PUBLIC FORUM : CNN CAUSED MORE PAIN FOR VIETNAM VETS.The rush by CNN CNN or Cable News Network Subsidiary company of Turner Broadcasting Systems. It was created by Ted Turner in 1980 to present 24-hour live news broadcasts, using satellites to transmit reports from news bureaus around the world. to air the nerve gas nerve gas, any of several poison gases intended for military use, e.g., tabun, sarin, soman, and VX. Nerve gases were first developed by Germany during World War II but were not used at that time. story about Vietnam only typifies the lingering suspicions and prejudice against the war - and those of us who served in the military during that era. While CNN's story targeted the government, it continues the theme of the evil government and evil soldiers. When I was honorably separated as an Army officer in 1969, I was asked by prospective employers - more than once - if I was a drug user or if I had ever killed babies. It was difficult, to those of us who were drafted, to be viewed as deranged de·range tr.v. de·ranged, de·rang·ing, de·rang·es 1. To disturb the order or arrangement of. 2. To upset the normal condition or functioning of. 3. To disturb mentally; make insane. monsters on drugs or baby killers. It was difficult to those of us who were kissed goodbye and forgotten. I am glad that CNN had the integrity to deal with the falseness that the nerve gas story perpetuated about the war in Vietnam and terminated those producers who originated the story. Those of us who served were vindicated with construction of the Vietnam Memorial. Among those on the memorial is my kid brother, Lance Cpl. Robert Washburn Robert Washburn (born 1928) is a composer and educator. Washburn is Dean (education) and Professor Emeritus and Senior Fellow in Music at the Crane School of Music of the State University of New York at Potsdam. : He didn't come home. I trust that we can someday put the false stereotypes behind us and quit seeking to make bad guys of either the government and the GIs who left careers and families to serve in America's unwanted war. - Gary I. Washburn Chatsworth `Hectoring' Linda Tripp Liz Balmaseda's column (``Confidante's wiretaps a felony case in Maryland,'' Opinions, July 15) hectoring Linda Tripp's Maryland wiretapping A form of eavesdropping involving physical connection to the communications channels to breach the confidentiality of communications. For example, many poorly-secured buildings have unprotected telephone wiring closets where intruders may connect unauthorized wires to listen in on phone is just that - aesthetic diversion. Clinton still doesn't get it that he's president of the United States The head of the Executive Branch, one of the three branches of the federal government. The U.S. Constitution sets relatively strict requirements about who may serve as president and for how long. , and he's not in Arkansas, where he traded chickens for votes, culled millions from the ledgers of hillbilly bankers, managed a world-class political spoils system and always was on the lookout for in search of; looking for. See also: Lookout some star-struck babe. - Kenneth A. Eaton North Hills Oversight or overlook? It's a tossup as to which government agency is more wasteful on sidewalk repair - the city government or 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. . The LAUSD LAUSD Los Angeles Unified School District (Los Angeles, CA) went ahead and spent Proposition BB bond money for numerous small cracks at Calabash calabash Tree (Crescentia cujete) of the trumpet-creeper family (Bignoniaceae) that grows in Central and South America, the West Indies, and extreme southern Florida. It is often grown as an ornamental. Street Elementary School last year. The enormous budget of $54,000 for 46 cracks - inside the school and on the sidewalk - came to $1,174 per crack. Even though I complained to oversight committee Chairman Steve Soboroff, nothing has been done to stop this gross waste. It looks like oversight is just a synonym for overlook. - Carl Olson Woodland Hills Bilingual education The federal court ruling upholding Proposition 227 has thrown Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Ruben Zacarias and kindred educators into a virtual panic, what with their having to scrap the bilingual classes they find it unconscionable Unusually harsh and shocking to the conscience; that which is so grossly unfair that a court will proscribe it. When a court uses the word unconscionable to describe conduct, it means that the conduct does not conform to the dictates of conscience. to eliminate. Their common lament is now they have precious little time to implement alternate programs for the beginning of school in the fall. The electorate expressed itself on this issue six weeks ago. In the interim, Zacarias and his cohorts around the state openly defied it, and sought ways to circumvent it. Had they started June 3 to put the wheels in motion, 42 valuable days of preparation time would not have been flushed down the drain. In the meantime Adv. 1. in the meantime - during the intervening time; "meanwhile I will not think about the problem"; "meantime he was attentive to his other interests"; "in the meantime the police were notified" meantime, meanwhile , Zacarias was patting himself on the back for a slight - and insignificant - rise in the test scores throughout his pathetic district. - Dick Bank Los Angeles The Daily News nearly stated and then missed the explanation for bilingual grads surpassing their native peers on the Stanford 9 achievement test (``Bilingual grads surpass native peers on test,'' July 16). A mere 5 percent to 7 percent of students in the bilingual program are mainstreamed each year. These are the brightest, the elite of the bilingual students. One might suggest that these particular students flourish in spite of bilingual education. - Colin Pullan Agoura Gridlock Gridlock A government, business or institution's inability to function at a normal level due either to complex or conflicting procedures within the administrative framework or to impending change in the business. forecast Here in Southern California, we are rapidly approaching massive gridlock, with zero transportation alternatives. The Los Angeles City Planning Department predicts average freeway speeds in 2010 as low as 3 mph. In reaction to this news, community groups are suing the planners to recalculate re·cal·cu·late tr.v. re·cal·cu·lat·ed, re·cal·cu·lat·ing, re·cal·cu·lates To calculate again, especially in order to eliminate errors or to incorporate additional factors or data. . Oh yeah, that'll help. Autoholics can't admit they have a problem. - Dennis Crowley San Gabriel Parents killing children I am outraged over the woman who was going to commit suicide by jumping off a hotel building and ended up killing her daughter. She received five years' probation, one year of that under house arrest. She is claiming that she wanted to end her life due to domestic violence. I sympathize with all people who endure hardships. However, if they decide to end their lives, why do they feel the need to take others with them? Leave the children with family, bring them to a church, temple, etc., get counseling, but leave the children out of it. Maybe it is because I am a first-time mother of a 6-month-old boy that I am more aware of child-related news sports. Therefore, when I hear about children being left in cars in 100-degree heat and buried by their parents, I get sick to my stomach. - Karen Goldman Valencia Air show evictions Re ``Airport ejects petition drive,'' Daily News, July 20: Unfortunately, your article covering the outrageous behavior of security personnel at the Van Nuys Air Show misses the main point: The Los Angeles City Attorney's Office apparently directed police officers to bar citizens from exercising their constitutional rights. When I arrived at the air show July 19, security guards attempted to stop me and another Valley VOTE volunteer from entering. We insisted on entering anyway, and one of the guards ``escorted'' us to Los Angeles Airport Police The Los Angeles Airport Police [1] (sometimes referred to as "LAWAPD" or LAXPD") Los Angeles Airport Police Division is the fourth largest law enforcement agency in Los Angeles County, with more than 1100 law enforcement, security and staff personnel. headquarters, where an officer told us that we could not circulate the petition inside the air show. If we attempted to do so, he could have us removed. The officer stated: ``It is a public forum, but you can't come in.'' The question is: Why would the City Attorney's Office direct personnel to suppress constitutionally protected activity, and who exactly is responsible? It is imperative that City Attorney James Hahn immediately take steps to answer these questions. The people of 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. - and all of Los Angeles - deserve no less. - Steven G. Pearl Member, Executive Committee Valley VOTE Encino HMOs and Viagra These guys who want the HMOs to pay for their Viagra claim impotence is a ``health problem.'' I've never heard of any pain resulting from this condition. I suffer from chronic back pain. I would love to have massages for at least temporary relief. I cannot afford them. The health maintenance organization won't cover them. So I suffer. - Jo Haver haver Verb 1. Scot & N English dialect to talk nonsense 2. to be unsure and hesitant; dither [origin unknown] Van Nuys |
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