Letters to the Editor
rocket999
Published Letters: 96 Editor's Choice: 8
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$700 to attend the wedding?
[Read the article: I don't want to go to my college friend's wedding]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Hmm...that changes my perspective. I probably would not go. $700 weddings, in my mind, are reserved for very close friends.
I'm assuming this is the cost of the gas, car maintenance, time off of work, and the hotel stay. Can you reduce the cost by flying, taking greyhound, finding a cheaper hotel, or splitting room costs with a friend (assuming your husband doesn't go)? If none of these are viable options, then by all means write her a nice letter, and don't attend.
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I am glad you found your child
[Read the article: Little girl lost, little girl found]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I do have one question (and I mean no offense)...
Why did you decide on a foreign adoption? It seems that you were open to a non-white child, and supposedly there are plenty of those here.
There must be good reason why so many people choose the foreign route, and I am curious as to what those are.
Please understand, I am not challenging your decision, I just want to understand it.
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best of luck to you both...
[Read the article: My boyfriend has an abysmal environmental conscience]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Cary, your column attracts readers who are wise insightful, compassionate, articulate, and sometimes kinda crazy themselves. And it is their responses combined with yours that makes this column what it is. So even on your worst days, remember that you, with the help of the Salon staff, have created this phenomenon. Consider yourself like the the host of a true salon, like Oscar Wilde or (so I hear) Arianna Huffington at her dinner parties. Maybe your ideas are not always the strongest or even the most interesting, but if not for you, the rest of us would not be here. And that is an accomplishment in and of itself.
To the letter-writer..
I'm sorry, but you actually made me laugh out loud. You must recognize the absurdity of your own position, to refer to him as "Himself." You cannot change anyone with their nose quite so high in there, and I think you know that.
However, if you wish to try, experience has taught me that the best way to change people's behaviour is to be a good example yourself, engage in a little gentle nudging, then pretend it was their own brilliant idea when they finally do come around. This seems to work more often than not, but is by no means fail-proof. And of course, there are those who will not be changed. If he is one of these, then you must accept him (or not) as is.
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why not give up our DNA?
[Read the article: Has our reverence for DNA gone too far?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I suppose the objection comes from the fact that many of us are guilty of something, be it so innocent as jaywalking or speeding. And there's a slippery here where we worry that eventually, the cop giving us a traffic ticket will have the right to collect our DNA. That in and of itself would not matter, except that, some of also do things like work for out-of-favor political parties, or organize anti-war protests or engage in other "unpatriotic" activities.
And so we worry about that national DNA database. We worry that McCarthy would have used it in the 1950's to identify "communists" who had been to certain homes and meeting places, and to destroy people's lives. We worry that officials today will do the same and accuse people of being terrorists. We object to the database for the same reason we object to the government looking at our library list- because we don't trust that the database will be used only to identify violent criminals.
And honestly, if I could get that guarantee, I'd hand over my DNA today. But until then, I remain wary.
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Why be a techie?
[Read the article: Where are all the women going?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]As another poster pointed out, tech work tends to be underpaid and undervalued relative to management and sales. It also tends to get outsourced, and the specific technical skills require frequent updates (e.g. an IT who could run a network in 1998 needs a whole new set of knowledge to run a network in 2008), while managerial skills remain more or less constant. Often, technical skills are industry (of even job) specific; that is, the particular type of work you do in one lab or office is not exactly the same as what you will do in another, which can make it a harder to raise your salary by switching jobs.
So if you want a transportable job with a higher salary, you are better off *not* doing tech work. If you have the social skills (and many women do), it behooves you to stop being scientists quickly, and move into management.
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Nice to know I'm not alone here...
[Read the article: Where are all the women going?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Whoever mentioned the hyped-up scare over brain drain is right. I will never advise my (hypothetical) children to become scientists, unless they really love the work. Why? Because scientists have to study for years then work long hours, all for relatively low pay. Life is even harder academic scientists.
I could have made my current salary as a college drop-out, but instead I have two science degrees. Now, I can change industries and make a bit more, but the fact remains- scientists, male or female, usually do not receive compensation commesurate with their education and experience.
So it's not that Americans won't study science, just that most of them are smart enough not to. Better to be a lawyer or accountant. Fewer years in school, and, relative to many sciences, a higher pay scale.