Simply gone ...

The author reports that all recent email correspondence, including readers?? letters to be published in this issue of the Review were destroyed by several accidents associated with moving computers to a new location. The lost letters all centered on J. Paul Oxer??s article regarding the collapse of Enron. Each was strong and carefully considered, whether unfavorable or strongly positive. The debacle is upsetting and costly to many of us, and this was the Review??s effort to cover a topic that was just "shaking out." The anger regarding Enron (and Tyco, and WorldCom, and on and on) is well deserved; these megalithic firms were highly influential in technology, economy, and politics, yet poor accounting and questionable ethics were the root causes of their problems, not technology or marketing. Oxer passed his article by a number of former (and presumably angry) co-workers who, as J. Paul did, suffered the loss of work, income, and investment. They were in agreement that the article provided a balanced, accurate view of Enron from the inside; a good concept, many outstanding employees, but unable to overcome the massive ethical disintegration fermenting at the highest levels within. For those who sent in letters regarding the Enron story and other feature articles, they are asked to please resend them, and rewrite them if you wish ?? the Review will be pleased to print them in the fourth quarter issue.