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Literacy for a better life
Not only is Alferd Williams of St. Joseph discovering a wide-open world by learning to read at the age of 70 (5/3, A-1, “He just wanted to learn — now he’s an unlikely hero”), so have almost 4,000 other adults who have been students at Literacy Kansas City since 1985.
Last week we welcomed 34 potential adult students through our doors as they took the first step by admitting they need to learn this basic skill.
Now the task is for us to find 34 new volunteers to be tutors in our one-to-one program that requires a great commitment of time and energy but also offers tremendous rewards to both student and teacher.
Learning to read is not easy. Just ask Mr. Williams. But it makes living so much easier. It offers an opportunity for independence by passing a written driver’s test. It allows for one’s voice to be heard in the election booth. It results in a more valuable employee. And it helps one find the green beans in the grocery aisle.
If you want to be a volunteer tutor, or know someone who needs to improve their reading or math skills, call Literacy Kansas City at 816-333-9332.
Cliff Schiappa
Interim executive director
Literacy Kansas City
Kansas City
Coal vs. wind powerBill Hill of Leawood (5/6, Letters) wrote “Do you think on a hot summer day with no wind, hence no air conditioning, she might change her mind?” regarding Gov. Kathleen Sebelius’ opposition to coal-fired power plants in western Kansas.
I realize Leawood borders Missouri, so perhaps Mr. Hill has not seen much of Kansas. The name Kansas means “people of the south wind.” If Mr. Hill would venture farther into the state, he would soon learn that the name is quite apt. Most of the state rarely experiences a windless day.
I grew up in south-central Kansas, mostly Wichita, where one doesn’t really notice the wind until it’s blowing more than 30 miles an hour.
I doubt Gov. Sebelius or the rest of us would suffer on a hot summer day if we were relying on wind-generated power. We would also breathe easier with cleaner air.
Teresa Phillips
Overland Park
I have been watching the debate on the new coal-fired plants in southwest Kansas with interest. Let me see if I have this straight:No nuclear power.
No expansion of projects to drill for the oil reserves we have.
No new refineries.
No natural gas electrical plants.
Now no coal-fired plants.
OK, which of you anti-everything zealots are willing to turn off all your lights, computers, televisions and cars so I can keep using mine?
Oscar Miller
Easton, Kan.
By rights, it’s HillaryShould the Democratic nominee have been determined by the same system as used by the Electoral College, Hillary Clinton would have by now accumulated 295 electoral votes, while Barack Obama has garnered only 223, with 26 undecided votes remaining.
It takes 270 votes to elect a president. It seems to me that Sen. Clinton has earned the right to present her case to the national convention.
As an aside, I will be voting for John McCain.
Kenneth A. McGee
Overland Park
Wright’s posh new digsIt’s been widely reported in the last several weeks that Barack Obama’s former pastor, friend and spiritual adviser of 20 years, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, will soon move into his $1.6 million, 10,000-square-foot home in suburban Chicago.
Where else, but Wright’s “ ’damn America” would he be treated with such over-the-top opulence? Clearly one of the advantages of living in such a posh, secluded enclave is that he won’t have to worry about being purposely exposed to the AIDS virus that was invented by white folks to eradicate people of color (his words, not mine).
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