Brainstorm! Challenge

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Dobelle-regents feud sounds like politicking

Is the ever-escalating, headline-grabbing dispute between University of Hawaii President Evan Dobelle and the Governor Lingle appointees on the Board of Regents just fallout from Dobelle's endorsement of Mazie Hirono in the 2000 gubernatorial campaign?

If this is the case, say goodbye to the Democratic "old boy network" and hello to a Republican "old boy network." Each party accuses the other of appointing party supporters and loyalists as the first and foremost consideration. A politicized UH, that's all we need in Hawaii. Great going, GOP. It seems nothing has changed for Hawaii ... only the party label.

Terumi Kanegawa
Wahiawa

Shh! Don't spook the horses giving tours

Please warn car and trolley drivers that sounding their horns will scare the horses that pull the carriages with people looking at Christmas decorations. I forgot about this myself and made too much noise. The nearby carriage drivers got upset with the horses' reactions and yelled angrily at the horses.

Sandra Y.W. Chun
Honolulu

Don't they know what 'binding' means?

In the interest of public safety, police officers and some other emergency workers are prohibited from striking. In return, they are entitled to "binding" arbitration. The dictionary defines "bind" as "to compel, obligate or unite." Exactly what definition does the Honolulu City Council use when it decides that it is not going to fund -- honor -- the arbitrators' binding award?

I guess it's only binding on the police, and Council members get to decide whether they want to honor it or not. Can this possibly be considered fair labor negotiations, let alone legal?

Perhaps the City Council members would like to just keep getting different "binding" judgments until they find one they like.

David Eber
Kailua

Dissenting views aren't un-American

It does not make me any less of a citizen because I do not have a bumper sticker with the words "United We Stand" on my vehicle.

The bumper sticker my husband and I prefer is one that states our political choices. Does that make us bad people? I was under the impression that freedom of speech, even if that speech is a bumper sticker with which you disagree, is a good part of what the United States of America is all about.

Jane Anderson Harville
Honaunau, Hawaii

Building more roads will bring more houses

I noticed your Nov. 21 article "Project to ease Makakilo traffic," about building more roads for the Makakilo residents. Every time I see this concern for the residents I have to question the motive. I've watched as residents and politicians fall victim to this common developer ploy. They get the state to build the roads so more homes can be built. They couldn't care less about the residents stuck in traffic.

A while back they had a program where the Board of Water Supply and developers got together and offered residents new low-flow toilets. They were not doing this for residents in the Makakilo area; they were doing this so more homes could be built. Many residents thought, what a nice gesture on the part of the Board of Water Supply and the city, but many of us knew it was a ploy to show there was enough water to add more homes in the area -- and they did. Now they are claiming they are building more roads to bring relief for the residents. They are building more roads so more homes can be built in the area.

Residents will see no gains from this since their tax dollars go into construction and maintenance of these new roads and they will find themselves sitting in the same spot in traffic when they head to and from work.

Cappy Capelouto
Honolulu

The man behind 9/11 is still out there

Unless the interrogation of Saddam Hussein produces evidence of weapons of mass destruction, his capture will finally confirm what many Democrats and most members of the international community have suspected all along. The right-wing neoconservative Bush administration lied to the United Nations and the American people to justify an unprovoked attack on Iraq.

In 2000 then-Gov. George W. Bush bashed "nation-building," yet in 2003 hundreds of American soldiers are dead, thousands are seriously maimed for life and billions of dollars of taxpayers' money has been given to Republican-friendly corporations for Iraq "reconstruction." Yet the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks is still at large in the mountains of Pakistan.

When will this president be held accountable for his actions?

Jeffree Pike
Hilo, Hawaii

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[ BRAINSTORM! ] What should the city do with the elegant old sewage pump station? It's empty and fading, and now it's taking a beating from all the construction going on around it. The O.G. Traphagen-designed sewage pump station on Ala Moana Boulevard, more than a century old, is a monument to the glory days of municipal architecture, when city fathers took such pride in their community that even a humble sewage station became a landmark structure. Millions of tourists drive by it every year, and it's an embarrassing reminder of how poorly Honolulu treats its historic landmarks. Over the years, dozens of uses and excuses and blue-sky speculations have been suggested for the striking structure. Now we're asking you, Mr. and Mrs. Kimo Q. Publique, what should the city do with the elegant old pump building? Send your ideas and solutions by Jan. 15 to: brainstorm@starbulletin.com Or mail them to: Brainstorm! c/o Nancy Christenson Star-Bulletin 500 Ala Moana 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210 Honolulu, Hawaii 96813 Fax: Brainstorm! c/o Nancy Christenson 529-4750