LETTERS; NAMING SCHOOL FOR PARRIS BAD PRECEDENT.

R. Rex Parris is not the only one who is shocked and astonished by the proposal to name a school after him.

Not to rain on his parade, but I think that, by naming a school after a person, the Antelope Valley Union School District trustees are starting a precedent.

Some rules need to be made. Until those changes have been made, the school trustees should follow the existing policy for naming schools.

In the past, contests were held so the public could contribute suggestions, and schools were given names concerning our Southern California desert ambience.

The community was involved, and the names of schools recognized the very special area in which we live.

In all articles I read about naming the school after Parris, the money he donated to that particular school was also mentioned. This is an invitation for anyone who has the financial ability to have a school named after him or her.

Is this fair to the community? Should someone put on the board of trustees with Parris' help be allowed to vote on the school name?

Wouldn't that seem like returning a favor? I think it is important, if a new policy of naming local schools after people is to be put into place, for the public to have input in each instance regarding which person should be so honored.

It should be someone who is admirable, someone whose attributes can be admired and followed by students.

Is an admittedly controversial, politically involved attorney - remember, Parris thinks that the Antelope Valley and all who live here are pieces to a giant, personal ``sport'' for his pleasure - the best choice?

- Marilyn Dalrymple

Lancaster

EDWARDS AIR FORCE SERIOUSLY POLLUTED 

Edwards Air Force Base is a Superfund site. Basically, Superfund sites are the most hazardous waste areas in America.

There have been more than 424 hazardous-waste sites reported on Edwards Air Force Base. Some of the hundreds of chemicals at the hazardous waste sites are waste oils, solvents, rocket fuel, arsenic and trichloroethylene, to list a few.

From 1990 to 1998, 8,270 people in Kern County alone have died from cancer.

The threat to the health and welfare of the public because of the contamination in the groundwater is a grave matter.

As of September 1998, more than 22,750 gallons of jet fuel had been extracted from the groundwater at Edwards Air Force Base. This is not even a dent in the amount that is still there. This does not account for the heavy metals, which are at the bottom of the groundwater table and are leaching into the groundwater in the surrounding communities.

As of May 1998, more than $88.1 million had been spent on environmental issues at Edwards. There is a plan to spend additional amounts of more than $250 million over the next 10 years. This figure should not confuse the issue of all the hazards buried at Edwards, which have been covered up. Nor should it lead anyone to believe that the groundwater is going to be clean.

Julia Roberts just completed a movie on the contamination in the groundwater near Barstow. The name of the movie is ``Erin Brockovich.''

If you do not believe this is true or can happen, I suggest you go see the movie. The U.S. government is a lot larger than PG&E and reports to nobody but itself.

- John Mitchell Quinn

California City

WATCHING COUNCIL AMUSING PASTIME

It is a known fact that the ability to make lively, clever remarks in a sharp, amusing manner is called ``wit,'' right?

So Will Rogers, the king of wit, once said: ``I don't make jokes. I just watch government and report the facts.''

Well, a lot of us in Palmdale are beginning to say: We don't need jokes anymore. We just watch those Republicans on the Palmdale City Council, and we can't stop laughing.

- Ben Tuso

Palmdale

OLENICK'S ATTITUDE INSULTS DISABLED

Bill Olenick's attempt to convince Antelope Valley residents that the Antelope Valley Union High School District board is going to make everything wonderful and normal for severely developmentally disabled students, whose classes that had been provided by the Los Angeles County Office of Education have been taken over by the high school district, does a grievous disservice to these students.

He states that all special-education students should receive a certificate of educational achievement or completion, no matter what their functioning level - something the county classes and teachers have always provided. But he then displays his lack of understanding and empathy for these students by calling the students who can't speak and who are still in diapers ``these little guys.''

Shame on you, Bill Olenick. Would you call any of your general high school students ``little guys''? Are you aware that there are many nondisabled people who are incontinent and may wear diapers? Are you aware that there are many nondisabled people who, for various reasons, may not speak?

In the county program, these students were treated as age-appropriately as possible while their developmental needs were being met.

Let's hope the AVUHSD can do the same.

- Ivy Berr

Lancaster