Letters to the Editor

Spring water is a better option than contaminated tap water Please, don't be fooled by the Environmental Protection Agency. Tap water is not safe for consumption. Municipal water supplies are intentionally contaminated with fluoride and chlorine. The properties that allow chlorine to kill bacteria make it toxic to the human body.

Chlorine and fluoride have been shown to cause cancer, and chlorine causes damage to artery walls, which increases the risk of heart disease. In addition, municipal waters also contain arsenic, lead, mercury, industrial runoffs, and, as one California study showed, prescription drugs like Ritalin.

Bottled water is by no means pure. Water tables are also contaminated, and often the bottles are cleaned with chlorine.

The bottled water Boston College Dining supplies, Dasani, is no more than bottled tap water. But spring waters are preferable, provided one cannot afford a whole-house water filter system. "Brita" filters only sediment, not chemical compounds. And since water is absorbed through the skin, showerhead chlorine filters are recommended.

As an eco-friendly person, Ms. Fox should be concerned with the massive amounts of chemicals poured into our drinking water, and subsequently our oceans. Rather than defend the EPA which endorses this, "greenies" should applaud companies that offer us access to water from nature's own tap.

Brian Cunningham A&S '08

U.S. must create policies to promote peace abroad Recent legislation involving the American government's recognition of Armenia's genocide in 1915 is a great thing.

While I have no connection to the Armenian community, I do have a connection to the Bosnian community. While the religious background of both the Armenian and Bosnian genocides saw fierce fighting between Christians and Muslims, both have been victims of genocide from the other.

The Christian Armenians were killed by Turkish forces at the end of the Ottoman Empire in the early part of the century, while Muslim Bosnians were victims of a genocide by the Serbs in the early 1990s.

This genocide has affected people of several large faiths.

Wouldn't it be nice if the government made policies that promote peace so that our world would not see any more genocides?

Both Armenian and Bosnian people will tell you it would have made their lives better as well.

Kevin Beck Germantown, Md.