I'd be happy to pay for both tests to have peace of mind about not having cervical cancer. Heck, I'll even pay $200 for the two of them, with the extra going to subsidize the costs for women who can't pay. I know a woman who had cervical cancer, and the treatment was rough.

We'd also do well to remember that obgyn checkups are not just about pap smears, although those dominate. My last visit, the doctor diagnosed me with an infection. regular pap smear appointments also give women a chance to discuss birth control options, menopause, and other "female" issues with specialists. I think that the day that insurance companies decide that we don't need pap smears every other year will not be a good day for Women in America.

And I'd like to thank you for helping me to be less nervous. My husband and I took 5 separate flights over the holidays, 3 of which involved taking off or landing in bad weather conditions and 2 of which involved considerable turbulence. Whenever the pilot announced rough flying ahead, I reminded myself of what you had said in your column on turbulence. A plane in the sky may seem like a boat on water, but water motion effects boats very differently than air effects planes. Turbulence is not dangerous, only uncomfortable for the passengers. Planes are designed to handle turbulence. I kept my seatbelt on and read a magazine, and was a much less nervous flyer than I was in the past. Thanks.

Now, would you please do a column about how safe it is to take off and land in blizzards? On one of our landings they had trouble getting the towing equipment to the plane to get us to our gate because there was so much snow on the ground. That just doesn't seem right.

I'm just curious. There's really no foundation given for this statement. I'm trying to think about how cloning could effect a cow's milk, and I can't think of anything. The major problem with cloning seems to be the telomere effect - but a cow's age has nothing to do with the safety of the milk produced.