Letters

The New Thinking on Breast Cancer

"Early detection is still the best preventive measure, and that means yearly mammograms, even in women younger than 50." RICHARD B. REILING, M.D. Columbus, Ohio

Bravo to Christine Gorman for her comprehensive article on breast cancer [MEDICINE, Feb. 18]! She certainly did her homework. I can substantiate the text of her entire article with research I did on the disease. It's a relief to know that many other women are certain to benefit from her conscientious effort. JOANNE TOMARCHIO Coconut Grove, Fla.

I had my first mammogram at age 62 and another a year later. The second one showed a shadow that turned out to be an early cancer that was virulent enough to pass on to my lymph nodes. I had a mastectomy and six months of chemotherapy. Thirteen years later, I am cancer free. Without that mammogram, I wouldn't today be a cancer survivor. Go get that mammogram! BERNICE RUBINSTEIN Baltimore, Md.

Why did you find it necessary to publish a sexually suggestive photo on your cover? The article is about cancer, not under any circumstances a sexy topic. You trivialized a deadly health problem that affects men as well as women. BARBARA CRYSTAL Melrose, Mass.

You left out one critical consideration: the cost of treatment. When a mammogram or breast exam reveals a lump or calcification, how does an uninsured woman pay for a sonogram or biopsy, let alone surgery and radiation or chemotherapy? What good is early detection if you can't afford treatment? JUDITH PLAYER New York City

Women are still dying of breast cancer in appalling numbers, while the cancer establishment makes billions of dollars on treatments that are not addressing the underlying issues of causation and prevention. Women don't need more drugs to artificially regulate their estrogen levels, or more debilitating surgery. They need to know what causes breast cancer and how to prevent it in their daughters' lifetimes. BEVERLY F. BACCELLI, PRESIDENT MASSACHUSETTS BREAST CANCER COALITION Randolph, Mass.

Unsinkable Molly

There wasn't much about my mastectomies and chemo to laugh about until I read Molly Ivins' take on the experience [MEDICINE, Feb. 18]. Regarding hair loss, I also prayed for God to leave me my eyebrows and eyelashes; I thought losing them would make me look really sick. As for not having breasts, put it this way: if you compare my body with my 10-year-old son's, between the neck and waist we look identical, except he is the one with nipples. Just to be here today, however, and to be able to write this make me happier than having breasts ever did. PATTY BAILEY Cambridge, Ont.

Thank you, Molly Ivins, for expressing your suspicion that "cancer doesn't give a rat's ass whether you have a positive mental attitude." For years, I have tried to counter those who say peace of mind can cure cancer. Ivins came through with a great comeback! MARILYN ERICKSON Springfield, Mass.

Hemp Isn't Heroin

Thanks for reporting the facts about industrial hemp [SOCIETY, Feb. 18]. Hemp is no more a drug than hazelnuts are, yet the U.S. government doesn't seem to grasp this fact. A clean, renewable source of fuel and fiber, hemp belongs under the jurisdiction of the Department of Agriculture, not the Drug Enforcement Administration. It's ironic that this government meddling is occurring during the Bush Administration, which touts itself as probusiness and anti-Big Government. JEFF ROBERTSON GREEN ENVIRONMENTAL COALITION Yellow Springs, Ohio

If a government agency in any other country tried to pull off this stunt (treating hemp as a controlled substance), it would be laughed out of town. KENNETH LINN Dunedin, Fla.

Thank goodness the DEA is protecting our children from getting high on frozen waffles that contain hemp. I'm sure it has research that shows eating such waffles leads to using harder drugs--such as caffeine. MICHAEL MURPHY Half Moon Bay, Calif.

Milosevic's Day in Court

Prior to the Hague war-crimes tribunals, many brutal murderers and torturers could attempt to excuse themselves by claiming they were only following orders [WORLD, Feb. 18]. And if the person at the top of the chain of command was killed or missing, the accused might get away with their crimes. But we now have an opportunity to prosecute the remorseless Slobodan Milosevic. His acts were worse than those of Osama bin Laden. The genocide and rapes will harm people for generations to come. GURKAN HASIRCIOGLU Centurion, South Africa

Why have the people responsible for Serbia's new school history texts, which omit any mention of Milosevic, been allowed to distort the truth? The proper education of the young demands that full and accurate information be provided. RUDY HOEDEL Nanaimo, B.C.

A Plan for the Enron Guys

It is sickening to hear executives from Enron invoke the Fifth Amendment and refuse to testify before Congress after they have stripped people of their life savings [NATION, Feb. 18]. Those people who gained personally at the expense of others should be treated the same as the al-Qaeda terrorists: they should be sent directly to prison. PHILIP MONGEAU Montreal

Are Iranians Fed Up?

Re your article "Tehran's Game," about what the Iranian government is up to these days [WORLD, Feb. 4]: People here in Iran do not necessarily fall into the two categories of hard-liner (conservative) and pro-Western (reformist). There are those who smell a rat in respect to both factions. The majority of Iranians are fed up with the demagogues and yearn for true democracy in our country. NAME WITHHELD BY REQUEST Tehran

Dollars for Defense

Re "The Lessons Of Afghanistan," about what the weapons the U.S. has used there have taught us [NATION, Feb. 18]: It is difficult to argue against a realistic military budget that would allow the U.S. to enhance homeland security and wage a modern war overseas if that should become absolutely necessary. It's conceivable, however, that the Bush Administration's planned mammoth spending for some possibly outdated war equipment may be overkill and a waste of money, as well as a political payback for the defense industry. Also, perhaps it could send a dangerous signal to allies and other countries that the U.S. might well be abandoning its hard-earned name as a peace-loving nation. CLAUDE M. GRUENER Austin, Texas

I was displeased with Mark Thompson's criticism of the Administration's military-spending plan. He said the F-22 Raptor fighter jet was designed to challenge a Soviet force no longer in existence and noted that critics of the RAH-66 Comanche helicopter think the chopper should be scrapped. But both weapons use stealth technology--the very thing Thompson praised in other weapons. Even so-called low-tech devices like tanks can be extremely intimidating to our enemies. The war on terrorism could require an invasion or an occupation force. That alone justifies the expense of more weapons. In the grand scheme of things, $11 billion is not that much money, and it is better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. CAREY SIMPSON Auburn, Ala.

The Worst Abuse

I read with deep anger about the Taliban's use of young Afghan women as sex slaves [LETTER FROM AFGHANISTAN, Feb. 18]. That abuse, however, should come as no surprise. The women of Afghanistan were long ago abandoned by a world that behaved as though the Afghan woman's plight was unimportant, sending the Taliban the message that they could do whatever they wanted--as long as it was to women and girls. Governments remained silent on the barbaric treatment. Unless we speak up, we are all guilty of complicity. SUE DOUGLASS Albany, Calif.

I'm not sure which group committed the greater crime--the Taliban, which kidnapped the women, or the victims' families, which now reject the former captives instead of welcoming them back and helping them overcome the atrocities they had to endure. It's not just the Taliban but most of Afghan society that is to blame for tolerating criminal acts toward women. PAUL GAFFNEY Chico, Calif.

Guided by a Book

Bright and able yet equally wayward, I ran with the wrong people for a lot of my youth. When I came upon Claude Brown's book Manchild in the Promised Land, about growing up in Harlem [MILESTONES, Feb. 18], I found characters and situations I recognized. Petty crimes, loser friends and the rest of it, all in a rough urban setting, wasn't that far from my own experience. Most important, Brown's tale showed a way out. It was the story of a phoenix, not just a smoldering fire. This stark book showed me what was possible. Those of us who have been helped and guided by Brown's novel owe him a large measure of gratitude. JOSEPH H. BOLLETTIERI St. Paul, Minn.

Value Judgment

Your item about former teen pop star Tiffany's posing in Playboy to show that she is no longer a kid [PEOPLE, Feb. 18] quoted her publicist (a man), who had the audacity to say, "Any woman would be honored to pose for Playboy." Maybe his clients will try anything to get attention. I don't know any self-respecting woman, however, who would think of this as an honor. LENNIE GRIFFITHS Hamilton, N.J.