No Velvet Coffin

As an employee of First Interstate, I was generally pleased with your March 27 article, “Few Women in Top Ranks of Banking,” until I realized you had referred to personnel as a “velvet coffin.”

Within the First Interstate system, the chief human resources executives of most of our affiliates are members of their banks’ Managing (Policy) Committee. Gerald L. Shott, the chief human resources officer for our holding company, sits on the Corporate Planning Committee in addition to being on First Interstate’s Managing Committee.

First Interstate recognizes the human resources profession as having as much impact as any other function on profitability and organization success. We are definitely not in a velvet coffin in this company.

KATHRYN D. McKEE

Los Angeles

The writer is senior vice president and chief human resources officer of First Interstate Bank Ltd .