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Re your article "The Committee to Save the World" [BUSINESS, Feb. 15]: I have been wondering how Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan, Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin and Deputy Treasury Secretary Larry Summers could take steps to rescue the rest of the world, including Russia, South Korea, Brazil and Thailand, but not Indonesia. The loans from the IMF and the World Bank have not been enough to stop massive layoffs. Ailing banks, high interest rates and many other problems still exist. If our country falls, the rest of the world will feel the effect. If these three men can help save Indonesia, then they really are the Committee to Save the World. JOHN SIMON Jakarta
RIGHTS OF CHILDREN
With reference to the article "Tourists Who Prey on Kids" [CRIME, Feb. 15], ECPAT International, a nongovernment group committed to ending commercial sexual exploitation of children, would like to explain why extraterritorial laws are essential for protecting the rights of children. Under the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child, children are guaranteed the right to physical and moral integrity. In 1996, 122 governments, including the U.S., committed themselves to eradicate sexual abuse of children. We sincerely hope that the American government and citizens will continue to implement the 1994 law, which allows for prosecution of Americans who sexually abuse children in other countries. Children are our future. They need a safe and dignified childhood no matter where they live. MUIREANN O BRIAIN EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR ECPAT International Bangkok
A LESSON TO ALL HATE GROUPS
Your article "A Life For A Life" about the racial-murder trial in Jasper, Texas, put me on the verge of tears [NATION, March 8]. My heart went out to the families of both dragging victim James Byrd Jr. and his killer John William King. But bravo to the Jasper community for being strong in the face of evil and bigotry. Justice was served with King's being convicted of murder and sentenced to death by lethal injection. This should be a lesson to all hate groups, white and black. Americans want a change. If you want to hate, hate each other, and leave us alone. If you want to kill for initiation, kill each other, and leave us alone. KARMEN R. ALEXANDER Miami
Byrd wasn't the first victim of racial murder, and he won't be the last. We still have a long way to go. NED BYRNE Weymouth, Mass.
It is a shame one man had to die like an animal, and the animal who killed him is getting off with a humane death. I think real justice would be better served if King were killed slowly. STEVEN M. DRUCKER Omaha, Neb.
NOT LIKELY TO POSE A HAZARD
We were dismayed by the many extremely misleading claims made in your article "Poisonous Plastics" [HEALTH, March 1]. Numerous independent scientists have joined ranks with government agencies in concluding that the plastic softener used in medical devices is unlikely to pose a cancer hazard to humans.
This softener has been used for more than 40 years with no validated scientific evidence of adverse health effects in people. The Consumers Union study you cited found that migration levels of the softener used in food wrap are actually 1,000 times lower than the dose levels at which any health effect was observed in laboratory animals.