PUBLIC FORUM USERS PAY.

Re ``LAX update closer to takeoff'' (June 15):

All the surrounding cities and counties use LAX, so why should L.A. city taxpayers foot the bill for LAX expansion or remodeling of any of the terminals (Bradley Terminal)? Denver taxpayers did not pay for their airport. A levy of, I believe, $15 is added to each airline ticket in or out of Denver airport that pays for everything.

Los Angeles should also just add a similar fee to each airline ticket in and out of LAX to pay for any of these expansions/remodels - not the Los Angeles city taxpayers, while all the other users get a free ride. In this manner, users pay to use LAX.

- Gary M. Schechter

Woodland Hills

Not a given

Re ``Some civil rights leaders have it wrong'' (Their Opinions, June 11):

Joe Hicks has it right; civil rights leaders wrong. Education is not given, like an entitlement. It is the opportunity for an education that is given.

One must work for the education and that is the problem. Too many people, young and old, fail to recognize or understand that you work for it, just as the farmer knows there is no harvest if the earth is not tilled, the seeds planted and nurtured. Even the biblical proverb tells us as we sow, so shall we reap. This wisdom is ageless and applies to everything, from athletics to education and success in any endeavor.

- Glenn W. Hoiby

North Hollywood

The 'R' word

It's time Supervisors Zev Yaroslavsky, Gloria Molina and Yvonne Brathwaite Burke start hearing the ``R'' word ... recall. Where do I sign?

- Jack Brennan 

North Hills

Riot time

The Lakers can be proud for preventing millions of dollars of property damage by the lunatic fringe. Detroit's lunatic fringe won the honor.

- Bill Rice

Canoga Park

Short cuts

Re ``Crusade to shut down a school'' (June 14):

Bessy Echeverria wants to achieve the ``American dream''; however, she tries to take a shortcut and wound up with nothing. Perhaps Echeverria needs to attend an adult GED program such as the ones offered at various LAUSD high schools rather than try to cut short.

- Caroline Malloy

Reseda

From bum to homeless

After reading ``Nightmare in L.A.'' (June 13) I feel convinced that we must once and for all end the suffering of the homeless for which we are all apparently responsible. According to the column, the homeless community is comprised of the mentally ill, substance abusers, former prisoners and the ``almost ready to work.''

Clearly we must curtail the system which enables these people to dwell in the Skid Row area, indulging various chemical dependencies while remaining unemployed and relying on public and private giveaways of food, clothing and shelter. Certainly the mentally ill must be cared for, but why should we continue to support an alleged 2.5 million people (a very dubious statistic) who accept a low standard of living in exchange for no responsibility and no work?

- David Gee

Van Nuys

Republican witch hunt

Re ``Clinton may help Kerry on book tour'' (June 14):

In response to the letter from Paul Vaughn (Your Opinions, June 16), I don't have any problem with Bill and Hillary Clinton being paid in advance for their books - how else are they going to pay down the $100 million in legal fees that were incurred during the White House years? Remember Whitewater and Monica Lewinsky? All the result of a Republican witch hunt.

At least they are making good on their debt and not stiffing the American public. I say more power to them.

- Laura Nardoni

Van Nuys

Separate man from God

Re ``Re-read the Constitution'' (Your Opinions, June 15):

The so-called separation of church and state reference in the First Amendment in the Bill of Rights that ``Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion ...'' purportedly gives evidence, according to the ACLU's interpretation, that there is an intended separation of church and state in the First Amendment.

In their zeal to separate man from God, they deliberately fail to include the remainder of the reference to religion, which states ``or prohibiting the free exercise thereof ...'' The average American is not disrespectful about his neighbors' religious beliefs. Those of other religious faiths should not be disrespectful toward the Judeo-Christian base of the First Amendment which gave you the free exercise of your religion.

- Celeste Burgess

Northridge

Empire, not protection

Re ``Compassionate'' (Your Opinions, June 14):

The citizens of France, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Austria, Norway and Sudetenland would have a hard time agreeing with William O. West that the Nazis were only protecting their people while invading, occupying, plundering and brutalizing the rest of Europe during World War II.

The Nazis went to war for expansion of the Third Reich. Hitler, the German dictator, called his government the ``Third Reich'' - Reich meaning Empire.

- Herbert Auerbach

Van Nuys

Not a black mark

Re ``Nicaraguan loyalty,'' ``Ethics, morals?'' (Your Opinions, June 11):

Any left-wing shibboleth that claims Ronald Reagan's by hook or by, er, crook, aid to the Nicaraguan Contras should make the Iran-Contra ``scandal'' go down as an unredeemed black mark on his legacy should be buried as sure as Reagan's casket itself.

At the time of the '80s war in Nicaragua, Soviet leaders had the world's Cold War going dangerously hot, surreptitiously sending large amounts of military aid to their cat's paw Sandinista comrades. If for lack of U.S. (read: Reagan's) aid, the Sandinistas had won: the Berlin Wall would probably still be standing, and Mexico itself could well be in a state of communist insurgency.

- Harvey Pearson

Los Feliz

Appropriate attire

Re ``Sloppy Americans were a disgrace,'' (June 13):

I do agree that Americans might sometimes be sloppy, and that our standard of dress has become much more comfortable and casual. I wonder though, what the writer of this article would have deemed appropriate attire for six or seven hours in a sweltering line on a Washington, D.C., sidewalk, or in a Simi Valley parking lot awaiting a turn on the bus?

Surely it would not have been wise to make this pilgrimage in the respectful little black dress and pumps, or coat and tie, now would it? Does it really matter what people selected from their closet or suitcase that day? In the spirit of a president who emphasized the positive, let's focus on what a wonderful statement was made by their presence, not their garments.

- Nancy Stevens

Northridge

Basics remain

Re ``Union made'' (Editorial, June 2):

Readin', 'ritin', 'rithmetic: The basics remain the same. Include technology-based learning, technological tools, teachers, students and a classroom, and you're ready for learning to take place. These should be the priority. I have been teaching almost two decades, and I have learned that the classroom can function effectively - and students can be successful - with just the students, teachers, books and computers. Challenge me.

- Edwina Magana

Los Angeles