A VOTE FOR DEMOCRACY
"The Routes of Democracy" by Jay Heinrichs (November/December) is a brilliant article.

I was surprised and pleased by the way it mixed history and travel, and I liked reading about the different uses of the ancient Roman Forum. Great concept, good writing, and I learned something!

GRACE WOESSNER
Henderson, Nevada

AND TO THE REPUBLIC
"The Routes of Democracy" was interesting but misleading. Our nation is a republic, not a democracy. The founders wrote the constitution that way to limit our government and protect us from it.

DHARA WOOD
Carson City, Nevada

DARE TO REPAIR
I appreciated reading about avoiding a rip-off at the garage (Neil on Wheels, November/December). I used a AAA Approved Auto Repair facility for the first time when Bracken’s of St. George, Utah, made some major repairs to my car. Their estimate was much lower than other shops’, and the repairs were cheaper than predicted. Now the car runs like a top.

LARRY BROWN
St. George, Utah

Writing about personal integrity between vehicle owner and mechanic, Dan Neil states: "Try not to get roped into repairs that will outlive... your ownership." He thereby says that we need have no integrity toward the next owner of our vehicle—even if we know the steering mechanics are going bad, it’s OK to sell the car to an unsuspecting victim. Don’t you think this is a lack of basic morality?

CHARLES L. OSTROFE
Oakland, California

Of course we—and Dan Neil—trust AAA members to disclose the condition of any car they sell. —Editor

POLAR OPPOSITES?
In his November/December letter regarding the article "Call of the Wild: On Thin Ice" (September/October), Hugh Thomson cites information about a few Canadian polar bear populations to dismiss the effects global warming will have on the entire species. The United States Geological Survey has concluded that "projected changes in future sea ice conditions, if realized, will result in loss of approximately two-thirds of the world’s current polar bear population by the mid-21st century." You’d have to have an icy heart indeed to ignore the plight of the polar bear.

DAN BRONSON
Aptos, California

RODEO WOE
Your article about rodeos ("The Greatest Show on Dirt," November/December) refers to this spectacle of cruelty as a sport. In a sport, the participants are willing. The animals in rodeos, on the other hand, have no choice and are terrified, brutalized, and subjected to severe injury and death. Isn’t it apparent that these are not acts of kindness?

NETTIE SCHWAGER
Corvallis, Oregon

NOT HALF-BAKED
We paid a visit to the Buttery in Santa Cruz, Calif., ("Neighborhood Bakeries," November/December) and the quality and variety were excellent. We look forward to trying your other recommendations.

MARGARET AND STAN TURNER
Mountain View, California