Letters: Apr. 29, 1985

(3 of 4)

Touch of Nostalgia

I was touched to see the reproduction of TIME'S 1923 cover picture of Actress Ina Claire [MILESTONES, March 4]. I designed the first cover of TIME, including the decorative border and the logo. Gordon C. Aymar South Kent, Conn.

Disputed Falklands

Argentine President Raúl Alfonsín misreads the Falkland Islands dispute [WORLD, April 1]. The problem is not Britain's Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher but the Falkland Islanders, who rejected Argentine sovereignty and chose to remain under British rule. The days are gone when territories can be traded and fought over without regard for the inhabitants' wishes. Gary P. Peschell Toronto

Slight Overcharge

The defense contractors who submit such high bills to the Government are not entirely to blame for the cost overruns [NATION, April 8]. The Department of Defense must share some of the responsibility. Government officials, knowing there will be overruns, are accepting these incredibly low bids simply to justify their own budgets and existence. Scott Hibben San Diego

As a former supervisor in cost estimating for a large aerospace company, I am tired of hearing uninformed gibes about $400 hammers and $600 toilet-seat covers. It is invalid to judge the price of a hammer out of context. Sometimes certain design and manufacturing costs may be allocated to the hammer for the tool kit the hammer is part of. I am sure that the designer of the toilet-seat cover made the trade-off of lighter weight for greater cost. That fact alone invalidates any comparison with a department-store counterpart. In addition, the cover was made in limited quantities, not in millions, thus precluding the economies of mass production and further invalidating the comparison. Ernest J. Honigmann St. Louis

Word Worries

You should take heed of your own article on journalese [ESSAY, March 18] and publish an issue without using the word "moreover." You use this meaningless word so often it is nauseating. Bob Boyd Trail, Ore.

Your story on the succession problem in the Soviet Union [WORLD, Feb. 11] refers to a "10-ft.-high cement wall." I have often taken delight in TIME's lively and inventive use of the English language, but you have been allowing "cement" to creep into the place where "concrete" should be used. D. Rad Whitehead Collingwood, Ont. Indeed, cement and concrete are not the same thing. Cement is an ingredient used in making concrete. Concrete is concrete and never cement.

lacocca's Record

Your celebration of Lee Iacocca, "I Gotta Tell Ya" [NATION, April 1], needed some limits. Apparently the Chrysler boss "forgotta told ya" about his fathering of the Pinto, with its dangerous fuel tank, and his decisive opposition, along with Henry Ford II, to the Nixon Administration proposal to require automatic crash- protection systems, including air bags, in automobiles.

Iacocca's sensitivity did not improve much after his move to Chrysler. He continues to oppose the superior air-bag alternative to shoulder harnesses. And Lee is still seething over losing his battle with the Reagan Administration to stop the Government from cashing in over $200 million in Chrysler warrants, which the Government obtained as a quid pro quo for its loan guarantee in the bailout of Chrysler. Ralph Nader Washington, D.C.