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Is high culture dead in America? Or have TIME's aesthetic taste buds gone dead? If all you can offer for "The Best Theater of 1996" is Rent as an updated opera, then American culture has indeed taken a dive. And as far as music is concerned, what happened to the brilliant performances of Wagner's Ring at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, or other noteworthy performances? How can watered-down rap as performed by the Fugees define what our culture should aspire to? Taste notwithstanding, you have completely ignored whole artistic genres. Your selection of the best should cover more than just pop culture. ALEXANDER J. WAYNE Chicago
I do not greatly admire Bob Dole, nor did I vote for him, but your insensitive feature photograph of his embarrassing pratfall--with his maimed hand outstretched and pain evident in his face--was one of your worst public performances of 1996. JEAN HALL Rye, New York
CHILDREN MARCHING TO WORK
Would Barbara Ehrenreich's satirical commentary about a toy company and child labor [ESSAY, Dec. 23] have a happier ending if multinational firms fired their child workers? Has Ehrenreich considered that the children are working not because they are forced to but for some other reason? In developing countries today, child income is necessary for a family's survival, as it was in the U.S. in the past. For my part, I find child labor a lesser evil than child starvation. ROBERT S. CARR Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan
GULF WAR FALLOUT
Five and a half years ago, as the American Legion first noticed an unusual pattern of illness among our Gulf War vets, we made an observation that Mark Thompson only mentioned in his article on Persian Gulf War syndrome [NATION, Dec. 23]. It was clear to us that a variety of factors had to be making our veterans ill. Not every sick vet was in the same place at the same time. In fact, significant numbers left the Middle East before the war started or arrived there some time after the fighting stopped.
We've long pressured the Pentagon to come clean with its information about the possibility of chemical exposure. We've heard too many credible stories to ignore, from vets with firsthand information. While we're glad that a glaring gap in the record is being filled and that researchers are taking their first serious look at the long-term consequences of exposure to low levels of chemical munitions, we must return to first principles. The "syndrome" is a beast with many heads. It's not likely that one factor--even exposure to chemical weapons-- caused all the illness we see among our newest group of U.S. veterans. Quick answers are unlikely. Meanwhile, we must honor this nation's commitment to care for people with lingering health problems that have come about as a result of their military service. JOHN F. SOMMER JR., Executive Director American Legion Washington
The Pentagon is not an individual and therefore cannot make decisions; only individuals within the Pentagon can. If there is a cover-up, you have to look no further than the two commanders who were in charge when the cover-up began, Day One of the war. PHILIP W. ALLEN London, Arkansas
VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE