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The story and acting in this play are superb. We don't attend the theater often, but we'll definitely be going to see more local productions put on by local talent at Cyrano's and elsewhere. It was actually cheaper than a movie with popcorn and the live actors made it much more entertaining.

Break a leg, Alaskans!

- Tom Johnston

Jacquie Erickson

Anchorage

I prefer dogs to most people

In response to Al-Hajji Frederick H. Minshall ("Pets are not people," Oct. 9):

Your letter could only have been written by a person who has never felt the unconditional love and friendship of a pet. To you I say: "My condolences."

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Letters like yours remind me why I like my dogs more than I like most people. Were one of my girls gifted with opposable thumbs long enough to write a letter to the editor, it would not be a soulless, vile, hate-filled rant like yours.

She would probably simply say, "I love you. May I have some cheese?"

- Ed Brandt

Anchorage

Doctor's dinosaur trophy sick

The tiny story buried deep in Wednesday's paper about the Big Lake oncologist who paid upwards of $750,000 for a dinosaur trophy to hang "in my living room" deserved front page coverage ("Big Lake trophy hunter won't settle for moose," Oct. 7).

It says more about what's wrong with our health care system than dozens of other front page stories combined.

- Billy Choate

Homer

Hickel's quiet visit to Youth Detention Center says a lot

I had been thinking of Wally Hickel's opinion piece ("Alaskans can rise above petty politics, hateful acts," Sept. 27) all week. It was so uplifting, positive and inclusive. Then, at a staff meeting at McLaughlin Youth Detention Center, it was announced that former Gov. Hickel would be coming to speak to the kids.

Wally is a big fish who swims in big oceans. McLaughlin is a brackish back eddy to this guy, filled with damaged kids, kids who've made big mistakes and seen way too much of the dark underbelly of our community. But kids with hopes and dreams and a state and school staff feverishly trying to help them realize the best of themselves.

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Wally came to talk to them ... share himself and his story ... tell them of the power of ideas and hard work. No press, no photo ops, nothing really in it for him. He's 90 years old. The kids listened and loved it.

Wally Hickel is truly a state and national treasure. He's genuine and authentic and represents the best of Alaska.

What a man.

- Mike Welch

Anchorage

Hatred of Obama a real drag

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Do Republicans hate America? An American president tries to bring the Olympics to an American city, and Republicans cheer when he fails? An American president receives an international honor, and Republicans are angry about it?

Apparently, a significant part of the Republican Party hates President Obama so much that they are willing to drag down the whole country to make him fail.

- Tom Plawman

Anchorage

City's homeless deserve more compassion, Mr. Rhyner

In response to the Compass of Mr. Rhyner ("That alley trash bin can be death trap," Oct. 8):

His big red waste collection truck has a horn; he should learn to use it when approaching containers. The incidents he described place him and his employer on notice about the danger their actions are to the public.

Our homeless population is larger than ever, but then so is our city in general. Incarcerating the homeless on a Cook Inlet island where they cannot be seen by the general populace reminds me of how this country treated the Japanese during WWII.

Not meeting the basic needs of the homeless by refusing to provide meals, shelter, and further by jailing them, demonstrates a basic lack of human compassion and understanding on his part.

Anchorage is trying to solve how we are going to effectively deal with homeless individuals and families. Many hard- working well meaning people search daily for the correct answer and just as importantly offer the assistance and attention to those with the greatest need in our community, until an answer is found.

- Bill Granger, chairman of the Board of Trustees

Catholic Social Services

Anchorage

Rhyner misses the mark; we can't abandon our homeless

In reply to Richard Rhyner's commentary, those living on the streets do face myriad threats to their life and health on a daily basis, including exposure to the elements, the threat of violence and, sadly, the possibility of being "thrown out" like so much "trash." I agree with Mr. Rhyner that this is a sad state of affairs and that something needs to be done.

However, I find Mr. Rhyner's proposal completely misses the mark. If by "rehabilitation" Mr. Rhyner means drug and alcohol treatment, then yes, more state-of-the-art treatment facilities would certainly go a long way in helping to alleviate homelessness in our community.

Addiction, however, is only one of the many causes of homelessness. Lack of jobs that pay a living wage, lack of affordable housing, lack of affordable medical and mental health care, and domestic violence are major contributors to the homeless crisis we are facing. Where does Mr. Rhyner think they will go home to when they are sufficiently "rehabilitated"?

Both Brother Francis Shelter and Bean's Café provide services to those who have fallen through the cracks of our society, helping them to stay as well as possible so that they are able to work towards independence, rather than ending up literally at the bottom of a garbage heap.

- Sr. Jacqueline Stoll

nurse practitioner

Brother Francis Homeless Shelter

Anchorage

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