Censorship editorial censored in San Diego

Making a habit to read the online Star-Bulletin daily from anywhere in the world, I tried to read the Oct. 17 editorial "Censorship wrong way to protect kids" while sitting at a computer terminal at the Point Loma Branch of the San Diego Public Library, but a program installed by the branch librarian froze it up. I asked the desk clerk to lift the program. He did so, but asked my name first. He said it was their policy.

I gave him my name, but when I asked for his in turn he gave me only his first name and then thrust his name tag into his pocket. The supervisor walked away when I asked to speak with her.

Richard Thompson
San Diego, Calif.

Pressure lawmakers to improve our schools

The article "Officials say scores not whole picture" (Star-Bulletin, Oct. 4) presents a very good point. Teachers, administrators and the Department of Education get the blame for the low scores of the students. That is unfair. Why don't we look at the real culprit?

We have highly qualified teachers and administrators. If we transplanted them into a mainland school district, the result would be "students of excellence." So, why isn't it happening here? Talk and no action, just that simple!

The real restraint on educational improvement in Hawaii lies within our Legislature and state administration. We hear eloquent words about improvement (particularly around election time), but there is little action. Do we see adequate appropriations to overcome our rundown school facilities? Do we see schools with adequate learning materials and environments? Do we see any legislation to make parents more responsible for the progress, attendance and actions of their student children? Obviously the answer to all these is "no." It's like the weather -- many people talk about it, but no one does anything about it. The difference is that something can be done about education.

Don't continue to force teachers to reproduce 30 or 40 copies of a textbook so students have material to learn from. Don't expect marvelous results from students who have to use the same textbooks their parents used (the tests of today are based upon current knowledge, not that of 20 years ago). Of course that all takes money, something the state and our lawmakers never seem to find enough of. Perhaps some encouragement, by inundating them with phone calls, would help them see the light.

Bernard G. Judson
Kapolei

Iraq war could be even worse than Vietnam

Russell Pang (Letters, Oct. 19) supports the Iraq war and wants the United States to "stay the course." He admires President Bush's "courage and vision."

This invasion against a sovereign nation, which had no connection to 9/11, is costing the U.S. $1 billion a week and more than 325 soldiers' lives to date. Retired military brass on all the TV shows say this "occupation" will last five years, minimum. You do the math.

It's obvious that American-style democracy is not do-able in the Middle East, and Islamic extremists are calling for jihad (holy war against the "Great Satan").

American soldiers are sitting ducks in Iraq. We came to them! With the $87 billion, the monetary clip is now at $1.3 billion a week to force-feed democracy to a Third World country. And Vice President Cheney's fingerprints are all over these sweetheart deals for his alma mater, Halliburton, worth billions.

President Clinton was hounded, excoriated and impeached for a dalliance with a 21-year-old. Bush & Co. provide America with an elective, pre-emptive war that will make Vietnam look like a cakewalk.

Paul D'Argent
Kihei, Maui

Carrier group should use Kahoolawe

There is one great flaw in the plan to base a carrier group here: There is no place to train in Hawaii ("Isles could win Navy's carrier shuffle," Star-Bulletin, Oct. 6). The nearest place to work out the air group is a 4,400-mile trip to the West Coast and back, to find a target island where the whole amphibious attack group and its air cover can exercise together.

I was part of the study group on the results of turning Kahoolawe, the former Navy target island, back to the state a few years ago.

The state now has a great liability. Kahoolawe can never be made safe for visitors, because a tremendous amount of live ordnance is still on the scene. The only way to make it safe would be to take off the top several hundred feet of soil and rock and send it through a sifter -- not a very safe or probable undertaking.

It would take a lot of compromise, but the solution is much simpler: Return the island to its target service and continue to protect the Hawaiian historical sites with tightly supervised visits allowed. These sites were outside the target areas, but there is still the chance of stray, deadly ordinance being there. It would be safer to visit those sites by helicopter than by walking in.

This would remove the state from its liability situation while giving the Navy carrier group a place for joint exercises it so greatly needs to base a carrier task force here.

Capt. Skip Crawford
Retired, U.S. Navy
Honolulu

Hawaii should try to get rid of cigarettes

I have always regarded cigarettes with scorn and extreme hatred. Those sticks caused my grandpa to develop lung cancer and die years earlier than he should have. Now that I have recently discovered cigarettes in my brother's backpack, I've grown to resent them even more. There is certainly very little that a high school student can do to get his 21-year-old brother to curtail the habit.

Hawaii and the nation should work hard to put an end to these life-consuming sticks. Sure, they may relieve stress and give you a pleasurable feeling, but is it worth it? It seems to me like the government doesn't care as much for its peoples' health as it should.

Henry Cheng
Honolulu