Letters

Lo, the Lobbyist

To the Editors:

There is an adage that people get the kind of government they deserve. My question: What crimes did America commit over the past 200 years to merit being shackled today with a travesty like influence peddlers [NATION, March 3]? Marshall S. Berdan Washington

Your story on lobbying was an eye-opener. It says much about the state of our republic that so many former public officials can land private sinecures and then use these positions to undermine the policies they once upheld. In some countries, lobbyists would be called double agents. Eric Steel Oakland

Even though you allude to the fact that "the common citizen often benefits from various 'special-interest' breaks," I would venture that this benefit is minimal. If influence peddlers cannot be legislated out of existence, perhaps they can be put to practical use. Lobbyists should be charged at least $10 million a year for admission to "Gucci Gulch." Since there are 8,800 registered domestic lobbyists, those fees would go a long way toward reducing the deficit. Robert E. Brossman Wheeling, W. Va.

As a lobbyist, I find my job is one of educating busy legislators on matters that are minor to them but major to our industry. Protecting business interests is not always bad. I am continually amazed at how little lawmakers know about the effect a bill will have on the public. Arleen Goodman Tennessee Association of Tour Operators Nashville

Several months ago, Representative Marcy Kaptur and I introduced legislation that would remedy one of the worst aspects of the influence-peddling problem: officials who leave Government service and then market their professional allegiance as lobbyists for foreign interests. The Wolpe-Kaptur bill would prohibit high-ranking officials from lobbying for any foreign principal in the ten years after they leave office. It is outrageous that public service is being used as a training academy for lobbyists who will enrich themselves on $250,000 annual retainers from Singapore and Brazil. Howard Wolpe, U.S. Representative Third District, Michigan Washington

I do not want a PAC or high-priced fat cat speaking for me. I am the lobbyist who should count. I vote. George K. Bradley Birmingham, Mich. Doc in the Dock

Your story on Navy Surgeon Commander Donal Billig [MEDICINE, March 3] focuses attention on "widespread deficiencies in the nation's military health care system." There is a more insidious problem: physicians will not pass judgment on colleagues. Billig was fired from two private-sector positions before he went to Bethesda. But he could have found another job in a private hospital and still be practicing. The lesson to be learned from this episode reflects not just on the military but on the entire medical community. Joyce Gelfond, M.D. San Antonio

Your assertion that military medicine was on trial is correct. However, one fact that has been ignored is that Bethesda Naval Hospital rescinded Commander Billig's credentials in November 1984 on the basis of its own internal quality assessment. This was well over a year ago, and our system for monitoring the appropriateness of care in the hospital has continued to progress throughout that time. Edward S. Amis Jr. Commanding Officer Naval Hospital Bethesda, Md.

In your report on Commander Billig, you compare a military surgeon's salary of $70,000 with the $240,000 gross income of a surgeon in private practice. The comparison is misleading. A private surgeon must pay for his office, the salaries of his personnel, his equipment, his insurance and his own retirement plan, all of which are provided by the military for its physicians. It may be difficult for the military to attract doctors, but not because of salary. Carie D. Buckley III, M.D. Staunton, Va. Shcharansky's Survival

As a Holocaust survivor, I learned that there are three sources that can provide endurance and strength. They are love of G-d, love of a woman and love of freedom. Anatoli Shcharansky [WORLD, Feb. 24] has all three. Rabbi Isaac C. Avigdor West Hartford, Conn.

I was touched by the long-awaited release of Soviet Dissident Shcharansky. I admire the psychological stamina that kept him going for those eight long years. But the person who deserves the loudest applause is his wife Avital, for her ceaseless efforts to obtain his freedom. Jerry Sahagun Los Angeles The Big O

The article on the source of the female orgasm [SEXES, March 3] is one of the most disgusting and shocking pieces I have ever read. Joseph Johnston Sun City, Ariz.

Your wonderful and otherwise informative magazine is becoming seedy and trashy by covering the adventures of Ralph and Wanda. Paul W. Moran Alexandria, Va.

If, after all these years, humankind is still unable to agree on the location or even the existence of the female orgasm, then how can we come to agreement on more substantive questions like Americans still imprisoned in Viet Nam or the Soviets' cheating on arms control? Robert Marcuson Fair Haven, N. Y.

Your article was hilarious. I cannot imagine any man or woman not knowing where his or her erogenous zones are. It is a matter of partners' communicating with one another. Richard Freeman Prentis Durham, N.C. Past Sins

How can "half blind, senile and emaciated" Andrija Artukovic be tried for his wartime activities in Yugoslavia [WORLD, Feb. 24]? If found guilty, and there is no doubt that he will be in Yugoslavia, to whom will justice be done? He will not be able to understand the proceedings. Such "justice" comes close to the practice of the Dark Ages, when high officials or rulers, even Popes, were dug from their graves, brought into the courtroom, and condemned to be executed. (The Rev.) Hubert S. Szanto Orange, Calif. Computer's Birth

Your story on the 40th birthday party for the ENIAC reminds me of the phenomenal strides made in computer technology in a relatively short period of time [COMPUTERS, Feb. 24]. But unfortunately, in retelling the controversy over the patent, you made John Atanasoff appear as the villain of the piece. The Honeywell-Sperry Rand trial was a lengthy and thorough process, and after reviewing the trial transcript of 20,667 pages, the judge took seven months before handing down a statement that included this sentence: "Eckert and Mauchly did not themselves first invent the automatic electronic digital computer, but instead derived that subject matter from one Dr. John Vincent Atanasoff." Elsie Atanasoff Whistler Rockville, Md.

The article on the ENIAC did not report that the Army's Ballistic Research Laboratories contracted with the Moore School of Electrical Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania to do the mind-numbing mathematics necessary for calculating trajectories. As soon as the project was completed, the ENIAC was moved to the BRL. Its progress and subsequent utilization were under the direct supervision of a series of BRL commanders, i.e., then Colonels Hermann Zornig, Leslie Simon and Alden Taber. Norman T. Dennis Colonel,U.S.A. (ret.) Pensacola, Fla. Nigeria's New Start

The report on Nigeria [WORLD, Feb. 17] was encouraging to all Nigerians in the U.S. as well as those in Nigeria. The Western press has for so long painted a depressing picture of Africa. More important is the effort of President Badamasi Babangida to inspire Nigerians to live within their means. Samuel Iwu Camden, N.J.

Without a thorough housecleaning, Babangida's "military democracy" will lead to the type of civil democracy Nigeria has known for almost three decades, one that is filled with abuses, excesses and lack of discipline. Vincent Ude Monrovia, Liberia

President Babangida is quoted as saying that previous political formulas have failed. It is not the system but the men who operated the government who have failed. If leaders will act with probity, trust and selflessness, and the masses are given a chance to earn an honest living, Nigeria will have a political machine that will work. Timi Adebowale London