Letters: Mar. 4, 2002

Hope and Glory

It thrilled me to see that the figure skater gracing your cover was New York's own Sarah Hughes [OLYMPIC PREVIEW, Feb. 11]. I attended the 1999 World Championships in Helsinki and saw the then 13-year-old Hughes mesmerize the crowd with her performance. She is a gracious yet tough competitor and a great role model. BONNIE HOLZER New York City

Hughes is a very talented skater, but she has not yet developed the beauty and grace that Michelle Kwan has. And she has certainly not developed the ability to control what she says to the press. Her comment that Kwan is "just another competitor" was ludicrous. Remarks like that will not endear her to skating fans. Hughes has to show she has class as well as talent. LANA EDWARDS Delray Beach, Fla.

You highlighted figure skating, but why put only one contender on the cover? Why not all three--especially Michelle Kwan? What does it take for an Asian-American athlete to get some attention? Isn't Kwan's story exciting enough? I'm outraged by how Asian Americans get ripped off in the media. What must we do to show that we exist? YVONNE CHANG South El Monte, Calif.

How sad to read that skater Sasha Cohen finds it necessary to psyche out and distract her opponents by clipping them during warm-ups and using mental tactics to win. Cohen's lack of sportsmanship in her zest to be No. 1 leaves the viewer wondering whether it is cunning or ability that brings home the gold. MARJORIE A. CLAUSEN Santa Barbara, Calif.

You seem to have missed the mark with your Olympic preview. I noticed skiing, skating, snowboarding, the skeleton, sledding (men's and women's) and then men's hockey. What happened to the 1998 gold-medal-winning U.S. women's ice-hockey team? They are a talented group of athletes who train as hard as anyone else going to the Olympics. KAREN SOLOMON Worcester, Mass.

--The cover photo of soaring skater Sarah Hughes was far too revealing for some of you. "Once again, a picture of a female figure skater with her skirt up," complained an Oregonian. "Can't you guys come up with a better pose?" "You chose a camera angle that's used to photograph cheerleaders on Monday Night Football," wrote a California woman, adding, "It should be an honor to be on the cover of TIME, but the shot you used is a disgrace."

What Sets Mormons Apart

Your article "The drive for a new Utah" [OLYMPIC PREVIEW, Feb. 11] brilliantly captured the state's extreme social and political dynamic. As a nonpracticing member of a Mormon family with a long pioneer heritage, I've been on both sides of the Mormon-non-Mormon divide in Utah. Since returning to the D.C. area, however, I find myself explaining, more often than I'd like, a religion I do not believe in. Now when confronted with such questions as "How many wives does your father have?" I will simply refer people to your exceptional article and save myself an argument. KRISTEN L. BARLOW Washington

The clannishness that we Mormons are always accused of exists everywhere to some degree because religion is a big part of the social fabric of a community. Being a non-Mormon in Utah is like being a non-Baptist in Virginia Beach, Va., or a gentile in a Jewish neighborhood in New York City. ART J. VANTIELEN Murray, Utah

Talking Tough