PUBLIC FORUM ENSURE SAFETY AND DIGNITY.

I was moved by the plight of Mattye Dane, and other gay high school students, in ``School district ignores law meant to protect gay and transgender kids'' (April 18). As a student at a magnet high school here in the Valley, I witness the brutal treatment of fellow students, either openly gay or perceived as gay, on a regular basis.

For the Orange Country school district to ignore the law guaranteeing the security of gay students is an insult and contrary to the values America's educational system is designed to teach. The district's top priority should be to educate students, while ensuring their safety and dignity, regardless of race, religion, gender or sexual orientation.

- Amy Chow 

Northridge

Poor stewardship

Re ``Doors closing for higher education'' (Their Opinions, April 14):

Once more the higher education establishment wishes to be rescued from the real world by taxpayers. Their many wasteful practices demonstrate poor stewardship of our tax dollars: remedial courses for those who frittered away their high school education, wasteful application of resident tuition requirements, allowing costs to rise at twice the inflation rate, lax pursuit of delinquent student loans, to name a few.

Let the governor's cuts in funding and tuition increases occur. What's wrong with letting those who benefit the most economically from a college education, those who will be earning more than the average taxpayer, pay the larger share?

- Tom Swift 

Sun Valley

Trust the city?

Re ``Mistaken Miscikowski'' (Editorial, April 16):

Kudos for your recent editorial about Councilwoman Miscikowski attempting to make Alternative D palatable to the public. It does come down to a case of the city asking that an outdated and poorly written environmental impact statement for Los Angeles International Airport expansion be approved while the public is to ``trust'' the city to do the right thing by not implementing it.

Betrayal by the city of L.A. is nothing new to LAX-adjacent Westchester. Trust the city where pay-to-play seems to be the order of the day? I don't think so. A new, solid foundation is in order here; and approving the flawed EIS/EIR for the LAX master plan is definitely not the way to go.

- Carole Hossan

Westchester

Miscikowski responds

I was shocked to read your ``Mistaken Miscikowski'' editorial and accompanying political cartoon in today's Daily News. While I certainly welcome the idea that reasonable people can disagree (and unreasonable ones, too), generally one waits until there is something of substance in front of them before passing judgment on a proposal that has not been released.

What your reporters have in their possession is a draft of an outline of an executive summary and a draft of a phasing plan identifying what components of Alternative D could be built out in the near future. As for how these goals would be accomplished, what premises the compromise proposal is built on, and how it is all presented, you cannot know because you have not seen that proposal. For example, your insistence that a regional authority be mandated is indeed an element of specific plan which would become law.

If there is a ``Trojan Horse'' in this scenario, it is the Daily News pretending to know more than they do about what the consensus plan proposes.

- Cindy Miscikowski 

Los Angeles Councilwoman

DARE reduction

Re ``Plan to increase officers on street digs into DARE'' (April 17):

I understand the community, mayor and police chief's wish to expand the officers on patrol on the streets because of the recent increase in crimes. However, is it necessary to reassign officers from the DARE programs? As a former student of this course, I realize that they teach obvious materials on the dangers and prevention of drug abuse, but it is this basic information that contributes in the creation of a healthier generation.

People may say that the DARE officers may be replaced by other nonpolice officers, but I believe that it is the badge, the uniform, and the police belt that help convince children of the significance of the course.

- Sho Izumi

Encino

Grading teachers

Re ``Proposed law would let kids grade their teachers'' (April 14):

Why can't students and teachers have a forum to discuss their academic and teaching performance? Instead, they decide to force legislators to propose a law to let a teacher choose if he wants to be graded.

As a student, I would be overwhelmed by the fact of actually going to a federal building and actually telling others, ``Can I grade to see if he is doing a bad job?'' It's like putting a 4-by-4 Band-Aid over a small scratch. I believe these ``kids'' have better things to do than bother our legislators for solving a problem not needing any kind of government intervention.

- Nelson Moreno

Van Nuys

The real question

Enough already. All of this finger-pointing and pretending to be made of Teflon by our ``elected'' and would-be leaders. The questions should be what happened, what do we do now, how do we avoid it in the future, and how do we do it without sacrificing our freedoms? And not who did or did not do what. It's these very freedoms that we are supposed to be fighting to keep and that have made our country great.

In the past I thought that the ``elected'' politicians were there to serve us, not themselves. I must have been an idealist living in a dream world.

- Irving M. Leemon

Northridge

Focus on target

Re ``Wrong focus'' (Their Opinions, April 15):

Although many criticize the Bush administration for entering the U.S. into an unnecessary war, I believe that the focus of the administration has always been on target.

If 9-11 could have been prevented, why wouldn't the administration have taken a stand to protect the American people? Too many of us are angered by the events preceding 9-11, and see the president as a scapegoat to blame the nation's problems on; I guess it's human nature, blame someone else if you can't find an explanation yourself.

- Deborah Lee

North Hollywood

Tragic misleadership

Bush spoke of ``changing the world'' and transferring sovereignty June 30, then aligned with Israel on taking Palestinian land. What is the ``exit strategy'' Powell fought for in Gulf War I? Our military staying for years? Resentment and attacks lead us to kill Iraqis and we aim ``to capture or kill'' al-Sadr, while Iraqi police and military ``melt away.''

Neither public nor Congress challenges the executive-military-Halliburton ``pre-emption'' policies despite the looming debacle. Bin Laden wins. We are the ``crusader'' - attacking the Islamic world and destroying our constitutional foundations - the mighty armed bully in bases worldwide, without prudence, judgment or wisdom. Tragic misleadership.

- Kenneth McClain

North Hills

A political ploy 

Re ``Victim mentality'' (Your Opinions, April 18):

I would like to say bravo to Maj. Curtis A. Wood, U.S. Army, for his Sunday letter. This entire discussion at this time is nothing but a political ploy to discredit the present administration, hoping to remove the president from the White House. The radical left is willing to do and say anything, true or not, to accomplish this goal. I expect you will say that Maj. Wood is not an authority on this matter but kindly note his address.

I believe he is a first-hand observer actively involved in a part of the battle, not as some so-called media reporter. God bless and protect you.

- Kay Robak

Burbank

Good ol' days

President Bush said three groups are trying to grab power in Iraq: Hussein's old soldiers, religious militants and foreign terrorists. Yeah, now it sounds pretty good when it was just Mobil, Exxon and Shell, right?

- R.J. Johnson

North Hollywood