Letters, letters, letters

The Nugget welcomes contributions from its readers, which must include the writer's name, address and phone number. Letters to the Editor is an open forum for the community and contains unsolicited opinions not necessarily shared by the Editor. The Nugget reserves the right to edit, omit, respond or ask for a response to letters submitted to the Editor. Letters should be no longer than 300 words. Unpublished items are not acknowledged or returned. The deadline for all letters is noon Monday.

To the Editor:

The administration of Sisters High School has been facing difficult decisions over the past few weeks, one of which was a decision to move the current counselor, Mr. Kanzig, to Sisters Middle School as a replacement for Mr. Summerfield who will retire after this year.

Students at Sisters High School have met this news with confusion and dismay.

After a meeting with the high school principal, Mr. Macauley, I was informed that there is simply not enough money in the school district to hire another full time counselor to fill Mr. Summerfield's position, so a currently employed counselor needed to be moved to the middle school.

The administration carefully considered the strengths of each counselor and assessed the needs of both the middle and high schools. It was then decided that Mr. Kanzig would fill the counselor position at the middle school.

In no way was the decision to force-transfer Mr. Kanzig a punishment or demotion.

After understanding why the decision was made, I, however, have the opinion that Mr. Kanzig should remain at Sisters High School because I believe that is where his strengths lie.

Mr. Kanzig excels at reaching out to high school students and helping them accomplish their goals. He connects and relates to students easily, creating a relaxed and trusting environment.

During break and lunch, you can find him about in the commons giving students pats on their backs, sincere words of encouragement and an opportunity to discuss any problems. His skills also encompass the entire college application process, the scholarship application process, and CIM state testing, all crucial for the high school.

Mr. Kanzig's unfailing and earnest care for the students at Sisters High School nurtures our ambitions into reality. He is loved by the student body, and we are saddened to see him go.

Respectfully,

Rose Slavkovsky

Student, Sisters High School

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To The Editor:

A friend of mine was just out to visit. Her son, Pete, is in Iraq. He will be 20 this month and is her only son. I asked her how she felt about Pete fighting this war against terrorism and the possibility of not seeing him again in this life. She replied, "If Pete died, it would not be in vain. President Bush is absolutely doing the right thing. Freedom is not free."

Those who are evil will always hate the USA, for any and all "reasons." Do you really believe they hate us more because of our stand for truth and righteousness? Do you believe there are degrees of evil? Evil is evil. Period. Terrorists are evil. The Taliban is evil. Saddam is evil. Do you really think he should have been left in power, to terrorize his own people and the rest of the world? Osama is evil.

Evil does not know love; therefore, you cannot love evil into submission. If you "leave it alone," evil does not go away. It spreads, like an epidemic. .

For me, I am proud to be an American! I've traveled all over the world and I challenge you to find a place with so much beauty and diversity and freedom.

I stand by the President. I'm proud of him for standing firm in what he believes and not giving into the ways of the world. I am proud of him for having the courage of his convictions. I pray to his God and I value what he values. There is an absolute and righteous truth and it is the one our Heavenly Father came to earth in possession of. It is truth accompanied by grace.

God bless the men in uniform, the leaders of our country (past, present and future), and our children who will someday lead the way in truth and grace.

Love, truth, and righteousness will prevail. It's not a question of "if"; it's only a question of when. If you've read the last chapter of The Book, you know that WE WIN!

Dawn Richerson

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To the Editor:

Oh, my heart bleeds for the pain felt by Jane Stevens. She is so ashamed to be an American and she doesn't know if she has the courage to travel to Europe again because we are so arrogant, aggressive and ugly.

The fact that she views those poor souls being given the sack-on-the-head treatment are Iraqi resistance fighters rather than terrorists ought to tell you what side of the political spectrum Jane rests with.

Most of Europe is basically socialist and ungrateful that we can do without friends like the French and a few others.

In my opinion, it is better to be feared than loved in this and any war we fight. We can do without weak-kneed pseudo-friends like the French (and the UN), who are no better than an umbrella that folds up in the rain, when the going gets tough.

As for the so-called war crimes, the Iraqis got less than some fraternity hazing when I was in college. Considering that I can think of a lot meaner ways to get out the information that we need out of them, (ever hear of the three in a helicopter interrogation technique?), this was mild stuff. Let Allah sort out the good from the bad after we complete civilizing the country.

It was the same old, ugly, aggressive and arrogant U.S. that had to save western Europe's rear-ends twice in one century (or they would all be speaking German and learning how to goose-step) and then we had to defend them for over 40 years from the Soviets. Now we have to put up with their hypocrisy and ingratitude? On her next trip to France, besides denigrating the U.S., Jane ought to visit the U.S. cemeteries in Normandy and see what a little U.S. arrogance and courage cost.

Carl Yee

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To the Editor:

Mr. Steve Coltin sums up the American dilemma pretty clearly:

"We have 320,000 military personnel in over 120 countries. Key among them Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. Each of these countries has asked us to guard them."

I doubt that the citizens of any of these countries "asked" America to guard them. Not one of these countries is a democracy. I'll bet the imperial thrones of each of these countries asked the U.S. military to guard them from their own people.

I cease to be amazed at the unbridled arrogance of Americans who believe God has appointed us to be guardians of the world. My question to Mr. Coltin would be, "How would you feel if Saudi Arabia stationed its Air Force on Roberts field in Redmond to 'protect' you and flew their jets over your country with impunity 24 hours a day?"

Doesn't it strike you as a bit odd, that America is the only country that is "asked" to be the world protector? Is it possible that maybe we just force ourselves on other countries?

As one of those people that is clearly "...part of the problem," I can guarantee you that the enemies that we are creating every day by our arrogance will attack us again ... or maybe our economy will just collapse like the empires of Greece, Rome and the Soviet Union since it is fairly obvious that we are becoming more than a tad overextended.

Regards,

Dean Billing

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To the Editor:

I am proud to be an American, and I am glad that George W. Bush is my President. I pledge allegiance to our flag and (the republic) for which it stands.

I am tired of hearing how terrible we Americans are. Why are we allowing a minority be the spokesman of who we are? The media tends to print and voice the negative. Why aren't we hearing more about the courageous men and women that have enlisted to serve and protect our country and are willing to put up with many hardships daily? It is because of them and past veterans that we can enjoy the freedom we have.

Let's not forget the many who gave their life that we may have ours. Yes, I agree that what happened regarding the prisoners was wrong. But why have I heard so much more media coverage and outrage from individuals over this than I have over the brutality and killing of our soldiers that the Iraqis did?

War is a terrible thing, and terrible things happen, but the alternative of letting terrorists take over is worse. We need to thank God daily for our freedom, and pray his protection over our Armed Forces and wisdom for our leaders.

Ruth Lovegren

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To the Editor:

I was troubled when The Oregonian and then our local newspaper The Nugget carried an article about the former governor's "affair." Then the 30 years of cover-up and payment of almost a quarter of a million dollars.

Since when does rape of a 14-year-old girl constitute an affair? When a person in a position of authority does wrong, it should be wrong whether they are a politician or a preacher or a private businessman.

Forgiveness comes when we "confess our sins" not 30 years later when the truth is revealed and we are sorry that we were caught. One more example of how far we have come from the Biblical teaching about what is right or wrong.

When King David committed adultery, there was a man of God who said "Thou art the man!" In Jesus' time a woman was caught in the very act of adultery by the church leaders and Jesus refused to condemn her to death by stoning, but said "go and sin no more."

Pastor Frank Fraga

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To the Editor:

I am 11 years old and a fifth grader at Sonrise Christian School.

Last summer my mom took me on a mission trip to Latvia through our church, Sisters Community Church. We spent most of our time in Ogre working with our sister church and destitute families who are being helped by an organization called Hope For You.

HFY was established by Elmars Plavins, the pastor of our sister church. It reaches out to families with children, mostly ones whose fathers have left them and have no way to support themselves.

Many of these people have no job (because of the economy) and little hope. One of these families had no water source, not even an outdoor well, so we had a well put in for them. We bought clippers at a local department store and gave showers and haircuts to very dirty children. The kids stood in line and were so happy to get their haircut!

In Latvia I learned that we are a very wealthy country and we have so much that we take for granted that others don't even dream about. Here in the USA even the poorest have resources to help them.

Since our visit, our Latvian friend, Kristina, worked hard developing an organization called Hope For You International. You can visit its website at: http://www.hopeforyouint.com/newsletter_200403.html.

I have a bead business called Triple 'J' Jewels. I told my mom I was going to give 10 percent of every sale to Hope For You. I want to help the people of Latvia.

Currently they are trying set up a center where children can come for a meal, a shower, and get help with their schoolwork.

If anyone else would like to contribute to this cause, any amount will be greatly appreciated. You can send your contribution to:

Hope for You, International

P. O. Box 748, Sisters, Oregon 97759

God bless you all,

Jordan Richerson