Gunter Grass

Evyn Haberstock
123 Green Ave
Penticton, B.C.
V2A 3W1

February 10, 2011

Jim Smith
Mayor
Smalltown, British Columbia

Dear Sir:

First off thank you for confiding in me regarding your decision Gunter Grass. Personally I do believe that you should ignore the evidence that you have against him. In war time people act differently. Take the people of Germany, who were as well model citizens, that ratted out their own friends who were Jewish because they were afraid of what the government would have done to them if they found out they were hiding Jews. Gunter was just following orders because he feared what would have happened if he if he denied them.

Being the mayor of our village for 36 years he has done some very noticeable work for the community's benefit. Being subjected to re-election, had he not retired due to age, shows that people respect and admire him for all his efforts he has put in for the sake of the community. He has been and still is a model citizen that fellow villagers adore and inspire to be like. The empire of a factory he built out of nothing,  has profited this village very well not only providing jobs to the village people but paying them very well to increase this village's economy.

As you are aware of, there are many families in our village that have a hard time to make ends meet at the end of the month. This is always where Gunter Grass steps in and foots the bills to cover the necessary expenses. Because of his generosity not only to these families but to different charities he has saved many people from the undesirable situation of being homeless.

By outing his past not only will you crush the grandfather of several children you will affect our community. He has done so much for this village and if the people of the village know, employees wont want to work for him, affecting the economy, and people wont accept his charity leaving our village in a dire state. If you care about all the kindness he has shown for our families, friends and neighbors, show him your appreciation by keeping it a secret. Don't let his legacy be ruined by a regrettable decision in the past.

What a Year

Grade 12 is the year everyone looks forward to, it is the year when everything students dream of and wait for, happens. I however am not one of those students. This was the year I was looking forward to, until about 3 months ago. The year I was imagining was to be packed with sports, working and going out. The supposedly best year of my life involves attending long doctor appointments, working the unwanted shifts, and watching way too many games from the sidelines. Even just being a teenager is out of the question this year. For the past 2 years I was the youngest student at work, this meant I had the misfortune of always receiving the dreaded shift times. The older students left for university this summer so I was next in line for the reasonable shift times, but because I missed a summer of work all the new students are first in line for the good shifts and I am again unluckily, stuck with the unwanted shifts, that is if I can even manage to last a full shift. I live for sports. I have devoted all of my time to sports, only to find out I might not even be able to play. If I am not medically cleared to play, I truly do not know what to do with all the free time I would have. This year my intent was to hang out with my friends every weekend that I wasn't away for sports because I never really had chances to do that in the past. Now my parents rarely let me go out past 9:30pm because I am so exhausted all the time. This year I had my heart set on applying to Queens University out east. My dreams have been crushed because now I have to settle for a university close to home, if I can even achieve the grades to make it into university. This unfortunately is due to the fact that if anything critical does happens I have to be close to all of my doctors. The one thing that hasn't changed, and I’m so happy it didn’t, are my friends. It would have killed me if they abandoned me. Without them I honestly don’t know how I would have made it through this year. As much as I am not looking forward to this year it is going to be a year I will definitely not forget.