PRIMARY VIEWS Due to yesterday's primary election, Richard Borreca's political analysis column will appear Tuesday on the editorial page.

Charter leader's ouster shows BOE arrogance

The Board of Education has now totally discredited itself as an agent of improvement for Hawaii's public schools.

It's not about kids, it's about power.

Nowhere in its back-room, closed-door vote did an evaluation of Jim Shon by charter schools, parents or kids come up. The bottom line was that Shon, the ousted executive director of the state Charter Schools Administrative Office, did not kiss the BOE's collective okole.

Never mind that charter schools are doing well, with above-average test scores and No Child Left Behind standing, high levels of parent and student satisfaction, and long waiting lists.

Shon was a systems-building centrist, not some radical. He brought accountability and stability to the previously rocky world of charters in Hawaii. He even (gasp) entertained the notion of getting other "authorizers," the agencies that grant schools the actual contract to operate, rather than rely on the single existing entity of the BOE.

I guess that was going too far -- how dare he think of what's best for charters and the kids they serve, and not how to help the BOE keep its monopoly!

I predict this arrogant action will come to haunt the BOE for a long, long time. At the very least it shows that they are incapable of credible charter school oversight, and should lose that authority.

Thanks for nothing, gas cap opponents

Since the suspension of the gas cap law, nationwide prices for gas and the price per barrel for oil have dropped significantly, but we still pay $3-plus for gas in Hawaii. If the gas cap law were still in place, we would be paying closer to the average price of gas on the mainland, which is now in the $2 per gallon range. How is it that no one who voted against the gas cap saw this coming? When will be be able to breathe a sigh of relief?

To those who opposed the gas cap, I say, "Thanks for nothing!"

Applause for military a moving experience

I had a similar experience to Don McDiarmid Jr.'s ("Marines swap aloha with flight passengers," Letters, Sept. 15).

Last Christmas, I was at the Atlanta airport returning to Hawaii. I was upstairs in the military's USO center when I heard a very loud applause in a large gathering area of the terminal below. About 40 soldiers in desert uniforms and heavy combat gear humbly and solemnly walked toward their departure gate, which was probably a long distance away. Scores of people, whom they did not know, clapped, cheered and offered their full support to these warriors who were heading off to fight in a foreign land. Many onlookers shouted out words of praise and encouragement as these defenders faithfully continued on.

I was a truly moving experience for me as well. To all U.S. military members in the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, National Guard, Coast Guard, Reserves and their families, thank you for the job that you continue to do amazingly well!

Should we let rapist Luster go free?

This must be America, where our hard-earned tax dollars are paying for the U.S. Attorney's Office, U.S. Marshal's Office and U.S. judicial system to work on the Duane "Dog" Chapman case. Hmmm, let me think, the government doesn't have money, drugs are an epidemic, there are thousands of homeless people -- and we are spending thousands of dollars to jail a man and his colleagues for catching a rapist.

Let's forget about the innocent girls and women who were raped by Andrew Luster, and jail the Dog! Because this is America!

For those of you who feel that Mr. Chapman should be jailed, I leave you with this: Imagine that one of Luster's many victims that we know of (and others not reported) was one of your loved ones. How would you feel then? Should we let Luster go free to continue his vacation in Mexico, perhaps?

For Pete's sake, can we for a change let the victims get justice?

It makes no sense to jail rapist's captor

I am at a loss for words to explain my dismay about how the U.S. government is treating three of its own reputable citizens and their families. Why wasn't this dealt with three years ago?

In my opinion, the Chapmans -- Dog, Leland and Tim -- should be rewarded, not extradited, for capturing serial rapist Andrew Luster and putting him back behind bars where he belongs. We must be living in some strange times when three men who make the streets a little safer get arrested for doing just that.

Free the Chapmans!

Stop development or destroy Hawaii

When the last kukui tree has been cut down, when the last whale disappears, and when the last pineapple and cane fields have been paved, only then will you find that money cannot be eaten.

After 27 years I left Hawaii for Washington, D.C., one month before 9/11. I have been reading the online Star-Bulletin every day since (great job, guys). I moved because Hawaii was changing in so many ways. The "price of paradise" was real.

It's true, overall Hawaii is the most beautiful place on Earth and everyone wants to live there. However, Hawaii's people, history and land have suffered a lot in the last 40 to 70 years. Serious attempts to preserve history, culture, land and the spirit of aloha must be made now, at all costs, lest they perish as pictures and memories in a museum.

What if the tourists stop coming? Develop tourism, not the land. Congratulations to the Honolulu City Council for denying the Ka Iwi Coast development permit. It's a step in the right direction toward preserving what is left of old Hawaii. But, like David Matthews and Eve Andersen say, "See you in five years; the developers will be back." Good luck, Hawaii -- preserve your future and the world will love you.