Young ’uns Online   

Rachel Smolkin's First Person ("Too Young To Read?" October/November) hits on a lot of good points about young newspaper readers and how newspapers are trying to pander to them. But Smolkin brushes aside young people's use of the Internet. She fails to realize that while many people do not pay to get the paper, many will read it online. And it's just not their local paper.

Web sites are starting to notice this. The Baltimore Sun has a special section on its Web site titled "On Campus," which has original advice articles for college students and reprints articles from the print edition of the Sun. It would be great if other newspapers did similar sections that appeal to younger readers without "dumbing it down."

David Elstein
Silver Spring, Maryland