Education, libraries warrant more funding

Your July 27 article was headlined, "Hawaii drops two spots since last survey of states," and I think we will continue to drop.

When it comes to the best states in the country to raise kids, Hawaii only pays "lip service" to its youth, especially in the area of education.

The seven indicators used in the "Kids Count Data Book" do not include schooling, but there certainly is a relationship between a good education and drop-outs, teen pregnancy, poverty, etc. When there is more of a first, there is less of the second.

Will it take another Felix-Cayetano consent decree to get back positions and budgets for essential services for schools and libraries?

Sylvia C. Mitchell

Public health school needs resuscitation

I would like to take this opportunity to express my support for the University of Hawaii School of Public Health and my dismay over the attacks on the school.

I have experienced its valuable contribution. I know of no other school or program that could replace it in this role, in Hawaii or throughout the Pacific Basin.

Many of my health-care colleagues in British Columbia are also alumni. Our education in Hawaii has broadened our understanding of health systems and cultures.

Sylvia Robinson
Victoria, British Columbia

UH School of Public Health Library
Ka Leo O Hawaii

England keeps trying to rule over Ireland

England invaded Ireland -- as it did China, India and other countries -- to expand the British Empire. The British Empire is no more, but England tries to retain control over Northern Ireland, bowing to demands of radical Protestants.

Ireland is a sovereign country. Why can't the major powers recognize that and put this aberration behind us?

Hilary Kelly

Quotables "My family and I were sacrificed to get Ben (Governor Cayetano) re-elected. I just hope no family will go through the hell we've been going through... Now I know how many of the AJAs felt during the war." State Sen. Marshall Ige On his indictment over campaign spending and ongoing court proceedings "The most difficult thing is coaching your own son. The second most difficult thing is remembering my son is the head coach and I'm the assistant." Charlie Ane OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR FOR PUNAHOU'S FOOTBALL TEAM On his relationship with the team's head coach, Kale Ane

It's true that Bronster abused her office

No one, especially former Attorney General Margery Bronster, should be surprised that Linda Lingle has now exposed the politics behind Bronster's misuse of her office to attack Lingle prior to the 1998 gubernatorial elections.

In October, Bronster directed her office to join in the EPA lawsuit concerning Maui County's wastewater system operation. Never before had the state become involved in a federal lawsuit such as this. Not surprisingly, immediately after the election, a federal judge dismissed it.

Not only was Bronster using her office to bolster Cayetano's losing campaign, Earl Anzai was using his position as budget czar to tell of a $154 million surplus that later vanished into thin air. Meanwhile, department heads were warning their workers of huge government layoffs if Lingle were elected.

Is Lingle a "sore loser" as Cayetano would have us believe, or were his appointees afraid of losing their jobs and willing to do anything to save themselves?

Laurie Von Hamm
Ewa Beach

Good riddance to Democratic defectors

Linda Lingle predicts that prominent Democratic officeholders will soon defect to the Republican Party. If this happens, the voting public won't be surprised. Most of these imminent defectors have been acting like Republicans for some time. They are presently Democrats in name only.

Many will be pleased that they will finally show their true colors, namely shades of green money. The national Republican Party is on a suicide mission. Republicans are becoming the party of death.

They may be concerned about the life of unborn babies, but minimize concern for the health of the mother. They are also advocates of increased tobacco sales to minors, unregulated firearms, freedom to pollute our environment with toxins, poor medical care, and unnecessary overmedication.

The salvation for our state is to follow the highly sucessful economic policies of the Democratic Leadership Council and the Clinton administration, not those of the Republican Party.

George Casen
Via the Internet

Military needs help with quarantine cost

The rejection of a proposal for a separate military pet quarantine facility is uniquely Hawaiian. It reflects the shortsightedness of state government in financial affairs:

Money is not given to military members for over-ocean moves. All costs are paid by the Joint Personal Property Shipping Office (JPPSO) directly to various contracted moving companies. Moves are pre-arranged and coordinated by JPPSO. Military members cannot take an income tax deduction for moving because the vast majority of them incur no expense.

Defense services don't care that the state budget is tight and the state quarantine facility must be self-sufficient. They are interested in the morale and quality of life of military members and their families while assigned in Hawaii. They, too, are under tight fiscal constraints and are looking for the most cost-effective ways to perform this function.

If it is cheaper to build a facility for military personnel, have it run by one of the service organizations, with military members paying a fraction of the present cost for the same service. That is the most fiscally responsible thing to do, and the most responsive to the needs of military members.

Al Coleman
Waipahu
Via the Internet

Y2K is merely a con of computer users

Your July 12 story on Y2K sounds as though your expert is a bull artist, trying to salvage a bad idea and hopefully cash in on the billions of dollars that criminals are intending on bilking computer users around the world.

The many tests of both small and large systems, which have already been carried out and proved to be baseless, is the true situation. If there is any sting to Y2K, it is the criminals screwing users out of needless expenditures.

Stanley A. Wilson

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