Heavyweights

To the Editors:

I have never thought of boxers as eloquent speakers. Yet your profile on Gerry Cooney [June 14], showing his concern and appreciation for his followers, exhibited refreshing values in these days of the overpaid athlete who cares only for his paycheck. Despite the outcome of his fight with Larry Holmes, Cooney has already proved himself a champion.

Fred S. Ostern Arlington, Va.

Thank you for your story on Sylvester Stallone. He has made three excellent films portraying that lovable character, Rocky Balboa. I never thought I would enjoy watching two grown men beat each other up, but the Rocky movies have brought me to like the sport.

Connie Crowley Vienna, Va.

I wondered why Gerry Cooney, a pretender to the crown, and Sylvester Stallone, a heavyweight champion only in the movies, were pictured together. After the Holmes-Cooney bout, I know. Cooney and Stallone are both actors.

Jeannette M. Johnson Capitol Heights, Md.

The Holmes-Cooney title fight certainly was a genuine news story. It was an unpredictable match. With a white contender it had an element of novelty. And finally, boxing itself, of which the heavyweight title is the epitome, is enjoying a renaissance. Perhaps a TIME cover was in order. But to juxtapose this story next to one about a thoroughly mediocre movie is sheer gimmickry.

Paul Riley Seattle

What is it going to take for Larry Holmes to get the recognition he deserves? In spite of being a champion, he is forced to accept equal pay and equal billing with an untested challenger, who in turn gets to be the subject of your cover story. Holmes may not be a Louis or a Marciano or an Ali, but then they are not Larry Holmes either.

Leslie M. Rosato Whitehouse, N.J.

You owe Larry Holmes a cover.

Jean Codon Allentown, Pa.

European Summit

For all its pomp and ceremony, the Versailles summit [June 14] failed to put forward any concerted plan to overcome the economic crisis or to help the Third World. Though mutual pledges were exchanged and an appearance of unity was displayed, once the spell of Versailles has faded, each of the seven will lapse again into nationalistic self-interest. The Western world badly wants unity, but the summit was just another show of pageantry.

Franc,ois Vannereau Besanqon, France

Ronald Reagan's assertive role at the Versailles summit, plus his recent nuclear arms-reduction overture to the Soviets, should forever lay to rest the assumption that the President is ready to push the button and blow us all to hell! Your picture of Ronald Reagan saluting French Gardes Republicaines captures the President's jaunty style. We have not seen flair and savoir-vivre like his in any of our leaders since John F. Kennedy.

Harold O. Christensen San Francisco

I am unsure about Reagan's Grand Tour. I do not see him accomplishing anything from this short of filling his photo album, yet I commend him for his efforts.

Jeff Ramsay Amherst, Mass.

Watergate Rehashed

Watergate's clearest lesson may be, as you say, that a President is not above the law [June 14]. But the cardinal teaching is that the presidency demands superior statesmen who will infuse the institution with values and character. Nixon's crime is not so much that he broke any specific law, but that he fostered a climate in which dirty tricks were encouraged.

Daryl G. Mitton San Diego

The experiences of the cast in the Watergate scandal illustrate that the wages of sin are success.

Ruth J. Smock Portland, Ore.

Mixed-Up Vote

In our Government too many officials express their own views on foreign policy. This flaw surfaced with the blundering "no" vote by our U.N. Ambassador on the Falklands cease-fire resolution [June 14]. True, communications can be a problem, but let's not disguise the issue. President Reagan should remind Secretary of State Haig and Ambassador Kirkpatrick of their duties: Mr. Haig to remain steadfast to the decision made by his boss; Mrs. Kirkpatrick to use her political savvy to convey our policy at the U.N.

David K. Karabinos Birmingham

El Salvador's Election

The charge of fraud raised by the Jesuit-run Central American University in San Salvador [June 14] is a thinly veiled attempt by the left to take away a fairly won victory. Disappointed by the rejection of their twisted Marxist liberation theology, the religious left has now resorted to charges of fraud in an election in which the people turned out en masse to say no to the violent minority. El Salvador's was a truly democratic election.

Kevin J. Muir Clifton Heights, Pa.

Doctor's Lament

While the facts presented in "Throwing the Book at Doctors" [June 14] are essentially correct, the conclusions drawn by Dr. Michelle Harrison are truly irresponsible. Because of the current medical-legal climate, medicine is practiced in a defensive way. The average doctor may find himself performing tests and procedures that he would have considered unnecessary ten years ago, but which are now prescribed as a guard against possible mistakes in diagnosis and treatment. When people stop suing their doctors for errors in judgment, they will find themselves the recipients of less invasive and more comfortable medical treatment.

Jonathan Warren, M.D. Miami

Dr. Harrison is right to decry the heavyhanded ways in which modern obstetrics is practiced. But the problems are not just medical, they are societal. Obstetricians do not build their practices in a vacuum, or by being mean to people. The great majority of women demand artificially doctored maternity. To rely on one's own innate ability to give birth is generally considered less safe, more painful and plain oldfashioned. Doctors have engendered this false dogma, but women have embraced it enthusiastically. It is up to mothers as well as doctors to make our way of birth simpler and more human.

Willard J. Morse Jr., M.D. East Lyme, Conn.

Callow Youth

Reader Walter Jowers [June 14] should know that we who sired his generation endured the Depression, worked our way through college (no Government loans then), served in at least one war, raised and educated large families (the Pill arrived a bit late for us), stuck to often dull and difficult jobs (nobody told us we should be dropping out, doing our own thing, and fulfilling our own needs), cared for our aging parents and paid into Social Security for 30 years. Now in our golden years, we are finding ourselves accused of greed and selfishness. What a deal, indeed!

Kate M. Lipuma Pinole, Calif.

Water, Water, Everywhere

The tone of your story about the Soviet scheme to reverse its rivers [June 14] is unduly alarmist. Only the first stage of the European diversions will be under construction by 1990. These would have adverse effects, of which the Soviets are well aware, but not of the proportions you indicate. The grand projects that could cause major environmental damage continue to be studied by Soviet scientists and engineers and are unlikely to be implemented until the 1990s or later.

Philip P. Micklin Western Michigan University Kalamazoo, Mich.

Regarding the plan by the U.S.S.R. to reroute a dozen rivers, you state that almost 100 billion cubic kilometers of water a year would be diverted. That's enough water to cover the planet right up to its satellites. You must mean 100 cubic kilometers. If not, the Soviets should be asked to reconsider.

Veggo F. Larsen II Newton, Mass.

Memories of Mussolini

As an Italian I resent your review of Mussolini [June 7]. The cowed and incapacitated Italian army, navy and air force that you refer to made it possible for the U.S. Army to land practically undisturbed in Southern Italy. The minimal resistance of our troops actually helped the Americans chase the Nazis and what was left of the Fascists out of the country. The Italians by then supported neither group. We had had enough of the war. Fascism is but two decades in Italy's 3,000-year history. It is too early to judge that period without bias.

Maria Giacobbe New York City

Mussolini did miscalculate and make tragic mistakes that ruined millions of people like myself. But in all fairness, history will call him a great man.

Lilia Cattoni Lethbridge, Alta.

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