Brainstorm! Challenge

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Roadside junk is poor display of 'paradise'

I have just returned to the U.K. after visiting Oahu for the first time. I had been dreaming of visiting your stunning island for half a lifetime.

We came here to get married on the beach. We stayed at Turtle Bay Resort on the North Shore and rarely visited Waikiki or Honolulu.

In Turtle Bay you have one of the best locations in the world and staff who were a pleasure to meet. You also have some stunning beaches and scenery around the island.

Some aspects of the island put doubts in my mind about returning as quickly as we might. Why do so many residents seem happy to abandon cars and other junk along the roadside, and why don't the authorities work quicker to remove them?

I understand the strategic importance of the islands when it comes to the defense of the U.S.A., but why do so many areas of outstanding natural beauty need to be out of bounds? Quite a few of the roads we hoped to drive along have been closed. The 780 through the Schofield Barracks was one in question. Other military areas around Kaena Point were also out of bounds unless you had applied in writing beforehand.

Come, Oahu, clean up your act, or you might find that visitors don't rush to your shores and pick another island instead.

David Longman
Palmers Green
London, England

Take 'Idol' enthusiasm to voting booth

At first I was dismayed to read all the coverage on "American Idol" and to hear of how many millions of phone calls had been made to vote for Jasmine Trias and others.

But now I have an idea for Hawaii: Turn that voting habit into something really positive. Instead of being on the bottom of the list in terms of voter turnout at the polls, keep that habit and remember to vote in all our upcoming elections.

If you don't vote, you cannot criticize. Voting is one of the democratic rights we hold dear and it's part of what we have sent our troops to Iraq to fight for, so don't throw away the privilege just because it isn't the subject of daily features in the newspaper or entertainment on TV.

Elissa Josephsohn
Honolulu

Maui council needs a few good idealists

Maui residents have seen the results of large landowners and developers and their overwhelming influence on the majority of our County Council. So what can the voters of Maui County do?

First, let's make the council seats attractive to young, educated and energetic people who know it is their future that is being shaped in every council decision. The council position pays $43,000 for a body that controls more than $350 million in county expenditures. This is not enough to attract highly qualified people. So, we can support an increase in pay for the council positions to equal at least a deputy director's salary in the county administration. This is done through the Salary Commission.

Second, encourage courageous people to run for the council, people who are willing to truly represent and fight for our future to be a bright one, not a repeat of the mistakes made in the past, people who can see more than just the inevitability of our being another Oahu. We need council members who put the electorate's will first, who are willing to give two or four years of service for our futures.

Third, support the one remaining hero we have on the council today -- Jo Ann Johnson. She asks the tough questions day after day -- year after year. And you can rest assured that large developers will be after her this election cycle. So give to her campaign and support her wherever you can.

It is time for change. The majority of the council hope you will go back to sleep -- bury your feelings of frustration and let it slide once again. Let's show we are up to the task of change.

Sean Lester
Haiku, Maui

Banks obviously can afford lower fees

If banks can manage to pay top executives $10 million in severance and salaries, including benefits, they should be paying more interest on customer savings accounts overall and reducing customer costs.

And if they want to keep their customer base of money they use and repurpose, they should also lower service fees at the ATM and for online banking. Software used for online banking has, during the past year, gotten worse, with the disappearance of some services that were there in 2002 and part of 2003, but have disappeared, while raising online banking charges.

Certainly software costs go up, but with those kinds of settlement salaries, bonuses and severance packages, they could certainly afford to offer better services to customers and reduce prices of some of those services, instead of treating the client base as a never-ending cash cow.

Bill Martin
Kurtistown, Hawaii

Columnist can't justify U.S. behavior in Iraq

For a moment, I pitied columnist Cal Thomas, who decided to defend the latest blunder in Iraq, our treatment of prisoners (Star-Bulletin, May 6). But I got over it by the second paragraph, when he said that war is a nasty business and maybe these prisoners had vital information. I don't see that exception in the Geneva Convention, which we waved indignantly last year when our pilots (clothed, by the way) were put on TV.

Thomas makes the bold argument that "if there has been humiliation, it's the Muslims' fault." That might be funny if the consequences weren't so big. Thomas's statement fits right in, at a time when members of the Bush administration can pretend they had no information on the terrorist attacks when they did, then pretend that they had information on WMDs when they didn't. I was only surprised that having gone that far, Thomas didn't find a way to pin this on the liberals, Clinton or Kerry, too.

David Stewart
Lihue

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[ BRAINSTORM! ] The ponds at the state Capitol are full of icky green stuff. What, besides holding an election, can we do to get rid of all that scum at the Big Square Building? Or should we just replace the ponds with something else? Tell us what you think, whether you know of a way to clean the ponds or if you'd rather see a remodel of the Capitol grounds. Anything would be an improvement. Send your ideas by June 16 to: brainstorm@starbulletin.com Or by mail: Brainstorm! c/o Nancy Christenson Star-Bulletin 500 Ala Moana 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210 Honolulu, Hawaii 96813 Or by fax: Brainstorm! c/o Nancy Christenson 529-4750