PUBLIC FORUM : DEMOCRATS SHOULD URGE CLINTON TO RESIGN.

The sordid situation this president finds himself in at this time is a terrible blow to the presidency of these United States. We were willing to forgive his past affair with Gennifer Flowers, to question the motives of Paula Jones, but this time he has damaged the integrity of the office.

Many have said that if Kenneth Starr had not dug into Clinton's private life, none of this would ever have happened. But it is necessary to remember that Starr was directed by Janet Reno to investigate.

The fact that Clinton had lied in his deposition also makes me question the truthfulness of his answers in Filegate, Whitewater and Travelgate.

During the Watergate investigation, John Dean finally came forward to tell the truth about all that had gone on. When I see people like Susan McDougal, Webster Hubbell and others skating around issues, it becomes apparent that statesmen of this country need to step forward and tell the truth. They need to put aside their political desires and do what is right for the American people.

I would hope after careful consideration, Democrats would do the right thing and ask this president to resign.

Republicans need to allow the Democrats to fill the office of vice president as soon as Al Gore is sworn in as president. As a Republican, I know this is probably not politically the way either side would like to see this ugly situation play out, but this is not about parties; it is about the integrity of the United States.

The president must pay the consequences of his actions. I realize how difficult this decision is and pray that all of Congress will do what is right for this country.

- Karen L. Malch

Newbury Park

If one has trouble making sense out of something, then ``following the money'' usually works.

For six years the president has been besieged by conservatives. Now that they think they may successfully remove him from office, they have started in on the vice president. Guess who then becomes the president? Of course, the conservative leader of the House of Representatives.

Why all this expenditure of effort to install a conservative president? It has nothing to do with sex or lying. It has nothing to do with land deals and failed savings and loans. What it has to do with is money and who controls it.

Let us look at the subject of money and its control. Fifteen to 20 years ago, 1 percent of the population controlled about 20 percent of the nation's money. Thanks to tax reforms, mostly under conservative influence, 1 percent now controls about 40 percent of the money.

Of course, if 1 percent of the population controls enough of the money, the consumer base is lost and some form of semipermanent government takes over.

Each generation has to answer the questions for the next generation. What we plant, they harvest.

- Irving Kaith

Simi Valley

I read with amusement and anger your Sept. 12 excerpts of the Kenneth Starr report, and I have come to the conclusion that if it had not been for the DNA that he left on Monica Lewinsky's blue dress, Bill Clinton probably would still be lying.

The damage and ridicule he has brought to the highest political office of our great country cannot be repaired until he has been removed from office.

For his lawyers to suggest he has not done anything legally wrong is another outright lie. Isn't lying to a grand jury illegal?

- Ronald Cruz

Sylmar

It is one thing to catch the president of the United States in a lie. It is another thing entirely to make it seem as though he is the only president of the United States ever to have lied.

It is my sincere wish that one day politics and the running of this country will learn to do without this-party-vs.-that-party maneuvering.

- Chris Vilbrand

Moorpark

In response to Margaret Ulbrand in Public Forum on Sept. 11:

How many people who know Monica Lewinsky have said she told them that she was going to Washington with her ``presidential kneepads on''? She owes our country an apology, too.

- Dorothy Arment

Rosamond

Re ``Boxed in,'' Daily News, Sept. 10:

I read with interest your creative article. It is very sickening to see and read about so many boxes of unnecessary information being carried into the Capitol against a president. This says one thing: Kenneth Starr has gone beyond the call of duty in destroying the president's reputation.

If Clinton is forced to resign or is impeached based upon Starr's investigation, then I think Starr should also be asked to resign because he has caused too many costly, uncalled-for problems for taxpayers.

- Barbara Hobbs

Gardena

The Daily News may have it right: Clinton may at last be ``boxed in.'' It is about time that this individual finally is made to be accountable for his actions.

Clinton has said he has no one to blame but himself for his self-inflicted wounds. What about the grievous wounds inflicted upon the presidency, upon our young and the American people? Does anyone think Clinton really cares? I do not.

The only possible way Clinton can redeem the trust of the people is to take the first step by resigning from office, effective immediately.

- Thomas E. Hanson

Van Nuys

Pierce farm rebuttal

Your Sept. 13 editorial (``Save the college; Pierce College and community should get together on utilizing farmland so students and benefits can benefit'') was filled with the same misconceptions repeated by the Pierce administration.

There are more job opportunities today in agriculture than readily available, trained college graduates. Pierce offers the only opportunity for inner-city folks to learn a traditionally white-male vocation.

Pierce's agriculture department has more than 1,200 students, or more than 10 percent of the total enrollment. While the rest of the campus dropped by 10 percent in enrollment this semester, the agriculture department increased substantially. Our classes are overfilled with long waiting lists.

If the Pierce administration cannot balance the budget without selling its irreplaceable resources - the farm - perhaps we need a new administration.

It is not a ``NIMBY'' attitude that makes people fight for the farm. We have students from five counties attending our programs in agriculture because there is no other place in Southern California they can go to obtain the hands-on experience in production agriculture and veterinary sciences that they need to be employable.

Pierce College and the Pierce farm are worth saving, and the sacrifice of one is not necessary for the continuation of the other.

- Dr. Leland S. Shapiro

Director

Pre-veterinary sciences

Pierce College

Pedestrian safety

I would like to address the letter in the Daily News on Sept. 9 by the general manager of the Los Angeles Department of Transportation in reference to pedestrian safety.

From my analysis of this letter, the primary responsibility is placed upon the operator of the motor vehicle. While I believe speeding has much to do with the ability of drivers to react, it also important to realize it is easier not to step into the street than it is to stop a moving vehicle.

Let us seek some more responsibility from pedestrians. Old and young alike pay little attention to pedestrian traffic signals. Hundreds of times a day they step into the crosswalk just as long as they observe a green traffic light.

The letter indicated that some 3,000 safety seminars are conducted throughout the Los Angeles Unified School District, which is commendable. I have no knowledge of what grade levels are involved, but I believe we would be better served if this type of education were started at the preschool or kindergarten level. It should also be reinforced through the elementary grades.

This in turn could be passed on to the parents, who have little or no conception of traffic safety.

- Robert Gilbert

Van Nuys

No more cold wars

With the demise of the Soviet Union and the Cold War, wild-eyed warmongers, conservative talk-show hosts and politicians are busily stepping up their clamor and rhetoric for a new Cold War enemy, ``Red'' China.

Don't these ``patriots'' realize that a war with that huge, soon-to-be superpower would make the Vietnam and Korean wars seem like minor-league, grade-school disturbances? History has taught us that an invasion and land war with China is unthinkable. So too, a nuclear war is unfeasible because the resulting radiation and fallout would contaminate the rest of the world and harm friend and foe alike.

Let's put a moratorium on this provocative and dangerous rhetoric. Let's continue to foster good and friendly relations with the People's Republic of China. World peace and tranquillity depend on it.

- Monroe Leung

Los Angeles

SIS officers deserve accolades

It is not often when our local newspapers truly express the commitment that most Los Angeles police officers have for the people they serve. So I was gratified by your Sept. 1 editorial, ``Commend, don't condemn,'' about two of the LAPD's Special Investigation Unit detectives.

If the general public knew the personal risk that the people in SIS take, willingly and consistently, to track down and arrest the most dangerous predators in our communities, no one would dare criticize their efforts to protect and serve.

These brave officers truly are heroes because of what they do. Every law-abiding citizen, not only in Los Angeles but throughout the region, owes them a debt of gratitude. I have been honored to know some of them, and they truly are the ``thin blue line.'' They deserve all the accolades we can bestow upon them.

- Gregory R. Berg

Deputy chief

Los Angeles Police Department