Letters: Longtime volunteer leaves lasting legacy; Join the push for cease-fire

Longtime volunteer leaves lasting legacy

State College — it is the “end of an era.” On Thursday, Jan. 4, longtime State College resident and community volunteer Louise Tukey died after more than 70 years of contributing to the local community. Louise arrived in State College in 1951 and immediately began becoming part of the fiber of Centre County. She participated in the founding of the Women’s Resource Centre, Phone-A-Friend, Schlow Library, University Women’s Club, League of Women’s Voters, Centre County Historical Society (life member), and many more initiatives focused on bettering the lives of women and children in State College. Her most impactful contribution was as a founding member for AAUW’s annual Used Book Sale. Beginning with the first sale at the Wesley Foundation through its current day iteration, Louise volunteered countless hours to pricing and organizing books, working with book buyers and sellers, assisting with funds allocation for scholarships for returning adult women and local community betterment projects, and promoting the works of AAUW locally, throughout the state, and nationwide. Louise was tenacious, sometimes difficult, determined, and steadfast in her convictions. If you met Louise or worked with Louise, you would always remember the interaction. Yes, it is the end of an era for Louise’s active contributions, but her memory will live on for many years to come in the stories people tell about all the contributions she made to State College as a community.

Join the push for cease-fire

The genocide in Gaza continues from one horrific day to the next, with no end in sight. Until the U.S. confronts Israel, demands a permanent cease-fire, and withholds all weapons shipments to the apartheid regime, the slaughter will continue, exceeding the current total of over 22,000 Palestinians killed, of which 70% are women and children. While 61% of Americans support a cease-fire in Gaza, the U.S. government refuses to rein in Israel, seeing it as vital to the pursuit of U.S. geopolitical aims. Israel’s objective in Gaza has been clearly stated by Prime Minister Netanyahu, Defense Minister Gallant, and other high level Israeli officials: eradication of Palestinians through relentless bombing, artillery fire, starvation and ethnic cleansing. In other words, Israel seeks to purge the country of Palestinians by either killing them outright or forcing them to flee the country. The only way our government will reverse course and demand a stop to the carnage in Gaza is for a critical mass of Americans to pressure it to do so. Political pressure can be applied by writing letters to the editor; constantly demanding our representatives call for an immediate cease-fire; joining with anti-Zionist pro-Palestinian organizations such as Jewish Voices for Peace; attending or organizing marches and protests; and anything else we can imagine. This is democracy in action, and clearly the right thing to do.

Third party votes endanger democracy

In his Jan. 5 CDT letter Douglas Mason encourages us to vote out of hope in November rather than fear, by voting Green Party.

With great admiration for what he and the Green Party stands for, I must respectfully disagree. We absolutely must approach the coming election with a healthy dose of fear. Hope alone won’t cut it. Why? Because America is facing one of the greatest threats to its democratic foundation ever. The past decade has made it crystal clear that if Trump wins reelection then American democracy will end. He has told and shown us this repeatedly.

Given the razor thin margin of votes that have determined the past two presidential elections, a vote for the Green Party instead of Biden might as well be a vote for Trump. And a Trump win will undermine everything the Green Party stands for.

Green voters could actually serve Green Party interests best at this critical juncture by voting Democratic. I know ... the Democratic Party is far from perfect ... but Green voter issues will be much better served if Democrats hold the presidency, the House and the Senate.

Bottom line ... this election is not about two different men. It is about two completely different Americas. Our votes this year will decide the future of American democracy. So I would argue that a healthy dose of fear motivating us to take Trump’s threat seriously is just what we need. We have to get this right.

Change of party and devotion to country

My dear brother lies dying in hospice at this moment. A quiet man, he was nonetheless a writer of note and a deep thinker. He claimed to be one of only two Republicans in the Washington Bureau of the New York Times for many years. As a lifelong Republican, we often sparred about political and social issues, but he stood by his mantra of being “an open-minded seeker of truth.” The night before Thanksgiving in 2021, at a small Italian restaurant in the suburbs of D.C., he made a monumental disclosure: the hatefulness and ignorance of Donald Trump had triggered the unthinkable ... he was no longer a Republican. And to make good on that declaration he sent letters to every Republican in Congress telling them that he would never again for a Republican as long as their North Star remained the very troubling, volatile and deviously ignorant Donald Trump. He would never tolerate such blind faith in a man who disavowed the Constitution and damned to hell those who didn’t believe in him. My brother’s faith in this country was unfailing for over 80 years; his devotion in the potential of America unflagging. I believe that with his last breaths he wishes it were so.