LETTERS

...rather, they distort the economy and ultimately have to be abandoned, either explicitly or (as in communist countries) tacitly...

...MONA YACOUBIAN Bethesda, Maryland Constructive backstabbing Over the past several years, you have pointed out the degree to which the parochial points of view of the military services have militated against the adoption of cheaper and more effective weapons systems and overall efficiency of the defense effort...

...Given the extent of the bureaucracy, districts would prefer it that way...

...FRANK E. G. WEIL Washington, D.C...

...and volunteers assisted victims of Hurricane Alicia through the disaster assistance program...

...Although we were granted injunctive relief at the trial, I have yet to be compensated for my work...

...Lastly, people do learn...

...volunteers provide legal counseling on a regular basis at senior citizen's centers and the women's crisis center...

...I suggest that, on a round-robin basis, each service supply personnel to the others...

...A TelLaw program allows people to get general information via telephone at no charge...

...Some examples: The present military justice system pits members of the same service against each other: one set of officers tries to convict the accused, a second set tries to defend him/her, while a third set tries to play the neutral role of judge...

...At the time I suspected the classes would be of little help...

...The transition to paying market rates for money hurts, but why should borrowers get another subsidy, on top of the tax subsidies they already receive (and which have just been repealed for savers before they ever got them...

...In spite of your repeated assertions that lawyers contribute nothing worthwhile to our society, I find much to be proud of in the work of lawyers in my community, who have taken the initiative seeking ways to provide legal services to those who need them regardless of financial ability...

...All but one of these programs were started locally by members of the county bar association...

...She gave up fighting a system that didn't recognize her true worth, a system that not only doesn't recognize excellence, but applauds mediocrity...

...There is the matter of fairness, of course—why single out this aspect of our economic system...

...There is hardly a pleasure in life equal to hearing the "Oh, I get it...

...Anyone would confess rather than suffer the agony of bland lectures and banal textbooks...

...As a fifthgrade teacher in a smaller city at the other end of the country, I feel an affinity with her...

...At the same time, a teenage mother accustomed to earning her daily bread would have a much better chance of recognizing and using job or educational opportunities...

...At first I thought you were kidding, but the tone is not humorous, so you must believe it would be of value...

...Lay off lawyers I confess I postponed renewing my subscription because each month's issue carries such derogatory comments about lawyers...

...The case took considerable time (not to mention expense) to prepare for trial...

...Districts rarely know who the teachers are, and if they do, they aren't letting on...

...The most appropriate use for these classes would be as a method of torture by a ruthless Third World dictator...

...My students know I'm a good teacher, but they don't decide how much my salary will be...

...If the defendant is Army, the Army should retain the prosecutorial function but the defense should come, say, from the Navy and the military judge from the Air Force...

...Or is there, perhaps, some hidden history I'm unaware of...

...If, however, each service's IG personnel was drawn from one of the other two services, each IG would be happily investigating, ensuring that misdeeds received salutary publicity, and letting the chips fall where they may because these chips would not be touching his own service...

...CHARAK Olympia, Washington Tell it to the Marines Cliches often pass for wisdom...

...I love my work...

...Where is the encouragement to do well...

...While I have not yet figured out how the same principle could be applied to procurement and to the manner in which each service tries to safeguard its own role in the teeth of innovation and progress—see the story on the Israeli drone aircraft ["The Army's $800,000 Model Airplane," Gregg Easterbrook, July/August]—I am sure there is a way to do this...

...It seems to me that these my-service-first attitudes could be put to constructive use...

...Still, a vast amount of time is spent dealing with regulations about free lunches, countless announcements, and forms...

...They have learned that the best watchdog comes from the opposition and not from someone who feels that any activity in the watchdog role marks him as a poor team player...

...Indeed it was the reluctance of the Maronites to share the wealth—their greed—which most certainly hastened the religious and political warfare in Lebanon...

...I know of no other profession where one can be compelled to work for no pay...

...the Lawyers' Referral Service allows consultation for a nominal fee...

...RICHARD L. HARWOOD Washington, D.C...

...While the Army prosecutor may see himself as upholding the honor of the Army by seeking a conviction, the Navy defense attorney can see himself as giving the Army a black eye by working hard for an acquittal, whereas the Air Force military judge can feel benevolently neutral in a fight between members of two other services...

...such a ceiling would aggravate the problem...

...In fairness, however, I wish you would lighten up, and at least occasionally comment on the good things lawyers do in representing people who have legitimate grievances that need to be heard...

...I do not, however, appreciate being the rope in a tug-of-war that occurs because of the whims of a few, or the political moodswings of the nation, or an unrelenting bureaucracy...

...However you seemed to have overlooked the belt of poverty—populated by Lebanese Shiite Muslims—encircling this island...

...The British Parliament puts the committee that deals with the way money has been spent under the chairmanship of a member of the Opposition...

...A well-run day-care center would be a healthier environment for a child than at "home" with an isolated and rather incapable teenager...

...Like other teachers, I was subjected to the useless parade of certification classes...

...Instead of praise, teachers are accused of perpetrating and perpetuating all of the ills of society...

...Last year I was appointed to represent inmates who had grievances about the operation of the county jail...

...They can't help reduce the amount of paperwork, though they know it needs to be done...

...I must disagree with the conclusion you draw in "Tilting at Windmills" (July/August) that "greed is not the dominant motive in human beings ." For it is precisely this most base quality of human naturegreed—which drove the Maronites in Lebanon to cling so tenaciously to the money and power they were amassing in the early seventies.The "island of peace and prosperity" was just that . . . for the blessed few...

...from students who finally understand a concept I've introduced...

...A mediocre teacher goes unnoticed...

...it means less work for them...

...Since they all wear the same uniform, one may well doubt the zeal with which defense attorneys and judges pursue objectives that the hierarchy involved appears not to desire to have accomplished...

...It is inappropriate, however, for the underclass of unwed teenage mothers who go direct from high school to welfare, leaving their hopelessly disadvantaged children totally unexposed to the world of productive work...

...have a poor record of defending stationary positions!' Where was that record compiled—at Wake Island, Guadalcanal, Khe Sanh, Con Thien...

...Each service has an inspector general who is torn between his role as an investigator and enforcer on one hand and his desire to keep his service from getting a black eye based on over-zealous investigation or too much publicity...

...You put price controls on the cost of money, and that money will go into real estate (wonderful tax breaks there, including "depreciation" on property that is steadily increasing in value), collectibles, anything rather than dollars...

...My two years in the classroom have proven this assumption correct...

...The answer is that we don't get encouragement...

...Lawyers are no better—and no worse—than other professions who police themselves...

...RICHARD LOTRECK Natick, Massachusetts Whose prosperity...

...Much of the "suffering" from high interest rates now is similar to what afflicts the former beneficiaries of other regulations, such as the airlines and trucking industry...

...HUGO S. CUNNINGHAM Midwest City, Oklahoma You advocate a return to price control on interest...

...How about price controls on cars, houses, and the federal and state taxes...

...The amount of paper is staggering...

...I have less paperwork than I expected...

...Many working mothers put their children in day-care centers as early as six months...

...In Gregg Easterbrook's piece ["What Caspar Weinberger Could Learn from the Falklands," September] he repeats the "wisdom" that "marines...

...Indeed, because we are in the position we are in, I have no quarrel with the notion that we should be held to a higher standard of conduct...

...A close colleague has left the profession after four years.' She was a dynamic teacher who worked hard to design innovative lessons...

...It is generally agreed this country saves too little now...

...Richard Harwood is deputy managing editor of The Washington Post...

...Of course, a short 20-25 hour work week might be sufficient for a welfare mother only being paid for a single child...

...I enjoy being with the students...

...No economist I have heard of thinks price controls solve anything...

...PATRICIA GRAY Galveston, Texas Certification blues In the accounts of her struggles to do the job teachers are supposed to do—teach—Susan Ohanian (" 'Yes, But .Where Are Your Credits in Recess Management 101?' " April) has touched a raw nerve...

...LETTERS Scoring the Scorecard In their otherwise sensible review of Reagan's performance ("The Reagan Scorecard," July/August), Jonathan Rowe and Paul Glastris fall into the familiar trap of proposing work for welfare benefits "except for mothers of pre-school-age children ." This exception is compassionate and reasonable for widows and abandoned wives...

...Are their children inferior to those of welfare mothers...