Teachers should strike
to get what they deserve

There seems to be no question that education is the key to a fruitful and progressive economy. Yet I remember meeting with my advisers at Leeward Community College and the University of Hawaii-Manoa in crowded, substandard offices.

I can recall wanting to meet and talk about my future with these very highly qualified instructors and professors, but having these meetings cut short because they had to go to their other jobs as Realtors, private tutors, etc.

Enough is enough. PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE! Our educators are the most important people in our lives. This is our future.

Teachers should be paid according to their contributions, which are the greatest available. Thank you to all of the teachers who have touched my life.

If they choose to strike, and I think they should, count me as one who will honor their picket line.

Gary T. Bachesta
(Via the Internet)

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It’s not surprising
state won’t compensate teachers

I am a secondary health physical education teacher with a master of education degree. As one of the lowest paid white-collar workers in Hawaii, I was enthused to hear that an independent fact-finders panel has stated that teachers deserve a raise.

Further, to hear agreement from the nurses arbitration panel with the decision was also a surprise.

Not surprising is that the state can afford it - but does not want to pay.

Leroy Simms
Volcano, Hawaii

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JROTC program warrants
more thorough scrutiny

After reading your Dec. 10 article about the growing popularity of the Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps program in Hawaii, I was compelled to pull from my bookshelf, "Making Soldiers in the Public Schools: An Analysis of the Army JROTC." I had not yet read the report, which analyzes the Army JROTC curriculum.

JROTC programs are not accountable to school administrations, the Board of Education or the public. In one of the few instances of a school board review of the JROTC curriculum (in San Diego), it was determined that "some of the materials are out of date," "many historical events are presented in narrow, simplistic ways, and in some cases, are inaccurately represented," "the narrative style is didactic and doesn't encourage critical thinking," "generally, only the military point of view is presented" and "some of the materials lack sensitivity to ethnic groups, women and religion."

I urge all parents, DOE and BOE employees to take a closer look at the JROTC curriculum and carefully examine the costs of the program. The report can be ordered for $3.50 from the Hawaii office of the American Friends Service Committee.

Nancy Aleck

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Cruel treatment of turkeys
mars holiday in November

This Thanksgiving, I ate turkey and must say that it was delicious. But after reading Eric Bahrt's Nov. 21 letter, "Turkeys endure torture for our annual feast," I became very sad and embarrassed.

The harsh conditions that turkeys go through before Thanksgiving are disgusting. I hope that more people start to realize how badly the turkeys are being treated and have vegetarian Thanksgivings instead.

Bahrt's article made people think twice about eating turkey; I surely did.

Lyndsey Ladao
9th Grade
Sacred Hearts Academy

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Memminger is real turkey
in column on animal rights

As a lifelong fellow mayo-hater, I have always had a modicum of respect for Star-Bulletin columnist Charles Memminger. However, his Dec. 16 commentary bashing animal-rights activists goes too far.

Turkeys raised on turkey farms are not living the idyllic life that Memminger describes. These poor animals have been genetically altered to gain an enormous amount of weight.

They cannot fly, and are so overcrowded that they must be given large amounts of antibiotics just to survive. It is a life of suffering.

How can Memminger vilify any group of people that crusades against suffering? Hateful attacks disguised as so-called humor are no less offensive.

When uneducated journalists stop writing misinformation about subjects on which they have done absolutely no research, animal-rights activists will be given the respect they so deserve.

Kimberly Wade
(Via the Internet)

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Same-sex archive