PUBLIC FORUM.

Not rocket science 

I'm no rocket scientist, but I do have vivid memories imbedded in my brain of standing on my front porch in North Hollywood, when I was a child, looking in awe at all of the ``pretty colors in the sky'' in 1959.

I now know that those puffy clouds of color were coming from ``the hill'' where Rocketdyne is located, and they were toxic and dangerous for anyone who came in direct contact with the fallout in them. Scientific proof? No, but, like I say, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out.

-- Kathleen Cappella

Simi Valley 

Nuclear leak

Re ``Meltdown mystery'' (Oct. 11):

I appreciate your coverage and letters regarding the Rocketdyne leak of July 1959. I had just turned 2 years old then. Who can say if my little lungs were more vulnerable to the meltdown's aftermath? Or if Chatsworth resident Holly Huff's then 8-year-old heart was also at greater risk? Did her friend, in fact, succumb to cancer at 39 because of the accident?

I put more stock in Huff's fears than letter writer Abe Weitzberg's claim that ``there was not a major meltdown.'' Forgive me if I don't take the word of someone who worked for Atomics International at the site three years following the accident.

-- Jeanine D'Elia

Granada Hills

Iraqi body count

Re ``More than 600,000 civilians estimated to have died in Iraq'' (Oct. 11):

We have now killed, by far, more Iraqis than Saddam Hussein, and he is on trial for his life. What next: hundreds of thousands of Iranians and/or hundreds of thousands of Syrians?

-- Bert DeMars

South Pasadena 

Great job, George

Re ``More than 600,000 civilians estimated to have died in Iraq'' (Oct. 11):

Great job, George. Three-thousand-plus U.S. troops killed, an estimated 600,000 civilians killed in a war that was supposed to be over. If this keeps up, after the last two years of our administration, we will have no more Iraqi civilians to worry about. There will be none left.

It is about time we left Iraq to whatever Iraqi citizens are still left alive and let them rebuild their country by themselves. They did a better job for thousands of years without George Bush and company. Let us get out and let them have a go at it themselves.

-- Gilbert Smith

Encino

Treason?

Re ``American indicted on treason charges'' (Oct. 12):

Since when is making statements treason? The last time I checked, this was America, and people had the constitutional right to make whatever statements they chose. Has the First Amendment been repealed without my knowledge?

-- Josh Rivetz

Northridge

Sports trance

Re ``Men delay trips to ER for sports'' (Oct. 11):

Amazing how caught up individuals can get into a sports game and neglect their injuries. Have sports turned into an uncontrollable trance? It's the sad truth that many are so dedicated to a sports game, but only place one-fourth of that dedication to more vital aspects in their lives such as jobs and/or family.

Health comes first, but many seem to forget while in that sports-game trance, About 40 people had heart attacks in Argentina after the World Cup and many other injuries; it is just a game. Watching sports shouldn't be so life-threatening. Maybe this article's stats will open people's eyes to the crazy impact sports can have.

-- Elizabeth Khodzabashyan

Glendale

Children's Museum 

Re ``Change of focus'' (Our Opinions, Oct. 10):

We commend the Daily News for focusing attention on efforts to increase funding from the Valley for the new Children's Museum of Los Angeles currently under construction in the Hansen Dam Recreation Area in the Northeast Valley. However, your article and subsequent editorial left the impression that museum officials have not held events in the Valley to build support and involvement here.

In fact, two major events have already taken place at the site of the new museum with the goal of engaging Valley philanthropists as well as other leaders and the neighboring community. The museum has also relocated its administrative offices from downtown to Van Nuys in order to establish closer ties to the Valley in anticipation of its opening in late 2007.

The new Children's Museum of Los Angeles is at a critical moment in its development as it works to raise $14 million to complete building construction and produce the interactive exhibits and programs that will make it a world-class cultural institution for our children and a source of pride for the Valley.

There are many opportunities for those who want to share in the creation of a museum that will enrich the lives of more than 350,000 children each year. From in-kind donations to underwriting key elements like galleries and the temporary exhibits hall, we encourage the Valley to join in making the dream of the new Children's Museum a reality.

-- Alex Padilla, Richard Katz, Carrie Roth, Michael Mizrahi, Jennifer King

Board of directors

Children's Museum of Los Angeles

Where the money is

Re ``Change of focus'' (Our Opinion, Oct. 10):

I agree that museum officials need to hold a few fundraisers over here in the Valley to get support and money for the new Children's Museum of Los Angeles being built in Lake View Terrace.

But, and I hate to say this, being a native of the Valley, I think they are choosing to go ``over the hill'' for financial support because ``over the hill'' is where all the money is.

-- Kevin Long 

Northridge

Power grab

On his Web site, Mayor Villaraigosa criticizes the Board of Education for not being ``transparent.'' I'm baffled. If being transparent means to seize the authority of a locally elected body and shift it to a 26-member council and claim it will ``cut the bureaucracy,'' then our legislators have confused ``transparent'' with its antonyms ``unclear and vague.''

Gloria Romero derided critics for calling AB 1381 a power grab. She claims it's an ``opportunity ... to boost the quality of education in LAUSD.'' If AB 1381 is not a ``power grab'' than how do you explain Villaraigosa's instantaneous authority? And if it is an opportunity to boost education, then explain how a 26-member council will be more successful than a six-member elected school board?

-- Donna Connolly

Sherman Oaks

Jessica's law 

Re ``Yes, on Jessica's law'' (Our Opinion, Oct. 11):

It is inconceivable to me that the Daily News can support Prop. 83, Jessica's law. This proposition wants to put all sex offenders, regardless of the offense, on a costly monitoring system for life. The assumption is that they cannot be rehabilitated, something that is not verified by current therapeutic practice, and must pay for the rest of their lives even though they have already served lengthy sentences.

It is estimated that there are currently 100,000 released sex offenders in California. If no more offenders are ever apprehended, that will be a daily cost of $800,000. (It's estimated that monitoring will cost $8 per day per ex-offender.) That's $292 million a year for people who have already served their sentences. We have already paid $36,000 a year for their incarceration, which did not include any rehab therapy. How does this give taxpayers their money's worth?

-- Marge Driscoll

Woodland Hills

Should, but won't

Re ``Experts, not politicos'' (Your Opinions, Oct 11):

I agree with Kathleen Travers that, ``The school board should work with experts, not politicos, in selecting the next superintendent'' ... but they won't!

-- Michael Lieberman

West Hills