Put a ban on breeding gamecocks, too

In your May 15 article on raising game birds,breeder Paul Romias says the "characterization of game breeding and cockfighting by the Humane Society is harsh ..."

To him I want to say: The terrible noise that roosters make all day is so bad that in such areas where it occurs, property values drop and good people move out! It is a scandal that in Hawaii, even in residential areas, two roosters per residence are allowed.

These birds do not behave like normal roosters. They have all been bred for aggression, and where a normal rooster crows a few times once in a great while, these birds crow aggressively hundreds of times a day and often in the middle of night. You can hear them even half a mile away.

The cruel sport itself, putting the roosters up against each other and enjoying the agony of animals, is brutalizing people's minds. And the illegal gambling that goes hand in hand with it attracts the criminal element. Besides cockfighting, which is already outlawed, this whole breeding-thing also should be outlawed. This is giving multicultural society a bad name!

Volker Hildebrandt
Kaneohe

Catch zip-lane perps; leave beltless alone

We can solve this problem of catching zip-lane violators by focusing our resources on those cretins rather that on seat-belt offenders.

We have had a remedy for the latter since the 1850s. Its called the Law of Natural Selection.

Larry Solomon
Kaneohe

Bowl game should make it on its own

Regarding "Bowl game needs community effort to be successful"(Editorial, May 6): With respect, I believe your thought that the Hawaii Tourism Authority or any other state, city or county holds the success of a sporting event in its hands is just not reality.

Like any other business, it should build on foundation and expand on that support.

Handouts are not the chief reason for the success of any event. It takes hard work and dedication -- 24/7/365.

From 1982 until 1999, I was involved in the Christmas Day bowl game(s). The vision of Mackay Yanagisawa and others became a reality on Christmas Day 1982 with a wonderful game won by Washington over Maryland, 21-20. This set the table for many tremendous match-ups and thrilling endings, including "our" last game before stepping aside, won by the University of Hawaii over Oregon State in 1999.

Over the years, the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau and and the Chamber of Commerce all participated in the success of Hawaii's own bowl game. However, none of the above ever subsidized ticket sales, assisted in sponsorships or assembled a half-time gala, as you suggest be done.

It is the event's responsibility to handle each and every facet of game marketing and management.

Our tax dollars need to be spent more wisely than paying to aid the new mainland-owned bowl.

The people of Hawaii did support the games from 1982-1999, and with the same local kokua displayed through our tenure, along with a strong local and caring management, the new bowl can be equally successful.

Marcia Klompus
President/Executive Director
Hula Bowl Maui

Anzai should examine state waste, too

I applaud the state Attorney General Earl Anzai for cracking down on fraud cases relating to the Felix consent decree ("Indictment is tip of iceberg: Attorney General Anzai says there are 'many more' charges to come over Felix fraud," (Star-Bulletin, May 16).

However, if he wants to make a dent in the problem, he should focus on the millions of dollars of tax money that is being wasted on government programs politicians so eagerly support. If state government waste were reduced to a reasonable amount, there would be extra money in the budget for tax cuts and a better business climate for our state.

Thank you, Mr. Anzai, for your diligent efforts since the biggest threat to our fragile economy is unchecked government spending and fraud.

Michael V. Dacanay
Waipahu

Apparently, crime does pay in Honolulu

The Honolulu Police Department should be ashamed and Honolulu citizens should be so angry they make more headlines than a dog stuck on the high seas!

HPD only cleared (solved/resolved) 39.1 percent of all cases in 2001 (Star-Bulletin, May 3). So for 60 percent of criminals here in "paradise" crime really does pay!

I don't know how this compares to other cities of similar size, but odds like this it don't discourage criminals. Even in the stock market one can expect to lose 60 percent of the time while the other 40 percent hopefully makes up for this. What a deal if you could win 60 percent of the time!

Is the lack of effectiveness due to the size of the HPD? Priorities of the HPD? Efficiency of the HPD? Is anyone even willing to find answers to these hard questions? Seems like another mystery waiting to be solved along with crimes in Honolulu.

Rich Marshall
Pearl City

Japanese needn't fear more 'angels in white'

Regarding the article "Deadly 'angels in white' leave Japan uneasy" (Star-Bulletin, May 17): This incident -- four nurses tried to commit the perfect crime, killing the husband of one of them for insurance money -- caused many to lose faith in the reliability of medical care in Japan.

However, this murder was conducted by only four out of the thousands of nurses in Japan. In addition, it is reported that the principal offender forced the other three to cooperate with her plan.

Also, they must have become nurses with the hope to save human life at first. The society changed even their beliefs. Therefore, we must not be influenced by this story; we can trust medical care in Japan.

Koyo Aoki

Raising ticket prices with thin the crowds

I hope the Board of Regents considers the effect of raising the prices for the University of Hawaii's "money-maker" athletic games.

It appears that the demand for some of the sports (football, volleyball and men's basketball) is increasing (i.e. higher attendance).

However, the sports arenas are not filled. If the price of seats goes up, fewer seats will be filled. Having a sparsely attended event fosters even less attendance for future games.

Let's fill up the stands first; then raise the ticket prices.

Eldred Kagawa

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