Brainstorm! Challenge

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Do what you can to stop spread of flu

We are in the midst of an influenza epidemic the likes of which most of us have never seen in our lifetimes. Hawaii is one the last five states to maintain its "local outbreak" status with the Centers for Disease Control. Forty-five states have "widespread outbreak" status.

Unfortunately, many people with the flu take virtually no precautions to prevent the spread of this dangerous virus. Please, please, if you are infected with this dangerous virus stay home! If your children are infected, then for the safety of other children please keep them at home!

The main way flu viruses are spread from person to person is when droplets from a cough or sneeze of an infected person are propelled (generally up to three feet) through the air and deposited on the mouth or nose of people nearby. The viruses also can be spread when a person touches respiratory droplets on another person or object and then touches his own mouth or nose (or a child's mouth or nose) before washing his hands.

The flu is highly contagious. A person can spread the flu starting one day before he or she feels sick. Adults can continue to pass the flu virus to others for another three to seven days after symptoms start. Children can pass the virus for longer than seven days. Symptoms start one to four days after the virus enters the body.

If you are infected with the influenza virus, please stay home!

Michael J. Lauck
Honolulu

Hawaii team, fans were pretty obnoxious

I am a Houston alumna and fan who attended the Christmas Day Hawaii Bowl game with my family. I have to agree with the recent University of Hawaii graduate who wrote regarding the Hawaii Warriors' mascot behavior being too mean, rude and too old (Letters, Dec. 28). I think one of the college guys would be a better representative than an older man acting out in a warrior costume with very little clothing on and swinging a 15-foot arrow.

For the most part, the Hawaii fans were very nice and welcoming when we arrived at the stadium. But the signs to the stadium are not well marked and the stadium is called a variety of names on the highway signs until you get close, when it is finally called Aloha Stadium. Many Houston fans had a hard time getting to the stadium and finding parking, and many missed the kick-off. There was not enough police protection for the fans or for the football teams.

Many Hawaii fans were calling names within five feet behind the Houston bench during the game and challenging Houston fans (families with young children, even) in the stands to fight them. The few police (20 or so) that were there only joked with the Hawaii fans and did nothing to enforce the stadium rules or proper conduct or ask them to leave. The Hawaii team suited up about four times as many players as Houston did and blocked the Houston team's exit.

The Hawaii team performed excessive celebrating (including shooting off their middle fingers -- maybe that means "mahalo"?) in front of the Houston fans in addition to five Hawaii players in full pads body-slamming one of the Houston red-shirt players with no pads near the trophy stage.

It is apparent that this is acceptable behavior at Hawaii games (against Cincinnati, for example). My family of four spent several thousand dollars to come to the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl, so I would think the island of hospitality could stand to make some improvements. I attended the Houston-Michigan game earlier in the year with more than 104,000 people and the stadium was under control and well organized.

Joan R. Smith
Houston, Tx.

Changing traditions is how societies evolve

In his Jan. 4 letter to the editor, "Marriage is not an equal rights issue," Mike Hinchey questioned the validity of gay marriage, although he said that he believed in equal rights for everyone.

Yes, that is exactly what gays want -- equal rights, equal treatment, equal opportunity.

And yes, as Hinchey and others always point out, we all know that traditional marriage involves the union of a man and a woman. But this is a tradition that will continue unabated if gay marriages are also allowed, so what is the problem?

Why are people so opposed to the idea of gay marriage just because of so-called tradition? The very basis of history consists of foregoing tradition in lieu of change for the better. Consider the abolition of slavery or the granting of a woman's right to vote. Gays want the right to marry simply because they want to enjoy the same marital benefits and ability to permanently sanctify their relationships, just like everybody else.

Kelly Chang
Honolulu

So much for Britney's traditional marriage

So where are the right-wing letters decrying Britney Spears' three-day abuse of the hetero-only institution of marriage?

Drunk on Friday night, annulled Monday morning? Where's the sanctity in that?

Martin Rice
Kapaa, Kauai

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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