Shaping Up

To the Editors:

In our frenzy for fitness [Nov. 2], we follow two American beliefs: Anything worth doing is worth overdoing; and, if it hurts, it must be good for you.

Glenn R. Stoutt Jr. M.D. Louisville

It may be true that we tend to get on the bandwagon when a fad, like fitness, becomes popular. Nonetheless, we are a people who can laugh at ourselves. Long may our arms wave--and our feet pound the country roads and the park paths.

Alice Christensen Clinton, Conn.

As a 50-mile-a-week runner, I was delighted with your cover selection. After reading the story, however, I was a bit disillusioned. Thirty billion dollars for fitness? One of the joys of a conditioning program is that it is fun and cheap.

Bill Howard Knoxville, Tenn.

The fashionability of fitness may eventually do as much to prevent unhealthy behavior as vaccines do to prevent infectious disease. It would be wrong to conclude that only the rich can look, feel and be healthy. The challenge to preventive medicine and to health marketers is to verify what really works and to captivate everybody with affordable alternatives.

H. Bruce Dull, President Prevention Inc. Atlanta

You overlooked one important ingredient in the "How Long Will You Live?'" quiz, namely: If you have one teen-ager subtract 2. If you have two, subtract 4. If you have three or more, subtract 10.

Derrick A. Anderson Santa Ana, Calif

Recent studies show that people who have pets have a better chance for health and longevity than people who don't

Having three dogs, a cat and twelve birds, ; added three points to my score of 98 and reached 101, the time I need to accomplish all the things in life I wish to do.

Evajean Cusack Plymouth Meeting, Pa.

Four of us communal-living, celibate, nonsmoking, diet-conscious Franciscan Mars took TIME's life-expectancy quiz conjointly. It was a puzzlement. Friar No. 1, reasoning he lived with neither spouse nor friend, subtracted 1 point. Friar No. 2, claiming Friar No. 1 as his friend, added 5. Friar No. 3, a happy sort (add 1), was unhappy (subtract 2) that Friar No. 1 was friendless. Friar No. 4, to his consternation, had passed on last year.

(The Rev.) Edgar Holden, O.F.M. Conv. New York City

War of Words

How much longer do the leaders of the two most powerful nations expect the rest of us to take seriously their solemn pronouncements about the nonuse of nuclear weapons [Nov. 2]? While each nation claims that using nuclear weapons would be "insane" and that there would be no winners in a nuclear war, they are pumping billions into bigger, more accurate weapons.

Frank T. Francisconi Jr. New London, Conn.

When will the Soviet leaders address the issue of nuclear war winnability and survivability? Party Central Committee Member Leonid Zamyatin equivocates: nowhere does he deny that Soviet military writers promote and affirm in their books and articles the idea of the Soviets' winning and surviving a nuclear war. Albert L. Weeks, Political Science Editor Military Science and Technology New York City

I hope our Administration never develops its foreign policy in response to the Soviets' appeasing rhetoric. In view of their anti-American propaganda, such a move would only be a victory for the Soviet Union. It would be a mistake to interrupt the progress we have already made in regaining our strength.

Jon Wiersum Grand Rapids

What If?

I enjoyed Sir Geoffrey Gabb's (Gerald Clarke's) lecture on the British victory at Yorktown [Nov. 2]. In providing the map for his "if-game," however, Sir Geoffrey failed to guard against a flagrant anachronism. Would Tsar Nicholas VII of the Romanov dynasty rule a land labeled the "U.S.S.R."? Also, why does Professor Gabb neglect Canada's place in North American and global affairs?

Perhaps the good man has not heard about the latest development. Quebec has finally seceded from Canada and has formed a federal union with Louisiana, thanks in large measure to British America's willingness to guarantee communications between Quebec and St. Louis, to which the western capital of Loubec will be moved next month.

C. Earl Edmondson, Associate Professor of History, Davidson College Davidson, N.C.

I always assumed that if you Americans had not left the fold, Canada and the U.S. would now be one huge country. The pressures of the westward flow of population, the difficulties for war-weary European powers trying to hold possessions in the New World, the Alamo and San Jacinto would all have unfolded as they did, whatever the outcome at Yorktown.

Perhaps it's not too late. You did leave in a foul mood, but compromise is basic to Canadian politics. Why don't you apply for readmission? Come home, Sam.

Neil Currie, Consul and Trade Commissioner, Canadian Consulate Dallas

Bash for Peace

Why must the re-enactment of the Battle of Yorktown be considered the last Bicentennial celebration [Nov. 2]? The Bicentennial is a commemoration of America's independence, not an observance only of the violent aspects of revolution. The true last bash should mark the triumph of peace and British recognition of our independence brought about by the ratification of the 1783 Treaty of Paris.

Robert L. Warden Annapolis, Md.

PATCO's Punishment

Condemning PATCO air controllers [Nov. 2] to lifelong banishment from their chosen profession for an admittedly reprehensible act of defiance is out of proportion. In the interest of air safety, the American economy and common fairness, the air traffic controllers should be rehired on an individual basis, as needed. Loss of seniority and several months' pay is adequate punishment.

Veronique Sabl Los Angeles

Mistaken Identity

In the caption for the photograph of the leaders who attended the Cancun summit [Nov. 2], you name Acting President Abdus Sattar as the representative of Bangladesh. It was Prime Minister Shah Azizur Rahman who led our delegation and who appears in the picture.

Zahid Hossain, Counselor Embassy of Bangladesh Washington, D.C

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