Kau wrote that the only women who will think twice about reporting rape are those who are doing it for the money. Frankly, I am outraged that a person could say such a thing.

For years, we have tried to convince the victim that turning in a rapist is the best thing to do. But to deny that many women blame themselves is to deny a large part of the problem. Many women are ashamed to admit that they have been raped. To blame them for this is taking a giant step backward.

Society should try to convince these victims that it will help them to confront their attackers - not tell them that they will be accused of going after money if they do so.

Brian Pink
Walla Walla, Wash.

The jury not only vindicated Professor Lamb, but threw the book at Gretzinger. If, as you suggest, the jury thought that the allegations of mentor rape were plausible but was bothered by the length of time she took to report this, then the jurors might have chosen a middle ground. They did not.

My understanding is that the jury doubted that any sex had occurred, consensual or otherwise.

The jury's clear signal is that people who bring charges should tell the truth. This should be noted by the Star-Bulletin and individuals at UH-Manoa who for three years have pursued this case for ideological reasons, despite a complete want of evidence.

Rape and harassment are serious matters that affect real people and damage real lives. Squandering scarce time, resources and credibility on specious cases is an affront to justice and an outrage to faculty, students, staff and taxpayers.

Khalil J. Spencer

If the Waimea incident had motivated my memo to Fox, I would have taken that action a year ago since it occurred in June 1995.

In your article, you also erroneously made graduation from high school synonymous with commencement exercises. The term "commencement exercise" is correct because every student who is allowed to participate in it has 1) earned a diploma, 2) a certificate of completion of an individually prescribed program or 3) been otherwise permitted by the principal.

Thus, the article and the headline, "BOE loosens up on graduation," will undoubtedly create confusion or misconceptions about the specific task that the BOE has undertaken.

Mitsugi Nakashima
Chairperson
State Board of Education

There was no reason to present the story this way. The information could have been given without all the attention to the dead body. One can only imagine how this person's family and friends must have felt watching that newscast.

We have become too quick to sensationalize tragedy in the name of news. KITV has a good reputation for keeping us aware of what's happening, but its reporting of this story was insensitive and inappropriate.

Helen Gibson Ahn