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April 27, 2012

READERS’ FORUM: April 27, 2012

The Tribune-Star

TERRE HAUTE — • Lugar initiatives helped the Valley

I have found it somewhat disturbing to see some of the negative comments about whom I consider to be one of the greatest Hoosiers of our time, Sen. Richard Lugar.  Lugar has represented our state and nation admirably for many years. He is widely respected in the nation and world for his many accomplishments.

Although he is a clear conservative, he is not a person who goes around thumping his chest and giving out sound bites about everything wrong with our country. He actually comes up with thoughtful conservative ideas and tries to get them enacted usually in a bipartisan fashion.

I doubt if many people know how some of his initiatives in the Wabash Valley have helped our citizens. My area of expertise is in health care, and in that arena I know well what Sen. Lugar has done for our region.

In 1992 Union Hospital began a project to improve the access to health care for citizens of the Wabash Valley with a focus on rural underserved populations. I was fortunate to be selected as director of that project. We called our new project the Midwest Center for Rural Health. We knew to be successful we would need to have both popular and political support. We met with many citizen groups and all of our local, state and federal officials to generate support and enthusiasm for the project, which was designed primarily to prepare health care providers for service in rural underserved areas.

Everyone we met with was supportive, but one in particular was instrumental in our success — Sen. Lugar. I learned that Sen. Lugar is not a “lip-service” person. He is an action person. He put us in contact with the department of agriculture and with the commerce department. The result allowed us to construct a state of the art medical facility in Clay City. This facility has been used by hundreds of health care students as an introduction to rural health care.

He helped us find federal funding for the construction of the Landsbaum Center for Health Education in Terre Haute.

When the Center for Medicare Services said we could not expand our teaching programs in Terre Haute, he sponsored legislation that allowed for the expansion. When Vermillion and Parke counties were designated as very underserved, he supported the development of the Vermillion Parke Community Health Center, which now serves 30,000 patient visits per year in Parke and Vermillion counties and turns away no one.

About a year ago he called our office; he had become intrigued with the idea of having a mobile medical unit providing health care to remote rural areas without good access to health care. As a result of his prodding and the support of his staff, the Vermillion Parke County Clinic was able to competitively get a grant for a mobile health bus that will be providing health and dental care at all the schools in Vermillion and Parke counties and at the same time educating the next generation of doctors, nurses and many others. You will be seeing that unit at fairs and festivals this summer.

These are but a few of the actions he has taken to help the citizens of the Wabash Valley, and I am certain there are many other examples throughout the state.

In 2006 we asked Sen. Lugar if we could express our appreciation to him by renaming our center. I am very proud to have been the first director of the Richard G. Lugar Center for Rural Health at Union Hospital. I very much look forward to what more we can accomplish in the Wabash Valley and nation with the support of our great senator from Indiana.

— James R. Buechler, M.D.

Terre Haute



• Theory, law not the same

The following is a response to the letter titled “Theory doesn’t mean unproven,” found in the Tribune-Star on April 17.

The statement was made by an author from Rose-Hulman that another author “should know that scientists use the terms ‘law’ and ‘theory’ interchangeably.” Ad contra, the words “theory” and “law” as used in science are related but different in their meaning. This confusion had bedeviled science-teacher education for decades and was finally clarified by William F. McComas at the University of Southern California. Scientific Laws are generalizations, principles or patterns in nature and theories are the explanations of those generalizations. Thus, the terms “law” and “theory” are not interchangeable within natural science.

In common speech “theory” is usually understood as someone’s “preferred idea.” But that view is exactly what we do not mean by “theory” in natural science. I do not see this misunderstanding as primarily the fault of the “laity” to correct. More to the point, what is not needed, but what in fact was done, is someone in natural science patronizing someone who is not.

— Chuck Johnson

Terre Haute



• Retire Sen. Lugar and Rep. Bucshon

Sen. Lugar was indeed quite a statesman, long ago. But he has “grown in the office” so much it’s hard to find the conservative he once was. The problem is that he perfected the art of playing to both sides. He talks conservative, and votes liberal. The talk is enough to satisfy superficial conservatives, and the votes are enough to satisfy most liberals, so he has all his bases covered.

People like Lugar and Bucshon are what we call RINOs, Republican In Name Only. That might have been arguable until he got desperate and started soliciting campaign contributions from Democratic senators, and mailing solicitations to the Strong Democrat list. Why would he expect Democrats to want to keep him in office enough to give him money? Think about it.

Bucshon seems to have mastered Lugar’s technique of playing both sides much more quickly. From what he says, it’s clear he understands the situation very well.  He talks one hell of a fight. But he follows in lock step with the sniveling Speaker Boehner, taking a dive on every important issue, then throwing us a bone once in a while to make it look good.

As Kristi Risk recently pointed out, while continuously pledging to repeal Obamacare, he voted for a Wisconsin Democrat’s bill to extend Obamacare to cover veterinary practice.

That appears to make no sense at all. But for someone playing to both sides it makes perfect sense. Now the conservatives can take note of his words, and the liberals can take note of his votes, and he has it made.

Unfortunately Kristi took note of his vote too, and she told.

Fool me once, shame on you.  But now that we know the score, we have no excuse to be fooled again. It’s time to retire them both.

— Oral Deckard

Terre Haute



• In government, less can be more

First of all, I applaud a recent letter writer for backing her father for election. But beyond that, I didn’t get much from the letter. I read it through three times, and I am still not sure what the point was. The only thing I got was that the writer favors big government intervention in all phases of the lives of all Americans. The letter rambled on about “are candidates really Republican or Democrat,” or “why are they running for office.” Then she hinted that big unions were the answer to all working people’s problems.

Not all people agree that big government and its meddling in all phases of their lives is the answer, or that we must have big unions. Less government intervention does work. There are many people who believe that the ones paying the bills (companies) should have control over who works for them.

Of course, Democrats and unions think otherwise.

Government, politicians and unions have overstepped their authority. Their aim is to control all aspects of your life and mine. Can you spell “dictator”?

— Joe DeLorme

Clay City

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