Vision Thing

For a book on New York ophthalmologist Dr. William Horatio Bates (1860-1931), whose method for treating imperfect vision roused a nation both here and abroad, I would like to hear from ophthalmologists, optometrists or others who may have heard about Dr. Bates and his work. N. BRICE BANKS, 2550 Pacific Coast Highway, Skyline Mobile Park, 38, Torrance, CA 90505

Shari Arison is Israel's richest woman, presiding over a financial empire that includes the country's second-biggest bank. She also claims in a memoir to see visions of the future. But one thing she apparently didn't envision is the puzzlement, laughter and even nervousness that have greeted her book. Arison, 51, is up against an Israeli public that is notoriously cynical about power elites in general and banks in particular. "Everyone has the right to hear voices," quipped Motti Kirshenbaum, a popular TV commentator.

It's the pol vs. the professor, the realist vs. the reformer. In their frantic final search for votes in Iowa and New Hampshire, Democrats Al Gore and Bill Bradley are offering voters very different conceptions of the presidency--and, in the process, subtly sharpening the class divides already shaping the race.

IF you've seen "Radio Free Europe," REM's classic music video, then you've caught a glimpse of Paradise Gardens, the late Rev. Howard Finster's 4-acre Christian visionary environment, reclaimed from Georgia swampland and painstakingly constructed out of trash, including sparkly jewelry, rusted bicycles, TV parts and diseased tonsils.

"Keep your eye on the ball." "You've got to focus." "Concentrate." For most athletes, these coaching tips are a familiar part of regular practice dialogue. But until recently, experts say, many coaches were not thinking about the importance of a player's vision and how it could be affecting performance. Optometrists say that from the Little League field to the major league ballpark, coaches and athletes are becoming more aware of the importance of vision correction and eye protection.

"Not only the future of the people of Russia but also that of the entire planet largely depends on whether or not the reforms are successful," Boris N. Yeltsin told the U.N. Security Council Friday. The permanent seat on the Security Council once held by the Soviet Union now belongs to Russia. Yeltsin, in his first appearance at the United Nations, was speaking both of Russia's prostration and of his own vision of a new world order. By our lights, he did himself proud.

Shari Arison is Israel's richest woman, presiding over a financial empire that includes the country's second-biggest bank. She also claims in a memoir to see visions of the future. But one thing she apparently didn't envision is the puzzlement, laughter and even nervousness that have greeted her book. Arison, 51, is up against an Israeli public that is notoriously cynical about power elites in general and banks in particular. "Everyone has the right to hear voices," quipped Motti Kirshenbaum, a popular TV commentator.

One hundred days is too soon to measure greatness or assign failure. But we can get some hints of where Mayor Richard Riordan is heading and with that come a few plaudits, some advice and a few warnings. Let's call it a first-quarter report card. * Congeniality--A. Riordan is out and about at gatherings large and small, biking, riding in parades, eating at barbecues and civic gatherings. Some people say his soft and gentle side is showing. * Communication--D.

The president of the United States, wrote Henry Adams, the most brilliant of American historians, "resembles the commander of a ship at sea. He must have a helm to grasp, a course to steer, a port to seek." The Constitution awards presidents the helm, but creative presidents must possess and communicate the direction in which they propose to take the country. The port they seek is what the first President Bush dismissively called "the vision thing."

This is Bush's war. That's not a statement of contempt. In 1999, congressional Republicans did express a certain contempt when they called the NATO bombing campaign in Kosovo "Clinton's war." Meaning, it's his war. It's not our war. But to call the campaign in Iraq "Bush's war" is a statement of political fact. President Bush has made this war his personal cause. He has staked his entire presidency on it. A triumph in Iraq will be his triumph. It will give him the political capital to do anything he wants -- dividend tax cuts, Medicare reform, anything.

The Los Angeles River's concrete-lined channels can summon bleak images, whether it's a bystander being swept away in floodwaters on the local news or a liquid-metal shape-shifter hunting Arnold Schwarzenegger in "Terminator 2: Judgment Day." But the southeast Los Angeles city of Paramount is offering a different perspective with a rainbow of three murals painted on the river's levees during the past three years.

Oxnard optometrists are set to launch a program next month for kindergarten and preschool students, providing eye exams designed to catch and correct vision problems before they hinder school performance. Using Proposition 10 tobacco tax money, the eye doctors are working with Oxnard school district officials to set up a vision clinic at Cesar Chavez Elementary School in the city's La Colonia neighborhood.

Re "Lockheed Wins Fighter Contract," Oct. 27: With the awarding of $200 billion to Lockheed for a next-generation fighter plane, I am now certain that we do not understand the world in which we are now living. All of the talk about the war on terrorism being a new kind of war is just that, talk. If we were truly serious about defense in this country, we'd spend whatever it takes to wean ourselves off our deadly dependence on oil instead of stocking up on conventional weapons. Imagine the benefits to the economy and national security if that $200 billion were applied to developing alternate fuels or building efficient rapid transit systems in cities like LA. Seems like we're still suffering from "that vision thing."

It is difficult to decide whether Zachary Karabell, author of "A Visionary Nation," should be applauded for audacity or faulted for foolhardiness. The great scope of his undertaking, proclaimed in the subtitle "Four Centuries of American Dreams and What Lies Ahead," would be enough to deter the boldest of thinkers. But Karabell, identified on the book jacket as having a doctorate in history from Harvard University, plunges ahead. Karabell is surely no historian in the usual sense.