That Thrashing Front Four

To the Editors:

There are only two words to describe the Pittsburgh front four and your cover [Dec. 8]: damn good. I know because I am from Houston, and I remember the thrashing we got from the Steelers.

Tom Petrizzo Houston

You should have pictured the Buffalo Bills' offensive line. The Electric Company turned loose the Juice and the front four became the Steel Sieve.

Buff Carlson Carlisle, Pa.

It is nice to see the Steeler front four get the credit they deserve. I think TIME already has its men of the year.

Ron Charlton California, Pa.

I was sickened by Ernie Holmes' description of his calf slaughtering. If he wants to act like a subhuman, why doesn't he save it for the playing field and the other beings who've chosen to be there with him?

Judith Gaughran State College, Pa.

Steeler fans loved TIME'S story, but it tends to leave the impression that they are a violent lot who would blitz their grandmothers to win. They could have cut Namath in half in the Steeler-Jet game but knew they were good enough to win without inflicting further damage on a once great quarterback.

Martha T. Rebel Pittsburgh

Back into the Womb

"Ethnics All" [Dec. 8] was devastating to read.

Why can't we see that the fragmentation of the U.S. into small groups of humanity leaves us all divided?

We are crawling back into the womb, and we will die as a nation.

Beatrice U. Poingdester Boston

Egalite, Fraternite, Liberte! Vive la difference!

Thomas St. Laurent Chester, N.J.

Nuclear Debate

You claim this nation cannot prosper without nuclear power [Dec. 8]. But a growing number of Americans believe we cannot survive with fission; it is our Frankenstein's monster, a creation we can ill afford to nurture any longer.

This country's technological successes of the past must not blind us to its failures. Let's admit our mistake and get on with the business of developing the many alternative energy options available to us.

Nan Seley Ginsburg Palo Alto, Calif.

Of course, nuclear energy is not perfectly safe. Is anything? The only way we can judge the desirability of nuclear power is by comparing it with its alternatives. And no country has found a better, cleaner, cheaper, safer alternative so far.

John S. Hendricks Los Alamos, N. Mex.

Shoot Them

I could scream every time I read about a prison riot [Dec. 8].

When people go to prison because they walked into a store with a gun and held it up, they have given up their right to have any rights. I don't give a **'$-c- about their gripes. Just shoot them when they riot. That will put a stop to it.

Pat Barton Little Rock, Ark.

Student-Loan Mess

In your critique on the "Student-Loan Mess" [Dec. 8], you neglected to give credit to several well-managed state student-loan programs, like the one in Ohio.

The amount of the loans to Ohio students presently guaranteed by our commission is in excess of $150 million. Since 1966, the default rate in any fiscal year has never exceeded 2.51%, the lowest rate in the nation.

Jules L. Garel, Chairman

Ohio Student Loan Commission

Columbus

Our country looks to its idealistic young citizens for lessons in integrity and dedication.

It is not reassuring to find out that Michael and Cheryl Ward, a new doctor and a new lawyer respectively, are starting their careers by defaulting on $32,000 in Government loans through bankruptcy.

It's legal, but is it decent?

Estelle S. Reisner Meadville, Pa.

We are scrimping to pay back over $20,000 for our graduate educations, and we feel like chumps.

Constance and James Stevens Colorado Springs, Colo.

More Man of the Year

I nominate Muhammad Ali. He is the only person I know who has done what he said he was going to do.

George Nelson Crisfield, Md.

For Man of the Year: Public Enemy No. 1. J. Edgar Hoover.

John N. Marquis Palo Alto, Calif.

Gerald Ford, for returning decency and respectability to the presidency.

Richard W. Blair Mobile, Ala.

I don't see any other choice than your Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, for his accomplishments in international policy, especially in the Middle East.

Julio Abril Bogota

Betty Friedan, because she started a movement that is in every sense a peaceful revolution for justice for all.

Judith Kaplan Holliswood, N. Y.

Jacques-Yves Cousteau. His tender kindness toward all living things, coupled with his contemptuous disdain for the ravenous human animal, puts him on a plateau few people can reach.

Robert A. Wolfe Nashua, N.H.

The terrorist, with coat of arms indicating Irish, P.L.O., Argentinian, Angolan--quartered with Lebanese, Italian, American and a few other good lines --bearing a handgun, rifle, submachine gun, knife, grenade and or bomb, with crossed bandoliers and fear rampant.

Ruth S. Perot Mobile, Ala.

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