PUBLIC FORUM.

Judgmental 

Re ``Chick, Romer discuss LAUSD audits'' (Jan. 11):

Isn't it strange that LAUSD Superintendent Roy Romer has now agreed to turn over past audits to City Controller Laura Chick, but says it will take some time first? Loosely translated, this means it will take time for the district to hide what officials don't want the auditors to find.

Roy and his cronies have been playing the shell game for years and getting away with it. If the truth were ever really found out, the Los Angeles education community would be in a state of shock and disbelief to see how its money has been misappropriated. We all know that the district hides things; it's just a question of what it will take to find these hidden treasures.

- Carolyn Whitehead

Canyon Country

Shock crock 

Re ``Day One: 68 'f-bombs' and counting'' (Jan. 10):

Do we really need to know how many times Howard Stern cusses? Do you really think that is news? Unless you like shock jocks, you would never listen to him anyway. It is bad enough we have people like him in the world without him making front-page news.

- Cathy Hardy

Arleta

Mouse excess

Re ``Ex-Disney chief gets $10 million'' (Jan. 12):

My kids ask me why we do not go to Disneyland. This article answers all their questions. If Michael Eisner can get a whopping $9.1 million cash bonus, and Robert Iger a just-as-whopping $7.7 million cash bonus, obviously, the Disney company doesn't need the $400 it takes to take my family to Disneyland. Of course, this is only $16.8 million of the company profits, which exceed an imaginable amount. The more I think about their income, as I struggle to make my ends meet, the more disgusted I become with The Walt Disney Co. as a whole.

- Brian Jones

Palmdale

One-issue senators

Re ``Judge refuses to bend'' (Jan. 13):

Is abortion the only issue the Democrats want United States Supreme Court justices to be concerned with? Aren't there other things just as, or more, important than that? I just don't get it!

- Emma Lou McCammon

Reseda

Alito inquisition

Re ``Judge refuses to bend'' (Jan. 13):

What a disgrace! Some senators have resorted to the lowest level of personal attacks on Judge Samuel Alito, especially Ted Kennedy. They conducted more of an inquisition than a hearing. These hearings are supposed to help the senators assess a nominee's integrity and how he or she would rule on constitutional matters, but some of the senators clearly decided to block Alito before they even questioned him.

There has to be a fairer way to hold these confirmation hearings.

- Pamela Franklin

Granada Hills

If you want the job

Re ``Judge refuses to bend'' (Jan. 13):

Regarding all this fuss concerning Samuel Alito's being interviewed for the job he seeks, I've a simple common-sense approach: When applying for any position, it is logical to assume and expect that one will be asked questions. Now, if and when questions are answered evasively, or not at all, then that sorry individual should be thanked and shown the exit door. End of story.

What's so difficult about this reasoning? It's about time we Americans got a more fair and balanced judiciary. Anyone too extreme right or left should never be considered. And that, I submit, is only fair and just!

- Leo Bertucelli

Sherman Oaks

Hearings debacle

Re ``Judge refuses to bend'' (Jan. 13):

Judge Alito's confirmation hearings were a debacle! The senators of the Judiciary Committee never conducted a substantive inquiry into Alito's qualifications. Their attacks, innuendos and cheap shots reduced the judge's wife to tears. If I were Alito, I would have left the chamber rather than deal with the Chappaquiddick Swimming Club.

- Bill Lyons

Saugus

Gift to humanity

Re ``Once-abandoned lab doing some rescuing of his own'' (Jan. 12):

I hope everyone who read about the dog Soldier and his gift to humanity took the time to be human and shed a tear, and to thank the Best Friends Animal Society who rescued him, along with Dennis McCarthy for writing this piece. One can only hope that someday our humanity will surpass our technology.

- Bob Mauch

- North Hills

The Dem playbook

Re ``Misnamed at birth'' (Your Opinions, Jan. 12):

Marshall Barth's letter typifies the name-calling attack style of the Democratic Party, using such witty terms as ``imperial presidency'' and calling Justice Alito ``Elite-o.'' Since Alito is an extremely qualified and experienced federal jurist, all Mr. Barth - like the Democratic senators in the confirmation hearings - can do is regurgitate the same tired catchphrases from the Democratic playbook and make false accusations.

- Steve McCombs

Chatsworth

More history

Re ``Inconvenient truth'' and ``Foot in mouth'' (Your Opinions, Jan. 11):

Here is a little more history lesson: Democrats who opposed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 were from the Southern states, and both the Southern Democrats and Republicans were opposing integration back then. Many of those Democrats from the South later changed their political affiliation to become Republicans.

- Nina Trotta-Sutton

Simi Valley

Generating crime

Re ``City's future gauged by homes for workers'' (Their Opinions, Dec. 29):

Michael Costa makes many assertions that are incorrect. Primarily is his contention that low-income housing projects do not generate crime, and that there is not a shred of evidence that low-income housing has any negative impacts on a neighborhood. These claims ignore a recently published HUD study commissioned by President Bill Clinton, ``In the Crossfire'' (available online at hud.gov). The study's most significant findings are that there is a correlation between income and violent crime, and that persons residing in low-income housing projects and surrounding communities are over twice as likely to suffer from firearm-related victimization than are other members of the population.

- Matthew L. Millen

Santa Monica

But, seriously

Re ``BFI responds'' (Your Opinions, Jan. 8):

Once again BFI acts like a victim, which is far from the truth. The company wants its conditional use permit changed because that would benefit BFI, period. Make no mistake, this is about money. BFI can keep claiming victim, but it is only the community that has and will continue to suffer.

- Anne Ziliak

Granada Hills

Excluding whom?

Re ``Past behavior'' (Your Opinions, Jan. 12):

Apparently Paul Gonzales doesn't listen very well. The Concerned Alumni of Princeton did not seek to ``exclude'' women and minorities from the university, although they may have been attempting to limit them. What Gonzales does not mention was that the CAP was also trying to prevent the Princeton ``lefties'' from excluding the ROTC program from the campus.

- Jack Sivori Ziliak

Woodland Hills