Mark Roth's May 18 front-page article "Getting Job Is One Thing, Getting Visa Another" highlights a destructive immigration policy.

As a student at Carnegie Mellon University, I am a witness to the large number of exceptionally talented international students who are forced out of America due to a lack of H-1B skilled-worker visas.

When you look at American history and see the extent to which we have benefited from skilled foreign labor, it is appalling to think we would put a cap on these workers. Great "American" accomplishments, such as the Manhattan Project, the Apollo space program and the invention of the transistor were given critical leadership and support from skilled foreign workers.

It is shortsighted to look at these international students as competitors in the job market. It is more appropriate to view them as future team members, who will join us in competing on America's behalf in an increasingly global economy.

As a proud American, I know I want the best and the brightest on my team -- and that means eliminating the limits on H-1B visas.

BRAD BURKE
Bloomfield

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Cristina Rouvalis' May 22 front-page article, "For the Blind, Money Is a Currency of Independence," detailed one reason that U.S. currency needs to be overhauled.

Another reason is that producing pennies and dollar bills wastes tens of millions of dollars per year. With a fraction of the savings of switching to dollar coins and eliminating the penny (which costs 2 cents to make), we could make paper currency more convenient for everyone. Raised numbers perhaps?

The United States is lagging behind Canada and the European Union on this issue. We need to get up to date.

BRUCE SISKAWICZ
Greensburg

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Regarding the recent news about the increase in graffiti: In my opinion, jail is too good for then. They should be made to clean their own mess and cover the cost of the cleaning products. They made the mess -- make them clean it up under supervision.

They should have to clean it while wearing an orange jumpsuit so that the public knows they are the ones responsible for defacing property. After the cleaning is complete, then make the decision as to the length of time in jail.

G.E. JANSEN
Ross

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The fight of the coal companies to avoid royalties is absurd ("Coal Companies Fight Royalties on Exports," May 9). These federally legislated funds partially offset huge restoration costs required to correct generations of environmental damage caused by the mining industry. In just Pennsylvania there are 184,000 acres of abandoned mine land and over 4,600 miles of dead streams requiring cleanup money.

The coal mining industry's incredible position is that these royalties should not apply if the coal is exported. This nonsense is a particularly foolish claim at a time when U.S. coal exports are booming.

The National Mining Association reports exports have doubled to $4.1 billion. Coal executives say they expect exports to reach 80 million tons this year and, after railroad and port improvements, to rise to as much as 120 million tons in the next few years. The price for exported coal is selling at levels nearly double domestic prices.

The coal industry's estimate of proven U.S. reserves is huge. If it is indeed so plentiful, one must question why MTR (mountaintop removal) is such a common practice. Every day, it results in the ongoing and senseless destruction of mountains, forests, streams and habitat.

The American Lung Association says the five-county Pittsburgh metropolitan area is the top American city for soot, primarily airborne particles of ash. The U.S. Steel Clairton Coke Works burns 6.5 million tons of coal annually, but the public is told that local coal-fired utilities should share some "soot blame."

Meanwhile, the coal industry wants us to read their billboards praising their product as clean and green. And too few people are reminding Pennsylvanians that when it comes to global warming, we are currently responsible for 1 percent of worldwide carbon dioxide emissions of greenhouse gases, ranking our state among the top 25 nations in the world.

ROBERT L. FIFE
Mount Washington

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In reading the majority opinion issued by the California Supreme Court ("Gay Marriage Ruled Legal in California," May 16), the words arrogant and sophistry came to mind.

Arrogant because the majority outlined both the historical understanding of marriage as being between a man and a woman and the extensive legislative record reflecting that understanding -- and then dismissed both in favor of what the court called a new understanding of what a homosexual relationship can be. The sophistry shown by this weak argument is overwhelming. What is at stake is what such a relationship cannot be. It cannot provide society with what is foundational to its survival, a new generation.

Male and female, He created them; or, if you wish to avoid the biblical instruction -- male and female, they are created. The physiology is instructive. The relationship is to be distinctly purposeful, not simply mutually satisfying.

The term and the institution, marriage, should honor the purpose. Lawmakers and jurists should follow history, nature and common sense and continue to respect that marriage is and is to be between a man and a woman.

JAY JARRELL
McMurray

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The May 18 rally in Pittsburgh to raise awareness for Darfur ("Rally Calls Attention to Darfur Villages, War Casualties," May 19) almost seems lost in the mounting casualties noted every evening on the news here.

The more than 200 marchers willing to walk in the rain to symbolize the suffering masses in Sudan might be as well served in rallying to stop the wanton and often random violence now plaguing Pittsburgh.

I have served as a soldier in more than 15 nations throughout Europe in the 1980s, Central America in the 1990s and more recently in both the Near and Far East regions, including Egypt, Kuwait and Iraq, during U.S. military interventions that have addressed both humanitarian assistance missions as well as those conducted in hostile-fire zones. I fully embrace any effort to increase the understanding and empathy that might foster peace in war-torn areas.

I would truly celebrate seeing the rebels and militias stop the slaughtering in Darfur. I pray for peace in the Mideast and elsewhere around the world, and those prayers include the unfortunate and absolutely unnecessary "combat zones" of an increasingly violent ... city of Pittsburgh.

JACK GORDON
Master Sergeant
U.S. Army Reserve
Coraopolis

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I believe we can all agree that use of tobacco products is bad for our health. However, I believe we can also agree that people who use tobacco products are not bad people. That is why I believe new taxes for tobacco, being discussed in Harrisburg, are unfair and punitive.

The people that these taxes will hurt most are generally not wealthy people. They are everyday working people who are being increasingly squeezed by high gas and food prices. When the state of Pennsylvania, in my opinion, treats them as second-class citizens, I am troubled.

I think it might be interesting if everyone who supports new taxes on tobacco took five minutes tomorrow to stop and ask a smoker how much they paid in income, property, sales and Social Security taxes last year. Making a convincing argument that they should have to pay more might then be more difficult.

JOHN NASSER
Co-Owner
Obade Candy Co., Inc.
Kittanning

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I will now commit a glaring mortal sin, to all yinz electronic wizards: There are some of us out here in TV Land who do not possess a computer, a Web site or e-mail address -- or want one.

We are told to e-mail an answer to a certain Web site, and/or visit this or that Web site, which is or seemingly looks like a person's final resting place while ignoring the possibility of his or her possessing a normal, regular phone number or street address, where can be found the solution to many problems of the day.

To those who have immersed themselves in 21st-century technology and have something to sell, or provide us with a certain knowledge, kindly give us a phone number or street address where we might avail ourselves of your good fortune in electronic equipment and let us know where we might find you.

Thank you.

EUGENE P. BARRY
West View