Symphony, taxpayers going down with economic ship
Only in Hawaii does one find the mayor endangering the life of the financially strapped Honolulu Symphony and along with it the cultural life of the state by turning over its concert hall dates to a touring musical company. "Miss Saigon" may thrill and comfort us for a moment, but should not come between the symphony and the people - a lifelong, fulfilling relationship.Only in Hawaii does one find a governor combating a poor economy and declining revenues by cutting the taxes of corporations and the rich and placing the burden on the less well-to-do, many of whom are in fear of losing their livelihood.
This tactic is tantamount to telling the starving that they can recover only if they go on a stricter diet and pay more taxes, while telling the well-off that they get a bigger piece of the pie because only then is there the possibility of more and larger crumbs trickling down on the less affluent.
Lucky you live Hawaii. Instead of the Titanic, you can watch for free the people slowly sinking into the sunset, serenaded by the brave symphony and accompanied by a bright green flash.
Richard Y. Will
Symphony should play in McKinley auditorium
Does the Honolulu Symphony feel that it has the only rights to the Blaisdell Concert Hall?I was offended on Sunday afternoon when the appeal was made by symphony representatives to call city officials, asking for reconsideration of a money-making venture, "Miss Saigon." Yet at Sunday's symphony performance, there were more than 50 seats in the front and center that were vacant.
In reading the program, I noticed that the city and the state Foundation of Culture and Arts are $100,000-plus donors. How much more does the taxpayer have to subsidize the symphony?
I remember attending my first symphony concert (and opera) being performed at the McKinley High School auditorium under the direction of George Barati. The auditorium was considered acoustically perfect for concerts.
Now that the state has spent millions of dollars renovating it, why can't the symphony, in its 100-year anniversary, go back to where it performed before the Blaisdell Concert Hall?
Steve Hirano
'Reform' will further paralyze Republicans
Your March 5 editorial ("Democrats' cynical campaign 'reform' bill") reflected my sentiments exactly. I worked for a member of Congress once and recall a federal law, the Hatch Act, that expressly forbade the mixing of campaign and official business.It appears that Hawaii's Democrats need a similar law to rein them in. The House Judiciary Committee, rather than addressing the important social and economic issues facing the state, is trying to pass off as reform this bogus bill, whose true aim is to preserve Democrats' jobs in November.
I hope their transparent effort to still a real, issues-oriented campaign backfires miserably on the incumbent party, and that the good people of this state remember this outrage on Election Day. I will.
Gina Aranki
Wailuku, Maui
Closing lawyer factory would help public schools
Our legislators are busy trying to figure out how to reduce state expenses. One idea is to increase the teacher-pupil ratio for the primary grades.I am sympathetic to their budgeting dilemma and offer this idea for consideration. Close the University of Hawaii Law School! Obviously, from looking through the yellow pages of the telephone book, we have a glut of lawyers.
It is a matter of priorities. Do we continue to subsidize institutions such as the law school - for which there is minimal need - and increase the teacher-to-pupil ratio for primary schools, or do we support the education of children during the critically important early years?
Charles Larson
Waimanalo
Students will feel sting of losing favored teachers
We are the concerned sixth graders of Kaneohe Elementary School. We are disappointed that our supporting and caring teachers might get laid off.We feel Ryan Amine is a very important part of Kaneohe Elementary. He volunteers for various activities, physical and educational, such as an assistant coach for our volleyball team and head coach for our basketball team.
Yihwa Hema is another teacher who might be laid off. She is one of our first-grade teachers. Our younger brothers and sisters are/were in her class. She is very supportive of other students. Everyone enjoys her teaching and company.
Kristie Araki is a sixth-grade favorite! She helps with fund-raisers and other activities. She is always aware of what is going on around her. She is a very understanding person.
People should be more supportive of Hawaii's schools. We are the people of the future!
Shannon Nishio, Casi Kamei Jodee Tanaka, Lia Tadani
and Clarice Ohara
Kaneohe Elementary School
BOE should abandon idea of increasing class sizes
As a public school teacher and counselor for the past 12 years, I am totally against the Board of Education's proposal to increase the class size in grades K-2 from 20:1 to 24:1 ratio.I am deeply disturbed that the board came up with such a regressive proposal in the first place. After working so hard and so long to attain the 20:1 ratio, it does not make any sense to sacrifice this important achievement.
Even if you were to discount the volumes of research in support of smaller class size, anyone with teaching experience or just plain common sense can understand the negative impact this proposal would have on the quality of learning taking place in our schools. An analogy might be a hospital trying to cut costs by forcing doctors to schedule and perform two operations at the same time on two different patients!
The children of Hawaii desperately need BOE members to be their advocates and not their adversaries. Drop the plan to increase class size now!
Matt Nakamura
DOE Guidance Counselor
Here's the solution to saving state economy
Let the state of Hawaii declare bankruptcy. Apply to the IMF for a bailout, and start all over again.Everyone else is doing it.
Joe Sullivan
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