Ex-Graffiti Tagger

After having trashed the Southland with an estimated $500,000 in property damage Daniel Bernardo Ramos (a.k.a. Chaka) has been rewarded with an agent, a television producer wanting to make a documentary, a public relations firm wanting to represent him, a lithograph company wanting to market his Chaka tag and several schools eager to enroll him (April 19). What a Cinderella ending!

I sincerely hope he takes full advantage of the multiple opportunities with which he’s been presented, particularly the opportunity to enroll in a university and broaden his horizons. But on another level I can’t help but feel more than a little resentful. His celebrity is a slap in the face to all of us who refrain from spitting gum on sidewalks, vandalizing neighbors, defiling public property or throwing trash in the streets. Virtue is its own reward--so why do I feel like a patsy?

RICHARD BOYCE

Los Angeles