PUBLIC FORUM.

Forget the 405

Re "Freeways run short of funds" (Feb. 20):

Why are we wasting our breath on a solution that will get congested the moment it is built? What should be looked at is building a rail corridor as an alternative to the 405 through the Sepulveda Pass to get between the isolated islands of the San Fernando Valley, the Westside and Los Angeles International Airport.

Imagine the Purple Line. Once it reaches UCLA/Westwood, it turns northward through the pass, reaching Sherman Oaks from Wilshire Boulevard in under eight minutes. Then this line continues through the growing Valley down Van Nuys Boulevard, finally giving the Valley the additional mass transit it needs instead of another Curitiba Busway.

-- Jerard Wright

Vice president

Transit Coalition

The domino effect

Re "600% raise for LAUSD board?" (Feb. 20):

OK, they want to pay the school board members $171,000 a year. That's as much as our do-nothing City Council members get, so they will want to get a raise above that. Then the county supervisors will want one, too. When is this political welfare program going to stop? Where is this money going to come from? Take a guess -- that's right, from taxpayers.

There is no money to stop gangs, fix streets, sweep streets. How come they can come up with this kind of raise for the school board?

-- Joe Pinoy Lozano

Mission Hills

Cop stress

Re "Coping with cop stress" (Feb. 18):

While a trainee at Rio Hondo Police Academy, I don't recall any training on suicide, depression or things of that nature. No one asked, "How are you gonna feel after you shoot someone or get shot?"

I remember being advised to stay in shape after we left the academy for the physical confrontation that was sure to come -- the moment of truth, as it were. But there was no training on the mental or emotional side, which affects officers in their careers, or on how to handle stress. Maybe the instructors felt that what we don't know will not hurt us.

-- Mike Mathis

Canyon Country

Not the first time

Re "Bush lying -- again" (Your Opinions, Feb. 20):

What if some Middle East "lethal weapons" fabricator is lying -- again? The prewar's most notorious Iraqi liar about weapons of mass destruction, "Curveball," has seemingly gotten away with it unscathed, so why wouldn't some would-be Iranian counterpart think that the same free ride would happen to him if his own perfidious prevarications about -- you got it -- Iran's weapon development and distribution patterns started Bush hellbent down the "Let's invade another Mideast country" path as a consequence?

-- Harvey Pearson

Los Feliz

A good shave

Re "Meltdown in the Valley" (Feb. 20):

Britney's recent haircut/shaving may be just that. For a cosmetologist, it is not so odd to hear clients complain of wanting to shave their heads out of frustration over their current hairstyle.

Also, what people may not know is that Britney was wearing hair extensions, and for anyone who has ever worn extensions, they can become monotonous and painful over time. This may be a manifestation of a new beginning for Britney. Sometimes a good shave can be liberating.

-- Valerie Jackson

Pasadena

You asked for it

If I have to look at or hear about Britney Spears or Anna Nicole Smith one more time, I am joining the Taliban (just kidding). But, seriously, with all the world problems and serious stories that don't get coverage, why are we seeing narcissistic bimbos? They are rich, spoiled brats who don't deserve our sympathy.

And why are we seeing them? Because we ask for it, America. Wonder why the rest of the world hates us. People are starving to death, and we are contemplating whether to forgive Britney "Bimbo" Spears for not wearing panties. Grow up, America!

-- Craig S. Hawley

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