Letters: Mar. 17, 2003

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Love, Hate and SUVs

You can't see over Sport-Utility Vehicles [BUSINESS, Feb. 24], you can't see around them, and their drivers are often ruder and more aggressive than drivers of regular cars. But what frosts my fuel pump is seeing those behemoths being driven by women holding a cell phone in one hand, a latte and lipstick in the other, and steering with their knees. JERRY VERNON Los Angeles

Does driving SUVs make road bullies, or do road bullies buy SUVs? JAMES G. SEVERNS Chicago

Until there is an increase in the gas tax that would hit everyone who uses excessive gas--the guys who drive empty pickups, the teens who cruise aimlessly, even the folks who don't consolidate their errands--those who complain about SUVs aren't really serious. Their gripes are simply the latest silly symbolic protest that all too often passes for meaningful debate in this society. JOHN GRUHL Lincoln, Neb.

The Human Touch in Space

Your writer characterized the new data on the age of the universe [SPACE, Feb. 24] from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) satellite as "a dramatic reminder that important space science is almost always done by machines, not fragile humans." Satellites do not conduct space science, and word-processing software does not write magazine articles. Space science is carried out by fragile humans, whether they are present in space or not, and I doubt that the WMAP satellite would ever have existed without the knowledge that was acquired by sending humans into space. The WMAP allowed us to peer into the past. But we can't afford to be shortsighted about the future. MARK WEBB Chicago