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Required naps might be good for more people

As usual, Sen. Rod Tam is well ahead of the pack with his legislation essentially calling for approval of naps. Regrettably, he is running into the American ethic that allows naps only to Dagwood Bumstead and similar losers.

We forget that Thomas Edison was an inveterate napper who still found plenty of time to invent. The reality is that study after study has demonstrated the value of naps not only to the health of the individual but also to the bottom line of an organization.

More and more studies are also pointing to the problem of the sleeping driver, with the suggestion that motor vehicle accidents and deaths are very often related to motorists falling asleep at the wheel. It's not too much of a stretch to suggest that the apparent increase in "road rage" can be traced to driver exhaustion.

Naps can be a critical release valve. Senator Tam should be congratulated for raising an issue that may force us to question what we want for ourselves and our communities.

John Casken
Assistant Professor
UH School of Public Health

Napping on the public dime? Unbelievable

Sen. Rod Tam has to be the poster boy for the Hawaii politician who just doesn't get it. While everyone else is calling for reform, he comes up with a bill to allow government employees to nap and get free snacks at work.

Tam even went so far as to tell a TV reporter that the state employee will say, "The governor really likes me, so I'll do a better job," or words to that effect. Has it come to this? Must we now bribe our government employees to do the jobs they were hired and paid to do?

Tam also commented that he had to "have a thick skin in this business." I think someone should check the thickness of the skull bone above his shoulders, too.

If I were a state worker, I would be highly offended by this stupid proposal.

Jim Fromm

Quotables "One spill could kill me. I don't want to glow in the dark." Maeda Timson CHAIRWOMAN OF THE MAKAKILO NEIGHBORHOOD BOARD Saying government agencies haven't done enough to protect the public from chemical accidents like the Brewer Environmental Industries' spill at Campbell Industrial Park last Thanksgiving Day "For those who thought we were foolish, this removes all doubt." Sam Slom REPUBLICAN STATE SENATOR On Democratic Sen. Rod Tam's proposal that $600,000 should be allocated to provide refreshments to state workers to improve their morale

Oh boy, here comes local election season

Listening to Linda Lingle and Frank Fasi cry over Mayor Jeremy Harris having his sights set on the governor's mansion, I had to take pause. Wow! Is this how it's going to play out?

Maybe Lingle should give Harris some competition for his mayoral re-election bid. And you would think that a Governor Harris would at least offer Frank Fasi an ambassadorship to Kahuku, if just to get him out of the neighborhood.

Bring on the popcorn. I love Hawaii's politics.

Cormac MacGregor

Hawaii shouldn't be afraid of fluoridation

I live in a part of Colorado where the drinking water is naturally fluoridated. Because it was observed that the frequency of dental cavities was much lower here than in other parts of the country, it led to the practice of adding fluoride to drinking water in almost all large and not-so-large cities on the mainland.

Since there is not one shred of evidence that the incidence of health problems is higher among the population living in the front range of Colorado compared to the national average, it is obvious that such concerns are utter nonsense.

Carl Brandauer
Boulder, Colo.

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