Letters.

Right and Wrong

Ms. Polgreen's article, "The Death of Local Radio" (April 1999) could not miss the point more. She states that the important result of consolidation has been that playlists are selected by researchers who live and work hundreds of miles away and that new artists have difficulties getting their music played on radio stations. Life as we know it will not end because an artist doesn't get his or her music on a radio station. It is ending because consolidation has led to the public being bombarded with only an extreme right-wing point on view.

In one way or another, the message is always anti-public and proderegulation, privatization and corporate welfare. Most of all it is foaming- at-the-mouth, rabid Clinton-hating. During Monicagate, Jacor called itself "Impeachment Radio" in many parts of the country and took time out from urging people to contact their representative and demand he or she vote to impeach only to talk sports. Having failed in their attempt to lynch the president, they have moved back to accusing him of multiple murders in the United States and Yugoslavia to divert public attention from his "selling out the United States to China".

CHARLES LEACH

Lynchburg, Ohio

Pay the Freight

I am more than willing to pay my share of educating and training Latinas, those who have entered the country legally ("Left Behind," April 1999). Anything less is short sighted.

But while we are fulfilling our moral and social duty in helping these women who are already here it is not unreasonable to suggest a moriatorium on admitting more of them who will simply compound the problem.

We have 26 million immigrants in America today. No one can accuse us of turning our backs on the huddled masses and no taxpayers on earth are as generous to immigrants.

HENRY CLIFFORD

Winscott, N. Y.

Overcautious

Jonathan Chait, in "Giving Away the Farm" (April 1999), misrepresents some aspects of the argument to partially privatize Social Security. First, he says, people who invest their money wisely will get better returns than those who do not. Well, of course. I fail to see why that should make the blood run cold. We already accept vast inequalities in salary, investments, perks, and, yes, even Social Security checks, which right now give bigger checks to higher earners. Intelligence should have its reward.

Second, he says if you privately invest your retirement funds, then the state of the stock market in the year you retire "would have an enormous...