Letters

Yoga: New Popularity for an Ancient Tradition

"You should have included at least one picture of an Indian yogi instead of scantily clad women doing yoga just to get a yoga butt." ANIL KUMAR Stillwater, Okla.

I took up Ashtanga (power yoga) a couple of years ago to try to repair the effects of 30 years of stupid guy tricks [HEALTH, April 23]. To my great surprise, I found that my neck, which had been chronically stiff from two whiplash accidents, loosened up, and a weak ankle that constantly popped out from several sprains tightened up nicely. Today I come home from work ready to collapse on the couch, but instead I dutifully do my yoga routine and find myself feeling energized and relaxed. That yoga is some great stuff! MACK PAUL Norman, Okla.

While yoga postures, breathing and meditation do relax and rejuvenate both body and mind, these are simply the means to the end that is yoga's ultimate purpose and most precious benefit: the realization of our transcendent divine nature. By stilling the mind and moving us deep into the body, yoga creates the space for us to feel and follow the promptings of our heart and soul. In such moments of clear being, we remember that the body, with its companion mind, is at last nothing but a temple for the mysterious spirit that we all are. SUZANNE SELBY GRENAGER Lewisberry, Pa.

The yoga student is often a person over the age of 40 who never had a supermodel's body and who comes to class for help in coping with chronic back problems, poor health conditions and the stresses of everyday life. Many senior-citizen centers offer yoga classes. While seniors are enthusiastic about the benefits of yoga, none of them can do the demanding poses of the crow, the side crow and the bound lotus that you pictured, nor would these poses be included in their classes. You would have done better to tell your readers about the reduced blood pressure, improved sleep habits and increased flexibility that the average student enjoys. NANCY O. RATHBURN Scotia, N.Y.

As a yoga teacher and registered nurse, I was very disappointed in your yoga story. The photos of the advanced asanas (poses) probably confirmed the misconceptions about yoga that keep people from trying it. Instead of wasting space naming the celebrities who practice yoga, you could have given more coverage to the numerous health benefits and curative powers of yoga for such problems as migraine headaches, panic attacks, menstrual disorders, chronic fatigue syndrome and back pain. DIANE M. PAVESIC Huntington Beach, Calif.

As someone who has practiced yoga 60 minutes a day for 10 years, I can tell you that yoga prepares you for what is ahead. It builds a mind-set to accept things and look for patience and comfort amid the daily pains all of us go through. It gradually changes you. It does not teach you to relax for those 45 minutes a day. It does not tell you to take things easy. It makes things easy to face and accept. Yoga could bring the entire healthcare industry to its knees. SAMPATH RENGACHARI Southfield, Mich.

--Some of you considered our story just a good opportunity for knee-slapping wisecracks. "The reason I don't do yoga is not the difficulty of getting into the various poses," wrote a California reader, "it's the fear I have of needing to call 911 to get out of them." "I wonder if pretzel-shaped coffins are available," added another Golden Stater. And a third declared, "I've got a better chance of getting a date with your cover subject Christy Turlington than I do of bending over and putting my palms on the floor." Yuks aside, a fourth Californian (What's up with West Coasters?) felt that yoga was a far from newsworthy topic. "Of all the events taking place around the world, you chose to put a supermodel twisted into an impossible position on your cover. Your lack of priorities is disappointing."

A Haunting Mistake

The poignant photograph of commander Scott Waddle [TIME EXCLUSIVE, April 23] agonizing over his departure from his former submarine, the U.S.S. Greeneville, succinctly captures the feelings of America: Oh, how we wish the collision between the sub and the Japanese fishing boat hadn't happened! We all make mistakes; it's human. But we may learn from them, move on and perform better. It is sad that this commander must end his superb career for one mistake, albeit a costly one. It is because of leaders like Commander Waddle that we Americans are able to live a secure and comfortable life. PHILIP M. HALL Homestead, Fla.

TIME's lionization of Waddle was disgraceful. I don't understand why you feel your readers are well served by a biography of an incompetent who contributed to the death of nine people. Waddle is someone who didn't do his job very well. He's a long-haul trucker who fell asleep at the wheel and ran into a family-packed minivan, a cop who thought he saw a gun where there was a wallet. Waddle's actions are what matter. He is guilty of negligent homicide, and he should have gone to jail. NATHAN WEBSTER Stratham, N.H.

In an age when excuses and denials are standard fare, even in the face of obvious culpability, Waddle's acceptance of responsibility is refreshing, if heartrending. He has demonstrated strength of character in the worst of circumstances. He should now be given the time to forgive himself. And the rest of us should forgive him as well. One can only hope that time will heal his wounds and that he will be allowed to use productively his considerable talent and commitment. We need him. M. WAYNE LEWIS Chandler, Ariz.

Where is the story encouraging compassion and prayer for the lost Japanese whose lives were snuffed out? Waddle was no doubt under orders to give his civilian visitors a really impressive ride. But I wonder how his worrisome feelings compare with the mood around the dinner table in the homes of the Japanese whose family members died because of this showboating. DEIRDRE DE CORSIA St. Helena, Calif.

Dignity in Dying

Your article "A License To Kill," about the legalization of euthanasia in the Netherlands, compared that law with Oregon's Death with Dignity Act [ETHICS, April 23]. As one of the principal drafters of the Oregon law, I would like to set the record straight. Contrary to what the story's graphic indicated, "mercy killing" is expressly prohibited in Oregon. Oregon's law is narrowly tailored to allow only competent, terminally ill adult patients the option to hasten an imminent and difficult death. No one else may make this decision for the patient. There are far more differences than similarities between the Oregon experience and that of the Netherlands. Most of what occurs in the Netherlands under its euthanasia law would not be tolerated under the Oregon law. To borrow your phrase, Oregon is no "Hemlockland." ELI D. STUTSMAN, ATTORNEY Portland, Ore.

The Netherlands' legalization of mercy killing is a bold and sensible step to benefit patients who experience endless suffering and who have no hope of improvement. Every human being must have the basic right to live with health and happiness and to choose to die if suffering terribly from an incurable ailment. All countries must legalize such a right for the benefit of mankind. ANANTHAPADMANABA KRISHNAMURTHY Dublin, Ohio

Oregon's euthanasia law notwithstanding, the Dutch have taken the lead in laws that govern euthanasia. The U.S., at best, can only follow the Netherlands' lead. With a few safeguards legally in place, all people should have the right to life and, conversely, the right to death when and where they choose. PETER MORRISON Chicago

The End of the Affair

How can you say President Bush developed a "carefully engineered game plan" that brought the American air crew home after the standoff with China over the surveillance-plane incident [SPY PLANE FINALE, April 23]? Bush came out at first with a threatening, demanding attitude and received a negative reaction. When it became obvious that his demands impressed no one, more intelligent, well-seasoned people pitched in and came up with a solution. Bush is acting like a high school freshman trying to run a university! May God guide him and protect us. GENE THOMAS Hurst, Texas

Justification for U.S. surveillance of China can be given in three words: Remember Pearl Harbor! The U.S. cannot be so complacent as to believe that it lives in a safer world today than in 1941. Forces beyond our control are always testing us. Vigilance is our only safety net, and these missions should continue within the strictures of international law. RICHARD L. LELONEK Baltimore, Md.

The tangle between the Chinese fighter jet and the U.S. spy plane demonstrates that in today's world, might is right. From the American point of view, the U.S. has the right to spy on other nations in a manner akin to standing on a public road in front of someone's house with a pair of binoculars and peeping through the windows, even though the owner is a supposed friend. The U.S. says it has the right because the road is a public road and also because it has the capability to back up its demands. Dear America, where is your sense of right and wrong? CHEW TEK ANN Nilai, Malaysia

Who Is to Blame?

I'm starting to mistrust the U.S.'s response to the midair collision between the American and Chinese aircraft [SPY PLANE FINALE, April 23]. How would the U.S. have reacted if a Chinese spy plane had landed illegally at an air base in Hawaii? This is something the U.S. would never quietly tolerate, and it should respect the same territorial rights of all other nations. The Americans should accept responsibility and review their reconnaissance flight plans over the South China Sea. EMRI VLOK Cape Town

Undoubtedly the U.S. should be blamed for this affair. If the American spy plane had not flown so close to Chinese territory, the tragedy would not have happened. Don't shift the blame to a missing Chinese pilot who was just trying to protect his country. I believe that many Americans are genuine peace lovers. Yet some others like to assert American self-interests across all continents in the name of world peace. KWOK WAI-SHING Hong Kong

Long View of Global Warming

President Bush's reluctance to follow the Kyoto Protocol on the grounds that he doesn't want to hurt the U.S. economy strikes me as a bit shortsighted [SPECIAL REPORT, April 9]. Possibly he sees no connection between the rising cost of oil and the recent economic slowdown. It makes no sense to increase America's dependency on an increasingly costly and nonrenewable resource. Far more logical would be to focus on utilizing and supporting the development of domestically created energy sources and pushing for public-transportation reform in the U.S. DEACON MACMILLAN Yokkaichi, Japan

Justice for Milosevic

I read with great shock and dismay your report "Bagging the Butcher" [WORLD, April 9], on the arrest of Slobodan Milosevic. This monster's crimes parallel the gross indignities suffered by the kidnapped Africans who were sold into slavery in America or by the Jews during the Holocaust. These are crimes against humanity as a whole. Naturally, nothing can be done to make up for the grief and lives that have been lost, but putting Milosevic on trial at the international tribunal in the Hague would definitely be a step in the right direction. DIONE DEVOTTA Munich

Rules of Respect

In the wake of the Cincinnati, Ohio, riots, one can be sure that racial profiling and the abuses perpetrated by American police are anything but funny, but I laughed out loud when I read the "survival tactics" recommended by your columnist Jack E. White [DIVIDING LINE, April 23]. White is teaching his three sons to give no back talk if pulled over, to look straight ahead with hands on the wheel, to ask before reaching for a driver's license, and never to run away from a police officer. My white middle-class parents taught me the same lessons, but they called this what it is: respect. These are common-sense rules that all people should practice and teach their children, race be damned. DENISE P. MACLEAN Midland Park, N.J.

Police are trained to regard any encounter with any citizen as a potentially deadly one--for the officer. Cities have plaques bearing the names of police officers killed in the line of duty--a chilling testament to why the police are trained to respond in this way. I don't in any way condone the fatal shooting of African American Timothy Thomas by a white Cincinnati, Ohio, police officer, and my prayers go out to his family. But White's list of "survival tactics" should be observed by Americans of all colors in their dealings with police officers of all colors for the protection of both. WILLIAM A. NORDQUIST Columbus, Ohio

Unreal Exhibition

I must take issue with James Poniewozik's apologia for reality-TV programs and his view that they teach morality lessons [TELEVISION, April 23]. Programs like Big Brother and Survivor are not group therapy. Nor do they transmit any morals. They are an exhibition of what happens when contestants allow themselves to be showcased in an artificial environment in which they are likely to form emotional attachments while being required to inflict hurt and humiliation on one another. Rather than ask what message these shows send to their viewers, one should consider what irreparable damage they will, over time, cause to some of their participants, especially as the concept grows wilder and more out of control. BEN ALEXANDER New York City

Treating Cancer with Viruses

In your article "Smart Bombs For Targeting Deadly Tumors [THE FUTURE OF DRUGS, Jan. 15], you described the experience of cancer researcher Frank McCormick, implying that he originated the "wild" idea of fighting cancer with a virus. In reality, this is not a new idea. The United Cancer Research Institute, under the vision and perseverance of my father Dr. Laszlo K. Csatary, has been researching and publishing clinical observations on viral oncotherapy in major medical journals for more than 30 years.

He and the institute used a viral vaccine for the first time in 1968. The institute has supported viral research and has treated cancer patients with apathogenic or "friendly" viruses ever since then. How ironic that decades later, others want to be seen as the primary explorers in this field. It is important to remember that each medical innovation is built on the backs of others and that one should give credit where it is due. CHRISTINE M. CSATARY, M.D. New York City