Sunday, November 26, 2000 Environment   Re: Good news for environment (Editorial, Nov. 15). I certainly agree with your comments lauding the Clinton administration's protection of the Tongass National Forest from logging, mining and road construction, the planned cleansing of the Lake Tahoe waters and the strategy to ease crowding and reduce car pollution in Yosemite Park. I find it ironic that this same week, the Press-Telegram was reporting that both the Harbor Commission and the Planning Commission had approved Joe Prevratil's plan to build a cruise ship terminal next to the Queen Mary. A number of environmental groups, including Surfrider, Eco-Link, Sierra Club, Earth Corps and El Dorado Audubon, have voiced their concerns that this addition to our harbor will create problems with traffic, noise, water quality and air pollution. These are the very issues that the federal government is attempting to correct at the above-mentioned popular tourist destinations. Long Beach needs to balance the effects of attracting large numbers of visitors with the consequences on the quality of life for the residents of this city. The ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles are already environmental catastrophes. Adding this terminal to the east side of our harbor will help to make Long Beach a future project for government cleanup. Ann Cantrell Conservation Chair, El Dorado Audubon Long Beach   Diana Mann (Letters, Nov. 19) implies that the port commissioners approved cruise ships near the Queen Mary as a means of saving the ship. Evidently she reads the Press-Telegram very selectively or she would know that the Queen Mary under Joseph Prevratil is doing very well financially. Long Beach officials voting to approve the Carnival ships (Nov. 18) "strongly support a cruise ship terminal, estimated to bring as many as 500,000 visitors a year to downtown." She objects to "the taxpayers picking up the huge tab for the needed infrastructure for this project." She never made note of the fact that the city, for its taxpayers, will be picking up millions of dollars worth of taxes as a result of the money spent by the 500,000 visitors. If the Carnival ships do not dock in Long Beach, they will dock in San Pedro. Considering how near San Pedro is to Long Beach, the effect on the air of Long Beach would be the same; there is not a Great Wall separating the two areas. Nate Brightman Long Beach   Cultures   Congratulations. The Press-Telegram's attempt to cover the cultural events surrounding Cesar Chavez Park opening has managed with three words to insult three cultures (Page 1, Nov. 19)! The "traditional American Indians" featured in the lovely colored photo bespeaks the ignorance of the press when covering traditional First People. The featured spiritual leaders were "traditional Mexican Indians" descendants of the 1,000 nations and the Pnaci (meaning ancient ones). Not everyone who puts on regalia (not "costumes") are traditional American Indians and not every Mexican is a "Mexican Indian." By referring to the Azteca spiritual leaders pictured as American Indian, the Press-Telegram has insulted Mexican Indian and American Indian cultures and the Mexicano's ancestors. This insensitivity undermines the very intention of the act which is depicted in the photo honoring and blessing the memory of Cesar Chavez. Gigi Fast Elk Porter Long Beach   Upward spiral   It appears that your editorial, "An upward spiral" (Nov. 17), is advocating for the same costly whirlwind development that was one of the main reasons Measure J was overwhelming approved. Development for the sake of development is exactly why Long Beach Plaza failed and is expected to be the same reason that the "airy-headed" new subsidized Plaza proposal will result in another downtown mall maelstrom. Yet, instead of blaming the Subsidized Entrepreneurs of Long Beach (SELBs) for the costly failures of past SELBs, it is time that our city stop enabling more poorly planned development by ending the practice of underwriting SELBs' mistakes with public funds. There is nothing wrong with getting rich; however, when the public pays for development, the public should benefit. It is time that our city demand that SELBs fund independent economic impact studies, provide projects that serve residents and stop demanding that the public pay for SELBs' mistakes. Measure J's sweeping success reveals that Long Beach residents no longer will tolerate out-of-control fiscally irresponsible development projects. Colette Marie McLaughlin Long Beach