Editor:

Thank you for printing Kris Akre's warning that the incest apocalypse is upon us ("'Unacceptable' incest like homosexuality," April 15). It made me laugh. It also made me wonder, is this really a pressing issue? Should we write our congressman before it's too late? I mean, come on! Are parents grounding their kids for this thing? It seems to me that one parental warning I did not hear growing up was, "no incest before supper." I'm fairly sure that would ruin my appetite. Besides, most brothers and sisters are a huge pain in the ass. The last thing anyone would do is sleep with them. That is second on my list of "things not to do with a sibling." It's right after "pay them a compliment." I guarantee you that if incest was declared legal, the worst thing that would happen would be that we actually care enough to make it legal.

And yet Akre insists that if incest occurred, "our human population would cease and desist." My question is, how exactly would we cease and desist? I can see it now: "Well, Mildred, the Thompson twins down the street just did it, guess we should magically explode now." Does the word "ridiculous" enter anyone else's mind? Oh, and that bit about, "No other animal on Earth has any type of sexual contact with it's siblings," implying that it is wrong because it isn't "natural" for animals, and therefore is not natural for humans either. Well, I love this logic. I saw my hamster eat her babies. So now eating babies is OK, right? That will hold up in court. "Hey! I saw my hamster do it! It's natural!" I also witnessed a dog eating his own feces - no comment on that one.

The entire letter was a paranoid mix of unfounded facts, probably only written so homosexuality could be attacked at the end. Thanks again for printing it. I enjoy a chuckle.

Jeremy Bachtel
ecology and evolutionary biology sophomore