Need more noise, fans at volleyball games

Hawaii is proud of its University of Hawaii volleyball program, but you would not be aware of that if you attended a game.

The attendance has been diminishing for many reasons: television, higher ticket prices, competing activities and conflicting schedules.

Chief Vili has a difficult job keeping the noise level up from the fans whose average age is in the upper 50s.

Can we turn this around?

Eldred Kagawa

Lingle should not repeal bottle bill

I am alarmed by Governor Lingle's bill to repeal the bottle bill of the 2002 Legislature (Star-Bulletin, Jan. 24). The message I get is that she is out of touch with the facts about our solid-waste state of emergency.

Not only that, but is she willing to turn her back on the moderate voices within her own party? The bottle bill was approved by such Republican voices of reason as Rep. Cynthia Thielen, Sen. Fred Hemmings and former Rep. Mindy Jaffe.

I would also note the first beverage container deposit bill ever signed into law years ago in Oregon was by Republican Gov. Tom McCall and authored by a Republican state senator. We would do well to look at Oregon as a model for successful recycling and solid-waste management strategies here in Hawaii.

I am glad to see she is proposing to spend $300,000 to revive a public/private partnership to improve our community. That also is critical to remove the trash from our precious beaches and ocean habitat.

Obviously, when it come to matters of solid-waste management, Lingle hasn't gotten the message of Waimanalo Gulch. We are in a solid-waste crisis! We need every measure possible and all efforts to expand our recycling.

Fred Cash
Makiki

Dubya and Reagan like two peas in a pod

Bill Keller's column in the editorial section (Jan. 26) comparing George W. Bush to Ronald Reagan seems like more of the same hype for them both. I lived for eight years under Reagan when he was governor of California and eight years more when he was president. There are similarities. Both are products of clever handlers, good public relations and luck.

In 1980, Reagan had only one debate against President Carter, for which he was coached by George Will -- using Carter's stolen briefing papers. Carter was ahead before the debate.

President Bush is the result of another dubious election. He has almost no press conferences; Reagan's were marked by quips instead of answers.

Bush is obsessed with war with Iraq. Reagan's term was marked by his obsession with war in Nicaragua, which evaporated as soon as he was out of office.

The Bush administration is riddled with tricks on us and the world, wrapped in the flag. Reagan ducked Iran-Contra, and 125 members of his administration were investigated, fired or resigned under clouds.

Reagan left us with the biggest deficit in our history (eliminated by President Clinton), and George W. Bush seems out to surpass him.

Yes, there are many similarities between these two men -- none of them good. We need real statesmen and women.

Nancy Bey Little

Are U.S. troops ready for worst possibility?

With so many unanswered questions regarding Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, it seems to me to be dangerous to stage troops near its border when a rogue leader refuses to answer questions about the warhead contents that seem to be missing.

Is there a surprise in store for our troops, such as missiles being launched from undetected mobile missile launchers? Could those mobile weapons get close enough to a staging area to harm U.S. troops? Will U.S. and coalition troops be able to survive a chemical or biological attack?

When I had to train in full battle dress, the protective equipment was hot. We were unable to move quickly and were restricted by the gear in our ability to fight. Can our troops survive?

The son of Iraq's leader stated that there will not be enough body bags available for our troops if we go to war. Is this prediction based on Iraq's production of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons in mobile laboratories, and can those weapons hit a staging area? I can only pray that our military leaders have the answers to these questions.

Philip B. Sterry

It's wrong to strip people of their rights

Let's be clear about what Sen. Robert Bunda, Governor Lingle and city prosecutor Peter Carlisle are all trying to foist upon us (Star-Bulletin, Jan 16): They are proposing that certain U.S. citizens be subjected to drug testing without their consent, without probable cause, without a shred of evidence that they're using drugs.

What if a student vehemently refuses to be tested? What punishment will that student get for standing up for his civil rights? And does anyone seriously believe that if this usurpation of the civil rights of minors is successful, that some ambitious politician won't then propose doing it to adults -- for our own collective good, of course?

Jim Henshaw
Kailua

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