Arms Control

To the Editors:

Your article on nuclear disarmament [April 18] suggests a morality play the American negotiator is the good guy (the white chess pieces), while the Soviets are represented by the black. But your artist also invokes a more subtle truth. In chess the white player moves first. The U S initially developed and deployed these weapons. It introduced each new advancement and continued to build its arsenal. Having led the world to this impasse, why should Americans expect someone else to take the lead in giving up arms?

Geoff Wichert

Portland, Ore.

The idea of promoting "de-MIRVing" schemes that would lead to more survivable, less threatening missiles terrifies me It is precisely this assurance that could lead to a nuclear war.

Farhat Biviji

Cherry Hill, N.J.

"Speak softly and carry a big stick" is one of the most sensible policies to come out of the U.S. in this century. Ronald Reagan is doing just the opposite with his still unproved space-based ABM system.

Sabino Grassi

St. Leonard, Que.

I was surprised at the one-sided nature of your discussion in "Freeze No De ployment Yes." This piece ignored all the substantive arguments in favor of a nuclear freeze. For example, it asserted that the freeze almost by definition" is not verifiable. But an array of experts, including former Director of the CIA William Colby former Defense Secretary Clark Clifford and former Chief Arms Control Negotiator Paul Warnke, have stated that a freeze is indeed adequately verifiable, and perhaps more verifiable than many other arms control proposals, including President Reagan's START plan.

I do not dispute the right of TIME to print editorials, even if they are not labeled as such. However, when I read this story I thought that perhaps you had mistakenly reprinted without change a press release from the office of Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger.

Edward M. Kennedy

U.S. Senator, Massachusetts

Washington, D.C.

The notion that a unilateral nuclear-weapons freeze could be beneficial to us is absurd. The proponents of this position probably also believe they cannot be seen if they cover their eyes.

James B. Wood

Edgefield, S.C.

If, as you say, "parity is not a static condition; it is dynamic," we will go on as we have for the past 38 years playing catchup, until ultimately, inevitably, by accident or design, the U.S. or the U.S.S.R. blows the earth to smithereens.

Paul W. Fernald

New Bedford, Mass.

To brand President Reagan a failure in his attempts to achieve arms control is ridiculous. The simple fact is that as long as the Soviets perceive themselves as having a decisive military advantage they will never negotiate an equitable agreement.

Frank C. Horvath

St. Louis

Nagging Nicaragua

The U.S. will eventually have to fight the Sandinistas in Nicaragua [April 18]. Consequently, we should not turn our backs on the Nicaraguan contras. Better to fight the Sandinistas now through these rebels than tomorrow with U.S. forces.

Rodrigo J. Montealegre

San Juan, P.R.

The list of people controlled by the Communists grows yearly. The Soviets are established in Cuba and Nicaragua and aim to have Central America and Mexico from Panama to the Texas border. In response we argue about whether it is legal to oppose them in Nicaragua. Is our will to survive gone?

Ralph E. Kingsbury

New York City

If your reporters would talk to the ordinary people in Nicaragua's small towns, farms and factories, they would be able to distinguish between the Sandinistas' revolution of 1979, which had widespread popular support, and the "rebels," or contras, of today, who command widespread hate and loathing.

Michael Webster

Lima, Peru

In the four years since the Sandinistas triumphed, the accomplishments of their government have been tremendous. Illiteracy has been all but wiped out. Great strides have been made in health care.

Despite constant harassment by the Reagan Administration and the contras, who have been raiding villages and farms, Nicaragua is a remarkably free society. It certainly deserves a fairer deal than it has been getting from the American press.

Lawrence H. Kootnikoff

White Rock, B.C.

Gang Rape

Hideous as the rape of a patron in a New Bedford bar was [April 18], the incident finally sparked some responsible coverage that exposed the myths about rape and forced the public to question our acceptance of sexual violence. Instead of focusing on what the victim did "to deserve it," the press placed its attention on the social illness of male rage.

Jeanette Rowsey

Huntington, W. Va.

You use words such as horror and terror to describe the female feeling toward rape. Hatred, anger and revenge should be added to the list.

Joyce Litton

Revere, Mass.

As a man, I resent your Essay's analysis of my repugnance to rape. By claiming that violence is an inevitable part of man's nature, the article is nothing more than a thinly disguised excuse for the crime. By your logic, one could argue that we should legitimize rape on the grounds that it is both natural and unavoidable.

Mickey Wheatley

Irvine, Calif.

The implications of your Essay are terrifying. A "gang bang" is not a mystical experience, and all men are not guilty of the vicious acts of a few. Your article condemns millions of civil, sensitive men who have no propensity for violence and, at the same time, says rape is understandable, men being men. This attitude demonstrates that we have not come far in our thinking about rape.

Jean A. Lupoli

Albany

Along with maturity comes a sense of right and wrong. If a man is unable to choose conscience over crime, then he is still a child.

Lynn A. Fors

Lunenburg, Mass.

Democracy on the Dardanelles

General Evren has saved democracy in Turkey, preserving key rights for the Turkish people [April 11]. Before the coup, the country was on the brink of collapse. Now, 2 1/2 years later, the economy is prospering and the people have confidence in the government. Evren's regime is a compromise between Western-style democracy and authoritarian rule, and is well suited to a developing country with shallow democratic roots, like Turkey. Under Evren, Turkey continues to be a dependable ally of the U.S.

Sema Flew

Van Nuys, Calif.

Mondale for President

Your article "Mondale: 'I Am Ready Now' " [April 18] added to my belief that he is the wrong man to lead the Democrats back to the White House. Mondale is caught up in interest-group politics and continues to cling to Great Society liberalism, which the U.S. cannot afford.

John T. Shewalter

Columbus

Mondale may be ready for the presidency, but a political albatross called the Carter Administration still hangs around his neck.

Annie House

East Lansing, Mich.

Plus and Minus Problems

The problem of not having enough qualified math and science teachers will not be solved by pouring more federal funds into educating more teachers [April 18]. The answer is to pay these teachers enough so schools can compete with industry. For example, one of my former students started with an entry-level pay of $5,000 more than I am getting, and I am at the top of the teaching scale.

Richard W. Witte

Winnebago, Minn.

Only a disciplined mind can successfully grapple with mathematics and science. But such discipline has been lacking in America for over a generation. It is not surprising that the neglect of these subjects on the secondary level is a scandal.

James C. Gancher

Whiting, N.J.

Any society that pays bus drivers more than teachers deserves a few generations of illiterates.

William T. Ducolon

Buena Park, Calif.

Beep, Beep

I was amused and appalled by your story on the popularity of pocket paging devices [April 11]. As the wife of a medical intern, I have come to regard this machine as a tiny, tyrannical Santa Claus. It knows when you are sleeping; it knows when you are awake. It also knows when you are about to eat or make love and goes off at the least opportune moment.

Donna R. Himelfarb

Cooperstown, N. Y. This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.