PUBLIC FORUM : EMBARRASSING DECISION.Our esteemed county supervisors last week decided that Sherman Block's death was job-related, which allowed them to raise his widow's pension benefit from about $140,000 per year to almost $233,000 per year. I find this to be an incredulous act that is devoid of any logic, sensitivity to personnel of the Sheriff Department and responsibility to the taxpayers. On the contrary, it has the earmark earmark taking a piece out of the edge or center of the ear with a punch as an identification mark. The shape of the mark may be registerable under local legislation. of a good-old-boy network deciding to dispense the largess lar·gess also lar·gesse n. 1. a. Liberality in bestowing gifts, especially in a lofty or condescending manner. b. Money or gifts bestowed. 2. Generosity of spirit or attitude. of the county according to their whims and rationalizations without considering propriety, fairness or the precedent being set. It appears they overlooked the fact that he failed to act prudently about his advanced age and his seriously failing health. He actually exacerbated his health problems by taking on the extraordinary stress of an election campaign. It also appears they overlooked that his death resulted directly from the fact that he took a fall at home in a bathtub. I'm sure the supervisors felt magnanimous mag·nan·i·mous adj. 1. Courageously noble in mind and heart. 2. Generous in forgiving; eschewing resentment or revenge; unselfish. and powerful in exercising their discretion to gift the widow. I'm embarrassed for them and embarrassed that they represent me. - William H. Harrison West Hills Block's pension We all know that we cannot see any medical records due to confidentiality, but this man slipped in his own bathroom. What are these people smoking? This is the biggest waste of taxpayers' money since the City Council upped their salaries. I really would like to hear the reasoning behind this. I need a good laugh, because I'm about to cry knowing all the people who have to go to work to pay this outrageous pension. As if $140,000 is not enough in the first place. Give me and all the other taxpayers a break. - David Ponce Chatsworth Debunking de·bunk tr.v. de·bunked, de·bunk·ing, de·bunks To expose or ridicule the falseness, sham, or exaggerated claims of: debunk a supposed miracle drug. global warming Whenever I read a physician's opinion piece on some topic having nothing to do with the actual practice of medicine, I know there's a very high probability I'm going to be reading nonsense. Howard Frumkin's ``Climate change a reality'' (Opinions, Nov. 1) fit the mold perfectly. Frumkin says ``There is virtually complete consensus among mainstream scientists that climate change is occurring and that human activities, especially the burning of fossil fuels, are largely responsible.'' He's totally wrong on both counts. Among those scientists whose fields address climate issues there is significant disagreement with virtually all the conventional arguments made about both impending im·pend intr.v. im·pend·ed, im·pend·ing, im·pends 1. To be about to occur: Her retirement is impending. 2. climate doom and the human cause of climate change. Frumkin's position is scarcely based on hard science. Indeed, it is largely a political position. In opposition to his pseudo-science, more than 3,000 genuine scientists, including 72 Nobel Prize winners Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel Year Recipient(s) 1969 Ragnar Frisch Jan Tinbergen 1970 Paul A. Samuelson 1971 Simon Kuznets 1972 Sir John R. Hicks Kenneth J. in fields relevant to climate-change issues, have signed an appeal in opposition to the view offered by Dr. Frumkin. - Charles Van Eaton John M. Olin John Merrill Olin (November 10, 1892 - September 8, 1982) was an American businessman. He was the son of Franklin W. Olin. Early life Born in Alton, Illinois, Olin graduated from Cornell University with a B.Sc. degree in chemistry. Professor of Public Policy Pepperdine University Coronary disease test Re ``Treadmill test treadmill test Exercise stress test, see there can predict death risk of heart patients,'' (Daily News, Oct. 28): There is one very simple test that was omitted in this article of tests to check for coronary heart disease coronary heart disease: see coronary artery disease. coronary heart disease or ischemic heart disease Progressive reduction of blood supply to the heart muscle due to narrowing or blocking of a coronary artery (see atherosclerosis). . This test is simply done with an Imatron electron beam CAT scanner CAT scanner n. A device that uses computerized axial tomography to produce cross-sectional views of an internal body structure. Also called CT scanner. (the fastest Computer Assisted Tomography scanner in the world) in about 10 minutes and costs about $400. All the patient has to do is lie on the CAT scanner table. The scanner detects calcium in the coronary arteries Coronary arteries The two main arteries that provide blood to the heart. The coronary arteries surround the heart like a crown, coming out of the aorta, arching down over the top of the heart, and dividing into two branches. that is a marker for coronary artery disease coronary artery disease, condition that results when the coronary arteries are narrowed or occluded, most commonly by atherosclerotic deposits of fibrous and fatty tissue. . The scanner quantitates the calcium densities (and) creates a coronary artery calcium score that has a great consistency with the amount of coronary artery disease present. The severity of the coronary disease can be determined with a 95 percent reported accuracy by the calcium score. This test is being used at UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is a world-renowned hospital located in Los Angeles, California. History Cedars-Sinai is the result of a merger in 1961 between two major Los Angeles hospitals, Cedars of Lebanon and Mount Sinai Home for the Incurables, with Steve Broidy as along with other medical institutions. - David Hertz, M.D. Tarzana Correct pronunciation When it comes to playing big-city politics, the LAUSD LAUSD Los Angeles Unified School District (Los Angeles, CA) should be pronounced ``loused'' as in - Has the school board loused it up again? - William C. Martin Los Angeles Forgive this Re ``Forget the debt?'' (Daily News, Sept. 30): Why on Earth would we do this? Better yet, why did we loan them money we knew we would never recover? As a working, taxpaying American, why are my tax dollars used this way? Why are we expected to subsidize poorer countries? My tax dollars could easily be used in more beneficial ways to help us (Americans) here at home. Just imagine what we (Americans) could do with all the money our government throws away. It makes me sad, when I open my paycheck and realize how much of my hard-earned money is taken from me (taxes), and angry when I hear that our leaders are willing to forget about $5.7 billion of our (Americans') money. When was the last time any of your debtors forgot your debts? With all this talk about surplus dollars lately, why not put some back in my pocket, or better yet, don't take it to start with. - Rod Alms ALMS. In its most extensive sense, this comprehends every species of relief bestowed upon the poor, and, therefore, including all charities. In a more, limited sense, it signifies what is given by public authority for the relief of the poor. Shelford on Mortmain, 802, note (x); 1 Dougl. Northridge Daylight savings I oppose the proposal of all-year daylight time because of safety reasons. As we turned back the clock on the morning of Oct. 31 we still have some daylight at 6 a.m. as of now. This upon itself will be temporary when we reach the latter part of December and into January. The sun has yet to reach the latter part of the southern equator. When this happens this is known as ``the dead of winter.'' I have driven Highway 99 in the San Joaquin Valley Noun 1. San Joaquin Valley - a vast valley in central California known for its rich farmland Calif., California, Golden State, CA - a state in the western United States on the Pacific; the 3rd largest state; known for earthquakes between Bakersfield and Stockton. During the winter months they have what it called ``tule fog.'' This fog will come up on you suddenly as it lays in patches. It is like a wall, thick and gray. Sometimes it will last up to 10 hours. Many chain-reaction accidents have occurred on 99 and Interstate 5. If you advance the clocks ahead one hour you will have darkness up to 9 a.m. with peak hour traffic. This will be a tragic affair with certain death to occur. - David Fiorella North Hollywood Getting back Re ``Subway an asset'' (Oct. 27) by Marc Littman, media relations director, Metropolitan Transportation Authority.: I read his letter about how great the Metrolink commuter rail system is and how it has been luring developments on or near the Metro Rail sites. I thought: swell. I can park my car in the Burbank Metrolink station and take this great system to Staples Center, avoiding all the traffic and parking problems. Wouldn't that be a good plan? Won't work. Why? Because Metrolink doesn't run at night. Explain to me why this great system of yours shuts down and leaves people without transportation out of the hub of one of the largest cities in the world at night? Really makes you want to run right out and jump on a system that leaves you stranded in downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles is the central business district of Los Angeles, California, located close to the geographic center of the metropolitan area. The sprawling, multi-centered megacity is such that its downtown core is often considered just another district like Hollywood or at night, doesn't it? Can anyone imagine any other large city in the entire world that would discontinue running public transportation from their downtown at night? - Carole Breyde North Hollywood Memorial Stands Re ``Where's our memorial?'' (Public Forum, Oct. 26): The memorial to be built in Washington, D.C., is a national World War II memorial The National World War II Memorial is a National Memorial to all Americans that served in the armed forces and on the home front during World War II. It is located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. . This will be called ``The National World War Memorial''. Please note that this is under the direction of the American Battle Monuments Commission, P.O. Box 96766, Washington, DC 20090-6766. I am one of many who is a charter member for this memorial. We have a committee in Lake Los Angeles that will have a special dedication on Nov. 11, (Veterans Day) of a Veterans Memorial plaque, to be held at Lake Los Angeles Community Park. This is a plaque that is dedicated to all veterans from all wars. Yes, it will be dedicated to the past, and to the present veterans who serve their country during all wars. - John R. Finnigan Lake Los Angeles LAUSD divorce Divorce is an adversarial concept. It implies separating, it implies dividing assets. When one is able to shake hands to perform the customary act of civility by clasping and moving hands, as an expression of greeting, farewell, good will, agreement, etc. See also: Shake after a divorce and walk away whistling, it is a consummation devoutly to be wished, but it rarely happens. Dividing property is bad enough, but when adults have to divide the baby, conflicts abound. What usually happens is that the adults fight it out and the welfare of the baby is forgotten. The student in 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. is the baby in this equation. One wonders if, during the fighting, anyone really cares? Or is it a power struggle with ego and money the underlying forces? The saving grace when this scenario happens in a school district is that the teachers and middle managers will keep the system going. Regardless who wins, regardless who takes the most control and power, they will make sure the students are taught and properly cared for. They will make sure the system keeps going regardless of the ugliness, the lies and the changing of the guard. We are concerned that it will spill over to the bargaining units. Will the combatants expect everyone to take sides? - Eli Brent President Associated Administrators of Los Angeles |
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