19TH HOLE: THE READERS TAKE OVER
PUBLIC DEFENDERS
Sirs:
Three cheers for Victor Yannacone Jr. and the Environmental Defense Fund (All He Wants to Save Is the World, Feb. 3)! Since the governments hem and haw and basically won't, and therefore the industries fear not and do not, the only effective approach to the problem in the foreseeable future is the EDF's "big stick." I am mailing a copy of this letter to EDF with a check (which I wish could be larger).
STEPHEN S. STRUNCK
Bethlehem, Pa.
Sirs:
Is Vic Yannacone aware that the last time environmental defenders won anything in Montana was in 1876 at the Battle of the Little Bighorn? And the EDs relied on bull there, too—Sitting Bull, that is.
HENRY S. PENNYPACKER
Missoula, Mont.
Sirs:
If any of your readers want to support EDF they may do so through a contribution to the Rachel Carson Memorial Fund of the National Audubon Society, 1130 Fifth Ave., New York, N.Y. 10028.
ROLAND C. CLEMENT
Vice-President
National Audubon Society
New York City
Sirs:
The article by Robert H. Boyle on thermal pollution was excellent (The Nukes Are in Hot Water, Jan. 20). One aspect of the problem of doing battle with the utilities, whether their instrument of pollution is heat, particulate matter or noxious vapor, is the enormous advantage they have by virtue of being public utilities. The cost of defending themselves, through the hiring of teams of attorneys and consultants, from attack by those interested in protecting our natural resources and environment becomes part of their overall operating expenses. This means, in a sense, that, since they are ordinarily guaranteed a profit under the law, the consumers underwrite the legal and public-relations efforts in support of the utilities' polluting activities. Perhaps there should be a requirement that a utility underwrite the opposition's expenses for qualified legal counsel and expert witnesses to an extent equal to the amount it spends in preparation of its own case.
NATHAN HERSHEY
Research Professor of Health Law
Graduate School of Public Health
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh
Sirs:
Last Aug. 8 I was canoeing miles 358 to 330 of our 400-mile trip down the Connecticut River with six adults and 20 boys, ages 11 to 15. We were a group called Becket Adventures out of East Haddam, Conn, that was studying the Connecticut River. We had started at the Canadian line some 19 days before and had traveled through some of the most beautiful scenery that this area of the U.S. has to offer. We also canoed through the nauseating stench of decaying waste matter that had raw sewage clinging to our paddles. As you reported, we did indeed measure a temperature variance of 25° between the 72° temperature of the river, just above the Haddam Neck atomic power plant, and the 97° temperature of the water coming out of the outlet channel of the power plant. (Company officials argue that the temperature of the river that day was 78°, and that the plant increased the water temperature only 19°.) The water was so warm at this point in the river that we had to take our bare feet off the bottom of our aluminum canoes because of the heat.
Please, for the good of American recreation, continue to fight the battle for conservation.
SIDNEY I. DUPONT
East Haddam, Conn.
FULL STEAM
Sirs:
I strongly recommend that the automobile industry studiously avoid underrating Bill Lear or his steam-powered motor car (Let There Be Steam, Feb. 3). Bill designed a jet airplane which many said he would never build and, if he did, it wouldn't fly and, if it did, it wouldn't sell. He did, it did. And does.
W. E. RICHARDS
President
Atlantic Aviation Corporation
Wilmington, Del.
KIND TO ANIMALS
Sirs:
Having spent the first 18 years of my life in the Boston area. I have been a Bruins fan for a long time. I remember very well the many lean years of last-place finishes, but most of all I remember reading newspapers that said, not "Wait until next year" but "Wait for Bobby Orr."
We waited for quite a while but our time has come. Thank you for the great story on a great hockey team, and especially on the greatest hockey player ever (It's Bobby Orr & The Animals, Feb. 3).
KEN ALPERIN
Ann Arbor, Mich.
Sirs:
The color photographs accompanying the story reactivated my pet peeve. How do the Bruins get away with playing in black uniforms? I seem to recall seeing a black puck somewhere before, and I also recall witnessing players adding black tape to the blades of their sticks to possibly deter the goalie from sighting their slap shots too quickly.
I admire any NHL goalkeeper's courage for even standing "between the pipes" for 60 minutes of a game. However, let's not make his job overly precarious by adding a uniform color scheme that makes the job of seeing that black puck about as easy as spotting a charcoal briquette in a coal bin!
THOMAS J. SEREIKA
Harrison, N.J.
VOLUNTEER FANS
Sirs:
I enjoyed Frank Deford's article The Year of the Great Fan Draft (Jan. 27). However, it should be pointed out that the Baltimore Colts missed a real blue-chipper in not selecting Fred Wight, my roomy. Mr. Wight has heroically withstood the furious onslaught by literally hundreds of Jet fans here in upstate New York. He has singlehandedly shaved off more than 100 Fu Manchu mustaches, which have cropped up in recent weeks. He also is the only man I know who was willing to give up an expense-paid trip to Europe just to see the Colts in action over the holidays.
Yes, Mr. Wight is a true Baltimore fan up here in this lonely outpost of New York. The least the Colts could do is give him a season ticket for next year. Knowing him, he'd drive 600 miles every Sunday to see the game!
R. GELLES
Rochester, N.Y.
Sirs:
Enclosed is a scouting report on one of the hottest prospects for next season's fan draft: Barry Bennett, 16, of Prospect Inn, Oceanside, N.Y. Great between the 40s, but can watch anywhere. Especially good at storming field after game and tearing down goalposts, win or lose. Prefers to catch on with Giants, but will go anywhere if made the right offer. Says Joe Fabitz, prominent local bird dog: "Best two-way spectator I ever saw—also great at tripping hot-dog vendor, producing loud cheering. A real comer."
I am sure you will want to forward this report to the commissioner.
BARRY BENNETT
Oceanside, N.Y.
