Letters: Love the library, FAFSA help, benefits of travel, thoughts on state lawmakers
Show some love for your public library
February is Love Your Library Month. When someone says the word “library” what image comes to mind?
Do you think of shelves upon shelves of books? An open book in your hand? Dropping your kids off at the library? Asking a librarian to help you find information?
We know that our public library is a place that is free and welcoming to us all. Its books, programming, special spaces for kids and teenagers, and access to all kinds of media and technology, enriches our entire community.
We are fortunate in Monroe County to have three wonderful library branches, in downtown Bloomington, in Ellettsville, and opening this spring, the new southwest branch. Let’s celebrate and show our Monroe County public libraries how much they mean to us.
February is Love Your Library Month! Next time you visit a branch, thank a librarian, browse the books, visit the Friends of the Library Bookstore. We encourage you to become a member of the Friends of the Library, which supports a variety of library programs, or donate books to the Friends' twice-a-year book sales.
Our public libraries are there for us, let’s be there for them. See you at the library!
Patsy Rahn, board president, Monroe County Public Library Foundation
Apologizes for error
I would like to apologize for an egregious error in my recent Jim Thom column. I meant to type Chosin Reservoir, not Pusan Reservoir. I hope Marines, former and current, will forgive me. And thanks to John Tilford for catching this.
Dennis J. Reardon, Bloomington
Views on the Indiana Legislature
Hate, discrimination, supremacy. Folks, what we are seeing coming out of our Indiana Legislature is just a modern version of the KKK, only this time targeting other vulnerable groups.
To make a terrible comparison to a famous movie line: Hate finds a way.
Remember that the KKK was once respectable in Indiana; its views migrating even to the state political establishment. I hope the reader will clearly see what is happening now. The radical fascist views of the hard right have made their way even to the current state political establishment — once again, all in the name of protecting supremacy.
Let us respond how we responded to the radical views of the KKK.
Gregory Moore, Bloomington
Help needed to aid Monroe County veterans
We need your help! We are looking for volunteers and members to honor our country’s military.
More than 1 million military troops serving around the world will join the ranks of America’s more than 22 million veterans in the next five years. The transition back to civilian life is not always an easy one — many troops will come home to Veterans Affairs hospitals, struggle to find employment and try to relearn how to live a daily civilian life.
There are many ways Monroe County residents can help returning troops make this transition. As a member Unit 18 of the American Legion Auxiliary (ALA), you can support and honor the sacrifice of those who serve by enhancing the lives of our veterans, military and their families, both at home and abroad. Right here in Bloomington, we continue to help mitigate the challenges our veterans face and deliver upon our mission by organizing multiple events throughout the year to support veterans and their families in civilian life.
The time to honor and support those who have sacrificed so much to serve our country is now. I’d like to extend the invitation for you to learn more about our organization. Please visit alaforveterans.org for more information or reach out to Janice Wampler, membership chairman ALA Unit 18 – 1800 W. Third St, Bloomington, IN 47404, 812-322-8585, ala18in@gmail.com.
Jenny Tracy, Bloomington
IU, Ivy Tech experts available to help college-bound students with FAFSA
Recent news reports indicate that completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) may be one the best predictors of whether a high school senior will attend a college or university.
Nationally, for the 2022-23 school year around 52% of high school seniors completed the FAFSA. The nonprofit Indiana Student Financial Aid Association wants to help students, in our state and communities, complete the FAFSA form.
On Feb. 26 at 37 locations around Indiana, the association hosts College Goal Sunday. This free event brings financial aid administrators together with students and parents to complete their financial aid applications. Ivy Tech Community College in Bloomington, at 200 Daniels Way, is one of these sites.
Experts from Indiana University and Ivy Tech Community College will join together in Bloomington to assist students and parents. On-site registration is at 2 p.m. For more information, go to collegegoalsunday.org.
Patt McCafferty, director of financial aid, Ivy Tech Community College - Bloomington
Business owner speaks out about state representatives
I am in the 88% of Hoosiers who support an individual's right to choose if and when to have children. I'm also a business owner who signed the ACLU of Indiana’s Don’t Ban Equality business letter with 775+ organizations.
Living in a state that doesn't treat me as a first-class citizen gets harder every day. I'm a business owner and taxpayer, yet my representatives aren't listening. Both Eric Koch and Jeff Ellington (who was replaced by David Hall), voted in favor of SB1 — a near-total abortion ban that hurts individuals, businesses, and Indiana — this past July.
A recent study by PerryUndem showed that 63% of respondents wouldn’t even apply for a job in a state that passed an abortion ban. We'll see those effects at small businesses like mine and large corporations across the state.
We can’t let the loud few drown out our majority. Sign on to the ACLU’s business letter through their website and write to your representatives demanding pro-choice legislation this session. This issue is about more than reproductive health. It's about autonomy, a value we can all support.
Anne M. Kostyo, founder, HALT Creative and Worth the Fight
Espousing the benefits of travel
Saint Augustine once said, “The world is a book and those who don’t travel read only one page.”
Early on during the pandemic I resolved to keep traveling despite war wounds and trembling hands. At 76, my time was running short, with 48 of the world’s 193 countries left, if I wanted to see them all. I’ve whittled that down to 38 as of last week.
I can no longer ride deck-class up the Niger River to Timbuktu or trek across frigid mountain passes in the Himalayas, but with the help of wheelchairs that allow me to go to the head of security lines, and young companions I refer to as my “sherpas,” I keep going.
I contracted a nasty case of COVID in Kazakhstan but still finished up the trip in Samarkand. Last year in Transnistria, on the border with Ukraine, my snazzy looking Ryder magazine press pass wasn’t sufficiently impressive for me to BS my way through to Kyiv. Perhaps that was a blessing in disguise.
People tell me they’re too old, too young, too poor, too scared or too tied down to travel. Poppycock! At the risk of sounding like a sneakers ad, Just Do It!
John Linnemeier, Bloomington
Join me in volunteering to support those with Alzheimer's in our community
Recently, I was one of hundreds of volunteers from across the country to join the Alzheimer’s Association for their annual Community Leadership Summit in San Diego.
It was energizing to meet other volunteers and learn the various reasons and motivations that bring us together to actively support the mission of the Alzheimer’s Association. Throughout the conference, the Alzheimer’s Association emphasized the critical role volunteers play in supporting the 110,000 individuals living with Alzheimer’s and their families here in Indiana.
My role as a volunteer in Bloomington is to advocate for people living with this awful disease. This work is important to me because our elders deserve a fair chance to thrive. As a volunteer, I look forward to doing my part, but more volunteers are needed. I invite other Bloomington residents to join me in fighting this devastating disease. Visit alz.org/Indiana/volunteer to get started.
Sandra McGow, Bloomington
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Letters: Public libraries, state legislators, FAFSA help, veterans aid
