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It's no loss if union members strike

Every time state government seems to be digging its way out of a financial mess, the unions step in to grab those extra funds, thinking those funds belong to them.

Let them strike. No one will know they're gone, and taxpayers will save millions of dollars.

Donald Allen

New Miss America does Hawaii proud

Hawaii's Angela Perez Baraquio is the first individual of Asian ancestry to be crowned Miss America. We are all elated and proud of her, knowing that she is beautiful on the outside as well as inside, and she will represent the role of Miss America 2001 true to its ideal. In addition, she brought tremendous favorable publicity to Hawaii. Congratulations to Angela Baraquio.

How Tim Chang

Let's limit the gushing over pageant winner

I am really happy for our new Miss America, Angela Baraquio. I mean, really, really, happy! That being said, I am girding myself for what is going to be at least a year's worth of media gushing and pap over the comely Miss Baraquio.

I know it's going to be pervasive and incessant. While, it's great to have a local girl win a national beauty title, some perspective, please: We are a world-famous, cosmopolitan presence. An international community of more than a million. Why must we always act so provincial?

Clyde Hudson
Waianae

Quotables "A civilization that loses its stories loses its soul." Garrett Kam DANCER, FULBRIGHT SCHOLAR AND AUTHOR OF "RAMAYANA IN THE ARTS OF ASIA" Who will perform dances from the royal town of Yogyakarta and talk about Javanese dance at the University of Hawaii's Earle Ernst Lab Theatre "Surprise, surprise." Bette Tatum STATE DIRECTOR OF THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF INDEPENDENT BUSINESS On a national survey by the Corporation for Enterprise Development in Washington, D.C., that gave Hawaii a "D" in economic performance, "D" in developmental capacity and "F" in business vitality. The state also lagged in long-term employment growth, layoffs and home ownership, and was last in teacher salaries.

Police are held to a higher standard

In a TV news interview regarding the two-car crash involving Clyde S. Arakawa and Dana Ambrose, who died, Police Chief Lee Donohue said that the department is a "microcosm of society."

Sorry, Chief, but to become a member of society all that is required is a birthday. However, to become a member of the Honolulu Police Department, you must be mentally, physically and psychologically screened and tested. To fall back on the old "we're no different from everybody else" is to denigrate the performance of officers who perform in an exemplary manner.

How many members of the general public are allowed to defer taking the breath test for six hours, especially when a fatality is involved? And then to report that the officer's blood alcohol level was within the "permissible limit" is to think the public is senile.

Melvin T. Minakami
Kaneohe

Officer didn't receive special treatment

By extending certain courtesies to Honolulu police officer Clyde S. Arakawa, the Honolulu Police Department did nothing that affected or changed the repercussions of Arakawa's act. He will suffer the consequences.

The officers at the scene of the accident didn't try to hinder or cover up the crime. By calling a legal representative for Arakawa, they did nothing any one of us wouldn't do for an acquaintance.

His refusal to take the sobriety test is a right shared by all of us. This was not special treatment; anyone involved in a vehicle accident can refuse to take a test.

The main thing is, if Arakawa is judged negligent, he will be punished.

Chucky Santiago
Wahiawa

Sale of Dali fakes could restart art scam

Last Sunday we attended the Salvador Dali "show" at Sunset Grill. The fake lithographs were being sold with this tiny "disclosure" on them: "Counterfeit/Unauthorized/Fake; Not a Salvador Dali work; Sale of this work as an original Dali prohibited by law. Buyer acknowledges that artwork is not an original Dali work."

The problem is that this disclosure stamp measures only two inches by 1.25 inches. On a sheet that is 24 inches by 35 inches, that little stamp is lost.

More important, the sellers had some of the prints matted and framed, with NO disclosure stamps on the back. If the purchaser has a print matted/backed and framed, then logs onto, for example, eBay, the high bidder will never know the artwork is a fake.

Why didn't the government destroy all these prints? In addition, don't people understand that it costs only $3 to $5 to run off an edition of these fakes, not the current asking price of $390 to $440 (unframed)?

Walt Flood

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