PUBLIC FORUM : ARENA ARTICLE `WONDERFUL PIECE OF PROPAGANDA'.In the Jan. 19 Viewpoint section, there was a huge article by City Councilman John Ferraro John Ferraro (May 14 1924—April 17 2001) served as a Los Angeles City Councilman from 1966 until his death. Early life Ferraro was born in the working class suburb of Cudahy, California, just south of Los Angeles. called ``The boon of an L.A. arena.'' It was a wonderful piece of propaganda from the councilman - who admittedly has a war chest of over half a million dollars - and was completely unchallenged by the Daily News. Our ``elected servant'' states, ``It brings in two major league professional sports The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. franchises.'' In the Jan. 19 Daily News sports pages sports pages npl → páginas fpl deportivas , there is an interesting article about one of the two major pro teams, the Kings, whose attendance is dropping drastically. At this rate, can they fill Ferraro's proposed new sports arena, so as to ensure tax revenues to our city? Ferraro further states that the arena will create ``hundreds of jobs in the development, construction and operation of the arena itself.'' Would that be much like what the disastrous subway has provided? Ferraro tells us, ``The new arena promises to be not just a sports arena, but a huge economic engine for the city's future.'' He talks of increasing property values in the area and providing a positive impact on business and tourism. Does the councilman honestly think that people will remain in that downtown area to go shopping, dining, etc.? Has the Hollywood area been cleaned up? Has East Los Angeles East Los Angeles, uninc. city (1990 pop. 126,379), Los Angeles co., S Calif., a residential suburb of Los Angeles, in an industrial area. It has a large Mexican-American population. There is a performing arts center and a cultural center. A junior college is there. been cleaned up? Has South Central been cleaned up? Hasn't the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. deteriorated over the past decade? But John Ferraro sees a bright future, with a new arena. - Frank Barron Van Nuys I think it is criminal that our L.A. City Council would consider spending one dollar of taxpayer money to build a sports arena for millionaires to play in when a little rain renders classrooms useless - 19 in one school - because the roofs leak. Should we not provide weatherproof arenas for our children to learn in, ahead of play palaces for overpaid o·ver·pay v. o·ver·paid , o·ver·pay·ing, o·ver·pays v.tr. 1. To pay (a party) too much. 2. To pay an amount in excess of (a sum due). v.intr. To pay too much. millionaire athletes? Our council says a new sports arena would create new jobs downtown, but does not mention the jobs that would be lost in Inglewood. It's the old shell game that they play with us all the time. The taxpayers have two spokesmen on the council, Joel Wachs Joel Wachs served for several terms as Los Angeles City Councilman for the 2nd district. He was first elected by defeating incumbent James B. Potter. While in office, Wachs chaired the Public Works Committee and vice-chair of the Environmental Quality & Waste Management and Nate Holden Nathaniel "Nate" R. Holden (1929-) served on the Los Angeles City Council from 1987 to 2002. He previously served a term on the California State Senate and was Assistant Chief Deputy to then Los Angeles County Supervisor Kenneth Hahn. . The rest could be recalled without loss to the public good. - Philip W. Wilt Van Nuys The language debate Standard English Stan·dard English n. The variety of English that is generally acknowledged as the model for the speech and writing of educated speakers. Usage Note: People who invoke the term Standard English needs to be taught not just to students who speak different languages at home but to all students of all ages, regardless of race. Some adults, including the ladies and gentlemen of the media, newspapers and magazines, television and radio, do not use ``standard English.'' Now someone has given this need to teach the use of ``standard English'' a name, ebonics, creating a needless debate. We all speak several variations of English, depending on the audience and our role: talking to Noun 1. talking to - a lengthy rebuke; "a good lecture was my father's idea of discipline"; "the teacher gave him a talking to" lecture, speech rebuke, reprehension, reprimand, reproof, reproval - an act or expression of criticism and censure; "he had to a baby, a pet, a spouse, friends at a party or speaking to a business meeting. Just what is ``standard English'' anyway? ``Standard English'' in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. is very different from that spoken in Atlanta, Boston, New York Boston is a town in Erie County, New York, United States. The population was 7,897 at the 2000 census. The town is named after Boston, Massachusetts. The Town of Boston is an interior town of the county and one of the county's "Southtowns. , Texas and the Midwest. Any adult in a classroom who ridicules a student, for any reason, is not worthy of being called a teacher. These adults should be warned that if they continue to ridicule students, they will be removed from their teaching position. Some writers have said ebonics is to be used to obtain more money for education. Education is grossly underfunded un·der·fund tr.v. un·der·fund·ed, un·der·fund·ing, un·der·funds To provide insufficient funding for. underfunded adj → infradotado (económicamente) . Funding for education must be based on the needs of students, not budgetary or political considerations. These opinions are strictly my own, so do not blame the Los Angeles Unified School District The Los Angeles Unified School District (the "LAUSD") is the largest (in terms of number of students) public school system in California and the second-largest in the United States. Only the New York City Department of Education has a larger student population. if you disagree with Verb 1. disagree with - not be very easily digestible; "Spicy food disagrees with some people" hurt - give trouble or pain to; "This exercise will hurt your back" me. - Joseph Abel Retired LAUSD LAUSD Los Angeles Unified School District (Los Angeles, CA) speech and language specialist Sun Valley We are told the main reason the children of the Oakland School District are performing poorly is they are not taught in the language of their heritage. The trustees state that their charges' low scores are due to a ``genetic'' predisposition to speak ebonics. In today's society we have said there is no genetic superiority of one group over another. Then could it be that the people not in favor of ebonics are thinking that their language (white man's English) is superior? We can't be talking about one group's language being superior to another group. Since English is not indigenous to America, it is the oppressors' language. We should be talking about eliminating the oppressors, and the oppressors' language. We should then allow people the freedom to make words mean whatever they want them to mean. We can't be holding people to any standards because it's a denial of their liberty. This leads me to the truth of the matter - that regular standard English is the corrupted language. That is why English shares so many words with ebonics. Ebonics is out of mother Africa, the original tongue. I suggest if you disagree, you may be failing to see the complexity of it all. Maybe you should join the rest of us in the real world - that is after you complete your cultural awareness training. - Randy Hall Lancaster Drug czar The term Drug Czar is an informal title that can mean: United States Between 1973 and 1988, several ad hoc executive positions were established that the press termed "Drug Czar". rebutted It is enlightening for us taxpayers/voters to see that the current ``marijuana issue'' has smoked out one of the many, many high-up Washington bureaucrats involved in our $100 billion-plus drug war. Barry McCaffrey Barry Richard McCaffrey (b. November 17 1942, Taunton, Massachusetts) is a retired United States Army General. He currently serves as an Adjunct Professor at the United States Military Academy, where he had been the Bradley Professor of International Security Studies from 2001 to (director, Office of National Drug Control Policy The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) was established by the National Narcotics Leadership Act of 1988 (21 U.S.C.A. § 1501 et seq.) and began operations in January 1989. ) said in his Jan. 15 letter to Public Forum: ``We cannot use the metaphor of `war' to describe our effort to reduce drug use and its consequences.'' So if it's not ``war,'' what is it that we taxpayer/voters are paying for? If there is no war on drugs as we've so often been told there is, how can we win it? Or is the word ``war'' now destined des·tine tr.v. des·tined, des·tin·ing, des·tines 1. To determine beforehand; preordain: a foolish scheme destined to fail; a film destined to become a classic. 2. to become politically incorrect politically incorrect adj. Disregarding or unconcerned with political correctness. political incorrectness n. Adj. 1. ? ``There are 3.6 million addicted Americans who are the victims of drug abuse.'' This is under 1-1/2 percent of the population. As part of the remaining 98-1/2 percent of the population, I ask, what is all this drug fuss and bother really about? Let's get real on this issue. I'm sure that if a few really sick people have a real need to smoke marijuana, or anything else for that matter, the rest of us 98-1/2 percent don't care
"Don't Care" is a 1994 (see 1994 in music) single by American death metal band Obituary. a toss about it. ``Protecting the scientific process and youth is at the heart of the federal response.'' Protecting the drug budget and all the bureaucratic jobs that go with it is at the ``real heart'' of the federal response. A government employee who never manages to win anything has a desk job for life. So when does the next phase of the official ``mop fight against drugs'' start? Will there be a presidential announcement or will we just drift into it like we did with telephone taps, no-trial property forfeiture, automobile air bags, etc. Get a life, Barry. It has been great learning of your existence. - A.L. Miller Los Angeles Doctor's quandary I want to thank the Daily News for its report on the quandary doctors now find themselves in: Permitted by the passage of Proposition 215 to prescribe marijuana for patients, they now are threatened by U.S. drug policy czar Barry McCaffrey and the federal government with loss of their right to prescribe any medicine if they do. - Paul M. Solomon Tujunga Wilson defended The misguided editorial from The Sacramento Bee (``Other Views,'' Jan. 20), ``Wilson's obsession with undocumented aliens,'' shows once again the press bias against the working, productive, caring-for-family people of California and the only political leader, Gov. Pete Wilson, caring for them. The Bee and others have not noticed that decent children cannot go to public schools in safety or to learn, and thus mothers must go to work to earn the money to send their children to safe private schools. Caring American families plan their families for a future they can afford while welfare people plan their families for government handouts. There should be no prenatal care prenatal care, n the health care provided the mother and fetus before childbirth. for illegal immigrants at the expense of the caring American families who pay their own way, and the 1,600 known illegal criminal invaders who are pregnant should be deported immediately to their nation of origin to have their babies and live, not have it here so they are American citizens going on welfare and stealing the hard-earned money from the caring American families. Wilson is to be praised as the only real political leader working for decent, hard-working Americans. - Donald L. Mellman Studio City Ethics vs. `business as usual' America is the greatest republic ever conceived or implemented. But let's face facts. It's far from perfect. The ethical misconduct so often cited of late is actually business as usual in American politics. The publicizing of tit-for-tat allegations among the hierarchy is simply an escalation of the battle for party supremacy. Most politicians begin their careers with the purest of thoughts. By the time they reach the level of a Newt Gingrich or a Bill Clinton, they've not only been exposed to but have become a willing participant in a bureaucracy in which the main priorities are lining one's own pockets, gaining prestige, lining the pockets of friends, pandering to special interest groups and other members of their party. Do politicians really not know why voter apathy is so high and turnout is so low? - Ari Rodriguez Palmdale I watched the House Ethics Committee ethics committee A multidisciplinary hospital body composed of a broad spectrum of personnel–eg, physicians, nurses, social workers, priests, and others, which addresses the moral and ethical issues within the hospital. See DNR, Institutional review board. hearings on the Republican speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich, on Jan. 17. After watching for several hours, the thought crossed my mind that this rascal is only one heartbeat away from the presidency of the United States. I can hear our first martyred president, Abraham Lincoln, 16th president and founder of the present Republican Party, moaning in his grave. - Louis Robins Van Nuys CAPTION(S): 2 Photos Photo: (1) JOHN FERRARO NEWT GINGRICH |
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