Over to you

Julian Lyons, St Andrew's College, Booterstown, Dublin

Recently I was browsing through the daily paper when I opened a page on a sickening picture of dying children in North Korea. Surprisingly, there was only a brief caption. Throughout the rest of the week I attempted to research the subject with the help of the newspapers. I was annoyed and distressed to find nothing but news of the alleged sex scandal involving Bill Clinton.

I asked myself why something of such great significance as a severe famine was not newsworthy. I thought that if anyone should show concern and report on the topic it should be the Irish people who suffered the monstrosity of famine and who are well aware that this situation cannot be solved without help. Are people who read newspapers honestly more interested in politicians' private lives than in thousands of lives being lost through disaster? I ask myself this question and to my dismay I think the answer may be yes!

Eoin Mac Domhnaill, Colaiste Chillian, Cluain Dolcain, Baile Atha Cliath

The merits of the Internet are in no doubt. However, I must question whether the WWW is truly worldwide.

Poor Internet access in many countries (e.g. India) has left them hitching on the information superhighway. The effect of information technology on this planet as a whole has been minimal. We must bear in mind that we are living in a world where it is estimated that half the population has never used a telephone - a technology developed in 1876.

It is probable that the recent invention of clockwork radio for rural South Africa will have a more positive effect on education in the developing world than any amount of Internet technology with mystifying abbreviations.

Instead of focusing on wireless modems in Seattle, we should remember the original wireless.

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