'3 Strikes' Costs Money but Pays Off RONALD E. LOWENBERG, Ronald E. Lowenberg is the Huntington Beach police chief and president of the California Police Chiefs' Assn
We Can Begin to Tackle Income Disparity ROBERT EISNER, ROBERT EISNER is William R. Kenan professor emeritus of economics at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill. He is the author of "The Misunderstood Economy: What Counts and How to Count It."
Assad: A Master of Diplomacy and Offender of Americans Yossi Melman, Yossi Melman, a journalist for the Daily Ha'aretz specializes in intelligence and terror affairs. He is author of "The Master Terrorist: The True Story Behind Abu Nidal" (Avon)
High Stakes for Knowledge RICHARD C. ATKINSON, Richard C. Atkinson is president of the University of California and a former director of the National Science Foundation
The Wages of Morality Guy Molyneux, Guy Molyneux is a public-opinion pollster and a political analyst
L.A.'s Future Is in Its Blue-Collar Roots Joel Kotkin, Joel Kotkin, a contributing editor to Opinion, is a senior fellow at the Pepperdine Institute for Public Policy and the Pacific Research Institute. He is also business-trends analyst for Fox TV
When a Deputy Mayor May Be as Crucial as the Mayor Xandra Kayden, Xandra Kayden, a political scientist at UCLA's School of Public Policy and Social Research, is writing a book on the political structure of Los Angeles. She is the author of "Surviving Power" (Free Press.)
Buying a Piece of Divinity From Where Jackie Dwelt Neal Gabler, Neal Gabler is author of "An Empire of Their Own: How the Jews Invented Hollywood." His new book is "Winchell: Gossip, Power and the Cult of Celebrity" (Knopf)