Letters

Tough Town

To the Editors:

You write about Washington [Nov. 10] as others do, but no one does anything about it. Let's see what the man from California will do about it. I suspect that he will soon have far more sympathy for Jimmy Carter than he has ever thought possible.

Albert R. Phillips

Ocean Park, Me.

Roger Rosenblatt complains that, in comparison with Boston, professors do not count in Washington. I haven't suffered from a lack of parties to attend. What I do miss in the capital, like Mr. Rosenblatt, are ideas. The bureaucrats, businessmen, journalists, lawyers, lobbyists, politicians and sycophants who constitute our capital's elite are exactly like their fellow citizens elsewhere. They ask not to be disturbed by thought, especially new thought.

The country's professors, though, cannot claim total exemption from blame. Too many of us are compulsively eager to serve power.

Norman Birnbaum, Visiting Professor

Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, D.C.

Our capital is truly a beautiful and interesting city, for a visitor. But as I admire the architecture of the Government buildings, I think about what is going on inside those buildings.

Kathleen A. Pedone

Baltimore

Although I agree that the federal civil servant should not be "cast in bronze," he should be recognized for his professionalism, dedication and loyalty. He pays more for his health, life insurance and pension plans, and generally works for less than his counterpart in private industry. Also, it is he, the civil servant, who must keep the wheels of Government in motion notwithstanding incompatible laws, changes in Administration and the myriad lobbyists who hover over the nation's capital.

Richard V. Filaski

Bethpage, N. Y.

Funny Fears

Your Essay on "The Scariest Time of the Year" [Nov. 3] was funny, except for the stab at the Who. I even thought of my own personal voice of terror: "Ladies and gentlemen: the Moral Majority!"

Karen Gale Cooper

Albuquerque

Although I have been out of school for some years now, these frightening memories linger on:

"We'll all sit here until the one responsible steps forward."

"The final exam will cover all the material from the beginning of the course."

"I think the dean would be interested in knowing what you've been up to."

My son adds this: "O.K., take out a sheet of paper; we'll see who read the assignment last night."

Lila Anastas

San Diego

How about this one? "We are examining your federal income tax return for the above years and find we need additional information."

Carl L. Peterson

Exeter, N.H.

Message for Falwell

Someone ought to inform the Rev. Jerry Falwell [Nov. 17] that if Jesus had wanted his followers to support Republicans, he would have ridden into Jerusalem on an elephant.

Marc R. Stanley Austin

In defense of Moral Majority and friends, I perceive that these church-based groups are unique in that they are primarily interested in what is good for this country--a noble cause--whereas most other special-interest groups seem primarily interested in extremely selfish causes, often at the expense of the overall good of the country.

Brian B. Tousley Monterey, Calif.

The Bard and Bartlett

The article by Otto Friedrich on John Bartlett and the 15th edition of Familiar Quotations [Nov. 3] is delightful and informative, but it is in error regarding the "shrinking" of Shakespeare. In fact, a few quotes have been added to the selection. The larger format and more economical type face of the latest Bartlett'shave saved much space, thus accounting for the discrepancy in pages between the editions.

No Shakespeare was sacrificed for newcomers like La Guardia's "When I make a mistake it's a beaut!"

Emily Morison Beck, Editor Bartlett's Familiar Quotations Boston

An Idea in Asheville

I read with surprise in the article on shopping centers [Oct. 20] that "In Asheville, N.C., 100 old buildings in the downtown area will be demolished to make room for a new enclosed shopping mall." To my knowledge, this is only an idea that has been proposed and is not at this time a fact. We have had calls from the news media inquiring why the city government has been keeping this a secret. To my knowledge, the city government is not keeping secrets from anyone.

Kenneth M. Michalove, City Manager

Asheville, N.C.

The Fact of Evolution

Reader David Shults' criticism of Carl Sagan [Nov. 10] for referring to evolution as a fact is right in one sense. One cannot assume facts merely because they have been observed--not, at any rate, if the word fact is to mean unassailable truth. Real scientists are quite aware that a new observation or body of reasoning may at any time force the revision of large parts of what had hitherto been regarded as well-established knowledge.

The concept of organic evolution is, up to this point, the only idea that offers a rational basis for predicting the appearance of new varieties of life, such as DDT-proof mosquitoes and penicillin-resistant microorganisms.

Hal Clement

Milton, Mass.

In the ongoing debate between evolutionists and creationists, I don't see one side correct and the other wrong. As a scientist, I cannot deny the convincing evidence that life evolved on this planet from the simple to the complex. As a philosopher, I cannot imagine that all this took place without some divine cause.

Steven A. Brown

Marcella, N.J.

Between extremist evolutionists, with their insistence on a materialistic blind-chance explanation, and extreme fundamentalist creationists, with their insistence on a first-chapter-of-Genesis explanation, there is not much room left for us Christians who years ago acknowledged the truth of evolution.

Lawrence D. Clark Sr.

Medfield, Mass.

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