Be all you can be with nursing degree

You will be guaranteed opportunities to work weekends, holidays, 12-hour shifts and plenty of chances to work all night. Learn the proper collection and disposal of human waste products. Enjoy the thrill of trying to avoid contracting all the different strains of hepatitis, AIDS and a bacterial infection that is resistant to all known antibiotics.

Learn to lift three times your body weight. Enhance your chances of having your own back injury and decreased medical benefits. Become skilled at titration of pharmacological agents. Hone your assessment skills so the physician can cure the patient based on your input. Enjoy the opportunity to help educate your patients and their families about the physiologic properties of healing in the human body. Gain the knowledge to enable you to counsel family members in times of crisis and death. Learn the intricate aspects of post-mortem care. Be portrayed in a negative light in the movies and television.

All this can be yours. Become a nurse!

James E. Mahoney
Critical care nurse
Kaiser Foundation Hospital

Shame on Cincinnati for cheap shots

The bad publicity that my alma mater, the University of Hawaii, has been getting nationwide concerning last Saturday's brawl has to be answered. Have the University of Cincinnati players been taking lessons from Warren Sapp? Shame on them for their players' behavior, and shame on the few University of Hawaii fans who displayed bad behavior. I am not saying that the UH players behaved like gentleman after the game, but the cheap hits on them during the game were uncalled for.

The officials that the Western Athletic Conference gets are lousy. If Cincy fans think the officials were nice to Hawaii, it would be a first. Get real, Cincy, but right now you have just joined Fresno State for cheap shots and unprofessional behavior.

Oh, by the way, Cincinnati was predicted to be a 5 1/2-point loser, according to Las Vegas oddsmakers.

Susanne Dykeman
Aiea

Inaccuracies mar Hawaiian column

The Star-Bulletin's new Hawaiian-language column is a wonderful idea. Too bad the column was already abused for political demagoguery in Noenoe Silva's Nov. 24 article about Hawaiian Kingdom Independence Day.

Silva portrays Timoteo Haalilio as the heroic leader of the diplomatic mission to Europe and America, giving William Richards only a minor role. But actually Richards was the king's senior adviser and wrote the kingdom's first constitution. The king gave Richards signed blank paper to seal whatever diplomatic agreements he might make. Holiday celebrants at the palace should look at the street a grateful King named "Richards"; there is no Haalilio Street.

Hawaiian independence activists say sovereignty is about a nation, not a race. But they refuse to acknowledge the equality of non-native heroes of the kingdom.

Silva also repeats longstanding nonsense about the Hawaiian language being illegal. She says the Republic oligarchy stole the Hawaiian language just as it stole the Hawaiian government. Silva knows Hawaiian-language newspapers were published continuously up until the 1950s -- she's been translating them.

Ken Conklin
Kaneohe

Cayetano didn't 'give' teachers big raise

Governor Cayetano comes across for the most part as refreshingly candid and objective in his interview ("Parting words," Star-Bulletin, Nov. 24). However, when he states that he's proud that he "gave teachers a big pay raise," it seems a bit revisionist. In truth, Cayetano opposed the amount of raise we received, so much so that teachers received the raise he "gave" us only after an acrimonious three-week strike.

And if Cayetano has truly come to the conclusion that "one of the most important things in regard to education is to motivate teachers," then he still has the time and opportunity to put this into practice. All he has to do is to pay us the second 3 percent annual bonus that was originally agreed to in our current contract but that he has been fighting, much to the detriment of teacher morale.

Steve Klein
Special education teacher
Kailua

Holiday wishes from surfers in France

From the surfers here in Aquitaine, a big "aloha" and Happy Thanksgiving to all the people of Hawaii and the surfers, especially Derek Doerner and his son Tiger, one surfer who represents the true soul of surfing.

Corinne Wilshin
Bordeaux, France

If we complain, maybe littering will stop

I completely agree with David K. Alama Jr. ("Boors and litterbugs trash Waianae Coast," Star-Bulletin, Nov. 24). I admit to being part of the problem in my earlier days. I smoked and threw my cigarette butts out the window, threw trash out the window and whatever.

I do not do that anymore. It is the same as defecating in your own back yard. If you go to Singapore, Japan or many other countries you can be fined or even jailed for doing the same thing. All it takes is one complaint. Hey, let's start to complain and make these do-do birds clean up after themselves.

Ed Kostiha
Aiea

New delegate should live in 2nd District

The letter from Raymond Engle (Star-Bulletin, Nov. 25) reiterates the excellent point that electing a Republican to Congress makes good sense. Yes, one of our four-member congressional delegation should be a member of the majority party.

An additional good point to make is that one of our delegation should live in the 2nd Congressional District. His recommended candidate, for whom I have much respect, will not be able to vote for herself because she doesn't live in the district.

Evelyn A. White
Pukalani, Hawaii

---

How to write us The Star-Bulletin welcomes letters that are crisp and to the point (150 to 200 words). The Star-Bulletin reserves the right to edit letters for clarity and length. Please direct comments to the issues; personal attacks will not be published. Letters must be signed and include a daytime telephone number. Letter form: Online form, click here E-mail: letters@starbulletin.com Fax: (808) 529-4750 Mail: Letters to the Editor, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 7 Waterfront Plaza, 500 Ala Moana, Suite 210, Honolulu, HI 96813