letters.

Money Talks

I appreciated the article about the two teenage girls who attended the same school but led totally different lives ("Money Matters," 12/13/99).

I attend a high school where I see the same discriminations occur daily. Money and social status are the things that everyone values the most. It is very blatant that kids segregate into groups based on financial status, looks, and place on the social hierarchy. This doesn't seem right, but it really has become this way.

If people were more open-minded, then how much money someone had in their wallet would be irrelevant.

KRISTA FERGUSON Shawnee, Kans.

Our class was discontented by the way in which the author presented the contrast of the two individuals. We feel that the author portrayed a biased view in favor of Ada Estrella [the less affluent girl] and did not accurately exhibit the true situations of both individuals.

JESSE PLACE, DREW HEINRICH, DAVE NOVOTNY, JESSICA GREGORY, JESSICA GORDON Belvidere, N.J.

You missed a very important opportunity. The subject of class difference in our society is an urgent and necessary topic, yet the word "class" was never mentioned in the story. Why not? Part of educating young people on social issues is providing the language skills to name them. The other crucial part is race. The different races of the two young women were never mentioned.

TRINA JACKSON Teen Voices magazine, Boston, Mass.

Bias Is Bogus

The SAT, in my judgment, is a fair test ("The Big Fear," 10/18/99). It's not culturally biased. When I, as an Asian-American, took the SAT and did its test preps, I didn't encounter any problems with questions that were entrenched in any specific culture. To the contrary, I thought it was very diverse. Money, on the other hand, is an unfair advantage. We need to make schools more alike in scholastic courses.

NORMAN NGUYEN Ticonderoga, N. Y.

When Art Shocks

Your article ("A Sensation--But Is It Art?" 11/1/99) told of an artist who put elephant dung on a portrait of the Virgin Mary. He called what he was doing art. I disagree. I think he is making a mockery of Christianity by putting filth on the painting. How would he feel if I made a portrait of his mother and painted it with dung?

ANGELA SEDIK West Hartford, Conn.

Even if it might be offensive to Roman Catholics, the artist has the freedom to draw whatever he or she feels like. That is freedom of speech. I don't think the city should ban offensive art.

MARCELA ABUTO Miami, Fla.

I agree 100-percent with Mayor Giuliani's criticism of the Brooklyn Museum exhibit. There are enough things that hurt people; art should not be one of them.

KIMBERLY DARIENZO Spring Hill, Fla.

Bad Idea

I don't agree with paying two hundred dollars to crack addicts to stop them from having kids ("Population Solution?" letter, 12/13/99). They brought their problems on themselves.

SARAH TIMMERMAN St. Louis, Mo.

A Break From Fluff

Yours is the first teen-directed publication I have ever read that isn't full of fluff and actually deals with issues teenagers care about. I would have never expected a news magazine intended for school use to openly question the way schools are run ("The Clampdown on Teen Rights," 9/6/99), police tactics, and the government's choices in world events. But these are all issues that concern me as a 16-year-old boy. Thank you for understanding.

JOHN P. TITLOW King of Prussia, Pa.