EXPATRIATE VIEWS ON UH MASCOT
UH Warrior mascot should be a student

As someone who had the honor of being head cheerleader for the University of Hawaii in the mid-'60s, I read your article on the present mascot ("Mascot Vili under scrutiny at UH," Star-Bulletin, Jan. 11), and feel I must give my view.

I watched both the Alabama and Hawaii bowl games and was ashamed that the UH athletic department allowed such an angry, crude person to represent my alma mater.

Part of the problem is having a 38-year-old non-student, professional entertainer as a mascot. Mascots should be portrayed by students. They also should be ambassadors for the school, enhancing the school's image. In my time, we were aware that keeping the spirit of aloha alive was important.

I can only imagine how the Hawaii Visitors & Convention Bureau staff cringes when Vili does his "entertaining."

It's time to return the mascot to being a student, and, hopefully, a kinder time.

Terry Fisher
University of Hawaii Class of '68
Kirkland, Wash.

Warrior's antics are all just an act

As a former University of Hawaii student, it's a treat to see Warrior football on television. On reading the negative reception the mascot has received from local fans, I have to say I am somewhat mystified.

The mascot should stay because football is a sport based on machismo and toughness. We have to remember that mascots are acting. If the aloha spirit is so important, then the school should have kept the rainbow in the "Rainbow Warriors."

Football teams should project an image that attracts recruits and sponsors. Many Polynesians once had to be fierce to defend their people.

Somehow, the local folks have forgotten this aspect of Polynesian culture. Maybe a quick refresher visit to the Polynesian Cultural Center is in order. I'll take Vili and the beating drums over the "tomahawk chop" any day.

David Hioki
Raleigh, N.C.

UH mascot is great; leave him alone

Your Jan. 16 editorial on the University of Hawaii mascot ("Isn't a warrior supposed to be fierce?") is on target "to da max." Congratulations. You have nailed the substance, form and humor in this issue right square on the head.

How typical that the UH powers-that-be pick the most obvious and easy target as their immediate shoot-from-the-lip response to a perceived problem in football team conduct.

Knock off picking on the mascot. He's doing his job and is effective. Everybody gets that it's tongue-in-cheek. A mascot is supposed to be bigger-than-life.

Jim Dorsey
Los Angeles, Calif.
Former Hawaii resident

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Ice treatment plan only coddles users

The bleeding heart liberals in the Hawaii Democratic Party want to spend more than $21 million (some of them mine) to help poor misguided and sick ice users (Star-Bulletin, Jan. 13). Well, what do we get in return? Will these users give up drugs? I doubt it.

Classifying illegal drug use as a sickness just empowers these fools to continue their addiction. No one asked or coerced them into taking illegal drugs. They made a bad choice and it should be up to them to stop. Once an individual wants to get off the drugs, then we should provide him with the proper treatment and assistance, but not throw out millions just to see if anyone shows up.

The bleeding hearts want to spend money on education and treatment but not enforcement.

But the users are not going to stop on their own unless they know there will be consequences if they don't.

The only cure is to stop the flow of the drugs. If they can't get them, they won't get addicted. The only way to stop the flow is to give law enforcement the tools it needs. Stop the flow, begin the treatment, get results. Simple, yeah?

Jim Fromm
Waipahu

City should fund Young Street bike trail

The City Council must fund the Young Street bike trail. It should be imperative that residents and bike riders alike be given the opportunity to improve their quality of lives as well as the environment's without the great dangers of bike riding that exists today.

Redeveloping a trail that extends from Moiliili Field and Thomas Square would provide improvements to this corridor, such as wide bike lanes and tree plantings that would benefit everyone and increase the value of existing infrastructure.

Heather Kastern
Honolulu

Hawaii drivers aren't that polite

In response to Smoky Guerrero's and Otto Cleveland's Jan. 15 letters: Guerrero is correct; paradise has been paved. But adding light rail would not distract from the "majestic Koolau and ocean views" any more than the large SUVs and buses we already are stuck behind on the H-1.

If done correctly, a rail system could actually assist riders -- residents and tourists alike -- in viewing what natural beauty still remains on Oahu. In addition, it could provide economical and timely transportation.

This brings me to Cleveland's letter. Drivers in Oahu are polite? Try oblivious. "Polite" means, as the Hawaii Driver's Manual states, "when moving slower than other traffic you should drive in the extreme right lane."

Here's what frustrates mainland drivers: HOV, Zipper and contraflow lanes that do not work, the bus that takes up an entire lane when it stops, rubberneckers, people who cannot drive in the rain, people who slow to 10 mph while exiting the highway, people who don't use turn signals and traffic lights that are never in sequence.

It is not a matter of being too polite. It is a matter of abiding by the rules of the road, being aware of your surroundings, using common sense and investing in the infrastructure.

F.J. Carney
Mililani