PUBLIC FORUM; IMPATIENT DRIVERS.Dennis Hawthorne's plea for synchronized syn·chro·nize v. syn·chro·nized, syn·chro·niz·ing, syn·chro·niz·es v.intr. 1. To occur at the same time; be simultaneous. 2. To operate in unison. v.tr. 1. traffic signals (Public Forum, April 17) makes sense, except it would involve a whole lot of re-training of those ``me-first'' drivers who speed to wait at the next red light. As long as that car has to stop, those behind also must wait. Many of the streets in the Valley currently can be ``timed'' to hit the green lights by traveling at the speed limit, but too few cars are keeping to the speed that makes it possible. There used to be signs that read ``SIGNALS SET FOR 35 mph,'' which seemed to help. Where did they go? - Barbara Adams This article is about the British Egyptologist. For the American juror, see Trekkie#Trekkie controversy. Barbara Georgina Adams (February 19 1945 – June 26 2002) was a British Egyptologist. Reseda ABOUT GUN VIOLENCE I must respond to Barbara Prober's letter (Public Forum, April 17). She does not speak for all women, as she writes. It's ironic that on the same day her letter was published, the front page featured ``Crime on the move.'' With the police force on the defensive these days, with the Rampart Scandal and Stephen Yagman going after police with lawsuits, criminals are bold. Michael Kmet holding a gun (``Crime on the move'') has seen a lot since he took up residence in this Valley in the early 1950s. So have I, and I don't like what I have seen. Prober and her agenda are not in the reality, and not in the mainstream of public thought. Again she does not speak for all women. - David Fiorella North Hollywood CLINTON'S GENEROSITY It's nice to see Bill Clinton is so generous about providing $1 a month basic phone service and getting donations from some corporations for providing computers, training and money so that Indian tribes INDIAN TRIBE. A separate and distinct community or body of the aboriginal Indian race of men found in the United States. 2. Such a tribe, situated within the boundaries of a state, and exercising the powers of government and, sovereignty, under the national can enjoy the wonders of the Internet (``Clinton to bring technology to reservations,'' April 18). What he isn't saying is who will foot the bill for this service. There is a little tax on our phone bills called the Universal Service tax. This little tax will be hiked to cover this generous service (to the tune of $17 million) Clinton wants to provide tribes. So when you see these generous acts that President Clinton comes up with to build up his legacy, remember, he's being generous with our money. - Armand Vaquer Tarzana COST OF COMPASSION Jackie Goldberg Jackie Goldberg (born June 16, 1937) is an American politician and teacher, and a member of the Democratic Party. She is a former member of the California State Assembly. urges at least $10 an hour plus benefits for all city employees, skilled or not (``Goldberg urges $10-an-hour pay; mayor balks,'' April 15). Aren't we lucky to have such a compassionate councilwoman that never met a taxpayer's dollar that she didn't want to spend? - Frank G. Carlisi North Hollywood SUV FEARSOME Lately, I have been appalled at the public's mentality regarding the matters of oil and gas prices. U.S. citizens pay far less for gas than many other countries. Why do people insist they deserve better gas rates? Furthermore, I found the SUV mentality quite disturbing. Numerous automobile manufacturers still tote the motto of ``bigger is better.'' I feel unsafe driving the SUV-studded highways of California because I don't stand a chance in an accident with one. - Justin Hartung Moorpark GUN MAKER LOCKED OUT Re ``Is Smith and Wesson illegally targeted?'' (April 6): Do people really believe that all the uproar among firearms rights advocates over the Smith and Wesson deal with the government is because they are opposed to child safety locks A child safety lock is a special-purpose lock for cabinets[1], drawers, bottles, etc. that prevents children from getting at any dangerous contents. Young children are naturally curious about their surroundings and will always explore, but as they are unaware of dangerous ? Smith and Wesson, and nearly all other manufacturers, have included safety locks with their firearms for the past several years. The real problem is the aspects of the agreement that the media never talks about. Among the dozens of provisions in the agreement are clauses that require any dealer selling Smith and Wesson products to agree to numerous restrictions on what types of firearms they can sell from other manufacturers, even though those firearms are legal under current law. It requires dealers that stock Smith and Wesson to subject their customers to a variety of purchase restraints and background check requirements that do not exist under current federal law and have not been authorized by Congress. Is it any wonder that these independent dealers would choose not to carry Smith and Wesson firearms? - Matthew Storch Moorpark ECO-DISASTER PREDICTION It is amazing a·maze v. a·mazed, a·maz·ing, a·maz·es v.tr. 1. To affect with great wonder; astonish. See Synonyms at surprise. 2. Obsolete To bewilder; perplex. v.intr. to me that when it comes to the environment, politicians act just as with the firearms issues - knee-jerk. They do not study the problem enough. They commit funds anyway, shove it down our throats and make us pay for it later. Remember the subway project? Remember the Belmont project? Remember the latest gasoline (carcinogen carcinogen: see cancer. carcinogen Agent that can cause cancer. Exposure to one or more carcinogens, including certain chemicals, radiation, and certain viruses, can initiate cancer under conditions not completely understood. ) additive that turned out to contaminate con·tam·i·nate v. 1. To make impure or unclean by contact or mixture. 2. To expose to or permeate with radioactivity. con·tam·i·nant n. the water table? Now they are telling us that human waste filtered through our water table is ``safe?'' It might be a short term solution, but do they really know what happens when the soil becomes saturated with the components of the waste? Can you spell `` ecological disaster?'' The City Council needs to have their heads examined. I wonder if they'll be drinking this water too. - Peter Kiss Santa Clarita Santa Clarita, city (1990 pop. 110,642), Los Angeles co., S Calif., suburb 30 mi (48 km) NW of downtown Los Angeles, on the Santa Clara River; inc. 1987. Situated in the Santa Clara valley and nearby canyons, Santa Clarita includes the former towns of Canyon Country, INCREDULOUS in·cred·u·lous adj. 1. Skeptical; disbelieving: incredulous of stories about flying saucers. 2. Expressive of disbelief: an incredulous stare. ANALOGY Re ``Get real, teachers'' (Opinion, April 11): Beware of opinion columns penned by directors of institutes with eight or more words in their names. That usually means they have to justify their existence through appellations since there is no justification for their function. As a teacher with the LAUSD LAUSD Los Angeles Unified School District (Los Angeles, CA) , I am incredulous that people such as Richard Seder insist on making analogies between business and education. What was so very obvious from his column was the fact that he is unclear on the concept - a very basic one, unfortunately. That is, teachers do not produce products, we educate human beings. There is a difference, Mr. Seder. - Denise Ross Granada Hills TAXPAYERS MUGGED The war on drugs cannot be won by The War on Drugs (``Costly drug war lost, problems worse than ever,'' Editorial, March 31). Federal programs never win such battles. They simply create another army of bureaucrats who'd be out of job if they did. But that doesn't mean the government's domestic wars don't accomplish something - they do. Remember the ``War on Poverty?'' It created the welfare state. The ``War on Alcohol'' (Prohibition)? It gave us organized crime. Why, then, do some people take such fierce exception to those who oppose this war? It's simple - they're addicts. They are addicted to government, which itself is the worst substance abuser of all. The federal government mugs the taxpayer to support its $50 million-a-day drug war habit, and like a typical junkie junkie Popular health A popular term for a person, usually an IV narcotic abusing addict, whose life is disorganized vis-á-vis family and societal structure, whose existence revolves around obtaining–often through theft, prostitution or other illicit in denial in denial Psychiatry To be in a state of denying the existence or effects of an ego defense mechanism. See Denial. , always claims that things will get better - after one more fix. It's time It's Time was a successful political campaign run by the Australian Labor Party (ALP) under Gough Whitlam at the 1972 election in Australia. Campaigning on the perceived need for change after 23 years of conservative (Liberal Party of Australia) government, Labor put forward a for the taxpayers to exhibit some tough love. It's time to ``just say no'' - to the War on Drugs. - Brian Mulholland North Hollywood CLEAN VS. SMELLY smell·y adj. smell·i·er, smell·i·est Informal Having a noticeable, usually unpleasant or offensive odor. smelly Adjective [smellier, smelliest Congratulations to the brilliant rail-opponents in the North Hollywood transit alignment. Instead of a clean, fast, quiet, light-rail line through your neighborhood, you can now look forward to hundreds of smelly buses roaring along Chandler Boulevard daily. This wonderful busway will eventually become a diamond lane like the San Bernardino San Bernardino, city, United States San Bernardino (săn bûr'nədē`nō), city (1990 pop. 164,164), seat of San Bernardino co., S Calif., at the foot of the San Bernardino Mts.; inc. 1854. busway did. So now, we will all have a new freeway down Chandler Blvd. How exciting. If you're really lucky, you can even look forward to Caltrans installing sound walls on each side of Chandler Boulevard. Congratulations again on a job well done! - Lloyd A. Salkeld Granada Hills DISTRICT'S GEM This is to respond to Gail L. Geisel (Public Forum, April 12), who wanted to know why North Hollywood High
We house the Zoo Magnet Program, Able Academy, the naturalist program and the prestigious Highly Gifted Magnet The Highly Gifted Magnet (HGM) is one of the Los Angeles Unified School District's Gifted and Talented programs, restricted to students who meet the criterion of 99.9% on an intellectual assessment that meets the eligibility requirements of the district which is an IQ of 145 or Program. We have the top national scholars three years in a row in the Advanced Placement Program. We are the winners of the Regional Science Bowl three years in a row. We have numerous National Merit Scholarship semifinalists and finalists every year. Our students in the HGM HGM Highly Gifted Magnet HGM Home Glucose Monitoring HGM Hemlo Gold Mines HGM Height Gain Model Program take up to 20 AP classes during their four years at North Hollywood. We are ranked 29th in the nation. These are a few of the reasons why we think North Hollywood High School North Hollywood High School, originally called Lankershim High School when it opened in 1927, is a secondary school in North Hollywood in Los Angeles, California. The school mascot is the husky, and the school colors are blue, white, grey. is one of the gems of the LAUSD. - Josie Wei Winnetka |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion