Dealing with SDI

In the column ``The packaging and sale of `star wars','' Nov. 20, Rep. Edward J. Markey states, ``Mr. Reagan was presented with the best deal the Russians have offered an American president since they sold us Alaska for a few million dollars.'' I agree! SDI, estimated to cost over $1 trillion in a 10-year period, is an uncertain concept about which nobody seems to know the ultimate outcome. President Reagan professes that it is strictly defensive. The Soviets believe it has offensive potential and American scientists agree. Mr. Gorbachev insisted at Reykjavik that any testing be confined to the laboratory for the next 10 years. Under the threat of nuclear annihilation of the world, Americans prefer to relinquish testing for the more important purpose of curbing this senseless and endless arms race. Edie Brooks Seattle

Representative Markey doesn't understand that recent progress toward arms control results from the USSR's great respect for the potential of SDI. If we go limp on SDI, Soviet recalcitrance will increase. R.M. Campbell Cohasset, Mass.

The power of example In the Nov. 3 Education section, Robert Marquand cites educators from both the conservative and liberal ends of the political spectrum calling for the teaching of morals and values in the classroom and decrying the ``value neutral'' textbooks currently being used in our schools. Values in textbooks and the classroom will do little unless our children see those values in operation in the real world around them. Ann Miller Aptos High School Aptos, Calif.

Quick fixes In the column,```Instant replay' and the quest for a perfect world,'' Nov. 6, David Holahan sides with the many who criticize the National Football League's latest attempt at updating its sport. His argument revolves around the irony of someone not involved in the game passing judgment over it. Yet hasn't Mr. Holahan passed judgment over NFL officials when he states they have changed only nine erroneous calls out of the 9,000 calls made? The replay official's position allows him to make decisions based on visual evidence from various angles at a reduced speed.

Mr. Holahan also relates instant replay to SDI, saying both show the quest for the perfect world. Instant replay might be a product of that quest, but the introduction of another weapons system is a step in the opposite direction along the path to that perfect world. Donald Nix Eau Claire, Wis. LETTERS