Dear Editor

...Mount Vernon New York Emanuel Dondy Director Mount Vernon Public Libraty Political Polo Andrew J Glass well captured the vicissitudes of the presidential race so far ("Carter Sounds the Trumpets," NL, January 28) His conclusion that "the one sure thing one can say' about the campaign is that nothing is certain, continues to be borne out by events Carter's bugle call before the joint session of Congress, after bringing them to their feet, unexpectedly signaled an end to the cease-fire on his foreign policy And not only on the Republican front Senator Kennedy, taking spirit like a true Irishman from his Iowa knock-down, delivered the first effective speech ol his campaign—perhaps of the campaign He even managed to force the President to admit that the U S couldn't defend the Persian Gulf alone at last, Kennedy scored a point The campaign has been as bewildering to follow as a water polo game, with all of the players competing not only against each other but against the awkward element in which they have had to move as well Still, it is being taken seriously by the voters as the unusually-large turnout in Iowa proved Perhaps the unpredictable has its virtues Brookline Mass Jeffrey Warnock THEY BECAME LEADERS BECAUSE YOU HELPED THEM FOLLOW A DREAM...

...For a long time there were far too few educated blacks in prominent positions for blacks to look up to Maybe, it was because for most blacks a college education was only a dream But fortunately, your contributions to the United Negro College Fund have enabled many blacks to follow that dream And to go on to become the kinds of leaders everyone can look up to When you give to the United Negro College Fund, you help support 41 private, predominantly black, four-year colleges and universities Colleges that produce thousands of black graduates each year, who go on to become doctors, lawyers, teachers, accountants, engineers, scientists People whose footsteps we can all follow in So support blackeducation because todays student may be tomorrows leader Send your check to the United Negro College Fund, Box L, 500 East 62nd St, New York, N Y 10021 We re not asking for a handout, just a hand GIVE TO THE UNITED NEGRO COLLEGE FUND...

...platform to denounce the United States m accordance with the words ot condemnation used at thai lime by the Communists, was awarded several Communist medals and honors, and upon his death w is given a state (uncial The New Leader welcomes comment and criticism on any of its features, but letters should not exceed 300 words That this route to a settlement is not so far-fetched was made clear again by an item in the January 21 issue of Newsweek, to the effect that the Communist leadership offered Chiang's son a deal whereby a statue to Chiang would be erected in Peking to honor him in return for reunification Though I have been ridiculed by many, 1 have stuck to my scenano of eventual reunification New York City Walter A Sheldon Free Libraries 1 have just finished reading Lawrence J White's article, "The Public Library—Free or Fee...

...A mind is a terrible thing to waste...

...Dear Editor Taiwan Challenge Donald Kirk's article ("Challenging the Nationalists in Taiwan," NL, January 14) is a classic example of biased reporting that cannot be squared with the facts in giving his version of the Kaohsiung riot of December 10 organized by the people of Formosa magazine and their cohorts, Kirk has deemed it fit to dignify the ringleaders as "a new opposition challenging the Nationalists in Taiwan " The fact of the matter is that they have been there all along, and they have been tolerated as long as their ulterior motive of inciting mob violence against lawfully-constituted authorities was concealed under the camouflage slogan of "movement for democracy " Basing his report on information garnered exclusively from Taiwan's dissidents, Kirk even went so far as to describe the not, which resulted in injuries to a large number of law-enforcement personnel, as "their climactic performance " Other journalists found it necessary to tell the truth, even though they might be sympathetic to the legitimate goals of democracy and human rights Phil Kurata, in his report to the Far Eastern Economic Review, published December 28 in Hong Kong, praised the government for its "forbearance and finesse," which avoided loss of life Characterizing the Kaohsiung not as the "most violent in Taiwan's recent history," he pointed out the crucial fact that "with 183 government security personnel injured, some seriously, there were no reports of injuries to rioters " Finally, Kirk's statement that the incident was "virtually unreported in the West" is also misleading As a matter of fact, many metropolitan papers in the United States have published reports about it New York City Te-cheng Chiang Director, Coordination-Council for North American Affairs Donald Kirk is currently traveling in Asia His reply to the letter from the representative of the Nationalist Chinese government in Taiwan will appear in a subsequent issue —Ed I have just finished reading with great interest Donald Kirk's article on "Challenging the Nationalists in Taiwan " I lived in China before the War and have been interested in Far Eastern affairs for over 50 years It has been my conviction tor some time that the Taiwan issue will be resolved as follows Rather than let Taiwan become independent or be ruled by Taiwanese Nationalists, the Chinese Nationalists on Taiwan will make a deal with Peking Alter all, both Communists and Nationalists have always agreed that Taiwan is Chinese The former Vice President ot China who fled the mainland with Chiang Kai-shek at the collapse of the Nationalists on the mainland, and who eventually Lame lo the United Slates and lived in suburban New York tor some 15 years, made his peace with Peking before he died In the mid-'60s, while we were still at odds with the Communists and did not know whether to say Peking or Perping, he flew to Hong Kong and then transferred to the mainland There he was received by the authorities, given...

...in the December 17, 1979 issue of The New Leader, to which our library subscribes It is clearly the best thing written on this important question and certainly the best case for the charging of library fees It should be brought to the attention of every librarian San Francisco Roberts Alvarez Library Administrator, City of South San Francisco Gerald W Johnson stated it so well when he said "From the standpoint of the public, underlying all these [library functions] and supporting them all is a function easy to name but capable of interpretation in as many ways as there are patrons of the library It is the function of an open door The public library is a way of escape from the narrow area of our individual lives into the field, finite, no doubt, but unbounded, of the wisdom and experience of all mankind It is not the only way of escape, but for the majority of us it is by far the widest and the easiest to pass through, thus the one that we should be most careful to keep open and free from impediments " Lawrence J White would fight for retrenchment by adding impediments because public libraries serve a minority of the population Is this the way to run a democracy...