Letters

Not Plain in Spain
We have just received the swimsuit issue (March 9) and must thank you for giving your readers the same beautiful models as well as spectacular new ones year after year. We think your new model Vendela Kirsebom follows the standard of excellence set by Elle Macpherson and Kathy Ireland . Your magazine has definitely warmed up the remainder of winter term.
SETH ALTMAN
DINO KATSIRIS
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor

Good grief, I'm in love with Kathy Ireland again] How many more times are you going to do this to me? Oh, I guess one more time would be O.K.
LARRY HSU
Cambridge, Mass.

Kathy Ireland is the best. But where the Elle is Macpherson ?
CHRIS STEELE
Rutherford, N.J.

The news of a monthlong delay of this year's swimsuit issue hit me like a ton of Lycra. But so did the breathtaking cover photo of Kathy, the most stunning of all your beautiful models. All in all, the wait was well worth it. To senior editor Jule Campbell and photographer Robert Huntzinger and crew, keep up the great work. This year's issue deserves a gold medal.
DAVID PAYNE
Clinton, Md.

Your swimsuit issue must have increased your circulation considerably. It did mine, and at age 75 I need all the help I can get!
PHILIP J. SCHACCA
West Hempstead, N.Y.

What has happened to the once-revered swimsuit issue? Many of the swimsuits look more like athletic clothing than swimsuits. There are quite a few ridiculous poses and absurd camera angles. Scenic sun-and-sand backgrounds are nonexistent. Your recent swimsuit issues are shabby compilations compared with those of even five years ago. Shape up!
ROBERT J. CORREIA
Braintree, Mass.

I was disappointed with the ordinary models, and whoever designed the swim-suits should go back to the drawing board.
L.A. ALDEMAN
Wellman, Iowa

If I want to see girls, I can buy Playboy. If I want fashion, I can borrow my wife's Vogue. Why take up space in my favorite sports magazine?
CLAUDIO A. LICHTENTHAL
Boston

As with the tomahawk chop and the name Redskins , all offensive practices continued in the name of tradition must come to an end. Inclusion of the swimsuit feature in your magazine carries the offensive implication that women are merely men's sport. Especially in a year in which the U.S. women Olympians in Albertville were clearly superior to their male counterparts, SI should be filling its pages with the athletic accomplishments of women, not their nearly naked bodies.
KAREN L. BARR
Washington, D.C.

How about expanding the current layout to include more swimsuits that I could wear on a beach without getting arrested?
GABRIELLE M. RIOUX
Everett, Mass.