Letters

Early Puberty

"You cannot simply buy young girls a bra and expect everything to proceed as if they were having a typical childhood experience." JESSICA EDWARDS Denver

Your article about young girls developing physically earlier than ever [HEALTH, Oct. 30] made an important contribution to informing the public about this frightening trend. As a psychologist, I am convinced it is not "normal" for six-, seven- and eight-year-old girls to develop breasts and pubic hair. It puts these girls in a very vulnerable situation as they grow up, and it is essential we do more to help them cope.

We must also determine the causes of this phenomenon. Common sense tells us that the environment is a likely suspect. Public-health officials should be examining whether early puberty is found more in locations where children are exposed to significant levels of chemicals that could cause this trend. DIANA ZUCKERMAN EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR National Center for Policy Research for Women and Families Washington

The embarrassment of having pubic hair and breasts earlier than one's friends and peer pressure to conform are issues that young girls face while going through puberty, no matter what their age. I started growing breasts when I was 10, and the biggest troubles I had weren't deep inner conflicts caused by rampant hormones. My problems were caused by older boys who hadn't been taught to control themselves and by grownups who thought I should wear a bra. I didn't feel any different from before I had breasts, but I was treated differently. Blaming a girl's body for the failings of our society is archaic and wrong. CARLEN ANTOINETTE REYNOLDS Houston

You noted that the influences of peer pressure and sexually explicit media lead young girls to wear sexualized adult clothing when they are not yet grown up. But have you been to the girls' department of any major clothing store lately? The only clothes available for young girls are skintight, clingy, revealing shirts and pants. I refuse to buy this clothing for my daughters, and if every mother of a young girl did the same, then maybe the clothing industry would stop marketing such garbage and our daughters could be children a little longer. KAREN SZYBIST Barrington, Ill.

The condition of accelerated puberty in girls is more of a hypothesis than a widely observed phenomenon--in spite of anecdotal reports. Your article seemed to emphasize the vague possibility that a host of chemicals, those found in the environment or in foods, could initiate early puberty. But the only scientifically documented cause is the increase in childhood obesity, and the demonstrated involvement of fat cell-derived leptin in initiating pubertal events. Next time, I hope you will do your readers a favor by presenting such stories in a more realistic context, rather than alarming them on the basis of weak scientific evidence. RUTH KAVA, DIRECTOR OF NUTRITION American Council on Science and Health New York City

As a woman of 22 who developed early, I can empathize with the young girls mentioned in your article. I still remember how it felt in junior high dancing with boys who were a head shorter than me. But young women are developing at an alarming rate, not only physically but also emotionally. I find myself in shopping malls baffled by how some young girls can leave the house wearing tube tops and pounds of makeup. What I remember most about my adolescence was trying so hard to be older. Well, now that I am, I wish I hadn't tried so hard. Girls need to know it's O.K. not to rush it. ANDREA DILLON Playa del Rey, Calif.

Ready for the Challenge

The headline on your story about the United States Postal Service and its competitors asked, "Who's Got Mail?" [BUSINESS, Oct. 16]. The answer is easy. The people and businesses of America. They rely on it more than 208 billion times a year. With the hits we've been taking from competitors, it should be clear that the USPS is doing something right. No one else delivers to everyone, everywhere in the U.S., every day. As you noted, "None of the private carriers can match the USPS's ground-based delivery network." Is the Postal Service facing challenges? Absolutely. The biggest one is a legislative charter that was created before anyone heard of e-mail, PCs or the Internet. Postmaster General William J. Henderson continues to be an outspoken advocate for legislative reform of the Postal Service. It is time to change the current legislative model to make sure the American people continue to be served in the best way possible. AZEEALY S. JAFFER, VICE PRESIDENT Public Affairs and Communications United States Postal Service Washington

Living on the Edge

I found your article "Diaries of Hope and Hate," written by the people who are living through the crisis in the Middle East, very moving [WORLD, Oct. 30]. Hearing their perspectives brought the conflict home to me. The piece by 16-year-old Palestinian schoolgirl Kiyan Khaled Al-Sarfi, who lives in a refugee camp, was particularly interesting. It is hard for me, as a teenager, to imagine living with such violence and death and still having to carry on with classes. It upset me how Kiyan and her classmates begin the day by reciting poems for Palestine instead of for peace. It is wrong for her school to glorify the death of Palestinians by chanting, "Rest, martyr, in your grave; we will continue the struggle." If only Palestinian and Israeli students were taught that peace and unity are what they should strive for. MAUREEN COOKE Westfield, N.J.

Your report was the closest thing to a two-sided view that I've read. If only both sides would stop the violence and look at the lives of the ordinary people they're throwing into turmoil, then maybe they would realize that all we need is love. But I know it isn't so simple. I just wish my friends and I could ride a bus or go to the mall without feeling as if we're taking our lives in our hands. I wish Palestinian mothers wouldn't let their children run out where bullets are flying to throw stones at soldiers. My heart turns over for our brave soldiers. If what we truly want is to live in harmony, why aren't life and love priorities in this battle for honor and pride? SARA MILLER, age 16 Jerusalem

The "Diaries of Hope and Hate" drove me to tears. By showing both sides of the same coin, you've realistically portrayed the misery of two nations. Both the Israelis and the Palestinians must learn that whatever they do to each other, they're writing history and shaping the future for their young. PEI-LING LIN Bangkok

Congratulations on the impressive article and photographs portraying the hatred in the Middle East, which has flared up into violence. When I was visiting Israel in 1992, I had a guide who would not let members of our tour group give even $1 to the Palestinians who approached us or buy anything from them. It will be very difficult to stop the violence if the economic gap between Israelis and Palestinians is not closed. If Israel wants a long-lasting peace in this troubled place, it must find ways to improve the welfare of Palestinians. GILDA SANCHEZ Mexico City

I am not an Arab, nor am I a Jew, so I cannot begin to comprehend the depth of feeling of these people who are killing each other in Ramallah and the Gaza Strip. However, my feelings of outrage more than matched theirs when I watched and read about the numerous funerals of children and the brutal murder of Israeli soldiers. The number killed is relevant only to their victims' grieving relatives. Each death, no matter the nationality, is another nail in the coffin for peace in the Middle East. It is a mob mentality that rules this region, not the countries' so-called leaders. HEIDI MCNAUGHTON Christchurch, New Zealand

Why do intelligent, capable individuals pray so much and think so little? Can't they see their faith is killing them? Would Muhammad throw stones at Moses? Would Moses retaliate? The struggle is shameful and ridiculous. PAUL SANCHE Tepeji, Mexico

On reading through the reporting about the Middle East, I keep thinking of the saying "Enough blood. Enough tears. It is time for peace." That is my wish for the Middle East. ELLEN FEDELE Rondebosch, South Africa

A total makeover in mind-set is an absolute necessity in the Middle East. Until the two sides stop for a moment and try to understand each other, peace won't be possible. The exasperated crowds of Palestinians need to understand that being a martyr is not a virtue. Israelis need to understand that killing an unprotected child is not the way to keep peace. It will take at least two generations for a change in thinking to occur. We must work to stop the violence. ERGIN MIZRAHI Istanbul

The End of Milosevic

Your reporting on Yugoslavia's new leader, Vojislav Kostunica, failed to note that he is no better than Slobodan Milosevic [WORLD, Oct. 16]. Like the man he defeated, Kostunica actively supported Serbia's nationalist aspirations and the wars against Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo. At best, it may be said Kostunica is the lesser of two evils. He isn't an indicted war criminal, and he may change for the better, but he owes the world an apology for the Serbian acts of genocide against other nations. ABDULLAH BAYSAK Izmir, Turkey

I appreciate the Yugoslavs' revolution, but we cannot treat Milosevic as the sole source of evil. He was only the leader. What about the people who empowered him and supported his regime? The proper course of action is not simply to unhorse a single person in an act of fury but to re-create the country, to give it a democratic framework. That will not be possible without an honest settlement with officials, judges and everyone else who created and ruled in Milosevic's corrupt system. How do I know? In Poland, we went through the same ordeal 10 years ago, but once again in Poland, we have a President from the former communist regime. TOMASZ JANASZCZYK Kalisz, Poland

It is with deepening concern that I have viewed the power struggle in Yugoslavia and the reaction of the Western powers to the new President. In a democratic process, the people of Serbia voted against the economic failures and corruption of the Milosovic era but voted for a candidate of equal nationalist fervor and hence retained the ideas we all abhor and condemn. The West, which has for so long rejected Milosovic, now has embraced (rather too quickly) both a man who embodies the darker aspects of Serbian ultranationalism and a nation that still believes in it. Have Western leaders so quickly forgotten what that means? IVAN FARINA Sandycove, Ireland

I am extremely disappointed in the way the U.S. government views Serbian nationalism. Why is it different from American nationalism? U.S. officials are extremely hypocritical in celebrating Kostunica's victory. They simply want to wash their bloody hands of the war and of NATO bombings in Kosovo and Yugoslavia that caused human casualties and severe destruction of Serbian infrastructure. U.S. officials can claim they acted because of Milosevic's aggression. But deep down, all Serbs know the U.S. government could not care less about their well-being and struggle for democracy. ANA MIRKOVIC Vancouver

The Day of Reckoning

Slobodan Milosevic intimidated, oppressed and nearly strangled the people of Yugoslavia, but when the day of reckoning came for the tyrant, he had no choice but to step aside [WORLD, Oct. 16]. This is a good lesson for the elected and military-backed regimes in Africa. It doesn't matter whether a person is voted into office or comes to power through the barrel of a gun; nobody can go against the will of the people forever. USMAN MALAH Lagos

After the Fall

I am relieved that a civil war has not erupted in Yugoslavia [WORLD, Oct. 16], but the issue of Slobodan Milosevic is still front and center. He must be held accountable for his crimes. How can the West give billions of dollars to the new government without a promise that Milosevic will be held liable for the murders and the torture committed by him and his supporters? HAROLD BECKER Toronto

Wait-and-See Approach

It is great that the days of Milosevic's rule are finally over [World, Oct. 16]. But what do we really know about Kostunica's political aims? And there are problems: the Socialist Party still has a voice in the Yugoslav Parliament, and many of the political and business elite still believe in Milosevic. We should wait and see before we start cheering. MICHAEL PFEIFFER Berlin

Gun-Free Games

The illustrations with your report on the debut of PlayStation2 and the video-game entertainment industry [BUSINESS, Oct. 30] had a glaring problem in showing armed mascots. You have Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog and Nintendo's Luigi holding guns, but these characters have never wielded firearms in their games. Sonic and Luigi are stars of E-rated games, suitable for everyone. And Sony PlayStation's Lara Croft, while generally armed, is in games with a T rating (akin to a PG-13). Video games do not always have violent content. ANDREW PODOLSKY Fresno, Calif.

Trouble for the Copier King

The problems of Xerox stem from a decrease in quality of the company's machines and services [BUSINESS, Oct. 30]. Arrogance is the key word that comes to mind with Xerox. As a purchasing director for many years, who in the early '70s bought only Xerox, I found the firm's lack of attention to the customers' needs infuriating. Xerox lost our account years ago. It was easier to buy copiers from a company that consistently gives us a fair price--not just a good one when it had a sale. Equipment quality was not the problem; it was the sales force. MIKE KASTNER St. Joseph, Mich.

Your article on Xerox noted that its research center Xerox PARC was responsible for the computer mouse. Douglas C. Engelbart and his team at SRI International (which was then known as Stanford Research Institute) invented the mouse and created the foundations of personal computing. The patent for the mouse was filed in 1967, three years before Xerox PARC was established. The invention was licensed by SRI to Xerox in 1981. Capitalizing on innovation is indeed challenging. SRI has a unique value-creation process designed to move innovations from the laboratory and into the marketplace through partnerships, licenses and spin-off companies. CURTIS R. CARLSON PRESIDENT AND CEO SRI International Menlo Park, Calif.

Korean Harmony

South Korean President Kim Dae Jung's greatest achievement in meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il [Notebook, Oct. 23] was to give the world a chance to realize that the North Korean is a man of good humor and capability. Kim Jong Il may lead his country in a more progressive direction. I hope this is the beginning of real understanding in East Asia. KIMIKO TERABAYASHI Kawasaki, Japan