Letters

It's telling that high-rent humanists have to look to the other side of the planet to find abuses worthy of their concern. Tibet is an ideal protest issue for wealthy entertainers with time on their hands; what's more safely distant from the ugly realities of life in the U.S. than exotic and colorful Tibet? In focusing on Tibet, conscientious corporate rockers draw attention to one of the few places in the world where rotten things happen that aren't the fault of multinational corporations like the ones that own their record labels; Time Warner doesn't have any investments there yet.

So remember shoppers, when you shell out $39.95 for the limited-edition, Dalai Lama-approved Tibetan Freedom Concert CD set, just chant to yourself: "This isn't about money -- it's about good karma."

Kevin Keating
Mission

Final Word
Somewhere between accumulating madcap anecdotes and dishing out dime-store psychology in their Dave Burgin profile ("Final Deadline," May 29), George Cothran and Lisa Davis could have benefited from talking with the dozens of journalists around the country who consider him a mentor and an inspiration.

I worked twice for Dave Burgin, at the Washington Star and later in Palo Alto, and my experience was typical. He made papers better every place he went. He loved the craft, never wavered in his "we're-as-good-as-they-are" enthusiasm, and raised the level of writing, reporting, and design in every place he touched down.

Over 20 years in the newspaper business -- 14 of them at the Chicago Tribune -- I never met his equal. And I'd wager that if they were honest, the whiners who were chatted up by your correspondents would recall Burgin's tenure in their towns as the high-water mark for their respective papers.

I'd have been delighted to tell that story, and I know the names of folks at the Washington Post, the Boston Globe, the Chicago Tribune, Newsweek -- and some right there in the Bay Area -- who'd have done the same. But that's not what your profile was all about, was it?

Steve Daley
Arlington, Va.

Corrections
In "System Crashing" (July 10), the potential value of Wired Ventures Inc. after its initial public offering should have been listed as $495 million.

Alfred Schilling, winner of Best Restaurant in a Candy Factory ("Best of San Francisco," June 26), relocated in March. It is now situated at 1695 Market; the phone number is 431-8447.