LETTERS

INVASION OF PRIVACY

I believe your sinister cover and article prompting fears of Big Brother are sending out the wrong message--especially to those who fear computers because they do not understand the technology [NATION, Aug. 25]. Access to personal information isn't always a terrible thing. As with fire, drugs or firearms, computerized access to personal information causes harm only if placed in the wrong hands. Computer technology has taken us a long way, mostly with great results and enormous potential. It's not the technology we should fear but the people who take our private information and use it in harmful ways. PETER GORMAN Portsmouth, N.H.

When we start enjoying the violation of our personal boundaries, as Joshua Quittner seems to be doing, it becomes terrifying for the future of freedom. We champion "human rights" all over the globe, we celebrate American individuality, and yet we no longer have that most fundamental right, to be as anonymous as we want to be. ALAN SCHWARTZ Warren, Conn.

Our inability to keep information about ourselves private is far less insidious than our inability to protect our bodies and property from harm. A burglar entering our home violates our physical privacy in a far more serious way than someone who uses the Internet to steal from us. Most of us would rather receive junk mail than deal with door-to-door salespeople. Basically, the hoodlums have changed the tools of their trade. PAWAN K. BHARTIA Mitchellville, Md.

Quittner states that somebody ran up a $3,000 bill on a duplicate of his credit card, that "the nice lady from the fraud division of the credit-card company took care of it..." and that he never lost a cent. It may be constructive to take the situation a bit further and figure out who did lose. My husband and I own a small business, and more than once we have had to deal with that "nice lady from the credit-card company" who tells us we have to absorb the loss. Even when insurance covers part of the cost, we and people like us still have to pay. When the insurance pays, who does Quittner think pays for the insurance? Right. We are all out those many, many cents. ANN E. GILL Orinda, Calif.

Sure, I could pay cash for everything and leave no paper trail for prying eyes. But the seduction of using plastic is the frequent-flyer miles I accrue. By funneling just about everything--from haircuts to a down payment on a used car--into one credit card, I'm flying from Boston to Belfast and back. For me this sure is a tolerable trade-off. TOM WITTENBERG Indianapolis, Ind.

The demise of privacy heralds the advent of a cybertribal era--an age of new barbarians obsessed with the dissolution of individuality. Our digital existence has exploded the romantic myth of freedom. Escape from this schizophrenic duality calls for the reinvention of science, values and relationships. BRIJ MOHAN Baton Rouge, La.

Technology has outpaced the law but not the truth. Who we are publicly is not who we are privately. The global interconnection is not a mass identity crisis; it is a control and power crisis. The more information (dirt) you have on someone, the more you are in control of that person. The next generation must be highly intelligent--or moral--as the electronic skeleton finder will come to everybody's closet. (THE REV.) GARY E. THOMAS, Pastor First Baptist Church Lowell, Ark.

THIS SUMMER'S WORK

"A Conspiracy of Celebration" [NATION, Aug. 11] has two inconsistent messages for the reader. The first message, portrayed by a misleading chart, conveys that without the recent budget agreement, the federal budget would be in balance in 2002 anyway. Nothing could be further from the truth. The second message was "we didn't do enough." We should have done more to control spending, but the agreement will reduce federal entitlement spending nearly $500 billion over the next decade ($385 billion in the Medicare program alone). It has also set limits to annual appropriations that will reduce spending an additional $520 billion over this same time period. In total, for every $1 of tax relief, spending will be reduced nearly $3. The Congress and the President, working together, avoiding the fratricidal budget battles of the recent past, deserve much more credit than your conspiracy-theory headline suggests. The cynicism you evoke continues to erode the public's trust in elected officials. Sometimes this is deserved, but not for this summer's work. PETE V. DOMENICI, Chairman Committee on the Budget U.S. Senate Washington

SPOILING THE UNIVERSE

This year's "lighten up" award goes to Barbara Ehrenreich for her column "What a Cute Universe You Have!" [ESSAY, Aug. 25]. In it she slams the Pathfinder team for giving rocks on Mars cute names and Disney for making a cartoon that is funny. Offhand I would say that anyone who can land a robot on Mars deserves to name the rocks whatever he wants. It's O.K. for animated films to be funny. And Ehrenreich's sense of wonder and awe at the mysteries of life must be extremely fragile and shallow if it can be spoiled by a few artifacts of popular culture. DAVID TIDGWELL Orlando, Fla.

Like Ehrenreich, I want to "retire to the bathroom and retch" when I see the mysterious and the galactic reduced to trashy baubles. ERVIN S. STOCKWELL Houston

WHACKS ON THE BOTTOM

At last, a sensible, unbiased article about spanking [BEHAVIOR, Aug. 25]! It is refreshing to see someone concede what informed parents have known all along: that spanking in and of itself is not abuse when done properly. Rather, this method of discipline serves to let the child know that his or her actions have consequences other than "Now don't do that again, Johnny," which goes in one ear and out the other. Undisciplined children grow up to be undisciplined young adults without concern for the rights of others. Those who fell for the New Age philosophy against spanking are now reaping what they have sown. SUE SCHULTZ Jacksonville, N.C.

My ultimate lesson in spanking came about six years ago, when I found my five-year-old son leaping into his bath from the edge of the bathtub in a classic belly flop. Panicked, I pulled him from the tub, dragged him into his bedroom, promptly swacked him several times, got him dressed and sentenced him to time in his room. Several minutes later, after regaining some composure, I went back to him and attempted to explain the strength of my reaction and the seriousness of his act. My words stupefied me even as they came out of my mouth: "I just don't want you to get hurt." JULIE LEGGE San Bernardino, Calif.

Being hit teaches a child nothing of value. Parents who have children with behavior problems need humor, patience and a course in dog obedience. Yes, puppy training. A firm voice when needed, consistency, following through with clarity of action when the child seems not to hear the request and, most of all, praise! Lots of it. "Good child." Pat. Pat. See how simple it is. FRANCES C. HAVEY Overland, Mo.

MATH FROM ALL ANGLES

Enlightened and responsible math educators [EDUCATION, Aug. 25] know they are preparing students to be effective citizens for the 21st century, not the horse-and-buggy days. What successful scientist does long division? The issue in math education is professional development, not regression into arithmetic. CYNTHIA TUTTLE Deerfield, Mass.

It's a shame that the debate over mathematics education must be drawn in such black-and-white terms. Understanding mathematics' most beautiful results requires both a comfort with nuts-and-bolts calculation and creative problem solving. Neglecting either aspect of students' education is not a good formula for success. DANIEL SCHER Livingston, N.J.

Often parents are chagrined to find they cannot do mathematics in a non-skill-and-drill format and therefore assume these lessons are of no value to their children. CONSTANCE KELLY West Bloomfield, Mich.

CONTROLLING AGGRESSIVE DOGS

Although your story about the sharp increase in attacks by dogs on people indicated that I believe dogs that bite should be chained [LIVING, June 23], that is not the case. The data indicate that chaining dogs increases the risk of aggression, and thus I do not recommend chaining. A far better approach is to prevent dog bites in the first place through more responsible dog ownership, public education about dog behavior, support for animal control at the community level and reporting of dog bites. JEFFREY J. SACKS, M.D., M.P.H. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control Atlanta