Common Goal

With many reasons but only one common goal, they clamber into the burgundy and gray van as LAPD Devonshire Division Officer Tonya Johnson reaches each of their homes in the pre-dawn hours every weekday. "When they hear my horn that early in the morning," Johnson said, "it's too hard to ignore. And I don't leave. They may come out looking like they are sleepwalking, but they come out." For the members of the Jeopardy cross-country team--ages 10 to 18--training begins just after 5 a.m.

For eight months, they studied shoulder to shoulder in a stripped-down classroom with cream-colored walls while planes roared overhead, heading to and from the airport next door. There was a mother of three, and a young woman still living with her parents. A part-time waitress and a part-time mental health counselor, a former lawyer and a former grocery stock boy. One came after years of working for the Tibetan government in exile, another left behind war-torn Afghanistan. They were the latest class at Oikos University's 4-year-old nursing school, all drawn to the same promise: one year of hard work, and they could become vocational nurses, with solid paychecks and guaranteed positions in a field with constant demand.

Except for a love of leaping on the run, the six best high school hurdlers in Orange County this season are as different as the strengths and strategies that guide them. Meet Anthony Hale of Garden Grove, George Lynch of Mater Dei, Marc Kallick of Marina, Danielle Reaves and Emily Thiebaud of Esperanza and Suzanne Kerho of Mission Viejo. All six will compete in the Southern Section Masters track and field championships tonight at Cerritos College in Norwalk.

Aries (March 21-April 19): Turning in good work is a matter of both art and craft. There's a formula to be aware of. Find out what it is, or refresh your memory of it. If you can follow the formula and rise above it at the same time, you've won. Taurus (April 20-May 20): You'll be whimsically brought together with those who share a common background or interest. This is the kind of occurrence that seems as though it could only be manufactured by fate. Gemini (May 21-June 21)

Leaders of El Salvador's left-wing guerrillas, its right-wing armed forces and its civilian political parties joined together Saturday to commence a formal cease-fire in the civil war that has brutalized this country for 12 years. The ceremony at this capital city's fairgrounds marked the first time that the polarized political forces have met together in their own country in pursuit of a common goal.

Proclaiming that he will "work closely with" any country willing to oppose Iraq, President Bush met here Friday with President Hafez Assad of Syria, a country the Administration has publicly labeled a major supporter of international terrorism.

President Bush and Russian President Vladimir V. Putin committed their nations Saturday to cooperation in fighting potential nuclear terrorism, as they struggled to demonstrate that they could move beyond thorny differences over the state of democracy in Russia.

I think it's refreshing that both parties are working together toward a common goal: making Al Gore president. The Republicans are just so impatient about it. DONALD BEURY San Diego

Recently, I happened to see and experience a phenomenal occurrence that seems so unusual and unheard of in this troubled world of ours: groups of young people, from all over the world, participating in an international surfing contest in Huntington Beach. It was like an Olympic spirit pervaded the beach, and they all had one common goal. MICHELLE GARCIA Huntington Beach

As a 15-year resident of Oakwood, I have a few comments on your July 8 article. I defy anyone to point out a million-dollar home in Oakwood! Contrary to what was stated in the article about a lessening of gang activity, all one has to do is go to any street corner in central Oakwood to be solicited for drug sales. The writer is correct on one point, the crack and smack dealers in the area have gone back to business as usual by simply stopping their war. The rival gangs have joined forces for a common goal (uninterrupted drug sales)

At the end of it all, Daphna Ziman and the Rev. Eric Lee were joking about the good cry they had together, pledging to work together to help children, and hugging each other goodbye Thursday. The two, who clenched hands at one point during the conversation at Ziman's Beverly Hills home, had clearly gotten over the controversy that erupted around a speech Lee made at a banquet April 4.

Sixth-grade teacher Deidre Sexton watched in disbelief as a student was struck by his mother during a parent-teacher conference. Steve Klein recalled a mother who threatened to pull her ninth-grade son out of school and have him sell fruit on the freeway. Other teachers recount the times parents have tried to bully and intimidate them. Parent-teacher conferences are a time-honored school tradition, but for many teachers they are also trying, emotionally wrought encounters.

A local group of environmental scientists and philanthropists broke its own rule this week and met with a Christian group to discuss the possibility of joining forces to solve environmental problems. The Bioneers and representatives of the faith-based Eighth-Day Project met in Pacific Palisades in the spacious living room of actress Barbara Bosson. The exchange Tuesday night underlined a national trend of secular environmental groups networking with faith-based coalitions with the same goals.

President Bush and Russian President Vladimir V. Putin committed their nations Saturday to cooperation in fighting potential nuclear terrorism, as they struggled to demonstrate that they could move beyond thorny differences over the state of democracy in Russia.

Secretary of State Colin L. Powell moved to improve the United States' troubled relations with its European allies Wednesday, urging them to look beyond the differences that have divided the Atlantic alliance since last year's invasion of Iraq and join with America to resolve global problems.

President Bush on Friday hailed North Korea's agreement to join six-nation talks aimed at curbing its nuclear aspirations, and he reminded Kim Jong Il that Pyongyang would receive an array of international assistance, including from the U.S., if it ended its nuclear development program. "In the past it was the lone voice of the United States speaking clearly about this," Bush said.

I very much enjoyed Doug Smith's article "Behind-Scenes Work Brings a New Sense of Drama to Schools" (June 13 Glendale Section). However, there is another very important aspect to one school performance related in the column. The production of "Fiddler on the Roof" at Eagle Rock High School involved 70 students in the cast and another 30 in the orchestra and stage crew (as well as 2,000 other high school and elementary school students who sat in the audience and loved it!). These kids don't have time for gangs or drugs.

Sandy Banks' article about kids' sports ("Even Kids' Sports Are No Longer About Play," July 16) should have been column left on the Monday edition. You know, sort of the mom's version of Monday morning quarterbacking (pun definitely intended!). Following on the heels of the story from Boston of the hockey dads, this should be a sober reminder to all us parents what sports are all about. It's up to us as parents to teach our kids values, and these are the "rules" about what's important in life, whether in the classroom or on the sports field.

On a recent weeknight, Gene La Pietra stood at a podium in his Hollywood Independence headquarters and offered his opponents for a Hollywood city council seat strategic advice along with free use of his paid staff, a dozen or so phones lining one wall of the room, research data to help them target voters, even a dummy press kit to copy word for word.

Haji Abdul Qadir climbed into his white Toyota Land Cruiser with darkly tinted windows Friday and set off on the six-hour drive to Kabul, taking with him an armful of documents and enough soldiers to take on a small army. Qadir, the governor of Nangarhar province, is expected to play a prominent role in Hamid Karzai's interim government that will be sworn in today in the capital, officially ending the brutal five-year rule of the Taliban. He does not underestimate the challenges ahead.