Letters

Controversial Pose
"Rocket" Raghib Ismail 's trajectory maybe carrying him toward monetary heaven, but his crucifixion pose in front of Touchdown Jesus {Rocket Launch, Feb. 25) struck me as a bit pretentious. Did your photographer notice the same raised arms of the mosaic Christ on the sunlit facade behind Ismail , or was that just celestial shot selection?
DEAN A. PACKHAM
Blackfoot, Idaho

?This picture was taken in December in anticipation of a story on Ismail 's winning the Heisman Trophy, which, of course, he did not. SI suggested to photographer Gwendolen Cates that she shoot Ismail against Touchdown Jesus, a Notre Dame landmark. Cates says that Ismail was simply doing free-form posing and that both she and Ismail were unaware of the similarity of his pose to that of the figure in the mosaic.—ED.