PUBLIC FORUM.

Backing Arnold

Re ``Arnold plays politics with immigration'' (Their Opinions, May 22):

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger may not be an expert on the English language, and neither am I. However, we both understand the difference between ``legal'' and ``illegal.''

I hope Schwarzenegger stands by his statements and continues to support the Minuteman Project. If he does, he has my vote.

- Gary Rowe

Northridge

Academic debate

Re ``Conservative move afoot to stifle campus voice'' (Their Opinions, May 26):

John Brady's piece led me to look up Senate Bill 5 on the Web, and here is what I found:

It says that students shall be graded solely on their answers and knowledge of the subject and disciplines they study. Curricula shall provide students with dissenting sources and viewpoints. Selection of speakers, allocation of funds and other student activities shall observe principles of academic freedom.

Brady is dead wrong on SB 5. Could it be that he allows classroom discussion only of his own political beliefs? Or perhaps he feels that those paid with taxpayer funds can do as they please.

- Guy Smyrnos

Newbury Park

State border patrol

Re ``No fumble'' (Your Opinions, May 24):

I was heartened to read Sen. Gil Cedillo's comments regarding his support for following the ``rule of law'' when it comes to complying with the federal Real ID Act despite his disdain for a ``two-tier'' system of issuing state driver's licenses.

Should we also assume that he supports the rule of law when it comes to enforcement of federal immigration laws? If so, I am sure he will have no problem throwing his support behind Assemblyman Ray Haynes' proposal for the creation of a California Border Patrol.

- Dennis Church

Chatsworth

Reading suggestion

Re ``Poll rejects special election'' (May 26):

If there was a book called ``The California Budget for Dummies,'' it should be at the top of David Drucker's reading list.

Chapter 1 would explain why we can't confuse an increase in state allocations to schools with increases in total school revenue. Why? Because much of the state increase simply replaces school property taxes that are being redirected to cities and counties to implement Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's policies to reduce the car tax and increase city and county revenue.

The governor's May revision shows that the total increase in K-12 funding proposed for next year is 3.4 percent. This compares with an inflation rate of 4.23 percent and enrollment growth of 0.8 percent.

In other words, the increase in revenue will not keep pace with the increases in costs and workload, forcing still more cuts in school programs.

- Rick Pratt

Assistant executive director

Governmental relations

California School Boards Association

Not the same

Re ``Then and now'' (Your Opinions, May 24):

Ben Delgado compared how, in the 1820s, the Mexican government granted land to invited American immigrants in Texas to illegal immigrants coming to the United States today.

It is not the same thing. In the first place, the Mexican illegals are not invited. In the second place, they break our laws in coming here and continue to break our laws by staying here.

- Sid Conkwright

Van Nuys

Failed obsession

American society's obsession with cultural diversity and affirmative action is mostly a dismal failure. Increasing tension and violence among African-American and Hispanic students at Los Angeles high schools is one salient example.

Social psychological research in general suggests strongly that categorizing individuals by race, gender and ethnicity fosters intergroup animosity and competition for pieces of a perceived finite economic and cultural pie.

One need only consider help-wanted ads that announce they are from an equal opportunity employer and affirmative action employers. This implies that a potential employer is both ``blind'' to racial, ethnic or gender identity in hiring practices while simultaneously giving greater consideration to them.

- Christopher W. Williams

Valencia

Foolish reasoning

Re ``Democracy under assault in schools'' (May 27):

Mary Sanchez says teaching ``intelligent design'' would undermine separation of church and state and erode democracy. I don't see how putting forth two views can be deemed threatening.

It is so hypocritical and so typical to hear the argument that what I believe should be taught and that is freedom, (but) what you believe is extreme and against the Bill of Rights.

Does anyone see how foolish this reasoning is?

- Mikal Rogers

Santa Rosa Valley

Damage is done

The damage done by the erroneous news report last week that interrogators at Guantanamo Bay tossed a copy of the Quran down the toilet to upset detainees is already out there.

The riots and anti-American demonstrations that followed in the belief that this was true shows how alert and cautious we must be to any reports of our conduct in relation to religious beliefs.

It's hard to believe that a news magazine from this nation so proud of its religious freedom could be so careless.

How damaging false information like this can be as the nations of the world are focused on how we are handling the crisis we helped create.

- Roger Slattery

Agoura Hills

Carl's disgusting ads

Enough is enough. As much as we all enjoy eating there, until Carl's Jr. discontinues running the disgusting TV ads with Paris Hilton, I'll be taking my business elsewhere. With the company's headquarters just up the coast in Carpinteria, I encourage everyone who feels the same way to do likewise.

- Steve Morsa

Thousand Oaks

Bad omen for country

``Dubya's no joke'' (May 27):

Where is our country heading if one high school student has the power to change a ``lighthearted'' expression of our First Amendment?

I would bet a million dollars that this student who complained doesn't even know who Groucho Marx was. I would also bet that this student doesn't understand the atrocities George W. Bush and this administration have committed in the past five years.

I would expect this type of story in say, Texas or Wyoming. But not in the San Fernando Valley, which voted overwhelmingly for change in the White House. For one high school student to get this kind of publicity as a self-proclaimed Republican makes me sick to my stomach.

- Spencer Shiffman

Calabasas

A new WMD scapegoat

Re ``Give 'em bull'' (Your Opinions, May 27):

Maybe we could use a new scapegoat for our weapons of mass destruction intelligence failure in Iraq. I suggest the not so well-known August Hanning.

Hanning is president (since 1998) of the German spy agency, the BND, and thus could well be the real reason why nobody from the CIA ever met with that now infamous liar known as ``Curveball.''

Despite the CIA's repeated requests for such a meeting, reportedly made all the way up to just prior to the coalition invasion itself, the BND wouldn't let them.

- Harvey Pearson

Los Feliz