Breaking out

Bravo for "Difference makers" (Aug. 18), about three Christian schools fulfilling the Great Commission by addressing the needs of Christian families who do not fall into the upper 5 percent academically or are not affluent. It is so good to know that there are Christian schools that recognize our needs and are willing to break out of the mold and meet these needs. -Sally Saunders, Tucson, Ariz. fulfilling the Great Commission by addressing the needs of Christian families who do not fall into the upper 5 percent academically or are not affluent. It is so good to know that there are Christian schools that recognize our needs and are willing to break out of the mold and meet these needs.-Sally Saunders; Tucson, Ariz.

On or off target?

"Tenured bigots" (Aug. 18) was on target. As a tenured professor at a land-grant university, I know what it is like to be marginalized by faculty and students. I have had my speech rights violated. I also know what it is like to encourage undergraduates by identifying myself as an evangelical Christian.-John P. Chastain; Clemson, S.C.

Instead of name-calling, why not acknowledge that evangelicals simply have very little interest in the intellectual life? If evangelicals would like to enter academia, let them prove their worth just like everyone else.-Joel Morehouse; Rochester, N.Y.

Stuck with space

Your article about how Sputnik spurred science education in America ("Orbiting the classroom," Aug. 18) shows how people, with the help of the government, can overestimate their enemies and dive into a long and costly effort to catch up or get even. To this day we are stuck with a multi-billion-dollar space program that no longer accomplishes anything meaningful.-Andrew Dart; Duncanville, Texas

Dollars and roads

The privatization of our road infrastructure is a step backward ("Fire sale," Aug. 18). We are in this mess only because the federal and state governments cannot control their spending habits and priorities. Transportation taxes already generate more than enough money to cover costs, but the money goes elsewhere. Privatization will just free up more money for the government to waste, while burdening travelers with ever-increasing costs and delays from toll roads and bridges.-Rick Cortina; Rochester, N.Y.

Joel Belz is right on target with "Fire sale." The ineptness of government-run programs is ludicrous. If buyers are out there, "ready to pay a decent price and take charge" of infrastructure like roads, by all means, let's give them the green light.-Carolyn L. Smith; Pensacola, Fla.

Belz tosses around the idea of selling our nation's roadways, but sell them to whom? Do we really want our nation's roadways owned by foreign investors or nations? Our roadways are crucial to us economically and for our national security and sovereignty.-Amanda Larrabee; Manhattan, Kan.

Legally speaking

There is no legal linkage between Eisenhower's decision to send troops to enforce desegregation in Little Rock and Roe v. Wade ("Jackson's deadly mistake," Aug. 18). The Constitution bans racial discrimination by states but does not ban state laws on abortion-if we are judging by original intent. Ike was enforcing the Equal Protection Clause; the Supreme Court was enforcing its own personal preferences when it proclaimed Roe v. Wade would override state abortion laws. However, there is a valid connection between Roe and segregation: Both abortion rights and racial segregation are grounded in the notion that some forms of human life are not entitled to equal protection of the law.-Michael Farris; Purcellville, Va.

Andrew Jackson was simply wrong, constitutionally and biblically. The distinct status of the Cherokee people as a separate national entity is established in the Constitution and should have been guaranteed by the federal government. The federal government dishonored treaties made in good faith with a highly Christianized people, the Cherokee.-Mark R. Kreitzer; Fletcher, N.C.

Andrew Jackson's Trail of Tears affected not only Cherokees, but all Five Civilized Tribes, so named because they were farmers, merchants, and city planters. My wife, an enrolled Chickasaw, notes that Jackson's decision led to large numbers of Cherokees, Chickasaws, Choctaws, Creeks, and Seminoles fighting for the Confederacy. Andrew Jackson's image should be struck from the $20 bill or, if he stays, Stonewall Jackson, who established a Sunday school for slaves, should be added.-Richard L. Centner Jr.; Arlington, Texas

Your balanced treatment of Jackson is appreciated, but every time I get or spend a $20 bill I can't help but think of the Trail of Tears. A man who was willing to start the Civil War nearly 30 years earlier, and not afraid of a fight, might have prevented such a tragedy. I think his failure in that area is reason enough to open up the $20 bill space for Ronald Reagan.-Jeff Dollar; Ebensburg, Pa.

Coming around

`0 I've always appreciated the expression, "What goes around, comes around." So, regarding Hollywood's problem with pigeon "bird bombs" (Quick Takes, Aug. 18), is it any wonder with Hollywood putting out so much do-do these days?-Mike Whitehead; Walled Lake, Mich.

I had to chuckle at "Bird control." As a logger and rancher, I would gladly exchange the pigeon problem for the wolves and grizzly bears that have been forced on us by people in Hollywood and other cities. At least they don't have to worry about a pigeon eating them or their animals. I think I'll start a campaign to save the "poor endangered pigeons and their lost habitat." It worked for the spotted owl.-Steve Tuning; Kamiah, Idaho

Psychologically convenient

"Terminal terms" (Aug. 18) describes confusion in some newspapers when referring to an unborn child. In my 78 years I have been in the company of hundreds of pregnant women and not one has referred to the life within her as "my fetus." But when pregnant women decide to take that life, it becomes a "fetus." How psychologically convenient for them and the abortionists.-Robert H. Bickmeyer; Troy, Mich.

Confession of a reader

Andrée Seu finally made me write a letter to you. I was just going along agreeing with her when she threw in the word homeoteleuton ("Confessions of a proofreader," Aug. 18) and I just had to go look it up. Thank you for once again spurring me onward in my learning.-Evelyn Prest; Winnemucca, Nev.

Blurring purity

David Blankenhorn says the most important social change needed would be "to agree . . . that unwed childbearing is morally wrong" ("Marriage matters," Aug. 4). Later in the interview he says, "I know that many Christians believe that any sex other than sex between married spouses is wrong . . . I do not share it." These two statements are incompatible. He is speaking out of both sides of his mouth and blurring what God is trying to say to us about sexual purity.-Jean Whitmore; Okinawa, Japan

Cease this sham

Please cease mailing me this sham of a "news magazine." It is a fraud on journalism, a propaganda piece, complete with extreme political bias, bigotry, and ignorance one would only expect to find in uneducated society.-Mack Johnston; Chewelah, Wash.

I love WORLD. Thank you for bearing the truth without ever wavering. We'll be reading WORLD at our house as long as you publish it.-Duval Acker; Mt. Pleasant, S.C.

My wife or I misplaced a previous issue, but I just discovered the e-zine view on your website. I love it. It gives me the feel of reading a magazine, and leafing through it as I normally would.-Wayne Smith; Crystal Lake, Ill.

Correction

Geneva Global is a for-profit philanthropic advisory firm ("Business proposition," Aug. 25, p. 27).