Letters: Apr. 21, 1967

(3 of 3)

Sir: Your statement, in "Limits on Children's Aspirin" [March 17], that FDA wishes manufacturers would stop selling pediatric flavored aspirin in no way corresponds to the unanimous decision of a group of approximately 15 leading pediatricians representing the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association. FDA and the U.S. Poison Control Centers, as expressed in a conference called by Food & Drug Commissioner Goddard last November in which they agreed that they were "opposed to prohibiting the manufacture of flavored aspirin for children."

ABE PLOUGH President Plough Inc. Memphis

>Commissioner Goddard is also satisfied with the new limit of 36 tablets to a bottle and says "the agency supports this consensus although the transcript shows that FDA's medical representative, Dr. Basil G. Delta, was not in agreement."

Paperweights

Sir: About the story on off-campus high school newspapers [March 31]:

Apparently none of the cases you investigated encountered suppression by iron-fisted school administrators in spite of the private nature of the enterprise. Yet there is such suppression. Fear of reprisal on college recommendations is a sobering thought for talented students. Only recently, a worthwhile off-campus paper was suppressed by Trumbull high school authorities after its third issue.

Why should we discourage youngsters in their first attempts at individual initiative? We complain about juvenile delinquency and then suppress intellectual endeavor. Which way do we want it? Once discouraged by adult authoritarianism, these bright, responsible young people take their first step toward the pattern of mediocrity and conformity from which they could be our main hope of escape.

(MRS.) SHEILA B. HUSTON Trumbull, Conn.

Sir: You have made a grave mistake in publicizing high school underground newspapers.

I am a high school student who is disgusted with the children who publish these papers. The egghead who writes the Omelette is as mixed up as his paper. Students like this are constantly griping about trivial matters to get attention, as a small child would, while most of us are trying to get good marks and enter college.

A typical argument in an underground paper is over school rules. The kiddies cry, "We want to wear weird clothes, beards, and be able to smoke in school," which is terribly, terribly important to them. They like to tell tall tales about a friend who has a cousin who knows a person that takes LSD. Wow! They also like to criticize their teachers because, naturally, teachers are ignorant. Most of all, they like to criticize the draft, because the majority of them are cowards.

Luckily, these overgrown children are a minority, but your story may lead many others to join the "cause." We'll see just how important their cause is when they apply to a university and show up for an interview in bleached dungarees, a dirty sweatshirt, metal-rimmed glasses, sandals, and so much facial hair that their features are unrecognizable. If I were one of them, I'd hide my face behind a beard too.

BILL Ross Middletown, Conn.