American Notes LOS ANGELES

Now that Los Angeles has become an immigration gateway that rivals New York City at the turn of the century, Angelenos want a monument like the Statue of Liberty. But nothing so staid as Lady Liberty will do. Instead, plans call for a welcoming monument to be suspended in the air above a freeway, and the five semifinalist designs chosen last week by a blue-ribbon committee were all unconventional, to say the least.

One is a giant bird, one a towering fountain of water, one a large video screen showing the face of George Washington and a message that "the measurement of the American dream is The Dollar." The other two are -- well, it is hard to say what exactly. Nick Patsaouras, head of the design committee, says that all will be "radically changed" before a final winner is chosen. . Some Los Angeles citizens devoutly hope so. Says Susan Kirvin-Cox, spokeswoman for the city's Visitors and Convention Bureau: "We need to get away from that wacky, weird image that everybody has of us."