Controlling Arms

To the Editors:

Your story on the behind-the-scenes intrigue at the arms-control talks [Dec. 5] did what The Day After did not. It scared the hell out of me. TIME's Strobe Talbott has portrayed a rogues' gallery of players, from the uninterested Ronald Reagan to the arrogant Richard Burt and the devious Richard Perle. I never dreamed I would feel sorry for Paul Nitze and Alexander Haig.

Nicholas M. Meyers

Arlington, Va.

I am sickened, outraged and frightened by the self-serving posturing of U.S. officials at the arms-control talks. These men are taking this nation on an irreversible course to disaster.

Lewis B. O'Neill, S.J.

San Francisco

The time has come to recall President Kennedy's remarks about the Soviet attitude toward negotiations: What is mine is mine; what is yours is negotiable.

Clarence Johnson

Springfield, Ohio

The 1984 presidential election must replace the Reagan policy with an Administration that is committed to honest arms control.

John Collignon

Santa Fe, N. Mex.

It is terrifying to realize that the next war will not be confined to Germany, France or Viet Nam, but will be fought in our backyard.

Mike Roberts

Miami

I do not know what can be done to prevent nuclear war. But when I hear our politicians say that everything is under control, I feel like hitting the streets and getting involved.

James M. Soffriti

Norfolk

The U.S. must maintain nuclear superiority over or at least equality with the Soviets. Because we have had a nuclear stockpile, we have been able to exist peacefully with the Soviet Union for the past 30 years. Any position that does not advocate a nuclear balance will make the U.S. vulnerable.

(The Rev.) Mel Perry

Madison, Tenn.

It is not the superpowers that I fear. It is the mindless belligerents like Libya's Muammar Gaddafi and the terrorists who terrify me.

Gerald S. Kupkowski

Cheektowaga, N. Y.

The issue of nuclear disarmament calls for extraordinary, not ordinary, diplomatic measures.

Mitchell Manners

Monsey, N. Y.

Movie Aftermath

ABC's film The Day After [Dec. 5] is not a movie. It is a three-hour commercial for the nuclear-freeze movement and free propaganda for the Soviet Union.

James J. Miller

Burkburnett, Texas

The Day After may have been poor drama, but if it shakes people out of their apathy and leads to wider discussion and activism, the film will have provided a great public service.

James R. Paulson

Northfield, Minn.

Nuclear war is more horrible than any conflict it could possibly resolve.

(The Rev.) John William Zehring

Bangor, Me.

If we ban our bombs without the Soviets' banning theirs, The Day After will come true, and we will deserve it.

Pete Jamison

Houston

ABC has played into the hands of the Soviets. To prevent war, we must be prepared for war, which means peace through strength. This is a lesson from history.

Tuan Tran

Cheverly, Md.

The Day After's message is clear. War is hell, and America is vulnerable. There is no defense; there is no escape. Survival depends on coexistence and trust.

John Gladwyn Prior

Vernon, B.C.

Those who found The Day After too tame should watch the films about the Hiroshima and Nagasaki survivors. There were no special effects in those shows.

Andy Stone

Denver

I am a ten-year-old who believes that the people picking on the movie should be picketing against nuclear bombs.

Brian Carter

Mooresville, Ind.

I suggest making a film titled A Year After, showing the consequences of the Soviet occupation that might occur if the pacifists have their way.

Maximiliano E.A. Munk

Punta del Este, Uruguay

Applause, applause, applause for The Day After. This film has done more to open our national mind to the horrors of nuclear war than anything else in the past 40 years.

Ernst P. Kohlsaat

Narragansett, R.I.

Man of the Year

Last year it was the Machine of the Year, the computer. This year it should be the City of the Year, Beirut.

Greg McKinley

Johnstown, Pa.

I urge you to consider the American volunteer.

Richard H. Breneman

Newcomerstown, Ohio

Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger, for barring reporters from the Grenada invasion.

Sam Pisicchio

Napa, Calif.

The people of Lebanon.

David Kaim

Austin

The U.S. Marine, the American at the tip of the spear of American diplomacy.

John M. Shotwell, Major

U.S. Marine Corps

Director, Public Affairs Office

New York City

Martin Feldstein, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, for publicizing the biggest threat to this country, the huge budget deficits.

Don C. Jensen

Falls Church, Va.

Brazil's President Jo`ao Figueiredo, for trying to turn his country into a true democracy.

J. Alcantara Filho

Araguari, Brazil

In a year that saw many achievements among blacks, I nominate the black American.

Zachary Kittrie

Bethesda, Md.

The press, for resisting censorship.

Georges Blaha

Melbourne Beach, Fla.

The peacemakers, who work toward peace in a very troubled world.

Carol L. Holmes

Philadelphia

Congressman Claude Pepper, for his concern for senior citizens.

Sherry Terzian

Los Angeles

The Pershing II should get the nod.

Bernard Sinsheimer

Boulogne, France

No Tears for Arafat

Now that Yasser Arafat's presence is causing death and destruction in Tripoli [Dec. 5], where are all those voices of conscience that were so outspoken about the tragedy in 1982 at the Shatila and Sabra refugee camps? We should have continuous TV coverage, Security Council resolutions and Vatican statements condemning the violence in Tripoli instead of the condoning silence.

Bernard Fridman

Johannesburg

After reading about the fighting in Tripoli and other parts of Lebanon, I am convinced that any agreement on Lebanon's future is bound to fail. Lebanon is not a viable state. It shpuld be divided between Syria and Israel on these conditions: that Israel be given a defensible northern border; that both states guarantee Lebanese citizenship status and freedom of religion; and that cosmopolitan Beirut receive separate international status. Utopian? Preposterous? Perhaps. But nothing else seems to work.

George P. Schmidt

Jamesburg, N.J.

$700 Screwdriver

I cannot be as passive as Secretary of the Navy John Lehman about manufacturers who overcharge the Pentagon for spare parts [Dec. 5]. Lehman says that he "found no criminal intent" on the part of the companies. If charging as much as $780 for a $45 screwdriver is not considered a crime, then what is?

Paul S. Snyder

Hutchinson, Minn.

I could not believe Secretary Lehman's explanation for the overcharging on parts. He blamed "clericalization," which he said meant "no single person is responsible." I could accept this if Lehman could cite some examples of the reverse, like paying $60 for a $1,800 fiber-glass cover.

Fred Nuss

Fort Morgan, Colo.

Bulging Jails

In your article on prison overcrowding [Dec. 5], you state that as the prison population is rising, the crime rate is dropping. The explanation for this is obvious: if a criminal is in jail, he cannot commit a crime.

Robert E. Sisson

East Haven, Conn.

Overcrowded cells? Tough! Let prisoners sleep in shifts. Poor living conditions? It should be remembered: some of their victims are not living at all.

Bruce C. Atwood

Shelburne, Vt.

Some money should be used to improve the living conditions for nonviolent criminals. But I have no sympathy for the murderers. There is no reason for them to get anything but death.

Carol Weisman

Kansas City, Mo.

As the widow of a crime victim, I am unmoved by your description of the appalling conditions in our prisons. Once again our focus is on the criminal's rights and living conditions. I will gladly vote to have my tax dollars spent on bigger, but not better, prisons.

Dorothy M. Holt

Plympton, Mass.

Go, Big Red

Finally, Nebraska [Dec. 5] is given the recognition it deserves. Who needs mountains, beaches and big-league teams when we have the Cornhuskers?

Debra Kay Tuchenhagen

Lincoln, Neb.

You gave a homesick Cornhusker a Christmas present. Your article on Nebraska's football team gave me the feeling of being home again.

M. Craig Ernst

Tulsa

You do not have to live in Nebraska to love its football team. I am a Californian for Nebraska.

Joanne Kai Burling

San Bernardino, Calif.

Nebraska comes closer than any other section of the Bible Belt to elevating football to the status of official state religion. I wonder how many of those farmers and Main Street Babbitts who fill Memorial Stadium in Lincoln on a fall afternoon ever contributed a single book to the university? Or better yet, how many have seen the inside of the library?

W. Eugene Hollon

Santa Fe, N. Mex.

Calling Long Distance

Your story about the divestiture of AT&T [Nov. 21] and its impact on the industry was a well-written piece about a very complex subject. However, your article implied that I oppose phased-in access charges applied to end users, which reflects neither my position nor that of GTE. I did say (in remarks you took out of context) that the FCC had recognized that it would be a hardship on those who make minimum use of long-distance service if a flat-rate charge were instituted immediately. Taking that into account, I further said that "the FCC order represents a reasonable and, in fact, the only manageable response suggested thus far."

Theodore F. Brophy, Chairman

GTE Corp.

Stamford, Conn.

Culture Shock

It is the quality of the music that makes Culture Club the most successful band in England [Nov. 28]. They produce the best pop-rock around, mainly because of Boy George's sensuous, beautiful and definitely masculine voice.

Shery Talmor

Encino, Calif.

Culture Club is one of the most colorful, exciting and original-sounding pop bands on the scene today. The group has found the perfect formula for writing and performing music. These talents will ensure that Culture Club's popularity will continue for years to come.

Taylor Rhett Davies III

Daly City, Calif.

The popular-music industry is in a sorry state when it can present only performers whose sole purpose is to look peculiar and act extreme. Groups like the Culture Club are brainless.

Perry Arthur Finney

Chapel Hill, N.C.

Japanese Feminism

Your report on career-minded Japanese women [Dec. 12] was especially interesting to me. I have been employed by a commercial broadcasting station in Tokyo for eight years and have been working with a male staff without any problems. While women still encounter discrimination, the advancement of Japanese women over the past several years has been remarkable.

Rina Kodaka

Tokyo

As a Japanese man, I am in favor of Japanese women having equal opportunity and responsibility in the office. They would no longer have the excuse of saying, "I have nothing to do with what goes on here because I only do what I am told to do by male workers."

Fumiyuki Nagakura

Osaka This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.