1. What this country needs is a return to the concept of swift and certain justice. If we need more courts, judges and prisons, then so be it. And as for capital punishment, I say let the punishment fit the crime. When criminals behave more like humans, then we can start to treat them more humanely. In the meantime, I would like to see the Night Stalkers of our society swiftly executed rather than coddled by our courts and prisons.

2. Social security is not merely a retirement program. Six and a half million children in the United States are kept out of poverty each year because of assistance from Social Security's survivors benefits program-which protects virtually all American children in the tragic event of the death of a parent. Beneficiaries include spouses and children of workers who have died or become disabled; grandparents raising grandchildren; severely disabled children; and families of fallen service members.

3. Is there any country in the world that worries more about its kids having fun in school, making lessons exciting and relevant, and then is more disappointed with the result than the United States? We think learning is like buying a car or smoking a cigarette. Just get into the thing or draw a breath and you will be effortlessly transported to lands of pleasure and excitement.

4. After reading your cover story, I find that cable TV has simply flooded our airwaves with more sex, violence, and teenage punk junk. Now our children can spend even less time studying and we can spend more time in blank-space stares at the idiot box. Cable would be fine with more educational channels- and fewer cheap thrills aimed at narrow-minded bubble brains.

5. Once the basic necessities have been achieved, future income is only lightly connected to well-being. Democrats generally seek to tax future income to finance programs that meet basic needs, including food, clothing shelter, retirement security, and health care. Republicans, in contrast, seek to protect future income from taxation, often at the expense of meeting the basic needs of the less fortunate. So which of our two main political parties is more concerned with achieving broad happiness, and which party is more concerned with fulfilling selfishness?

6. Animal abusers are cowards who take their issues out on "easy victims"-and their targets often include their fellow humans. I cannot begin to say how many incidents I've seen involving animal abusers who commit violent acts against humans, and animal neglecters who have neglected their children or other human dependents. Treating cruelty to animals with the seriousness it deserves doesn't only protect animals, it also makes the entire community safer.

7. The creation of a third political party-the independent party-would allow Congressional aspirants who desire to think for themselves to claim a high ground that is currently vacant. The new party would provide a more effective forum to discuss the right course for this country and might compel the other two parties to do likewise. The pressure such a movement would put on those now stagnating in cozy sinecures would, at the least, prove entertaining for a weary, frustrated public.

8. I agree that when religious institutions exclude woman from their hierarchies and rituals, the inevitable implication is that females are inferior. But it is important to note that when women's voices are silenced, it is not only the message that such discrimination sends that is damaging. The institutions themselves suffer. By disempowering women, religious institutions, and the broader societies in which they operate, lose the invaluable input of 51 percent of their constituents.

9. It looks like India and China are going to compete for a manned landing on the moon by 2020 while America is muddling along with no real future space plan. Let's do something significant in space-say, go to Mars by 2020. We could have done it 30 years ago. Planning for a Mars mission was well along. But the nation turned away from space after we landed on the moon, even canceling the three remaining flights to the moon. These Saturn 5 rockets now sit in museums.

10. Teenage bullying is all about power. One person has it, one person does not. Reluctant to seek help, victims feel ashamed and powerless, and they fear retaliation should they "rat out" the bully. Strong anti-bullying programs are needed to provide a means to report bullying anonymously, to train all school personnel to take reports of bullying seriously, and to offer workshops for children on how to respond to being bullied.

The following selections were originally submitted as letters to the editor of newspapers and magazines. Determine which of them can, with good reason, be considered arguments. In those that can, identify the conclusion.