Headline on exchange student incorrectly described her ethnic origin

Editor:

Re the April 10 News-Times story featuring Irina Melnic:

Your headline and the photo caption described her as a "Russian" student.

She is not Russian, either by ethnicity or nationality, and takes offense at such a description. Irina is from Moldova, which is one of the countries of the former Soviet Union.

She is here through the Future Leader Exchange (FLEX)Program, which is sponsored by the Department of State with scholarships awarded on a competitive basis. Students in this program are from the countries of the former Soviet Union.

Although Russia dominated the Soviet Union, the people in the other countries are not necessarily ethnic Russians, and in fact have many separate national and ethnic identities.

The story by Quandra Collins was substantially correct. She did not make any reference to "Russian" in the article and seems to have her facts straight.

Whoever wrote the headline and captioned the picture made a substantial error.

She and we would appreciate a published correction.

William N. Jackson, Evans

(William N. Jackson is a host parent for the FLEX Program. The News-Times apologizes for the incorrect headline information.)