Letters to the Editor 01-28-2003
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By -
- IPFW Warsaw Center - Double Standards - Support GSA - Thanks For Honor - Snow - Man Of The Year Thanks - Benefit Concert
IPFW Warsaw Center
Editor, Times-Union:In response to the recent guest editorial about expanding Warsaw's Ivy Tech campus, I would like to respectfully point out an error. The article stated "Ivy Tech/Warsaw is the only state institution of higher education with a full-time presence in our county."
I have been attending Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne at the local Warsaw Center for the past five years. They maintain a full schedule of day and evening classes during the fall and spring semesters, as well as a small offering of summer classes. This is a wonderful opportunity for traditional students or returning adults to work on a degree.
Students are able to take many general education and elective courses in Warsaw, and some beginning students carry a full load of 12 or more credit hours per semester. And all right here in Warsaw! This saves us the expense of time and money in travel to Fort Wayne.
I have combined my IPFW Warsaw Center classes with Distance Education classes (Internet and video) and on-campus classes and I will complete my bachelor's degree in May. Nearly one-half of my undergraduate credits have been completed without driving to Fort Wayne!
IPFW is also a state institution of higher education with a full-time presence in our county!
Shelly Gilliland
Pierceton
via e-mail
Double Standards
Editor, Times-Union:After listening to the president of National Right to Abortion League, I feel compelled to answer her charges of double standards by conservatives (Christians).
She accuses us of having double standards - killing babies in a war with Iraq and of "forcing women in bad situations to have babies."
First of all, any death in war is terrible. However, war is part of life because of the humanness of men (James 4:1,2). Military forces do not deliberately try to kill babies. It is interesting NARAL is so anti-war because of the accidental killing of babies but supports the planned killing of more than 30 million babies in "professional clinics." How is that not a double standard?
The second accusation of double standards is the forcing of women to have babies. They charge we force them to bring babies into "bad situations." Who does NARAL think runs crisis pregnancy centers like Heartline in Warsaw? The people who run these centers provide material, emotional and spiritual support. These are people that NARAL charges "force women in bad situation to carry babies" (not pregnancies) to term.
After calling an abortion clinic in Indianapolis and inquiring as to the services they provide if a baby is carried to term, I found that they offer no service to help a woman carrying a baby to term "in a bad situation." Their only solution is to kill the baby, or as they say "end the pregnancy."
Don Moffett
Warsaw
Support GSA
Editor, Times-Union:I am proud of the students, teachers and community members who have given their support to the GSA. This is a fine organization that promotes tolerance, peace and unity among different members of society. (These values obviously could benefit the small minority in our community that has attacked the students and their beliefs.) GSA allows teenagers who are questioning their sexuality a safe place to go and discuss their problems and emotions without fear of being harassed or abused.
For a person to claim that the students are creating this club to gain special attention is laughable. Coming out to one's family and friends is the most difficult and pain-filled thing that a gay man or woman will ever do. Do they want to be hurt or cause hurt to the people they love most? Do they want to open themselves to public hate and condemnation? If the answer to these questions is "NO!" then why do you think they would do it for something as silly as attention?
I am horrified that so many Christians have responded in such an un-Christian like manner. What about loving your neighbor as yourself? What are you showing your children by spewing hatred clothed in the words of the Bible? I ask you all to remember that God created all things, and believe it or not that includes homosexuals. And, if I recall correctly, God doesn't make mistakes. He creates diversity by which to enrich the life he has given us. I plan to live that life to the fullest by living in Christ's example and supporting all people.
Passing judgment should be left in the hands of God. Who am I to say what is right or wrong? I'm only human, and therefore imperfect. I'll let Him run the show.
The most frightening thing about GSA joining our community is the ignorance and small mindedness with which it has been met. I wish all of the students at the High School, including the GSA, the best of luck for the future.
Andrea Nichols
Notre Dame
via e-mail
Thanks For Honor
Editor, Times-Union:Wow! What an honor to be chosen as the Woman of the Year for Kosciousko County. Thank you to a wonderful community. It most certainly was a total surprise to me. I strongly believe in participating with organizations that have an effect on our lives and the lives of those around us. I am very thankful to my employer, R.R. Donnelley, and most importantly, to Grant McGuire for allowing me the time and encouraging all of his employees to participate and get involved in community activities. I wanted to thank my husband, Bob, and my family for supporting my need to be involved. As a community, we should all be thankful for the riches we have available here and for all the support the community provides for services that are so desperately needed. Once again, it is such an honor for me to have received this award and to have shared the stage with Scott Wiley, who has given of himself in many selfless ways.
Ruth Voreis
Woman of the Year
via e-mail
Snow
Editor, Times-Union:We have been anticipating the arrival of an oncoming snowstorm which may show up in the near future; however, with the exception of the severe snowfall in '78, in recent years we have witnessed very few of the violent, old-fashioned blizzards that bring on huge, mountainous snowdrifts. I recall the year 1930 when, just before school was due to let out for Christmas vacation, we had one whale of a snowstorm. The white stuff started to pile up the day before vacation started. School had to be dismissed early that day so that kids who rode the school bus could get home safely. Well, not all of the buses made it home. Several youngsters had to stop off at the nearest farmhouse and stay overnight. Each farmer and his spouse were quite willing to take in 15 or 20 stranded school children, give them supper and offer them a place on the floor to bed down.
In days of yore, during winter, a body not only expected violent blizzards bringing on tons of snow, but they also were certain of a siege of sub-zero weather when the lakes froze a foot thick, which made it safe for folks to drive on the ice to fish. Decades ago, groups of burly, muscle-bound males would trek to the lake and chop out huge chunks of ice, then haul them to the icehouse in town. There, they packed the ice in sawdust, thus preserving it for those who owned an icebox.
It's too bad that today, most individuals fail to clean the snow off their walks. Yesteryear, a property owner's sacred duty was to keep his sidewalks shoveled; furthermore, to save face, the property owner generally arose early in the morning to shovel off his walk, or perhaps "Junior" was handed the strenuous chore of making the snow fly, even if he had to hop out of bed at 5 o'clock in the morning to get the job done before school. On the other hand, in the 1930s, equipment for cleaning up the snow wasn't as prevalent as it is in this day and age. For the most part, in the early '30s, snow had to be cleared away through sheer manpower. Many a male through the hard, often backbreaking task of shoveling snow worked up a good sweat, and on occasion, a fatal heart attack. When it comes to cleaning sidewalks, drives and parking lots, we should thank God for all of the modern devices that are now available for solving the great snow dilemma. Thank God for a wonderful device called the snowblower!
Don Kaiser
Warsaw
Man Of The Year Thanks
Editor, Times-Union:I would like to thank the Kosciusko County/Warsaw Chamber of Commerce, the Times-Union and WRSW for selecting me as the 2002 Man of the Year.
I have written and re-written this thank you letter over and over again. Each draft of this letter used most of my allotted 500 words. I then realized that it is impossible for me to express how surprised, thankful and blessed I am to receive this award. So here is the "edited" version.
Instead of singling certain people out, I would just like to thank all of people over the years that have put their trust in me. Thank you to my family, friends, teachers, employers, employees, clients, business associates and the children of our community. Thank you to the thousands of parents that have trusted me as Executive Director of Baker Youth Clubs to watch over their children while they are at one of our clubs. Thank you to the Bowen Center, where I work in the marketing department, for the flexibility to become increasingly involved in our community.
It is very humbling when I read the list of past men and women of the year. As one of the youngest, if not the youngest, person to receive this award, I hopefully have many years ahead of me to continue to try my hardest to follow wherever the Lord leads me to help make Warsaw a better place to live, for children and adults. Thank you all for your support and prayers.
Scott Wiley
Warsaw
via e-mail
Benefit Concert
Editor, Times-Union:John (Jake) Handel, John Tucker, Dodge (Rich) Elkins and Steve Ladwig presented Kosciusko Community Senior Services - KCSS - with a special gift this past weekend. Their "Don't Quit Your Day Job - DQYDJ" band played a benefit at the Downtown Restaurant Saturday night. A cover charge of three cans of food or $3 was established to help KCSS purchase commodities from the Northeast Indiana Food Bank for our seniors in Kosciusko County. The money raised will be a huge benefit to a number of seniors.
April Baxter and Crystal Lenhart, representing KCSS, worked the doors and collected the cans of food and money. Tom Clemens and Kristi Burris from the Downtown made an additional donation to the effort. It was a special surprise and greatly appreciated.
There was great music, excellent food and just lots of good fun as the band played into the evening. Jake Handel serves as vice president of the KCSS board of directors, and developed the idea of having a fun/fund-raiser for KCSS. We hope they will do it again. A sincere thanks to all who participated.
Jack D. Felger
Executive Director
Kosciusko Community Senior Services-KCSS
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- IPFW Warsaw Center - Double Standards - Support GSA - Thanks For Honor - Snow - Man Of The Year Thanks - Benefit Concert
IPFW Warsaw Center
Editor, Times-Union:In response to the recent guest editorial about expanding Warsaw's Ivy Tech campus, I would like to respectfully point out an error. The article stated "Ivy Tech/Warsaw is the only state institution of higher education with a full-time presence in our county."
I have been attending Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne at the local Warsaw Center for the past five years. They maintain a full schedule of day and evening classes during the fall and spring semesters, as well as a small offering of summer classes. This is a wonderful opportunity for traditional students or returning adults to work on a degree.
Students are able to take many general education and elective courses in Warsaw, and some beginning students carry a full load of 12 or more credit hours per semester. And all right here in Warsaw! This saves us the expense of time and money in travel to Fort Wayne.
I have combined my IPFW Warsaw Center classes with Distance Education classes (Internet and video) and on-campus classes and I will complete my bachelor's degree in May. Nearly one-half of my undergraduate credits have been completed without driving to Fort Wayne!
IPFW is also a state institution of higher education with a full-time presence in our county!
Shelly Gilliland
Pierceton
via e-mail
Double Standards
Editor, Times-Union:After listening to the president of National Right to Abortion League, I feel compelled to answer her charges of double standards by conservatives (Christians).
She accuses us of having double standards - killing babies in a war with Iraq and of "forcing women in bad situations to have babies."
First of all, any death in war is terrible. However, war is part of life because of the humanness of men (James 4:1,2). Military forces do not deliberately try to kill babies. It is interesting NARAL is so anti-war because of the accidental killing of babies but supports the planned killing of more than 30 million babies in "professional clinics." How is that not a double standard?
The second accusation of double standards is the forcing of women to have babies. They charge we force them to bring babies into "bad situations." Who does NARAL think runs crisis pregnancy centers like Heartline in Warsaw? The people who run these centers provide material, emotional and spiritual support. These are people that NARAL charges "force women in bad situation to carry babies" (not pregnancies) to term.
After calling an abortion clinic in Indianapolis and inquiring as to the services they provide if a baby is carried to term, I found that they offer no service to help a woman carrying a baby to term "in a bad situation." Their only solution is to kill the baby, or as they say "end the pregnancy."
Don Moffett
Warsaw
Support GSA
Editor, Times-Union:I am proud of the students, teachers and community members who have given their support to the GSA. This is a fine organization that promotes tolerance, peace and unity among different members of society. (These values obviously could benefit the small minority in our community that has attacked the students and their beliefs.) GSA allows teenagers who are questioning their sexuality a safe place to go and discuss their problems and emotions without fear of being harassed or abused.
For a person to claim that the students are creating this club to gain special attention is laughable. Coming out to one's family and friends is the most difficult and pain-filled thing that a gay man or woman will ever do. Do they want to be hurt or cause hurt to the people they love most? Do they want to open themselves to public hate and condemnation? If the answer to these questions is "NO!" then why do you think they would do it for something as silly as attention?
I am horrified that so many Christians have responded in such an un-Christian like manner. What about loving your neighbor as yourself? What are you showing your children by spewing hatred clothed in the words of the Bible? I ask you all to remember that God created all things, and believe it or not that includes homosexuals. And, if I recall correctly, God doesn't make mistakes. He creates diversity by which to enrich the life he has given us. I plan to live that life to the fullest by living in Christ's example and supporting all people.
Passing judgment should be left in the hands of God. Who am I to say what is right or wrong? I'm only human, and therefore imperfect. I'll let Him run the show.
The most frightening thing about GSA joining our community is the ignorance and small mindedness with which it has been met. I wish all of the students at the High School, including the GSA, the best of luck for the future.
Andrea Nichols
Notre Dame
via e-mail
Thanks For Honor
Editor, Times-Union:Wow! What an honor to be chosen as the Woman of the Year for Kosciousko County. Thank you to a wonderful community. It most certainly was a total surprise to me. I strongly believe in participating with organizations that have an effect on our lives and the lives of those around us. I am very thankful to my employer, R.R. Donnelley, and most importantly, to Grant McGuire for allowing me the time and encouraging all of his employees to participate and get involved in community activities. I wanted to thank my husband, Bob, and my family for supporting my need to be involved. As a community, we should all be thankful for the riches we have available here and for all the support the community provides for services that are so desperately needed. Once again, it is such an honor for me to have received this award and to have shared the stage with Scott Wiley, who has given of himself in many selfless ways.
Ruth Voreis
Woman of the Year
via e-mail
Snow
Editor, Times-Union:We have been anticipating the arrival of an oncoming snowstorm which may show up in the near future; however, with the exception of the severe snowfall in '78, in recent years we have witnessed very few of the violent, old-fashioned blizzards that bring on huge, mountainous snowdrifts. I recall the year 1930 when, just before school was due to let out for Christmas vacation, we had one whale of a snowstorm. The white stuff started to pile up the day before vacation started. School had to be dismissed early that day so that kids who rode the school bus could get home safely. Well, not all of the buses made it home. Several youngsters had to stop off at the nearest farmhouse and stay overnight. Each farmer and his spouse were quite willing to take in 15 or 20 stranded school children, give them supper and offer them a place on the floor to bed down.
In days of yore, during winter, a body not only expected violent blizzards bringing on tons of snow, but they also were certain of a siege of sub-zero weather when the lakes froze a foot thick, which made it safe for folks to drive on the ice to fish. Decades ago, groups of burly, muscle-bound males would trek to the lake and chop out huge chunks of ice, then haul them to the icehouse in town. There, they packed the ice in sawdust, thus preserving it for those who owned an icebox.
It's too bad that today, most individuals fail to clean the snow off their walks. Yesteryear, a property owner's sacred duty was to keep his sidewalks shoveled; furthermore, to save face, the property owner generally arose early in the morning to shovel off his walk, or perhaps "Junior" was handed the strenuous chore of making the snow fly, even if he had to hop out of bed at 5 o'clock in the morning to get the job done before school. On the other hand, in the 1930s, equipment for cleaning up the snow wasn't as prevalent as it is in this day and age. For the most part, in the early '30s, snow had to be cleared away through sheer manpower. Many a male through the hard, often backbreaking task of shoveling snow worked up a good sweat, and on occasion, a fatal heart attack. When it comes to cleaning sidewalks, drives and parking lots, we should thank God for all of the modern devices that are now available for solving the great snow dilemma. Thank God for a wonderful device called the snowblower!
Don Kaiser
Warsaw
Man Of The Year Thanks
Editor, Times-Union:I would like to thank the Kosciusko County/Warsaw Chamber of Commerce, the Times-Union and WRSW for selecting me as the 2002 Man of the Year.
I have written and re-written this thank you letter over and over again. Each draft of this letter used most of my allotted 500 words. I then realized that it is impossible for me to express how surprised, thankful and blessed I am to receive this award. So here is the "edited" version.
Instead of singling certain people out, I would just like to thank all of people over the years that have put their trust in me. Thank you to my family, friends, teachers, employers, employees, clients, business associates and the children of our community. Thank you to the thousands of parents that have trusted me as Executive Director of Baker Youth Clubs to watch over their children while they are at one of our clubs. Thank you to the Bowen Center, where I work in the marketing department, for the flexibility to become increasingly involved in our community.
It is very humbling when I read the list of past men and women of the year. As one of the youngest, if not the youngest, person to receive this award, I hopefully have many years ahead of me to continue to try my hardest to follow wherever the Lord leads me to help make Warsaw a better place to live, for children and adults. Thank you all for your support and prayers.
Scott Wiley
Warsaw
via e-mail
Benefit Concert
Editor, Times-Union:John (Jake) Handel, John Tucker, Dodge (Rich) Elkins and Steve Ladwig presented Kosciusko Community Senior Services - KCSS - with a special gift this past weekend. Their "Don't Quit Your Day Job - DQYDJ" band played a benefit at the Downtown Restaurant Saturday night. A cover charge of three cans of food or $3 was established to help KCSS purchase commodities from the Northeast Indiana Food Bank for our seniors in Kosciusko County. The money raised will be a huge benefit to a number of seniors.
April Baxter and Crystal Lenhart, representing KCSS, worked the doors and collected the cans of food and money. Tom Clemens and Kristi Burris from the Downtown made an additional donation to the effort. It was a special surprise and greatly appreciated.
There was great music, excellent food and just lots of good fun as the band played into the evening. Jake Handel serves as vice president of the KCSS board of directors, and developed the idea of having a fun/fund-raiser for KCSS. We hope they will do it again. A sincere thanks to all who participated.
Jack D. Felger
Executive Director
Kosciusko Community Senior Services-KCSS
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