Benson

Mormon Church President Ezra Taft Benson told a university audience recently that America faces a critical erosion of freedoms and reiterated a longtime church belief that Mormons will rescue the nation from destruction. "For the past two centuries, those who do not prize freedom have chipped away at every major clause of our Constitution until today we face a crisis of great dimensions," Benson said this week at the church-run Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.

PALM BEACH, Fla. — The final warning to the New Orleans Saints about bounties came in January, just before their first-round playoff game against the Detroit Lions. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell detailed the situation Monday at the conclusion of the first day of the annual meetings at the Breakers hotel. He slammed the Saints with heavy penalties last week, including a one-year suspension of Coach Sean Payton and an indefinite suspension of former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams , who was rewarding New Orleans players with $1,000 if an opponent was carted off the field, and $1,500 for delivering a knockout blow.

A Laguna Niguel man with a handgun who barricaded himself inside his house for 26 hours, threatening to commit suicide, surrendered peacefully to sheriff's deputies Thursday afternoon, authorities reported. Lawrence Daugherty came out of his house and lay down his handgun after a telephone conversation with a sheriff's negotiator, said Lt. Bob Benson. Daugherty, apparently despondent over an impending divorce, was taken to UCI Medical Center for observation, Benson said.

Sidney W. Benson Former USC chemistry professor Sidney W. Benson, 93, a chemistry professor who was scientific co-director of USC's Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute, died Dec. 30 at his home in Brentwood of complications from a stroke, the university announced. From 1977 to 1989, Benson oversaw the Hydrocarbon Research Institute with fellow chemistry professor George A. Olah, who won the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1994. The privately funded institute was established to conduct research in organic chemistry and physical chemistry labs for use by chemical, petroleum, gas and power industries as well as governmental agencies.

Even Benson would agree that anyone who would regard Jack Nicholson's Joker as a role model was a disturbed individual before he ever walked into the theater. In the finest tradition of the Rev. Donald Wildmon, "Tipper" Gore and Terry Rakolta, Benson wants to shelter the plebeian masses from material that she deems unsuitable for their unsophisticated sensibilities. JIM JECKEWICZ Northridge

In her July 28 review of the film "Distant Voices, Still Lives," Sheila Benson writes: ". . . an unseen, bass voice, which may even be Paul Robeson's, sings 'There's a Man Going 'Round Takin' Names.' The voice happens to be that of Jessye Norman, and how Benson could mistake it for a man's voice, especially Robeson's, I would be interested to know. ROBERT SLOTTERBECK Long Beach

Benson's overly defensive rebuttal of Stephen Farber's well-argued commentary shows The Times' got-to-be-hip-at-all-costs paranoia has clouded its credibility. Farber's article stood up well by itself. However, by giving Benson the advantage of viewing Farber's copy before writing her story, the product was less compelling, less believable and definitely less fair. PETER DAY Victorville

Mormon Prophet-President Ezra Taft Benson on Sunday exhorted about 16,000 young Mormons in Anaheim to lead moral, productive lives and called some novels and publications "corrupters" and "distorters of truth."

James W. Benson, 63, an entrepreneur who founded the firm SpaceDev, which helped build the hybrid rocket engine that launched the world's first privately-built manned spaceship into suborbital space, died of a brain tumor Oct. 10 at his home in Poway, Calif. The spaceship, built by aerospace innovator Burt Rutan, won the $10-million Ansari X Prize in 2004. Benson also started Compusearch and ImageFast, among the first full-text computer index and search systems that allowed people to search more easily through federal acquisitions regulations.

We take offense to Benson's unfavorable review of "Back to the Future." It was far too critical and analytical--she seemed to be looking for deep sociological statements in a movie obviously meant to be nothing more than good family entertainment. The "Oedipal complex" was handled tastefully in the movie, and definitely not in the "rancid" manner that she described. In addition, the scenes with the Libyan terrorists were not done in a comedic fashion, as Benson intimated.

If NFL players got in trouble during the lockout, are they now subject to suspension by the league? According to a Yahoo Sports report later confirmed by the Associated Press, eight players — among them Tennessee's Kenny Britt, Tampa Bay's Aqib Talib, Cincinnati's Cedric Benson and New England's Albert Haynesworth — are subject to suspension under the league's conduct policy for brushes with the law during the lockout. The other players reportedly subject to suspension are Cincinnati's Adam "Pacman" Jones and three Arizona players: Clark Haggans, Brandon Underwood and Johnny Jolly.

Being artistic director of a major regional stage company means you get to give everyone "notes" — theater lingo for putting in your two cents while a play is being readied. Being Marc Masterson, newly arrived as South Coast Repertory's artistic director, means you may still have to receive a note or two, at least when it comes to interior decorating. David Emmes, South Coast's co-founder and the previous occupant of Masterson's corner office at the Costa Mesa theater, had one to give after he saw the poster the new man had propped on a chest of drawers.

It seems as if Darrik Benson, 28, had always wanted to be a Navy SEAL. There was no real logic to it. His father was not a military man. His grandfather was, but he was a pilot, serving with the Army during World War II. Benson grew up inland in Angwin, a small community at the northern end of the Napa Valley. He also hated the water. His grandmother remembers seeing the boy standing beside her backyard pool when he was 4 years old. He just stared at the other kids, she said, unwilling to take a dip. "He didn't want to get in over his belly button," Claudia Benson said.

Burt Styler Emmy-winning TV writer Burt Styler, 86, an Emmy-winning TV writer who had a long association with Bob Hope, died of heart failure June 13 at Providence Tarzana Medical Center, his family said. Styler won an Emmy in 1972 for an episode of "All in the Family" called "Edith's Problem," in which Jean Stapleton's character dealt with menopause. He had a long career writing for television, with credits in such series as "The Life of Riley," "My Favorite Martian," "The Brady Bunch" and "The Carol Burnett Show.

When Marc Masterson took charge of Actors Theatre of Louisville, the challenges included moving into the shadow of an illustrious predecessor, Jon Jory, whose 30-year tenure had included creating the Humana Festival of New American Plays, an important annual destination for theater insiders. FOR THE RECORD: Marc Masterson: An article in the Feb. 19 Calendar section about Marc Masterson's appointment as the next artistic director of South Coast Repertory gave the wrong title for a play by William Shakespeare.

Florence + the Machine : With Tori Amos and Neko Case between projects, the music world is ripe for a new ginger chanteuse. Thus arrives this big-voiced Londoner, who just came off three sold-out nights at the Wiltern and feels on the verge of a breakthrough. With a uniquely anachronistic look and gently twisted, soulful songs like "Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)" and "You Got the Love," Florence Welch may be Britain's way of apologizing for Amy Winehouse. 'The Benson Interruption' on Comedy Central : A fixture at the UCB Theatre and Largo, this show led by former "Last Comic Standing" star Doug Benson offers stand-up comedy with a twist.

Although I applaud Benson's column, I feel her complaints are misdirected. It is the public's demand for simplistic entertainment that causes the creative community to tone down its product. So much of our creative output is controlled by sponsors and the vocal public that one can hardly be surprised by its lack of grit. If there was more demand for good TV programming and less unwarranted editing, the excellent shows that Benson refers to wouldn't be as obscure as most readers probably found them to be. PAUL BABB Burbank

COMEDY Doug Benson's Movie Interruptions: 'Mac and Me' The interruption-prone cinema buff makes a respectable living by giving his two cents at every chance he gets. "Doug Benson's Movie Interruptions" follows in the same vein as the comedian's beloved appearances at Upright Citizens Brigade, but instead of peppering fellow comics' acts with unsolicited commentary from the front row, the mayor of the peanut gallery supplies hilariously cutting feedback throughout forgotten gems from film history.

Western Athletic Conference Commissioner Karl Benson Thursday called Fresno State and Nevada's announcement that they were leaving the WAC for the Mountain West "selfish actions. " The departures threw a monkey wrench into the BYU deal to join the WAC in all sports except football. The WAC is already losing Boise State to the Mountain West after the 2010 season. The departures of Nevada and Fresno State will leave the league with only six football-playing members. Benson made clear he was holding Fresno State and Nevada to the $5-million exit fee, payable "within 60 days" even though Nevada hadn't yet signed a formal agreement.