VIEWPOINTS : Closing 'Communications Gap' Can Ease U.S.-Japan Trade Gap LOET A. VELMANS, Loet A. Velmans is chairman of Hill & Knowlton Inc. and a member of the Advisory Council on Japan-U.S. Economic Relations, a group of 150 Japanese and American executives that advises the two governments on bilateral relations
New Laws Needed to Make Takeover Fights Fair KENNETH M. DAVIDSON, Kenneth M. Davidson is the author of the recently released book "Megamergers: Corporate America's Billion-Dollar Takeovers."
Summer Fun at New Resort in Nearby Oxnard MICHELE GRIMM and TOM GRIMM, The Grimms of Laguna Beach are authors of "Away for the Weekend," a travel guide to Southern California.
Commentary : Step Back in Time to Help Poor STANLEY VAN DEN NOORT, Dr. Stanley van den Noort is the former dean of the UC Irvine Medical School and is a professor in UCI's department of neurology.
Community Must Accept Lessons of Justice System Proven by Penn Case GERALDINE MOSES, Geraldine Moses is a lay leader of a study and discussion group of Nichiren Shoshu Buddists of which Sagon Penn is a member. She is a former board member of the National Legal Aid and Defenders Assn
A Leningrad Stroll Reveals Familiar Urban Woes Marco A. Mangelsdorf, Marco A. Mangelsdorf, a doctoral candidate in Soviet politics at the Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva, recently returned from Leningrad. DR, RICHARD DOWNS / for The Times
A Small World of Obsolete U.S. Alliances David DeVoss, David DeVoss, a staff writer for the Los Angeles Times Magazine, has been a foreign correspondent based in Asia. and DR, DAVID SUTER / for The Times
Don't Slash the Budget to the Point of a Slump MARTIN FELDSTEIN and KATHLEEN FELDSTEIN, Martin Feldstein is the former chairman of President Reagan's Council of Economic Advisers. His wife, Kathleen Feldstein, is also an economist.
Latin Church: Clout Cleansed of Politics JOHN A. COLEMAN, John A. Coleman, SJ, is a professor of religion and society at the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley. He has done field work in Latin America in preparation for a book on Catholicism and politics.
Argentine Democracy Held Hostage Bruce C. Vandervort, Bruce C. Vandervort is a former foreign correspondent now based in Washington. DR, BARBARA CUMMINGS / for The Times