Newsday (Nassau Edition) from Hempstead, New York • 122

Editorial Letters The Haves and Have-Nots To those peoples in the huts and villages of half the globe struggling to break the bonds of mass misery, we pledge our best efforts to help them help themselves, for whatever period is required--not because the Communists may be doing it, not because we seek their votes, but because it is right. If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich. -John F. Kennedy, Inaugural Address, Jan. 20, 1961 We know that countries around the world think the United States is a rich and powerful nation and say, 'Why don't you give us more? Well, rich and powerful are relative terms.

We have a great deal of poverty in the United States and it's pretty difficult to tell millions of our own people why we give anybody any money. They say, 'Help You wouldn't classify them as below the poverty level. I understand that. Poor people in many nations would call our poor rich. -John B.

Connally, Kabul, Afghanistan, July 7, 1972 To say the least, times have changed. The newest U.S. government attitude toward global problems was articulated by former Treasury Secretary John Connally, winding up a world tour he took on President Nixon's behalf. To some of the poorest nations of the world, Connally brought the message that the U.S. has economic headaches of its own and must set new limits on its generosity.

His remarks came at an especially unfortunate moment. By coincidence, comprehensive new figures have just been issued showing that the gap between the have and have-not nations is not only enormous, it's widening. The latest statistical yearbook of the U.N. demonstrates that countries woefully short of food, housing and other necessities are producing barely enough to keep ahead of their soaring populations. In contrast, developed countries have a declining population growth and a rising standard of living.

Among the national income figures for 1970, the yearbook lists $4,274 per capita for the United States; $01 for Tanzania. Many other countries have national incomes so low that no figures at all can be given. Another important measure of a country's standard of living is how much energy it con- Shall We Dance? As a concerned citizen of New York State, I feel the necessity to inform you of the following incident that I witnessed at Jones Beach State Park. Along the boardwalk the park has provided a live band and free dancing open to the public. The guards refused to allow a middle-aged woman and her mother to dance together.

Among the rules which are posted at each entrance to the dance floor are the following: a) women must be in skirts, b) only mixed couples may dance. While the guards allowed women in slacks to enter the floor, breaking one of the rules, they turned away the two women. Regardless of the fact that both these rules are ridiculous, and should be abolished altogether, they do exist, and therefore each one should be enforced totally. In retrospect, regarding mixed couples, I find i it rather strange that the guards allowed two whites and two blacks to dance together. They even let my Jewish friend and myself participate.

So what's wrong with two women or two men for that matter? What's wrong with two of any kind? Jessica Osband Graduation Rainout Regarding the letter from Mr. and Mrs. Modansky, Mr. and Mrs. Cohen, and Mr.

and Mrs. Shapiro (July, 6) about the graduation at East Meadow High School. The parents who wrote this letter were understandably upset about an unfortunate circumstance attended to this year's graduation at East Meadow High School. However, a full explanation of the circumstances would seem to be in order lest anyone think that the search for alternatives is not an ongoing effort on the part of the board members and administration. In planning our graduation, there are several criteria that we have always kept in mind: a) the senior class at East Meadow High School has always expressed a desire to graduate as a single unit from their home school; b) each senior is granted enough tickets to enable parents guardians or grandparents to attend the ceremony, which demands a site to accommodate approximately 4,000 people.

The football field at East Meadow High School accommodates in excess of 4,000 people and, therefore, has always been the site of graduation for the past 16 years. With these criteria in mind, it becomes an almost impossible task to find another site in Nassau County that would accommodate this large number of people. In fact, indoor facilities at East Meadow High School are insufficient to accommodate a graduation in two shifts. In reference to the parents' comment about calling off the graduation at the last minute, it should be It's All Just A Game Anyway 2 Newsday drawing by Art Sudduth noted rain did not begin in East Meadow until 5:30 PM, and it was at this point and only at this point that the graduation was postponed until the following afternoon. Martin T.

Walsh Superintendent of Schools East Meadow Don't Knock Iceland Ed Comerford (Sports, July 9) snorts contemptuously at the idea of holding the world championship in chess in Reykjavik, Iceland a place for the world championship of anything. Still, there it is Reykjavik is the capital of the country which, in spite of its incredibly small population (160,000) and its dependence on one major industry only (fishing), boasts a state university, a national museum, a scientific research institute, a distinguished national theater society, and a national symphony orchestra. It is a nation where illiteracy has been unknown for centuries, where book production is one of the highest in the world, where a highly democratic parliament has been meeting for over a thousand years. The Icelandic system of social security and national health insurance would make a U.S. citizen envious.

The JAIL ISN'T THE GREATEST PLACE FOR REFORM I read Ralph Cerbone's letter (June 20) with interest. Unfortunately, Cerbone is speaking with very little practical knowledge. The best that he can do i is to express his view in a very biased manner, which is obvious because most of his letter refers to a hypothetical situation. I speak from experience, being in the federal penitentiary at Lewisburg. And I have been here for the past 16 months so I know what I am talking about, Mr.

Cerbone, what, in your opinion, should the ultimate object of incarceration be? Punishment and retribution? That has been the sole purpose of prisons and pens for over 200 years. The current recidivism rate shows how successful this belief has been. The crime rate continues to soar, the system continues to absorb all of the money that it can. The Federal Bureau of Prisons' 1971 budget was $197 million, and it does not contribute to the lessening of crime by one iota. There are approximately 1.2 million prisoners in the U.S.

right now. Men who could be completing their high school education, going on to college, learning a good trade, sustaining family ties, and staying Wouldn't it be a sensible idea if the outcome of the Cold War between the U.S. and the Soviet Union was decided once and for all at the present world championship match between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky? Just think of it. Instead of wasting all those billions of dollars on MIRVs, F-111s and ABMs to keep on par with all the Russian war-toys, we could spend the money for people's real needs. And with the chess match deciding the future of the world, we wouldn't lose any more men in Indochina attempting to preserve U.S.

influence there. Instead Bobby Fischer might sacrifice a few pawns to gain strength on one particular section of the chess board. And finally by having the chess game decide on our fate, the political leaders of both countries would finally admit to what they have been playing all along--a cruel and senseless "game." Come to think of it, even if Fischer did win (sO that the U.S. won the Cold War) it wouldn't mean much. We would soon lose the whole shebang to the Chinese in a Ping-Pong match.

Alan E. Pollock Sound Beach 0 'Please. please come in August instead of December so you can give people everything before McGovern sumes. Figuring all forms of energy in use, the U.S. burned the equivalent of 11.9 metric tons of coal per person in 1970, when the world average was 1.9.

India's was 0.19. As it has for more than a quarter of a century, the U.S. plays a crucial role in helping poorer nations raise their living standards. In 1970, U.S. foreign aid amounted to $3 billion.

Yet that's less than one-third of a cent for each dollar of national income. It comes to only about $15 for each American. In fact, the aid we extended, in proportion to our gross national product, was actually smaller than that of many other industrially developed countries. France's share was more than double ours. Our percentage was also ex- Plainview SUDDUTH out when they are released.

Instead, these men are ushered through the front gate in chains, leg irons, handcuffs, stripped of all their clothes, personal possessions; and if they haven't been stripped of all their pride, dignity and concept of self by this time, they will be before they leave. The goals of the present correctional systems in the U.S. are depersonalization, dehumanization and the disintegration of a man's goals, aspirations and ideals. And if you honestly feel that this is the way to make a good father and husband, and have confidence in the judicial and correctional system, you should spend a few months here. Floyd Gunderson Jr.

Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary Lewisburg, Pa. Editor's note: Mr. Gunderson is a former resident of Valley Stream. He was convicted in 1964 of a Cleveland bank robbery, was paroled after four years of a 12-year sentence in 1968, and was imprisoned again in Lewisburg in 1970 for violation of parole. number of gifted writers and artists is quite out of proportion to the diminutive population, and the Edda of Salmund belongs to the great monuments of European literature.

Comerford could find a lot worse places for the chess championship, and right in this country. Dr. Vladimir Rus Levittown Hitler and Vietnam In reply to Nick Thimmesch's column July 10: It is sickening to see how trivial some people are, especially at election time. McGovern's comparison of Hitler with the Indochina was obviously not meant to be a direct correlation. The obvious, logical meaning as I and I'm sure most others understood it was that as Hitler used extensively destructive methods to perpetuate his ideals, we are using extensively destructive methods to not only perpetuate our ideals, but to protect our investments and to save political face.

We are attempting "democratize" Southeast Asia as Hitler attempted to "Germanize" Europe. If the U.S. is ever attacked and the enemy should decide that Grumman would be a logical target, I hope Thimmesch can be as insensitive about the -deliberate bombing of civilians. ceeded by the Netherlands, Australia, Belgium, Portugal, Canada, Denmark, Sweden, Britain, Norway and West Germany. Each session of Congress generates much debate over the amount of U.S.

foreign aid. But fortunately, there's little partisan controversy over the principle involved. Both major parties agree that it is very much in our national interest. So in these days of self-examination and heightened attention to our many pressing internal problems, we ought not indulge in too much self-congratulation for past openhandedness. And we cannot now afford to turn away from the urgent needs of the present in the rest of the world.

Tom McCoy Farmingdale Newsday Founded in 1940 By Alicia Patterson and Harry F. Guggenheim William Attwood, President and Publisher Frank M. Farrell, Vice President and Treasurer James B. Grider, Vice President and General Manager David Laventhol, Vice President and Editor David Targe, Vice President -Sales Managing Editors: Assistant Publisher: Donald Forst Stanley Asimov Anthony E. Insolia Lou Schwartz Circulation Director: Vincent C.

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