Letters: Jun. 27, 1983

Stress!

To the Editors:

Your cover story [June 6] is excellent but hard for me to relate to. I am an unemployed college teacher and have been such for the past eight months. The first example in your article is that of a managerial-class businessman who is working and has job-related difficulties. That man doesn't know how lucky he is. You seem to concentrate on those who are able to afford anxiety. What about the rest of us? For those of us who are poor and out of work, corporate stress is a luxury.

Alan Sondheim Kingston, Pa.

I took your test "How Vulnerable Are You to Stress?" All I could come up with was a score of 5, meaning almost not at all. I did not realize how nearly perfect my life really is.

Florence F. Wiggans La Jolla, Calif.

The assumption underlying your story is that stress is a given for our culture. That is not true. We have chosen to have a society with fierce competition, jammed freeways and "social mobility." I am a therapist and frequently feel disheartened while teaching relaxation exercises to people who work at intolerable jobs or lead lonely lives. Stress control is just another way to help us tolerate the loss of human and spiritual values.

Marilyn Sewell Lexington, Ky.

Before going to bed, I read your article on stress, then I lay awake worrying about it. I see what you mean.

Rod Chandler, U.S. Representative Eighth District, Washington Washington, D.C.

Turmoil in Central America

The current U.S. policy toward our southern neighbors is not new [June 6]; we have used it before. For the sake of American business interests and the political stability needed to ensure their profits, we have denied support to legitimately elected governments and popular revolutions, causing them to turn elsewhere for help. Then we shake an accusing finger in their faces as we staunchly affirm our resistance to Communist incursions.

Francis Marks Denver

The domino theory, often discussed during the Viet Nam War, is even more of a reality today. The Third World and underdeveloped countries are the immediate prey of the Soviet Union. The security of the free world is being threatened to a frightening degree. Both covert and overt aid should be given by the free governments to all nations that find themselves the targets of Soviet meddling in their affairs.

Christopher Faby Jessup, Md.

In your article on the death of U.S. Adviser Albert Schaufelberger III in San Salvador, you say that U.S. officials call servicemen in El Salvador trainers because the word advisers evokes memories of Viet Nam. Actions speak louder than words, however. U.S. officials will have to do more than change the terminology to hide the similarities.

Pamela E. Nuesseler San Diego

President Reagan said, "I do not believe that a majority of Congress or the country is prepared to stand by passively while the people of Central America are delivered to totalitarianism." Why not? He seems to have been willing to accept arrests of political dissidents and the lack of free elections in countries like Chile and Argentina.

John F. Grabowska Granada, Spain

Bankers' Blitz on Withholding Tax