Sparks up the Spine

Sir: You caught the real Beverly Sills [Nov. 22]. She can send sparks up your spine with that incredible voice. For those spectacular talents, most of us would accept an amalgam of megalomania, immorality, the frizzles and flat feet; but happily we don't have to. To experience a Sills performance is to revel in her joyous nature, her exuberance, her graciousness and that leavening of mischief. Sills is summer ir full bloom.

ANNE ANDREASEN Los Angeles

Sir: The statement that Beverly Sills "takes up where Maria Callas left off" cannot go unchallenged.

At least a dozen excellent sopranos have been compared with Callas since she departed the lyric stage. Beverly Sills possibly comes the closest, but she still has a long way to go.

ROBERT KNIEPPLE Marion, Ind.

Sir: Permit me to remind you that "this age of great sopranos" also includes Renata Tebaldi.

FRANK S. CARICATO New York City

Snow White v. the Mad Hatter

Sir: If Spiro Agnew thinks that the Democratic Party is like "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" [Nov. 221, he ought to take a look at his party. The Republican Party consists of a Mad Hatter, Humpty Dumpties and Martha Mitchell in Lousyland. All wrapped up in that thing President Nixon calls a Republican dinner, which is actually a crazy tea party in disguise.

JIMMY VAN VALKENBURG Elmsford, N.Y.

Sir: Now that the Giant has coaxed the Party Goose into laying a spectacular $5,000,000 in coins on the table after gluttonous dinners, do you suppose he will sit down to count his fortune and let the clanking of the coins drown the noise of footsteps as Poor Laboring Jack, armed only with his ballot, climbs the beanstalk?

RUTH GINN Bakersfield, Calif.

Sir: The true direction of Fred Harris' presidential campaign is evidenced by the fact that he had to withdraw due to lack of funds. The black and the poor of this country are in no position to contribute to the gargantuan needs of a modern presidential campaign; and a man advocating a massive redistribution of wealth is not going to receive funds from the upper class, which stands to lose the most if he succeeds.

With his withdrawal, it appears that another token liberal will again lead the Democratic field, espousing little more than a slight change from the present policies, which are so indifferent to the needs of our country.

DAVID GOSSACK Boulder, Colo.

Insect Zoo

Sir: The comments of Norman E. Borlaug [Nov. 22], endorsing the use of DDT and other insecticides "until cheap, safe and efficient substitute pesticides are produced and made easily available," made me wonder what would happen if insecticides worked too well. Hindsight might reveal that an insect species, after the last of its kind had been killed, was valuable or even necessary for some ecological function. What would we do then? Breed another similar species?

Perhaps the world needs a zoo for insects, to preserve each species and maybe also to present the wonders of nature to the public.

BILL BEECHAM Pineville, La.

Sir: Dr. Borlaug does have a point. But I do not think that starvation, however widespread, could ever cause the extinction of the human race. Agricultural chemicals, on the other hand, have the potential to do just that. Perhaps the world would be better off in the long run if scientific knowledge and talent, like that possessed by Borlaug, were used to develop better methods of birth control, instead of trying to maintain millions of people at the edge of starvation by developing "miracle" wheat.

GORDON S. LIND Corvallis, Ore.

End of Ignorance

Sir: Thank you for your article "Growing Unrest on the Farm" [Nov. 22].

Finally a magazine is telling it like it is in rural America. Even our own farm magazines try to bluff us ignorant farmers (and we have been ignorant in the past).

Let us tell you, the farmers have had it. The time has come for the farmer to let go his independent nature and work together with his fellow farmer for a fair and just price. A revolution, they say? They ain't seen nuthin' yet.

MR. AND MRS. JOHN C. ROHL Prescott, Wis.

Sir: One must question the competency of the White House agriculture aides. I doubt whether any of them know the difference between a pea and a sunflower, let alone the difference between sweet corn and field corn. Agriculture deserves better representation.

E.H. CARBON Fort Atkinson, Wis.

Dispelling a Myth

Sir: In your excellent article on Nobel Laureate Dennis Gabor, the father of holography [Nov. 15], you inadvertently repeated a widespread myth that has crept into scientific literature: that his original three-dimensional images were "crude." Far from it: Gabor's initial imaging was amazingly good, even without lasers. Nor should it be overlooked that he is continuing to contribute to developments in holography and many other areas of technology, notably in his collaboration with Peter Goldmark at CBS Laboratories, Stamford, Conn., and at the Imperial College of Science and Technology in London. Finally, as he has shown in his popular writings, Gabor is also deeply concerned with the implications that science and technology have for the future well-being of man.

PROFESSOR GEORGE W. STROKE Director Electro-Optical Sciences Laboratory State University of New York ,Stony Brook, N.Y.

A Success, Not a Setback

Sir: I question the title of the article "Black Setback in Mississippi" [Nov. 15]. You seem to imply by this title that blacks are required to vote for blacks. The recent election in Mississippi was the first in the history of the state in which race was not brought out as a primary issue. This I would consider quite a success and not at all a setback. That is more than I can say for elections in some other parts of the country.

C.T. MANSFIELD McLeansville,N.C.

Restoring the Balance

Sir: Again the labor unions are dictating terms under which they will remain on the Pay Board [Nov. 29]. How much longer must we tolerate this intimidation?

Unions represent only a small percentage of the labor force; yet they are able to devastate the economy, unduly influence major political and legislative decisions, and inconvenience millions of citizens--all without being held to answer to anyone.

Isn't it time the nation had legislation establishing mandatory binding arbitration of labor disputes, restricting political activities of unions, and restoring the balance in bargaining power between unions and management?

EMERY F. WEBER Longmont,Colo.

Sir: The irony of our day is that Labor Czar Meany, the dedicated antiCommunist, has placed this nation in greater peril than all of our outside enemies combined. That the electorate has given the power of life and death over our economy to these labor tyrants, and subordinated the so-called Chief Executive to dinated the so-called Chief Executive to their will, says something significant about the composite intelligence of the American people, and it is not complimentary.

KENNETH PARRATT Austin,Texas Gracious Georgians

Sir: In "The Golden Egg," you say that the gifts to the Governors [Nov. 22] were "a little tasteless." I beg to differ with you. Twas nothing more than a gracious act on the part of the people of the state of Georgia.

As an adopted Georgian, I would like to point out that you are not dealing with cold logicians when you deal with Georgians. A Georgian is truly a gracious person, be he rich or poor, black or white. Thus given the opportunity, such as at the S.G.C., he wants to give a small bit of that of which he is so proud.

ALEX RICHARDSON Due West, S.C.

Sir: When the 16 Governors at the Southern Governors' Conference received gifts, it was called a favor. When the police re ceive gifts, it is called a bribe.

SALLY HOLDEN Raleigh, N.C.

For Man of the Year

Sir: I would like to nominate Chou En-lai for Man of the Year. He has led the Chinese people out of isolationism and into their rightful place as one of the great powers. He seems to have taken up conciliation with the West, especially the U.S.

WILLIAM M. WARNER Washington

Sir: My nomination for Man of the Year: John Kerry. His eloquent, haunting protest against the war may well mark a turning point in our country's "long day's journey into night."

JERO MAGON Miami Beach

Sir: For Man of the Year: the uncaped crusader, Ralph Nader.

MRS. M.E. VALENTINE Bearing, Kans.

Sir: I nominate the Apollo 15 astronauts and their colleagues as Men of the Year, for they convey a message of peace and understanding between all races and people.

JOHN PICKETT Bartow, Fla.

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