In his Nov. 19 letter, "Sustainability often misused buzz word," Robert Simms dismisses the point of Megan McKenzie's Nov. 15 "As I see it" that GMO biotechnologies should be considered on their merits, not dismissed as a class. Simms decries them as "corporate farming" and "cell invasion technology."

How is it that wind farms and computer technologies can be good, although they are strongly corporate-supported, but biotechnology cannot? This makes no sense.

Is not his use of the term "cell invasion technology" exactly the kind of debate-by-slogan that corporations and politicians use routinely to mislead and inflame?

The book that he cited makes the case that hunger is not primarily a problem of technology. Fine. However, it also is clear that farmers in the developing-world desire - and can benefit from - biotechnologies. There now are more developing world farmers growing genetically modified crops than there are agribusiness farmers. This is because there are many of them, and pest-resistant crops tend to have higher yields, lower spoilage and thus make better food and feed.

They also reduce pesticide use - a significant cost and a danger to their own health.

Simms might benefit from a look at a forthcoming book, "Tomorrow's Table: A Marriage of Genetic Engineering and Organic Farming." It is written by respected scientist Pamela Ronald and her husband, Raoul Adamchak, who has farmed organic crops for over 20 years. It provides a refreshing and unifying alternative to the unscientific and simplistic cliche that he promotes.

Steve Strauss

Corvallis

Give solar power a bigger energy role

Two recent news stories grabbed my attention: One described fall fund drives by Oregon charities targeted to the $1.1 billion in state "kicker" tax refunds expected this year.

The other was about the difficulties Oregon and Washington will encounter in meeting greenhouse gas reductions that have been agreed on.

A graph showed reliance on coal-fired power plants in generating electricity in the Northwest, with a small share of power production met by wind, biofuel and geothermal sources. Solar power was not even mentioned.

Imagine if at least part of that $1.1 billion in kicker taxes had instead been used as tax incentives to offset costs to consumers of installing solar power panels on houses and businesses.

Germany, not known for its sunny skies, has made solar power a significant component of its energy use. We could do it here, too.

Evelyn B Sherr

Corvallis

Research history of Gen. Smedley Butler

The good thing about President George Bush is that he has been a motivator. I'm even beginning to think there might be a silver lining in the mess that is the Iraq war: Sensing that something is wrong with the way things are, Americans are starting to educate themselves to find out what the problem is.

I've been doing that for a few years now. I've read some books, taken an American history class, watched documentaries, and used the internet to find out more.

Documentaries are becoming increasingly popular. I'd recommend one in particular. It's a comprehensive work that's just called "The Corporation."

Anyway, at some point on the DVD, maybe in one of the special features, they mentioned a highly decorated Marine Corps major general named Smedley Darlington Butler, who, they said, had apparently been solicited by some powerful business leaders, to lead a coup against President Franklin Roosevelt in 1933.

What? I'd never heard of this before!

Who were these people who wanted to establish a fascist state in America? Well, I'm not going to do a bum job of telling you. Google it yourself or see wikipedia.org. You may be surprised, as I was. Americans should know about this story because the plot is still playing out today.

Tracy Rupp

Corvallis

Height typo created perplexing news

I read with interest the story in the Nov. 8 Gazette-Times about the nation's tallest man (a Virginia deputy who is 7-foot-8 inches tall) and the world's tallest man at 8-foot-five).

These claims must surely be in error, as several days before, the Gazette-Times reported that a man who survived a boat capsizing off the Oregon coast was 48 feet tall. This article didn't give the man's name or how he survived (presumably with his great height, he just walked ashore).

I thought at the time that 48 feet must surely be a record, but I didn't give it much thought until the subsequent article.

I hope the G-T will set the record straight and describe how someone could be almost 40 feet taller than the current record holder.

Jay Burreson

Corvallis

Waterboarding: Tool against terrorism

Is there a war on terrorism or not? If so, do we really want to win? Americans are not united on these issues. Many, despite a lot of contrary evidence, are in a state of denial. Others, while admitting that the terrorism exists, oppose the measures necessary to combat it.

The Bush administration is waging an aggressive campaign against terrorism that includes intelligence-gathering, interrogation and incarceration of suspects. These efforts appear to have been successful in preventing another terrorist attack in this country, although critics say there may be other reasons.

At the same time, many politicians, special-interest groups and others are actively trying to understand this program.

Little evidence has emerged showing that the intelligence-gathering effort has adversely impacted American citizens, although a few mistakes have been made. Current interrogation measures - especially waterboarding - are receiving intense criticism.

Intelligence officials tell us that waterboarding is rarely used but is very effective. Already it has saved American lives. The technique is quite moderate when compared to methods used by radical Islamic terrorists.

It seems naive to think that if we do not use rigorous interrogation to gather information from terrorists that they will cease to use them on our people.

Finally, many Americans seem to believe that terrorists should be treated as criminals and not as enemy combatants. This means that terrorist suspects should be given all of the rights available to American citizens. Of course, proceeding this way would clog the legal system and be a security risk for the country.

Chuck Lane

Blodgett