Dodging Taxes

To the Editors:

Tax cheating [March 28] would not be increasing if the Government's excessive spending habits were brought under control. If our elected representatives cannot come to grips with Government waste, the citizen's only recourse is to stop giving them money.

Will Pearson

West Jordan, Utah

If I could believe that my taxes were indeed going to "families in the slums," as Attorney Philip Weinstein says, I would be happy to pay. Unfortunately, most of my tax dollar is used to finance nuclear weapons, oppressive foreign regimes and other causes of human misery.

Michelle R. Hebert

Gresham, Ore.

Equality and simplicity are what our tax system desperately needs. The flat tax would be the solution. If the poor would suffer undue hardship under this system, their plight could be lightened with benefits such as Medicaid and food stamps.

Andrew Douglas

Portland, Ore.

Am I greedy for wanting to use my earnings as I see fit? Am I greedy for desiring that my wages not be siphoned off by politicians whose policies I abhor? If so, then perhaps "greed" is not so bad after all.

Katie Sibley

Santa Barbara, Calif.

Why is the IRS replacing its IBM computers with Hitachi units made in Japan? It is a gross injustice when the tax collectors in our Government spend our dollars for foreign equipment.

Larry Abramson

Oak Park, Mich.

Filing my federal tax return this year required several hours of work and nine different forms. I was pleased that I detected every legal means of reducing my taxes. But reading your article on cheating, I felt foolish and angry

David Bollig

Monticello, Minn.

To condone tax evasion is to accept stealing as a way of life.

Richard Pette

Represa, Calif.

I went to Viet Nam. I vote. I do not run stop signs. And I report all my income. What a sucker I am!

Edward Kerwin

Syracuse, N. Y.

I am 14 and do not pay taxes yet. But I do intend to pay every last penny when my time comes. Without taxes the U.S. would become unstable.

Daniel J. Pereira

Bloomingburg, N. Y.

High Achievers

TIME'S article on the superior performance of Asian students in the U.S. [March 28] is an important reminder that the continuing infusion of highly motivated and intelligent immigrants is a key factor in the American success story.

Alfred E. Davidson

Paris

My children have told me why their Asian-born schoolmates do so well academically. They are allowed to watch television only on Sunday.

Mary L. Stewart

Norwalk, Ohio

Last month I received two notes from parents of students in my class. These letters encapsulate the point made in your article on Asian students.

One said: "The homework you gave was too hard. Dick went to bed crying. I never want this to happen again! If it does, I'll send it back signed and undone!" The second read: "Please forgive Hsia for not having his homework. He had a fever last night so we put him to bed. I'll see that he does it tonight."

Linda Mele Johnson

Long Beach, Calif.

Thorny Birds

Dear Mum: Recently TIME ran a note from "Dave" to his "Dad" in the Video section instead of Letters. The point of the letter seemed to be that we did not film The Thorn Birds [March 28] in Australia and that we did not do our research. Dave certainly did not do his:

1. We did not film in Northern California. The Simi Valley and Los Angeles are in Southern California.

2. Hawaii is Queensland, except that it is twelve hours closer to Hollywood.

3. The kangaroo did not die of a heart attack. It fainted. It probably fainted again when it learned of its premature death.

4. Yes, we had singing shearers. If Dave did a skerrick of research, he would find as many songs about shearing as we did.

5. Dave has not noticed, in attacking us for too few Australian voices, that many of the leading characters are not Australian. When The Thorn Birds plays in Japan, France and Italy no one will speak Australian. Everyone will speak Japanese, French and Italian.

6. Dave cannot stand it when we are not faithful; he cannot stand it when we are. He does not like Barbara Stanwyck's last speech and blames it on the writer, Carmen Culver. The words came directly from Colleen McCullough.

Oh, that poor, confused Dave; he even thinks we called you "Mom." Mum you are and Mum you always will be.

And, from now, mum we shall also be.

David L. Wolper, Executive Producer

Stan Margulies, Producer

Warner Bros.

Burbank, Calif.

Band-Aids for AIDS

Re your article on AIDS [March 28]: two sets of statistics support the statement that current levels of federal support for research into the causes of this disease are a "disgrace." The National Institutes of Health has allocated only about $2.6 million to fund the more than $13 million worth of research requests from medical institutions, requests that NIH has been reviewing since last October. NIH claims AIDS research is a priority, but its AIDS budget for 1984 is scheduled to increase by only 18%, while the number of cases is likely to increase by 150% during the next year.

These funding levels are tragically inadequate for a disease that a spokesman for the Centers for Disease Control has called "a relentless epidemic" and "the most important public health problem in the U.S."

Phillip Burton, Representative

Fifth District, California

Washington, D.C.

Churchly Dole

The recent outcry concerning the alleged misuse of collection-plate donations by some Protestant denominations is unfortunate but not surprising [March 28]. Someone always squeals when others decide to take Jesus seriously and clothe the naked or feed the hungry.

(The Rev.) David Reeves

Maggie-Peachtree United Methodist Church

Maggie Valley, N.C.

If the National Council of Churches wants to hold on to the trust of the people in the pews, then there has to be some accountability on their part for donations made in the name of member denominations. Answers must come from the N.C.C. leaders that are clear and precise and not couched in so much "romantic revolutionary rhetoric."

(The Rev.) Merle L. Fisher Jr.

Westview Presbyterian Church

Burlington, N.C.

Re your report on mainline Protestant church leaders being under fire for political partisanship, it is worthy to note that their chief critic, the Institute on Religion and Democracy, receives almost 90% of its funding from foundations that have also given money to dozens of highly conservative political organizations. Rather than being viewed as "The Little Institute Facing Goliath," the matter might more appropriately be described as church leadership struggling against the Goliath-like alliance of America's corporate and private wealth.

Wayne H. Cowan

Editor in Chief, Christianity and Crisis

New York City

Amicable Divorce

I was surprised to read in your People section [March 28] that I divorced my first husband, Martin Scorsese, because he wanted me "to spend my life between the stove and the kids." I never made this statement. We had no kids, and our meals were prepared by a marvelous cook. Martin and I divorced by mutual consent. Our relationship has always been close, and we remain friendly to this day.

Isabella Rossellini

New York City

Suicide Know-How

The rise of suicide manuals [March 21] has occurred only as a reaction to the medical profession's insistence on prolonging life through technology. For those of us who do not want to spend our final days on earth manipulated by machines, it is helpful to know that there is an alternative.

Joan Stillman

New York City

No one would deny the right of people in agony to end their lives. In most cases, however, pain is controllable, and not all cancer patients suffer with severe pain. If the pain is bearable, life continues to have meaning until the end. Suicide is not the only option.

Robert W. Buckingham

Associate Professor

University of Arizona

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