Talent makes Berry a good role model

When letter writer Gerald Bohnet takes issue with Halle Berry as a "role model" for women of color, I think he is confusing the role she played in "Monster's Ball" with her excellent job as an actress ("Best Actress lowers standards for women," Star-Bulletin, March 29).

Berry won the Oscar for her acting. Actually, the role she played wasn't so bad, either. The movie is about two damaged people in deep emotional pain. They move from sex as self-centered anesthetic to genuinely gifting each other with care and pleasure. This hardly qualifies as an insult to the "virtues of womanhood" as Bohnet claims. Maybe he should see the movie instead of just reading about it on a Web site.

Mary Pickett

Right of return issue feeds Mideast fighting

In his column on the suicide bombers ("Palestinians establish rule by suicide bomber," Star-Bulletin, April 1), Thomas L. Friedman says Yasser Arafat walked away from the peace plan that President Clinton offered to the Palestinians.

What the Israelis offered the Palestinians was 80 percent of Gaza and the West Bank, with no "right of return" for the Palestinians in the other countries of the Middle East and beyond.

If Arafat, or any other leader, signed a peace treaty without the right to return, he would be hanged, as any other leader who will succeed him. Friedman, Clinton, President Bush, and anyone else who has followed this peace process knows this.

The Palestinians have a lot of suicide bombers waiting in the wings. These kids are brainwashed and expendable, so this war can go on for a long time. There isn't an easy solution to this problem, because Israel won't give in on the right of return, and neither will the Palestinians. They're both cut from the same cloth.

Fred Cavaiuolo
Waikiki

Rabies risk must be scientifically assessed

It is important to correct errors in the letter to the editor by Pam Burns of the Hawaiian Humane Society (Star-Bulletin, Feb. 28). As a participant in the development and review of the Department of Agriculture's 1996 rabies risk assessment, I can state with certainty that the study did not conclude that "the 30-day confinement is unnecessary" as asserted by Burns.

The 1996 assessment was used to determine if the 120-day confinement period could be reduced to 30 days. To determine the merits of additional quarantine changes, those changes must to be compared to the current 30-day quarantine program using similar risk assessment techniques. An unbiased, properly executed risk assessment is the only valid method for deciding about quarantine options that further reduce the animal confinement period.

The Agriculture Department continues to look into scientifically sound ways to reduce the length of quarantine without increasing the risk of rabies introduction.

James Foppoli
Hawaii state veterinarian

Van cams cost more money than we think

Your news article relates that our state has lost more than $80,000 from the van cam program ("Van cams running deficit of $80,231," March 21). What is not factored in is all the productive time lost by our citizens who have chosen to challenge this law.

Suppose about 4,000 of our citizens went to court to challenge their tickets and spent an average of four hours of their time off of work. If they were paid a wage of $15 per hour, then about $240,000 of wages were lost. How much did our state's businesses lose letting these people off work? How much in taxes was lost?

Before our legislators create laws to solve "problems" like speeding they should first make sure that our state has a problem. I have done some research on the number of fatal accidents and Hawaii has the second-lowest death rate of all 50 states, at eight deaths per 100,000 people.

Since our rate is so low, we should review what we are doing right before we institute laws aimed at revenue generation.

Curtis Takano
Mililani

Choosing death should be OK in free society

I had to write after reading David Matsuura's opinion of Gov. Ben Cayatano's death-with-dignity bill. Matsuura, chairman of the Senate Health Committee, had said, "This dumb bill wasn't even on our radar screen. I haven't even looked at the measure or studied this measure yet. I can't figure out what assisted suicide is."

Matsuura later apologized for calling it a "dumb bill." As for the term "assisted suicide," it seems simple enough to me. It's like "blue sky" ... the sky is blue ... get it?

While Matsuura is entitled to his opinion of the concept of assisted suicide (or his interpretation of it), I resent that he does not respect the opinions of Hawaii residents, as he should as an elected official. By stating that he would not hold a hearing on the bill, Matsuura was imposing his own beliefs on others.

Roland Halpern, whose church is a member of the Death with Dignity Hawaii coalition, hit the nail on the head by stating that "this is really a matter of free choice" ("Death bill strikes nerve with state senator," March 20). Matsuura was eliminating choice, which is a basic concept in a free society.

All opinions should have the right to be heard in the United States. Especially this issue which, for some, involves the awful choice between living with intense pain or being able to end that suffering and conclude one's life as one chooses.

Ken Wong

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