PUBLIC FORUM IT'S ALL IN THE NAME.

When the San Fernando Valley breaks away from the city of Los Angeles, as it surely will eventually, a new name for the city must be decided upon (``Valley's name game,'' April 3). One name stuck out like a sore thumb: Camelot. Whoever thought of that name, even as a remote possibility, must be having drug flashbacks from the 1960s. A city of millions of people needs something more than a make-believe, made-up name for its own identity.

- Doug Reuteler

North Hollywood

Good neighbor

It is obvious to me that there are a number of people in the San Fernando Valley who have an agenda regarding the Santa Susana Field Laboratory, and it is not an honest one. I am a 15-year Rocketdyne employee and worked at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory for at least half that time. I was in a position to know what was happening there. Rocketdyne made a business decision to protect the environment and its neighbors. The policy was zero tolerance, and it still is. There was nothing altruistic about this decision. Being a good neighbor is good for the bottom line. The 2,800 acres at the field laboratory are likely the safest 2,800 acres in the Valley. I feel totally confident in saying that cover-up or divisiveness is not part of the Rocketdyne business culture. It is a shame that the politicians and developers can't say that about themselves.

- Jack Atnip Jr.

Lake Balboa

Secession questions

I have the following questions about secession:

1. Are we going to pay city employees the prevailing wage that is paid in the private sector?

2. Are we going to hold them accountable both legally and financially for failure to do their jobs?

3. Will the new city ban racial preferences for city employees and contractors?

4. Will the new city, within its borders, rescind Special Order 40 (which restricts cooperation between the Los Angeles Police Department and the federal Immigration and Naturalization Service)?

5. Will the city ban using taxpayers' money to support groups like the Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano/a de Aztlan, or MEChA, that with taxpayer-funded Web sites are openly calling for the takeover of the American Southwest for the purpose of forming a bronze nation?

- Dennis Wilkinson

Winnetka

War without end

Matt Richards writes (Public Forum, April 4) that the Palestinians are using ``the only weapons they have.'' In fact, they could have had their state decades ago if they had used the one weapon they will not use: civil disobedience. They have not used the Gandhi-Martin Luther King Jr. tactic because this war is not about land but rather about pride and honor. The Arabs have been repeatedly humiliated, first by the Europeans and then by the Israelis. Only the destruction of Israel will salve their psychic wounds. Only the most extreme actions will restore their honor. The inevitable result will be war without end.

- Morris Schorr

Woodland Hills

The real threat

Going after Osama bin Laden, the Taliban, al-Qaida and Yasser Arafat is like fighting crab grass with a lawn mower. These villains are merely an outward manifestation of a far, far greater threat; namely the conquest for religious domination. A conquest that has plagued society since the beginning of time and accounts for more slaughters than all the wars in the world.

As long as world religions refuse to accept anything less than total domination, our world will be forever a breeding ground for hatred, violence and brutality - one huge powder keg.

Isn't it mind-boggling that all religions happen to worship and receive instructions from the very same God? The only differences are the messengers and interpretations of the messages. It's also ironic that all religions believe in the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. We're seeing excellent examples of this in the Mideast, Ireland and Afghanistan.

- Fred Coble 

North Hills

Wicked scenario

I hope the Palestinians are not going in the direction of engaging primarily young women as human bombs. It seems they can be just as destructive as men, who then are allowed to grow up to be soldiers. The monetary reward would probably stay the same. What a wicked scenario. How can Israel defend itself from a group whose members accept money for blowing up their kids?

Yasser Arafat may have made only one true statement: ``President Bush is only interested in finishing what his father started in Iraq.'' I, for one, still felt happier, safer and better off all around during the Clinton-Gore administration.

- Susan Metzger

Reseda

Sensible energy bill

At its inception, the Senate energy bill, under the leadership of Majority Leader Tom Daschle, was a promising vehicle for meeting our nation's energy needs. The energy bill before the Senate now is but a skeleton of its former self. The original vision of a comprehensive energy bill has been lost in a morass of industry give-aways.

At a time when Americans are poised to embrace a sensible energy framework, this bill falls far short of the minimum, basic standards of reducing oil consumption, increasing renewable energy sources and protecting the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and other natural treasures. We don't need to drill for oil in our special places when increasing fuel efficiency standards is a more effective way to meet our energy needs.

- William H. Bassett

Van Nuys

Neighbors lose again

California State University, Northridge, and the Los Angeles Unified School District have joined forces to squeeze a non-neighborhood high school for 1,200 students - four stories high, with underground parking - into a five-acre parcel on Zelzah Avenue at Halsted Street.

This deal requires 10 acres of CSUN's overused, antiquated athletic fields to be shared with high schoolers. Other shared facilities will be science, biology, language and health-science labs, plus art studios, a theater and the Oviatt Library.

In exchange, CSUN acquires more than 8 1/2 acres where Prairie Street School will be demolished and the site utilized for parking. This land swap was approved by the governor in October 2001. This construction project is currently advertised in a professional engineering publication.

This $38 million school will not be approved by the LAUSD school board until Tuesday.

Community opposition has again been blatantly ignored. Five years from now, we will have another overcrowded, overflow, non-neighborhood school. CSUN officials have once again arrogantly victimized the Northridge community. What will they do next to alienate and enrage us?

- Pat LoPresti

Northridge

Addressing the problem

The vow of celibacy must not carry any more weight than the oath of office.

This has been swept under the proverbial rug for a zillion years.

Priests represent a higher being and are expected to act accordingly.

They will not be exempt from judgment at heaven's gate. Of course, they will be expected to do all they can to stop this problem. If they don't, here's the church and here's the steeple; open the doors and see no people.

- Shirley Thielman

Reseda

No other name

The only name I want the San Fernando Valley to be called is Los Angeles.

- Venida Korda

Van Nuys