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Letters, June 19 By Mail Tribune readers Jun 19, 2022 12:00 AM A A Bravo to OSF In a letter to the editor in the June 12 Mail Tribune, Erla Goller of Sacramento expresses sadness that “the current offerings at OSF now exhibit a woke agenda.” According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, woke means to be aware of and actively attentive to important facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice). Shakespeare himself was a pretty woke guy. He wrote plays that addressed racism, the role of women and intolerance, to name just a few topics. I’m grateful for the “woke” people like the abolitionists, suffragettes and civil rights leaders who have all contributed to us living in a better world than it would otherwise be. We have a long way to go, and I appreciate those in the arts who touch my heart and help me better understand the lives of people who are different from me. There is still so much work to be done to make this a better world for all of us. Bravo to OSF. Adrienne Simmons Ashland Liberty Park neighborhood In the Liberty neighborhood we have: Two Hearts with a Mission residential buildings, senior apartments on Bartlett, folks with disabilities at the Lithia Apartments on Beatty Street, Options of Southern Oregon (which only takes clients on the Oregon Health Plan), Kids Unlimited, a Title III charter school, Rogue Retreat’s converted motel (a sort of modern day almshouse), The Salvation Army Citadel and, if the city has its way, a four story “stack ’em and pack ’em” low-income build nestled within a commercial zone next to the railroad tracks. For such a small residential neighborhood It isn’t so much of a need as it is a place of reduced resistance to “not in my backyard.” Though the Liberty neighborhood has the distinction of having Medford’s smallest park. Before “beautification,” MURA should focus on removing the blight and promoting meaningful regeneration of one of Medford’s oldest and dearest neighborhoods. Bob Shand Medford