PUBLIC FORUM.

Kept his word

During the recall election two years ago, candidate Schwarzenegger said he wanted to govern like president George W. Bush. That's one of the reasons I didn't vote for him.

He's kept his word.

Both men are cocky and arrogant and talk tough. Both are untrustworthy. Both prefer to spend by borrowing. And both spend most of their time successfully fundraising.

I'm waiting for Arnold to invade Catalina.

- Stan Gordon

Encino

Get a grip

I am sure glad that I am not in school today. I graduated high school about 22 years ago. I think that our school system needs to get a grip on what is going on and get control over the fighting that is happening.

I don't have any kids, but if I did, they would be pulled out and they would be home-schooled. I think that during school hours there needs to be police patrolling in and around the schools, showing their presence as a deterrent. I think that all parents should keep their kids at home and let the school system feel the pinch. Just maybe they might then realize that there is a problem.

They need to do something to make the schools a safe place for learning, and not a place where kids go to fight.

- Carl Copelof

Sylmar

Pay attention

Re ``Dubya's no joke'' (May 27):

Now, that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. Apparently, the secret word is ``censorship.''

While I applaud the El Camino Real Drama Department for turning a negative into a positive - gaining attention and publicity for its production - it was just ludicrous that one thin-skinned student was allowed to cause this much trouble.

The original poster was funny and much less offensive than any presidential skit on ``MAD TV'' or ``Saturday Night Live.'' It ``promoted smoking'' about as much as Fidel Castro does.

Who cares what one whiny student thinks of it? If you don't like it, don't see the play. And what about that pesky little thing called ``the majority''?

This is just a small example of the dangerous direction this country is headed. Pay attention, class.

- Bruce W. Mecchi

Panorama City

No guilt here

Re ``Homage to heroes'' (Our Opinions, May 30):

Screw guilt! This is how Americans celebrate. We don't need to feel guilty for barbecuing, shopping at malls, traveling to visit loved ones.

All of these activities are outward expressions of freedom. Americans show their gratitude in many ways. Some go to a grave site, some buy barbecues to enjoy being with family, some shop till they drop. Aren't these all expressions of being free and living in a democracy?

My father is a veteran of the Korean War. We all still live with the memories of war. So having a barbecue with my dad in his back yard is our way of remembering. Have you ever heard of a wake? This is another way to celebrate.

This may have been written in German if not for all our fallen heroes.

- Roger Holmes

Canoga Park

Have a heart

Re ``A Grand delusion?'' (May 29):

Downtown L.A. has gone through great changes for the better. Its historic architecture, a growing list of attractions, access to rail transit and conveniences within walking distance attract people from afar who wish to live and work in a truly urban community.

Far from being an economic dead weight, this Grand Avenue project can set the example by creating high-density, community-friendly development and regaining the ``heart'' that this ill-focused city needs.

Let us encourage their efforts and wish them the best in continuing downtown's revival and uniting our fragmented metropolis.

- Numan Parada

Tujunga

Time-honored tradition

Re ``Dubya's no joke'' (May 27):

According to the patriots who risked their lives fighting for this nation's freedom from Great Britain in the Revolutionary War, who later helped to create the great U.S. Constitution, one of the hallmarks of a free society is freedom of speech.

Making fun of our political leaders has been a time-honored exercise of that precious right from the earliest days of our republic. I am horrified that the majority of Daily News readers responding to your Friday survey actually say it's not OK to make fun of the president.

Maybe if these people were forced to live in Cuba for a while, they might realize just how welcoming of dictatorship such an attitude really is. The exercise of freedom is essential to its preservation.

- Bruce Duncan

Mission Hills

No insult to Bush

Re ``Dubya's no joke'' (May 27):

In defense of Kenny Lee, imagine being a school administrator today serving the conservative West Valley. It could only be like being a citizen of Salem in 1692 and saying, ``Wait, burning people alive for witchcraft is dumb.''

If Rush Limbaugh or Fox News had been around back then, they would have called the person saying that a supporter of witchcraft, a secularist or maybe even a non-supporter of the militia!

Besides, depicting Bush as Groucho is an insult - to Groucho! - Chuck Heinold

West Hills

Oh, silly me

Here in the Antelope Valley, we have a definite fire danger that is exacerbated with the onset of the Fourth of July. And yet the sale of fireworks goes on weeks before the holiday.

Weeks before, those legal (and illegal) fireworks are set off around the valley. So, in addition to the annual ``Cut the brush'' warnings, why doesn't the fire marshal put a stop to the sale of all fireworks? Simple as that! Or is it?

Why is it every year the stands go up, making thousands of dollars? Oh! Silly me, I just said it.

- Robert West 

Palmdale

More than capable

Re ``The LAX challenge'' (Our Opinions, May 27):

Kudos to the Daily News for recognizing the immediate need for Mayor-elect Antonio Villaraigosa to block the implementation of Mayor James Hahn and his cronies' fatally flawed plan to expand LAX.

What better way for Villaraigosa to show that he, unlike Hahn, is capable of keeping the pledge not to expand LAX that both men signed during the 2001 mayoral race.

- Harry Rose

Playa del Rey 

Stop the rhetoric

Re ``It's not money'' (Viewpoint, May 29):

Every time a study or report is published pointing out that women earn about 25 percent less than men, one often infers that women are paid less for equal work.

There are laws prohibiting wage discrimination. The discrepancy occurs when you factor in competitiveness and the factor of time spent working.

For example, men bus drivers earn about 25 percent more than women bus drivers. The reason: Men work more hours. With jobs paying more for longevity, here again, men on the job tend to have more seniority than women in the same field.

If those factors need fixing, fine, fix them. If not, stop the rhetoric about women being ``underpaid.''

- Sol Taylor

Sherman Oaks

If you don't build it

Re ``If we don't build roads, traffic comes, anyway'' (Their Opinions, May 27):

I applaud Audra Strickland's efforts, but I doubt another freeway will be built in my lifetime.

Alternatively, we need to ask why we can get a shuttle to the airport, but not to work? Why aren't hundreds of shuttle vans, with wireless Internet access, plying the 101 from Ventura to Santa Barbara, from Camarillo to Woodland Hills?

The answer, I suspect, is the stranglehold that public monopolies have on transportation.

I ask Strickland to look into this, and unleash the power of the free market to unclog our freeways.

- Bruce K. Bell

Moorpark