PUBLIC FORUM.

Orange Line monorail 

Re ``Transit on the Cheap'' and ``Really Fix it'' (Your Opinions, Dec. 14):

Instead of lumbering buses and light rail that are incompatible with Southern California's fast-paced and image-conscious lifestyle, how about elevating our thinking and building an ultra-modern monorail system that will move quickly, quietly and efficiently above the existing Orange Line? This would open the two bus lanes for automobile traffic and reduce gridlock from surrounding streets and the 101 Freeway.

Then, continue onward and upward with a network of mass-transit monorails across L.A.'s vast landscape of communities by interconnecting the Valley with other Los Angeles regions and diminishing more gridlock for auto commuters. Never mind, this is starting to make sense.

-- Robert L. Rosebrock

Brentwood

Worth the trade-off

Re ``Bus route changes'' (Your Opinions, Dec. 13):

The replacement of our existing 40-foot buses on Van Nuys Boulevard with 60-foot buses allows us to rethink the way we allocate our service. We have, in the past, been unable to schedule enough service in rush hour to properly handle the higher demand of that time period, but by using larger buses we can move some midday service hours -- keeping the same capacity in midday -- to rush hour, dramatically improving capacity at that busier time.

Yes, there will be a slightly longer wait in the middle of the day, but the improvement in rush-hour service is worth the trade-off. I agree, though, that we speak too often in ``bureaucratese'' rather than passenger- friendly English. I promise that we will improve in this regard as well.

-- Kymberleigh Richards

Chair

Metro San Fernando Valley 

Governance Council

Chatsworth

Racism in any color

Re ``Witness apparently becomes a target after testifying'' (Dec. 10):

On Page 7, the Daily News recently carried a story about a group of black youths who brutally attacked three young girls, cursing and taunting them about how they hated ``whites'' as they beat them with stones and skateboards.

Where would this story be if a gang of white thugs brutalized and taunted some black girls the same way? Where are the Jesse Jacksons and Al Sharptons when there is a black-on-white hate crime? We should thank that black man who came to the girls' rescue and that courageous girl who, faced with threats and intimidation, has testified against these thugs. These are the true heroes we should admire, not the Jacksons or Sharptons.

-- Bob Tanabe

La Canada Flintridge

Grandview Cemetery

Re ``Grandview Cemetery to open twice monthly'' (Dec. 13):

I have read several articles on the Grandview situation. The discussion shouldn't be so intense about keeping a cemetery open on certain days and times. The time and money spent on this could have been used for something more productive. The problem came about a year ago now, and I hope something is finally being done about the financial problem.

-- Elizabeth Khodzabashyan

Glendale

This president's watch

Re ``Saudis may back Sunnis if U.S. pulls out of Iraq'' (Dec. 14):

Our foreign policy is being manipulated by Saudi Arabia. King Abdullah told V.P. Cheney last week during his quick visit to Saudi Arabia that if the U.S. withdraws its forces from Iraq that they (the Saudis) might provide financial backing to the Iraqi Sunnis.

Access to oil is the key -- if the Saudis feel betrayed by the U.S., they could possibly have a `snit' and cut off our oil supply. George Bush wouldn't be able to hold hands with the oil prince any more. The tragedy is that many more of our brave troops are dying. For what? It is sickening to think about what has taken place under this president's watch.

-- Patricia Lamoree

Granada Hills

Power players

Re ``Illness could tilt power back to GOP'' (Dec. 15):

Government 101: Lesson 1 -- ``The sending of a get well card verses a condolence card is based on political affiliation.''

-- Gary E. Skogen

Littlerock