THE MAN WHO LOST A BILLION

"The stupidity of a 232-year-old bank in allowing a 28-year-old to trade vast sums with impunity is financial Alzheimer's." Bill Ramos Chicago

I applaud you for your insightful report on how trader Nicholas Leeson single-handedly brought down Barings, the venerable London-based investment bank [Cover Story, March 13]. You captured the vapid and temporal nature of expatriate high life in Singapore, of which Leeson was a part. Managers of companies dealing in the most sophisticated and arcane financial instruments have to master Basic Management 101. Unless they rein in their employees, another debacle of Barings' magnitude could occur in the near future. Financial regulators should be even stricter in the wake of the disasters associated with derivatives. However, responsibility for the misguided actions of the culprits ultimately rests with them and the colossal financial firms that employ them. Robin Lim New York City

The Leeson caper gives capitalism a bad name. It is obscene that a single person can make and lose billions trading in derivatives and futures, an activity with absolutely no redeeming social or productive value whatsoever, while millions of people starve for want of a daily bowl of rice. I have no sympathy for Barings itself, but I do for its small investors. Sally Tobey Marshall, Minnesota AOL: SSTobey This shocking tale is almost unbelievable. This is not a crime committed by a young man alone; the responsibility for it goes right to Barings' top executives, whose lack of control has now been revealed. I can only agree with those who see a connection with Leeson's upbringing and background. It would be naive to believe that a son of working-class parents like Leeson would feel any allegiance to a supercapitalistic commercial employer such as Barings. Leeson's crime, however devastating to investors and Barings' staff, may not be condemned by working people, who still see capitalism and its excesses as a great evil. The young man's apparent arrogance in handling huge amounts of other people's money not only shows a reckless attitude but is also possibly a payback to capitalism for past sins against working-class people. Whatever the motivation, it is vital for banks and financial institutions to find ways to protect themselves against such crusaders. Claus Faye-Thilesen Drammen, Norway COMPANIES, IN THEIR AVARICE, ARE IGNORING age and experience in favor of ego and ambition. And look at the results. Ann G. McDonald Omaha, Nebraska EVERY DOLLAR THAT LEESON LOST WAS gained by someone else. Somewhere there are many happy, newly rich people. It is doubtful they are overly distressed by Barings' losses. Americans had a similar experience a few years ago, when our own brand of high-rolling financial experts" took much of the savings and loan system for a ride. We taxpayers had to come up with an estimated $500 billion to cover those losses. And if Leeson suffers the same fate as our homegrown speculators, he will end up in a nice, cushy job, living the good life. Frank Jerome Columbus, Indiana BARINGS' COLLAPSE CANNOT BE BLAMED solely on derivatives. A system that permits a trader any access, however limited, to the back-office process (settlement, accounting, mark to market) is a blueprint for disaster. No maxim is more fundamental for a financial institution. Mark Martinelli Mahwah, New Jersey WHAT A VIVID LESSON YOUR ARTICLE teaches the world's newly freed people who are struggling to embrace the wonders of free enterprise. Santford W. Martin Atlanta

EXACTLY WHOSE EGO AND GREED?

Your cover [March 13] featured two stories: one was billed Ego and Greed," about Nick Leeson, and the other was the Special Report on the candidates for the 1996 presidential race. Until I took a closer look, I thought the two titles were for the same story. After all, the presidential race is about ego and greed. The only difference between Leeson and the presidential candidates is that Leeson spent the bank's money whereas the candidates want to use American taxpayers' money! Edward Zinkin Rochester, New York AOL: EdwardZ

FOCUSING ON F.D.R.'S STRENGTHS

I write as a member of the F.D.R. Memorial Commission and as a grandson of Franklin D. Roosevelt's. Your article on the debate over the memorial's depiction of F.D.R.'s disability [Monuments, March 6] was inaccurate and unbalanced, and although you characterized my position on the monument, Time made no attempt to interview me. While it is true that none of the sculptures relating directly to F.D.R. depict him in his wheelchair or on crutches, the fact of his being stricken with polio is prominently expressed, carved in granite, in a chronology of landmark events of his life. F.D.R. realized that a physical disability was often misperceived as a sign of weakness. Thus he recognized the need to veil his own disability to focus the public's view on his strengths as a leader, not his handicap. I oppose any attempt to alter, delay or add cost to this 40-year project. The time has come to cease revisionism. The memorial's purpose is to provide a historical retrospective of one of the most critical periods in U.S. history, not to be a source of social commentary. David B. Roosevelt Westport, Connecticut

CLARIFICATION

IN OUR STORY ABOUT STUDENT JAKE BAKER and his posting violent sexual fantasies on a computer network [Technology, Feb. 20], we mentioned that among other people, his high school librarian" stood ready to attest to Baker's moral fitness. The potential character witness we referred to is Carole McDonough, who is a friend of Baker's and a librarian in Youngstown, Ohio, but not at the high school he attended. The librarian at Boardman [Ohio] High School, where Baker was a student, Susan D. DiGiacomo, tells us that she was not well acquainted with Baker and would not be able to comment on his moral fitness. We regret any confusion our misstatement may have caused.

HOOPLA OVER HOOP DREAMS

Thanks for your perceptive article on the controversy over Hoop Dreams' not getting an Oscar nomination for Best Documentary Feature [Show Business, Feb. 27]. However, Richard Corliss referred to the possibility that the documentary nominating committee may have preferred a no-risk, PBS-style format," and I feel it necessary to set the record straight: Hoop Dreams, in fact, is a public-broadcasting project. It was a co-production of St. Paul's Twin Cities Public Television and Chicago's Kartemquin Educational Films, and was funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and PBS (among others). This risk-taking film would not exist without public television's backing. Gerald Richman, Vice President National Production Twin Cities Public Television St. Paul, Minnesota THE REPORT ON HOOP DREAMS HAD A number of inaccurate and irresponsible statements in it. To say that many past nominated films have been made by [documentary selection] committee members" is misleading and unfair. To the best of my knowledge, since 1979, the Academy has only nominated a single documentary feature film produced or made by a committee member. It is doubtful that in reviewing a list of nominees over the past 16 years one could find any pattern suggesting that any member of the documentary committee was irresponsible or unethical. With regard to my involvement, I do not think a single voting member of the committee this year knew that my company was distributing D-Day Remembered [which received a nomination for Best Documentary Feature]. Also, to suggest that I am a committee sachem" is false, since I have not been a member for the past four years, nor have I been involved in making rules or running the committee. Mitchell W. Block, President Direct Cinema Limited Santa Monica, California

RIDING THE LION KING

WHAT WONDERFUL NEWS TO HEAR THAT songwriter Elton John will follow the success of The Lion King [Pop Music, March 13] by writing music for a new version of Aida. Maybe now we'll see updates of Carmen, Don Giovanni and Lohengrin, or even new rap versions of Hamlet and King Lear! John E. Brow Chicago Richard Corliss's frank portrayal of John's bad times' being eclipsed by his new, improved, better times was, I hope, the start of the media's casting a more respectful eye toward this funny, brave, phenomenal performer. Leslie Ludwig Cheshire, Connecticut