Hawaii needs fewer malls and more parks

It is with a great sigh of relief that I greet the news Kakaako is going to be spared the "mall-ification" proposed by developer Andy Anderson and accepted in knee-jerk fashion as a good idea by our feeble decision-makers.

I hope that this will become a trend. A 10-year moratorium on new mega-shopping complexes would go far in keeping Hawaii focused on what we have that's really special: the great outdoors.

More shopping opportunities do not improve our economy. They just ruin the aina and keep people's minds on buying and acquiring, which is inconsistent with the idea of a nice public park.

Fie on malls! I can make my own fun at the park and don't need developers eyeing its retail potential with a thin veneer of a "sense of place."

Kit Grant
Via the Internet

Fasi should have done more for Natatorium

Frank Fasi is a member of our American Legion Post, but he does not speak for the rest of us. We want to fully restore the Waikiki Natatorium.

It is a memorial to all our World War I comrades. It honors the thousands who served and more than 100 who died. Nearly all our World War I comrades have passed on, but we still enjoy the freedom some of them paid for with their lives.

Fasi says not enough people from Hawaii died to justify a memorial. It's not a matter of numbers, and he should know that.

It's too bad he didn't do more to preserve the Natatorium when he was mayor. It was his responsibility. Now we are paying for his neglect.

James C.F. Chong
Commander,
American Legion Post #11

Welfare recipients should fix up schools

Since there is an urgent need for repairs and maintenance at the public schools, at the same time welfare families will soon be denied benefits if they can't find jobs, may I make a suggestion?

Why not teach welfare recipients skills that can be used by the schools? Not only will they be able to help improve the physical appearance of the schools, they will also help their children learn in a more conducive atmosphere.

Furthermore, since the libraries are also curtailing services, couldn't welfare recipients work there so they can learn new skills and concurrently allow other citizens to access the wonderful resources of the state?

Jane Katayama
Via the Internet

Quotables "To think that our leadership in the world -- politically, economically and informationally -- has little or nothing to do with the quality of the armed forces we maintain in a deployed status is a bit shortsighted." Gen. Eric Shinseki ARMY CHIEF OF STAFF AND HAWAII NATIVE Honored with the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii's highest award -- the Order of the Splintered Paddle "Free speech is a two-way street." Bruno Dellana INTERNATIONAL VICE PRESIDENT, AMERICAN FEDERATION OF STATE, COUNTY AND MUNICIPAL EMPLOYEES AND UNION HEARING OFFICER Rejecting charges that United Public Workers director Gary Rodrigues violated the rights of union members in Hawaii by using the UPW's newsletter to attack his critics

Education should be priority of spending

The mayor's sports and recreational complex, the restoration of the Natatorium and other like projects are admirable undertakings. But why now?

Why spend our scarce resources on such things while our schools and university are being starved to certain death?

The coin of success in achieving a healthy and prosperous economy does not lie in such temporary make-work, touchy-feely doings. It lies in the faith, dreams and determination of a populace nourished by meaningful education.

If we continue to let our educational system die, we will see more and more of our best and brightest move to places where they can thrive. And where does that leave the rest of us? Stagnating in a backwater, that's where.

Don Brown
Makakilo
Via the Internet

Merit pay would motivate instructors

I think that it is necessary to get going on teacher merit pay. I have been teaching for nine years in public and private schools. Through the years, I've come across a small number of teachers who are time-card punchers, yet they receive the same compensation (assuming same teaching experience and degree) as those who really work at developing techniques and curriculum, and who devote personal time to help kids learn.

Merit pay would act as an incentive to do a good job -- and to be compensated for the effort.

By rejecting merit pay, Michigan teachers only succeeded in verifying a public perception that teachers harbor a culture of mediocrity. Although this occurred some 4,000 miles away in Detroit, their actions also affected me in that they hurt the image of teachers everywhere.

William J. McFeeley III
Via the Internet

Close flea market on UH game days

Priorities seem to be backward at Aloha Stadium. We only have a handful of University of Hawaii football games at home and they always cause traffic gridlock. Yet we give priority to the flea market and allow it to function, while football fans wait for hours on the freeways and side streets to get into the parking lot.

Why don't we cancel the flea market on UH game days or, at the very least, reduce the hours so that football parking can proceed in a normal fashion?

The flea market may be a good income producer for the stadium, but parking lot events should not take priority over true stadium events -- like football games!

Greig Trowbridge
Via the Internet

Henry Peters should stop being a crybaby

Henry Peters' transparent protests about Probate Judge Colleen Hirai's decision to remove him and Richard "Dickie" Wong from Bishop Estate trusteeships smack of a dysfunctional child refusing to admit wrong.

Peters is outraged that these young, progressive judges -- free from political debts -- are making courageous and independent decisions that bode well for the citizens of this state and the Kamehameha family.

Peters said the smell of this investigation reaches all the way to Russia. What he is smelling is the rotting carcass of a sick and dying political system that appointed him and Wong in the first place.

Rod Ferreira
Kamehameha Class of 1957
Kamuela, Hawaii

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