Letters

CLICK TILL YOU DROP

In your article about the Internet's being the newest way to shop [THE INTERNET ECONOMY, July 20], you said computers will replace shopping malls because they make buying things faster and cheaper. But the entire point of shopping is to spend leisure time with friends while doing something necessary. Shopping is not just a quick task. It is an entire way of life. JENNIFER DIIORIO, age 14 New York City

While everyone debates how Internet commerce will affect big companies like Sears, there's no question that it has been a boon to small firms. Since our company went online with Railway Productions.com this year, we've been able to reach customers who never knew about our products. After all, how many stores sell a wide selection of videos about trains? Now we don't have to beg and plead with shop owners to give us a try. We just bypass them and go straight to the customer. LES JARRETT Indianapolis, Ind.

I've been online since 1991, and I can tell you that online shopping has yet to live up to its potential. Faster? Nothing is faster than walking out of the store with the merchandise in your hand. Cheaper? It ought to be, but mostly it isn't. Better? Not according to your "meters," which rate the online shopping experience in six categories. You found Net shopping to be clearly better in only two out of the six categories. The one thing the Internet does sell very well is hype. Looks like you were buying. MELANIE NICKEL San Diego

"Kiss your mall goodbye"? Yeah, right. It will happen as soon as the radio replaces the newspaper and the computer eliminates paper. GEORGE DAVIS Macon, Mo.

Let's use our soon-to-be-empty malls as schools or prisons--we apparently need both pretty badly! It is truly a shame that we did not invent the Internet before shopping malls. THOMAS F. SHERER Vienna, Ohio

You suggested that the Internet will rapidly replace the 42,000 shopping centers in the U.S. Several years ago, soothsayers were predicting that catalog sales would cause the demise of shopping centers. But in 1997 catalogs accounted for $81 billion in retail sales--and shopping centers racked up more than $1 trillion. Shopping has always been a sensory experience; people like to touch what they buy. The shopping-center industry thrives and will survive because it provides the best consumer interaction with goods and services. JOHN RIORDAN, President International Council of Shopping Centers New York City

Buying your book or CD on the net doesn't help your local retailer pay the rent or salaries, and that means less money for employees' groceries and necessities. If local retail stores suffer and some are forced to close, there will be poorer local selection and services. More people will desert local merchants to send their consumer dollars to businesses and shippers who have no interest in or commitment to the buyer or community. GARY JARMAN Corvallis, Ore.

When it comes to purchasing books, is the Net way better than the old way? No way. Have you been to a bookstore lately? How can you compare sitting in a comfy chair, sipping coffee and leafing through your potential purchases in a congenial setting with sitting at your computer and typing in what you think you might like? There's a lot more to finding a good book than a few keystrokes. CHERI PRESTON LANDIS Milwaukee, Wis.

Even if e-commerce sales increase an amazing 100% in a year, this type of transaction will still account for only 0.4% of retail sales. Remember the old adage: figures lie and liars figure. JOHN F. CAMPBELL JR. Phoenix, Ariz.

WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?

You reported that the co-founders of the Yahoo! search engine picked the name out of the dictionary [THE INTERNET ECONOMY, July 20]. My dictionary defines yahoo as a race of brutes in Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels who have all the vices of men. A secondary meaning: an uncouth or rowdy person. Are the company's founders proud of that appellation? ROBERT J. BYRNE St. Louis, Mo.

COPPOLA'S PINOCCHIO CASE

As one of Francis Coppola's trial attorneys in his $80 million case against Warner Bros. (TIME's affiliate), I found your item on the jury's verdict troubling [NOTEBOOK, July 20]. The verdict had nothing to do with Warner's "reneging on a deal to remake Pinocchio." There was never any such "deal." Warner was held liable for intentionally interfering with Mr. Coppola's efforts to make Pinocchio for a different studio (Columbia Pictures). In addition, you ignored the foreign grosses and income for Mr. Coppola's films, which would more than double the figures you quoted.

You also failed to mention the jury's findings that Warner acted fraudulently and with malice when it prevented Mr. Coppola from making Pinocchio. The jury's award of $60 million in punitive damages (on top of the $20 million in compensatory damages it awarded earlier) was designed to punish Warner for that malicious wrongdoing. It was the largest civil award ever against a major film studio. BRIAN EDWARDS Greenberg Glusker Fields Claman & Machtinger Los Angeles

TRANSGENDER GOES MAINSTREAM

Congratulations for the well-informed piece on the efforts of transgender people to gain security and support at home, on the job and in the larger community [SOCIETY, July 20]. Transgender people, those whose deepest awareness of their sexuality doesn't correspond to the physical parts they were born with, are one of the most underserved groups seeking health care today. Fearing hostility at the doctor's office, they may not seek medical care. Or they may obtain hormones and sex-reassignment surgery on the black market, often with disastrous results. Health providers must educate themselves, so they can offer patients the nonjudgmental care they deserve. DEAN LABATE, Executive Director Michael Callen-Audre Lorde Community Health Center Transgender Health & Education Clinic New York City

As a male-to-female transgendered person and a lesbian, I appreciated your recognition of the political successes and social challenges of transgender people. In today's culture, I find myself constantly educating others. Your article's breadth, coupled with TIME's wide circulation, will make that part of my life a little easier. In an era when men are said to be "from Mars," transgendered people are nearly the only ones who can speak from experience about the different kinds of treatment that men and women receive. Everyone can benefit from transgendered people's insights. RACHEL HOLLOWGRASS Oakland, Calif.

MOTHERS WHO KILL

I am deeply appalled by the American legal system's giving custody of a child to a mother convicted of murdering her daughter [JUSTICE, July 20]. How could the court allow Latrena Pixley to have custody of her son Cornilous instead of giving it to Laura Blankman, the child's foster mother, who has cared for him for almost two years? The persisting belief that the biological mother is always the best person for a child is completely erroneous. To be a true mother, you must always have your child's best interest at heart. And that is the central failure of the justice system: it has taken away from this child his last sanctuary, his true mother, Laura Blankman. HARRY CHIEN Walnut, Calif.

Appeal to a higher court, Laura Blankman! It's time for the legal system to realize that "family" means more than just blood and race relations. Let's not allow technicalities to endanger this young boy's life. I'm sure Latrena Pixley was a victim of abuse and needs healing, but not at Cornilous' expense. It's obvious Pixley remains an unfit mother. WENDY LAM Carlsbad, Calif.

TEACHERS IN THE HOT SEAT

What is all the fuss about teachers [NATION, July 20]? I've taught high school English for almost 20 years, and I've discovered that good teachers produce students who learn how to teach themselves. Good teachers are passionate about how young people learn. Good teachers are those who quietly ignore the wasteland of school administrations and the quibbles of the unions. They just teach their classes. JOHN E. WHITING Matawan, N.J.

Why can't we hear about the good apples in the teaching profession? Why always the bad? BONNIE OAKBERG Morristown, Tenn.

THE NATURE OF NIGERIANS

Thanks for your accurate portrait of Nigeria's political tragedy [WORLD, July 20]. We should observe a moment of silence for both General Sani Abacha and Chief Moshood Abiola, for they were my fellow Nigerians. The 18th century English writer Alexander Pope wrote, "For forms of government, let fools contest; whate'er is best administer'd is the best..." The fault lies not so much in Nigeria's form of government as in our selfish nature as Nigerians. ANTHONY A. AIYA-OBA Boston

Your statement that Nigeria is a country where "everything but misery is in short supply" is an insult. Nigeria is not as bad as the Western press portrays it. I hold America partly responsible for Nigeria's problems. If the U.S. had placed an embargo on Nigerian oil, the billions of dollars in revenues siphoned off by the military bosses would not have been available. And the much-talked-about Nigerian financial scams are done with the active connivance of greedy and selfish Americans. OTIOCHA E. ELEAZAR San Francisco

I am one of the millions of well-educated Nigerians described in your article "who once formed an ambitious middle class and have fled the country in total frustration." But ethnic division, poverty and mass ignorance have made it virtually impossible for an honest, intelligent and well-meaning leadership to emerge. While I am saddened by the recent events in Nigeria, I share the belief of most Nigerians that this is the best opportunity we have ever had to shed some of the burdens that have held us back since independence. ONYEKWERE OGAN Los Angeles

REFORMING HMOS

In relation to your report "Let's Play Doctor" [MANAGED CARE 1998, July 13], I write to clarify my position on the Patient Protection Act that has just passed the House of Representatives. I have consistently supported legal accountability of federally governed health plans, along with choice and standards of care. The Patient Protection Act accomplishes these goals. While it does not go as far as I would like in allowing patients to sue HMOs for damages, this bill ought to be passed into law this session. I therefore support the Patient Protection Act and will continue to push for full liability reform in January. CHARLIE NORWOOD, U.S. Representative 10th District, Georgia Washington

A BETTER TRIBUTE FOR ROY

I've seen way too much of Michael Jordan and Princess Di in the media, but when cowboy actor Roy Rogers died, all we got was a small tribute [NOTEBOOK, July 20]. He should have been on your cover. Boy, are you out of touch! LINDA CRULL Conifer, Colo.

I was disappointed not to read in the Roy Rogers eulogies of his many charitable acts. During the Vietnam War, Rogers and his wife went to Vietnam to show their support for Americans fighting there as well as for the sick and wounded in troop hospitals. In Pleiku, where I was assigned, the hospital staff couldn't stop talking about how much they and the patients appreciated Rogers' coming to the highlands of Vietnam. CLARKE M. BRANDT Lieut. Colonel, U.S.A. (ret.) Aurora, Colo.

LONGING FOR THE REAL BAND

I loved Hugh Sidey's tribute to the Marine Corps Band on its 200th birthday [AMERICAN SCENE, July 20]. Oh, how I wish that the start of sports events would feature a recording of the national anthem by this band, or the Army or Navy band--with no vocalist! Let the people sing along if they wish. A really top-notch performance inspires allegiance as nothing else can. But the way many singers and musicians today render the national anthem is an abomination. If I'm watching TV, I turn off the sound until the anthem is finished. DAVID M. BARTHOLOMEW Dundee, Ill.

DANGEROUS LIAISONS

Despite the military brilliance of General George S. Patton, he has suffered vilification as a result of some relatively minor incidents. But now, according to your piece on military officers' questionable sexual relationships [NOTEBOOK, July 20], he was not only an adulterer but an incestuous one to boot, having had an affair with his "niece." Whatever the nature of Patton's involvement with Jean Gordon, it was not incestuous, since Gordon was not his blood relation. She was the daughter of his wife's half sister. We hope that Patton will be remembered as a hero who shortened the war and saved American lives, rather than as an incestuous philanderer. STEVEN AND BERNADETTE MUTZ Old Greenwich, Conn.