Theocharidis made UH a better place

Costas Theocharidis was in a class I taught at the University of Hawaii College of Business Administration last year ("UH to appeal NCAA penalty," Sept. 6). He was an exemplary student, an engaging and jovial participant in every discussion and a perfect gentleman. He was hardly humble, but I never saw him as arrogant or remote as some student-athletes I have taught. And, of course, he is an outstanding volleyball player.

There is something very wrong with a collegiate athletic system that would penalize the whole men's volleyball team -- and the whole university -- while barely scratching the seamy surface of the shenanigans that go on in big-time college sports across the mainland. I don't condone misrepresenting or lying about your past, but frankly the collegiate athletic system that makes it seem necessary and advantageous in this case stinks.

I believe the University of Hawaii as a whole was better off having had Costas as a student and an athlete than it is having a trophy in a case, painful as the loss may feel today.

Peter Rosegg
Honolulu

Photographer's skill caught perfect image

As a longtime -- and I mean a looongtime -- reader of the Star-Bulletin, I have grown accustomed to seeing some good photos by your photographers printed in the paper. I also have seen some of what I consider great photos, excellent photos, outstanding photos and quite a few magnificent photos. However, the photo of two visitors from Japan by FL Morris in the Sept. 5 Star-Bulletin just knocked my socks off. The composition in this photo as well as the superb use of backlighting should make it a collector's item. I hope I will see more photos by Morris in future issues.

William G. Burlingame
Mililani

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Teamsters leaders are at fault in strike

Should the bus strike continue, drivers will feel the brunt of contempt and ire from the public through no fault of their own. Drivers should understand that it is the Teamsters union's leadership, local president Mel Kahele in particular, who is at fault. If union leaders had any concern for the public, they would take what's on the table without any amendments.

The television commercials calling for drivers to go back to work are right. Pay raises will come as the economy recovers. Cutbacks and layoffs are the norm in a distressed economy. Many people accept this and do the best they can. Why should the bus drivers be exempted?

Drew Kosora
Honolulu

Higher-paying jobs are harder than driving

Just because bus drivers are paid less than carpenters, painters and mechanics, that doesn't mean that bus drivers have the moral right to ask for more money. Think about how much more physical work the others put in. They have to put in lots of elbow grease to do their jobs, and all bus drivers have to do is drive a bus and sometimes yell at passengers.

Bus drivers take care of only the people on buses. Firefighters and police officers take care of everyone in the community. Bus drivers work 12-hour shifts. Teachers stay in school for at least seven hours with dozens of students who are a lot more troublesome than bus riders, then go home and work more hours on lesson plans and grading. As a sophomore at Kalani High and a bus rider, I'm sure teachers have harder jobs than bus drivers.

Bus drivers, please do us all a favor and just take what you already have. Drop the pay raises so that maybe the city could use the money to raise the salaries of firefighters, teachers and police officers.

Henry Cheng
Honolulu

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TheBus
Navigating Oahu's bus strike

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We must encourage a return to civility

I wish to share with your readership an observation about the raw and sometimes pathologically callous level of discourse in society. Socrates made a statement that is as pertinent today as it was at his time: "If there is to be any true questioning, three preconditions need to be met -- a) intelligence, b) candor and c) good will."

These three preconditions are sorely lacking when we address mayors, governors, congressmen/women and presidents. It does not matter if you are a Democrat or a Republican. You can't honestly expect to get anywhere as an individual or as a political lobby group when you engage in petty, ad hominem character assassinations against anybody in authority even though you might vehemently disagree with that person.

Above all, exercise some self-restraint in all your dealings with other people.

Johannes Bendtz
Honolulu

Who paid for the car after Jones crashed it?

Now that we've been allowed to peek at University of Hawaii football coach June Jones' old contract (Star-Bulletin, Aug. 19), can I ask about the big Lincoln Town Car he demolished by driving it into a bridge in broad daylight? Was that one of the "courtesy cars" mentioned in the first contract? Courtesy of who? Us? Did he ever explain, or apologize, or even say, "Oops"?

Barbara Ikeda
Honolulu

How would addicts get money for legal drugs?

In the Sept. 7 guest commentary by Tracy Ryan, "We can fix 'ice' problem with managed addiction," she tries to make a case for allowing legal drugs to be used by Hawaii's drug addicts. She claims that legalized drugs would decrease property crimes since the cost for the drugs under her plan would be minimal compared to the cost of drugs on the street. But she makes a statement I find confusing: "The cost of distribution would be borne by the addicts."

Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but don't addicts commit burglary to get the money to buy drugs in the first place? In other words: no money, can't buy drugs. Under Ryan's plan: no money, can't buy legal drugs. Sounds like the same to me.

Donald Smith
Honolulu