Employees deserve universal health care
The debt accumulated by local hospitals would be reduced in the future if there were fewer loopholes working against universal health care. We all know people working multiple part-time jobs. Even the state of Hawaii favors the "19 hours per week or less" plan of hiring. In addition, I suspect that some employers are less than diligent in making health care available to employees who go over 20 hours per week for four consecutive weeks. (Try the 40, 40 40, 19 hour plan.)
On the consumer side, persons should know that a health service will cost $x at one provider versus $y at another. If they knew, they could help drive down prices.
Daniel C. Smith
Honolulu
Pay-to-listen to game is a bit too much
I spoke to a disgruntled fan in Michigan who listened to
www.sportsradio1420.com to keep up with our University of Hawaii Warriors. The fan could not get on until a payment was made for access! I am appalled that there is charge for listening to a game. Is this a way to make up for the poor attendance at Aloha Stadium? What is the cost for piping the radio program over the Internet? How many recruits on the mainland are willing to pay to listen to a D-rated football team play? Is it all about money, and when will it become "pay for radio" broadcasting coming to Hawaii?
This money-grabbing attitude has to stop! Doesn't anybody realize that we have not yet recovered from the vonAppen era fiasco?
Farouk Wang
Mililani
Unions run everything in mainland, Hawaii
When people here in Virginia ask me who runs the islands, I reply, "The unions." Here is a prime example of corruption at its best, and hardly any jail time will be served, especially with the plea-bargaining that was allowed ("Judge kills deal letting Rutledges return to Unity,"
Star-Bulletin, Nov. 17). For years the unions have strangled Hawaii just like they do New York. During the last five decades many of the major unions in the mainland and Hawaii have had leaders who took advantage of their power.
Don't get me wrong -- when I worked at Dupont for 16 years here in Richmond, I was a union director. I believe in the union as long as the company and union work together for a common goal that benefits the company, employees and the community. I left my home in 1978 because hindsight told me that Hawaii would be a hard place to live because of the economy, employment, government, and no control of growth of the concrete jungle. I can't even afford to retire and die where I was born and raised. It used to be "lucky to live Hawaii," but I dunno now.
Randall R. DeCastro
Chester, Va.
Former Hawaii resident
Some fans are giving Hawaii a bad name
Bad sportsmanship is getting a lot of press, including the latest incident with the Hawaii-Michigan State basketball game ("Izzo finds paradise overrated,"
Star-Bulletin, Nov. 20). These types of issues can have an impact on the determination of future sporting event venues as well as tourism.
Having grown up in Hawaii, I know all too well the passion that sports fans have at events. However, we might need to throw in some compassion for teams coming into the islands and show them the sportsmanship that comes from our classy state.
Joe Gottschalk
Carrollton, Texas
Statewide school board is a failure
Hawaii is the only state that has one statewide school board. All the test scores show our statewide school system does not work. At one time, the Democrats in the Legislature said local school boards would be a good idea. Unfortunately, they never did anything about it.
They are still not willing to do anything about fixing the school system. The Reinventing Education Act they passed provides no help to any of the schools because the Legislature failed to provide adequate funding and the state Board of Education consumes large amounts of money on wasteful administration.
"Same ol', same ol'" has become the mantra of the "do little, do it badly, brag about it" Democrat-controlled Legislature. It is time for a change.
Christopher Wright
Makiki