LESSONS FROM BRITAIN

Thank you for reprinting Mat Engel's Guardian article ("God's Games . . .
British Visitor to Utah Finds 'Strangest State,' "Tribune, Jan. 27).
Collapsing all of the perceptions of outsiders into one tidy cesspool might
just awaken the local masses and stimulate some needed change.

Or, this Brit may get the prize for useful hyperbole. Every Olympic
volunteer, especially those of the dominant culture, should be forced to
read Engel's list of what the world finds strange here. Then someone needs
to own up to the reality of what's wrong with "theocracy in action" or come
up with defensive responses better than "men have the priesthood and women
have motherhood."

Here's possible scientific explanation of why Utah "leads the U.S. and
probably the world in use of antidepressants." Neuroscientists recently
discovered that socially dominant monkeys exhibit a brain- chemistry change
that makes them resistant to using drugs, such as cocaine. On the other
hand, monkeys at the bottom of the social pecking order self-administer
large amounts of cocaine when studied in groups.

Psychiatrist Nora Volkow of Brookhaven National Laboratory claims this may
explain why people in lower classes are at higher risk for drug abuse. A
feminist spin on this science might suggest that women in Utah load up on
antidepressants because of their perceived -- or real -- status in the culture.

J.M. VALENTI Salt Lake City