The Arms Burden

To the Editors:

I feel your article "Arming for the 21st Century" [May 23] came at an appropriate time. With the Russians arming to the teeth, it would be foolish of us not to take countermeasures. I hope we will continue to develop our conventional arms and also the more sophisticated ones, like the Bl. It will be an expensive burden, but worth it.

Dennis Beavers Cozad, Neb.

How tragic that your cover story on defense, titled "Arming for the 21st Century," could not be titled, "Disarming for the 21st Century."

Glenna Brink Modesto, Calif.

Your cover story on defense was embarrassingly one-sided. You couldn't have done a better job if you had been awarded a contract by the Department of Defense to prepare a public relations brochure to sell defense programs.

Joseph A. Pegnato Phoenix, Ariz.

Nowhere in Defense Secretary Brown's plans to save money did I find anything about some of the things I feel the Pentagon needs most--a healthy dose of competition, a halt to cost overruns and an end to the revolving-door movement of executives between the Pentagon and defense contractors.

For instance, in 1976 only 8% of the Pentagon's procurement dollars were awarded through competitive bidding. However, a 1973 Senate study reviewed 21 sophisticated weapons systems and found that competition reduced costs by an average of more than 50%.

Some systems rated as "complex" and bought without competitive bids included faucet handles, window screens, recording tape, oil filters and lawnmowers. As a GAO study noted, lower prices could often be found just by looking in the Yellow Pages.

Howard M. Metzenbaum U.S. Senator, Ohio Washington, D.C.

It is unfortunate that we devote so much time and energy to systems for killing people, but until the Russian leaders learn to respect not power but our right to live in peace, we really have no choice.

Richard Sybert Honolulu

Tragically, we are forced by the malignant growth of Soviet weaponry to build some of these awesome and expensive systems. But if we have them as part of our shield, we will probably never have to use them in anger.

Robert K. Dornan, U.S. Representative 27th District, Calif. Washington, D.C.

One Trident sub costs $949 million. Our new high school cost $3 million. Is a sub worth 316.33 schools?

Richard W. Peck Pine Plains, N. Y.

Lindbergh: Still a Hero

I disagree with Lance Morrow's statement, "Lindbergh is more an item of receding Americana than a hero who engages the popular imagination" [May 23]. To me, Lindbergh is still very much a hero and always will be.

Robert C. Johnson Winchester, Mass.

Someone like Lindbergh who performed a daredevil stunt for public attention and financial gain does not, in my opinion, deserve the title of hero.

Joel G. Neilsen Cleveland Heights, Ohio

Lance Morrow's Essay on Charles Lindbergh stirred personal memories. One afternoon in 1927, Lindbergh flew the Spirit of St. Louis over St. Catherine's Academy in Benicia, Calif., on his way to a landing at Oakland Municipal Airport. I was one of about 25 students who had gathered on a knoll at the edge of the playground. As the famous flyer passed over, most of us screamed our intense admiration for him. We probably thought he could hear us.

A goofy seven-year-old whose name I've forgotten aimed a 3-ft. scrap of wood at the plane, pretending the stick was a loaded rifle. This attention-seeking act so outraged about a dozen of the other boys that they viciously pummeled the would-be assassin. Terrified, in tears and tatters, he fled across the campus toward the chapel. There, the Sister Superior rushed out to halt the mob, undoubtedly saving the victim from serious injuries. But after learning the gravity of his offense she ordered him to the dormitory with a promise of no supper and a threat of corporal punishment.

Glen G. King Oakland, Calif.

It depresses me that lately it is not possible to read an article about aviation or space exploration without the writer's jaded attitude toward technological achievement creeping in.

It seems as though most Americans think of the space program as a TV series with too many repeats--not really comprehending what it is all about: man's innate quest for knowledge.

Present-day aviators and astronauts are highly trained and skilled professionals who still have to cope, as Lindy did, with complex machines in a three-dimensional environment that can be hostile, alien and full of "adventure."

Jack F. Chrysler Jr. Santa Monica, Calif.

Jail for Dissenters?

If we the American people allow the sentencing of the Wilmington Ten [May 23] to stand as is, we are no better than the Soviet Union or any Latin American country that puts its political dissenters in jail to shut them up.

Abbey Gleichenhaus Miami

When our courts are free of prejudice against the blacks and the poor, we can then preach human rights to the world. But first we must practice what we preach.

(Mrs.) Rosalind Helburn Columbus

Dracula Resurrected

Re your article on Dracula [May 23]: may we call your readers' attention to the fact that Dracula is much more than a mere historical hero. Dracula stands as the symbol and essence of philosophies of the East and the West. Dracula presents the messages of resurrection, transmigration, rebirth, renewal and immortality. Our love of horror films and gothic literature brought us to Dracula and the founding of this national nonprofit society 16 years ago. But we, of course, have long realized Dracula's symbolic importance in our culture.

Donald A. Reed

President, Count Dracula Society Los Angeles

You said, regarding Dracula, "After all, as every vampire watcher knows. Dracula was zapped for all eternity when a stake was driven through his evil heart." Not every vampire watcher is so misinformed, only those whose knowledge of Dracula is limited to the various film versions of Bram Stoker's great novel Dracula (1897).

In Stoker's tale, Dracula is destroyed in a combined Anglo-American gesture: Jonathan Marker, an Englishman, decapitates Dracula with his great kukri knife in the same moment that Quincey Morris, a young Texan, drives his bowie knife into Dracula's heart. Stakes are used against vampires in Stoker's novel, but only against ravishingly attractive females.

Leonard Wolf San Francisco

Wolf is author of A Dream of Dracula and The Annotated Dracula.

My wife and I were very pleased to see the article on Dracula. We met almost under the shadow of Vlad Tepes' birthplace on one of the first Dracula tours, and it was love at first bite.

Neil O'Connor Greensboro, N.C.

The Fight over Laetrile

Why all the opposition to Laetrile [May 23] in view of its acceptance by a large number of citizens? The power of the mind is still a great healer, and those who believe in the drug should have access to it.

Laetrile, to my mind, has done as much as or more than all the billions we've poured into cancer research.

Louis J. Stack Albany, Ga.

This past year my dearest friend has been undergoing treatment for cancer. First they mutilated her with a knife; next they burned her with radiation; at present she is being poisoned with chemotherapy. It's the best 20th century medicine can do.

When my turn comes, I'll try prayer, voodoo or apricot pits in preference to those scientists who offer only unpromising statistics as prognosis on their tender ministrations.

(Mrs.) Dorothy M. Lewis Norn's, Tenn.

Having recently left the FDA as associate chief counsel for enforcement, I was personally involved for the better part of the past two years with many Laetrile cases.

As one who is very familiar with the overwhelming paucity of scientific data on the effectiveness of Laetrile, I was glad to see that you reported on some of the real fears that the FDA and the American Cancer Society have in this area. Cancer patients, especially those who are terminal, are easy prey for the quick-cure artist.

You have hit at the heart of the controversy: if Laetrile is legalized as a cancer cure without any evidence of its effectiveness, where will the line on such "cures" ever be drawn? Only the helpless and desperate will suffer, while the promoters of these unproven remedies will money. continue to count their

Jay H. Geller Century City, Calif.

A Vote for Pope

If only Catholics can influence such things, I guess this letter should be forgotten. Otherwise, I would like to add my endorsement to the letter from Maureen J. Cerny [May 23] proposing Father Hesburgh for Pope.

Norton Simon Los Angeles

Cosmic Stuff

In his review of Carl Sagan's book The Dragons of Eden [May 23], Peter Stoler says, "Sagan wonders, why do infants, who presumably have little or no experience to sort out, seem to dream as much as their elders?"

Indeed, all an infant has to experience is a totally new and alien environment, first contact with other beings, the mechanical coordination of his own four-limbed machine and the mastery of a foreign language without textbook! Paul High tower Lexington, Ky.

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