Travis Longcore has it right in citing the harmful effects of excessive nocturnal lighting (The Malibu Times, Feb.4 ). Not only is this excessive lighting bad for health, restful sleep and peacefullness of the community — adding to the stresses of modern life — but it also wastes an incredible amount of money and energy and contributes to unnatural warming of the environment. The amount of lighting in Malibu and the hills is absurd — even insane. It is yet another disruptve intrusion into the natural environment.

Francis Jeffrey

The Great Whales Foundation

Most wedded men claim that a happy marriage is a matter of giving and taking; the husband gives and the wife takes. For the last 30 years on this Valentine’s Day I have been a husband and maybe even a giver. I am fulfilled with my marriage. I’ve had a rich life full of friends and an exceptional wife. Marriages are at best affairs of the heart.

They’re tricky, perilous, gratifying, rewarding, and Valentine’s Day has a history that’s as rich and torrid as love itself.

The story dates back to the Roman Empire, when Juno, patroness of marriage and women’s well being, was venerated each Feb. 14. The Feast honoring Lupercus, protector of crops and livestock, began on Feb. 15. On the eve of the feast, young women wrote their names on slips of paper and placed them in urns; young men drew names at random, and the pair would then be coupled during the festival. It has been said that the men pinned the names they drew to their sleeves, which has given us the expression “to wear your heart on your sleeve.” Often, these couples would fall in love and later marry.

During the third century there was considerable strife and political upheaval in the Roman Empire. Claudius the Cruel, was emperor during this time, and he decreed that there would be no engagements and no marriages because he believed a man’s happiness at home had a direct impact on the fierceness of the empire’s army. Without a wife, Claudius reasoned, his men would have no reason to stay home, and thus he could increase the size of his troops and their hunger for the fight. Despite his decree, the Italian Bishop Valentine clandestinely married young lovers. When Claudius discovered Valentine’s secret nuptials, he had him clubbed to death and beheaded on Feb. 14, A.D. 270.

So on this Valentine’s Day as you plan an exceptional day or evening, remember these words of Bishop Valentine. A man falls in love through his eyes, a woman through her ears.

Tom Fakehany

Regarding “Kissel Wars,” which appeared on the front page Feb. 4, I would like to point out that Steve Dahlberg, chief financial officer of the Kissel Company, and I had a single telephone conversation late last year regarding the replacement of the mobilehome park’s septic system.

Mr. Dahlberg asked if, as president of the Paradise Cove Homeowners

Association, I would suggest to the board that we call a meeting of park residents to take a vote to see how many homeowners would be willing to pay roughly $60 a month for 15 years to make possible the installation of a $1.5 million septic system. Mr. Dahlberg even agreed to help with the collection and counting of the ballots.

After discussing this suggestion with our board, it was decided that it is not really our place to have the homeowners association do the landlord’s work and that if the Kissel Company wished to offer such a proposal to residents, they should feel free to call their own meeting.

The article also suggests that it might be possible for the residents and landlord to settle their differences prior to the Kissel’s criminal trial set for March 19. Since the case is being prosecuted by the Environmental Crimes/OSHA Division of the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, on behalf of the People of the State of California, any pretrial disposition can only be worked out between the Kissel Company and the DA.

Steven Kunes

president

Paradise Cove Homeowners Association

Howard Berman, who is obliged to represent a cross-section of constituents in Congress, not only accuses Republicans (me) of “crazed hatred” [The Malibu Times, Jan. 28], he cutely refers to Republicans (me) as “narrow and constipated.”

Letter writer O.P. Reed Jr. [Feb. 4] slings the same slop at Reta Templeman, calling her a good example of “irrational hatred.”

Why on earth is it so important for some people to believe that political conservatives must be driven by hate? Is this the only way they can assume the moral high ground?

“Hate” is a terrible word. By using it against another person in a political war, one hides like a child in the realm of the superficial. Accusing someone of hate is an ideal way for a mentally lazy person to avoid dealing with complexities. Its purpose is to silence and debase the opposition unconditionally.

Human nature is not so black and white. Citizens want to admire and respect their leaders; it takes a lot of bad behavior to turn them away.

Berman may be in the trenches in Washington, but his simplistic assessment dishonors the fine people at home and on both sides of the aisle who are struggling with profound and historic issues. One cannot follow the process of impeachment without being impressed by the sincerity, eloquence and conviction of all the legislators.

If, as Reed writes, Templeman is so irrational, opinionated and filled with hate, I wonder which of these three (Reed, Berman or Templeman) Arnold York would choose to have in his corner if he had to fight an issue of freedom of the press?

Tina Fisher Forde

In 1936, a beautiful young graduate of the University of Washington School of Journalism was working as the society editor for the Yakima newspaper and living at the Yakima YWCA.

A Business & Professions Club dance was coming up. A girlfriend told her, “Hey, I can get you a date.” The date called and asked her to go to a roadhouse before the event, to see if she could dance. The evening of their first date, she walked down the staircase and could see his reflection in a mirror on the landing. He had coal-black hair and wore a white linen suit.

The matchmaking girlfriend had told the young man, “There’s a new girl in town who needs a date.” He had recently broken up with a girl. He showed up at the YWCA and caught sight of his date coming down the stairs. “Oh, God! She’s a really spiffy-looking girl!” he thought. “Just the right size. She’s not fat or puffy. And she has a beautiful head of blonde hair.”

In December 1998, the couple celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. Their hair has grayed, but Ed and Dorothy Stotsenberg are as lean as ever.

Early on, he knew she was the girl for him. “When I wanted to go fishing at 4 o’clock in the morning, she would go along,” he says. “And she could dance, play the piano and sing. And she agreed to go to our church. And she didn’t have any mental quirks.”

She says, “It came upon me gradually. We always had a good time doing things together. He liked music. And his mother cooked pheasant like no one else in the world.”

He bought her an engagement ring. “It wasn’t much of a ring,” he says. “Oh! It was a nice ring,” she responds. One Saturday night, they were sitting on the davenport. He asked to see her hand. He tried the ring on, but it was too small. So next morning he awakened the jeweler to have it sized. She recalls singing in their church choir that morning and gazing at the ring.

They married in Yakima. She wanted to marry on a Monday night because Monday was “hellish” at the newspaper where she was working. He recalls that the church was full. “That was a good thing,” he says. “You have it in your mind that you’d better behave.”

They honeymooned at a mountain cabin. When they came home, she realized she hadn’t purchased sheets, with money her mother had given her for the purpose.

They lived in Yakima for two years, until he decided he wanted to attend college. She worked in publicity while he went to school. She recycled milk bottles for carfare to work.

On V-J Day, they filled out his application to Harvard Business School. She worked at Jordan Marsh in Boston until he graduated.

They drove to California in a 1936 Ford. They moved in with her parents. She found a job as an assistant editor. He began an accountancy practice, which lasted 55 years. She received a master’s in journalism from UCLA; he taught accountancy at USC.

They realized they were spending their weekends at the beach, so they rented a home on Carbon Beach. “It was fun living on the beach in those days,” she recalls. They knew their neighbors. “All the gals had professions,” she says.

Now they live with roadrunners, quail, bobcats and rattlesnakes, in their home on 44 acres off Encinal Canyon. They host parties. He brings out the telescope. She likes to cook.

Their advice to the about-to-marry: She says, “Know each other a little bit before you hop into bed.” He says, “Pick somebody who’s equal to you in brains, so your personality jibes.” “And finish college,” she adds. “There’s no substitute for education in a happy marriage.” He recommends, “Get married at about your own economic level. If you don’t have anything but prospects, you can grow up together and work together.”

What’s the trick to staying married? Soon after they wed, he explains, she inherited $30,000 from an old aunt. She put the money in their account. No, he told her, it’s your money. Soon she came home and told him she had bought a car for $20,000, with “her” money. Then she bought a fur coat, for $10,000, with “her” money. Then she sent $10,000 to her family, also “her” money. “And so on,” he says. Later on, she told him her money seemed to have grown. “Absolutely right,” he told her. That’s how to stay happily married, he says.

Her advice is, “To respect each other’000000000000000000000000000000000000000s profession and work and be interested.” He adds, “Read, read, read.”

What are they doing for Valentine’s Day? “Hell, I don’t even know when it is,” he says. Then he promises her dinner at BeauRivage. “You just kind of live with romance year in and year out,” he says. She smiles. “Every day is romance.”

My dear Mr. Reed Jr.

You completely misinterpreted my letter. I do not hate anyone including Bill Clinton. I, like a lot of other people — both Democrats and Republicans — simply hate what he has done.

Vietnam war! Most Americans do not support any war. As President Roosevelt once said, “We hate war!” But if there is a war, most Americans serve their country as, indeed, they should. But Bill Clinton is sending our boys into war — when he wouldn’t go himself. Clinton has disgraced the office of the presidency — you know it and everyone knows it — (unless, of course, everyone is blind and deaf).

Prosperity for conservatives! Really Mr. Reed Jr., it amazes me that you are not aware that we have had a predominantly Republican Congress for the past five-plus years. But according to your thinking Congress does not count.

Lie? I heard him on TV and watched him. Clinton has used my White House and your White House, my oval office and your oval office, for his sexual philandering. Really, Mr. Reed Jr., maybe in your case “Father Knows Best!”

P.S. Our big surplus general funds. Why shouldn’t it go back to the taxpayer? Many of our presidents send billions of dollars to other countries when I get at least four or five letters each month seeking for donations – Boys Town, Make-A-Wish Foundation, Feed the Children, etc. I believe charity begins at home!

Reta Templeman