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Once again America is applauding Japan for its supposedly sincere apology to its former enemies and the Asian nations it once occupied. What good is an apology after 50 years? RANDY WANG NGAI KWONG, age 15 Gresham, Oregon
BRADLEY'S POLITICAL FUTURE?
Bill Bradley, in announcing that he will retire from the Senate at the end of next year [CAMPAIGN '96, Aug. 28], said he was tired of working in a political system that was broken. That statement is despicable. The New Jersey Senator's hopeless pessimism is a slam-dunk in the faces of his constituency. ALFRED ("SONNY") PICCOLI Bloomfield, New Jersey
Bill Bradley for higher political office? Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes! NELSON HAM Errol, New Hampshire
CREDIT TO RUTGERS
Your article "Glimpses of the Mind," about research into the workings of the brain [COVER STORY, July 17], included a photograph of a woman demonstrating how sign-language gestures are displayed as a computer-graphic image and correlated with brain activity. I feel you should have noted that the picture was taken and the research carried out in my laboratory at the Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience at Rutgers' campus in Newark, New Jersey. HOWARD POIZNER Professor of Neuroscience Rutgers University Newark, New Jersey
SPECIAL SCHOLARSHIP
Oseola McCarty has lived most of her 87 years in a country that offered her little opportunity. Now, in her old age, she is finally spending a bit of money on herself, and has given $150,000 to a scholarship fund exclusively for black college students. Instead of congratulating her on her thrift and industry, Michael Kinsley nitpicked about reverse discrimination and quotas [ESSAY, Aug. 28]. One hears scant protest when wealthy alumni donate far greater sums to the Harvards and Yales of America for the benefit of wealthy whites. How quickly white people refer to the Constitution and equal opportunity when their interests are even minutely affected. In this instance there is no need for debate. McCarty has been a good and faithful citizen in a land where, for nonwhites, love of country has been rewarded with scorn. I applaud the McCartys of the world for their generosity of spirit. GEORGE ADRIAN BARRETT Washington
I think McCarty's blacks-only scholarship is sending the wrong signal. It's not just whites who can't have the scholarship. What about the Chinese, Indians and Spanish? Blacks aren't the only ones who need financial aid. I am a 17-year-old Greek American who will be attending college in the fall. I have been awarded three scholarships for my intelligence--not for my color or my race or my sex. However, some of my friends aren't able to attend college because they just can't afford it. Instead of offering a scholarship for blacks only, McCarty should offer aid to people who aren't able to pay their college tuition. The money should go to those who want to be something in life, no matter what their color, race or sex. KATHY TSANGARLIS Jersey City, New Jersey
SUPPORT FOR A WHISTLE BLOWER