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Depending on who you talk to, the BART saga thus far is seen either as a tragedy or, at best, a mock epic. Avid Spectrum readers have followed the chronicle from design and development to the surprise accident of October 2, 1972, when a crystal oscillator in the automatic train operating (ATO) subsystem transmitted the wrong speed command and a BART train overran the Fremont station, plowing into a sandpile installed for just such a circumstance. The chapters following that episode have delineated investigations and reports, suits and countersuits (the most recent, BART's $237.8 million damage suit against its consultants and suppliers). But BART rolls on, as does its saga, and this month's chapter deals with retrofits, or how engineers have ?edited? a mock epic in hopes of transforming it into an unqualified epic. The principal problems and disagreements centered on the original procurement procedures and on the selection and implementation of the automatic train control (ATC) system. Even now, as a $1.3 million backup system to BART's primary train protection subsystem is being installed, Westinghouse stands firm in its insistence that it is an unnecessary elaboration.

Dr. Thelander's remarks strike a responsive chord. I have been working in one of these health agencies for a number of years now, and am acquainted with how the boundary lines between the several departments offering health services often result in a fragmented approach. It is going to take painstaking effort by psychiatrists, pediatricians, neurologists, and other members of the medical profession to work with educators, vocational rehabilitation people, and those in social welfare in order to weld the pieces together into a comprehensive whole that can be adapted to the individual child. The President's Panel was a recognition of an idea "whose time had arrived," to quote from the preface of the Panel Report. During the forties and fifties a number of things had happened. There was a tremendous spate of scientific discovery which began to transform unmitigated gloom into hope that some of the mysteries would be unraveled

The problems involved in introducing private ownership and self-government in the communities now owned and operated by the Atomic Energy Commission have been studied by several groups of experts. My Lyman Moore submitted a series of recommendations in 1948, which he summarized in his article for the Bulletin in January 1951. A study of the feasibility of incorporating Richland as a town and disposing of government property there was made by the Public Administration Service in April 1950, and a similar study of Oak Ridge was made by J. L. Jacobs and Co., of Chicago. The most recent report of this kind, “The Scurry Panel Report,” appeared in August 1951 and is summarized here. The special panel included Richardson G. Scurry, chairman, Frderick M. Babcock, George E. Bean, and George Gove. These recommendations are currently under consideration by the AEC and citizens groups at the communities. Mr. McEldowney is an expert in real-estate transactions in the Chicago area.

To the Editor.— Dr. Robert Wilbur takes strong exception (231:485,1975) to the finding of Hankin et al that canned pet foods contain considerable amounts of lead and thus present a potential health hazard for human consumption (231:484, 1975). The main bone of contention (no pun intended) appears to stem from the citation by Hankin et al of a panel report to the US Senate Select Committee on Human Needs that alleges that pet foods are consumed by humans. According to Wilbur, "the panel report to the Senate Committee was based on a mistaken repetition of a mistaken previous report—repeated in each case without any attempt to check back with the supposed source of the information." Without any intention of creating a controversy, it seems that Dr. Wilbur's objection is well taken. First, there is a lack of evidence that people are resorting to pet-food diets. Second, extensive records of kennels