Vans violate rules others must follow

The van speed-camera system is illegal and unconstitutional. It violates the right to privacy. The camera operator and ticket issuer are two different people. According to state law, only a sworn law enforcement officer can issue citations. There is no testing of the vans' lasers after each use, as police are required to do.

The vans park on highways where anyone else would get cited. The system allows selective enforcement: It doesn't photograph motorcycles, mopeds or cars with no front plates.

Hawaii residents must join together and fight this unjust system, which is set up solely for money, not safety as officials want you to believe. Accidents are not caused by people going 1 to 15 mph over the speed limit. They are caused by people doing 30, 40, 50, 60, 70 or 80 mph over the limit. These people drive between the hours of midnight and 4 a.m., when no vans are on duty.

This should be an ACLU issue. Drivers who get cited should contest these tickets.

Olivia Bright
Nanakuli

Law-abiding drivers need not worry

Who cares about the photo cameras catching speeders and red-light blowers? If these drivers would pay attention to the laws, they would not be bothered by the cameras -- or a policeman on every corner, for that matter.

Robert E. Lansing

[Quotables] "We owe them the truth. We owe them the courage and wisdom to make wise decisions. We owe them hope. We owe them a better and greater Hawaii." Gov. Ben Cayetano From his State of the State speech delivered Tuesday before the state Legislature. Cayetano was asking legislators to put aside partisanship and deal truthfully with voters. "We got trashed. People were wandering and driving all over the place." Mike Ing Supervisory ranger at Haleakala National Park, on the damage to rare plants from 3,000 weekend visitors attracted by a rare snowfall to the dormant Maui volcano. The crowds damaged rare plants and insects when they traveled off roads and trails to get near the snow.

Government eager to give away assets

The article about University of Hawaii President Evan Dobelle doing his Rodney Dangerfield impersonation was priceless ("UH President Evan Dobelle wants Aloha Stadium," Star-Bulletin, Jan. 17).

Imagine, the head of UH saying, "I get no parking, I get no concessions." Where did he get the idea that Aloha Stadium was his?

It seems that the officials in Hawaii government cannot give away assets quickly enough, especially other people's assets. We have Mayor Jeremy Harris giving Outrigger Hotels other people's Waikiki properties. Now the state wants to give UH the stadium. Why not throw in Aloha Tower and all other properties with the word Aloha in their names?

Maybe the state government is right; it cannot manage any of this, so give it away.

Arnold Van Fossen

Zoo move would waste taxpayers' money

It appears that Councilman John DeSoto has a problem with priorities. At a time when Hawaii is experiencing its worst economic crisis, DeSoto is attempting to justify an expenditure of $480 million to move the Honolulu Zoo. I am sure the taxpayers would be interested in knowing how much time and money have already been spent on studies and surveys for this project and would join me in recommending that DeSoto direct his energies toward seriously underfunded city and county services.

If he wants to pursue this unneeded project, I suggest he either organize a bake sale to come up with the $480 million or put it on his personal credit card. The taxpayers have better things to do with their money.

Roger Van Cleve

Isle politicians cause writer's cramp

Yo, Hawaii politicians -- you're killin' me here, if you're going to be hiding behind "I didn't know," "I wasn't aware of," "I didn't realize." Well, you'd best be looking for another line of work. I am sick and tired of hearing excuses. I don't want to sit around with my friends and colleagues talking about your latest antics.

So what do I do? I find a public forum like "Letters to the Editor." You're killin' me with the constant flow of subject matter. It's enough to have to admit to people that yes, I live in Makiki and yes, Mirikitani was our Council member.

No, I didn't vote for him. So, I write a letter to the editor and express my wish to see him in a striped prison suit. Then, there's the campaign spending mess that Harris is in.

No, I didn't vote for him either. So I write a letter to the editor and suggest a $100 campaign limit per candidate.

Now Sam Aiona and Linda Lingle say they didn't know they couldn't send out absentee registration forms along with campaign literature. Duh! No, I didn't vote for either of them.

I've been voting for more than 30 years now, and I wonder what's become of my votes. One thing's for sure, you're makin' my choices easier.

Carol T. Chun

Unions outlived their usefulness in Hawaii

Unions are destroying America in general and Hawaii in particular. There once was a need for unions, but times have changed. Unions are now self-serving and as outdated as dinosaurs.

They have shot themselves in the foot so many times, they are bleeding to death.

If our economy is to survive, unions must go.

Donald Allen

Gambling will result in many societal ills

Gambling, in whatever form or scope, should not be accepted because of the following consequences, among others:

>> The house always wins, taking money especially from those least able to afford to lose it;

>> This further reduces sales for local businesses already reeling from the recession;

>> Those liable to addiction will be sucked in, causing all kinds of social problems including uncontrolled debt, unemployment, bankruptcy, crime, abuse, suicide, fraud, drop-outs, etc.;

>> Corruption in high places.

This latter may be the worst of all in the long run since the experience of those cities with gambling is that once it gets in, it is almost impossible to abolish it because the politicians have been "bought."

Gambling is totally incompatible with and opposed to the motto of our great state: "The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness."

Henry Uehara

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