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Number of nuclear subs should be limited

On Aug. 12, 2000, the Russian submarine Kursk sank in the Barents Sea with 118 crew members on board.

On Feb. 9, the U.S. submarine Greeneville hit and sank a Japanese high school training ship, the Ehime Maru. Now nine students, teachers and crew members are missing off the coast of Oahu.

Japanese people are very angry and grieve deeply for the missing students. All the relatives and friends still believe the nine are waiting for rescue somewhere.

There was no need for the Greeneville to make a blind emergency surfacing drill just to delight local taxpayers. To reward such great sacrifice in these submarine incidents, there should be just one answer: Abolish all the unreliable nuclear submarines throughout the world.

Both the U.S. and former U.S.S.R. once made flight patrols to the North Pole using strategic bombers. In order to avoid the accidental occurrence of a nuclear war, both countries abandoned such flights. This was a good resolution.

Today it is quite clear that the Russian submarine fleet is obsolete. And it appears that the software of the Greeneville was out of order, and the captain and crew were playing like kids.

It is a good time to decommission the burdensome and old-fashioned nuclear submarines of both sides. We hope both the United States and Russia will start negotiations on a nuclear submarine limit treaty immediately.

Fukashi Moriya
Chiba Prefecture Japan

Gridder's isle heritage not secret anymore

Thank you for Pat Bigold's Feb. 3 profile about me when I was on Oahu for the Pro Bowl. Not a lot of people in Hawaii realize that my roots are tied to the islands. Thank you for a good article.

Kevin Mawae
Lineman, New York Jets

Gill can withstand attacks on credibility

Accusing someone of political motivation has become standard whenever the facts do not sustain one's position on an issue (Star-Bulletin, Jan. 30). I realize the Natatorium restoration has opposition, but are its opponents so lacking any coherent argument that they are reduced to attacking Gary Gill?

If there is anyone I've known over the past 30 years for whom the words integrity and public service are synonymous, it is Gill. He is committed to the environment, and the establishment and implementation of the highest standards of environmental protection.

Gill has never hesitated, either as an elected official or appointed guardian of the environment, to take action regardless of political convenience. I believe his integrity was the principal reason he was selected by Ben Cayetano to oversee the environment in the governor's first administration.

The Kaimana Beach Coalition has every right to offer suggestions for the improvement of proposed rules for the Natatorium pool. Gill will give them full consideration and a straight answer. That's more than can be said for those who attack his personal integrity and commitment to environmental health.

Neil Abercrombie
Member of Congress

Quotables "It doesn't make any sense to only be good in sports and not in school. No one can take the education away from you." Ben Villaflor FORMER WORLD LIGHTWEIGHT BOXING CHAMPION On advice he gave to son, Benji, a standout soccer player for Aiea High School "I would like to believe that Toshiya is still alive, treading water someplace in the Pacific off Hawaii." Fumihisa Ueda UWAJIMA CITY ASSEMBLYMAN On the fading optimism that Toshiya Sakashima, one of nine still missing from the sinking of the Ehime Maru, will be found after the fishing/ training boat was struck by a U.S.nuclear submarine

Students are worried about teacher pay, too

As a student at a local high school, I am worried. With the public school teachers ready to strike at a moment's notice, education is endangered. Although many of my classmates would welcome the strike, in hopes that they might get a few days off, I feel that they don't totally understand what is happening.

Hawaii's teachers are among the nation's most underpaid. Many good ones move to the mainland because they are offered much higher pay elsewhere.

Every day when we come to class, one of our teachers spends at least 10 minutes talking about the strike. She tells us that they are underpaid and not respected. I think she is right.

Teachers are the building blocks of our society. Highly qualified professionals spend six hours a day, 260 days a year, teaching the youth of this state.

If the governor would look back at his own education and how it helped him to get to where he is now, I think he would side with the teachers. Although my own education could be at risk, I support the teachers in their cause.

Isaac Koki
Mililani

Pay hikes will confirm education's importance

As a parent of two elementary- age children and guardian of an intermediate school student, I heartily support the public school teachers in their fight for a pay raise. They have the most important job in Hawaii -- supporting our future by educating our youth.

If we as parents want quality schooling for our children, we need to support the teachers. After all, you get what you pay for. And I, for one, am willing to pay for quality educators.

Chris Bayot
Pearl City

'Baywatch' deserved its watery grave

Thank God "Baywatch Hawaii" is finally dead. That TV show was living proof that meat on the hoof plus cool Gen-X dialog don't add up to entertainment.

Compare the impact of "Baywatch," which has never been anything but so much background noise, to that of "Hawaii 5-0," which will never die. The difference is in the excellence of the latter's story material.

In fact, now that the air is starting to clear and we can think again, "Hawaii 5-0 Revisited" might not be a bad idea. We still have all the problems that Jack Lord was dealing with.

We still have a massive drug problem, violent citizens, loyal and competent cops, a variety of drifters and scam artists, and local professionals who understand pidgin but refuse to speak it.

Of course, the problem with real stories is always finding real writers. Could we draft Lois-Ann Yamanaka into writing a TV series about some of the people who actually live here? If it sells, it sells. If it doesn't, at least we won't mind looking at the thing.

Mike K. Pettingill
Kailua

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