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Medal of Honor coverage was appreciated I visited your Web site to read about the Medal of Honor presentation on Wednesday. Thanks for sharing your coverage of this event and for your tribute to these great American heroes. Walter N. Chitwood Annapolis, Md. Congratulations to long overdue medal winners I honor, along with many others, all of the recipients of the Medal of Honor. Dexter Olivas Kalaheo, Kauai iIt's about time that these heroes were so honored. Cas Szafranski Scottsdale, Ariz.

Lack of religion in schools has hurt society

The recent decision by the U.S. Supreme Court not to allow prayers at football games, etc., will further push our society, including education, to lower and poorer levels.

Previous to 1962, America had one of the finest education systems and moral climates in the world. In 1962, prayer in the public school classroom was declared illegal by the Supreme Court after nearly 200 years of being allowed. In 1963, reading the Bible in a public school classroom was declared unconstitutional.

Other similar rulings after those two decisions have made the public school classroom devoid of references to God or the Bible.

Since 1962-63, all major indicators concerned with youth and education (like SAT scores, unmarried births, illiteracy rates, illegal drug use, etc.), began a sharp trend downward.

Today's immorality and poor statistics in education come directly from that decision to eliminate God from our education picture. Parents, don't handicap your child by withholding the most important things from them: regular church attendance, daily Bible reading, salvation through Jesus Christ and lots of prayer.

Willis and Jennifer Maeda

Regents should be fired for astronomy decisions

Mauna Kea has been a piko or spiritual place for my ancestors for more than 1,700 years and not a single member of the University of Hawaii Board of Regents, except Nainoa Thompson, has the slightest care about it.

The only master plan the board should be accepting is that of the opening of the piko for Hawaiians to practice their culture. Building anything in sacred places is a direct affront to my ancestors, my people and myself.

With the acceptance of the new master plan by the regents, desecration has a new definition. It no longer means to destroy; its new meaning is to build with the full knowledge of ancestral remains in the approximate vicinity.

The current regents should be removed from their seats as leaders of such a large institution. Who leases the land on Mauna Kea for a buck a year? And who has the nerve to fathom the thought of raising tuition?

Adrian K. Kamalii
President
Ilioulaokalani Youth Coalition

Non-Hawaiians own Mauna Kea, too

Although I haven't a single drop of kanaka maoli blood, I do have a personal attachment to Mauna Kea.

I've hiked to the top; felt my heart pounding against my chest in the thin air; held the rock chips at the cave of the adzes; felt the sun, sleet and then snow at the summit; run from Hilo over the Saddle Road; and swum in the waters at the base. Years ago, I flew a jet fighter low over the summit.

As a tax-paying citizen of Hawaii for 44 years, I also have as much -- no more and no less --right, title and interest in Mauna Kea and other public lands in Hawaii than any other citizen, including those of Hawaiian ancestry.

Mauna Kea is one of the best sites on Earth for observing the universe. The telescopes there help all mankind. They attract world-class scholars to Hawaii. They help our economy. This is the kind of nonpolluting high-tech educational industry we need.

The telescope campus can and should be expanded. Reach for the stars.

H. William Burgess

Don't forget to oust anti-Bronster senators

When Margery Bronster was asked by the governor to investigate the Bishop Estate trustees back in 1997, she began an intensive "digging" operation. As she dug, she turned over rocks that had been in place for years.

The material that crawled out from under those rocks indicated the immense involvement of trustees with individual lawmakers, including extra salaries, payoffs, lobbying and criminal activities.

In doing her job, Bronster incurred the wrath of those involved. So when she came up for reconfirmation, she was not reappointed. Although that was more than a year ago, the people haven't forgotten.

How dumb do these senators think we are? I've kept the list of those who refused to confirm Bronster in my billfold, so I know their names when it's time to vote: Whitney Anderson, Jan Buen, Jonathan Chun, Carol Fukunaga, Colleen Hanabusa, David Ige, Marshall Ige, Brian Kanno, Cal Kawamoto, David Matsuura, Norman Mizuguchi, Bob Nakata, Rod Tam and Joe Tanaka.

We can put a stop to the double-dealing and clean house. Let's go to the polls and do it!

Elsie D. Hollingsworth
Pearl City

Quotables "I might lose a couple of fingers off my left hand, and for a guitar player that's actually more depressing (than losing a foot)." Wili Moku FORMER HAWAII RADIO PERSONALITY Who lost his right foot to diabetes and is recovering in a care facility in California "Wow, no! I hadn't heard that. It's day and night difference between them and the imported lobsters." Elmer Guzman EXECUTIVE CHEF AT SAM CHOY'S DIAMOND HEAD RESTAURANT Expressing surprise at the news of a federal ban on Hawaiian lobsters this season out of concern for their dwindling population or, as environmentalists claim, because Hawaiian monk seals are starving from lack of a food source

Double standard exists about gays

I'm a little confused. I was happy to see recent news stories about Hawaii joining the fight against banning gays from the Boy Scouts, and especially appreciated the comments of Girard Lau of the state Attorney General's Office. He said the bottom line of this issue is trying "to eradicate discrimination whenever possible."

By filing a friend-of-the-court brief in the New Jersey case, Hawaii is helping to take a stand for social justice. However, here's where I get confused: This is the same state that allowed its Legislature to ban same-sex marriages.

Does it make sense to say that homosexuals can be Boy Scout leaders but they cannot share the same rights and responsibilities as heterosexual people? I just don't get it.

Alika Campbell
Kailua

Court was right to find against Boy Scouts

The New Jersey Supreme Court found that the Boy Scouts are not a private organization for good reason. They often use public facilities -- parks, playgrounds, schools, etc. -- for free or at substantially reduced rental rates.

This means the Boy Scouts are being funded by taxpayers. As such, the organization is a public institution and subject to nondiscrimination laws.

If the Boy Scouts wish to invoke their "right of association" and want to continue their discriminatory attitudes against gay American citizens, they should stop using taxpayer-supported facilities to practice their unconstitutional discrimination.

If they want taxpayer support, they need to stop discriminating against citizens who are otherwise fully qualified to be members.

Ken Scott

Mayor Harris is quick to claim credit

There is a playground in Kalihi right next to powerful Hawaiian Electric Co. generators, and Mayor Harris expects parents to let their children play on this equipment that cost us a lot of money -- to put up in the wrong place.

Therefore, not only are we out of the tax dollars, but the kids in Kalihi have nowhere to play.

I hope that Harris proposes to handle this faux pas as fast as he appears on TV to say how good everything really is during his administration.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor, from a taxpayer and registered voter.

Lise McGrew

How will development save Hanauma Bay?

The city's plan to "Save Hanauma Bay" falls way short of any proven justification for such a development. Its own Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) reports: "The composition of the coral community...is primarily a result of natural processes and not a result of human impact" (section 4, page 29). Park manager Alan Hong recently stated that "one good rain will do more harm to the bay than a year of human use."

So what is being "saved?" How can a large office building, gift shop and snack bar built on the upper rim of a conservation area and nature preserve "save" the bay? They can't and won't.

There is simply no justification or proven need for this construction. Education of bay users could be a good thing but a large "education center" that has very little to do with education is a sham. It is nothing more than a cash cow tourist attraction for the city.

Spending millions of dollars destroying beautiful open park space and view planes in the name of "education" is no way to set an example for our keiki, ourselves or our visitors about how we care for our aina.

Stopping this project for further review is essential. To do less would be irresponsible.

Diane D. Ackerson

Hanauma Bay building should be moved

I am pleased that there are plans to protect Hanauma Bay. However, a building with offices, etc., at the top edge of the crater will forever destroy its feeling of wilderness and the bay concept. This will be true both for those who just want to enjoy the rim edge view from the top, or for those down at the beach and in the water looking up.

Planners should keep the rim unobscured by moving all proposed buildings far back against the slope behind the old restrooms. Please keep Hanauma a world-class wilderness site and don't disappoint our locals and visitors, who return time and again.

Maria Tseu

Why haven't Hawaii gas prices gone up?

I have been watching the gasoline situation with some interest, and not just in Hawaii. Gasoline prices are starting to average $2.50 per gallon on the mainland, when they used to run about $1.20-1.50.

Now, if mainland gas prices have to go up due to an increase in costs, why haven't the prices in Hawaii gone up, too? I am not for higher gas prices, but why aren't our increases comparable to the mainland at this time? Strange, isn't it?

Daniel Munn

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