Camp David

To the Editors:

If the three leaders at Camp David [Sept. 11] could possibly succeed in evolving some method that would eventually result in a genuine peace between Israel and its neighbors, they would deserve our gratitude forever.

Jacob Weitzer

North Miami Beach

I don't see how Carter, Sadat and Begin can even attempt peace in the Middle East with the absence of the many other Arab nations and the P.L.O. If the "Big Three" come up with a peace plan, who's going to accept it? It's like rnilking a cow without a bucket; you may get some fresh milk, but you can't get anybody to drink it.

Fred Merf

Chico, Calif.

It would waste the efforts of Arab leaders to try to wipe out the tiny democracy of Israel and take the little territory of the only Jewish homeland in a vast Arab area. Instead, why don't they work with Israel to master the scientific and technological realities of the 20th century and put them to use for their social and economic betterment?

Merle Rabin

Marblehead, Mass.

If as much time were spent on inflation and the plummeting U.S. dollar as on the Middle East, maybe we wouldn't be in such a mess. The meeting at Camp David is like going next door to help settle a domestic argument while your own house is burning down.

L.D. Hadaway

Gainesville, Ga.

Jogging Along

As founder-president of the National Jogging Association, I was greatly entertained by Frank Trippett's clever and amusing Essay, "Running a Good Thing into the Ground" [Sept. 11]. However, please tell Mr. Trippett that we joggers will just keep jogging along in the knowledge that we are doing ourselves and our country a service by reducing the cost of health care through our own do-it-yourself health-maintenance programs.

R.L. Bohannon, M.D.

Washington, D.C.

Frank Trippett compares jogging with the fad of flagpole sitting. Instead of being happy that 25 million Americans are seeking physical fitness, he criticizes them. Would he rather have them watching television?

(Mrs.) Christine Tilgner

Suffern, N. Y.

Blessed be Frank Trippett, for he shall be spared heel spurs.

Blessed be the spouses of True Runners, for they have been comforted.

Elizabeth Gabel

Boulder, Colo.

It is unfair to generalize about the smugness of runners. Some of us run not because we think we're special but because we know we aren't. We've tried tennis, handball, softball and racquetball--to the jeers of our peers--and have delightedly discovered you do not have to be specially endowed to run. Do you know how good that makes someone feel who was always in remedial P.E.?

Margaret Ann Maricle

Los Osos, Calif.

I can tolerate all joggers with one exception: my doctor, who spends ten minutes of a 15-minute appointment telling me about the joys of jogging.

Beverly Muir

Honolulu

Pull in High Places

Spock, Captain Kirk and McCoy are a distant second to the prospect of black holes [Sept. 4]. What a mind bender! But gee, after all, black holes have a lot of pull in high places.

Johnny Langstaff

Tampa, Fla.

The discussion of black holes and white holes sounds much the same as a passage in the Hindu Matsya Purana, paraphrased by Francis Huxley in The Way of the Sacred, which describes Vishnu, in a cosmic context, as "the lord [of the] whirlpool that sucks back all that it has once produced and is the Death of the Universe."

Dennis Galloway

Berkeley, Calif.

The Pope and black holes, companion stories in an issue of TIME, reveal distinctive dimensions of the human mind that converge on mystery. Which mystery, if only one, will run its course and which will inspire the future?

Curt Bagne

Hanover, N.H.

Perhaps a black hole is nothing else but God himself.

If we accept a Christ, a Buddha, a Ramana Maharishi as ultimate expressions of evolution, then surely a black hole must be regarded as an ultimate expression of God's involution.

Michael M. Albahari

Raglan, N.Z.

How refreshing it would be if one of those big brains--physicists, mathematicians, or astronomers--would stand flat-footed and simply say, "Damned if I know what they are."

Robert P. Bonner

Gessa, Spain

Children of Brazil

Your report on the 16 million children of Brazil who must live on the streets of the cities [Sept. 11] should be required reading for all American schoolchildren. When children start cussing out their parents and wishing they were dead, they might be reminded that in Brazil their parents might have thrown them out on the street when they were only four.

Glenn Smital

Stockton, III.

I hope Pope John Paul I, a good and humble man, will have the vision to see across the waters to essentially Catholic Brazil, where "thousands of parents are forced to cast their offspring out like rubbish." When, because of the teachings of society or the church, individuals consider it more sinful to practice birth control than to dump young children into the street to steal, prostitute themselves or starve, something has to be wrong.

Carl E. Herring

Columbia, S.C.

Hester's Passion

Nathaniel Hawthorne's bones must be spinning in his grave! Defense Attorney Flora Stuart's comparison of Marla Pitchford [Sept. 11] with Hester Prynne is far from valid. Hester Prynne never aborted the consequences of her actions with the Rev. Dimmesdale. She bore her child, raising it with courage and dignity, thus earning for both of them a sense of self-worth. Hester's passion was matched by her sense of responsibility.

Marilynne Babiak

River Grove, III.

Aid to Viet Nam

Aid to Viet Nam [Sept. 4]? Never! Can this country so easily forget the thousands of lives and the billions of dollars that were wasted there? We tried to keep the Communists out ... now they own the country. Let them keep it and support it. How gullible can we be?

Hannah Byers

Daytona Beach, Fla.

Normalization of relations with Viet Nam would serve to mitigate the plight of Cambodian refugees. Right now, rather than suffer further atrocities at the hands of the Khmer Rouge, thousands of Cambodian refugees have chosen possible execution and certain humiliation at the hands of their enemies, the Vietnamese. We should make normalization of relations contingent upon granting those people asylum. If the U.S. is serious about the human rights issue, it is our moral duty to accept the friendship that is obviously being offered by Viet Nam.

R. Page McCallum

Portland, Ore.

No-Win Games

Good for Brand, O'Connell and Orlick and the new no-win, noncompetitive games [Sept. 11]. Acceptance of them will be slow in a nation geared to tot-'em-up victories and defeats. Surely, the human race can see the merit inherent in striving to become better doctors and teachers, parents and human beings, and will try to improve in the important ways without the empty rewards of raised arms and Scoreboard lights.

Peter Dzwonkoski

Pittsford, N. Y.

Unfortunately, we all have aggressive drives, and competitive sports provide a relatively safe and constructive outlet for them. I would rather have my child playing baseball than kicking the cat or beating on his brother.

People often lose in competitive sports, as people often lose in life. Competitive sports provide an excellent way of learning to accept and cope with failure, as well as to experience success.

Meredith Ramsay

Greenbelt, Md.

How does the new "everyone must be the same" sports theory work when it comes to intelligence? Do smart individuals have to get lobotomies so they won't hurt the feelings of those with average intelligence?

Mary Alden

Groton, Conn.

After attending new-games training, I used new games in a public school setting and in a residential treatment center for emotionally disturbed children. The games promote positive self-concepts, and the children love to play them. This brings me to the point that I think you missed in your article: in new games, everyone is a winner.

Betsy Brown

Austin, Texas

As a 26-year Army vet, I find nothing new about the winning-is-bad idea now being preached. The U.S. Government has done it for 30 years with the military. They called it Korea and Viet Nam.

Art Jennings

San Diego

Roar of Combines

Another heartstring tug from your American Scene. Thousands of us middle-aged men harbor memories of the rumble and roar of combines [Sept. 4]. For many young Plainsmen in the '50s, it was the price we'd decided to pay for college tuition, books and white-collar dreams fulfilled.

I'm glad the chaff, sweat and fatigue are still there, providing roots and memories for another generation of men.

David R. Helland

Country Club Hills, III.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.