LETTERS: Abstinence, Intel finalists and more

Stop the presses - abstinence works!

What a shock! Teach kids they shouldn't have sex and they have less sex . Maybe if we took that same tack with drug use, instead of handing out free needles to drug addicts, we could have an effect on the heroin epidemic.

Donato Mignone

Miller Place

Science finalists don't spell success for all

Newsday's coverage of Long Island's science contest finalists , masks the fact that the Island has school districts that fail to meet State Education Department performance standards.

The tax dollars Long Island public school districts spend to have their students win prizes in the Intel science contest would be better utilized if channeled to the districts' underachieving students. Having a contest finalist may inflate the superintendent's ego, but it does little to improve science education. It's unfair to the vast majority of students to set aside highly paid teachers to put the school's name in the headlines while too few of the students know whether one-fourth of something is bigger or smaller than one-third.

George Rand

Franklin Square

Just another fuzzy forecast

Washington officials say there could be a terrorist attack within three to six months . Is that like when the weather people say we will have anywhere from 1 inch to 2 feet of snow? They have blown every chance to prove their capability to ensure our safety, so why would anybody believe them now?

Susan Kalberer

East Meadow

Let's give trucks the HOV lane

I have a hybrid Prius and am allowed to use the HOV lane without a passenger, but I would gladly give up the right if the Department of Transportation would consider giving the HOV lane strictly to trucks . That would ease up the traffic in the other three lanes. Trucks could use the HOV lane and there would be no trucks in the other three lanes.

I am sure the truckers would love not having to contend with the small cars that are in their blind spots, and the cars would be relieved not having to contend with the much larger vehicles.

Robert J. Janoff

Huntington Station

A 'don't ask, don't tell' question

Is there a difference between a gay man residing in a men's barracks and a straight man living in a women's dorm or barracks "Time to tell - and serve," Editorial, Feb. 4]?

Richard Simms

Sayville