Don't play Aloha Bowl on Christmas day

The Aloha Bowl should be played one week before Christmas, not on Christmas day.

Christmas is for the family, and in Hawaii we have many dedicated family fans who want to be with the family on Christmas day rather than at the game. If the Aloha Bowl is moved to the mainland, I will bet a month's pay that the attendance will not improve because of Christmas.

Jimbo Miura
Mililani

Klompus duo made bowl game a winner

No college bowl game in Hawaii? Sad enough to see the Oahu Bowl leave, but the Aloha Bowl leaving the islands is more than sad.

I do not know Fritz Rohlfing. I do know Lenny and Marcia Klompus. I worked with them for seven years. I saw them bring the Aloha Bowl to prominence. Their creativity and energy made the Aloha Bowl, and then the Oahu Bowl, an absolute success.

The Klompuses are gone, and there aren't many like them. Somebody can make the games, or at least one game, successful. Since Rohlfing owns them, I hope he is the man. If he isn't, I hope he will sell them to someone who will make them work.

Tom del Amo
Boulder, Colo.

Student's defenders didn't get the message

I've been reading the letters in response to your Scratchpad item about the "Dear Governer" letter.

I'm amazed and disappointed by these bleeding hearts. Most of them are more a part of the problem than they would like to admit. They defend the student by saying how he "showed the courage" to express the way he feels; or, "don't belittle" him for trying. Whoopie do.

Do any of them think he, or she, would have gotten a passing grade if that had been a writing assignment? Instead of encouraging the student to learn, they attack you for your comments.

How's this for showing courage? The student, whomever he or she is, shows your comments to the English teacher and says, "Look at the critique of my letter! I wasn't taught properly! Teach me the correct way to compose a letter!" This would put the problem in the best place for a solution -- with the teacher and the student.

Stop shooting the messenger, people. You can make all the excuses that you want, but that student, and many like him, have to go out into the real world. In this case, the student obviously will be unprepared to compete.

Jim Fromm

Mansho works hard for constituents

Honolulu City Council members were delighted to see Rene Mansho capture the attention of the media. News organizations put aside the collective misdeeds of her colleagues for the moment, so the Council joined in to punish Mansho and show the public that it will not tolerate rule violations by members.

But I wish the Council actions against Mansho could be tossed out! She has done a ton of good in her district. She was guided by her overpowering desire to serve her constituents. Whatever she did, she worked for the best interests of her community.

In fact, she may have tried to do too much. She established college scholarships for teens, worked on senior citizen programs and upgraded facilities in the district, etc. Nothing was done for personal gain.

Her constituents appreciated her work; no one ran against her in a couple of elections.

Unfortunately, she is not eligible to remain in her seat for another term. We will have great difficulty finding a replacement as qualified and as willing to serve.

A. Kakazu
Mililani

Will real Democratic Party please stand up?

I would like the Democratic Party of Hawaii to explain to those of us who voted for its gubernatorial candidate, how in the world did we end up with a governor who:

1. Tells taxpayers that taxes must be increased only when pay hikes for public instructors and workers are being considered. This tax hike threat is never made for any other state expenditure, not even for extravagant, unnecessary facelifts such as Diamond Head or complete makeovers such as the Ala Wai Golf Course.

2. Hurts students by raising tuition based on the bottom-line idea that the university must pay for itself rather than the traditional democratic belief that education is so crucial to a society that it must be supported at all costs.

3. Has hurt the public schools and the University of Hawaii by severely restricting funds and delaying collective bargaining.

4. Refuses to consider exchanging the workers' right to strike for compulsory arbitration, a boon for everyone.

I hope that the Democratic Party of Hawaii will guarantee that its next gubernatorial candidate is the real thing: a stubborn donkey that walks the party talk, not a flighty chameleon with an attitude.

Richard Y. Will

Heen served party well and was sacrificed

The page one March 26 story, "Top Democrat may quit," is a telling example of how no good deed goes unpunished.

While the majority of the "Broken Trust" five took Republican or non-partisan alliances (with the exception of Monsignor Charles Kekumano), Judge Walter Heen took on the daunting assignment of state party chairman for the Democrats.

Much has been made of recent Republican advances, but what some fail to see is that Chairman Heen may have provided a "firewall" for a Democratic disaster. If it were not for the moral suasion and the prestige of this lone man, the majority party could well be the minority today in Hawaii.

Isn't it ironic then, that he will be replaced by an attorney, Lorraine Akiba, who is a partner at McCorriston Miller Mukai and MacKinnon? This is the very law firm that strenuously defended the embattled trustees.

From this not-so-often-yellow-dog Democrat, hats off to Chairman and Mrs. Heen. Mahalo for your service and sacrifice.

Arvid T. Youngquist

Bussing Makakilo kids causes ill will

Now that my children will be bussed out of our district -- from Makakilo Heights to Barbers Point -- all the elected officials who represent my district, from school board member to governor, should beware. My vote counts.

My children have been shifted, even after these officials were urged to help. Now their future elections are in jeopardy because I will do all in my power to turn votes against them.

I urge all the people affected by this decision to please vote against these officials. We may suffer now, but who will suffer later?

Shane Kincaid
Makakilo

[ QUOTABLES ] "With intermarriage and the mixing of the races, we really are a stew." Andy Levin, Hawaii County executive director, responding to the news that an analysis of the 2000 census data shows that Hawaii County is the most multicultural county in the nation. "She's not God." Linda Dela Cruz, Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustee, saying the OHA board does not have to comply with the recommendations in an audit of the organization conducted by state auditor Marion Higa.

[ TEACHER STRIKE ]

Raise teachers' pay when test scores go up

Year after year statistics tell us that Hawaii public school students consistently score among the lowest in the nation on scholastic aptitude tests.

The teachers' union feels teachers should be rewarded for this embarrassing performance. They want their salaries increased 22 percent. In the business world, an employee gets a raise based on merit.

Let's do the same for teachers. If they can increase students' scholastic scores by 10 percent, let's raise their salaries by 10 percent. So if they want a 22 percent increase then let's give it to them -- after they improve the scores by 22 percent.

William E. Buck

Strikes will damage state's economy

Many are aware of the short-term economic costs of a strike by the HSTA and the UHPA, but do we realize what the long-term economic costs are? We will be making a statement that Hawaii does not value education, and all future teachers will have second thoughts about entering the profession.

Instead of becoming the quality teachers the state desperately needs, students may decide to pursue law, medicine, or maybe even politics.

Hawaii will have to spend more money than the teachers are asking for now to lure unknowing mainland teachers to come and teach in Hawaii.

Uneducated Hawaii residents won't be able to develop new technology to boost our economy, or even analyze the state's financial situation. Private schools only have the capacity to educate a small percentage of Hawaii's residents, and this will create a greater income gap between the educated and uneducated.

We all learned in history class what happens when the middle class shrinks, the rich become richer and the poor become poorer.

I have to credit my teachers for teaching me in the courses that gave me the knowledge to write this letter.

Yoon Jee Kim

State can find money when it wants to

What boggles the mind is that at a time when "the state cannot afford" pay raises for the teachers, that a new University of Hawaii president can be brought on board for, allegedly, in excess of $400,000; and that Coach June Jones was, until this time, the highest paid member of the faculty at what portends to be an academic institution. This must be the "new math."

C. K. Lowe

April Fool's Day may come late this year

April Fool's day in Hawaii could on April 5 this year. That's the day when our state's long-victimized teachers and professors may go on strike.

Why? Our public schools are 50th in the nation in funding and the university is 35th. Faculty members are underpaid and under supplied. The real victims in all this are students.

The tax hell myth was used to propose a 40 percent income tax cut in 1998, reduced to 10 percent by legislators. Now, the governor wants another 10 percent cut while spending many millions on unneeded projects. Foolish.

Jerome Manis

Our schools must take priority

Our state has one of the worst primary and secondary public school systems in the country, and now the same crowd that brought us the DOE (Dumb On Exit) is trying to finish the job of dragging our university down to the Department of Education level.

That's actually not such a bad idea for the people who can comfortably afford to educate their children in private schools. It means that their children will have less competition for the good jobs when they graduate.

For the parents who aren't that well off, though, it is a huge financial sacrifice. For the parents who want a good education for their children but just can't afford private schools, it is a disaster. And for the future of Hawaii, it is a criminal and stupid waste of our most valuable resource.

Schools have to take priority over aquariums, and paying our teachers and professors a competitive salary is a necessary part of providing good schools for our children.

Stanley Starosta
Professor of Linguistics
University of Hawaii-Manoa

70-hour work weeks and it's not enough?

Like my colleagues at the University of Hawaii, I am tired of being treated with disrespect at the hands of the governor. Tired of being talked about as though we faculty were lazy elitists. This is not the truth. Although I just won a national award as Hawaii's best professor, I am not unusual.

I work from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day of the week, but take Saturdays off. Sundays I'm back in the office, preparing my lectures and getting ready for another week. I do a lot of maintenance on the facilities I have to supervise, yet get paid less than the bus driver who drives down my street.

I work nearly 70 hours a week, but our governor says that's not enough.

Our job descriptions say we're to teach, do research and service. While teaching is the public face of what we do, it requires a great deal of work behind the scenes. An hour of teaching requires three hours of preparation and an hour of office time in consultation with students. That's 45 hours a week for what is supposed to be one-third of our jobs.

To earn a Ph.D. takes 10-plus years and costs more than $100,000 -- yet our salaries start at around $36,000 (among the lowest in the nation). Many of us have old cars we can't afford to replace and clothes from thrift shops. We've not had a raise in years, not even a cost of living raise. We have to pay the rent -- is that too much to ask?

Since I won the Hawaii Professor of the Year Carnegie award, I've gotten job offers at double my current salary. So far I've decided to stay because I love my students. But do you wonder why our "best and brightest""leave, when we can't support our families here and are treated so poorly?

Linda B. Arthur,
Associate Professor
University of Hawaii

Faculty strike could ruin the university

It is obvious that Governor Cayetano does not care about higher education in Hawaii. A faculty strike will likely end in a decimated and demoralized University of Hawaii.

But that's alright! Students desiring quality higher education will simply have to attend mainland schools. After all, Cayetano did!

The UH Rainbows/Warriors have been pathetic in most sports, anyway, so who will miss them? The buildings for the UH system could be put to better use housing prisoners. We could bring back our local prisoners! Young people who would have attended UH can find jobs as prison guards. After all, who cares? Do you?

Robert S. Gove
Hilo, Hawaii

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