PUBLIC FORUM : GOVERNMENT PROTECTION COMES WITH A PRICE.

Some years back, the government took on the cable companies on my behalf. I was paying $9.95 for basic cable at the time. I now pay $39.95 for basic cable, with a hefty percentage of those increases going toward increased government fees.

Then came tobacco. Again on my behalf, the government is going to extort $3 billion from the tobacco industry.

Now Microsoft. I expect the government will extort a few billion from Microsoft, too, which I will be forced to pay in the long run again.

Then there is beef, and alcohol and automobiles. It's endless, the things that government officials can find to protect us from if there is a dime in it for them.

- Ron Badger 

Glendale

The government's shakedown of the tobacco industry and Microsoft has given new meaning to the term ``corporate raiders.''

- Kenneth A. Eaton

North Hills

First open primary

With California's historic open primary less than a week away, the voters have a unique opportunity to look toward the future and select those candidates who will make the difference for us in the coming years. The window is open to restoring faith in our education system and our political system, but we must choose to step forward and take up the challenge.

California's schools are ranked near the bottom of the nation in performance, and there are many things we Californians must do to ensure their success. We need to entertain real reforms, such as merit pay for teachers and individual testing and tracking of students, as well as investing in education to build real classrooms for our kids and hire more qualified teachers to reduce class sizes permanently.

The open primary system, in California for the first time, allows all voters - Democrat, Republican or independent - to choose the candidate of any party they feel best represents their views and ideals. No longer are we trapped into voting for the least damaged candidate; we now can choose hope over despair, pride instead of cynicism.

On Tuesday, our obligation as members of the American democracy falls upon us. We have the chance to restore a sense of pride and hope in California's education system and our political process. We must choose to make that difference; our chance lies at the polling place.

- Michael Farris

Thousand Oaks 

Prop. 226 rebuttal 

In your May 7 editorial urging support for Proposition 226, you left out the obvious. Proposition 226 only limits those on one side of the debate. If annual authorization for political expenditures is a good idea for working people, it is equally good for the stockholders of corporations.

Proposition 226 is an old-fashioned example of dirty politics. It is simply an attempt to gain unfair advantage by silencing only one side of the political debate. It is unfair, unnecessary government intrusion, and it should be defeated.

- Ken Niemeyer

Glendale

The unions in California are putting so much money into defeating Proposition 226 that the ``big lie'' is actually coming from their camp.

Proposition 226 will do nothing about health maintenance organizations or shipping jobs overseas.

The same amount of money - dues - still will be collected from the membership for the management of the unions. The only portion that is affected by Proposition 226 is the portion of the dues used for political purposes. And it is about time.

- Joan Pratt

Granada Hills

Freeway Samaritans

On May 9, my roommate and I were traveling west on the Ventura Freeway around 8:30 p.m. when the car we had just purchased broke down at the Haskell Avenue turnoff.

Unable to start the car, we found ourselves in a very frightening and dangerous position. Fortunately, an extremely kind family pulled over and helped us push the car to the side of the freeway. They then waited until I had called the California Highway Patrol for assistance.

The CHP was extremely prompt in answering, as was the tow truck.

For two Englishwomen visiting your country, this was wonderful. To receive such kindness and courtesy from people we don't know was very uplifting.

We don't know the name of the family, CHP officer or tow-truck driver, but would like to thank them for their help and consideration. It turned a nightmare into something positive.

- Jane Vaughn

Sharon Lloyd

Tarzana

Insurance for Viagra

I find the argument that Viagra should be covered by health insurance rather specious. Insurance coverage of Viagra vs. contraceptives only shows that we are willing to promote drugs that enable men to have a better sexual experience, but we are not willing to offer women the same consideration.

Coverage of contraceptives is cheaper than coverage of Viagra and is much more cost-effective when you consider that insurance companies do cover the cost of pregnancies, intended or not.

How hypocritical can we get?

- Leonora Arvidson

Woodland Hills

Grandparents' rights

As a grandparent of seven who fortunately has a loving and caring relationship with my children, their spouses and my grandchildren, I feel I must reply to Kathleen Parker's comments (``Court-using grandparents tread on parents' rights,'' Opinions, May 13).

Yes, parents certainly have a right to monitor their children's companions, but I would hardly put grandparents in that category. Are grandparents now classified as ``other people''? I don't think so. Apparently, Parker is not yet a grandparent. If she were, she might feel differently.

However, it is the final sentence of her article that really got to me. She assumes that it is the child of the grandparents who denies visitation. In reality, it is usually the divorced husband or wife who, out of malice or revenge, refuses to permit former in-laws to see their grandchildren. It is sad that parents seeking to hurt their ex-mate don't care that it is cruel to deprive their children of the special bond that exists between a grandparent and grandchild.

Unless there is proof that the grandparents are unfit, and that their visits would have a detrimental effect on their grandchildren, I think grandparents have every right to see their grandchildren and that they should fight for that right. I know I would.

- J.G. Martin

Granada Hills

Absent teachers

As a product and employee of the Los Angeles Unified School District, I am appalled at the way our youths are not learning the basics in education today. Much of the problem can be directly attributed to the lack of consistency in the classroom.

When I attended schools within the district, our teachers were there 99 percent of the time. Today's classroom setting is much different. On any given day in the secondary school where I work, there are 10 to 12 teachers out of the classroom at ``conferences'' or other such ``workshops.'' This is a detriment to a child's education. Some of our children know the substitutes better than they know their own ``regular'' teachers. A child needs continuity in the classroom.

When my friends and I attended classes in Los Angeles, the teacher was the only adult in the class and did not employ the use of classroom aides. While I feel that in certain situations aides are very beneficial, their use needs to be re-evaluated.

Another problem is that many people in the classrooms aren't properly credentialed. They are not properly trained in the control of the classroom and the basics of actually imparting their wisdom to the children whose lives they are attempting to mold.

There is a need to reimplement student teaching. Student teaching is vital to the success of a new teacher. The veteran teacher can show the new teacher the basics of attendance taking, mark reporting and other little tricks of the trade that will once again make teaching a respected profession.

Let's get back to basics and return to the methods that worked before. If it worked so well in the past, why on Earth did we feel the need to fix it?

- Carolyn Whitehead 

Canyon Country

L.A. sewage charges

As an informed Department of Water and Power customer, I have read Public Forum letters about sewage charges with interest.

The current base rate of $2.26 per hundred cubic feet of sewage water disposal has not changed for six years. What has changed is the billing procedure.

Between July 1992 and July 1997, the residential billing procedure utilized the metered water and corrected the base rate to represent 60 percent of the metered water discharged to the sewer.

In July 1997, the billing procedure was revised in response to Valley customers who contended less than 60 percent of the metered water was discharged to the sewer. The revised billing procedure uses a base-line sewer charge established during the rainy season that most closely approximates the metered quantity of waste water. It remains constant throughout the fiscal year and is adjusted annually each July.

The bimonthly sewer charge is $2.26, times the minimum daily hundred cubic feet of metered water during the previous rainy season, times the number of days for the billing period.

The old billing procedure appears inequitable. It did not distinguish between sewage water and irrigation water. All customers were charged for 100 percent of the metered water discharged to the sewer at a discounted rate. It favored residents with minimum irrigation requirements.

The new billing procedure appears equitable to all. It is based on a fixed sewer charge established annually as the household water usage. There is no sewer charge for seasonal irrigation. It appears there probably is no change in sewer revenue, just redistribution of assessments.

- Ron Cook

Northridge