Forum, Apr. 19, 1976

Never Forget

To the Editors:

I was worrying about how I would remember the fever of Watergate. I was afraid I would forget, and it is something we should never forget. Perhaps All the President’s Men [March 29] should be rerun at regular intervals as a constant reminder to keep our guard up against its ever happening again.

Karen Leffler Harrisburg, Pa.

I nearly fainted with ecstasy when I saw the cover. It’s about time that

TIME had male sex symbols in place of voluptuous women.

Margaret Grant College Station, Texas

TIME, TIME, TIME—don’t you understand yet? We are glad Nixon is gone. But we are achingly bored with your chest-thumping self-righteousness.

Thomas Smith Missoula, Mont.

Your article on All the President’s Men affords a renewed view of the mentality of Mr. Nixon. The dangerous moods that he portrayed in his last days as President show Americans how thankful we should be for people like Woodward, Bernstein and Bradlee. As bad as the press might appear at times, its vigilance is a blessing.

Gilbert Marcus Chicago

Those egomaniacs, Woodward and Bernstein, reap millions from a tragedy their newspaper helped create.

(Mrs.) Doris H. Taylor Butler, Pa.

Your article omitted a unique item.

Redford, Hoffman and Warner Bros, have made the film available for opening-night benefits to foster such organizations throughout the country as the Citizen Action Fund, the Environmental Defense Fund, Scientists for Public Information and the Fund for Investigative Journalism.

These groups practice the message of the film: that citizens and the press in a democracy must hold their government accountable.

Joan Claybrook Washington, D.C.

I am angry and horrified that Robert Redford would stoop to make a name and money for himself from a movie, and not consider the misfortunes of the few who have paid dearly because of the mistakes of others.

How do you think the Hunt family feels about All the President’s Men while my father is rotting in jail? Howard Hunt’s ordeal has been a painful one. He has suffered and lost everything. It’s a pity that Mr. Redford did not have the foresight to see that this film will also be at the emotional expense of my father’s family and other families as well.

Lisa Tiffany Hunt Kyle Hurley, Wis.

I thought these men were hard-nosed investigative reporters, not gossip columnists.

Judith Sch wager Hoffman Estates, III.

Overeducated

You concluded your informative article on jobs [March 29] by charging that the increasing number of highly educated people aggravates the job situation making it more difficult for non-college people to obtain employment. One hears the strange term overeducated.

Surely citizens in a democratic society cannot be overeducated any more than participants in a vigorous athletic event can be too healthy.

George Huber, Director of Counseling

Santa Fe Community College

Gainesville, Fla.

“College for a few and trades for the many” should be our motto. We have too many useless college graduates to feed now. A smart fellow with a good trade is never pictured holding rejection slips and mooching food stamps and unemployment checks from his uneducated fellow taxpayers.-

William Bemis Seach Quincy, Mass.

The question is not whether we can afford to have liberal arts graduates but whether we can afford not to have them.

Peter Adler New York City

My husband is a Yale cum laude meat cutter, and he loves it. He was previously rejected for a similar job in Connecticut and was labeled overeducated.

Unbutton your button-downs, you Ph.D.s who want jobs, and try some manual labor. You may love it.

Alice R. Brown Manchester, Vt.

I could not help noticing that your article did not include any sob stories from engineering graduates. Engineering graduates at Georgia Tech are having no trouble finding jobs.

You can tell those who majored in liberal arts and now have no jobs that after playing for four years, they would benefit greatly from hard work.

Stephen W. Fox Atlanta

P.O.W. Patty

It is plain that neither Judge Carter

nor anyone on the Patricia Hearst jury

[March 29] was ever a prisoner of war.

George F. Schmalzried

Conneautville, Pa.

I was a Japanese prisoner of war, caught on Bataan during the defense of the Philippines. I feel that for the most part collaboration stems from a desire to attain reward from the captors rather than from fear of punishment. I do not believe that people can be “brainwashed” against their will.

Generally our conduct as prisoners was governed by our own free will. Evidently the jury felt that Miss Hearst did the same.

Daniel N. Weitzner Leominster, Mass.

I can’t go along with the verdict. Our instinct to survive is so strong that we can conceive of killing another human, even eating human flesh, but not becoming a rebel, robbing a bank and shooting at a store as means to survival.

Tessie Clements Bardstown, Ky.

Is it too naive to assume that rather than being a case of “Where the Defense Went Wrong”, as your title indicates, the outcome of the Hearst trial demonstrates simply that Patty was guilty?

Barbara Sullivan Newport, R.I.

The defense went wrong when the Hearsts fired San Francisco Lawyer Terrence Hallinan and imported Bailey from Boston. He underestimated the San Francisco level of sophistication when he adopted the line about the poor little blonde and the big bad black in the deep dark closet.

Catherine Sang Menlo Park, Calif.

As an alternate on the Hearst jury, I wish to go on record as one who totally disagrees with the verdict of my colleagues. I heard all the evidence and firmly believe there was more than a reasonable doubt that the defendant participated in the crime willingly.

Mary Nietnan Pleasant Hill, Calif.

Carol, Gerald and Henry

Displaying the charms of Model Carol Gustafson on the cover [March 22] of a magazine that has in the past presented such noble visages as Gerald Ford and Henry Kissinger is … is … delightful!

(The Rev.) Frank L. Faust Metairie, La.

It is apparent that modern fashion decrees that breasts are in—when they are out.

Tobias M. Feder Lauderhill, Fla.

From Little Acorns

In “Aiming at the Stars” [March 29] you recounted the billions upon billions of dollars spent by NASA on the space program based on Dr. Goddard’s experiments but you neglected to mention that he did all of his work on $25,000 which was annually contributed by the Guggenheim Foundation.

George F. Plans Ormond Beach, Fla.

Swinish Idea

Wouldn’t it be simpler and more edible to vaccinate all the hogs for swine influenza [April 5] instead of the entire American population?

Frank Haile Knoxville, Tenn.

Sic Semper Daley

Mayor Richard Daley of Chicago must be doing something right [March 29] if he continues to receive the support of the voters and the scorn of the liberal media.

Matthew T. Baker Elmsford, N. Y.

Cubans in Guyana

Your article “Castro’s Globetrotting Gurkhas” [Feb. 23] made reference to reports about the presence of Cuban troops in Guyana. I wish, with full authority of my government, to deny unequivocally that there have ever been or are now any Cuban troops whatever in Guyana.

Laurence E. Mann

Ambassador of the Republic of Guyana Washington, D.C.

TIME stands behind its report. Cuban military personnel are still in Guyana.