THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Monday, October 7, 1996               TAG: 9610040024
SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A8   EDITION: FINAL 
TYPE: Letter 
                                            LENGTH:   22 lines

STRONG ROLE MODELS, YES

Thanks to Ann Sjoerdsma for speaking out with such passion for standards of self-respect for women in her Sept. 22 comment, ``A piece of advice for `long-suffering wives.''' Young women do not need such models as the wife of Dick Morris, the epitome of the long-suffering door-mat wife.

The same Sunday, a separate article (in Parade magazine) presented statistics that 28 percent of young teen-age women are physically abused by their boyfriends and are reluctant to speak out on the abuse. These are the young women who clearly need and deserve role models of strong self-respecting women who demand to be treated with respect, whether by the man in the street, partner or employer.

ELIZA WILLIAMS HOOVER

Attorney/Mediator

Cape Charles, Sept. 24, 1996 by CNB