ROBERT SIEGEL, Host:
Now your letters. But first, two corrections. We aired a commentary this week about antique appraisal shows on television and we got our appraisal wrong of the age of the TV program "Antiques Roadshow." We said PBS first introduced it in 1979. Actually, it wasn't until 1997 that the network launched the American version of the British show.
MICHELE NORRIS, Host:
And now to your letters.
SIEGEL: Several of you wrote to us about our story yesterday by Alicia Martinez. Alicia is a young woman who was born here in the United States, but her parents and older sister came here illegally from Mexico. She talked about how stressful her family's situation is.
SIEGEL: I am appalled that NPR has gotten on the bandwagon of not so subliminal pity, hidden agenda support for illegal aliens. Ms. Martinez's story is sad, yes. However, her family is not undocumented, they are illegal. And by using a child's perspective, what was NPR thinking?
SIEGEL: until I heard 16-year-old Alicia Martinez speak of her family's dilemma, I never realized the tremendous pressure that's put on the children of illegal parents, in hopes that their grades will be good enough to get them into college. Martinez is wise beyond her years.
(SOUNDBITE OF WNBC RADIO PROMOTIONAL JINGLE)
NORRIS: That's from our Summer Sounds series, the sounds of top 40 AM radio stations.
SIEGEL: I was younger, only eight, but she was a teen and the adjustment for her was much more difficult. I remember her first bit of comfort being the discovery of 610 KFRC AM in San Francisco. KFRC Sunny Top 40 format was like a salve to her soul.
SIEGEL: Well, you can write to us by visiting NPR.org. Just click on Contact Us.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "FUN, FUN, FUN")
JAN: (Singing) Well, she's got her daddy's car and she cruised through the hamburger stand now. Seems she forgot all about the library like she told her old man now. And with the radio blasting, goes cruising just as fast as she can now. And she'll have fun, fun, fun 'til her daddy takes the T-Bird away. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.