The Age-Old Question of What’s a Millennium

“Countdown to a New Millennium” (Dec. 31)--what an intriguing title. What an intriguing headline. Yet you can’t get past the subhead before encountering the dreaded 2000. Yes, the dumbing-down that your paper so frequently and rightfully decries when it so frequently and embarrassingly rears its ugly head in education has sneak-attacked its way into your own business section.

Perhaps writer Tom Petruno made a common but inexcusable mistake? No, as the little box buried on page four indicates, he actually knows. He just prefers to go along with the ignoratti.

The thinking seems to be, if enough people say something is true, especially if an unthinking media supports them, then I guess it is true. What kind of irresponsible journalism is that? Remarks like “The world long ago chose to view ‘9’ years as endings” are patently false.

Despite what Mr. Petruno thinks, much of the world knows when things begin and end. And as far as the rest of the populace is concerned, for most there was no choice involved, at least not in the sense of a conscious decision being made. Most of these people are uncritically going along with what uninformed or careless people tell them.

The majority are open to an intelligent discussion of the facts. Don’t sell the masses short, Mr. Petruno. As a high school math teacher, I have, over the years, presented the problem of when a century starts or ends to many of my classes and every last one of them has figured out, on their own, the correct answer.

And let’s not use a “both sides of the issue” argument. This is not a debate on subjective issues like whether Nixon was a crook. The calendar starts with a year numbered 1, and things measured in tens, like decades, hundreds, like centuries, or thousands, like millennia, have to end in a number whose last digit is zero. It is not a matter of opinion.

Go ahead and end the 90s in 1999 if you want. Call it the decade of the 90s even. But don’t perpetuate the mistake that the 20th century ends at the same time. Especially when you know it is a mistake.

MICHAEL HELWIG

Canoga Park