To the editor:

I do hope the Journal-World masthead on April 1 was no joke. It claims that “What the Lawrence Journal-World Stands For” includes “safeguarding the rights of all citizens regardless of race, creed or economic stature,” “sympathy and understanding for all who are disadvantaged or oppressed” and “support of projects that make our community a better place to live.” Admirable goals, if only they were true.

Despite standing-room-only attendance at a lecture given by Ojibwa activist and former vice presidential candidate Winona LaDuke at the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics on Monday, not a word of it was mentioned in your paper. The event was sponsored by Haskell Indian Nations University, the American Indian College Fund and the First Nations Student Association and attended by prominent members of our community, including Haskell President Linda Sue Warner. The theme of LaDuke’s lecture was indigenous thinking and environmental activism.

She spoke eloquently about the success her community in Minnesota has had in defending their traditional wild rice crop from pollution by genetically engineered industrial agriculture and how it has found appropriate technology for clean sources of energy. She also made poignant observations about how both genetic engineering and coal-fired power plants are affecting Kansas.

In a community where concerns about the environment and indigenous issues are at the forefront, surely the Journal-World could have devoted a few column inches to reporting on LaDuke’s presentation. A disparity between words and reality makes your noble claims read like an April Fools’ trick.

John W. Hoopes,

Lawrence