OLYMPIC GOLD

"How refreshing it was to pin our hopes on the athletes instead of hanging our fears on the shadows that tried to take key moments away." SHELLY A. GIROSKI Akron, Ohio

I loved the Olympics! for two weeks I got to believe that a person's merit can transcend race, nationality, religion or politics [THE OLYMPICS, Aug. 12]. I could have faith in the possibilities of skill, discipline and attitude. I could cheer for the human race and individual achievement and hope that athletic competition will bind us together. MELINDA AVERY Omaha, Nebraska

It is mind boggling to see the adoration and the financial rewards that contemporary society ungrudgingly offers players of sports, games and music in comparison with the recompense given workers in sustaining occupations like farming, construction, teaching and transportation. In making play incredibly more profitable than work, hasn't society got its values upside down? Oduro Asante Versoix, Switzerland Via E-mail

Our solution to NBC's abominable television coverage was to buy a second VCR. We taped each program as it was aired and meanwhile watched our videotape of the previous program, fast-forwarding through all of Bob Costas, Greg Gumbel, the advertising and the fuzzy-pictured sob stories. What a relief! ROBERT I. LOUTTIT St. Helena Island, South Carolina

UNEASE OVER EMBRYOS

I am a bit baffled by the anguish over the destruction of frozen, fertilized human eggs that have exceeded the five-year storage limit set by English law [ETHICS, Aug. 12]. Why do so many of these fertility clinics even exist? Why do we have clinics devoted to making children in cases of infertility? Instead, why not turn our maternal and paternal feelings toward the millions of abandoned children worldwide who are condemned to suffer lives of abject misery or even slavery? Why aren't the governments of the world attempting to settle on a unified standard law to promote the adoption of these children into loving homes, and drive the "baby selling" industry out of business? D. SCOTT YOUNG Wurzburg, Germany Via E-mail

TIME calls them "barely visible blobs of protein." The fertility clinic calls them "living cells." A Roman Catholic Cardinal calls for a "decent burial." The Vatican newspaper calls it "a prenatal massacre." The parents who created these embryos don't call to claim them. The whole situation calls for a rational definition of the word human. And until we can settle on this, I call it nonsense. JOHN BRODSKY, M.D. Swarthmore, Pennsylvania

A DIFFERENT AIRPLANE

Your article on the search for aircraft sabotage [AFTERMATH: FLIGHT 800 CRASH, Aug. 5] included a reference to the May 9, 1976, crash near Madrid of an Iranian air force plane that was the same model as TWA Flight 800. You mistakenly said this leased aircraft was a Continental Airlines Boeing 747-100. The aircraft in question was never in Continental's fleet. It was leased to the prerevolutionary Iranian air force by another U.S. air carrier. NED WALKER, Vice President for Corporate Communications Continental Airlines Houston

PUTTING THE BRAKES ON WELFARE

Is it right to set time limits for welfare recipients [NATION, Aug. 12] when the U.S. government seems to have a policy of maintaining unemployment at more than 5%? If our society were committed to full employment at a living wage, it would make sense to end welfare for able-bodied people. But where is the concern of Congress for those pushed into a job market that cannot support them? Instead of targeting the poor and powerless in making budget cuts, why doesn't Congress look to the wealthy and powerful? Why not set time limits for the billions of dollars in subsidies and tax breaks that constitute corporate welfare? RICHARD BARSANTI Western Springs, Illinois

An additional benefit of ending welfare as we know it will be the slowdown of illegal immigration. The jobs that attract poor illegals will in the future be filled by people who are at present welfare recipients. MICHAEL LINSAY South Euclid, Ohio

So Maryland social workers think that a welfare applicant with even minimal skills can get a job as a "day-care assistant or perhaps dog washer for a veterinarian." Child-care workers across America must be gnashing their canines at being equated with dog washers. Do these social workers really believe that taking care of children is a suitable occupation for a minimally educated person? Which job do applicants select more often--caring for children or washing dogs? If respect is a factor, I'd put my money on the latter. REBECCA J. COOPER New Harbor, Maine

The disadvantaged and unwanted in American society are again under attack. The hardships caused by the rollback and removal of welfare programs will undoubtedly fall on the backs of women. Hailed by Republicans as a way to force families to care for their dependents, the cuts are really aimed at women caring for children. This pro-family ideology is a misogynistic, presidentially approved method of forcing economic dependency on women while reinforcing the economic independence of men. DAVID BINNS Woodstock, Canada

THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING

Political consultant Ed Rollins, in his account, Bare Knuckles and Back Rooms, of Ross Perot's 1992 presidential campaign [BOOK EXCERPT, Aug. 12], still seems not to appreciate how acceptable (and cost-effective) Perot's departure from "normal" campaigning was. And Perot's approach was so in tune with his assaults on wasteful government spending that he appeared to be setting the right example of how to run for President without spending exorbitant sums. Perot's political instincts were probably correct when he refused a Rollins-recommended campaign that would have cost $147 million. In view of Perot's military background, his choice of a retired vice admiral for a running mate did not offer balance to his ticket. But it was his bowing out of the race, in deference to his family, after pledging that he would stay in the campaign all the way, that cost Perot his credibility--permanently. GUNNAR S. JENSON South Bend, Indiana

Only about 25% of what Ed Rollins said about me in your excerpt of his book is true, and that's about par for his course. The true part is that I was indeed squeezed out as editor of the Chicago Tribune and that I thought Rollins was a complete misfit in the 1992 Ross Perot presidential campaign. It is untrue that I ever undermined Rollins or Perot aide Hamilton Jordan in any fashion, that I ever said one critical word about advertising consultant Hal Riney or that I ever leaked information about Rollins, Riney or anyone else during the campaign. Jordan and I were always of one mind, and I believe that Riney is the best advertising talent in the world. And my best press friends, among them the nation's leading political journalists, will all tell you they got no news leaks from me. The most malicious of Rollins' untruths is that I have soured on the press and view it as an enemy. I still love the press; what I detested then and still do is the ability of political spin doctors like Rollins to manipulate it and to deceive it with misinformation. It is Rollins' political profession that has earned my disdain, not my own.

That even Rollins' public confessions have a spin on them is apparent in his recounting of one of our early conversations in which he quotes me as telling him that he is "the best in the business." My recollection is it was Rollins himself who said he was the best in the business. The only thing I have ever considered him the best at is convincing others of how good he is. But yes, I did say his political profession is "a s____ business." JIM SQUIRES Versailles, Kentucky

Is it just me, or does the illustration you ran of Perot and a photo showing him in profile also remind others of the Penguin character in Batman? DON MOSS Springfield, Illinois

CITIZEN PEROT AND SCOTT BARNES

After reading Gerald Posner's piece, based on his book Citizen Perot [NATION, Aug. 5], describing why Ross Perot got out of the 1992 presidential race, I have a question: How could Perot, with the enormous assets available to him, not check out the credibility of controversial "sometime soldier of fortune" Scott Barnes and his charges of political intrigue by the Republican Party? Barnes has been lying to the public for years with his cloak-and-dagger make-believe charges about pow rescues, cia assassinations and finally Republican smear campaigns. Ross Perot and Scott Barnes deserve each other. WILL LEVISON Arlington, Virginia

As Gerald Posner stated in his story, I played a role in Perot's decision to quit the 1992 race, but I am now a born-again Christian and am deeply sorry for this incident [in which Perot said that due to a Republican Party plot to embarrass his family he was dropping out of the campaign]. Yes, there was in fact a very involved conspiracy to remove President George Bush from the White House, and yes, I was one of the many people involved in that episode. I admit my wrongdoing and accept full responsibility for my own actions. But there are errors both in Posner's book and in the article Time published. I publicly wish to again admit my involvement in the phony dirty-tricks scandal against the Republican Party and President Bush. There was never any g.o.p. plot against Perot. It was all a political hoax to remove Bush. To all those who continue to lie, malign and mislead, I forgive you and will pray for you. SCOTT BARNES Lake Isabella, California

ENCOUNTERS WITH BEARS

As an urban woman, I find myself brooding over the same bear stories as Barbara Ehrenreich in her piece on vacationing in bear country [ESSAY, Aug. 12]. When I am out camping and hiking, every snapping twig in the dark is surely a grizzly. It's amazing how many stumps on the hiking trail look exactly like a bear rearing on its hind legs. I've read that on the trails you should alert the bears you are coming by talking, singing or wearing a bell on your backpack. I was not singing or ringing when my daughter and I recently hiked in the Los Padres National Forest. Sure enough, we surprised a black bear eating berries. We were too startled to "gaze dreamily on the scenery" as Ehrenreich advised. Nor did I speak firmly or play dead. Instead I cried, "Oh look! A bear!" This technique proved quite effective. The animal was gone so fast all my daughter saw was a flash of rump. RODI LUDLUM Agoura, California Via E-mail

Here's some advice on how to survive an encounter with a bear on a hiking trip: make sure you take a friend along and run like hell. In choosing your companion, it is important that you select someone older, in worse physical shape and with more cellulite than you. You don't have to outrun the bear. You just have to outrun your pal. JOEL R. BRYAN Westlake Village, California