LETTERS: WHEN DOES MILLENNIUM START? WE'RE ALL OLDER THAN WE THINK

To the editor:

This debate about when the new millennium begins must cease. The new millennium began several years ago.

Without taking up a lot of space to explain their reasons, historians are now in general agreement that our calendar is off by four years. We now know that Jesus, whose birth dictates the beginning of our calendar, was actually born four years earlier than the calendar assumes.

So the ongoing debate is no longer of any significance. Get over it. We are well into the new millennium.

One of the biggest advantages of this clarification is that we no longer have to worry about the Y2K problem. Whew.

Though it no longer has any relation to reality, Cape's end-of-the-millennium party should proceed. It will help those of us who are middle-aged or beyond cope with the fact that we're four years older than we thought.

STEVE MOSLEY

Cape Girardeau