Letters

THE FUTURE OF MONEY

With the emergence of megabanks and the use of electronic cash [BUSINESS, April 27], what will stop institutions at simply monitoring our purchases? If an electronic cash card is programmable, it can be turned on and off with a simple line of code. It could be used to regulate what we can buy, when we can buy and whom we can buy from. A cashless society is not about freedom, as banks would have us believe; it is about controlling the consumer. Such a society would be the end of America and the beginning of a banking-corporate dictatorship. MARK WOODRAL Philomath, Ore.

If one little card is going to do everything for us, what's next? A microchip in the base of the skull? GEORGE M. CALLAHAN Cheyenne, Wyo.

Crime won't be reduced by taking cash out of the mix. Stealing will just become more sophisticated. We are already dependent on the mighty god of technology and electricity in ways that make me uncomfortable. We are putting all our eggs in one electronic basket. The servant is becoming the master. DYLENE CYMRAES Jessup, Md.

Financial risk is a laughable concept to those of us who have no assets to risk. What most Americans truly need is credit-card rates that reflect today's realities. I'd be happy to pay a small fee to a big company that could search the world for cheaper auto insurance and a less costly car loan. A true genius will make the most of the negative net worth of consumers and provide cheaper services. OMAR BARRAZA Seattle

Wide-ranging financial mergers are reaching the international stage. We need to slow down before we hit a technological iceberg. Are there enough lifeboats for a financial Titanic? What happens when there is a weeklong electrical-power failure? Will victims of mother nature be left to sink because they could not make a simple electronic transaction to buy bread and milk? HEATHER MCQUAY Pasadena, Md.

If the U.S. goes to a cashless society, America's underground economy will collapse. Are we sure the IRS isn't behind this? The underground I'm talking about is not drug dealers. I mean people who work for cash in order to get by. They hold jobs as lawn keepers, baby sitters, handymen, caregivers and so forth, and depend on payment in cash. I smell a political revolution in the making. RENEE PEARCE Mercer, Wis.

My paycheck is directly deposited. Payment for my mortgage, phone bills and electric bills is automatically withdrawn from my bank account. I make credit-card payments over the phone. When I pay my taxes, my refund is directly deposited. In my wallet I have one ATM card and one credit card. Managing money never has to be any simpler than this. And the average person isn't going to carry an e-cash card. ANDREW J. KIWIET Forest Park, Ill.

DON'T COMPEL PRAYER

I think it is great that young adults are taking their faith very seriously by making religion a part of their everyday life through the use of after-school prayer clubs [NATION, April 27]. But I hope that these individuals respect non-Christians as well as the beliefs of different denominations. Maliciously forcing religion on other students in school tends to soil the name of Christianity. And young Christians who want to spread their religion must make sure they are not harming others. SHELLEY PIENTKA Emporia, Kans.

As a student, I think after-school prayer groups are unnecessary, especially since the students who attend these clubs are already believers. Why can't they just pray together at church or at home? God will listen. That would give students more time after school, and maybe encourage some of them to finish their homework. TANYA SAMOUELIAN Sydney, Australia

At the public high school I attend, the WWJD wristbands have become a joke. Instead of "What Would Jesus Do?" some students say the letters stand for "We Want James Dean" or even "What Would Jane Do?" On the issue of allowing religion in schools, I would like to remind the government that 15 minutes spent in daily prayer would add up to 45 hours each school year that could otherwise be spent on better education. I have nothing against the practice of religion; I just don't want it in school. L.M. MYERCHIN, age 14 San Bernardino, Calif.

The proposal to bring mandatory Christian prayer back into schools is appalling. If people want to pray, they should do it on their own time. NICHOLAS E. CLARK-SPEAR, age 13 Northford, Conn.

DEATH OF A DESPOT

If Satan will assure that Pol Pot's everlasting sleep is anything but peaceful [WORLD, April 27], then justice will have been served! KARA SULLIVAN Silver Spring, Md.

There is a lesson to be learned from Pol Pot's death: We must waste no time in hunting down the rest of those who committed crimes against humanity. Pol Pot should be the only guilty one who "got away." RAXAK MAHAT Katmandu, Nepal

What's really scary is that monsters like Pol Pot, who believe that all should be sacrificed for the collective good, may appear in the future. People are still teaching the ideas that created him. HENRIK UNNE Skarpnack, Sweden

Nobody escapes justice. I have little doubt that Pol Pot is now rubbing elbows with butchers of past generations. MICHAEL ACHESON Port Angeles, Wash.

KINGDOM OF THE ANIMALS

Your report on the opening of disney's Animal Kingdom theme park read more like an advertisement than a story [LEISURE, April 20]. According to Disney, conservation is not the theme of Animal Kingdom; entertainment is. Native Florida wildlife was displaced by 1,000 imported exotic animals, many of which spend their nights in small cages. Strip away the bells and whistles, and Animal Kingdom is just a glorified zoo, another institution that denies animals natural behavior and dignity. JOE TAKSEL, Managing Director Animal Rights Foundation of Florida Pembroke Pines, Fla.

We just returned from three days at Animal Kingdom. We'd heard of animal deaths and were concerned. What we found was a group of people dedicated to the preservation and protection of animals. On one of our safaris, a duck ran in front of our tram. The guide immediately stopped and enlisted everyone's help in ensuring that the duck had safely crossed before we moved on. In conversations with the folks at the Conservation Station, which provides information on wildlife and rain forests, it became very apparent to us how important these animals are to the staff. Great job, Disney! JOEL and MONICA SENEKER Fresno, Calif.

OF TURTLES AND TRADE

Re your article on environmental activists protesting an international trade agreement [NATION, April 27]: I want to point out that the National Wildlife Federation and other like-minded groups aren't antiglobalists. We know that properly balanced trade rules can assist nations in achieving the economic growth necessary to afford environmental progress. But that balance is being forsaken by the Clinton Administration and the World Trade Organization. In ruling against the U.S. law to protect sea turtles in shrimp fishing, the wto ignores its own charter provision that allows actions that protect natural resources. The "enemy" of wildlife and the environment is not free global trade; it is poorly crafted trade policies that sell short the protections in which all citizens of the world have a stake. MARK VAN PUTTEN, President National Wildlife Federation Vienna, Va.