Liberties and Threats
Thank you for your two-part article about the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. I read the letters from readers with great interest, particularly the sentence “Let us hope that the government never again makes the same mistake of stripping its citizens of their civil liberties.” I believe our government is doing precisely that, with the so-called “Patriot Act,” with unauthorized spying on U.S. citizens, and other activities. As in the 1940s, the public has accepted government claims that threats to our way of life justify giving up civil liberties.

Brian K. Davis, ’70
Carmichael, Calif.

Class War in Washington?
I appreciated the cover story on Dan Evans [“Mr. Washington,” March 2006]. I remember him as a governor who was a progressive Republican, a term that might be considered an oxymoron today. One part of the interview irked me, however. Evans noted that “The community college system is so big, so broad, so consuming of tax money. That has really kept back some of the necessary support of four-year institutions and post-graduate work that now is an economic necessity.” As an instructor at a community college, I know my college and all community colleges add to the economic well-being of Washington state: they create an educated work force, and offer a less-expensive alternative for the first two years of college. I think the answer to the funding problem lies in having a sufficiently strong tax base that will generate enough revenue for the four-year and the two-year institutions of higher learning.

I don’t think we want to create a class war in Washington where one level of higher education is pitted against another.

Larry Silverman, ’65, ’69
Seattle

A World Leader in Health
I am impressed and pleased that UW is establishing the new Department of Global Health [“New Global Health Department Could Change Lives of Millions,” March 2006]. This demonstrates the school’s continuing commitment to vigorous leadership in all health issues. In 1985,when Rotary International, the world’s oldest and most successful service organization, determined to eradicate Poliomyelitis [polio] from our earth, it would have been very beneficial to have such a department leading the way with effective research and coordination of efforts. When the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control advised Rotary that such an effort was futile, the Rotarians of the world proceeded with effective fundraising and five-year pilot programs in the Philippines, Morocco, Bolivia, Haiti, Sierra Leone and Cambodia. These were enormously successful and led to WHO and CDC joining Rotary three years later as partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. This is now recognized worldwide as a model for public and private cooperation in pursuit of humanitarian goals. The yearly toll of 350,000 cases of paralytic polio has now been reduced to just over 1,000 cases last year, and it is altogether possible that the last case in the history of this world could be contracted later this year. So far this year there have been 19 cases identified, 11 of these being in Somalia. Polio will soon join smallpox as the only disease to be eradicated. The private members of Rotary International have now contributed more that $600,000,000 to this initiative. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has been a major supporter and so I am not surprised that they continue as the major funding source for the new Department of Global Health. The results will surely improve the health of our world. Congratulations.

Wally Brown, ’63, ’73
Salt Lake City

When Help Was Needed Most
Your detective work and writing are appreciated by one of the alumni from the war years. … I cannot resist pointing out that the UW YW-YMCA at Eagleson Hall was particularly supportive and influential in counseling Nisei students, arranging for them to go back East, getting them into colleges, finding jobs and places to live in faraway places. Floyd Schmoe and the American Friends Service Committee, as well as individuals such as Mary Farquharson (legislator and ACLU activist), Art Barnett (attorney), Ruth Haines and Woody Woodward (YWCA and YMCA executive secretaries respectively) and certain UW professors, were devoted to the Nisei students when their help was needed most.

Lois Logan Horn, ’44
Seattle

EDITOR’S NOTE: For more on local support of Nisei students in 1942, please see “The Stolen Years, Part Two."