Letters: Mar. 13, 2006

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The reaction of the Muslim world to the now infamous Muhammad cartoons continues [Feb. 20]. It is clear that reason will never play a role in that. Zealots and moderate Muslims alike continue to denounce the cartoons as an attack on Islam. What they fail to realize is that a handful of cartoons intended to be published only once is not a war. The horrible irony is that the real war--the terrorists' war--is not just a war against the West. In the end, the majority of victims will be Muslims killed by Muslims.

WHIT BROUSSARD Ottawa

Cartoons Without Politics

"Tumult In Toontown" [Feb. 20] noted that none of the three animated feature films nominated for Academy Awards (Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit, Tim Burton's Corpse Bride and Howl's Moving Castle) used computer-generated imagery (CGI) and reasoned that resentment of animation veterans toward CGI could have played a part. That is simply not true. CGI films had been nominated every year since the Animation Feature category was created in 2001. The awards are not about box-office grosses or whether a film is CGI or not; the awards are about quality. Without question, the three best films were nominated this year. In the future there are going to be more excellent animated features, and perhaps they won't be CGI--so get used to it.

BOB KURTZ FORMER GOVERNOR, ACADEMY OF MOTION PICTURE ARTS & SCIENCES

Los Angeles

No Animals Allowed

As a founding father of Pi Kappa Phi at Cornell University, I was happy to learn from your article on Sigma Phi Epsilon's Balanced Man Program [Feb. 20] that other fraternities are taking steps to positively redefine their organizations. At Pi Kapp we strive to reform stereotypical frat life. Since our refounding two years ago, we have developed a strict no-hazing policy, maintaining that you can't build a man up by breaking him down. Pi Kappa Phi has its own philanthropy, Push America, an organization serving people with disabilities through fund raising, volunteering and empathy. We promote growth internally via résumé-interview workshops, guest speakers and weekly fireside chats. Of course, we also socialize, but we aim to accomplish more for ourselves and to better serve our campus and community.

MICHAEL J. REINITZ PUBLIC RELATIONS CHAIRMAN, PI KAPPA PHI, CORNELL UNIVERSITY Ithaca, N.Y.

Unpersuasive Picture

"Abramoff's Kodak Moment" [Feb. 20] described a gathering of about two dozen people that included President Bush, Raul Garza--who was a client of disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff--and Abramoff himself. The photo of the meeting that TIME published shows Bush and Garza shaking hands, with Abramoff in the background between a wall and some onlookers. You even had to draw a circle around his face to point him out. That photo goes nowhere near making the case that Bush and Abramoff were close; it makes the case that TIME was desperate for any picture that included the two. If a picture is worth a thousand words, that one says TIME has no sense of credibility.

DAVID KING London