Letters

SEX AND THE LAW

"Clinton is the true victim of harassment. He has come through with dignity and is better than those dedicated to destroying him." CHERRI DOHLEN Lake Placid, Fla.

Grownup men don't harass women, and mature women don't get harassed [CLINTON'S CRISES, March 23]. The real-life issue driving harassment is the abuse of power by men and women. Power is the temptress behind much of what is morally wrong in this world, whether it is abusing our children, harassing others or bullying a foreign country. HANNS J. KRISTEN San Anselmo, Calif.

I am a conflicted female supporter of the President's. The Kathleen Willey TV interview shifted my opinion. It now seems clear that independent counsel Kenneth Starr and Bill Clinton have found the perfect match for their seamier sides: Starr's need to play the Grand Inquisitor and Clinton's apparent inability to control his sexual appetite. It is an American tragedy writ large. ANNE S. WAGNER Cheyenne, Wyo.

It seems to me that it is Paula Jones who is harassing the President. She wasn't physically damaged, and in my opinion there is scant proof that she has suffered psychologically or economically. She is after fame and fortune, and you in the media have certainly helped her. This sexual-harassment thing is getting out of hand. When a construction crew whistles at a pretty girl, is that harassment? Men have been coming on to women ever since Adam and Eve. JAY LIVINGSTON Los Angeles

The whole Clinton, Jones, Willey and Monica Lewinsky situation is a horrible thing for the U.S. It could have long-term impact. Enough is enough! JUDY DAY St. Paul, Minn.

I am a healthy 37-year-old male who probably has as much lust for women as Bill Clinton does. But I have enough respect for the opposite sex and enough common sense to keep my hands to myself. If I or any other ordinary man were accused of the charges leveled against the President, I would be in handcuffs faster than you can say "Kathleen Willey." Yet Clinton is free to do as he pleases and remains immensely popular despite the scandals. MARK STUART ELLISON New York City

If lawyers and the media would stop offering these women interviews, instant fame, money and book deals, maybe we could put an end to this and restore dignity to the White House. MARJORIE A. CLAUSEN Santa Barbara, Calif.

Will every male member of Congress please stand up and swear under oath that he has never had sex outside of marriage, never made a pass at a woman, never told a dirty joke in mixed company, never asked a subordinate to have a cocktail and never winked at anyone? You wanna see some perjury? PAT PARRISH Los Angeles

What has evolved in the Jones case is not vindication of the legal principle that no one is above the law and that the ordinary citizen ought to have a day in court. Instead, it is the fundamental error of judgment shown by the Supreme Court in ruling against the appeal by the President for a delay in the trial until he is out of office. Certainly, the dignity and sovereignty of the office of the President should not have been allowed to be so terribly besmirched. (THE REV.) RALSTON B. NEMBHARD Orlando, Fla.

In this generation, when equal footing in the workplace for men and women is a constant concern, why is sexual harassment still viewed as one-sided? There must be some records or statistics on women's harassing men and on same-sex harassment. Your article recounts in great detail the problems faced by women in harassment cases, but these are issues faced by both sexes, not just by women, as a recent court case showed. LAURENCE SPITZER Holliston, Mass.

You reported at length about the difficulty of proving sexual harassment. This might discourage some women and men from stepping forward when they are put in painful or hostile situations. A hands-off policy is the only one that can be maintained between two individuals when one is a manager and the other an employee. It applies to touching of the body as well as demands for friendship in situations where a spurned advance might jeopardize one's employment. People should not act in such ways. We have worked hard to arrive at a point where we take seriously threats to the mental equilibrium of a worker. A dignified work relationship requires reserve and courtesy. Simple human decency forbids the exercise of power to punish one who refuses to become the victim of the desires of another person. BENET DAVETIAN Montreal

The U.S. has turned the life of its President into a ridiculous soap opera. MARCUS W. KNEEN Benoni, South Africa

CLARIFICATION

In our piece on Federal Judge Norma Holloway Johnson [NATION, March 16], we reported remarks suggesting that she would hold William Ginsburg, attorney for Monica Lewinsky, in contempt for speaking about his client in public. Ginsburg says this did not occur. TIME regrets mischaracterizing these remarks.

CRITICAL OF THE COVERAGE

We've heard enough about Clinton and sex [CLINTON'S CRISES, March 23]. There are more important problems. He is a regular human being who has a private life just like anyone. RAPHAEL SHEINBERG Brussels

You've put the Clinton sex scandals on the cover too many times. The tabloids can cover this kind of thing. The Kosovo situation is threatening to thrust the Balkans (and the whole world) back into war, but you give it scant coverage. Which of the two is more important? RUTGER THIJSSEN, age 13 Hilversum, the Netherlands

The articles about Clinton's sexual adventures make me realize how profound and idiotic is the American hypocrisy about morality. Are Americans aware of such a thing as a right to privacy and intimacy? MARIA EUFROSINA GUZMAN Pamplona, Spain

America, I admire your excellent doctors and universities. But I'm ashamed of you for pillorying the office of the President. Has your President stolen public money? Has he murdered, raped or taken bribes? Surely those are the kinds of issues you should be investigating. LOIS MICHELE YOUNG Belize City, Belize

President Clinton may be a careless man, but he does not deserve all this torture and humiliation, especially from a hypocritical and sinful society. IFEANYI T. OGBONNA Port Harcourt, Nigeria

Starr, Jones, Willey et al. are part of a pro-Clinton conspiracy. The more they attack the President, the higher his approval ratings go. IRV ELMAN Pacific Palisades, Calif.

What we should demand from politicians is integrity and honesty. I couldn't care less if Clinton has slept with women other than his wife. Although he is a public figure, the man has a right to privacy. I am more concerned about whether Clinton asked Lewinsky to commit perjury. If he did, then he is lacking in integrity and honesty. That makes him a person the American people cannot trust. But if all he is guilty of is a libido in overdrive, let's leave him in peace! FARHANA SHARMEEN Dhaka

PAGLIA'S PERSPECTIVE

I thoroughly enjoyed humanities professor Camille Paglia's commentary on how suits charging a "hostile environment" in the workplace have got out of hand [VIEWPOINT, March 23]. I fully support fair practices for working men and women, but the business world is not a perfect place. It was built on competition, human communications, flexibility and risk. Men as well as women have had to endure hardships and personal challenges to succeed. Both men and women should exhibit tact and professionalism toward those with whom they work. And women in the workplace need to toughen their attitudes and demonstrate their ability to function in a variety of situations. KYLE CHERITON Tokyo

ANOTHER MAKEOVER FOR PINOCHET

Making Augusto Pinochet Ugarte a member of Chile's Senate [NOTEBOOK, March 23] is a cheap price to pay for the future complete normalization of Chilean democracy. In 1970 Salvador Allende was elected President, not by the people but by the Senate. Allende was a Marxist-Leninist, but presumably he believed that democracy was the preferred means for political and social change. Still, under Allende, there were severe violations of human rights, and political dissidents were put in jail simply for speaking the truth. Very few have the moral right to judge the Chilean transition process, and some observers are making inferences that have no basis in fact. For the majority, Pinochet is the past, and people don't really care whether he is the commander in chief or a Senator. He only has a meaning for the extreme right and left. We have complete confidence in our country, government and armed forces. J.F. CONCHA Santiago

If everything had continued the way it was in Chile under Allende and there had been no Pinochet, we Chileans would have been the victims of a national educational system aimed at training a future generation of Chilean communists according to Marxist rules. Our parents would not have been able to bring up their children according to their own principles and convictions. Without Pinochet, I would not be a Catholic, a believer in democracy or the free thinker that I am today. M. CRISTINA VALENZUELA DE DOMIC Sao Paulo

There are still people who can recognize an unquestionable and remarkable leader like Pinochet, who freed Chile from the oppressive arms of communism and socialism. Here is a leader who prevented the killing of people whose only crime was working hard, a leader who brought back peace and stability to a desperate society, a leader who masterminded the remarkable recovery of an economy that most specialists saw as completely paralyzed and ruined. MARCO MONTALBETTI Santiago

CHINA'S NEW BROOM

You have predicted quite accurately the challenges faced by Zhu Rongji in the years ahead [WORLD, March 16] as China's new Premier. But Zhu's greatest strength is also his weakness. He has Western fans who admire his grasp of detail, but he has only narrow support in China's bureaucracy. Leftists do not like his familiarity with market economics. Conservatives accuse him of neglecting inland provinces, and the Young Turks of Beijing are jealous of his rapid rise. All these factors make Zhu less threatening and more acceptable to President and party leader Jiang Zemin. Also, one needs to consider what will happen to those who push reforms faster than the party elders want. Two very powerful leaders were removed from the scene in the past 10 years because they moved too quickly to enact reforms. MOHSIN A. VAHIDY Karachi

Many political analysts speculate that Zhu Rongji is the emerging "strong Premier" for China. There is no doubt that he has demonstrated a flair for the job. But his political ambitions require more than being a strong Premier. His efforts to downsize the government will definitely be met with firm resistance from a wide range of bureaucrats. The nation today is not like the China of old, when the one-man shows of Mao and Deng could be played on the political stage. To succeed nowadays, top leaders need to demonstrate unity and abandon political juggling. JEAN K. LAM Hong Kong

Not only is Zhu Rongji an economic wizard, but he is also most definitely a personality. At a gathering I attended this year, he captivated a crowd of Chinese businessmen and government leaders during a half-hour talk on everything from Beijing bureaucracy to environmental protection and China's commitment not to devalue its currency. He tackled silly as well as serious subjects. Economic and political wizards are a dime a dozen, but few can cast serious problems in so humorous a light--and move the audience not only to laugh but also to do something. I hope the 69-year-old straight-shooting, side-splitting Premier is around for a long time to come. WILLIAM N. BROWN Xiamen, China

TECH MANAGERS LOOK BAD

Bill Gates' problems go beyond antitrust actions [TECHNOLOGY, March 16]. He has forgotten the true needs of his customers. Time and again, Microsoft (and many other software companies, for that matter) pushes products aimed not at better serving the customers but at maximizing earnings. New versions of software become weapons of war for gaining market share, instead of friendly tools for the users. Those of us who are company information-technology managers find ourselves having to deal with bugs in hastily manufactured products, with the cost of training and retraining and with the all too frequent need to buy updates of the same product. That makes bosses view tech managers as big spenders. How long can this go on? CY C. CHEN Taipei

COULD DIANA HAVE BEEN SAVED?

Perhaps Diana's tragic death bears closer examination than some of your readers' letters would suggest [LETTERS, March 16]. As a cardiac surgeon, I would think that the way Diana was cared for should be scrutinized, especially if she was alive for well over an hour after the accident and did not suffer a head injury. There are some injuries for which immediate surgery is an essential part of the process of resuscitation. If patients with injuries such as those Diana suffered were cared for in the same way she was, all would die, when, in fact, rapid surgery could save some of these victims. I shall always have a sense of unease that Diana could have been saved. I hope the French medical community will again look at its protocols for trauma management, which seem at some variance with successful ones used in other countries. RUSSELL MILLNER, M.D. Blackpool, England

DRIVING LIKE IDIOTS

I was relieved to read Andrew Ferguson's piece on road rage and how automobile drivers lose control and act out behind the wheel [SOCIETY, Jan. 12]. He couldn't have better summarized the state of mind of the average driver. It is all because of the never ending stress of everyday life. Jobs are getting more competitive, and life-styles are changing. Scary, but it's what is happening. Driving like idiots is just one way of expressing it! ADNAN SHAIKH ALI Karachi

STANDING TALL

I was intrigued by your article on U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan [WORLD, March 9]. In most south Indian dialects, annan means elder brother, someone who is older and definitely wiser. A vintage meaning, perhaps, but it is a deserved honorific for one who stands taller and sees farther than most of us. In these days of shortsighted one-upmanship, it is comforting to know we have such annans to care for us. May I take the liberty of calling the U.N. leader annan just once with the flavor of meaning of my mother tongue? UNNIKRISHNAN K. PANICKAR Kerala, India

PATTERN FOR ALL SEASONS

El Nino is as natural a pattern as are the seasons [SCIENCE, Feb. 16], since it is not produced by human actions. But global warming has an effect on El Nino, because it influences the climate of the whole earth and enforces natural extremes, droughts as well as floods. Temperature differences increase, and that causes more and heavier storms and other natural catastrophes. You have to pay attention to all the connections in climate because everything is related. You cannot separate one phenomenon from the climate as a whole. THOMAS FEHER and BENJAMIN GREIFF Dresden, Germany

WE AREN'T MUCH GOOD, ANYWAY

Re Lewis Grossberger's amusing commentary [ESSAY, March 23] on the mistaken announcement by astronomers that a "Giant Killer Asteroid" is streaking toward Earth: Wouldn't it be great if more people agreed with Grossberger that we earthlings have really not accomplished much and "the end of civilization as we know it isn't such a bad idea"? We could take his advice and issue press releases saying, "Hey, we gave it our best shot, but we really weren't up to this existence business. So, we're outta here." Deep inside, you know who you are. ALAN REID Abbeydale, England

DEATH BY ASTEROID?

The chances that anyone will die from an asteroid collision with Earth are close to zero [SPACE, March 23]. Perhaps we should take a look at another threat to countless lives, the nuclear bombs around the world. What would happen if one of those went off? NATHAN S. VAN CUREN Maryville, Tenn.

Re the cosmic false alarm: If aliens are benevolent, maybe they can save us from any asteroid crashes! DAVID BENSCH Mount Vernon, Wash.

SUHARTO GOES IT ALONE

Thanks for a balanced article on Indonesia's economic crisis [WORLD, March 23]. Fifty years ago, we Indonesians won independence, 20 years later we kicked out the Communist Party, and for 30 years we have been marching steadily toward prosperity. Then came the crisis. If we want to survive, we will have to follow the International Monetary Fund's prescriptions. But the conditions set by the IMF are not entirely fair. If we adhere to them completely, our economy will be the most open one in the world, but it will be controlled by the big, financially powerful multinational corporations. There will not be much left of Indonesian independence. Some people think we let President Suharto stay in power out of fear, but the real reason is that we knew he would deliver on his promises. Now we are not so sure. RAHMAD DESMI Sangatta, Indonesia

President Suharto is testing the patience of Asians. If Indonesia goes down, there will be a devastating effect on the rest of Asia. We have seen Asian currencies dip every time he speaks of maintaining his anachronistic economic policies. The Indonesian economy is at the crisis stage, and international cooperation is crucial. Although President Suharto may be able to turn a blind eye to his people's demands, he cannot escape global economic realities. KOSHIRO YAMAOKA Bangkok

PROBLEMS WITH BIGGER BANKS

The real trouble with bank mergers [BUSINESS, March 23] is the concentration of wealth in a few places. If one of these new megabanks makes a large error, such as unsecured loans overseas, a sizable percentage of U.S. wealth could be endangered. Some will say, "It can't happen." People said exactly the same thing in 1931 and 1932! JOHN L. DUNHAM Dayton, Ohio

Regular banking activities like customer contact are a rare commodity these days. Although a community bank is much needed, it is a hassle to find one in the postmerger world. I used to be able to call someone at my local bank branch if I had a problem. After my bank merged, the only way I could contact someone was via fax! And now fees have been raised and new ones introduced. The other banks in the area are even worse. Guess I'll have to get used to dealing with the best of the worst. YOGESH KAVITA Schaumburg, Ill.

YOU CAN ALSO CALL HER AN ACTRESS

I'm the "professional dog walker" whose quote about gasoline prices you used in your Verbatim section [NOTEBOOK, March 23]. For the record, your reference should have been to "her tank," not "his tank." And for my mother's sake, I should have hyphenated my dog-walking occupation with "professional actress." After all, residuals bring in almost as much income as my Monday-through-Friday dog-walking clients. COLEY SOHN Venice, Calif.

TEXACO RESPONDS

Roberts v. Texaco by Bari-Ellen Roberts and Jack E. White and your excerpt of it [BUSINESS, March 16] contain numerous factual inaccuracies that present a distorted picture of the events surrounding the racial-discrimination class action of former Texaco senior financial analyst Roberts and other black employees. We feel it is not productive to launch a debate over the facts surrounding these incidents from the past. However, there ought to be a discussion of the questionable conduct of the plaintiffs' attorneys, who knew there was significant doubt as to whether there were racial epithets on the tapes but who filed inaccurate transcripts with the court and leaked the tapes to the media anyway.

In the immediate aftermath, Texaco received significant adverse publicity and suffered considerable damage to our reputation. We settled the case; it was the right thing to do for our employees and shareholders. In the past two years Texaco has made progress in advancing our goals of ensuring fairness and opportunity for all employees, initiatives that were under way well before the settlement of the lawsuit. We are proud of these accomplishments and of the commitment and integrity of our employees. PETER I. BIJUR, Chairman and CEO Texaco Inc. White Plains, N.Y.

On the basis of their research, Roberts and White do not believe that the plaintiffs' attorneys acted improperly in any way.