Letters, Oct. 9, 1978

(2 of 3)

Let's get down to insisting on speedy and certain punishment—that is psychologically sound and socially just to both offender and victim. For truly dangerous and vile criminals, let the punishment be prison, never capital punishment. Let's assign other offenders to labor and service to the community. This kind of loss of liberty and leisure is punishment; yet the offender would be making some kind of social retribution. Please, let's not build any more jails.

Katherine Koenig Jesuit Volunteer Corps Baltimore

Opportunities

Your story on the "$30,000 Diplomas" [Sept. 11] interested me because the proceeds of those tuitions are used by my colwould be overlooking his primary duty to provide a steady flow of reliable products at competitive prices and still maintain the high standards of quality and service required for efficient operation.

Peter A. Kersten Nashville

Nicaragua's Plight

Your report about Nicaragua's situation [Sept. 11] describes the heroic fight of an entire people on their way to freedom. Call them Sandinistas or rebels, all of them are heroes and are working to make their country free, not a family farm any more.

Humberto Moya Mórux Alajuela, Costa Rica

Somoza's dictatorship defies our philosophy of human rights, but the first principle of our foreign policy must be the security of the U.S. If we jeopardize our own security by permitting Communist bases around us, no freedom and no human rights will be safe in any country of the world.

Aldo Cammarota Los Angeles

Well, look who gave asylum to the Nicaraguan guerrillas: the new owners of the Panama Canal. Yes, the people of Nicaragua cheer the guerrillas, but that is only because the devil they have is the only problem they can see.

William Dyer Billerica, Mass.

The Plague

In your review of Barbara Tuchman's book A Distant Mirror [Sept. 18], you mention that it was widely believed at the time that the bubonic plague of the 14th century was caused by poison put into the wells by Jews.

In his book, Magic, Myth and Medicine, Dr. Donald Atkinson describes how Balavignus, a Jewish doctor in the Strasbourg area, "following the sanitary laws set down by Leviticus . . . had all refuse burned. Naturally the rats left the ghettos and gravitated to gentile quarters in search of food. The Jews consequently suffered less from the disease than did their Christian neighbors . . . This was so noticeable that the Jews at once fell under suspicion." So the Christians murdered nearly all of the Jewish population.

Mary Beillen Chicago

A Sinking Ship

It is naive to assume that U.S. corporations are desegregating their South African operations [Sept. 18] out of concern for the welfare of their nonwhite workers. If this were the case, we would have seen Sullivan codes decades ago. The real reason is that American executives recognize apartheid as the sinking ship it is and seek to put just enough distance between themselves and the South African government to avoid going under with it.

Loren Davidson Chicago

The U.S. companies in South Africa present a continuous driving force in the fight against apartheid. They give blacks a fair chance in a country where fair chances have been rare.

John Goff Tiburon, Calif.