Nixon Abroad

Sir / On the cover of the June 24 issue appear these words: NIXON'S TRIP, and beneath them. Seeking a Needed Lift. This is truly malodorous.

Here are more honorable captions that could have been used: they would have been more truthful: 1) Diplomacy at Work, 2) Reasons for It, 3) A Valuable Lift. 4) Praise Where Due.

CHARLES L. SANDERS

Mifflinburg, Pa.

Sir / President Nixon did not fly through the Middle East on Aladdin's magic carpet. He rode on Henry Kissinger's coattails.

SAUL KAHAN

West Los Angeles, Calif.

Sir / I wouldn't mind having to pay higher taxes and higher prices if our fatuous leaders wouldn't squander the money on nations with infantile policies of aggression. Giving nuclear reactors and know-how to Arab nations is like giving a razor blade to a baby. Nixon was prepared to sacrifice most of his staff to get the Watergate heat off his back. Is he preparing to sacrifice the prosperity of the U.S. and the security of the world too?

ALAN G. SCHAFFERT

Williamston, Mich.

Sir / You said that "Nixon went to the Middle East to seed the fields so brilliantly plowed by ... Henry Kissinger." It is an extremely poetic statement. However, a more realistic assessment would be that Nixon went to the Middle East to sign the blank checks so generously left by Kissinger.

LAWRENCE A. GAMBINO

Beacon, N.Y.

Beginning of Life

Sir / I have been involved in the Pro-Life Movement for three years, and by now most articles hold nothing new for the seasoned veteran. "The Beginnings of Life" [June 24] did. I was completely unaware of the filming technique developed by Tokyo's Dr. Motoyuki Hayashi.

We need to read more positive articles like this one.

(MRS.) JOAN SOLMS

Oak Park, Ill.

Sir / Dr. Hayashi's film showing conception and fetal development must be fascinating. But there is tragic irony in his statement about the film teaching youngsters to be "awed by the value of life." The youngster who starred in the film was aborted.

JIM LINN

Milwaukee

The Sense of Belonging

Sir / Well, of course we adoptees want to know who we are [June 24]. What about our heredity, our roots, our sense of belonging? Give us what you have always had--a real identity!

DONNA CULLOM

Evanston, Ill.

Sir / As one who has no desire to locate my natural parents, I can only hope that the laws that protect our records will not be amended. For some reason, I had to be given up. I was placed with the two most wonderful parents anyone could hope for. I can think of nothing worse than some woman coming up to me and telling me she is my natural mother.

VICKI WAGNER ROGERS

Dallas

Sir / Individual adoption agencies or a state agency could be organized so that both natural parent and adoptee could register their desire to find each other. If neither registers --and they could have countless reasons not to--the search ends there.

C.L. FOLEY

Northville, Mich.

The D.F.W. Airport Shakedown

Sir / Obviously a facility of the size and magnitude of the new Dallas-Fort Worth Airport [June 24] requires a shakedown period before all systems function like clockwork. The determination of the citizens of Dallas and Fort Worth to build an airport unrivaled by any other will see that the problems of operation are solved and the airport of the future functions as planned.

Is it too much to expect a follow-up article pointing out assets, such as the unparalleled safety and vastly increased on-time performance afforded the flying public by Dallas-Fort Worth?

BILL R. SHELTON

Executive Vice President

Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce

Fort Worth

Sir / In the course of five unavoidable confrontations with the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport, I have had the following experiences: stuck in an elevator for ten minutes; trapped in Airtrans twice; luggage misplaced for 24 hours on two occasions; one suitcase demolished; missed one connection; lost 150 obtaining three quarters; and departed the ramp (in perfect weather) 30 minutes late on each of the five times.

I stand firm on my instructions to my secretary and aide: Don't route me through that abomination even if it means inconveniences in terms of arrival, departure or plane changes elsewhere.

GERD S. GROMBACHER

Fort Monmouth, N.J.

Rock Fan's Identity Crisis

Sir / Judging from my own noise and the band's volume output during the last concert I attended, I should be filed in the Heavy Metal category of rock fan [June 24]. But wait a minute--I have grown up with two professional musicians (classical and jazz) in my family, so I should also be a Listener, especially since my favorite group is the Moody Blues, right? But then my favorite solo artists are Cat Stevens and Joni Mitchell, and I love romantic ballads and such, so I'm a Squeaky Clean also. What an identity crisis, I'm telling you!

DENISE BALMER

Neptune, N.J.

Sir / Although I enjoyed your categorization of audiences at rock concerts, I cannot agree with the comparison of Led Zeppelin to the likes of Grand Funk and Black Sabbath. Led Zeppelin was one of the very first Heavy Metal groups. They have progressed and changed with the times. Their music now is a bit apart, and deserves a little more distinction.

JAMES C. HURT

Allentown, Pa.

Sir / It is grossly unfair to lump rock's wizard, Todd Rundgren, with such untalented transvestites as the New York Dolls, just because he wears brocade, sequins, mascara and rouge.

Although David Bowie is "actually good," Todd Rundgren is your rock Stravinsky. His glitter is only skin-deep; his genius goes further.

DEBBE VUCKOVICH

Monongahela, Pa.

Sir / Despite the expected overstatement, your story on the various species of rock audiences did contain its modicum of truth. One thing your reviewer failed to note, however: some groups display a nearly schizophrenic change between concert, performance and album. The recent LPs of Hot Tuna and the Grateful Dead, for instance, have been finely wrought blends of virtuosity and lyricism.

CARL F. HOFFMAN

Franksville, Wis.

4509 (hSOG)

Sir / Re "Games Calculators Play" [June 24]: I was amazed at the potential of the calculator. I can only utter 13,527 divided by 3.

GORDON R. WATSON

San Jose, Calif.

Sir / Although my father will not allow me to use his pocket calculator to do my arithmetic assignments, I have found it very useful in completing my geography homework. I now know that the capital of Idaho is 4 times 8,777.

MICHAEL J. THOMAS

Morgantown, W. Va.

Yellowstone Uniform

Sir / As two seasonal park rangers who have worked for the Park Service for a total of ten years, we wish to point out that the two photographs [June 24] contrasting Ranger Jerry Ford in 1936 to Son Jack in 1974 show that standards in the proper wearing of the National Park Service uniform seem to have dropped. In reality, they have not. Name tag and badge should be worn on the outside of a Park Service jacket. The tie tack should be located midway between the buttons of the breast pocket. In addition, moccasins are not considered proper footwear. It is no wonder that grizzlies in Yellowstone thought their eyes were deceiving them.

TIM PATTON

STEVE MOREHOUSE

Mineral, Calif.

The Ware Case

Sir / Spiro Agnew (powerful) accepts bribes while lecturing the nation on morality. Punishment: loss of job.

Richard Kleindienst (powerful) perjures himself before the entire nation. Punishment: suspended sentence.

Lillian Ware (powerless) is late in paying a tax of $41.57 [June 24]. Punishment: loss of a $25,000 home.

In America today there are only laws; there is no justice.

JEFFREY MYERS, M.D.

Philadelphia

Sir / The decision against Mrs, Ware by both the Illinois and U.S. Supreme Courts is callous and disgusting. And we wonder why so many revolutionary groups crop up.

CHERYL KUFTA

San Francisco

Intuitions, Not Institutions

Sir / It may be due to my French accent that you report me as saying [June 10] something that doesn't make sense at all. I said that the book President Kissinger was to be seen as a vibrant homage to Kissinger's intuitions--not institutions.

You also kindly dismiss my ouster from this country as something that can be remedied easily by paying $10 and applying for a fresh visa. My U.S. visa is now stamped in big fat letters CANCELED --DEPARTURE REQUESTED.

MAURICE GIRODIAS

New York City

.According to the Immigration and Naturalization Service, Girodias could have received a stay of his original January departure date if he had applied for it before the deadline and paid $10. He recently married an American and hopes to remain in the country indefinitely.

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