Deplorable standards are being used for St. Louis
The incidents involving members of the St. Louis football team in Las Vegas cannot help but make all of us ask what are appropriate and allowable ways for a team to celebrate its victory.Is it OK to break beds, splatter walls, view the artistry of strippers, consume alcohol and defy the pope?
Most people would agree that what happened was definitely wrong. Unsurprisingly, however, one group has taken the position that the celebration with all of its destructive, degrading conduct was acceptable on the basis that "boys will be boys" or moral standards change from generation to generation.
Thank God there are still many, like Father Pariante, who can still confidently distinguish between right and wrong.
Teruo Hasegawa
Players' misconduct embarrasses others as well
It is quite disheartening to hear about the misconduct and misbehavior of the St. Louis football team while its members were in Las Vegas.I don't believe in the old adage, "boys will be boys." As upperclassmen in a Catholic high school, these young men had the obligation to uphold certain standards of conduct and values. As a graduate of a Catholic high school, I am saddened that these players have tarnished the image and reputation not only of St. Louis, but of all Catholic high schools.
In spite of those who blame the coaches for lack of supervision, the true culprits are the players. They are the ones who should have been more responsible.
They represented St. Louis and Hawaii as goodwill ambassadors. For their deplorable actions in Las Vegas, they failed miserably.
Randall Fong
Governor deserves thanks for cutting state taxes
Changing the tax brackets and rates will really help people like me who will now pay less taxes. I wish the tax cuts were deeper, but I am really glad that Governor Cayetano at least got something through the Legislature.Charles Ng
Lingle's priorities don't come through in her ads
I've been reading about Linda Lingle's record as mayor of Maui and some real questions have been raised in my mind.Her hiring of her then-husband for county business was, at the least, unethical. Her resistance to paying fair wages to the working people of Maui and her unwillingness to work with the Environmental Protection Agency to clean up the Maui sewage mess concern me.
Hawaii needs a leader who will protect our fragile environment, practice integrity in hiring and place value in the working people. Lingle's ads look good, but they don't seem to represent who she is and what she has really done.
Teri A. Borengasser-Gomes
Kaneohe
Even stalwart Democrats must vote for Lingle
I was raised in a liberal, Democratic Party family. When my brother openly declared himself a Republican during the first Reagan term, heated debate rocked the entire family. He was pratically shunned for such heresy!Today I continue to be a very liberal Democrat, as well as a 25-year Hawaii state employee, longtime union member and educator. Now it is my turn to be a heretic!
I fully support Linda Lingle for governor for reasons far too numerous to recount here. With the university and state facing both a crisis of leadership and finances, political reform must take precedence over loyalty.
How ironic that I need to look to a Republican candidate to effectively change my party for the better. But recent history surely points out that the change required will not come from within its own ranks or from another Cayetano administration.
Vincent Linares
Kula, Maui
(Via the Internet)
Multi-track schools are nothing to brag about
How dare Ben Cayetano go around advertising that he is concerned about education and how he's building 11 new schools with 900 classrooms. He's building multi-track schools. He's designing and building schools too small for their projected enrollments.Multi-track schools take square footage from classrooms for more air-conditioned office space for vice principals, counselors and staff. The same amount of money could be used to build a traditional school.
Tell the people, governor, of the 11 schools that you're building, how many are designed as multi-track. According to the Department of Education in the next five years, it's 11 of the 13 schools to be opened.
So tell us again, governor, how are you going to influence education for our state?
As for our Board of Education incumbents, they have allowed multi-track to become a reality without regard to the policies they pass. Voters need to take a good close look at where our BOE representatives have taken us and decide if we're going to continue down that road in the next four years.
Jo Ann Inouye
Mililani
The Clinton Issue: No more supposin',
let's just depose 'im
Hanky Panky
Deserves Spanky.
Dump Him.C.W. Chaffee
Pearl City
GOP Congress members should be impeached
It is time to start calling for the impeachment of the Republican Congress. Its members have forgotten what they have been elected to do. The bipartisan bickering has wasted millions of dollars.It is true that the president has behaved in deplorable ways. But, as we find out more about the private lives of Republican stalwarts, Clinton's behavior is no different than theirs. Each time after their own trysts, they went home and lied, too.
Independents like me need to speak up. We must demand that this Congress, Newt Gingrich, Trent Lott and their friends, Pat Robertson and the Christian Coalition, move on to more important matters.
Jack Larson
Quit persecuting suffering president
What President Clinton is being subjected to is worse than the treatment accorded to the vilest criminals who commit atrocious acts.If Clinton strayed beyond the bounds of his personal propriety, then he will have to live with his conscience. If he violated any of the laws he was sworn to uphold, he must face the consequences.
But he has repented publicly and has asked God for forgiveness. He has been forgiven by the one who really counts. What more do the "holier than thous" want?
Ruben Ortiz Paez
Christians should unite and pray for resignation
As a Christian, I am willing to forgive Clinton, if he is sincerely apologetic. However, when he had his people go on talk shows and try to use legalistic language to change the facts of his lies, it is hard to believe that he is sincere.Clinton should resign and spare the country any further cost in this crisis. He should allow Al Gore to lead us. The morality should matter more than anything else.
Kenneth Kuwahara
(Via the Internet)
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