TV's Silverman

To the Editors:

The real message in your cartoon depicting the ABC logo in hot pursuit of NBC and CBS [Sept. 5] was not who was chasing whom, but that all three were heading downhill.

Ian Black

Sedona, Ariz.

I have just finished reading your piece on Fred Silverman and ABC and am reminded how dreary the new TV season looks.

There is something very satisfying about dashing heroes performing courageous deeds of derring-do to rescue beautiful maidens in distress from the predations of hideous monsters. The new season, especially at ABC, seems short on this sort of classic fantasy.

It looks like another season when my TV viewing will be limited to the evening news and the Muppets.

David K. Jordan

La Jolla, Calif.

Re Mike Dann's statement that money has never mattered to Freddie Silverman (at $350,000 a year, plus options); he only wants respect: why doesn't his new boss, Fred Pierce, call Freddie in and say he is going to give him $20,000 a year and all the respect he wants?

Lamar McIndoe

Manchester, Pa.

Your article on Fred Silverman overlooked one of the most revealing phases of his career.

When Fred was in his early teens, he was an avid student of radio drama, and became a regular weekly visitor to our studio broadcast sessions of The Shadow, Nick Carter and The Sealed Book. I would give Fred the leftover scripts in exchange for cleaning up the used coffee containers of the cast. Fred and his chums would re-enact these scripts in his home with sound effects, etc. Anyone with such a head start was bound to make it all the way.

Charles Michelson

Beverly Hills, Calif.

Home Delivery, Pro and Con

Saving money is not the reason knowledgeable couples choose a midwife [Aug. 29]. Personalized care is. Certified nurse-midwives or competent lay midwives always work with physician backup, in case a complication develops. Because midwives manage only normal women, they can spend time with their patients and allow the family to choose the method of delivery.

In-hospital delivery by a midwife and early discharge provide low cost, safe care and a family-centered experience.

Ann M. Starego. Certified Nurse-Midwife

San Francisco

The discussion of midwifery strangely ignores the policies of the nation's obstetricians. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists supports the nurse-midwife, and has jointly issued two statements on maternity care with the American College of Nurse-Midwives.

Neither organization supports lay midwives. The World Health Organization and associated group standards for midwifery suggest a minimum of three years of special education, including at least one year of nursing. We wonder why California proposes a level of maternal care that WHO deems unacceptable for Nigeria, New Guinea or the Malagasy Republic.

Warren H. Pearse, M.D.,

Executive Director, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Chicago

Your article on midwifery has shown that people are once again realizing childbirth is not an illness or terrible disease requiring hospitalization in most normal instances. Obstetricians have been bullying women for too long.

Now we must somehow re-educate the average woman into believing that childbirth is satisfying, hard work, not a terrifying and painful experience.

(Mrs.) Susan Lyons Thornhill,

Ont., Canada

A Famous Newf

TIME'S story about the Newfoundland dog [Sept. 5] regrettably made no reference to the most famous Newf of them all: Captain Meriwether Lewis' faithful companion Scannon, purchased for $20 in Pittsburgh and a keen and able member of the corps of discovery during a journey of more than 6,000 miles. Scannon sometimes swam out to catch fledgling geese for the pot, helped keep ferocious grizzlies of the Missouri River country away from camp, and in May 1805, was credited with helping turn away a frightened buffalo that came close to trampling Lewis one night as the party was sleeping by the river. Scannon clearly played a major role in the historic mission conceived by Thomas Jefferson.

James Weeks

The Dalles, Ore.

Reading about the Newfoundland that "bounded out of the water and sprayed everyone," I cannot resist passing along the story of the breeder who perfected the ideal dog. To retrieve, the canine was trained to walk on water. A prospective buyer, after seeing the dog's remarkable performance, was unimpressed. "Don't you notice anything unusual about that dog?" asked the trainer. "Yep," quipped the observer. "Looks like he can't swim."

William D. Martin

Rocky River, Ohio

How Apt Are the SATs?

In your article on falling Scholastic Aptitude Tests scores [Sept. 5], you suggest that one reason for the decline in these scores might be decreased motivation among test takers as opportunities for getting into college have widened. I suggest another reason for this presumed lack of ambition. This December I will graduate Phi Beta Kappa from the State University of New York at Albany with a B.A. in psychology; if I'm lucky, I may be able to get a job typing. So much for motivation.

Mariellen Fischer

Albany, N. Y.

The Educational Testing Service's examinations have become so critical in schooling that a single day's test can effectively vitiate four years of academic achievement. This is true not only for college but for graduate and professional school admissions as well. The examination system may be a convenience to admissions officers who are fundamentally too lazy to devise means to assess candidates on individual merit; and it is doubtless a boon to the test authors, evaluators and proctors who regularly enjoy its moonlighting income. But it has surely demeaned education and caused widespread cynicism among students. Why indeed should pupils learn to write when the key to success is found in filling in pencil lines, rather than composing anything of originality?

Stephen G. Young

Pocatello, Idaho

The Law v. Moral Judgment

Legal Scholar Ronald Dworkin [Sept. 5] believes "laws should not be founded on personal moral judgments." He also believes judges should go beyond the explicitly written law and "range widely, asking fundamental questions and applying ethical principles as well as written legal rules to the case." These two statements, taken together, indicate that he believes the people, via legislative bodies, should not decide what is morally right and wrong for society, but that this power should be left to the judges. Thus, to a limited extent, he advocates an increase in government by men as opposed to government by law. Such a system has long existed in certain backward, impoverished, rural areas of our country, and is noted for its injustices.

The questions of what human rights are and what right and wrong are and how they are established will be disagreed upon forever. It is essential to the maintenance of our rights that, while we are disagreeing, we maintain government by law rather than government by men.

Roger J. Venable

Johnson City, N. Y.

If, as Professor Dworkin says, "a qualified white has no inherent right to be admitted to medical school ahead of a less-qualified minority member," then we abrogate the public's right to the highest quality medical care. Further, if "the right to be treated as an equal does not mean the right to equal treatment," then what exactly does it mean?

Michael J. Oler

Tallahassee, Fla.

Law Professor George Christie may be right when he says: "Dworkin misconceives what legal decision making is all about. He views it as the search for right answers rather than a process for producing adequate justifications for legal decisions." If so, then America's courts need Ronald Dworkin very badly. The Pledge of Allegiance says "justice for all," not "justifications."

Bill Ward

Decatur, III.

Worth the Experience

Re your Essay on vanning [Sept. 5]: may I say that while shopping for my van, I passed by many $5,000 to $8,000 cars that I swore I couldn't afford, but the $12,000 I'm paying seems like nothing for what I've got. A car is transportation, but a van is an experience, even just sitting there. Also, after pushing an 18-wheeler around all day, it's a comfortable way to go home and still be above traffic. And watching the Caddy and Mercedes drivers eat their hearts out at times doesn't hurt.

Mark Crammer Sr.

Lennox, Calif.

May Frank Trippett vanish if he makes one more pun on the word van.

M.M. Melozzi

New Castle, Pa.

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