Pols mustn't promise
what they cannot deliver

Some of our elected officials have been saying their efforts will soon bring our public school system up to a level "second to none."

For as many years as I've lived in Hawaii, almost 30 years now, I've heard this rhetoric go on and on. Even with the passion we have for excellence, "second to none" is unfortunately unachievable at this time or in the foreseeable future.

It would be a breath of fresh air if our politicians would stop promising unrealistic levels of achievement for political posturing and gain. All the electorate wants is an honest evaluation of where we are and where we realistically could be in the next three to five years.

Martin D. Schiller

Irradiated fruit will
follow the fate of sugar

Even with massive federal subsidies, our sugar industry could not compete on the world market and make a profit. What makes people think that irradiated tropical fruit from Hawaii will be any different?

If anything, irradiating local fruit will hurt, not help, the marketing of such products. Will the $2 million county subsidy being pushed by the Yamashiro administration and the Hawaii County Council turn into $20 million or $200 million of taxpayer dollars down the road?

It is colonial thinking that advocates more cash crop exports as a solution to the ills of dependency created by 100 years of sugar exports.

It's time to take the colonial chains from our brains and the land out of the hands of corporate agribusiness. Instead of exporting cash crops and importing what we eat, it's time we feed ourselves.

A food irradiation plant and eucalyptus plantations are steps away from sovereignty, self-sufficiency and a sustainable future.

Jim Albertini
Ola'a, Hawaii

Menu furor shows fans of Tiger
can't take a joke

Greg Norman asked Nick Faldo not to request fish and chips, because it reminded him of his ancestors.

Nick Faldo was upset with Bernhard Langer when he requested sauerbraten. Nick's father died in World War II.

Jack Nicklaus wanted cottage cheese and fruit salad. He had won so many times that he was overweight and had to go on a diet. Nobody came; he was upset.

Colin Montgomerie requested haggis, which was granted as long as he never played golf again at Augusta.

Vijay Singh preferred Bombay curry and everybody's still perspiring.

Arnold Palmer had oatmeal, so nobody completed the course.

Scott Simpson wanted a luau, and he lost every tournament since.

Tiger Woods had fried chicken, retired from golf, and now we can all sit back and enjoy the game again.

I mean, if absolutely nothing can be said in jest or simple humor, we might as well all go home to our separate countries.

John L. Werrill

Graffiti is both dumb
and disrespectful to all

Graffiti is a really dumb thing. People who spray graffiti on personal property are being very selfish. When they deface cemeteries, they are being extremely disrespectful.

At Punchbowl, they should know that the people buried there fought to free our country. They show no respect for the people who gave their lives to make the future better for us.

The things that they do are terrible.

Kristin Kaneshiro
Grade 3
Manana Elementary

Girls were clear winners
at the Punahou Relays

David T. Mayeda's concern for equal and competitive opportunities for women in Hawaii track (Letters, May 2) is admirable but his criticism of the Punahou Relays is unjustified.

Maeda complained that women were excluded from the Hawaii's Fastest Human competition. The Punahou Relays Committee promoted a Hawaii's Fastest Woman race, to be run at the 1995 meet, but received only one entry. The race was canceled.

The Punahou Relays is a fantastic forum for the promotion of female athletes. This year there were 13 separate races and field events for high school girls. Eighteen Hawaii high schools entered a total of 487 girls in the meet (516 boys entered).

Every year for 27 years the outstanding female athlete of the meet has been recognized and honored with the Mary A.P. May Award. Next year, we hope to add pole vaulting to the girls' field events.

Jim Steiner
Chairman
Punahou Relays Committee
(Via the Internet)

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