Letters

Pain Relief

To the Editors: Your article on chronic pain [MEDICINE, June 11] touched on the basic ingredient that we who try to alleviate pain have found to be essential: compassion. Richard M. Linchitz, M.D. Medical Director Pain Alleviation Center Roslyn, N. Y.

I have suffered constant pain for almost a decade. You put in a nutshell the feeling and emotions I can only convey, and even then with difficulty, to my doctors, my family and my friends. Most people cannot understand perpetual pain because they have not felt it. Juan R. Freudenthal Wellesley, Mass.

I am sorry there was little mention of the nurse's role in dealing with pain. In caring for patients, nurses have sought alternative methods to drugs for easing suffering. We follow the advice of Margo McCaffery, the pain pioneer, who said, "Pain is whatever the person experiencing it says it is, and exists whenever he or she says it exists." Gina Holmes Manhattan Beach, Calif.

I was told two years ago after disc-removal surgery that nothing could be done to alleviate my agony. Three weeks as an inpatient at St. Louis University's Pain Management Program taught me how to live with my pain through such methods as biofeedback, physical therapy, exercise and relaxation. I now attend biweekly meetings of the local chapter of Chronic Pain Outreach, a nonprofit support group that provides speakers who help us cope with our problems. Robert C. Lucas Brentwood, Mo.

You say hypnosis and biofeedback have "earned respectable places in the pain-clinic arsenal," while chiropractors get lumped "outside standard medicine" with herbal treatments and faith healing. Thanks to my chiropractor, I am virtually pain-free today because he knew where to look when "medical doctors" failed me. Barbara J. Knill Lakewood, Ohio

If cocaine will relieve one cancer sufferer, then let's legalize it for use by doctors and hospitals. (The Rev.) Maurice G. Chase Assistant to the President Loyola Marymount University Los Angeles

Reagan Remembers D-Day

In reminiscing about the World Wars, President Reagan revealed that as a first grader in Illinois during World War I, he experienced nightmares of the Kaiser's soldiers marching down Main Street [NATION, June 11]. Our President would wake up frightened and confused in the dark to ask himself, "Where would I hide if this were true?" I suspect that this is the same question that first graders ask themselves in the 1980s. James E. Kences Marion, Mass.

Hugh Sidey's efforts to link Reagan's military career with the battlefields of D-day were hilarious. First the President makes the ridiculous statement that his job producing training films was "directly under Air Corps intelligence." Then Sidey adds, "Reagan knew the invasion was imminent." The implication is that somehow this junior officer making training films in California was kept apprised of the most privileged information on the European front. William T. Hagan Fredonia, N. Y.

Hail the Conquerors

I was in my teens when, less than a year after the Normandy invasion, the Americans laid siege to my home town in Germany [DDAY, May 28]. The Americans may have been the greatest allies the British ever had, but they were also the most compassionate, sympathetic and generous conquerors the Germans had ever had. Charlotte Bauer Shapiro Saratoga, Calif.

NBC Protests

Your Mondale cover story [NATION, June 18] charging NBC News with "a bit of low-blow journalism" was itself guilty of a bit of low-blow journalism.

The facts are:

1. NBC did not, as TIME claimed, promote a scheduled interview with Gary Hart on the Nightly News, or on any other news. The only advance reference to the Hart interview with Correspondent Roger Mudd, planned for NBC's 11:30 p.m. primary night special on Tuesday, June 5, appeared in a newspaper ad for that program.

2. Contrary to TIME'S "low-blow journalism" assertion, Roger Mudd did not "put questions to an empty chair" when Candidate Hart failed to appear for his scheduled interview. Instead, Roger gave a straightforward report and perceptive analysis of the state of the Hart campaign. Lawrence K. Grossman, President News Division, NBC New York City

TIME erred in saying Roger Mudd "put questions to an empty chair." The camera showed Mudd facing an empty chair, then zoomed in on Mudd as he said: ". . . That empty chair is really symbolic of the sad state of the Hart campaign . . . He just came and announced that he didn't want to do interviews because he wasn 't sure about California, but I think he just doesn 't want to talk about what probably has been the worst day of his campaign." As it turned out, Hart won an overwhelming victory in California.

Death in Captivity

It is unfortunate that when Israeli commandos seized the hijacked bus south of Tel Aviv, they did not kill all four terrorists at once [WORLD, June 11]. The terrorists deserved to die. We all know that if the situation had been reversed, there would be no investigation into what method was used to kill the guilty. Arlene Strowman Brookline, Mass.

I have no remorse for the Arab terrorists killed by the Israelis. They got what they deserved. Michelle McDonald Houston

Your report emphasized that two of the hijackers were killed after they were captured by the Israelis. To be fair, it should also have highlighted the freedom of speech and right to inquiry that exist in Israel. There are not many nations in the world where journalists are free to question the actions of even the highest officials. Julie Leven Aarhus, Denmark

So, Defense Minister Moshe Arens provides a justification for bludgeoning two Palestinian hijackers to death by suggesting that they should "not expect to come away alive" from such acts. The sad fact is that excuses for brutality come easy in the Middle East. In the end, the Palestinians and the Israeli Jews will have to put aside their malevolence and negotiate a settlement. Michael P. Carrol San Francisco

India-Some-Place

As a former resident of Indianapolis, I still see it as a boring town in a dull state [NATION, June 11] and not as you would have it, a symbol of urban rejuvenation. The city's alleged success strikes me as hype: tall buildings, a domed stadium and a major league sports team. Hoosiers like "less government," which they get with a grossly inefficient administration and a still intact 19th century patronage system. Richard Phelps Boston

Allowing Owner Robert Irsay to call his team the "Indianapolis Colts" is a sacrilege. Better he should call them the "Indiana Road Runners" or, better yet, the "India-no-place Dolts." Walter K. Higgins Woodinville, Wash.

God's Work

Nine years ago, as a twelve-year-old, I was lured into Opus Dei [RELIGION, June 11]. I still thank God for some Jesuits who intervened before I was in it too deeply. There may be some fundamental distinction between Opus Dei and cults like the Unification Church, but at this point the difference escapes me. John R. Burnes St. Louis

Opus Dei is a cult that scares the wits out of this Roman Catholic. David J. Crosby Phoenix

It is unfortunate that Oxford Researcher John Roche feels he has to attack Opus Dei by presenting 1,500 letters from disenchanted members to the Pope. My family met "the Work" three years ago, and I could not ask for a better spiritual influence for us. Norman J. Yerke Elm Grove, Wis.

Lenders Beware

The bankers who lend money to economically shaky Third World countries [ECONOMY & BUSINESS, May 21] should heed a sign that appears in every Brazilian restaurant and bar: IT IS FORBIDDEN TO SERVE ALCOHOLIC DRINKS TO PERSONS VISIBLY DRUNK. In the headquarters of the international banks and in the ministries of finance of the First World there should be affixed a similar warning: IT IS FORBIDDEN TO LEND MONEY TO COUNTRIES VISIBLY INSOLVENT. Robert Preis Niteroi, Brazil