PUBLIC FORUM VALLEY IDENTITY.

I have lived in the San Fernando Valley for over 30 years. It has changed very little all these years, plus it still does not have an identity, if not for Encino, Ventura Boulevard and Balboa Park. It has no major sports team, no cultural venues, and for a city which could be the fifth-largest in the U.S., it does not make sense to not let it be independent.

As part of Los Angeles, it will never have an identity that could propel it into a major city, which it could be with such a large varied population. And why not let it grow? Why have it stay a second-rate city with an economy that grows very little each year? It will most probably never be a major city until it has an identity and will always lag as part of the vital city of Los Angeles.

- Joel Kaye

Sherman Oaks

World class?

I see Vonnie Harper (Public Forum, Oct. 23) is complaining that it took four calls to be told it will be at least 10 days before anyone can turn her street lights back on. Just think how bad it would be if you didn't live in what our do-nothing mayor calls a ``world-class city.'' As far as I'm concerned, if L.A is world-class, the world is in a whole lot of trouble.

- George Timko

West Hills

Change the rule

Re ``Nightmare at school'' (Oct. 22):

My son is 9 and he peed his pants because that day he just so happened to need to use the bathroom more than the allotted two times. The rule at his school is if you have to go to the bathroom more than two times, you get a 10-minute detention after school. My son was so worried about getting the detention, he peed his pants.

One mother told me at open house that her son already got detention for using the bathroom more than three times. I'm sorry, but if you cannot tell the difference between a chronic liar who abuses the bathroom to get out of work and a child who truly has to go to the bathroom, you shouldn't be a teacher. This type of bathroom rule should be stricken from school regulations.

- Meegan Bevere

Burbank

Restroom policy

Re ``Nightmare at school'' (Oct. 22):

Is there not a Los Angeles Unified School District policy in place concerning children who need to use the restroom? Death Row inmates are not denied restroom privileges! Any teacher or adult who denies a 7-year-old the use of the toilet is cruel, abusive, incompetent and possibly mentally ill. A strict classroom policy does not need to include cruelty. Some growing children may have immature bladders or bowels that may cause them to need the restroom more frequently. The denial of the use of the restrooms may also have negative long-term health effects.

How can United Teachers Los Angeles stand behind such behavior? I have fought that same battle with a teacher when my child was in kindergarten. The principal of the school corrected that particular teacher's ridiculous restroom policy.

- Debra Van Tongeren

Studio City

Measure K needed

The Los Angeles Unified School District has a moral and legal obligation to ensure that the school community is informed about Measure K, the school repair and construction bond on the Nov. 5 ballot. Lucia Frias is misinformed to suggest otherwise in her Oct. 15 Public Forum letter.

As a parent with two children who attend schools in the LAUSD, an alumnus of Van Nuys High School and a 12-year teaching veteran at Van Nuys High School, I have witnessed the way overcrowding impedes the success of our children. If Measure K passes, the school district will be able to complete its ongoing neighborhood school building program and the Valley will receive six high schools, two middle schools, three elementary schools and three primary centers.

- Luis Rodriguez 

Van Nuys High School

Classes too full

Classes being too full has been a major problem to me. I have been in class with too many students and it has been very disruptive. The teacher has trouble controlling the children's behavior. I could not concentrate with the noise that was happening in the class. If you could keep a close watch as to how many students there should be in class, I would appreciate it.

- Joseph Misini

Panorama City

Entire atmosphere

Re ``Hold your horses; Valley has real issues'' (Opinion, Oct. 23):

I find Joseph Staub's view sadly misguided. He focuses on his theory that a ``rich horse-keeping tradition'' is unimportant to anyone but a few in the Northwest Valley and Councilwoman Wendy Greuel. I understand how a resident of concrete-lined Van Nuys may lack perception in this case.

There are very few areas of our city where you can still look out your window and see an old barn, oak trees, and maybe a horse in your neighbor's yard. It is not simply the horse-keeping rights at stake ... it is the entire atmosphere that will be lost if we destroy our rural equestrian neighborhoods in favor of ``affordable housing.'' We need to create more jobs for our citizens instead of building ``affordable housing.''

- Charles Murray 

Chatsworth

The underlying issue

I assume that Joseph Staub (``Hold your horses; Valley has real issues,'' Opinion, Oct. 23) neither lives nor works in Chatsworth, for he shows little grasp of the issues here. I don't ride horses; my family and I live here because we enjoy seeing the hills, the wildlife and, yes, horses.

Staub missed - or misstated - the whole underlying issue. The uproar in Chatsworth is about lack of due process, developers' influence on politicians, and the ever-increasing strain on our infrastructure brought about by overly dense development. He should research before he writes. As a teacher, he should see the connection between our overdevelopment concerns and his ``real'' issues, such as air quality and school overcrowding.

- Marty Woll

Chatsworth

Clean machines

Re Mike Kindle's Oct. 21 Public Forum reply to my letter:

I like the view of the ``real world'' from my SUV, both of them to be more precise. According to the California Air Resources Board, both my Suburban and my Extra Cab Dodge Ram truck come in cleaner than 75 percent of the vehicles that meet California's clean truck standard.

They are both in perfect condition and I find it hard to believe your 33-year-old vehicles are better for our environment. I have a wife and three kids who are much safer in my larger vehicles than they would ever be in yours. I find the compromise I've made to be well thought out and the obvious choice. I car-pool every day of the week to do my part, do you?

- Andrew Petroski

Castaic

Gun fingerprinting

During the middle of the D.C. sniper terrorism spree, the issue of gun-barrel fingerprinting was brought to America's attention. The Bush administration took interest, but we were then explained to that the characteristics of the fingerprint would change over the life of the weapon, so it was not a pragmatic tool and not worth considering.

Why, then, did the FBI aggressively rush en masse to the former Washington state residence, and in short order establish a match to bullet fragments shot out of the same weapon many years ago?

- Franklin Berger

West Hills

Fault is Hussein's

Re ``War opponents head to Iraq'' (Opinion, Oct. 23):

Barbara Johns thinks that showing how the Iraqi society is misunderstood will change massive viewpoints. This problem lies in the fault of Saddam's government. The society does not have any bearing on the cause of the war. Saddam has biological weapons capable of killing massive numbers of Americans.

Does the ultimatum ``prove you don't have nukes or go to war'' really sound so bad? Apologies to Johns, but uttering the fact that if we saw the real Iraqi society we would halt war talks over harbored weapons of destruction is insane. Hopefully, the U.S. government will not allow Johns to be another Jane Fonda toward ``war on Iraq'' in demoralizing precious troops who are fighting the real battle for peace.

- Steve Etter

Burbank