Letters: Mar. 1, 1999

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Your article on the homeless in America [NATION, Feb. 8] suggested that nothing short of the return of full-tilt liberalism and its emphasis on "housing, housing, housing'' will be able to solve this persistent problem.

The liberal agenda has now been recognized as misguided because it did not address the fact that a sizable segment of the homeless population suffers from numerous barriers to employment and stability: substance abuse, little or no formal education or work experience and a history of incarceration. Today there is widespread acceptance of the idea that truly assisting the homeless means helping them address these problems and preparing them for employment and self-sufficiency. GEORGE MCDONALD, PRESIDENT Doe Fund, Inc. New York City

USING COMMON SENSE

Jack E. White's column "The Other N Word" [DIVIDING LINE, Feb. 8] described an incident in which David Howard, a white man employed as an ombudsman by the Washington mayor, used the word niggardly in a budget discussion with a black staff member. Although intellectually defensible, Howard displayed a lack of sensitivity. How might a gay person react if, in planning a bonfire for some civic event, a straight person suggested "piling a few fagots on the fire" to get it going? Let's not confuse intelligence with wisdom. RANDY FISCHBACK Walnut Creek, Calif.

MAKE HOMEWORK A PRIORITY

TIME's article on homework [EDUCATION, Jan. 25] might be describing an alarming new epidemic. Yet the reluctance of children to do homework is not new. Moreover, there is a curious silence about television, although you did describe what happened when a mother "tried" banning television for a night. Absent any evidence to the contrary, it seems clear these children are consuming an excessive ration of TV each night. Television is bad enough in itself without pre-empting time that would be better spent on homework. To the extent that there is a homework problem, it is a failure of priorities. JOHN SILBER, CHAIRMAN Massachusetts Board of Education Boston