Around the South Bay : City Council deals a swift blow to the idea of paddling vandals.

SLAP IN THE FACE: The government of Singapore and City Councilman Rudy Svorinich Jr. have one thing in common: They both agree that a few whacks on the backside have a sobering effect on graffiti vandals.

The rest of the Los Angeles City Council, however, thinks otherwise. This week the council defeated a proposal by South Bay council representative Svorinich to express support for a paddling bill in the state Legislature. The legislation, authored by Assemblyman Mickey Conroy (R-Orange), would require that convicted graffiti vandals receive swift punishment in Juvenile Court, with their parents delivering up to 10 swats with a wooden paddle.

During the debate Tuesday, Svorinich sought to distance the paddling question from the harsher caning practiced in Singapore.

“We are not advocating flogging,” Svorinich said. “We are not advocating beating. We are not advocating caning. We are advocating paddling. And there is a difference.”

Nevertheless, the notion of such state-sanctioned discipline bothered--and in some cases, outraged--Svorinich’s colleagues. Some thought it was pointless. A few viewed it as cruel and unusual punishment. The rest saw it as a mere publicity stunt.

“With all the important things we have to worry about, I just think we are wasting our time on issues that bring out the cameras,” said an angry Councilman Richard Alarcon. “That is clearly what is going on here today.”

Councilwoman Rita Walters, meanwhile, urged a “quick and painful death” for the measure. Faced with such strong opposition to his proposal, Svorinich at one point sought to avoid a vote and send his motion to a council committee for debate. But when the votes were tallied, only one colleague--Hal Bernson--sided with Svorinich.

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LITHUANIAN CONNECTION: Maybe they can teach them how to surf the Baltic Sea.

Starting last week, Palos Verdes Peninsula High School students and their parents are playing host to 11 exchange students from faraway Lithuania, a former republic in the Soviet Union and now an independent nation on the shores of the chilly Baltic. The exchange program, run by the National Assn. of Secondary School Principals, is one of three exchange programs sponsored by the U.S. Information Agency.

In the past, Palos Verdes Peninsula High students and families have participated in exchange programs with students from England, Germany, Japan and Russia, but they never had any Lithuanians. That the Lithuanians made it here this time was something of a fluke.

“When I was talking with the association regarding our Russian exchange, they mentioned they were looking for schools to take students from Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia,” Peninsula High teacher Adrienne Phillips said. They had to link up with an American school before the school year was out or return the program’s money to the government.

“I said don’t be silly, we’ll take one of those countries,” Phillips said.

Thanks to that phone call, the 11 students from the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius are living with peninsula families and going to an American high school until June 9.

This is the first time any of them have been to America, and for some, the first time they have left their hometown. “Lithuania was part of the Soviet Union, and there wasn’t a lot of freedom of movement,” Phillips said.

The students speak Lithuanian, Russian and English, she said.

This summer, a dozen Peninsula High students will complete the exchange portion of the program by traveling to Vilnius.

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CARWASH COFFEE: You want cream with that? Sugar? How about a hot wax?

There’s good news for people who love a good cappuccino but hate fighting the crowds at those oh-so-trendy coffee shops. You can now find your favorite gourmet grinds at the carwash--more specifically, at Red Carpet Car Wash in Manhattan Beach, where patrons can sip a Yogi Tea Cappuccino and maybe even try a little Zen meditation as they watch their new luxury coupes slide through the water jets.

“I love it,” said Mary Lee Augustine, who sipped a decaffeinated, nonfat cafe latte as carwash workers hand-dried her Mercedes 450SL. Augustine said she bypasses other carwashes in order to swill the latte at the carwash coffee bar. “This is definitely what started me coming here.”

She’s not the only one. Business has improved since the carwash began offering cappuccino and espresso at $2.50 a cup about a year ago, said Manager Dean Gulla.

“When they find out about it, they’re really excited,” Gulla said. Italian sodas, blending fruit juice and ice, are very popular on hot days, Gulla said.

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QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“It’s scary. Stuff like this should not be happening. This is the 20th Century.”

--Robin Hatch, 30, a mother of two who lives three doors away from where bowling-ball-size chunks of DDT were found in two back yards in the South Bay.