To Gloria, Missy and Donna: It's too bad that we can't get to a good discussion of the issue of _spousal_ abuse. To just make men out to be the bogeymen here is too simplistic. Abuse just does not happen in a vacuum. Most often, it is a bad situation constructed by both participants. Besides, to merely look at this as a male problem does little to empower women; rather, it continues to put them in the role of "victim." By its defintion, "victim" implies powerlessness. The suggestion that the discussion get dropped may be a good one if the hyperbole, hysteria and ad hominem attacks fail to cease. Rod Carveth University of Bridgeport.