Readers Report
Who's to Blame for the Telecom Meltdown?
The "Telecom meltdown" (Special Report, Apr. 23) is the result of a "crowding effect," which occurs when a market opportunity is chased by too many players, all making the same investments in hope that the first or the biggest will take it all. Business history is full of examples of how crowding destroys value. Telecom managers should be held accountable for the excessive risks that they have undertaken at the expense of their stakeholders.
Rado Kotorov
Morristown, N.J.
In the coming months, the Federal Communications Commission will face a series of rulings that will determine whether we will have a competitive market for voice and data, as well as broadband services. Pro-competition decisions will mean lower prices, faster innovation, greater economic growth, and continued U.S. leadership in high tech. Decisions that favor continued monopoly will mean the opposite. Unfortunately, recent signs from Washington have not been encouraging.
Regina M. Keeney
Washington
How to Keep Nuclear Plants Humming
Nuclear power plants can make a real difference in the next 5 to 20 years ("A comeback for nukes?" News: Analysis & Commentary, Apr. 23). The new pebble-bed reactors now under development are extensions of previously developed gas-cooled reactor technology, and they would be inherently safe and quick to build in modular sizes. Placing these at sites with existing nuclear plants would avoid many of the not-in-my-backyard issues we face when trying to site anything these days. Communities that already host nuclear plants are usually supportive of the technology, given their intimate experience with it.
Robert Boyden Lamb
New York
Your story includes a picture of cooling towers glowing in the dark. It would make the article more accurate, for us engineers at least, to show a reactor dome instead. Cooling towers, though ominous-looking, employ a quite conventional technology that uses the atmosphere as a heat sink, involving no nuclear technology at all. In fact, many nuclear power stations that use rivers or lakes as heat sinks do not have such cooling towers, and gas- or coal-fired stations may actually use them, too.
Jorge Lepre
Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y.
Exelon Corp.'s rosy attitude toward nuclear power certainly appears to be ignoring the lessons of history ("Safe enough for your backyard?" News: Analysis & Commentary, Apr. 23). It has been known for over 50 years that a solution must be found for the disposal of radioactive waste. And over 30 years ago, it was concluded that small nuclear plants would not be economically viable.
William L.R. Rice
Locust Grove, Va.
Exelon's boss, John W. Rowe, had better realize there is more to life than making profits. His comment "I'm into whatever makes more money for shareholders" is not something that long-lasting companies ever talk about. Exelon will not be around for very long if he keeps expressing his thoughts like this.
Ryan Wodele
St. Paul, Minn.
If the Green Carrot Works, Who Needs the Stick?
Paul Raeburn does an excellent job of ferreting out corporations that have found it advantageous to keep a clean environment ("Global warming: Look who disagrees with Bush," Science & Technology, Apr. 23). He still misses an obvious point: If it is economically desirable to be green, where is the need for government intervention?
Bruce Hansen
Orem, Utah
Treat Internet Info Just Like Credit-Card Data
As is the case with credit-card providers, Internet companies should be placed legally and morally in a position where they must go to their customers with notification of changes in the users' legal rights ("Your right to privacy: Going...going...," News: Analysis & Commentary, Apr. 23).
William Beck
Chappaqua, N.Y.
Back to the Drawing Tablet for These Computers
One drawback I see to the new portable computers is their name ("Is the world finally ready for tablets?" News: Analysis & Commentary, Apr. 9). "Tablet" brings to mind images of a pill that is hard to swallow. Microsoft Corp. and its partners could start by using this device to jot down new ideas.
Valaya Gaudet
San Jose, Calif.
A New Source of College Funds? I'll Buy That
I am a parent of two young children who hasn't got a clue how to save enough money for the both of them to go to college ("Spending your kids into college," Social Issues, Apr. 23). I have three words for Upromise Inc.: Sign me up.
Kevin Cieri
Long Branch, N.J.
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