PUBLIC FORUM.

What was he on?

Eric Harris of the Columbine High School shooting in Colorado had been taking Luvox. Kip Kinkel of the Springfield, Ore., shooting was on Ritalin and Prozac. Jason Hoffman of the 2001 high-school shooting in El Cajon was on two antidepressants, Effexor and Celexa. Jeff Weise of the Red Lake Indian Reservation shooting in Minnesota in March 2005 was on Prozac.

The list of murderers on psychiatric drugs goes on. It's not only school shooters, but a long list of other perpetrators of bizarre and apparently unexplainable homicides, such as Andrea Yates, who drowned her own children, or Jeremy Strohmeyer, who raped and murdered a child in a Los Vegas casino.

What I want to know is, what was Seung-Hui Cho taking? What was he on when he went on his shooting spree at Virginia Tech?

-- Mari Werner

Montrose

Stamp out bigotry

Re "American Muslims beginning to fear that 'Islamophobia' is gripping the U.S" (April 11):

Racism is unacceptable in this country where dialogue and communication are the most effective tools for understanding each other in order to integrate peacefully. I, as an American Muslim, am disheartened that there has been growing anti-Islamic sentiment among the American public. More and more Islamophobic language and rhetoric are finding their way into the media.

It is time that we acknowledged that American Muslims are law-abiding, tax-paying citizens who are strengthening America's social fabric and our nation's security by serving in armed forces and through volunteerism. Let's stamp out Islamophobia, because doing otherwise would go against the very principles this country was founded on.

-- Nadia Farooqui

Cerritos

A kiss is just a kiss

Re "Indian protesters burn Gere effigies" (April 17):

So, in India, they are all up in arms over Richard Gere kissing their superstar, Shilpa Shetty, in public, as this is against their culture.

Let me see if I get this straight -- there's rampant killing around the world, but they're upset over a kiss. Women are routinely beaten and maimed in public around the world, and this kiss is the worst thing that could happen. Children are starving to death, in public, but still this kiss has people burning effigies of Gere in the streets.

Can we as people all get our priorities straight? How about a lot less killing, maiming and starving and a lot more kissing!

-- Gregory Conte

West Hills

No comparison

Re "Sen. Sheila Kuehl revives health reform bill" (April 16):

There is no comparison between Sen. Kuehl's California Universal Healthcare Act and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's health care proposal. Schwarzenegger's health care plan would require many Californians to obtain their insurance from the private health care insurance companies. Private health care insurance is expensive, and the coverage is often limited.

The Kuehl proposal, however, would provide every California resident with comprehensive care without the overhead of insurance-company stockholder profits, multiple venues and many different levels of coverage. The Kuehl bill would maintain the health care provider system and hospitals as they are now, and every California resident would have the same coverage.

-- Melvin H. Kirschner

Van Nuys