Community representatives acquired and read every document referred to by the state. Each time the community representatives presented information from the state reports the state said the information was "outdated." This included state reports written in 1992, 1994, October 1995 and Vision 2010.

The state said that the true information would soon be available in a future publication. When asked by the community if it would agree to a covenant guaranteeing that the information would not be outdated upon publication, the state said, "We'll think about it."

It makes the public feel information from the government is unreliable. Does the state have a secret report?

Henry Q. Curtis
Executive Director
Life of the Land

It appears that the Japanese government and its air transportation department could have been too anxious. They didn't check on the potential and capabilities of the Big Island and, most important, they didn't interview their own people on what they desired in a dream vacation to Hawaii.

Now that the die has been cast, let's not leave Japanese tourists in Kona for five days and four nights. Instead, shuttle them to Honolulu for a couple of days and nights.

Shopping and more shopping is their principal objective in visiting Hawaii, in contrast to most tourists who want outer isle seclusion.

The Hawaii Visitors Bureau and visitor industry officials should interview departing Japanese tourists to verify my comments. Ideally, most of them would prefer to stay in Waikiki and fly to the outer islands for a day or overnight, and then return.

Toshio Chinen
Pearl City

If a woman's portion of Hawaiian blood is A and a man's is B, both the couple and their offspring are, on average, (A+B)/2 Hawaiian. Average blood quantum does not change from parents to children.

The average blood quantum of part-Hawaiians cannot increase unless part-Hawaiian couples who have more Hawaiian blood produce more offspring than those with less Hawaiian blood.

On the other hand, one child from a single out-marriage reduces the average blood quantum of part-Hawaiians.

As long as there are any out-marriages at all, a continual decline in Hawaiian blood quantum is nearly inevitable. Of course, the same is true for every other ethnic group that has out-marriages.

Lane Yoder
Kaneohe

Usually, grades are distributed as follows:

A is excellent or well above average, B is good or above average, C is satisfactory or average, D is unsatisfactory or below average, and F is failed or well below average.

Although some educators and parents feel that grades do not reflect the true measurement of a person's knowledge, they are an accurate assessment of a person's effort.

Thus, why should we incorporate the "D" in our grading system?

If a student's effort is below satisfactory, then it is unsatisfactory. Unsatisfactory effort should not be "rewarded" with a passing grade.

Thus, A, B, C and F should be the only letter grades earned by students.

Usually in the business world, unsatisfactory work is "rewarded" with a pink slip.

Should we be teaching our leaders of tomorrow that unsatisfactory effort is permissible?

The answer is unequivocally NO!

Wil Beaver