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By KAREN GATSIS

As I drive down the street, I see various rear fenders adorned with stickers reading "America‑love it or leave it." I am uncertain how those who display the sign expect me to interpret it. I only hope that they are not urging me to accept America for what it is and believe that we cannot improve it.

I do love America. I love it especially because our vice‑president can tell me that if I support the Vietnam Moratorium I am an "effete snob," but the Moratorium still continues. I love the United States because I can write to President Nixon and say, "Mr. President‑keep up the good work" or "Mr. President do me a favor and resign." I love it because the head of the SDS Weathermen faction can tell us that they

are having a convention to plan for a revolution, and the convention will still take place. Yes, I love America because I believe that it is the country that offers its citizens the most freedom of any country in the world.

Love is many things. When you love someone or something, you love it in spite of faults. America is the best country in the world, but it could be even better. Why should Americans go hungry while farmers pour milk down the drain? Why must a ghetto child shiver in the night while the suburbanite buys a second car or a third TV? Why are Appalachians out of work while the labor force needs members?

We can improve America through many methods. Perhaps these methods include such things as voting, or moratoriums, or writing letters to the President or your congressman. Some of these methods probably aren't acceptable to the people displaying "America-love it or leave it" stickers. But they are acceptable to me, and I will continue loving America the way that I love it and try to bring it as close to perfection as possible.