Letters

Cloning activists deserve a fair hearing

Your April 5 article "Make way for the Cloning Express" was far superior to the general journalistic fare being offered to the public these days.

However, it would have been greatly improved if you had explored the views of those supporting human cloning more thoroughly than simply referring to the Council of Secular Humanism's "declaration in defense of human cloning" which was not "recently posted" on the Web, but dates back to 1997.

We who work with this issue on a daily basis and who form the heart and soul of the world's newest social movement deserve to be included in this debate.

I did not see one word in your article about the reproductive or religious rights of individual American citizens. Instead we were given a thorough summary of mainstream anticloning rhetoric and moralistic theories.

We are a small movement but our importance is huge.

Randolfe H. Wicker New York

I read with interest your article "Make way for the Cloning Express." The religious and academic communities should continue to address the ethical, spiritual, legal, and moral issues surrounding the cloning of humans. We must not allow these issues to be forgotten in the name of scientific research.

This research needs huge funding and fetal tissue for its experimentation. They are asking for government funding to carry this research to a new level. Citizens in all countries must tell their representatives not to fund this research before these issues are openly discussed.

Barbara Stubbe Pisgah Forest, N.C.

Use tax cut to bail out Postal Service

I have a proposed solution for the financial woes of the United States Postal Service (News in Brief, April 5). Although it is subject to constant criticism, some of which is deserved, we would have a hard time doing without it - even those of us who rely increasingly on the Internet for business and personal communications.

Therefore, I propose that in place of at least part of the tax cutbacks now being debated, we use some of the funds to bolster this highly essential service. After all, the government saw fit to rescue such businesses as Chrysler.

It seems that saving the Postal Service would be an even more worthy undertaking. I'm confident that taxpayers would approve. Most of us dread the prospect of cutting back on Saturday deliveries and other services now being considered.

How's about it, Uncle Sam? You already are subsidizing the Postal Service for more than $1 billion annually. Cutting back on the proposed tax rebates to get this already quasi-governmental Postal Service out of the red would, I believe, be a popular move.

John F. Anderson Houston

Regarding the US Postal Service being hit by slowing sales and projected losses: I have never opposed occasional increases in first- class postage, and would be willing to pay more, to a point. Carrying a letter from coast to coast for only 34 cents is a bargain! Rather than eliminating Saturday deliveries, why not increase the postage on the reams of advertising in my mailbox - most of which goes directly into the recycling bin!

Richard Barnard Shrewsbury, Mass.

What it takes to win the war on drugs

Regarding your April 3 article "Afghans try opium-free economy": If we truly want a successful war on drugs, should we try repression and fanaticism?

Allan Dean Swannanoa, N.C.

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