Letters on refugees, WSU diversity, Medicaid expansion, ‘Book of Mormon’

Blind to values that made our country great

Sometimes patriotism and readiness to fight the enemy without can cause America to be blind to the values within that have made our country great.

Have any Syrian refugees performed acts of terror in America? Do you think we allow Syrian refugees or any refugees to just march into our country? In today’s climate, do you think the Pilgrims could have gotten in?

Moral licensing enables those who cry out for a strong America to turn away from “your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

Among all the things we have to be thankful for, let us remember to be thankful that there was a country that took in our parents and grandparents … and helped make us and our country what it is today.

Why oppose vetting?

The U.S. House passed legislation to best ensure ISIS sympathizers are not among those 10,000 refugees planned for relocation in America. Yet President Obama said he would veto any legislation that prevents the relocation from proceeding as he has planned it.

Even though House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., only wants to see measures undertaken to prevent those radicalized in their faith from entering, Obama shows himself to be furiously against it.

It makes no sense for Obama to oppose Congress in this instance. Why is he against allowing for time and a measured vetting process aimed squarely at welcoming deserving refugees and ensuring the safety of all Americans? His antagonism for anything Congress proposes, even when there is no reason for it, is a legacy no president should leave. He seems incredibly intent on leaving us with the history that he was more of an authoritarian than a caretaker of democracy.

Students lead the way

I would like to thank the officers of Wichita State University’s student government for leading WSU to improve its policies and practices of inclusion and respect. Students have often led the way to necessary changes, such as the Dockum Drug Store sit-in so important to the civil rights movement. What is now the Office of Diversity and Inclusion at WSU was started by a group of student volunteers in the early 1990s.

Sometimes there have been sympathetic responses from administrators. President John Bardo, a sociologist, is well-informed on these issues. In 1970, under the leadership of Liberal Arts and Sciences dean Paul Magelli, the Minority Studies Department (later Ethnic Studies) was founded. It offered students courses in the histories and cultures of communities not taught in the traditional curriculum.

In 1973, Magelli, in response to student leadership and the women’s movement, established Women’s Studies, the second such department in the country. It is an academically outstanding department, but it has had to fight hard every once in a while to continue to exist. Ethnic Studies was gradually allowed to grow small and it is gone. Now ethnic studies is only a small program in the School of Community Affairs, without a chairman or full faculty.

I hope students will not be satisfied with administrative adjustments. WSU and many other universities and schools need major adjustments in their curricula in order to include all peoples of the world, to recognize that all peoples are equally worthy of being seriously understood, and to give students the opportunity to be global citizens.

What health care options?

Rep. Dan Hawkins, R-Wichita, wrote that he opposes Medicaid expansion because we should not be helping “able-bodied adults” because they have “other health care options” (Nov. 24 Opinion). However, nowhere in his commentary did he state just what those options are.

Even with the requirements of the Affordable Care Act, many employers do not provide workplace-sponsored health care. And for a person with a very low income, even a subsidized plan on the online marketplace is unaffordable.

This is the reason the provision for expanded Medicaid was developed in the first place, and why most Kansans support expansion. Kansans involved in health care – hospital administrators, doctors, nurses, etc. – especially support expansion.

This issue should be fully explored by the House Health and Human Services Committee. Unfortunately, that will probably not happen now that House Speaker Ray Merrick, R-Stilwell, has purged the committee of its open-minded Republican members.

Thanks for laughs

I want to express my sincere thanks to the staff and volunteers of Century II, the members and operators of the Theater League, and the cast and crew of “The Book of Mormon” for bringing such a great production to Wichita last week.

It was special to have such a highly entertaining professional production come through and bring the funny in a big way. Bravo.

This story was originally published December 1, 2015 at 6:04 PM with the headline "Letters on refugees, WSU diversity, Medicaid expansion, ‘Book of Mormon’."