Higher pay is issue No. 1 with UH faculty

We need to clear up something regarding University of Hawaii President Evan Dobelle's response (July 13) to the "stinging analysis" published in the Star-Bulletin a week earlier. While he and his team are to be commended for negotiating part of a pretty good contract, he leaves the impression that (a) the contract is great (it isn't), and that (b) "In 21 of the 22 issues that we had direct control over, we came to ... agreement ... and (were) unable to offer the faculty an increase in salary, which was issue 22."

Salary was not "issue 22"; it was and is issue No. 1. UH faculty members have not had a decent pay raise since 1992; full professors at Manoa now rank in the bottom 15 percent in pay in the nation. UH professors are collectively paid about $170 million a year and bring in $300 million via competitive grants. We 3,000 are the only component of the 11,000-employee UH system that more than pays for itself every year and yet our statewide average salary is less than half of that paid to the young man who answers Dobelle's phone.

Something's seriously wrong.

John H. Radcliffe
Associate executive director
University of Hawaii Professional Assembly

Malihini money rises to the top at university

"Eh, Kimo! Did you get the memo?"

"No, not me."

"Manny, did you get the memo?"

"What memo?"

"The one that said we're going make the new guys at UH rich."

"No joke!"

"Yup, that's what the malihini are doing up there, paying themselves real good."

William J. King
Honolulu

Rude workers tarnish Waikiki's image

I am a senior citizen visiting Waikiki for three weeks. I take a daily walk from Eaton Square on Hobron Lane to Kuhio Beach. A few days ago I had to use the restroom at Kuhio Beach at 6:40 a.m. but it was locked, notwithstanding the signs that said it was open from 6:30.

While I was reading the sign, an attendant arrived to unlock the ladies' room (no ladies were waiting, but two gentlemen were). She then unlocked the men's side but went in, slammed the gate shut and said, "You'll have to wait five minutes." We pointed out that no one was waiting to use the ladies' room and asked if we could use the men's room and she could start cleaning the ladies' room first. She insisted she had to clean the men's room first.

It's that attitude and lack of aloha that is giving Waikiki such a bad reputation as a visitor destination. Auwe!

T. J. Davies Jr.
Kapolei

Teens should let elders have bus seats

Passengers, especially teenagers, should give up their bus seats to the elderly. The seats, which are designated for the elderly and the disabled, are often used by teenagers who refuse to get up when an elderly person boards the bus.

Many elderly people cannot move quickly and are more susceptible to injury should the bus stop short. If the front seats were reserved strictly for the elderly and the handicapped, they could get to their seats faster and reduce their risk of falling.

When I was younger, I was taught to respect my elders. Either parents today are not teaching their kids that, or the kids are not listening.

In 1996 the Honolulu City Council passed an ordinance to put anyone who misbehaves on TheBus in jail or hit him or her with a large fine. I say anyone who does not give up his seat to an elderly person is in violation of this ordinance and should be punished.

Rosie Brioso

Homosexuality is normal in real world

In response to Melvin Partido's absolutely edifying drivel (Letters, July 14): I'm really sick of self-styled Christians thumbing through their Bibles to prove that homosexuality is unnatural, as if the Bible were some sort of repository of scientific wisdom, which it's not. The Bible was written by humans, not an infallible god.

The proof is right there: Leviticus 11:5 states that coneys (rabbits) chew cud; Leviticus 11:13-19 states quite clearly that bats are a type of bird; Ecclesiastes 1:5 states without a doubt that the sun moves around the Earth. An infallible god would have known better; therefore, the bible was written by fallible men.

In reality, there is plenty of homosexual behavior outside our species. Bonobo chimpanzees, one of our closest genetic relatives, engage in all sorts of interesting gender combinations. The alpha male of some animal species will force himself upon lesser males in order to reinforce his dominance.

It's all there if you just get your nose out of your Bible and look at the world. God doesn't fit into a little book. God uses the entire universe to talk to us. Get the self-righteous wax out of your ears and listen sometime.

Francine LaPorte
Honolulu

Dem leaders' partisan attack was unfair

I had a good chuckle when I read the commentary by House Speaker Calvin Say and Senate President Robert Bunda (Star-Bulletin, July 10). They criticized the cost of Governor Lingle's communications office and the simultaneous cuts in the growth of social services spending.

The people working in the Office of Communications are hard-working and dedicated public servants. However, they are not the "machine" that Say and Bunda claim.

Lingle's communications staff works long hours, six to seven days a week. They have little choice since the Democratic Legislature did not fully fund this governor's office. Lingle's administration has a fraction of the staff that the previous (Democratic) governor had. On top of this, they receive no overtime pay.

After the childish and partisan display put on by the Democrats in the veto override session, it is clear that Say and Bunda need to clean up their own act and stop trying to place the blame on others.

Gary Paul Jr.
Kihei, Maui