PUBLIC FORUM : PARKER REBUTTED ON WOMEN AS FOOT SOLDIERS.

Re Kathleen Parker's column ``Women just don't measure up for roles in combat,'' Opinions, Oct. 27:

Parker seems to miss the point of the foot soldier's role in combat - the slogger is cannon fodder. Given that job description, there is no reason why a woman, undersized or not, cannot stop a bullet for God and country.

Actually, Parker supports this position by recounting the story of the out-of-shape men who were not strong enough to carry their equipment loads. And yet these male weaklings, not remarkably, have rarely been exempted from duty when their draft number came up. Soldiering is a very hierarchical line of work. At the top are the highly trained, followed by the highly skilled, followed by the lucky, followed by the foot soldier bringing up the rear.

I don't know why any woman would want to be a foot soldier, but the qualifications are simple: When your country needs bodies, be there.

- Robert Fleet

- Montclair

UTLA's Belmont suit

The Daily News, in its zeal to put a pejorative spin on its headline, ``Unions offered money to drop Belmont fight,'' not only got its facts wrong but missed the whole point.

First of all, the $50,000 would not have paid for all of UTLA's legal expenses, but the $90,000 does.

Secondly, the point of our asking for full reimbursement is that this was a taxpayer suit, in the public interest and against a public agency - and the court agreed.

The public interest has been served because now all Proposition BB-funded construction projects are reviewed by the Proposition BB Blue Ribbon Oversight Committee before the Board of Education acts. There is now a vigorous and public prior debate about each project and its cost and efficiency, whether it is a new school or new air conditioning.

In the case of the Belmont Learning Complex, the legislative audit committee chaired by Assemblyman Scott Wildman and an independent construction consultant, Hanscombe Inc., will scrutinize the questionable aspects of the project.

Because our objectives have been met and the public interest has been served; because I and UTLA want a badly needed high school, and eventually eight others, to be built; and because we want matching funds from the State Allocation Board to defray local expenditures and make Proposition BB money go farther, we withdrew from the suit and asked legal expenses as our settlement.

- Day Higuchi

- President

United Teachers Los Angeles

Crying racism

As a liberal Democrat and member of two minority groups myself, I find it fascinating that whenever anyone is held responsible for their actions, the cry of racism is the first thing we hear.

It's also interesting how minorities who make racist comments, such as Nate Holden's anti-Semitic retort to Los Angeles City Council members Laura Chick and Mike Feuer, are excused and even lauded for their prejudice. Not only is this double standard wearing thin, but this sort of behavior is degrading to all of us as members of the human species.

The only minority being attacked in the Mike Hernandez drug fiasco is that of felony substance user. I personally support Mike Hernandez's recovery efforts; however, he is just beginning to put the pieces of his life together, and his constant ``poor, drug-victimized, rehabbing me'' stance underlines just how much further he has to go in just his preliminary recovery.

- David Fritz

- Canoga Park

Re leaders who have serious scandals:

I think of Confucius, who said, ``A man who can't govern himself, can't govern others.''

- Ursula Rose Rupert

- Reseda

Real tax reform

Jack Valenti's argument (Opinions, Oct. 28) for establishing a national sales tax was right on the money - with one huge exception.

Valenti points out that a sales tax rate of 23 percent would be revenue neutral - the government would raise the same amount of money as under the current wildly complicated system.

While a worthy aim, our goal should not be limited to merely simplifying the tax code. We also need to reduce the overall bite the government takes from us. Politicians like revenue neutrality because it preserves their freedom to spend money on pet projects that get them re-elected.

One of the biggest threats to our freedom as Americans is the metastasizing of the federal leviathan from a constitutionally limited government to one of essentially unlimited power fueled by excessive taxes squeezed from hard-working people who can't afford them.

Besides, why is it that the taxpayer is always assumed to be able to manage on less money but never the government? Who's money is it anyway?

- Pat Parker

- Los Angeles

Mending fences

The Daily News reported Oct. 24 that a primarily Democratic delegation of groveling sycophants met with Mexico's president to apologize for our laws, which his citizens feel entitled to break (``State lawmaker delegation tries to mend fences with Mexico'').

Evidently our officious officials required ``four days . . . for some serious damage control,'' regarding Proposition 187, which denies ``some state benefits to illegal immigrants.''

Assembly Speaker Cruz Bustamante said that ``there is some PR problem with some people in Mexico'' but, he added graciously, ``they're moving on.''

No, Mr. Speaker, they're moving over. We needn't mend the fences; we need to heighten and lengthen them.

- Bruce Jones

- Eagle Rock