Worthwhile Listening

To the Editors of the CRIMSON:

...in regard to [Efram J.] Sigal's article ("New Peace Corps Volunteers has Big Plans; Two Years Later He is Watching the Clock," March 6). The Peace Corps stands on its own merits. It may succeed, and it may fail. But if it fails, it won't be because of the people who work within the framework of its ideas.

The last thing we need are idealists. What we need are hard-working practical people who are willing to share their time, training, and ideas with people of other countries. These are what I see in my fellow volunteers here.

I could agree with everything Sigal stated in his article, and I don't think you would find too many volunteers who wouldn't agree with him. But most of us do not take the detached, superior attitude that he takes. We are human beings with all the frailties and weaknesses of such, working with other human beings with the same qualities. But what we exchange on a personal level with each other as people is what makes this job worthwhile. We have got to be able to listen as well as speak. I don't think Sigal did much listening. JOHN D. CARROLL