Letters to the Editor 02-25-2005
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By -
- Terri Schiavo - Daylight Saving Time - Secession - Question For Randall - Track Tradition
Terri Schiavo
Editor, Times Union:Recent news reports regarding the story of Terri Schiavo are inaccurate. The reports consistently state that Terri is either in a coma or a persistent vegetative state. Neither of these are correct. The media also portrays her husband as a caring person who just wants what Terri would have wanted.
In 1990, Terri Schiavo collapsed in the home she shared with her husband, Michael. The cause of her collapse is unknown to this day, however, there are some who believe that she may have been the victim of spousal abuse. Terri fell into a coma, but awakened from her comatose state weeks later. During the months that followed Terri's collapse, she made progress. Medical practitioners noted her efforts to speak and her responsiveness.
To this day, Terri remains disabled. Though she is responsive to activities around her, interacts with her environment and her loved ones and is able to communicate in limited ways, she is a disabled and vulnerable adult requiring protection and therapy, which her husband is unwilling to provide. Terri has not received any meaningful therapy since 1991 on orders of her husband.
Dr. William Maxfield, a radiologist, said CD scans from 2002 show some brain damage but not the enormous loss of tissue described by others. He said, "People ought to know she can be rehabilitated."
After the incident that left Terri in this condition, Michael sued various members of the medical community, saying that they did not treat or diagnose her properly at an early stage, and that he needed this money to provide for Terri's therapy, rehabilitation, and care. He won $1.7 million and then immediately requested a 'do not resuscitate' order and began spending the money on himself. He also refused any treatment for Terri and has not provided any therapy as promised.
Michael, who has lived for at least nine years with another woman by whom he has had two children, claims Terri would not have wished to be kept alive.There is no written request from Terri to document his claim. In fact, a friend of Terri's has recalled that she and Terri had seen a movie about Karen Ann Quinland. Terri, wondering how the doctors and lawyers could possibly know what Quinland was feeling or what she would want, said, "Where there's life, there's hope."
Terri is not brain dead, not in a "persistent vegetative state," not in a coma, and not on any life-support system. Like all the rest of us, Terri is dependent on food and water to stay alive - she merely receives it through a gastro feeding tube, as do many thousands of disabled people who live otherwise normal lives. This is not the same as being kept alive artificially. If you would like to know more about Terri and how to help her, please go to www.TerrisFight.org
Dave Koontz
Director
Kosciusko County Right to Life
Daylight Saving Time
Editor, Times-Union:I am for the Daylight Saving time change. They are selfish reasons. Personally, I would like to have the additional day light in the evening hours. My job requires me to work to 6 in the evening so by the time I get home and get changed I end up mowing our yard with a flash light. It is difficult to play nine holes of golf or just go for a walk after supper.
I've heard most of the arguments against day light savings time: they feel it's a hassle to adjust their clocks, it's inconvenient, it's unfair to the movie theaters and bowling alleys because people do those things when its dark, and it really doesn't save energy. While those in favor of the time change point also to energy savings, the safety reminder that when adjusting your clock you can change the battery in your smoke detector, and that it would cause fewer accidents to occur because sunlight is available when the larger mass of people are traveling home from work.
Locally, our politicians and civic leaders have only heard from those opposed to day light savings time. So, if you want to enjoy your summer evenings, I'm encouraging you to write your State Representive and Senator letting them know you support this change. Or, you can remain in the dark.
Max Courtney
Warsaw
Secession
Editor, Times-Union:This is a follow-up letter to my Jan. 24 and Feb. 1 letters dealing with secession.
1. Unitary State position - America is indivisible, no part of the United States may leave for any reason to form it's own country unless it is willing and able to fight it's way out against the rest of the Union. One who sincerely adopts this position is totally opposed to secession and is willing to use violence to stop those who do try to secede.
2. Moderate/Centrist position - America is a federation, under certain lawfully defined circumstances and procedures and in order to prevent war, secession would be permissible. Which would allow a state or group of states or even a territory in the Union with residents capable of forming a city-state or great to leave the Union to form their own country and to be free from interference from the rest of the Union. One who sincerely adopts this position is not totally opposed to secession or neither totally in favor of it instead they would support secession if it is done by peaceful and orderly means such as a representative convention or referendum that is constitutionally defined and only as a last resort solution in order to prevent civil war and if they do not achieve their independence by peaceful means they would accept that result and not resort violence. The only exception to this would be if one lived under a tyrannical regime such a fascist or communist state one does not need to accept living with or tolerating such a regime.
3. Separatist position - America is divisible, any part of the United States may leave for any reason even for the most trivial of reason to form it's own country and if it does not get it's way it by peaceful means it should resort to violence to achieve it's independence. One who sincerely adopts this position is totally in favor of secession for whatever reason such as not getting their way in a national election or on an important national issue and are willing to use violence to achieve their independence.
4. Anarchist position - America should be dissolved, individuals and groups of people should be allowed to leave the Union to form their own countries and become a law unto themselves. One who sincerely adopts this position is either a warlord. a member of street gang, fringe group, religious cult or a lone lunatic who truly believes in bringing society down to the law of the jungle.
I choose the moderate/centrist position, which is what the original intent of my Jan. 24 letter was about, and not the separatist or anarchist position as some have thought.
Alexander Houze
Leesburg
Question For Randall
Editor, Times-Union:My letter is a question for Marty Randall. Are you happy that we have a President that put our country deeply in debt, presented a budget to congress then asked for more money, that we have had 1,500 service people killed in Iraq, many wounded and no end to it in sight, and the United States is hated by more people around the world than anytime in history?
Some of us don't like it!
Mrs. J.C. Campbell
Warsaw
Track Tradition
Editor, Times-Union:What a sad day it is for the Warsaw Community School system! You are eliminating a tradition from your elementary schools and tried to do it in a very sneaky way! This year you will cut the meets down to three, what comes next year? Yes, some kids are going out for soccer and volleyball, but a majority of kids who try out for those sports get cut and only a small portion of children get to participate! In track a greater number of children can participate and belong to a team! What is the point of running three meets with no final end to a season! In the past years, we have only had 4 meets, which is already a crime against the track program, if you knew what the program use to be like in the past. What makes this even worse is that no parents or track coaches from past years were involved in the decision making process!
Remember, it's our tax money! Principals in the past have taken part in the city meets ... is this a solution to your "busy schedules" ... to add back two evenings to your own lives? I hope all the past track alumni let the principals and Warsaw Community Schools know that this will not be accepted! As a final note, Mr. McGuire, don't tell parents that this decision is good for the kids ... give me a break! Taking away another activity for kids to be involved with after school is good for the kids? You limit the season to three meets and no city meet ... the program will die even more than it has over the last few years. I thank Mr. Robinson for speaking up for the kids; perhaps, we need more school board members like you!
A Proud Track Alumnus
Nancy Boston
Warsaw
Track Tradition
Editor, Times-Union:
What a sad day it is for the Warsaw Community School system! You are eliminating a tradition from your elementary schools and tried to do it in a very sneaky way! This year you will cut the meets down to three, what comes next year? Yes, some kids are going out for soccer and volleyball, but a majority of kids who try out for those sports get cut and only a small portion of children get to participate! In track a greater number of children can participate and belong to a team! What is the point of running three meets with no final end to a season! In the past years, we have only had 4 meets, which is already a crime against the track program, if you knew what the program use to be like in the past. What makes this even worse is that no parents or track coaches from past years were involved in the decision making process!
Remember, it's our tax money! Principals in the past have taken part in the city meets ... is this a solution to your "busy schedules" ... to add back two evenings to your own lives? I hope all the past track alumni let the principals and Warsaw Community Schools know that this will not be accepted! As a final note, Mr. McGuire, don't tell parents that this decision is good for the kids ... give me a break! Taking away another activity for kids to be involved with after school is good for the kids? You limit the season to three meets and no city meet ... the program will die even more than it has over the last few years. I thank Mr. Robinson for speaking up for the kids; perhaps, we need more school board members like you!
A Proud Track Alumnus
Nancy Boston
Warsaw
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- Terri Schiavo - Daylight Saving Time - Secession - Question For Randall - Track Tradition
Terri Schiavo
Editor, Times Union:Recent news reports regarding the story of Terri Schiavo are inaccurate. The reports consistently state that Terri is either in a coma or a persistent vegetative state. Neither of these are correct. The media also portrays her husband as a caring person who just wants what Terri would have wanted.
In 1990, Terri Schiavo collapsed in the home she shared with her husband, Michael. The cause of her collapse is unknown to this day, however, there are some who believe that she may have been the victim of spousal abuse. Terri fell into a coma, but awakened from her comatose state weeks later. During the months that followed Terri's collapse, she made progress. Medical practitioners noted her efforts to speak and her responsiveness.
To this day, Terri remains disabled. Though she is responsive to activities around her, interacts with her environment and her loved ones and is able to communicate in limited ways, she is a disabled and vulnerable adult requiring protection and therapy, which her husband is unwilling to provide. Terri has not received any meaningful therapy since 1991 on orders of her husband.
Dr. William Maxfield, a radiologist, said CD scans from 2002 show some brain damage but not the enormous loss of tissue described by others. He said, "People ought to know she can be rehabilitated."
After the incident that left Terri in this condition, Michael sued various members of the medical community, saying that they did not treat or diagnose her properly at an early stage, and that he needed this money to provide for Terri's therapy, rehabilitation, and care. He won $1.7 million and then immediately requested a 'do not resuscitate' order and began spending the money on himself. He also refused any treatment for Terri and has not provided any therapy as promised.
Michael, who has lived for at least nine years with another woman by whom he has had two children, claims Terri would not have wished to be kept alive.There is no written request from Terri to document his claim. In fact, a friend of Terri's has recalled that she and Terri had seen a movie about Karen Ann Quinland. Terri, wondering how the doctors and lawyers could possibly know what Quinland was feeling or what she would want, said, "Where there's life, there's hope."
Terri is not brain dead, not in a "persistent vegetative state," not in a coma, and not on any life-support system. Like all the rest of us, Terri is dependent on food and water to stay alive - she merely receives it through a gastro feeding tube, as do many thousands of disabled people who live otherwise normal lives. This is not the same as being kept alive artificially. If you would like to know more about Terri and how to help her, please go to www.TerrisFight.org
Dave Koontz
Director
Kosciusko County Right to Life
Daylight Saving Time
Editor, Times-Union:I am for the Daylight Saving time change. They are selfish reasons. Personally, I would like to have the additional day light in the evening hours. My job requires me to work to 6 in the evening so by the time I get home and get changed I end up mowing our yard with a flash light. It is difficult to play nine holes of golf or just go for a walk after supper.
I've heard most of the arguments against day light savings time: they feel it's a hassle to adjust their clocks, it's inconvenient, it's unfair to the movie theaters and bowling alleys because people do those things when its dark, and it really doesn't save energy. While those in favor of the time change point also to energy savings, the safety reminder that when adjusting your clock you can change the battery in your smoke detector, and that it would cause fewer accidents to occur because sunlight is available when the larger mass of people are traveling home from work.
Locally, our politicians and civic leaders have only heard from those opposed to day light savings time. So, if you want to enjoy your summer evenings, I'm encouraging you to write your State Representive and Senator letting them know you support this change. Or, you can remain in the dark.
Max Courtney
Warsaw
Secession
Editor, Times-Union:This is a follow-up letter to my Jan. 24 and Feb. 1 letters dealing with secession.
1. Unitary State position - America is indivisible, no part of the United States may leave for any reason to form it's own country unless it is willing and able to fight it's way out against the rest of the Union. One who sincerely adopts this position is totally opposed to secession and is willing to use violence to stop those who do try to secede.
2. Moderate/Centrist position - America is a federation, under certain lawfully defined circumstances and procedures and in order to prevent war, secession would be permissible. Which would allow a state or group of states or even a territory in the Union with residents capable of forming a city-state or great to leave the Union to form their own country and to be free from interference from the rest of the Union. One who sincerely adopts this position is not totally opposed to secession or neither totally in favor of it instead they would support secession if it is done by peaceful and orderly means such as a representative convention or referendum that is constitutionally defined and only as a last resort solution in order to prevent civil war and if they do not achieve their independence by peaceful means they would accept that result and not resort violence. The only exception to this would be if one lived under a tyrannical regime such a fascist or communist state one does not need to accept living with or tolerating such a regime.
3. Separatist position - America is divisible, any part of the United States may leave for any reason even for the most trivial of reason to form it's own country and if it does not get it's way it by peaceful means it should resort to violence to achieve it's independence. One who sincerely adopts this position is totally in favor of secession for whatever reason such as not getting their way in a national election or on an important national issue and are willing to use violence to achieve their independence.
4. Anarchist position - America should be dissolved, individuals and groups of people should be allowed to leave the Union to form their own countries and become a law unto themselves. One who sincerely adopts this position is either a warlord. a member of street gang, fringe group, religious cult or a lone lunatic who truly believes in bringing society down to the law of the jungle.
I choose the moderate/centrist position, which is what the original intent of my Jan. 24 letter was about, and not the separatist or anarchist position as some have thought.
Alexander Houze
Leesburg
Question For Randall
Editor, Times-Union:My letter is a question for Marty Randall. Are you happy that we have a President that put our country deeply in debt, presented a budget to congress then asked for more money, that we have had 1,500 service people killed in Iraq, many wounded and no end to it in sight, and the United States is hated by more people around the world than anytime in history?
Some of us don't like it!
Mrs. J.C. Campbell
Warsaw
Track Tradition
Editor, Times-Union:What a sad day it is for the Warsaw Community School system! You are eliminating a tradition from your elementary schools and tried to do it in a very sneaky way! This year you will cut the meets down to three, what comes next year? Yes, some kids are going out for soccer and volleyball, but a majority of kids who try out for those sports get cut and only a small portion of children get to participate! In track a greater number of children can participate and belong to a team! What is the point of running three meets with no final end to a season! In the past years, we have only had 4 meets, which is already a crime against the track program, if you knew what the program use to be like in the past. What makes this even worse is that no parents or track coaches from past years were involved in the decision making process!
Remember, it's our tax money! Principals in the past have taken part in the city meets ... is this a solution to your "busy schedules" ... to add back two evenings to your own lives? I hope all the past track alumni let the principals and Warsaw Community Schools know that this will not be accepted! As a final note, Mr. McGuire, don't tell parents that this decision is good for the kids ... give me a break! Taking away another activity for kids to be involved with after school is good for the kids? You limit the season to three meets and no city meet ... the program will die even more than it has over the last few years. I thank Mr. Robinson for speaking up for the kids; perhaps, we need more school board members like you!
A Proud Track Alumnus
Nancy Boston
Warsaw
Track Tradition
Editor, Times-Union:
What a sad day it is for the Warsaw Community School system! You are eliminating a tradition from your elementary schools and tried to do it in a very sneaky way! This year you will cut the meets down to three, what comes next year? Yes, some kids are going out for soccer and volleyball, but a majority of kids who try out for those sports get cut and only a small portion of children get to participate! In track a greater number of children can participate and belong to a team! What is the point of running three meets with no final end to a season! In the past years, we have only had 4 meets, which is already a crime against the track program, if you knew what the program use to be like in the past. What makes this even worse is that no parents or track coaches from past years were involved in the decision making process!
Remember, it's our tax money! Principals in the past have taken part in the city meets ... is this a solution to your "busy schedules" ... to add back two evenings to your own lives? I hope all the past track alumni let the principals and Warsaw Community Schools know that this will not be accepted! As a final note, Mr. McGuire, don't tell parents that this decision is good for the kids ... give me a break! Taking away another activity for kids to be involved with after school is good for the kids? You limit the season to three meets and no city meet ... the program will die even more than it has over the last few years. I thank Mr. Robinson for speaking up for the kids; perhaps, we need more school board members like you!
A Proud Track Alumnus
Nancy Boston
Warsaw
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