PUBLIC FORUM : BABY BOOMER STILL SEEKS `SPIRITUAL RENEWAL'.

I'm not sure I understood the point of Maureen Dowd's column (``Comedy of terrors awaits aging baby boomers,'' Opinions, July 9), unless it was to say, ``Nah nah, you're getting old and you're going to die, goodie, goodie.'' As one approaching my 50th year, I would be dishonest if I denied her accusations that I've had or have a certain arrogance.

However, what I sought in my youth, along with my close friends, and what I continue to seek, is spiritual renewal. That was at the heart of the youth movement of the '60s.

Yes, the search was obscured by sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll. Yes, due to the prosperity and leniency of our parents, there was monumental self-indulgence. But the flame continues to burn. We saw then and continue to see that America needs a real, all-inclusive, straight-from-the-heart spiritual awakening.

Making that dream a reality is a struggle that begins within one's self. I have never given up on that vision of my youth. It is not the approach of old age or death I fear, but that I will lose heart after all these years and not continue to struggle against the very things that have so offended Maureen Dowd.

- Gerald Rhoades

Canoga Park

Any accountability? Re ``Missed application deadline jeopardizes school's funds,'' Daily News, July 9:

So the principal at San Fernando High School fails to do his homework and, as a result, his school loses out on $500 million in federal funds. The federal money is intended for schools with a high percentage of students from low-income families.

Thanks to this administrator's inaction, San Fernando High will not have extra money for teachers, computers and other resources that would improve the lives of its students.

Meanwhile, at a Los Angeles Unified School District school near San Fernando High, another principal comes down on any teacher who dares to ask a question.

Will either principal be held accountable? The chances of that happening are as great as the students and teachers at San Fernando High getting a fair shake.

- Day Higuchi

President

United Teachers Los Angeles

`Career do-nothings'

Re ``Prince of the city; chief analyst's power ties in gathering facts,'' Daily News, July 7:

You have to be kidding

For over 30 years we taxpayers have been paying Ron Deaton to do nothing more than push paperwork around City Hall?

How many more of these career do-nothings do we have at City Hall?

This guy lives in Long Beach and makes final decisions for me here in the San Fernando Valley. The headline was right: He is a whiz at behind-the-scenes maneuvering. Well, so was the Wizard of Oz.

If my City Council member is too lazy or uninformed to make a choice, I'll let him or her know how I feel. I don't need some three-time career-changing flunky to wander around City Hall at nearly a quarter-million-dollar salary, plus perks, shaking hands and smiling.

- Jim Rowe

Winnetka

Judgment on O.J.

Stephenee Simms' letter (July 7) wishing people would let O.J. Simpson move on with his life states that the question of whether one approves of the verdict does not matter anymore.

Excuse me. What Simms chooses to ignore is the jury of the public found O.J. Simpson guilty beyond a shadow of a doubt, though forced to accept the not-guilty verdict of record.

Accept the verdict we must, but forget the verdict? Never. I for one hope the issue of O.J. Simpson's guilt is never put to rest and that the world, and especially O.J. Simpson, is reminded of the truth of this tragedy every remaining day of his life.

- Jay Karelius

Granada Hills

`Liberal hypocrisy'

In the June 20 Public Forum, Dean Gueles compared Mona Charen to the Nazis because she questioned the wisdom of homosexual marriages, while Jack Ohman's cartoon used a German uniform to depict Cincinnati Reds owner Marge Schott.

On the next page, columnist Thomas Oliphant compared FBI Director Louis Freeh to the late J. Edgar Hoover, ``a master of deceit'' - Hoover's term for Joseph Stalin and other Communist leaders.

And on the June 17 Opinion page, John Young grudgingly acknowledged Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas' right to speak - as long as everyone condemns what he says.

How typical of liberal hypocrisy - pretending to defend freedom of expression while cursing it for allowing people to say what they don't want us to hear.

- Bill Starr

Burbank

More buses needed

In the San Fernando Valley, we can park our car and catch a bus to the airport. Traffic could be eased on the freeways if we could catch a bus for the government buildings downtown, Disneyland, Knotts Berry Farm, museums and stadiums. Businesses that have many employees living in the Valley could do the same thing.

- Irene Stephenson

Chatsworth

History repeats itself

The recent article regarding Italy's program for paying reparations to Jewish victims of Mussolini's anti-Semitic laws of 1938 reminds me more of Nazi Germany's infamous Kristallnacht.

That event also occurred in 1938.

To pay for the damages caused by the destruction, the Jewish community had to pay a fine of $400 million to the government.

The purpose was to bankrupt the Jewish community of Germany.

The Italian finance ministry's method for reimbursing those who suffered under Mussolini's anti-Semitic laws seems to be designed to do the same thing.

- Philip Nathan

Valley Village

Same-sex marriages

On the subject of same-sex marriage: I don't see why there is so much confusion. I think society has a duty to keep heterosexual marriage as the ideal. This is not to say that I don't like gays. Society has to have moral guard rails.

We need to show compassion and toleration for people of different lifestyles, but we don't have to validate those lifestyles.

- John Darst

Calabasas