SALT Signing

To the Editors:

Jimmy Carter and Leonid Brezhnev deserve a big hand for SALT [June 25]: to make the world safer for everyone is a great achievement. Let's hope it works.

Ray Landino Shelton, Conn.

Surely there will be enough knowledgeable minds in the Senate to see this treaty for what it really is and send it back to Brezhnev.

Kenneth Schaaf Louisville

I found it quite ironic that the Soviet Union's Brezhnev should say, "God will not forgive us if we fail."

Presumably God will forgive the Soviet leadership for their repression of religious freedom and the official doctrine of atheism--I would think nyet.

Daniel E. Memmott Ogden, Utah

The nuclear chess finals in Vienna were not the media-for-the-sake-of-media event that you seem to scorn. A few hundred journalists' witnessing for several millions of concerned Americans serves to reinforce the pressure of our presence among our public officials. That is not such a bad idea for potentially earth-shattering deliberations.

T. Patrick Duggan New York City

Murder of a Newsman

In revulsion I watched on TV the cold-blooded murder in Nicaragua of a good newsman [July 2]. President Anastasio Somoza should personally bear the responsibility for the death of ABC's Bill Stewart. When a military force is reduced to the murder of unarmed reporters, one has to question the discipline of that force and its leadership.

John R.M. Seager St. Joseph, Mich.

The choice between living under Somoza or under the Sandinistas, i.e., Communists, is a difficult one. It is like being asked: "What do you prefer, to get shot in the belly or in the behind?" Sadly enough--because of the failure of the OAS --they are the only two alternatives Nicaraguans have.

Federico C. Melendez San Salvador, El Salvador

Preacher Roloff 's Way

Texas Preacher Lester Roloff's brand of religious schooling [June 25] reeks of brainwashing, intimidation and mental, if not physical, bludgeoning. No wonder he can claim "success." Even as devoted an "infidel" as I would gladly smash my rock albums and burn my TV set if the alternative was spending a few days lashed to a toilet.

Kevin T. Cahill Pittstown, N.J.

It is not at all surprising that a largely secular and materialistic society should reject the Rev. Lester Roloff and his belief in biblical discipline because his ideas are not popular in our permissive world. In this society it is more reasonable to electrocute a man than to discipline a child who wavers.

Marcus Zulilke Watsonville, Calif.

How does the state, which seems unable to stop gang killings and intimidation in its penal institutions, have the audacity to think that it is even qualified to license anything, let alone a church institution, which the state has no constitutional right to interfere with?

Leo E. Olbrys Detroit

Rostow Reply

Hugh Sidey's evocation [June 18] of the Tuesday lunch on the day the Soviet Union invaded Czechoslovakia (Aug. 20, 1968), which was also the day before a SALT summit meeting was to be announced, is not accurate. There was no jubilation. There was a formal item on the agenda concerning the likelihood of Soviet forces' moving across the Czech border and a rather somber discussion of the possibilities. When President Johnson was told shortly after 7 that evening that Ambassador Dobrynin wished to deliver a letter from his government at 8, his immediate reaction was to ask whether it was to announce the invasion of Czechoslovakia. In short, we were concerned and disappointed but not surprised.

W. W. Rostow Austin

Sidey answers: "Our account is from the memory of others who were also present. They did not imply there was no worry about the Soviets. Certainly it was discussed. But in fact Johnson still believed that arms talks would start and he would fly off to a summit. Indeed at such high-level meetings somber discussions frequently go along with jubilation. "

The Lordly Rocky

In your review of Rocky II [June 25], you refer to Sylvester Stallone's pretensions to godhood, but as Woody Allen retorted in Manhattan, "You have to model yourself after somebody."

Patricia O'Brien Royal Oak, Mich.

Your cynicism is showing. The review reveals an ignorance of what the U.S. needs and enjoys. An audience that stands up and cheers the godlike goodness of Rocky is hungry for heroes. May his sequels never cease.

Maxine Barker Griffon, N.C.

Would you rather have our children model themselves after a Khomeini or an Idi Amin?

Barry E. Bregoli San Francisco

On Gossamer Wings

Re the "Odyssey of the Albatross" [June 25]: Paul MacCready learned it long ago as a glider pilot, and Bryan Allen certainly knew it after his super trip across the Channel: a drop in Gossamer Albatross's speed from 12 m.p.h. to 9-plus as the result of a head wind halfway across the Channel had no effect on the likelihood of his stalling. His speed relative to the water below was indeed affected, meaning that his tired legs had that much more time to spend churning their way to Cap Gris-Nez. Hats off to his fine achievement!

Stephen A. Wallis Lexington, Mass.

Sorry, we blew it, at least in part. Actually, the head wind did not rise up but suddenly slackened. At that moment Albatross did indeed come close to stalling and "Pilot-and-Engine" Allen had to pump furiously to keep from dropping into the water.

California's Revenge

A month or so ago, two-and three-hour gasoline lines in California [May 21] were smugly explained as a reflection of the unique and peculiar nature of Californians and their cult of the automobile. Now that long gas lines have become common on the East Coast, what does it say about the culture of New Jersey, Connecticut and New York? Come on now, fair is fair.

Jim Woodard Woodland Hills, Calif.

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