From Today's New York Times

To the Editor:

Re "In Some Biology Classes, Dissection Is Optional" (news article, Sept. 6):

State laws that provide alternatives to animal dissection in school illustrate the progress, however slow, of questioning cruelty to animals.

Twenty years ago, a student took a failing grade if he refused to dissect an animal on the grounds that it contributed to the animal's death. Now students have compassionate options—or at least are more likely to consider the consequences of animal dissection.

I knew that evolution hadn't stopped!

Barbara DiNicola
Jackson Heights, Queens
Sept. 7, 2004