Letters

The Tinkle-Down Theory
Streams of consciousness:Joe Miller's article "The Whizzers of Oz" (August 9) brought home a number of salient points. Yes, we need to protect our waterways. Environmental rollbacks are detrimental to everyone's quality of life. Agri-business pollutants have put all of us at risk.

We must keep in mind our joint responsibility for the environment. It is not enough to keep the earth safe for recreation. Each of us must examine our daily role in sustaining an ecologically sound world. Just as agricultural contaminants must be filtered out of urban water supplies, urban wastewater must be sanitized before re-entering our waterways. The household toxins we dump down our drains, runoff from suburban lawns, corporate landscaping and city streets all contribute to higher monetary and environmental costs.

The farmers' unique relationship to the land puts them at the forefront of environmental concerns. Urban life creates barriers; diluting our connection to local ecosystems and the impact we have. Individually, it may not be much, but collectively, it is immense. The fight for an ecologically sound and safe world is paramount. It benefits every living thing. Let's keep it clean and honest by examining our own actions as closely as we do others'.
Liz Huffman
Kansas City, Missouri

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Union Jacked
The last traction hero:Regarding Allie Johnson's "Impractical Nursing" (July 26): Excellent article. I worked for Health Midwest at Trinity Lutheran Hospital from 1994-1998. I worked in the ER and ICU, leaving because of the "frustrations" mentioned in the article.

In 1997, when the nurses were organizing in California, I received my piddly 2.5 percent raise about the same time. I became furious. It sparked me to write an anonymous letter regarding the fact that we could "rise up" against this insane organization. Late one night, with the help of a confidant who was also a security guard, I laid the letter on every surface I could find in the hospital. The next day the buzz could be heard everywhere. People were shocked that someone was so brave; other nurses were nervous. It soon became known that if anybody was "caught" with the letter in their hand, they were to be immediately taken by security to the VP of nursing. My confidant told me that security was specifically informed about this.

At the time I did a lot of research regarding the nurses in California, but did not even know how to begin this process. I am so relieved to know that someone has.
Lisa Kjar
Shawnee

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Paint by Numbers
Brush up:In response to Kendrick Blackwood's "Bad Impressions" (June 28), there were many facts and figures that are painfully true. Unfortunately, the tone of the article implied an incompetence throughout the entire Art Institute. There were a number of ugly truths uncovered, one of which revealed the fact that teachers have not received raises in quite some time.

However, to say the "stars" of the Art Institute are a thing of the past is an incorrect statement. There was no mention (other than Steve Whitacre's) of the dedicated members of the foundations department, which has been ranked as one of the top five foundations departments in the country's art institutes. These teachers have been teaching, supporting, nurturing, encouraging and challenging freshman students at the Art Institute semester after semester, year after year. Most of the teachers in the foundations department have been in-structing there for at least 25 years or better, all the while creating their own art which is shown in galleries worldwide. They have been the "foundation" for which the school has remained strong.

The Art Institute continues to inspire its students as well as the Kansas City community. If any question remains regarding the importance or validity of the Art Institute, one need not walk further than the classrooms of Carl Kurtz, Shirley Schnell, Steve Whitacre, Richard Mattson or Jam Sajovic, where one will find a fantastic harmony between art history, art future and the bold spirit of a freshman student.
Erin Brockman
Kansas City, MissouriAll the World's a Stage
Love's labors:Regarding Steve Walker's "Great Expectations" (August 9): If you are proposing the question: "Is there such a thing as too many theater companies, entities, groups?" -- I would say, "No." I think a company is like a painting or a script; it is a work of art. It is also an art that gets very little recognition. Audience base and attendance are problems for every theater person I have ever met, from producer down to guard number four. When it's good, how do you keep it that way? And when it is bad, how do you change it? If you are asking something like: "If a tree falls in the woods and no one hears it, did it actually fall?" -- I would say, "Ask the tree." Theater is also a process, for better or worse in the case of the audience. Some other points in the article are along the lines of the execution of a production. It's not easy trying to do it all. You juggle a lot and support is limited, most of all funds. If KC has a hundred production entities in its confines, I think there might be something of a festival lurking out there, don't you?
George Bennett
Brooklyn, New York

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Camp Fire
Ah, wilderness!I'm sending you this note in regards to Joe Miller's article concerning the "dusty little KOA" in Stanton, Missouri ("Critter Camp Out," July 5). I have visited this campground and have found the staff to be always friendly, most pleasant to deal with and willing to help any way they can.