Who gets to decide if you’re part of the Jayhawks fan family? You — and nobody else

Yes, it’s ‘we’

The author of a recent letter complained about ecstatic Jayhawk basketball fans using the term “we” in describing KU’s national championship by saying, “We won,” even though they weren’t directly involved as a player, coach and so on. (April 15, 7A) The writer stated, “You are not ‘we’ — you bought a T-shirt.”

If you’re from Kansas City and saw the Chiefs win the Super Bowl, did you say, “We won”? When the Royals won the World Series, did you say, “We won”? You likely had zero direct connection to those teams’ performances, but you know you used “we” in that context.

If you’ve:

▪ watched almost every KU game for the past 40 years, including 10 Final Fours and six national finals during that time

▪ felt jubilation after three championship game wins

▪ felt dejection after three championship game losses

▪ plastered your man cave with 40 years’ worth of KU gear

▪ planned your work and social life around KU game dates and times

▪ hummed the fight song daily

… then you’re part of KU Nation and you have every right to say “we.”

(Plus, you didn’t buy just one T-shirt.)

Rock Chalk!

- Troy Burgess, Kansas City

Support the news

The newspaper is the first draft of history.

The world is a mess. Europe is facing its biggest threat since World War II. America is following a traitorous ex-president and a Republican Party I no longer recognize. And the greatest fear of rural, straight, white, Christian America is being inconvenienced by a minority.

Fake news and autocracy begin with harassment of journalism.

Government fake news is ready with an easily understandable, consistent narrative. Real news, real journalism is our only path back to the American experiment.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is guilty of genocide and cannot remain in power. He will not stop with Ukraine. Ninety years ago, Stalin murdered 4 million Ukrainians. Ukraine will not stop. Nothing (short of an attack on the Russian mainland) will change Putin. Tanks, MiGs, air defense, killer drones, Warthogs and a limited no-fly zone will not increase the risk. Ukraine: Defeating Putin, ending like Masada or the Warsaw ghetto uprising — the result is up to us. Watch real news. Listen to real journalists. And buy the newspaper — it’s the most American thing you can do.

- Randall Jones, Independence

Give positivity

April is recognized nationally as Child Abuse Prevention month. Now is the time to create positive childhood experiences that enable families to succeed.

Adverse childhood experiences, like child abuse, have been identified to lead to poor health outcomes such as diabetes, COPD and increased mental health concerns, including suicide. However, researchers have recognized we can mitigate the risk of these poor outcomes.

The solution can be positive relationships and experiences. If we offer opportunities for children and their parents to have positive experiences, they can learn better coping skills to deal with future trauma. And for those who have experienced trauma, we can improve their trajectory in life.

As April draws to a close, remember that child-abuse prevention is a year-round opportunity. We at Kansas Children’s Service League, the Kansas chapter for Prevent Child Abuse America, urge you to join us in growing a better tomorrow for all children, together.

Let’s raise awareness about preventing child abuse and the importance for children to have HOPE — Healthy Outcomes from Positive Experiences. Our role to provide positive experiences is continuous to enable children, families and their communities to thrive today and for generations to come.

- Gail Cozadd, CEO, Kansas Children’s Service League, Topeka

Trifonov ‘s choice

I can’t help but disagree with your editorial saying Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov and the Harriman-Jewell Series need to take a stronger stance against Russia. (April 17, 19A, “Unless Russian-born pianist denounces atrocities, his KC show must not go on as usual”)

It does say you can’t force people to say something if they don’t want to, and I agree with that. However, wouldn’t canceling his show if he doesn’t say something pretty much the same thing? He did make an Instagram post about how all wars are tragic, and I think that should be more than enough.

It’s his decision to post or not. I think keeping his opinions to himself and choosing not to speak publicly about them is his right and we should respect that.

- Carson Faros, Leawood