DEAR STRANGER: I'm so glad to see that you have reconciled your irrational opposition to the single greatest human achievement, the Corporation ["Yes Logo," Jan 17]. With your newfound inhibitions, I suggest that you merge with the Seattle Weekly, thus consolidating the free newspaper market of Seattle. Think, you could call it The Weekly Stranger! Your advertising revenue could double! Then, at an opportune time, offer yourselves to Gannett and become part of one of the nation's leading News and Periodicals conglomerates! I think this new change will be very attractive to the advertisers of Tobacco and Alcohol products, who are eager to access your young and hip reader base. I'm so happy to finally see The Stranger, a weekly free paper with so much potential, start to think clearly about its future!

Sincerely,

A newly dedicated reader of The Stranger

EDITOR RESPONDS: Your suggestions have been forwarded to The Stranger's corporate offices in the Cayman Islands. Early feedback from our board of directors is positive, although the board feels Seattle Stranger would be a far superior name for a merged Seattle Weekly/The Stranger print-media product.

On the subject of alcohol-and-tobacco advertising: Alcohol and tobacco companies have not been running much national advertising during the current economic recession. However, The Stranger is committed to bringing our readers a wide selection of alcohol and tobacco advertisements, and we are working to return those ads to our pages as quickly as possible.

EDITORS: I am pretty surprised that you wrote an article on Dan Caracciolo and his crusade against Franklin [High School] administrators ["Freaked-Out Father," Matthew Preusch, Jan 24]. He seems to be on a witchhunt whose end seems to be to get rid of John Jackson, the principal. If I were Jackson, I would sue Dan for harassment. Dan sees things very differently from most parents at Franklin. His allegations are unwarranted and paint a very dubious picture of reality at Franklin. He has not been banned. In fact, he attended a PTSA meeting on January 24 and no one tried to force him to leave. He attended a site council meeting on January 10 where his concerns about harassment policies were discussed.

While I thought your article was evenhanded, I am concerned about his efforts to get the media to legitimize his issues. For whatever reason, it's as if he has taken a personal crusade against Dr. Jackson and is using any and every means to discredit him. This is not fair to Jackson or to Franklin.

Lucy Gaskill-Gaddis, a Franklin parent,

Seattle

DEAR MR. PREUSCH: I'm writing to you in response to your recent article, "Freaked-Out Father." I am a mother of a high school student and I, too, am concerned about the safety of our children at school. I'm glad to see Mr. Caracciolo "step up to the plate" to address the issue of violence and harassment in our schools. Many parents and school staff members see a problem, but are fearful to address them, or prefer to look the other way. I commend Dan for speaking out. I have known Dan for the past seven years. Our daughters attended the same elementary and middle schools. In that time, I've known Dan to be a caring, compassionate father who is active in the life of his child (as well as other children).

Is Dan a little "freaked out" by what he witnessed at Franklin? I think he should be... I think we ALL should be.

Debbie McGibbon, via e-mail

EMILY HALL: We all enjoy a well-deserved dig--shameless ones especially. Your quip on the [Sex Workers' Art Show] in the calendar section was irresponsible though [Visual Art Calendar, Jan 17]. In so very few words you did so much damage, considering how difficult it is for artists in the sex work industry, whether we are exploring related themes or not, to be seen as legitimate. What was the purpose of suggesting discredit when you've not seen our work? Set against your other tag lines in the calendar, which extolled other showings intelligently, this one reads like a slag heavy on hidden agenda. We are disappointed that you took such the stereotypical and predictable approach.

(This letter was signed by 39 people. --Eds.)

JEFF DeROCHE: So you're laughing your ass off at metal [One-Night Stand, Jan 24]. You're lucky you're not getting that ass kicked. I won't try to expose your ignorance about the true metal underground, 'cause you've already done that for yourself. Let me just say, you're wrong. Hipsters and scenesters mocking heavy metal is neither new nor funny, and I'm sure you'll eventually come across someone on the streets who doesn't find the joke as nearly as amusing as you--or Bearskin Rugburn--do.

Jeremy "Bochephus" McQueen, via e-mail

DEPT. OF CORRECTIONS: In our Jan 3 issue, on page 39, photos for the band the Ho-Ho's were wrongly credited solely to Denise Maupin. Two of those photos were actually taken by photographer Johnny Samra.