Letters, Sep. 4, 1995

MYSTERIES OF THE OCEAN TO EXPLORE THE EARTH’S OCEANS, going where no man has walked before, has always been a romantic theme on a par with exploring space [COVER STORY, Aug. 14]. Like the space program, the quest for a better understanding of the ocean is about human ingenuity and the ability to adapt. Why not use NASA’s expertise to put a man on the floor of the ocean at its utmost depth before 2010? PETER ZEMELKA Cocoa Beach, Florida

YOUR ARTICLE ON THE EXPLORATION OF the ocean bottom correctly describes man’s continuous quest to seek out the last frontier. However, before we get to the center of this scientific plum, the deep ocean, there is a tremendous amount to do. There is so much ocean (it covers 75% of the earth’s surface) but so little knowledge. And the costs of acquiring that knowledge are great and often individually insurmountable. The only way to solve that quandary is by sharing opportunity, costs and benefits, something neither scientists nor government agencies have been prone to do in the past. That is why the recent interagency agreement that established the Arctic Science Submarine Program is truly unique and valuable. It sponsors a series of annual cruises to the Arctic Ocean under the sea ice for civilian science, exploiting the endurance and flexibility of a nuclear submarine. Each participating agency has something to gain. As budgets shrink, costs rise and the quest for knowledge continues, the only answer is to cooperate! GEORGE B. NEWTON, Member Arctic Research Commission Arlington, Virginia

ONCE AGAIN THE EXQUISITE COMPLEXITY of nature’s life cycle stands on the brink of disruption, if not destruction, by man, the earth’s self-proclaimed highest life form. Perhaps our inherent inquisitiveness, greed and dominance cause us to play the role of the great equalizer in the overall scheme of things. It’s just unfortunate that all other life forms must always pay the price for “human nature.” LAWRENCE DANIELS Riverdale, New York

JOHN STEINBECK TOLD OF A GIANT SEA creature washed ashore in Monterey, California, in the 1940s. Word spread quickly around town. Folks rushed to the shore to examine the fearful monster but found a local scientist had already posted a note on it–“Don’t worry about it. It’s a basking shark.” Nothing mysterious. Nothing to get excited about. Once again, science had drained the life and beauty out of nature. Let’s leave the deep sea alone and let it retain the one thing that seems to be increasingly rare on this shrinking planet–mystique. RANDY OLSON Los Angeles

CONQUER! ASSAULT! I WAS DISMAYED AT seeing these words describe the continuing exploration of the depths of the seas. I have been awed by the underwater beauty of the ocean on just one snorkeling trip, and feel privileged to have beheld it. Surely man can leave this last frontier alone! True, there may be medicines to be found in the sea, but more people will die of starvation than by the diseases these might cure. If we are to survive, our primary focus must be worldwide population control. Where do we go after we have depleted the resources of the seas? BARBARA J. SWANBERG Brainerd, Minnesota

MIXED-RACE ADOPTIONS

MUCH OF YOUR REPORT “ADOPTION IN Black and White” [SOCIETY, Aug. 14] was well focused, but you were off the mark in emphasizing the “odd coalition” of adoption advocates and conservative Republicans who are averse to racial preference. In adoption, the fact that conservatives and liberals often agree is not news; adoption is the ultimate win-win solution for many. For at least 15 years, the lonely battle against racism in adoption has been waged mainly by this organization. We battle those who oppose whites adopting blacks as well as others who would stop all transracial, trans ethnic and transnational adoption. We have been aided by former Senator Howard Metzenbaum, a Democrat from Ohio, who courageously and tirelessly fought for passage of the Multiethnic Placement Act. But the Department of Health and Human Services has issued guidelines that prove it has little interest in enforcing the spirit of that law. This has led Metzenbaum, our group and others across the political and ideological spectrum to endorse efforts to pass a new, better law that penalizes states that delay or deny adoption because of race. That reform measure has passed the House, as you noted. The Senate counterpart is sponsored by Arizona Republican John McCain. WILLIAM L. PIERCE, President National Council for Adoption Washington

THE ONLY PLACE WHERE RACE AND SKIN color matter is in people’s heads. KATHLEEN BROOK HIDDEMA Muskegon, Michigan AOL: KBHiddema

I WOULD LIKE TO CORRECT SOME mistakes in your story so that my adopted daughter Robyn, who was mentioned in it, will not be unnecessarily burdened later in life when she explores her roots. Robyn was not crack addicted. Your reporter was told that at birth shetested positive for cocaine and barbiturates. Nor was she abandoned on the street. That happened to the first foster baby put in our care. Finally, the state of California never objected to our adopting Robyn, as a caption says; the problem was always with the city and county of San Francisco, which to this day persist in being an obstacle to transracial adoptions–the ultimate in ironies for this racially diverse and liberal city. How far we have yet to go to realize the Dream. BILL MANDEL San Francisco

YOU DID NOT ADDRESS THE DESIRES OF African-American families who wish to adopt but cannot get through the door of an adoption agency. The majority of national organizations, while supporting transracial adoption, nevertheless believe that a same-race home is a better option. African-American families adopt at higher rates than white families. However, many adoptions are informal, relative or friend-of-family arrangements rather than legally finalized adoptions. But when an African-American family approaches an adoption agency to pursue a formal adoption, it is often turned away by social workers with middle-class white values. In truth there are many minority families for minority children. STEVE HUMERICKHOUSE Adoption Advocates Minneapolis, Minnesota

PEOPLE WHO BELIEVE RACE-BLIND ADOPTIONS are “a major, major assault on black families,” as a law professor says in your story, should come to the inner city and see what most of the children have to go through. Just what is the black culture anyway? Aren’t we all looking for the same things–a good home, love, a nurturing environment and a good education? And aren’t these offered by white adoptive parents? Until we have enough successful and capable blacks adopting children in need, we should not put any restrictions on interracial adoptions. KWAO HAYFORD New Haven, Connecticut

ACKNOWLEDGING BLACK STRENGTH LANCE MORROW PROPOSES AN EXCELLENT idea: a national museum memorializing slavery, freedom and black energies [ESSAY, Aug. 14]. If we can have the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, which, at least in part, celebrates the Jews’ ability to persevere, why not a museum that acknowledges the strength and perseverance of blacks in the face of slavery? Interestingly, writer Walt Harrington notes in his book Crossings that Colonial Williamsburg until 1979 ignored the place of slavery. He states that in Williamsburg the decision to include slaves and slavery in the depiction of colonial life has had just that beneficial, healing effect to which Morrow refers. BRIDGET BIELINSKI Arlington Heights, Illinois AOL: CONSMBB

MORROW’S MISGUIDED AND MISINFORMED Essay was a perfect example of what is wrong with much of the “debate” surrounding racism in America. A museum of slavery would not be a “modest start” in trying to heal our country’s racial wounds for in order to heal something, you have to first recognize what it is, what it was caused by, what it has produced and how you can treat it–things white folks refuse to do. And such a monument is not going to change the way the majority of white folks view and treat us. JAMES EARL HARDY New York City

I ENTHUSIASTICALLY SECOND MORROW’S motion for an American Museum of Slavery and Freedom. After all, only the truth can make any of us free. ROBERTO G. SANCHEZ Madison, Wisconsin

WE ARE TAUGHT THAT AMERICA ONCE HAD slavery and that Abraham Lincoln and others championed the cause of ending it, but perhaps we need to understand the real struggles of black Americans through the ages. Government cannot and should not legislate favoritism; it should only prosecute unwarranted prejudice. The real answer to helping minorities compete better is not to lower standards but to improve conditions that might leave them less qualified–cleaning up the inner cities, where many minorities live, and providing a quality education so they can compete without government help. GREGORY D. SHUMATE Lancaster, Pennsylvania

THE RIGHT CHOICE

SO JANE AUSTEN MAY HAVE BEEN A lesbian [PEOPLE, Aug. 14]. As a dedicated Austenite, my reaction is, Who cares? The practice of psychoanalyzing historical characters is interesting but suspect, since the people involved can no longer speak for themselves. Another questionable practice is the attempt to interpret the love language of women in another era. Jane’s sister Cassandra herself expurgated Austen’s letters; it is obvious she found nothing “homoerotic” about what was left. We know this about Jane Austen: she wrote six great novels and several tantalizing fragments. We also know that she remained unattached throughout her life. If she had been a wife and mother, she might not have accomplished what she did. Whatever her sexual “persuasion,” I believe she made the right choice. GAIL WILLIAMS Big Spring, Texas

IN THE ITEM ABOUT THE SEXUAL ORIENTATION of Jane Austen, I am said to be “miffed” at the public response to the thesis–supposedly bruited by me–that Austen might have been gay. In an essay on Austen in the London Review of Books, I discussed Austen’s profound emotional bond with her sister, but I did not say that I thought she was homosexual in any self-conscious or active way or that she had sex with her sister. My remarks have been sensationalized by the British press, and I am afraid you have simply followed suit. TERRY CASTLE, Professor Department of English Stanford University Stanford, California

MONEY FOR THE ARTS

CONGRATULATIONS AND THANKS FOR Robert Hughes’ extraordinary story on the vicious, mindless congressional attempts to do in the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting [COVER STORY, Aug. 7]. Hughes marshals the arguments with rare pellucidity and a cool passion that cuts like a laser. There’s a wonderful line in John Guare’s Six Degrees of Separation when Ouisa says to Paul, who has lost the only copy of his graduation thesis to a mugger, “I hope your mugger reads every word [of it].” I hope the muggers of the arts and humanities read every word of Hughes’ spectacular piece. BERNARD GERSTEN, Executive Producer Lincoln Center Theater New York City

HUGHES TRIES HARD TO CONVINCE US that the NEA is critical to our culture. But when all is said and done, he fails to show why Catholics–to name just one group–ought to be forced to pay for “art” that defames their religion. His defense of the indefensible is all the more incredible given his recently published book on the sorry state of our culture. Will the real Robert Hughes please stand up? WILLIAM A. DONOHUE, President Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights New York City

AS HUGHES NOTED, “THE CONSERVATIVES’ all-out assault on federal funding is unenlightened, uneconomic and un democratic.” As the Senate goes to conference with the House on this matter, Americans should voice their conviction that the mark of true patriotism is to take pride in American ideas and American culture. Preserving federal support for the arts and humanities will help preserve American culture for all America’s children and their children as well. JOHN BRADEMAS, Board of Directors Americans United to Save the Arts and Humanities Washington

LEAVE IT TO ROBERT HUGHES TO GET TO the heart of the matter. History, psychology and politics interweave in his stirring article, which is both a manifesto and an indictment. It should be required reading for all who care about our future . ALENE VALKANAS, Chair State Arts Advocacy League of America Chicago

CULTURE MAY NOT DISAPPEAR ALONG with the NEA, but it certainly will be weakened by funding cuts. MEGHAN GROSSCUP, age 15 Villa Park, Illinois AOL: MizSaigon1

THE CAMPAIGN BY RELIGIOUS RIGHT political groups and their allies in Congress to abolish federal support for arts and culture is especially hypocritical given that these same people complain about the quality of music, television and movies that the marketplace provides. Why are self-proclaimed “pro-family” groups so eager to do away with the institutions that provide quality educational alternatives to pop culture? ELLIOT M. MINCBERG, Executive Vice President and Legal Director People for the American Way Washington