Dear Eddie,
Isn’t the “ILOVEYOU” subject line in this latest computer virus brilliantly wicked? (Obviously all Slate readers know there is a dastardly virus out there that will eat not only your hard drive but all your leftover Y2K survival supplies, so if you get a message that reads “ILOVEYOU” just delete it.) We all know that every e-mail message that promises money, sex, or weight loss is bogus. But when you see “ILOVEYOU,” won’t millions of people think, Maybe it’s that old high-school crush finally come to his/her senses. Or maybe it’s from that cutie in Accounts Receivable.
I’m going to take you up on your offer to put politics aside (always a good offer when you live in Washington). I wanted to mention a story in the Times today, one of those science stories that makes you wonder–Is this the moment of the first real breakthrough, or is this just another promising avenue that turns into a dead end? It’s about a recent study that has discovered that in a small group of teen-agers with either autism or retardation, almost all of them had abnormally high levels of four brain chemicals at birth. (There is a program in California that for 20 years has been keeping blood samples for later analysis from 14 percent of babies born there.) Autism is one of those devastating diseases for which there is neither a known cause nor a completely effective treatment. Its incidence has been rising in recent years, and people wonder if that’s simply due to better diagnosis or to an actual increase. Because the disease generally isn’t diagnosed until about age 3, there are many parents who believe that their children’s autism is triggered by childhood vaccinations. If this study turns out to be right, it will show that autism, or the propensity toward it, is present at birth, and it will open up all sorts of avenues for early diagnosis and possible treatment.
Eddie, before we close, you wanted us to talk about something that really matters, and I found it in a story today in the Washington Post’s zoned section, the “District Weekly.” It’s about a young woman at American University who wanted to build something useful as a tribute to her father who died a year ago in a construction accident. She decided to put up a playground on an abandoned lot in one of the poorest parts of Washington. She managed to negotiate the district’s bureaucracy (a task that has brought generals to their knees); raise more than $50,000 from individuals, foundations, and corporations; and get 400 volunteers to build a first-class playground. The young woman’s name is Kim Williams, she is 21 years old, and she matters.
Eddie, thanks for the exchange. Let me know about the cockfight–I’ll leave my PETA chicken suit at home that evening.
Yours,
Emily
