Letters

New Hope for Cancer

"Why attack this disease only on the battlefield? Why not go after its supply lines of tobacco, food additives and pollution? CHRIS GLOVER Istanbul

Thank you for the mostly encouraging article about new cancer treatments [CANCER UPDATE, May 28]. However, you said, "If you have cancer today, these treatments are likely to come too late to help you." I respectfully disagree. I was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia more than seven years ago, long before the development of Gleevec. While previous attempts to defeat the leukemia were not totally successful, they did keep me alive long enough to be accepted as a participant in one of the studies of Gleevec. This new drug worked its wonders, and in just three months I achieved complete hematological and cytological remission. The side effects are so minimal that my quality of life has improved dramatically. Today's cancer patients should be encouraged to seek out whatever treatment is available in the expectation that they will survive to benefit from new discoveries. THOMAS J. WRIGHT Pinellas Park, Fla.

Finally, the breakthrough in cancer drugs that we have long been searching for! Too bad that few of us will be able to afford them. DAVID CHESTERTON Marblehead, Mass.

Every life saved from cancer is worth the time and money that go into research and development. Today even the most dreaded (and once "incurable") disease can now be regarded as one from which people can recover. PAYAL KAPOOR Longmeadow, Mass.

Composing the Future

I was thrilled that you included the Nickel Creek trio in your report on the next wave in music [INNOVATORS, May 28]. They are indeed in the vanguard of country music, which is badly in need of a shake-up. But what, I wonder, did you mean by saying "Nothing about them smells of bluegrass"? Bluegrass has evolved since Bill Monroe as much as jazz has since Louis Armstrong. It is full of innovative, nontraditional artists right now, and Nickel Creek's musicians are only the most visible among them. CRAIG HAVIGHURST Nashville, Tenn.

Calling Johnny Deep a music innovator for developing Aimster, his song-swapping Web service, is a disservice to all the people who make music for a living and who live to make music. Isn't Deep ripping off all the songwriters and musicians when he enables Aimster users to obtain music for free? What was TIME thinking? MARK D. SANDERS Nashville, Tenn.

It's a shame you failed to mention even one classical musician. As we sink deeper into the morass of mediocrity, classical music is one of the few things of quality and beauty that remain. Rock, pop, hip-hop and rap have done little if anything for the history of music, and most of what is out today will probably be forgotten in a few years. ANNE BERNIE CALUWAERT High Springs, Fla.

Kid Killers Doing Time

Thank you for the complex portrait of teenage school shooters behind bars [SOCIETY, May 28]. Most of them are not heartless villains. They feel great anguish over their crimes, and often yearn to make amends. Their crimes stem not so much from innate evil as from heedlessness, impulsiveness, mental disorder and immaturity. Which of us would like to receive a lifetime sentence for things we did in our boisterous, unstable youth? ROSWITHA M. WINSOR Chestnut Hill, Mass.

While I realize that the families of their victims loathe seeing these young killers in the media again, the story of their present harsh reality is exactly what needs to be publicized in the news. Perhaps if the youth of this country knew what kind of life a moment of revenge leads to, fewer of them would commit these tragic crimes. LORRAINE HARLAND San Diego

In the past 10 to 20 years, traditional parenting has declined. Many children today are not held accountable for their actions, and there is little discipline at home. Parents don't need to be their children's friends; they need to be their disciplinarians and their guardians. SHEILA MCGOLDRICK Boston

--Many of you had a distinct lack of empathy for these young offenders. "The more liberal among us may feel sorry for these punks and make excuses for them," charged a Minnesotan, who recommended, "you should do a follow-up and tell the story of the victims' families." A New Hampshire man strongly echoed that thought: "These prisoners may grieve for lost opportunities and freedom, but where are the grief and remorse for the pain they caused their unsuspecting victims and their families?" In the faraway Maldives, a reader was more than content to keep his distance from our killer kids: "Please don't spread this gun disease. We don't care what is happening in the darkness of American jails."

Correction

Our item on Alanis Morissette's giving $150,000 to keep the Broadway show Jane Eyre running [PEOPLE, May 28] mistakenly referred to its composer as Paul Gorman. His name is Paul Gordon.

Ashcroft's Prayers

If Attorney General John Ashcroft prays every morning for divine guidance [NATION, May 28], should we presume that the decisions he makes during the day are divinely guided? I give him credit for at least seeking guidance, because it denotes a certain amount of humility, a rare commodity in Washington. ROBERT C. MASON Simi Valley, Calif.

So, Ashcroft "bristles at the suggestion that he's doing anything improper" by holding daily Bible-study sessions in government offices? Putting aside the separation of church and state, I wonder whose names will come to mind when Ashcroft considers raises and promotions. Will they be the names of the Muslims, atheists, Jews or Buddhists who opt out of his prayer sessions? Hardly. If Ashcroft were a manager in my business, I'd order him to stop his meetings. Hey--come to think of it, it is my business and my building! PAM WRIGHT Pasadena, Calif.