The young people in "Younger workers thinking outside the cubicle" (Dec. 14) are my heroes. As a boomer who has never (well, hardly ever) looked back from giving up a consumer lifestyle, I am inspired with hope by the choices these young people are making. The fact is that our Earth can no longer tolerate the human race using and abusing resources in the name of "prosperity." We all have to rethink priorities in an age in which the burning of fossil fuels is choking our planet and the unequal distribution of wealth is a travesty of the human spirit. At this time of year, we can easily apply the lesson Ebenezer Scrooge learned in "A Christmas Carol": Caring for one's fellow man and the simple happiness of camaraderie are the real values to aspire for. Thank you, Alex, Tori, Shelly and the others mentioned in the Dec. 14 article for being role models for us all.

Nancy Kent, Minneapolis
SENIOR HOME CARE

All I wanted was a little advice …

I commend the fine report about senior home care ("Booming business, erratic care," Dec. 14). It was on target. So let me add to the pot of stew we seniors are required to partake. My wife is now wheelchair-bound and very limited as to her ability to assist in her care. As her only caregiver, I sought help that could give me some respite from 24/7 tasking. My questions were simple: Who can advise us about what option we should take, and who would be best to provide it? Junior-high students have counselors, so certainly we seniors have such, somewhere. Right?

I started with an Internet search, but only found "providers," no counselors. Then I looked to the state's Senior LinkAge Line, thinking representatives there would know. They did not know of any such assistance. "Just give me your ZIP and I will tell you who serves it," they said. Nuts, I can do that.

Next, I contacted Senior Centers in St. Louis Park and Minnetonka. No such service. Why not?

Next, I tried Park Nicollet, where "outreach" is a part of the Affordable Care Act effort. No such service. I did find the Jewish Family & Children's Service, which told me it offers such counseling. After I paid a $140 fee upfront, we had a one-hour meeting followed by a home visit by a very young staffer who left us with a handwritten list of two home care companies and two assisted-living companies — it was our choice!

We finally decided on a provider to try. After the substitute worker dropped my wife, we quit. They were so "kind" as to let us out of the two-week notice after I mentioned the attorney general would be my next call.

iStockphoto.com

Senior Centers in Minnesota must be required to provide unbiased, independent counseling to seniors based on a professional evaluation. This "counseling" must include the pros and cons of the available alternatives. Until then, our story and the thousands like it will continue with their accompanying human suffering.

Douglas Hadden, Minnetonka

• • •

The Star Tribune missed an opportunity to inform the public about the complete picture of senior home care. It opted instead for a muckraking article about the horrors of for-profit, franchise-based care. The writer missed the opportunity to explain the differences in categories of care in Minnesota and chose instead to bash franchise-based services that are serving seniors and their families around the country. The case cited about the maltreatment and death of the Minnesota resident involved a Medicare-certified agency; the care provided by the other franchise-based services disparaged in this article is primarily nonmedical care. The distinctions are very clear under Minnesota regulations if the writer had bothered to check.

While there are some flaws and shortcomings in home care, these franchise-based services stack up pretty well when compared with say, hospital or nursing home care, and they do it for a fraction of the cost. The reason for their dramatic growth is that there are few alternatives for families caring for loved ones. They operate in a competitive market, and that alone keeps costs down and customer service high.

I'm a former owner of one of these evil, for-profit franchise services. I bought an existing franchise that had four clients and grew it to more than a hundred. I like to think that the franchise grew because we provided a quality service at a competitive price. We responded to family emergencies 24/7 and often started service for families within a matter of hours. Before owning this franchise, I worked in three different corporations — one a managed-care firm — and none of these three exhibited the same level of ethics and morality that the home care franchise company did.

Fred Olson, Eden Prairie
INDIAN SCHOOLS

We've heard the issue; now we must act

What a huge problem the Star Tribune's editorials revealed on the pitiful state of Indian reservation schools (Separate and Unequal series, Nov. 23 through Dec. 14). It is a real-life mystery story why the U.S. government (and that includes all citizens) has neglected our part of the treaties we made with the original owners of the land we took. Now that we know how bad the crime scene is, it is our duty to make redress.

If enough of us take up the keyboard and write Congress and the president, we can awake their dead consciences — and ours. Particularly, the voices of schoolchildren need to be heard. Can't you see the fire those young, idealistic minds can bring to this discussion? Classes in history, economics, English and civics can find out who the native peoples are, what they are enduring, where to apply pressure to change the current conditions and why it is so important for us, as a self-respecting people, to act swiftly. For it is only through education that we can solve the rest of the problems of the world.

Betty Ann Addison, Fridley

• • •

The U.S. Department of Defense K-12 schools have traditionally been considered a good school system, but even DOD schools have been threatened with cutbacks whenever there are DOD cutbacks ("This is how it's done," editorial, Dec. 14).

The DOD values education, and promotions (and pay raises) are typically tied to education level. The DOD encourages and pays for college courses as well as technical training for almost anybody in the U.S. military. The K-12 education system is an extension of the value the DOD puts on education.

The big difference between the DOD and Bureau of Indian Education schools is lobbying. The DOD schools have the support of Congress and get feedback from the large military presence in Washington. The BIE has limited influence.

David Frenkel, Edina
CUBA-U.S. RELATIONS

The past is prologue

Does anybody remember what brought about the Castro brothers in Cuba in the first place? A corrupt government, run by U.S. gangsters with Batista as a front. If we normalize relations with Cuba (whatever that means), it will be business as usual.

Edward McHugh, East Bethel