Let's boycott goods made in China

Without money pouring in from the United States' free market, the communist government of China would shrivel up and blow away overnight. Nobody realizes this more than the Chinese government.

If the Chinese government continues to hold our American service personnel hostage, Hawaii shoppers should join in and boycott everything Chinese from airline tickets to soccer balls. Send the Chinese a message. Next time you pick up something in a store check to see where it was made. If it's made in China, let it stay on the shelf. Support another slave labor country that isn't holding American hostages.

John H. Mayer
Hawaii Kai

We'll pay more for unpleasant bus rides

Thank you, City Councilman Duke Bainum. He says the new bus fares are not exorbitant and that they are necessary to ensure quality bus service. "To get an excellent system we have to pay for it," he says.

Have you ridden on the bus lately? Try it, Duke, and see the aloha spirit lacking in some of the bus drivers and passengers. Elderly citizens are unable to get a seat due to the young people occupying them. Notice the bus drivers treatment of the riders. One of my friends was almost run down in a crosswalk by a bus. And you say that this is an excellent system?

In fact, I challenge all Council members to ride the bus into town and home everyday. Don't you have the courage or fortitude? Try facing what we face.

Alfred Akana

[Quotables] "This was the most horrible experience of my entire life and the happiest day of my life." Lisa Splittstoesser, On being reunited with her husband, scuba fisherman Michael Splittstoesser, who spent 28 hours in the ocean after his boat slipped anchor. He swam ashore Sunday afternoon at Mokuleia Beach Park. "You can sleep on the walls. Sometimes I slept on the ceiling or floor." Ed Lu, NASA astronaut who studied astronomy at the University of Hawaii, describing his sleeping habits aboard the International Space Station to high school students at the State Science and Engineering Fair

Good reasons not to support fish imports

Why would any American citizen support the importing of foreign fish, when considering the following facts?

>> Imported fish caught by foreign longliners fish the same international waters of the Pacific as Hawaii longerliners. Or possibly, the fish would be caught by foreign gillnets or driftnets.

>> Some countries are known to use preservatives on low-grade fish, preservatives such as carbon monoxide (a poisonous gas) to obtain a very red color in the meat.

>> Some foreign countries also target turtles and or turtle eggs, therefore causing more turtle mortalities, while our fishermen's turtle interactions are rare.

>> Hawaii consumes three times as much fresh fish as any other state in our country.

Even though we sit in the middle of the Pacific, Hawaii represents less than 3 percent of the longline fishing in the Pacific, none of which is done in Hawaiian waters.

As for "keeping our fishing waters viable," Americans should support U.S. efforts to apply international conservation. Some progress has already been made. At the same time. Americans should support their own hook-and-line fishermen. Hawaii's longline fishery is sustainable and selective, and we deliver a high-quality product.

Sue Myking
Kailua

They take SATs seriously in S. Korea

In Korea, planes are forbidden to land or take off while the listening comprehension part of the standardized (college) admission test (SAT) is being given. There's a list of official SAT tutors. Professors and teachers who make up the test are sequestered for a month.

The SAT is given only once a year in the Republic of South Korea, which boasts the highest scores in science subjects of any country in the world. The only high school students who can take the test are those members of the senior class who are in good standing. Teachers and school administrators stand at the curb with cell phones, working the class list. Parents, while serving ginseng and jujube tea, pray. Junior classmates, with weird costumes and bright food dye in their hair, either sing and raise cheers, or play kazoos and dance. Late students arrive in taxis just before the opening bell: they're given an escort by motorcycle police.

An Iolani English teacher, Charles Proctor, says he has 680 enrolled in his test coaching class. The hoopla connected with the test would make an excellent magnet for tourism. Proctor should be hired by the Hawaii Visitors Bureau.

Richard Thompson

Power line needed for reliable system

I congratulate the Star Bulletin for supporting the Waahila project. Too many in the media are straddling the fence. Obviously, your management chose the sensible choice for the good of the greater community.

The critics keep harping on the visual aspects of the poles. Other experts tout futuristic alternate energy sources: wind power, solar, fuel cells, wave action, etc. They forget the main purpose of the line: to redistribute power from the Kahe Point plant with existing generating equipment. No new plant will be required.

Undergrounding the line on the hillside will be too expensive and impractical. The damage to the environment with the excavation of trenches and the scarring of trees and vegetation can never be restored. A single self-supporting pole, no guy wires, makes a neat, clean installation. Beauty, after all, is in the eyes of the beholder.

And for those concerned about the size of the poles: They have to be tall to clear the vegetation, and they must carry both the 138 kV and the 46 kV systems and require critical separation spacing for operation, repair and maintenance. For those still not convinced: An outage at Pukele station would inconvenience about 200,000 residents, plus tourists, in East Honolulu.

Leonard Chun

Third party says state has money for hikes

Any teacher who believes that the state has no money to pay for raises would not be seriously supporting the union in the effort to get pay closer to the average pay on the mainland. We have heard from several people who believe the state cannot afford the raises and that the teachers are ogres for pursuing the matter.

An disinterested panel of people who studied the situation in detail confirmed that the state does have money to fund pay raises for public employees, handle the Felix Consent Decree, and keep essential services going. In addition, a surplus is expected in the budget in a few years.

As far as raising test scores, we are working hard to do that. Watching video and television is passive. Learning is an active process. I believe that because my students come home and watch TV for the entire afternoon and evening, they are having a difficult time taking the initiative to learn to read and write better. I teach in elementary school, special education. Of course it is our responsibility to remedy that, and it is our top priority.

Nandarani Evans

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