Awaiting Reagan

To the Editors:

People are waiting for Reagan [Nov. 17] to solve all our problems. People should realize that Reagan won't be able to change the country overnight, and he will create new problems trying to solve the old ones. After four years, Reagan will be just like Carter is today.

Joe Lee Elsie, Neb.

Your cover shows a man of vitality, strength and confidence, not only in himself but in the future of the U.S.

Jean Hazelton New York City

Fifty-three percent of us voted and 51% of those voted Republican. Thus 27% of voting-age Americans voted for Reagan. This is a landslide?

John Bear Littleriver, Calif.

I was shocked to read that Ronald Reaganspoke of Muslims returning to the idea "that the way to heaven is to lose your life fighting the Christians or the Jews." I think it is a Reagan idea, not a Muslim idea. We believe in holy war only to defend our faith and independence. That is why Afghans are fighting the Soviets and the Iranians are fighting Iraq.

Dewan S. Afzal Weston, Ont.

Kudos to all involved. Your coverage was truly a "landslide" victory for print over electronic media. In addition, your pages offer a permanent report not to be found elsewhere.

Don Betowski, Communication Arts

Saint John's University

New York City

A Little Bitter

So Rosalynn Carter is bitter [Nov. 17]. She couldn't possibly be as bitter as the millions of American voters who threw

Jimmy out of office for mismanaging the country during his seemingly endless term as President.

Jeff C. Peirce Cheyenne, Wyo.

If I could, I would apologize for all the disrespect and indignities President Carter has been made to suffer by dim-witted ingrates. Never was a decent, dedicated man so cruelly maligned. It makes me bitter also, Rosalynn.

Lorena B. Poole Horatio, Ark.

Is one to assume from the election results that having a President who is more moral than most and more hard-working than most, who kept us out of any military involvement and wholeheartedly attempted to apply human rights, even to the exclusion of our own greedy purposes, really means nothing?

Elizabeth V. Stone Locustville, Va.

Healthy Margin

I was shocked to read that House Majority Leader Jim Wright "barely beat back" his Republican opponent [Nov. 17]. In fact, Congressman Wright beat his opponent with 62% of the vote, and in a district where voters chose Reagan over President Carter. A very healthy margin. Lorraine Wells Fort Worth

Miracle Machines

Many businessmen are under the mistaken impression that these "miracle machines" [Nov. 17] will automatically do the work for their employees. But I'm in the second month of a love-hate relationship with my QYX, "the intelligent typewriter," which the office has named Einstein. Because it can do so many things and is so sensitive, it requires a well-trained operator. If you sneeze, it sneezes. It takes time to get these machines perfectly programmed to your needs.

Catherine M. Barnes New York City

Romantic Bomb?

How can anyone call a visit to the Trinity atomic bomb test site romantic [Nov. 3]? The 1945 test began the senseless deaths of hundreds of thousands of people, and continued suffering from cancer and genetic mutations. It's about as romantic as Dachau.

Phil Leven West Islip, N.Y.

Pleasure and Pain

I see that science is continuing its triumphal but unacknowledged vindication of Eastern religious teachings. Now it is Psychologist Richard Solomon [Nov. 10], with his theory that "in its early stages any attachment is controlled mainly by pleasure, but late in the attachment the main control is the threat of separation and loneliness." In short, clinging to pleasures inevitably produces pain.

The Buddha proclaimed the same truth--without the benefit of modern methods for torturing laboratory animals --more than 2,500 years ago.

Paul MacRae Toronto

Shakespeare in Romeo and Juliet pre-empted Solomon by about 300 years.

These violent delights have violent

ends, And in their triumph die, like fire

and powder, Which, as they kiss, consume. The

sweetest honey Is loathsome in his own

deliciousness And in the taste confounds the

appetite.

Myron Lotz Vienna, Va.

Great pleasures rarely go unpunished, according to Richard Solomon, but it is still Robert Heinlein's (Time Enough for Love) philosophy that captures my allegiance: "To enjoy the full flavor of life, take big bites. Moderation is for monks."

Jane Kelly Suffern, N. Y.

Candle Power

I was impressed by the efforts to conserve energy made by the communities you mentioned in "Looking Ahead by Cutting Back" [Nov. 10]. The fact that in spite of their sacrifices--using candles, turning down the thermostat--they could cut back only around 17% shows that conservation merely slows the rate at which we use up our resources. We still must develop a way to provide the energy we need.

Sargent Kennedy Exeter, N.H.

Washington Has the Edge

As an Aussie I have always admired the layout of our capital city, Canberra, which was designed by an American architect named Walter Burley Griffin in a worldwide competition in 1912. Then, two years ago, I visited Washington, D.C., designed by France's Pierre L'Enfant, and saw perfection in beauty, layout, transport, lakes and monuments [Nov. 10]. In 1979 I traveled to Paris and realized that Washington has the edge on them all.

Donald Hill Sydney

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