To the editor:
I read the article about crime going up in recent weeks at USM with interest. On Jan. 23 I was getting off the bus at the Gorham campus and pulled out my car keys. What I had forgotten at the time was that I had my Visa debit card in there as well, so when I pulled out the keys I pulled out the card at the same time and dropped it. I walked off without realizing I had lost it. Well, some extremely nice person found it on the ground and turned it in to the University police who then contacted me. I am writing this in the hope that the person who turned in my card will see this and know that I am eternally grateful. I want them to consider themselves thanked a hundred times over.
Sarah Szostak
Senior English major
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To the editor:
219 Somali children have enrolled in the Lewiston schools. It costs $6,400 to educate one student in Lewiston. While state funding might offset some of this expense, the net cost to educate these additional students could be expected to range from $700,000 to $1,400,000. When this cost is added to the previously estimated costs of $375,000 coming from the cost of General Relief as well as teaching English, the total cost of the Somali influx falling on the Lewiston taxpayer would be as much as $1,775,000 per year. Therefore, the average Lewiston household will pay up to $110 to meet the needs of the Somalis.
60 percent of the Somalis in America came as refugees. According to the Office of Refugee Resettlement, one-third of all the refugees are still receiving public assistance five years after their arrival, and the two-thirds who find jobs are working at an average wage of $8 an hour. The point is this: even if the Somalis work very hard, they are going to be a net fiscal drain for the people of Lewiston for many years.
Lewiston is one of the poorest cities in Maine, with a budget deficit and one of the highest unemployment rates. If the academic community is truly committed to building good feelings between the Somalis and native Mainers, then let’s stop pounding Lewiston with the message that “diversity” will “enrich” them, and dig deep into our own pockets. Send the town of Lewiston a generous check. Diversity costs money, and all of us should be willing to foot the bill.
Jonette Christian
Holden, ME
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To the editor:
I think it’s funny how all this anti-war sentiment has taken over USM. I sit in classes where they are so anti-military and anti-government it makes me wonder why I’m there. I served and I agree with our government’s decision to go to Iraq. Things that people ought to realize:
Going to Iraq and talking to people over there who want Saddam out will get those people killed. When the weapon inspectors are booted, the Iraqi military will kill anyone who spoke out against Saddam. He’s done it before and he’ll do it again.
These Human Shield activists who are heading to Iraq to camp out at military locations do not know what they are doing. They are going to get killed: not by allied forces, but by the Iraqis who will in turn say the United States did it.
Do people really think if we just ignore Saddam he will stay on his side of the fence? No, and the reality is, if we leave him alone he will most likely start attacking our neighbors. Then we’re right back to where we left off.
I really thought after Sept. 11 that this country would pull together and finally put an end to every piece of scum out there. It looked like it would happen. But when we target Iraq, the dam breaks. Now people are marching for peace and for what and who? Saddam, a man who has in the past killed his own people and WILL NOT step down. He’s threatening to kill his own generals and anyone who betrays him, including civilians! Take a good look at what is going on. I have talked to Gulf War vets and Desert Storm vets, all of whom agree Saddam needs to go. Having a so-called vet on TV with an USM professor saying that this new war is wrong, is a joke. Someone ought to check that soldier’s background. Last time I knew, mess-hands and storekeepers didn’t go to the frontlines. So what makes him an expert? As a professor at USM told me, “Choose your words well.” Anyone can say they are a vet, but it doesn’t mean they are an expert on the topic of politics and war. I was a Hull Maintenance Technician in the Navy, and I’m a vet. But not once have I ever called myself an “expert” on the topic of war. People need to realize that war is not all Hollywood guts and glory, but it is necessary at times.
One of the reasons Sept. 11 happened was because of the amount of anti-war sentiment that came with the Clinton administration. The days of killing terrorists had taken a backseat and America became a country where serving in the military was such a bad thing. You couldn’t kill a known terrorist because the days of the Cold War were over. I served during the Clinton era. People making remarks about how the military killed innocent people. Being spit on by protesters. It made me sick to think I was defending these people’s freedom.
Apparently Sept. 11 didn’t get the point across. We know who the enemy is, we need to get them and remove them from power. We need to take their weapons of mass destruction and we need to maintain global peace, because no one else will. Yes, I used the word “we” because we are a united nation. If people don’t like it, go to Canada just like they did during Vietnam. A war with Iraq will have casualties as would happen in any war. But what is more important, having peace while living in fear? Or having peace because we know we are safe?
To those out there protesting and using their freedom of speech, I offer you this. Not all of us agree with you. Don’t push your opinions on us. Enjoy the freedom that OUR government gives you. Enjoy the security that OUR military gives you. Because without it, you’d be living under communist or fascist rule. Last time I knew, those type of governments didn’t give you the freedom you love to use so much.
Jason Libby
HT3 USN (retired)
English Major