PUBLIC FORUM : COVERAGE OF CSUN SPORTS CUTS LACKS BALANCE.

As a member of the Cal State Northridge Budget Advisory Board, I was surprised to read the report of the meeting in your paper (``Wilson still doesn't get it,'' July 1), since the paper focused upon the only three negative comments made at the meeting and therefore, misrepresented what took place.

While I am not interested in repeating all that was said there, I am concerned to balance the presentation about the decision to cut some of the men's sports on campus.

The newspaper and some members of the community seem to have lost perspective on what the university's mission is.

First and foremost, the athletic department was faced with a substantial budget crisis. To continue to keep the existing program going, and adding needed women's sports, it would require $1 million to $1.5 million. Since the university has a fixed budget, the only place where that money could be obtained is from academic offerings.

One class taught by a part-time faculty costs about $4,000. To pay for the increased need in athletics, we would need to cut 250 to 375 classes. Each class enrolls about 30 students, so that 7,500 to 11,250 seats for students would not be available.

There are less than 400 students in the athletic program. If you were President Blenda Wilson, what would you do? I, for one, applaud her commitment to the academic integrity of the university.

Another solution, one apparently favored by the paper, is to leave the Big Sky Conference, cut football, keep the other men's sports, and live happily ever after in athletic utopia. But has the paper ever informed its readers what the consequences for the university's athletic program would be if we left the conference?

Less revenues, more travel costs, less quality competition and a scheduling nightmare are only some of those consequences. We would have a difficult time recruiting quality coaches and athletes, and it would be nearly impossible to get into any postseason competition. The decision to stay in the Big Sky Conference was made to protect the quality of our athletic program; it was not a matter of baseball vs. football.

There will be a continuing discussion of the athletic program on campus during the coming year, and all possible solutions will be thoroughly discussed. All of us hope that we can find money to restore sports that were cut and add new women's sports that we need. Since such decisions will not be made at the expense of our academic mission, it will only occur if funds outside our regular budget can be obtained.

While I regret the decision that had to made, and I recognize that there are legitimate differences of opinion that need to be aired, I am disheartened by the stridency of the paper's reporting, the personal attacks upon the president and other officials of the university, and the failure of the paper to inform readers about the full nature of the reasons why decisions were made on this campus.

- James Goss 

faculty president

Cal State Northridge

ng Kong's future

Many people have been quoted as saying that they are excited, yet concerned, about the future of Hong Kong.

For me there is no excitement, only dread at what the future will bring. The benefits that China will receive from this new acquisition are astounding: a large money flow, technology and trade, among other things.

I would like to applaud our secretary of state, Madeleine Albright, for boycotting the swearing-in of the new legislature in Hong Kong. She was wise in not condoning the spread of communism's influence.

- Brian Conley 

Simi Valley 

I have just finished reading ``Escape from Tibet'' in the July issue of Readers Digest. Will I one day read ``Escape from Hong Kong?''

- Rikio Matsunami

Los Angeles 

12-hour LAPD shifts

I am responding to R.L. Valencic's letter in Public Forum, July 1.

He obviously doesn't know any of our hard-working men and women on the Los Angeles police force and how most of their days end in 12-hour shifts anyway. His statement about how the 12-hour schedule would lead to a tremendous increase in overtime pay shows that he doesn't have a clue of how the system works now.

Police officers do not just come in and clock in at 9 a.m. and sit by the time clock at 5 p.m. to go home. They work an average of 10 to 12 hours a day, meaning that without the 12-hour schedule, everything over eight hours is overtime.

One of the main points of the 12-hour-a-day system is to cut back on overtime and save the taxpayers money. The officers are making more money working their overtime. They will be the ones losing money.

- C. Cannon

Burbank

Re R.L. Valencic's criticism of the police union's ``push'' for a 12-hour day, three days a week:

He claims this is ``sheer folly.'' Has he ever worn a uniform with a bulletproof vest under it? Has he ever come to the end of his shift only to be dispatched to the scene of a murder? What happens to his argument now?

- Lynnette Rahm

Chatsworth

I know several Los Angeles Police Department officers who are now former LAPD officers because they left after academy training to join departments that have a compressed work schedule. We cannot afford to train officers and see them walk away two or three years later because police managers are unwilling to move the agency into the 21st century. That costs us taxpayers tons of money.

The Van Nuys Division, which currently is on the three-12 workweek, puts out more street cops because of such a schedule. Those cops will serve us for many years to come.

Eight-hour days really are 11- to 14-hour days for cops.

- Billy Ridge

Van Nuys

More on animal rights

I am addressing the letters of Dr. Joseph Toe and Marjorie Fagan of June 30. Rights originate in an understanding of good and evil, concepts that only exist in a creative mind, which is a mind that has an imagination. In this world, only human beings have such minds.

Animals only have ``rights'' if we choose to provide them.

In the meantime, it may not be especially scientific to use nonhuman creatures to determine the effects of treatments and substances on human beings.

- Wendell Washer

Arleta