Why not move whole UH campus to Kapolei
I applaud Kent Youel's suggestions in his
Sept. 28 letter about the University of Hawaii-West campus' ability to solve problems. Bringing UH to the Kapolei area is a win-win situation, with its potential to bring businesses and jobs, and an absolute significant change in the traffic pattern -- for the entire island, not just the South Shore.
Why not bring the entire UH campus from Manoa to Kapolei, or at least leave the graduate division and some administration offices at Manoa?
Yes, it's a controversial idea and there's always the issue of money. However, has anyone taken a look at the condition of some of the buildings at the Manoa campus lately? The campus is falling apart, folks. Do you think some of the buildings at Manoa would protect folks in the event of a major hurricane? We can't also forget the condition of Aloha Stadium, either, a mediocre structure that is rusting away.
UH-West Oahu is a win-win situation, indeed, even if it is just a branch campus. The time is now to move forward with this opportunity, which will bring significant improvements and a better quality of life to the island. It is, as Youel states, a grand step forward.
Laura Hodge
Former Hawaii resident
Lakewood, Wash.
Lingle should garnish Harbin's wages
Governor Lingle's spy, Bev Harbin, won't resign now that her past has been exposed.
Good. I challenge the governor to have the wages that Harbin earns garnished to help reduce her indebtedness to the state.
Martin Rice
Chairman
Kauai Democratic Party
Give Harbin a chance to measure up
Hawaii Democrats
are howling over Governor Lingle's recent appointment of Beverly Harbin to fill the state House seat vacated by Ken Hiraki. Disclosures of her tax problems and a misdemeanor conviction 18 years ago have Democrats in a tizzy. This from the political party that gave us Milton Holt, Marshall Ige, Danny Kihano, Nathan Suzuki, Rene Mansho, Andy Mirikitani, James Aki, Dwight Takamine, Marvin Miura, Ken Kiyabu, Steve Cobb, Mike Amii, Leonard Leong, Michael Kahapea -- the list goes on and on. At this point, Harbin's record as a state legislator is clean. Give her a chance, and then if she screws up, she can join the countless members of the Hawaii Democrat Hall of Shame.
John Pritchett
Honolulu
Cockfighting not part of Hawaiian tradition
In his
Sept. 27 "Gathering Place" column, Hawaii Game Breeders Association President Terry Rosete would have you believe that his group's present role in responding to rooster nuisance complaints for the City and County of Honolulu was at the request of the Hawaiian Humane Society.
This is not true. We do not think it's appropriate that any taxpayer money should go to an organization whose sole purpose is to profit from an illegal sport in which roosters fight to the death with razor blades.
The Hawaii Game Breeders Association would like the public to believe that cockfighting is an accepted cultural tradition and part of Hawaii's heritage. However, the kingdom of Hawaii recognized the barbarity of cockfighting and declared it illegal in 1884, during the reign of King Kalakaua.
Today in the United States, cockfighting is illegal in 49 states. The federal government has also made it illegal to ship roosters across state lines for the purpose of cockfighting, and efforts are under way to make it a felony. We applaud and strongly support the federal government's efforts because the Hawaii Legislature has not passed stronger penalties despite the sport's cruel and inhumane nature and the fact that hundreds of thousands of untaxed dollars change hands during these gambling derbies.
The humane society will be back at the Legislature next year urging legislators to pass stronger laws. We ask caring citizens to be educated about the issue and join our efforts.
Pamela Burns
President and CEO
Hawaiian Humane Society
Congestion warnings would help drivers
Wouldn't it be nice if, when driving toward downtown from Hickam, the airport, Pearl Harbor or points Ewa, there were an electronic sign that directed traffic choices?
For example, it might say, "Freeway choked up to Punahou, take Nimitz or Dillingham." Thus we wouldn't make the turn toward the freeway only to find the traffic backed up around the offramp when we could have gone down Nimitz Highway or Dillingham.
William J. King
Honolulu
What's in a name? With DeLay, quite a bit
Speaker of the House Tom DeLay relinquished his leadership post after he was indicted for conspiracy, illegally using corporate donations to fund the Texas 2002 campaign to win control of the Texas state legislature. Since a substitute will fill in for DeLay as speaker, it appears only fair to express "delay" in different ways that may have affected your life.
It's time for Americans to pause and bow their heads and give thanks for the suspension of DeLay, who has lived up to his name and curbed the spirit of the Constitution, holding up legislation to provide justice and freedom for all Americans. The House ethics committee already admonished DeLay three times last year for a variety of rule violations.
Now DeLay's attempts to filibuster freedom for the middle class and deferring justice for America's poor have hit a snag.
If found guilty, DeLay won't be stonewalling the will of the people for a while. He might actually be sentenced to two years in the slammer where he could be breaking rocks for the stonewalls of a different kind. Stay tuned to see if what goes around comes around.
Smoky Guerrero
Mililani