Schiavo case wasn't about politics - it was about life
Letters to the EditorPublished July 12, 2005
On Thursday, I closed the state inquiry into the Terri Schiavo case.
This puts to rest a sad chapter in Florida state history. To me, this was not an issue about politics, but about life. Terri's case is one I was involved with for years - long before it became a media interest - and I was determined to see it through to completion. Although I am saddened Terri had years cut from her life, and I do not agree with all the courts' decisions, I respect those decisions.
Terri did leave us with a silver lining. It is my hope that Americans across our great nation take a lesson from Terri's case. We never know when tragedy will touch our lives. All of America saw the agony Terri's family experienced. That could have been any person, in any city, in any state. None of us wants our loved ones to go through a similar situation.
I urge all Americans to make getting their affairs in order a priority and to let their loved ones know their wishes. My wife, Columba, and I filled out and signed our living wills, and we both feel better because of it. Completing a living will increases the likelihood that a person's wishes are known, respected, and followed. It also makes a difficult period slightly easier on family members.
As this trying period ends we can find comfort in knowing Terri is now in a better place.
-- Gov. Jeb Bush, Tallahassee
Learning for global realities
Re: It is time for Americans to learn Chinese, July 5.
"Hen Hau"(very good)! I applaud Emily Steel and her desire to encourage Tampa Bay area secondary schools to introduce the study of the Chinese language into their curricula. With the era of "China, Inc." upon us - sufficiently documented with the abundant inventory of "Made in China" labels found in your local Wal-Mart - we need to train our youth to adequately prepare for that reality in our global market.
As a teacher of Chinese history (as well as Japanese history) at USF St. Petersburg, I also appreciate the need to promote an understanding of Chinese cultural values among American students, either experientially or through classroom learning, in order to use the language skills more successfully. I would encourage Ms. Steel to conduct a follow-up look at the state of Chinese studies among the area institutions of higher education. It is, unfortunately, too much a reflection of the situation existing among secondary schools. "Bu hau" (not good)!
Finally, I moved here in 1980 during the halcyon days of "Japan, Inc.," when no effort was made in education to introduce students to Japanese language or culture in order to successfully compete in that global market. I hope Ms. Steel will not witness from Chapel Hill that same failure to proactively respond to the prevailing global market conditions. "Dzai jyan" (Good-bye)!
-- Dr. Wallace F. Witham, Belleair Bluffs
U.S. lags in language education
Re: It is time for Americans to learn Chinese.
Emily Steel has written an interesting op-ed article about foreign language instruction in the United States. I do not believe that she goes far enough in her pushing for more foreign language instruction, and her article may present too rosy a picture of foreign language instruction in the United States.
I have just returned from two weeks in the Balkans. We visited Croatia, Serbia/Montenegro, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania. We always ran into young people who spoke excellent English. In one remote Bulgarian village, we had a 17-year-old high school junior as an interpreter at a home-hosted meal. Her English was so good that I asked her how long she had been studying it. She told us that she had been studying English in school since the first grade. It is a requirement in the Balkan countries that we visited. She was poised and had no trouble understanding our colloquial American English. She also speaks Spanish and will have had more Spanish (as her third language) than our college graduates will have taken. I seem to recall that she is also studying one or two other languages.
While we were in Budapest, we had a short visit with my wife Carol's cousin from the Czech Republic. English is his fourth language after Czech, German and Russian. His English is completely understandable. In fact, he told us a couple of funny jokes.
American schools not only need to provide foreign language instruction, but also to start it in the first grade when children are less inhibited about trying new words. We are far behind the rest of the world and we expect everyone to speak to us in English. Shame on our arrogance.
-- Walter Wynn Jr., Beverly Hills
Cultural insights
There has been much talk about the "creative class" and how valuable "cultural experiences" are to the inner health of our society.
I read an art review (Setting sail on canvas ) in the June 30 edition of your paper and was really impressed. It seemed to me that the art critic did an excellent job communicating in words some of the thoughts and emotions the paintings of Arline Erdrich expresses. It is hard to put into words what one experiences when looking at art, especially abstract art. After reading the review, I could not help but think how wonderful it is for the artist, and the art community to have insightful articulate feedback, crafted by a real professional art writer to help foster cultural awareness.
I am familiar with Erdrich's abstract paintings and I was delighted by and learned a lot from reading Lennie Bennett's insightful impressions. I went to see the exhibition and was amazed at how dynamic and brilliant her descriptions had captured the beauty and energy I knew was in Erdrich's work but could never quite put them into words. Bennett did a great job, and I enjoyed the show even more.
Kudos to the St. Petersburg Times and to Lennie Bennett. In a time when we are bombarded in the media with violence and trivia, what a healthy counterbalance it is to read a well written story about an important cultural event in our community. Our community needs the media, especially the newspapers to provide daily insight and information about our own culture, as they do for sports and finance. Keep up the excellent work. Our society needs it, and many appreciate it.
-- Bradley Arthur, Land O'Lakes
Promoting questionable behavior
Re: Hiding your "sick day" tan, July 9.
I am just amazed that the St. Petersburg Times would publish an article about how to "get away" with calling in sick to go to the beach and not getting caught doing it. Are you condoning this kind of irresponsible behavior? The thinking that everyone does it so I can, too, is already rampant in today's society without your helping it along.
-- Mary Pascoe, Palm Harbor
What a pairing
Re: July 9 Floridian.
Times readers searching for a perfect example of going from the sublime to the ridiculous need look no further than the first page of Floridian on July 9. The pairing of a marvelous account of a morning in the St. Joseph Hospital emergency room with an inane piece on how to "cover up" your day at the beach after calling in sick does the trick.
-- Jim Lyman, Lutz