PUBLIC FORUM : DA SHOULD HAVE PROSECUTED SIGN VANDAL.A Daily News story May 6, ``Sign-vandal candidate won't be charged,'' makes me sick. What is going on? Is this just another example of the ``good old boys' network,'' where once again there is a different set of rules for elected officials and politicians? Oh, that's right, Rich Sybert is a personal friend of Gov. Pete Wilson For others named Pete Wilson, see . Peter Barton Wilson (born August 23, 1933) is an American Republican politician from California. Wilson served as the thirty-sixth Governor of California (1991–1999), the culmination of more than three decades in the public arena that . I wonder if the Ventura County district attorney also is a friend of the governor. Sybert was caught red-handed on videotape committing vandalism. If he is not to be held accountable for his actions, his crime, then why should anyone else, particularly teen-agers, be charged for damaging or destroying someone else's property? What kind of message is that for the public, the law-abiding citizens? Since when is the county district attorney the judge and jury? Have we come to the point that our laws mean nothing? Well, I guess so - seeing how other elected officials can get away with high crimes and misdemeanors The offenses for which presidents, vice presidents, and all civil officers, including federal judges, can be removed from office through a process called Impeachment. The phrase high crimes and misdemeanors is found in the U.S. Constitution. . The people of Ventura County should seriously consider whether their district attorney is fit to hold public office or should be recalled for this decision. In my opinion, Sybert proved to us in 1994 and '96 that he was not fit to hold public office because of his conduct during his campaigns for Congress in the 24th Congressional District Noun 1. congressional district - a territorial division of a state; entitled to elect one member to the United States House of Representatives district, territorial dominion, territory, dominion - a region marked off for administrative or other purposes . Now we have it on videotape to confirm it. - Carol B. Springford North Hollywood I am writing regarding the recent criminal activities of Sybert in our area. At a time when government is viewed as untrustworthy, the last thing we need is a candidate for a state Assembly participating in a criminal activity and then - even worse - lying about it. Every excuse by Sybert has totally disregarded the fact that he lied - to the press and to the people of our district. This is the last thing we need in Sacramento. I have supported Tony Strickland from Day One. He has proved himself the most honest and the best candidate. - Lisa Mersch Thousand Oaks Thousand Oaks, residential city (1990 pop. 104,352), Ventura co., S Calif., in a farm area; inc. 1964. Avocados, citrus, vegetables, strawberries, and nursery products are grown. Van Nuys Airport Van Nuys Airport (IATA: VNY, ICAO: KVNY, FAA LID: VNY) is a public airport located in Van Nuys, California in the San Fernando Valley, within the Los Angeles city limits. People who bought homes in the area in the 1980s and '90s had to be aware of Van Nuys Airport. And in the 1970s, Van Nuys Airport was even busier, with 30 percent more airplanes taking off and landing then than do so now. And all during the 1960s and '70s the Air National Guard operated C-130 Hercules transports out of the field. Activity at the airport is already at its lowest point in nearly 40 years. So my question is: How did these people miss the airport when they chose where to live? Or, perhaps more accurately, why do people feel that, since they moved into an area impacted by the airport, they have the right to force the airport to fit their preferences? - Steven Levin Van Nuys Minimum wage hike If all were well with the world and businessmen were all considerate con·sid·er·ate adj. 1. Having or marked by regard for the needs or feelings of others. See Synonyms at thoughtful. 2. Characterized by careful thought; deliberate. , compassionate human beings, I would agree with Daniel Odorizzi's view of the new minimum wage bill: ``Minimum pay hike can hurt by putting people out of work,'' Public Forum, May 4. Human nature being what it is, however, I'm afraid that the free-enterprise system simply means that the enterprising fat cats get fatter while the poor people work for free. The very idea of some poor fat cat having to forgo that million-dollar addition to his mansion in Malibu, so his employees can get a decent living wage, just makes me want to cry. - Ron Presson Northridge Bilingual education bilingual education, the sanctioned use of more than one language in U.S. education. The Bilingual Education Act (1968), combined with a Supreme Court decision (1974) mandating help for students with limited English proficiency, requires instruction in the native Patrick Manyak (Public Forum, May 3) suggests that experts rather than the voters should decide the bilingual education question. Experts make few political decisions in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. . Decisions are made by legislators, many of whom know little of anything except how to win elections, and regulations often are written by bureaucrats who know less. Much is know about bilingual education by the educational establishment, but, for some reason, the establishment does not want the public to know. Generally, good news is widely heralded and bad news is sat upon. The news, good or bad, is readily available. School districts are required to fill out a California Department of Education The California Department of Education is a California agency that oversees public education. The Department oversees funding, testing, and holds local educational agencies accountable for student achievement. form each spring for students in the bilingual program. From this information is determined the number of students designated as fluent English proficient each year. The school districts, teachers unions, county departments of education and the California Department of Education have this information about the number of FEP See front end processor. students. Let's get the facts to the public through the newspapers before the June 2 election. - James H. Steger Camarillo Pop culture When I read the headline ``Pop culture rots minds; sex, violence, profanity Irreverence towards sacred things; particularly, an irreverent or blasphemous use of the name of God. Vulgar, irreverent, or coarse language. The use of certain profane or obscene language on the radio or television is a federal offense, but in other situations, profanity so entrenched en·trench also in·trench v. en·trenched, en·trench·ing, en·trench·es v.tr. 1. To provide with a trench, especially for the purpose of fortifying or defending. 2. we may never recover'' in Opinions on May 1, I hoped that Professor Herbert London Herbert (Herb) London is an American conservative activist, professor, academic and author. Early life He was born in Brooklyn, New York circa 1939 and attended Columbia University, graduating in 1960. would assess the blame for the state of our minds. I believe that the art critics have to assume some responsibility by praising works that are abominable. How can an art critic call spots of paint on a canvas art or globs of clay a statue? Why does a music critic Noun 1. music critic - a critic of musical performances critic - a person who is professionally engaged in the analysis and interpretation of works of art call noise accompanied by very vulgar words art? And when a movie critic gives three or more stars to a film rated R because of violence, sex and bad language, millions will go and see it. Please don't forget the TV critics because they, too, give high praise to shows with a lot of shooting and fighting or with a lot of skin shown in bed. Will the critics, and we with them, ever change? - Alex Wagner West Hills Keep cats indoors Cats Indoors is a campaign by the American Bird Conservancy to encourage control of cats in order to protect birds from predation by cats. The objective of the Conservancy is that all domestic cats should be kept safely enclosed. Re ``Cat collars unsafe,'' Public Forum, May 1: Sharon Blosser is barking up the wrong tree. Her cats have no business being allowed to be alley cats, roaming around her neighborhood and climbing trees to rob birds nests. Blosser should be more worried about her cats being run over in the street, with the city picking up the carcass carcass, carcase 1. the body of an animal killed for meat. The head, the legs below the knees and hocks, the tail, the skin and most of the viscera are removed. The kidneys are left in and in most instances the body is split down the middle through the sternum and the vertebral at the taxpayers' expense, than hanging in a tree. She would do her neighbors and her cats a great favor by keeping her felines felines See animals. indoors, where they belong, at all times. - Alfred Silverton Granada Hills Students need discipline I believe that we need to have a mandatory course for all teachers on the subject of positive discipline. This would help teachers obtain a better understanding of student behavior and better tools for classroom management. Having a well-managed class helps students achieve more effectively and want to come to school and learn. This course might not help every single student and teacher, but certainly would help many. As a teacher, I believe we owe it to our students, who are 25 percent of our adult population today but 100 percent of our adult population tomorrow. We should do everything in our power for their best interests and help teachers to have better tools of positive discipline. This would tremendously benefit our children in our schools. - H. Tabrizi Granada Hills Union dues and politics What would Proposition 226 do? It would actually weaken existing federal law regarding foreign contributions to California candidates. As paycheck protection it is bogus. If a person working a union job - with the advantages of union representation, wages, benefits, etc. - doesn't agree with the issues or candidates his union supports, he can: Get involved in the democratic political process at his union. Vote for the candidates of his own choice, as all Americans can. Get a nonunion nonunion /non·union/ (non-un´yun) failure of the ends of a fractured bone to unite. non·un·ion n. The failure of a fractured bone to heal normally. job, so his political principles will be uncompromised by such mundane considerations as wages, health care or job safety. My elected union leaders support candidates who will fight for issues that affect me as a working person. For them to do otherwise would be negligent. Proposition 226 is really designed to do just one thing: give Big Business complete control of the political process. - Walt Petrovich Glendale Charter schools Kudos to California legislators for setting aside their differences and voting in favor of the creation of more charter schools. The new law makes it easier to apply to be a charter school and adds some new parameters that must be followed to become one. If a charter school does not meet its expected educational outcome or there is evidence of financial misconduct, its charter may be pulled. School districts will not be held financially responsible if a charter school run by a nonprofit group fails and, most importantly Adv. 1. most importantly - above and beyond all other consideration; "above all, you must be independent" above all, most especially , all teachers will be required to have some level of credentials. I believe our legislators have taken a step in the right direction. - Greg Willacker Lake View Terrace Ethnic strife at CSUN CSUN California State University Northridge offensive An article in Viewpoint on May 3, ``Trying times,'' was enough to make alumni of CSUN sick. Don't today's students have better things to do, such as learning, than engage in bitter accusations of other ethnic groups? What a far cry from my days at that campus. I attended California State University, Northridge CSUN offers a variety of programs leading to bachelor's degrees in 61 fields and master's degrees in 42 fields. The university has over 150,000 alumni. It's also home to a summer musical theater/theater program known as TADW (TeenAge Drama Workshop) that leads teenagers through an , in the 1960s as a student about 10 years older than the kids. We were called DARs, not because we adult children of immigrants were members of the Daughters of the Revolution, but because we were ``damned average raisers.'' Previously denied a college education for various reasons, we were diligent and dedicated to learning. What this article highlights is the sad mess that multiculturalism has brought about. We are no longer citizens of this nation. We are hyphenated hy·phen·at·ed adj. 1. Having a hyphen: a hyphenated adjective. 2. Often Offensive Of or relating to naturalized citizens or their descendants or culture. citizens, each clinging to tribal demands for a bigger slice of the pie. This has never worked and never will. College, as I experienced it, was a safe place to exchange ideas, broaden horizons and learn as much as one wanted to. That day is apparently past. 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 a major overhaul of CSUN and our entire educational system. While companies are desperately seeking skilled high-tech workers all over the world, American students, such as those at CSUN, are content to have a dumbed-down curriculum and compete for control of the dregs dregs Noun, pl 1. solid particles that settle at the bottom of some liquids 2. the dregs the worst or most despised elements: the dregs of colonial society [Old Norse dregg of a failing system. - Sonya Jason Woodland Hills CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: Rich Sybert ``Caught red-handed'' |
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