Letters to the editor

Adjunct labor at Bluegrass

I am shocked to find out that the adjunct instructors are paid so little (“Open Letter to KCTCS president Michael McCall,” July 13). Most of the instructors I have had are adjuncts, and without exception they have been hard working and very dedicated to their students. I certainly hope this helps KCTCS to recognize that they need these instructors and that they deserve to be fairly compensated.

Lora Botner, online

War on homeless

I am a member of the much-hated homeless population in Lexington.

I did not choose to be in this predicament; I was brought here in chains from my home in Florida by your law-enforcement officials. Your Courts seem to think that I owe child-support to Fayette County, while your Judges unwaveringly rule that I am paid in full. Every time that I find employment, I am re-arrested and then released; as I owe no child-support.

The last time that I was arrested, I was beaten about the head by the arresting Officer, as he cursed about the filthy homeless. I sufferred a concussion and several broken teeth. I was released by the Judge the next morning; as I said, I do not owe any Child-support. I am paid in full.

Is there any way that this terrorism can be stopped?

I am not the only impoverished individual sufferring from ploice brutality in Lexington. Not by a long shot.

We fear additional retribution from the Police if we were to go public with this information.

So this message remains unsigned.

Attn: Jeff Gross

While reading your article “War on the Homeless” (August 24), I wanted to know how much time you have ever spent volunteering for the Catholic Action Center or the Hope Center or any of the several homeless shelters in and around town?

From your point of view, backed up with credible sources such as a Blog in the LEO Weekly or generic ‘Critics’ attempt to go against representatives Senator Damon Thayer (Co-Chair of the State Election Task Force), Kentucky Secretary of State nominee Bill Johnson and Boone County Clerk Kenny Brown, [you arrived at] a generic opinion based on belief without experience. While I feel your article was well written, I see many holes in the argument of whether Lexington is compassionate or callous.

I would hope in your article you would also promote the general welfare of these places by asking the citizens you are appealing to (and yourself), to volunteer at these ‘Help Centers’ for extended periods of time. I would like all those who want to save the rights of non-working and non-productive (non-tax paying) people of our country to volunteer your time to personally help these ‘Centers’ and get to know these homeless people to help them change their lives for the better! Volunteer your time day and night, weekends, holidays, and in cold and hot weather! I hope you, Jeff, will take the challenge and lead by example to volunteer a significant part of your life over the next few years and become an advocate that is truly compassionate! This would add much credibility to your article rather than callously band standing a situation you admit to knowing very little about first hand. Help clean up the litter, quiet the noise and quell the nuisance!

Also, let us honor Dr. Martha Post in her efforts to do the same.

Gerald Evans

Author responds:

Gerald,

I appreciate your response to my article on the Catholic Action Center. Nowhere did I admit to “knowing very little about” this issue firsthand. In fact, over the past two years, I have spent hundreds of hours working with those people who have experienced homelessness in our community, and most of these hours have been spent with various Catholic Action Center outreach programs. After listening to their stories, I wrote Please Don’t Call Me Homeless, a play based directly on their experiences, which has been performed at over 20 venues in Lexington and central Kentucky, including to large audiences at UK’s Memorial Hall, Transylvania University, Eastern Kentucky University, and the Lyric Theatre, and it has given these individuals the opportunity to speak to thousands of community members, directly. The play has also helped raise over $20,000 (maybe closer to $30,000) now for the Catholic Action Center. More importantly, it has also increased awareness about the struggles faced by those experiencing homelessness. I have served as a liaison between the homeless community and the broader community at Street Voice Council meetings, and I have mentored individuals in the From the Streets to a Home Program. I have also spent time working with impoverished and disadvantaged high school students in Eastern Kentucky. In addition to volunteering, I have made sure to be thoroughly informed on these issues. And while doing these things, I have written numerous pieces for North of Center to help raise awareness and promote active engagement in our community. Most importantly, I have benefited from the friendship and wisdom of the individuals I have worked with in these roles. If more people had this close of contact with people, I don’t think we would have controversies like the current situation between the Council and the Catholic Action Center.

As for your question about whether it is fair to describe Lexington as callous, or potentially callous, I have written about U.N. Human Rights standards in this week’s issue, and I believe that a city (or any other political entity) that prohibits individuals from a certain basic standard of living that includes access to running water is, by nature, callous. And a citizenry that stands by and watches this happen is also, by extension, callous.

Jeff Gross