PUBLIC FORUM : TRUCKERS OUT OF LINE.

Upon reading the Nov. 9 article about truckers griping about our state's roads and drivers, I was alternately amused and infuriated by their attitudes. They complain about the conditions of our roads and those of other states, and according to the Truckers Association ``Overdrive'' magazine, they should ``teach those four-wheelers to drive,'' speaking about automobile drivers.

The very size and weight of their rigs are exactly the reason our roads are in such rotten condition, and as a matter of interest, now the truckers association is pushing to allow even larger, heavier, and longer rigs on our roads. Our roads were neither built, nor designed for the extreme abuse that truckers and their truck's weight inflict on them.

Truckers are hardly glowing examples of the art of driving and are certainly not in a position to judge, regardless of the amount of miles they rack up on their jobs. Just when did they ever obey the speed laws? On all the freeways I read ``Truck Speed Limit - 55 mph.'' What a laugh. I may be driving at 65 or 70 mph, and they are passing me as if I were standing still.

- Graydon Wayne

Santa Clarita 

Safe-driving truckers

Since when are truckers experts on safe driving? From what I have observed, many truckers frequently tailgate and speed, especially on freeway interchanges, causing horrible accidents. How many times has a four-wheel motorist (even in the slow lane) looked in their rear-view mirror and seen only a giant radiator because a moron driving an 18-wheeler has never learned what a safe following distance means? Many truckers are also afflicted with an ``I own the road because I'm the biggest damn thing out here'' syndrome. Also, since their income depends on how many trips they make, many truckers are only half awake while driving and use drugs to drive more hours without sleep. Which part of the above qualifies a trucker to judge other drivers?

- Tony Nathanson

Encino

Bill owes Bill

It's interesting that the economy the Clinton administration has enjoyed is not about anything done by this administration and little about what Congress has done. The economy is healthy because of low interest rates and the emergence of the personal computer.

Clinton owes a lot to Bill Gates for simplifying the use of these tools. And how does he repay Gates. Janet Reno shops for a judge who will rule Microsoft a monopoly.

One thing to remember, if you develop a product so superior to anyone else's and market it efficiently, make sure you pay your dues to the Democratic National Committee. Even the Chinese know this.

- Mike Hannin

Newbury Park

We deserve open access

Recently, I testified before City Council members Alex Padilla and Laura Chick regarding open cable access. Like most business owners, I believe the free enterprise system is important and choice of service is paramount.

If one decides to use a cable modem, one should not have to pay duplicate fees for the privilege of accessing the Internet service provider of our choice. Without open access you are creating a monopoly. An example of how bad a monopoly is was noted when no one from the cable companies bothered to come to Pacoima for this meeting. Why should they? Having a captive clientele removes the incentive to provide decent and efficient service.

There are also First Amendment questions regarding open access. What assurances does the consumer have that AT&T (or any monopoly) would not meddle with content? What assurance does the consumer have that AT&T would not block access to Web sites they do not like, or with which they disagree?

Competition is what keeps service up and prices down. We deserve better. We deserve open access.

- Marilyn Grunwald

an Nuys

County pensions

I am a county employee and your Editorial ``Rich Retirements,'' (Nov. 5) has left out some very important points. L.A. County retirements as well as those in 19 other counties in California are governed by the County Employee Retirement Law of 1937. It would take more than the L.A. Board of Supervisors to change this legislation. What you left out is that the majority of all county employees are required to contribute to the retirement system. This amount ranges from $164 per month for the lowest paid employee to $800-plus for law enforcement personnel. The county is required to match a percentage to be placed in the pension fund for each employee. The majority of county employees do not have a choice to contribute or not as does the private sector.

Employees in the private sector can take a portion of their salary and invest it in a tax deferred 401K or invest it into stock or bonds of high yield. I do not see how you can say the county general fund is indirectly funding the pension system since the county employee is the one who pays into the fund. Let me know when the entire private sector requires all of its employees to contribute to a retirement fund, then I might feel you have something to complain about.

- Bruce Thompson

Castaic

Pension disparity

I am a Vietnam-era veteran with a 50 percent service-connected disability and I receive $500 per month. Can anyone tell me how much a disabled veteran receives at 100 percent disability? Do the math. I can tell you that it doesn't come any where near the $250,000 per month Sheriff Sherman Block's widow is going to receive.

Since when did a public servant's service or being one's widow rate so much higher than the people who sacrifice life and limb for this country in our foreign wars? Don't get me wrong, I appreciate what I'm receiving and I would never ask for a dime more. I thank the American taxpayers for their generosity. I just wish they could be more outraged at the difference.

Now can anyone tell me what public servant means?

- Laurien DuTremble

North Hills

Bicycles and laws

This letter is to all bicyclists who ride in groups on the public roads. Traffic laws do apply to you. The law requires you to ride single file except when passing a slower moving vehicle. The law requires that bicyclists move into a lane of traffic only when it is safe to do so. Why do you people think you own the road? I constantly encounter people riding three to four abreast and blocking vehicular traffic.

The last time, I honked my horn for the bicyclists to move over and profanities were screamed at me and my car was struck by the riders at the next intersection. I also ride a bicycle. However, I follow the rules of the road. I do so for my safety, maybe you should too.

- R. Kron

Northridge

It's criminal

I would like to respond to the tragedy that saw a young man shot for vandalism and theft. There is no way that he deserved to die for those crimes. However, he and his brain-dead buddies did in fact commit crimes. I am incensed at the idea that this was a harmless prank. What kind of message do we send to kids when we say that criminal acts are all right. When I was a brain-dead teen-ager I got caught throwing eggs at a house. I can assure that my dad did not sit me down and tell me how this was just a prank. As a matter of fact I could not sit down for some time. I also had to clean the house, apologize to the owner, and was grounded for a month. Needless to say, I did not do that again.

But the message that was sent to the two other kids who lived was, go ahead and do it again, it was just a prank and no one will punish you. I hope next Halloween we do no read about the beating or shooting death of these two idiots.

- Craig S. Hawley

Reseda

Aircraft oxygen

Re ``Stewart's flight,'' (Public Forum, Nov. 3). The writer is right in his assessment of longevity of flight crews at high altitudes. Oxygen breathing in unpressurized aircraft is mandatory at about 10,000 feet only to keep flight crews mentally alert. Above 10,000 to 20,000 feet, a human in normal physical shape would stay conscious up to one hour. This is a fact born out by my numerous flights from sea level to 21,500 feet on one-hour flights over the Andes mountains in South America. From 20,000 to 30,000 feet, the loss of oxygen gets critical. At an altitude of 33,000 feet, application of a mask with 100 percent oxygen is mandatory within seconds. The real reason for writing this letter is to call attention to investigators of the possibility that the oxygen bottle for the cockpit crew was empty due to the bleed lever being left open or a faulty gauge reading or that it was not checked prior to takeoff . . . If this is the scenario, the passengers would be left in the cabin with sufficient oxygen because their source is separate from the crew.

- George W. Hall

Northridge

Preventing violence

In answer to ``Here's the question,'' (Public Forum, Nov. 4), it takes zero shootings for me to concede that the idea is to prevent such shootings in the first place.

Unfortunately, I don't believe government can prevent anything from happening. Its function is to react and settle differences. As an instrument for social good, the only social good government can perform is to give citizens the greatest degree of anarchy possible.

I do think Hollywood could help by making more films that are antidotes to the feel-good violence that is churned out as entertainment fantasy for male youths and seems to inspire more violence in society rather than inhibit anyone.

I reject gun control as a solution. Since liberals and the media love it so much, we can all be certain that it will be counterproductive, detrimental to the world, create an incredible crime wave and reign of criminal terror such as the world has never seen if such nitwit social planners should ever get their way.

- Rikio Matsunami

Los Angeles