Corps Delicti

Sir / The incredibly inhumane ostracism leveled against Cadet Pelosi by fellow West Pointers [June 18] has answered my question of whence originated the inhumane treatment of some Vietnamese. The whole academy class should be tested psychologically to detect dormant sadism that might result in future Viet Nams.

JOSEPH M. GALEOTA

Mount Rainier, Md.

Sir / What we admittedly biased West Point graduates know are two facts: first, that although the honor system, like any legal machinery designed to protect specific ideals, has now, as in the past, imperfections, nevertheless it belongs entirely to its proper subjects, the corps of cadets, who are constantly concerned with its equitable and just operation; and, second, that the honor code which that system serves has given to us all one of the most precious gifts of our lives --a mutual respect based entirely upon the shared notion of the ineffable power of a man's integrity.

THOMAS H. JOHNSON

Walnut Creek, Calif.

Sir / Personally, I think the entire 1973 class of West Point graduates should be dismissed from the Army immediately.

R.F. MUNZENRIDER

Gainesville, Fla.

Sir / I can't believe it. What a bunch of self-righteous brats.

MARY ANNE HOWE POSNANSKI

Milwaukee Sir / It is devoutly to be hoped that the self-righteous members of the cadet honor committee will, as officers, maintain the same rigid standards for themselves--an honor system that has some meaning in their military careers. That includes extreme honesty in the efficiency reports they dole out to others whom they command, and precludes deals with medical officers who will determine their "disabilities" at retirement in order to qualify them for tax-free pensions.

M.V. NEWMAN

Arlington, Va.

Untrue Grit?

Sir / I've just read your People item [June 18] about my recent return from China and was amazed to find I've turned into John Wayne.

From overwhelmingly positive and enthusiastic comments, you chose to excerpt out of context a quote critical of China. I wish there weren't such eagerness to discredit this extraordinary country.

CANDICE BERGEN

New York City

Domestic Gravediggers

Sir / Your cover on the dollar [June 18] was very impressive, but it gives the impression that foreign countries are destroying the mighty dollar while Washington tries to defend it.

Who flooded the world with dollars, beginning with the Marshall Plan, followed by foreign aid, overseas bases and American investments abroad--all to the tune of untold hundreds of billions of dollars?

Much could be done with the dollar domestically to benefit this country--and other countries of the world, by leaving them alone to solve their own problems. It seems to me that your cover picture failed to show the principal gravediggers for the dollar.

PETER LANGE

Topeka, Kans.

Sir / I think you should put the shoe on the correct foot. Until the American public decides to change its ways of spending its dollars, it cannot be called "Nixon's crisis"--it must be labeled "America's crisis."

ROBERT C. HARVEY

Frostburg. Md.

Quadruple Crown

Sir / Considering everything, I would like to nominate Secretariat [June 11] for TIME'S Man of the Year.

THEODORE BENEDETTI III

Albuquerque

Heat Has No Effect

Sir / We were pleased to read your article [June 11] on the Sears Tower, for which Westinghouse was selected to provide the unique elevator system. However, your statement that the elevator buttons are designed to respond to heat from passengers' fingertips is simply not true. All Westinghouse elevator buttons are pressure-sensitive and require a person to push on the button to register a call for an elevator.

A.R. HOCKSTEIN

Westinghouse Electric Corp. Millburn, N.J.

Horse Feathers for Hughes

Sir / The fact that the last flickerings of Pablo Picasso's incandescent genius did not impress Critic Robert Hughes [June 18] is understandable. However, Mr. Hughes' statement that "Picasso failed in old age" is horse feathers. Picasso was an artist to the very end.

DOUGLAS F. MACKENZIE

Middleburg, Va.

Sir / As an avid fan, I'll continue to follow Robert Hughes' work. It will be interesting to see how he wrestles with words and juggles blank typing paper at 91.

JEREMY SCOTT WOOD

Cambridge, Mass.

Not Intimidated

Sir / TIME'S report [June 18] that I decided to cancel a commencement address at Georgetown University when threatened with a massive boycott related to the Watergate scandal is completely untrue.

I had been scheduled to give the graduation address at George Washington University. I received reports that members of the graduating class planned a demonstration protesting the Administration's policy in Southeast Asia. Despite rumors that the demonstration might well be an ugly or violent one, I determined not to be intimidated. Then President Nixon asked me if I would become Attorney General of the United States and I accepted. Because of the sudden new obligations, I decided to cancel all outside speaking engagements.

It is not fair to the students of George Washington University to say that they planned to boycott my presentation when certain of them planned to attend and vigorously demonstrate their feelings about

Southeast Asian military affairs. Likewise, it is not fair to confuse George Washington University with Georgetown University --both excellent institutions.

ELLIOT L. RICHARDSON

Attorney General Washington, D.C.

Sir / The proposed boycott was directed at the school's policy of choosing a commencement speaker without consulting the graduating senior class, as well as at the war policy of the Nixon Administration.

BILL NOWAK

George Washington University Washington, D.C.

Tenebrific Befuddlement

Sir / When I read TIME, I fold down corners and tear the edges of pages to mark the words I want to look up. When I finished the review of H.P. Lovecraft's books in the June 11 issue, the page looked as if it had been through a paper shredder. I learned several words, but "infandous" I couldn't find even in an unabridged dictionary. Did Mr. Herrera make it up?

MARY CATHARINE RUDOLPH

Los Angeles qedTry Webster's New International Dictionary, Second Edition (Unabridged).

Vernalizing Vonnegut

Sir / As you stated in your discussion of Kurt Vonnegut's new novel, Breakfast of Champions, it was no surprise to all true Vonnegutians to find that the Russians were playing with a substance frighteningly close to ice-nine. And now with mixed feelings we read of a machine to restrict daydreams [June 11]. Fans recognize that Vonnegut has already foreseen the use of this type of device--in his 1961 short story "Harrison Bergeron"--in enforcing equality among all men simply by government prevention of all streams of thought. I think we have found a latter-day Jules Verne.

THOMAS PORTER

Carlisle, Mass.

Common Sense in a Capsule

Sir / Your Essay "The Uncommonness of Common Sense" [June 11] should definitely be buried in a time capsule. Assuming that there will be people living on this planet ten or 20 generations from now. of Mr. Kanfer's brilliant writing they will say either, "His genius was before its time" or "Maybe we should try what the uncivilized barbarian suggests."

RONALD D. ANDERSON

Upland, Calif.

Thinking Slow and Small

Sir / Regarding "Think Slow, Think Small" [June 18], I agree that a smaller-powered car is one solution to conserving gasoline, but not necessarily the only solution. Remember, please, that many of us still have "overpowered, low-mileage behemoths," and for financial reasons can't change over to the lower-powered cars at this time.

GEORGE S. HILL

Anchorage, Ky.

Sir / Over a year ago, to boost a sagging economy, the President asked Americans to buy more cars, and promptly eliminated the automobile excise tax as an added incentive. Now that the gasoline shortage has reached crisis proportions, he is asking the people not to drive the cars he asked them to buy. Almost coincidental with that plea, the House of Representatives killed a bill that would have led to the improvement of public mass transportation.

. The major problem in this country is that it is being run by shortsighted idiots.

JOSEPH D. CORN

APO San Francisco

Sir / Recently I drove a fully loaded four-cylinder 1971 Volvo 2,000 miles on interstate highways at a fairly steady speed of close to 70 m.p.h. Owing to the prevailing wind pattern, the mileage on the west-to-east half of the trip was 22 miles per gallon, while the east-to-west mileage was 20 miles per gallon. It has occurred to me that we could solve a number of our fuel and pollution problems by having a large number of Californians return to the East in small cars.

RUSSELL L. BLISS

Stillwater, Okla.

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