In a recent speech in Los Angeles, Sen. John McCain said the United States cannot lead by virtue of its power alone. Since when is power called virtue? I guess I must have missed that part in the Bible.

For anyone who thinks over 4,000 American dead is not enough, a vote for McCain may lead to another war with Iran, assuming the Bush/Cheney power team doesn't get us into this new war before they leave office.

I think most Americans would like to see this country change course and lead by example rather than by invasion. We'll soon have the choice to change our stance.

-- Anthony Schweitzer, Marshall

I protest a Tuesday headline, "Meriter gets low marks from patients." It does not reflect the content of the article, which states that all Madison hospitals need improvement, and unfairly promotes a negative bias towards Meriter.

While the content is true and newsworthy, and is something we are all working to improve, the headline is a distortion. I didn't like it, and many others I've spoken to, including patients and staff, share this sentiment.

-- the Rev. Bob Eagle, staff chaplain, Meriter Hospital

State firms should pay taxes in state

In Wednesday's Journal, combined public-private sector financing of a new library on the site of the present deteriorating central library is discussed. Mayor Dave Cieslewicz thinks it's a step in the right direction since the city has insufficient funds to build a new library.

It's better for the city to build, and therefore control, its own central library. A return to a system of fair taxation is the answer.

Some corporations doing business in Wisconsin fail to pay their fair proportion of taxes. The nonpartisan Institute for Wisconsin's Future estimates that $500 million annually is lost in state taxes because some corporations pay little or no tax. This is not illegal, but is unfair because the companies use loopholes to send their profits to other states where there is no taxation.

Businesses need to pay their fair share of taxes and support our local and state governments.

-- John Murphy, Madison

Biofuels are fine, but skip corn ethanol

In your otherwise excellent April 3 editorial on biofuels, "Keep driving ethanol forward," you overlooked one critical point: Corn ethanol -- currently our dominant biofuel -- is not in fact a renewable fuel.

In today's farming, growing corn is dependent on synthetic nitrogen fertilizers made from natural gas feedstock. Large amounts of pesticides, herbicides and fungicides made from fossil fuels are also used. After that corn is harvested and transported to an ethanol plant (using diesel-powered machinery), it is distilled using even more natural gas.

Corn ethanol is little more than recycled natural gas. It defies logic that we continue calling corn ethanol "renewable" when there could be no corn ethanol without the continuous consumption of irreplaceable, nonrenewable fossil fuels.

As you rightly pointed out, we must look forward to the day when biofuels are made from cellulose and waste supplement fossil fuels. But the sooner we look past the folly of corn ethanol and stop believing it is actually a "renewable" fuel, the better.

-- Gary Dikkers, Madison

Swindler deserved jail, not bracelet

I applaud the Wednesday letter writer who commented on ankle bracelets to monitor non-violent criminals. It is ludicrous to think a mere ankle bracelet is going to deter the nonviolent criminal from offending again.

Like that writer, a friend of mine was conned out of over $100,000 by a woman from Stoughton. That woman feigned breast cancer and scammed my friend for a period of three years. The criminal investigation lead to two felony charges, but unfortunately, the district attorney allowed the charges to be plead out.

Using the cancer scam to obtain over $100,000 in money and goods is a shameful offense, especially to those of us who have experienced cancer or lost a loved one to it.

This certainly should have been a crime that involved jail or even prison, but instead resulted in probation and restitution, not one day in jail, and only two months on an ankle bracelet. Restitution did not include the full amount scammed, as the criminal netted almost $24,000 in profit.

It seems to me that crime does pay after all.

-- Sue Gatterman, Madison

UW Connections is best of both worlds

I'm involved in a program that not many students know about or participate in -- the UW Connections Program. The program allows Wisconsin residents who have been denied admission to UW-Madison to attend a partner college or university.

If they complete 54 transferable credits and satisfy UW-Madison's general education requirements in three years and maintain a minimum 2.0 grade point average, they will be admitted as juniors to UW-Madison.

The difference between this and other liberal arts transfer programs is the inclusion of a UW-Madison student ID, which gives them access to all UW-Madison libraries, recreational facilities, student unions, events and tickets.

Attending a smaller college while receiving the benefits of a large university has had an enormous impact on my education. Madison Area Technical College has allowed me to enroll in the same classes I would take at UW-Madison, but the learning environment is more student-friendly. My largest class is 30 students, which makes for a more involved learning environment.

And I am currently paying about one-third the tuition I would be paying at UW-Madison, while enjoying the same rights and opportunities as a regular Madison student would. I recommend the Connections Program to any student who is not ready for a large campus, but would still like to receive a degree from UW-Madison.

-- Andrew Zganjar, Madison