PUBLIC FORUM BLAME SHIFTING.

After reading ``LAUSD's online bungle'' (March 22), it does not surprise me that there is blame shifting all over this situation. No one will claim responsibility for allowing this huge project to languish because no one knows where the cracks in the system are located.

The entire school system, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and all the red tape that follows this sort of project is so overwhelmed with bureaucracy that I would bet no one can find the mistakes or correct the mistakes. One would think after so many similar situations, someone would know what the problem is by now. Romer now has put in his own management group, which ordered crews to work night shifts (overtime pay?) which in the end perhaps will cost taxpayers more money.

- J.Y. Wu

Granada Hills

The nerve

Vicente Fox takes the trophy for all-time, in-your-face guts for his requests for open borders, coddling of illegal border-crossers and suggestions that we give them free college education.

The second prize goes to Morningside School and the assembled crowd for their red, white and green balloons and shouts of ``Viva Mexico,'' not to mention the fact that when asked if they had come to see the first lady, Laura Bush, they responded no, they had come to see President Vicente Fox. Fox, the day that you open your southern borders, start educating your own people and give American citizens the same rights you want from us is the day we might consider free trade.

- Barbara Mark

Valencia

Safe nuclear energy

Gov. Gray Davis, the state Legislature and our vast bureaucracies were told several years ago by very reliable scientific engineers that you do not deregulate the utilities until you have sufficient new plants on line. They choose to ignore this advice, and now all Californians will pay a huge price for their folly.

We need small nuclear plants that are safe and run at much less cost than gas, coal or hydroelectric. American companies build nuclear plants all over the world but are forbidden to build in the United States. This state needs good scientific conservationists who know how to balance the needs of nature with the needs of the populace. We do not need environmental organizations run by trial lawyers telling us what to do.

- Sylvia Kinyoun

Thousand Oaks 

Moral destruction

Where does any nation or state derive its authority or justification to kill any human being? Yet today, March 27, the state of California is scheduled to again put a human being to death. Robert Lee Massie may well deserve no less, but does any government have the moral right to do exactly what Massie is to be punished for?

I do think that we have a moral obligation to put him away where he cannot harm anyone else. What nation or people so filled with hate and revenge can avoid moral destruction? We are told that a majority favor capitol punishment. I think it would be good to remember that at one point in our history, the majority favored slavery.

- Philip Wilt

Van Nuys

A slow learner

In 1999, the then-governor of Texas pushed through the legislature a $1.85 billion tax cut based on positive prediction of an expanded economy. Currently the state is $700 million over budget plus another $740 million the State Health and Human Services Commission says it would need just to maintain current levels of service.

Now, two years later, this same governor is president of the United States with his same agenda of tax cuts, this time based on a 10-year projection of budget surpluses. Projection of only two years went awry on Texas. Using a 10-year projection now does seem to be a little presumptuous to me.

- Everett F. Meyer

Tujunga

Policy of isolation

With violence on the rise at high school campuses, we need to know if our kids are being taught appropriate social interaction at school. I am new to this valley and am worried that my daughter is married to her third-grade class. Her reputable public school (LAUSD) uses the policy of isolation to keep the kids under control on the playground.

The same 20 kids in her class spend each day learning together, eating together and then playing together at their assigned area on the playground. Can this be called teaching social interaction? Definitely not.

- Evvy Ross

Chatsworth

Might seem harsh

There must be an immediate stop to the shootings in public schools. We must demand safety for our children. The remedy might seem harsh, but I believe it will accomplish the desired result.

If someone is selling drugs in their home, we take their home. If someone in a home does not safety proof a gun and keep it out of the hand of youngsters, then take their home.

- Paula M. Heim

Canyon Country

Self-loading

Re ``City urged to outlaw small guns'' (March 20): The article tells us that a survey found these ``weapons were the most popular among criminals.'' A few years back we were told that the assault rifle was the weapon of choice among criminals. What's next, the deadly and easily concealed Chihuahua?

- Kurt Dillon

Canoga Park

My dog's rights

So animal rights activists across the country say that banning certain (presumably aggressive) breeds of dogs is irrational, and that ``there are no bad dogs, only bad people who own dogs'' (``Canine controversies spreading across America,'' March 25). I agree.

Perhaps we can extend this reasoning outside of pets. After all, isn't blaming inanimate assault weapons and pocket rockets for violence the same as saying that all pit bulls are killers and should be banned? If there are bad people with dangerous dogs (or weapons), let's focus on keeping those people from doing bad things, instead of what they use to commit crimes. My dog and I demand our rights be respected.

- Alan Tong

Encino

Got subsidy?

Re Public Forum letters on the demise of the light rail system: Scapegoating General Motors, Goodyear Rubber and Standard Oil for the demise of the light rail system is one of the favorite anti-corporate yarns. Urban myths about blood-sucking corporations persist in the face of all kinds of evidence to the contrary. I lived on Sherman Way in the late `40s and early `50s and watched the Red Cars go by for years, empty, as people chose cars as the most convenient mode of transportation.

Budget-busting subsidies ultimately led to a shift of public moneys from light rail to our present freeway system. The fate of light rail in Los Angeles and Amtrac nationally should be instructional to mass transit enthusiasts of today. MTA could build a thousand miles of track and attract few passengers, while automobiles continue to pile up at the junction of the 101 and the 405 freeways.

- Ralph Smith

Woodland Hills

Minority religions

In Mona Charen's article supporting President Bush's faith-based funding proposals (``Faith-base groups need to be selective,'' Opinion, March 22), Charen gratuitously passed on an insulting comment about my church, the Church of Scientology. Yes, in Scientology, we're a little different than older religions - if we weren't, we'd be one of those religions.

Historically, new and minority religions have been the focus of attacks and persecutions. Christians in Rome, Jews in World War II Germany, Protestants in Spain during the 1600s; these didn't just come into full fruit without being planted, nurtured and harvested. So, I cannot sit by while a seed of possible future hatred is planted by a writer I otherwise admire.

- Stephen M. Ferris

Sunland