Stender performed a great public service

I thought your Jan. 6 editorial on Oswald Stender was excellent and long overdue.

There has never been, and likely never will be, a whistle-blower who created such a needed change in the status quo. Willing to go it alone, and with virtually nothing personal to gain and much to lose, he worked to clean up the Bishop Estate mess.

To him, integrity and the good of the estate were not just words on a page, and he no longer enjoys the perks of a million-dollar-a-year position because of it.

If he wants it, there should be a place for him with the estate or the Kamehameha Schools, as no one has demonstrated more than he that he cares about the children's welfare and would do whatever is needed to protect them.

John Chong

Via the Internet

Turn off the TV to turn off violence

The National Organization of Parents of Murdered Children is once again asking the nation to join us in our annual "Big Turn Off"event by switching off the TV set tomorrow during prime-time evening hours.

We cannot sit by as our loved ones are murdered. We cannot sit in front of the TV or in front of violent videos and games, hoping that the violence will just go away. Where it's going is into our communities, schools and churches.

It's time that we all work together to stop the violence. What we do not permit to come into our homes in the form of violent entertainment is a good place to start.

Terri Scott
Hawaii Representative/Survivor
National Organization of Parents of Murdered Children Inc.
Hilo, Hawaii
Via the Internet

Brewer doesn't deserve its bad-guy image

Now that some time has passed since the acid spill at Brewer Environmental Industries, we should consider some important points about the event. Nobody was injured. No one's property, except for Brewer's, was damaged. Brewer took responsibility for the clean-up and paid for it.

All of the handwringing, posturing and complaints about a "toxic gas cloud" turned out to be so much grandstanding, and really served only to frighten people needlessly. Was it a trivial incident? Of course not. However, it is easy to forget some facts about life on an island.

Despite the tourist's image of Hawaii, we need chemicals and fertilizers for crop production, refineries for petroleum products, machine and metal shops, scrap yards and all the other things that aren't so glamorous but still play a vital role in our lives.

Campbell Industrial Park is a natural choice of location for such things -- relatively isolated and away from highly populated Honolulu. The park and its resident businesses were there long before all the houses were built at Kapolei; anyone who has bought one of the houses knew, or should have known, that the closest neighbor was an industrial park.

As business after business folds or cuts back on its operations, Brewer at least is trying to adapt to the changing conditions in the state, keeping its employees working and offering products that the people of Hawaii need. (I am a customer of Brewer, but nobody asked me to write this letter.)

Any regulatory response should be limited to addressing legitimate concerns. We need companies like Brewer. It shouldn't be driven out by overzealous bureaucracy or vindictive regulation.

L.R. Sollenberger
Waialua
Via the Internet

Quotables "He's a legend in the making, if not already. At 24, he's probably going to bigger than Elvis when he gets into his 40s." Ernie Els PGA GOLFER On Tiger Woods, after Els was defeated by the younger player in the Mercedes Championships on Maui "This is an historic moment in which new media has truly come of age." Steve Case CHAIRMAN AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF AMERICA ONLINE After the former Hawaii resident announced AOL is acquiring Time Warner, the world's largest media and entertainment company

Missing the comic strips of old days

After seeing your new comic strip "Betty" on Dec. 11, and the comic strip "ZITS" on Dec. 18, I'm convinced that the comics aren't for kids anymore. They are for adults only.

That's because the kids are on computers that their parents cannot operate, so that leaves only the comics for the parents to comprehend.

Sometime back, when a male and female character in the strip "For Better or Worse" were conversing (I think they were brother and sister, and the sister was preparing to go on a trip to a foreign country), he was philosophizing and said travel is good because it is broadening. She said yes, especially with a flexible broad.

I wonder what would happen if comic strips like Andy Gump, Maggie and Jiggs and The Katzenjammer Kids tried to come back. Also movies like The Keystone Cops, the Harold Lloyd films, Mae West and W.C. Fields, Charlie Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy, etc. -- all just plain fun, with no political or religious or risque messages.

Ted Chernin
Via the Internet

Pearl City High band rose to the occasion

Our thanks to the Pearl City High School Band for its stellar performance at the Tournament of Roses Parade. Selected as the escort to the parade's grand marshal, the group brought pride and aloha to the people of this state.

The musicians were crisp, sharp and looked fresh and lively. Their marching cadence showed their pride. Their hula dancers were full of heart to have braved that cold. And with smiles that beamed with aloha, they were wonderful.

Pearl City proved to be the best high school band in the country.

T. Bruce and Elaine Honda
Via the Internet

Airport should have smoking rooms

I just returned from a trip to the East Coast. As always, I was pleased that such a long flight was nonsmoking.

Unfortunately, I noticed that the first experience of Hawaii occurs from the gate to the baggage room -- a long line of smokers. Is this really the first impression Hawaii wants to give its visitors -- smoke- polluted air after breathing all that recirculated plane air for hours?

On another recent trip to Asia, I discovered that some airports actually have well-labeled and vented smoking rooms. Everyone is happy. The smoker gets all the smoke he/she wants without limit. Meanwhile, the nonsmoker never has to share the smoker's habit.

Sounds like a fair and equitable solution to me.

Bill Colburn
Via the Internet

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