Letters, Oct. 15, 1979

(3 of 4)

Your article on Air New England Sept. 24] is a subject close to my heart. The phrase cavalier attitude is one that I have used in reference to the several ticket agents it has been my misfortune to deal with. Indeed, I have seen people so angry that they seemed ready to punch the agent. I have been told by a snotty agent to "take another airline" if I didn't like the way they did things, while I overheard another agent say that she didn't "give a damn" if my bag was on the plane or not. Good God! They ought to pay us for flying with them.

Peter B. Mersky

Reston, Va.

My husband is a "regular" summer weekend commuter—regularly late. We fondly refer to the airline as "Scare New England."

Suzanne H. Kraft

Pittsburgh

You fail to mention the improvements in Air New England since 1970. I can remember flying reconditioned World War II DC-3s and hoping I would get to Cape Cod on the same day I took off. These conditions no longer exist, except in the case of fog, and if there is a delay at least it is on a much more comfortable plane.

Pent Markowitz

Briarcliff Manor, N. Y.

Strategic Positions

The Americans negotiate, the Soviets act. These are the strategic positions of the two world powers at the moment. The presence of the Soviets in Cuba [Sept. 17] is downgraded by the White House. Carter intends to solve the problem diplomatically. But what the Americans want to show as sensitive diplomacy looks weak and planless to Europeans.

Michael C. Bauer

Kronberg, West Germany

Terrorists or Heroes?

TIME's article on the freeing of the four Puerto Rican Nationalists [Sept. 17] twice referred to them as "terrorists." The Nationalists were received in Puerto Rico as what they are: first-class heroes of a great historical cause. True terrorists cause meaningless death and destruction, and hide as they commit their acts. The Nationalists were willing to give their lives, and committed their revolutionary acts for the whole world to see.

Jorge Toro

Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico

According to your article, freeing the Nationalists "could help Carter politically among Hispanic voters in both Puerto Rico and the U.S." The real issue should not have been the possible political benefit for President Carter, but the fact that by keeping Puerto Rico a colony, the U.S. is internationally considered an imperialistic power. It is not only a mater of freeing four Puerto Rican Nationalists but of freeing all Puerto Rico, of recognizing Puerto Rico as a sovereign nation.

Eladio Rodriguez-Marxuach

Cambridge, Mass.

The Seberg Case

About the FBI's attempts to discredit with a planted rumor Actress Jean Seberg [Sept. 24]: How many more outrages and assaults on decency approved by the late director of the FBI must be revealed before we decide as a nation that the FBI temple in Washington needs to be renamed? The name J. Edgar Hoover has become synonymous with slander, intrigue, pettiness and uncivility.

Ted M. Benson

Colorado Springs, Colo.