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In Tanzania, school enrollment, far from falling a third since 1993, has changed little. And the inflow of new aid, which far exceeds external debt service, is helping Tanzania boost its spending on essential social services. You asserted that the poor in Tanzania and in Africa generally were "hammered" by poor policy advice from the IMF. Not so. The reforms of recent years are helping farmers to sell their crops again, schools to have proper textbooks and hospitals to have the drugs they need.
Another of your stories, "Seattle Sequel" [BUSINESS, April 17], incorrectly stated that Angola has $12.2 billion in "IMF debt service." Angola has never borrowed from the IMF and hence owes nothing. The other three countries cited with "IMF debt service" of $54 billion--Vietnam, Sudan and the Ivory Coast--in fact owe the fund a total of $2.5 billion. THOMAS C. DAWSON Director, External Relations International Monetary Fund Washington
The piece on the IMF and Tanzania was terrific. It provided a clear and balanced view that can help citizens understand the reality behind the slogans. Unless the IMF gives up its strategy of trying to help the poor by first investing in the rich, a few tweaks of its policies here and there will not change much. As you say, the poor are "structurally adjusted half to death." DALE LINDSEY Cleveland, Ohio
A Question of Humiliation
In the report on the newly released trove of documents about the Vietnam War [HISTORY, April 24], I'm not sure which of President Gerald Ford's "humiliations" bothered me the most--his comment that "no one knows more than I how humiliating it was...[to] watch our troops get kicked out of Vietnam" or his reference to the "military humiliation" there. Notwithstanding the end result of the Vietnam conflict, the U.S. troops' clear domination of nearly every fire fight makes it hard to consider this a military humiliation. Vietnam was a political and domestic failure. The true humiliation? Well, that was saved for our troops when they got back home. TOM THORSTAD Madison, Wis.
The Lessons of Columbine
In response to your question "can we prevent another Columbine?" [EDUCATION, April 24], the answer is most assuredly no--not with our present philosophy. If a person really wants to kill another human being, it is going to happen; there is no way to stop a desperate person. We can pass no laws to prevent this. We're trying to remove a splinter by cutting the whole finger off. MICHAEL YERKE Houghton, Mich.
Your article included a list of traits that may help identify a kid at risk of committing violence. One trait was "tends to dislike popular students or those who bully others." What kind of message does that send? The lessons of Columbine still haven't been learned if greater tolerance for individuality isn't encouraged. We need to get at the root causes of anger and face the basic problems instead of treating the symptoms. RON SIRULL Pompano Beach, Fla.