Columnist Bob Herbert neatly sums up the terrible state of education in the United States ("Clueless Americans," April 24) but doesn't seem to realize that this is deliberate, the result of skillful maneuvering by special-interest groups that have -- over the past three decades -- assumed control of our schools.

There are, for example, the taxophobics: those who contend that better schools mean higher taxes and those who have no kids in school (or who send their kids to private schools) and see no reason why they should pay for a service they don't use

There are the hardheaded business people, who don't want school time wasted on useless stuff such as art, music, literature, history, civics, health and even recess, but want it devoted to developing employable skills.

There are the fundamentalist groups, who do not want their kids exposed to stuff they don't approve of -- such as evolution, birth control other than abstinence, "rationalistic thought," etc.

As such groups have worked their way into school boards, true education has been dropped from our schools. Schools still train students to read, write and do arithmetic, but if you want to learn how to use these skills as tools, you need education. Education requires studying that useless stuff that the schools have dropped from their curricula to save money and allow them to concentrate on training students to pass standardized tests -- tests doctored to suit the demands of the various special-interest groups.

PAUL A. ALTER
Wilkinsburg

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Thank you for the May 1 article "When UPMC Wrist ID Tells Too Much." I was at UPMC on April 28 for my mammogram, and as I sat in the waiting room, I looked at the bracelet they had put on and was horrified at all the information it contained. My questions to the girl in the office might as well have been directed at the chair she sat in for all the satisfaction I got.

When I got home I took off the bracelet and cut it up into tiny pieces before throwing it out.

If I hadn't been kept waiting in the office 30 minutes past my appointment, I probably would not have even looked at the bracelet and just thrown it out when I got home, along with all the information it contained. Let's hope this article will bring about some changes in UPMC's system.

SHARON HEMMERLIN
Ross

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I admire Hillary Clinton's adroitness in proposing a Lincoln-Douglas-style debate with her opponent ("Clinton Calls Out Obama: One on One, No Referees," April 27). Using jujitsu, she has turned to her advantage the complaint voiced by Barack Obama's camp, and also by much of the mainstream media, that the ABC anchors treated him unfairly in the debate held before the Pennsylvania primary. Fine, she says, let's skip the moderators this time and go at it head to head.

I also expect she will soon flip Mr. Obama to the mat over Florida and Michigan. His lawyers argued, apparently successfully, to prevent re-do votes in those two states, but this exposes him to the following counterattack by Mrs. Clinton: "With regard to Florida and Michigan, Mr. Obama has said, in effect, that 'the rules are the rules.' But his followers now want to change the rules giving voting independence to unpledged superdelegates. Fine, change them, but while we're at it, let's also re-vote Florida and Michigan. At the end of the day, you either are a populist or you're not. You either believe that all votes should count or you don't. My opponent wants to return the United States of America to where it was in 1959: a 48-state nation. Yet he calls himself the candidate of change. Please!"

BOB G. WYETH
Homestead

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Paul Krugman ("The Limits of Planet Earth," April 22 column) misses a fourth explanation for soaring commodity prices: inflation.

The Democrats' promise of (roughly) doubling the capital gains tax dictates that anyone with an appreciated capital asset should sell now, while they can still keep 85 percent of the capital gain, rather than next year, when they'll keep only 72 percent.

If you bought a $100,000 house in January 2000, it was worth about $205,000 last November. Selling now -- even if you have to knock as much as $16,000 off the price -- still leaves you money ahead compared to selling next year at higher taxes.

The New York Stock Exchange has been similarly impacted. A $100,000 investment there in 2000 would have a $47,000 capital gain. If you can dump those shares at anything less than a $7,100 discount, you're better off than waiting.

So less currency is required to finance these capital assets (that's what lower prices for them means). If the Fed doesn't tighten the money supply, then all this freed-up currency has to go somewhere, namely, consumption goods.

Mr. Krugman is right: We do face tight supplies. But we also have these fewer goods being chased by more dollars -- a classic definition of inflation. As the capital goods price index gets forced down by the threat of high future taxes, the commodity price index gets forced up.

A double whammy for the consumer. But the Democrats are hoping we'll vote for more hair of the dog that bit us.

FRED ANDERSON
Ross

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I am glad Kevin Kirkland is on the mend, and I will get a pneumonia shot ("Getting to Pneumonia -- and Back," April 27 "The Next Page").

I did want to say that on a Wednesday night I broke my right foot. The next morning (April 24), my daughter drove me to St. Clair Hospital. I didn't even sit down in the waiting area of the emergency department, and was registered right away. It had to be around 11 a.m. as Drew Carey was hosting "The Price Is Right." I was X-rayed, taken to another area and, after a short wait, was told it was broken and given a splint, shoe and crutches. A wonderful physical therapist taught me how to use all this equipment.

I was then discharged. My discharge papers read 12:10 p.m. Maybe I was just lucky; maybe the morning is a better time to go, but I just wanted to tell about my experience.

EILEEN MINNITTE
Brookline

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Recently, the Post-Gazette published letters on the issue of litter on the streets and roads in the area. One suggested "chain gangs" to pick up the litter. At the present time, many highways are "adopted" by companies, individuals or groups. However, the population's tendency to litter is aided by government authorities and property owners.

In the boroughs, cities and townships in southwestern Pennsylvania, trash cans in high-pedestrian zones are frequently allowed to overflow. Many Dumpsters on commercial properties are padlocked. Once I picked up litter, placed it in a Dumpster that wasn't locked and was berated by the building's owner.

In Toronto, the trash cans are emptied regularly (especially in tourist zones), Dumpsters at commercial sites are not locked and the owners/maintenance people stop short of "giving you a cup of coffee" for picking up litter.

DAVID ISH
Sheraden

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In regard to Michael P. Carpathios' letter ("Make Disposal Easier," April 25): Bulk curbside pickup is available to city of Pittsburgh residents, of whom he is one, every week, not once per month as he contends. Also, the city operates three Public Works Recycling Drop-off locations where rimless tires and other recyclables are accepted from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday. Public Works does not accept Freon appliances, and such items must be coordinated for disposal with Construction Junction or Appliance Warehouse. All of this information is readily available on the city's Web site (www.city.pittsburgh.pa.us) under Public Works Department.

No, littering isn't about a lack of available resources. It is about laziness and inconsideration for our neighbors, our city and our Earth. A person who cannot muster the effort to toss a piece of trash in a garbage can or drop off a used tire at an already available recycling center is unlikely to make use of a 24-hour refuse drop-off. I doubt that many city residents or public officials would be eager to raise wage or property taxes to fund such a sure-to-be underused 24-hour facility.

JAMES LACHER
North Side

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