Brainstorm! Challenge

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Hilo power move won't help residents

"Hilo Coast Power to close Nov. 30" (Star-Bulletin, June 11) stated that East Hawaii produces 85 percent of the electricity supply and has 45 percent of the demand, while West Hawaii has 15 percent of the supply and 55 percent of the demand. Thus 40 percent of electricity is produced on the Hilo side and shipped to the Kona side.

The most recent released transmission line losses for HECO, MECO, and HELCO are 1.36, 1.23 and 3.77 percent, respectively. Hilo Coast Power sells its electricity to HELCO at 15 percent below HELCO's own costs. Thus it appears that Hawaii residents would save money if HELCO continued to acquire power from Hilo Coast, even accounting for slightly higher transmission lines losses.

The rates would be even lower if the utilities acquired electricity from clean, local renewable energy resources. Money would not be pouring out of our economy to buy foreign fossil fuels and foreign jobs.

Hawaii residents are paying two to three times the national average for electricity. Why aren't the utilities doing more to provide energy at the lowest reasonable cost?

Henry Curtis
Executive director
Life of the Land
Honolulu

Women need help and Bainum can give it

When I viewed a television news story stating that 80 percent of the top jobs are filled by men and 20 percent by women, I couldn't believe it. What kind of message is this to send to the young women of Hawaii?

I always tell my female friends, if you work hard, you will achieve your dreams. Now I'm not so sure. When they hear me carrying on about it, they ask why women don't get the same opportunities as men. What do I tell them?

This situation has got to be fixed. Don't we want our best and brightest people to consider a career in government as part of their dream? When I heard Duke Bainum was going to make Honolulu city government a place of equal opportunity for men and women, I decided right then and there that he would get my vote for mayor.

Michael Reynolds
Honolulu

Cutting arts funding will hurt everyone

The governor's proposed cuts in culture and arts funding (Star-Bulletin, July 13) will affect all segments of our society.

In schools, both public and private, the cuts will affect:

>> the creative development of children. Educators refer to the "multiple intelligence" that needs to be stimulated in the development of the "whole" child. As we have become focused on "teaching to test," we forget the importance of "teaching to express" through drawing, painting, sculpting, storytelling, acting or music.

>> lesson plans and field trips. While art education needs supplies in the classroom, our children also need access to exhibits and performances in these cultural centers to inspire and nurture their creative spirit. These cuts affect resources to the classroom teacher.

And what about the retired couple looking to enjoy an evening symphony concert or an afternoon at a museum? What about the tourists who want to learn about the host culture and its people, those things that make Hawaii unique?

Finally, what about the visiting business executive looking to establish a base or relocate in Hawaii, who considers not only the business climate but also the cultural climate to enrich future employees and their families? The potential loss in sustained income for employees, taxes for state and local government, and the hope and promise that a new business in Hawaii brings is incalculable.

Perhaps the question the governor should ask is not "How much can we save by cutting art funding?" but instead, "What is the price we pay when we cut art funding?"

Baron John Gushiken
Honolulu

Bush, supporters blind to mess he's created

Michael Moore's portrayal of our peerless president in "Fahrenheit 9/ll" demolishes the portrayal of George W. Bush as a bold, decisive leader. The merciless camera shows Bush immobilized in a cataleptic trance for seven minutes after being told about the 9/11 attack, incapable of processing this disturbing news. Informed of the insurgent Iraqis' attacks in 2003, he reacts with a schoolyard taunt, "Bring 'em on," as he courageously pursues his fund-raising efforts all over the United States. At a fat-cat fund-raiser, he jokes about his dependence on billionaires' donations. He calls them "the haves and the have-mores," identifying them as "his base." His inability to comprehend the disastrous mess he has created in Iraq is evident as he swaggers around the aircraft-carrier deck under a "Mission-Accomplished" banner.

Even today, with his perpetual, confident smirk and his "What, me worry?" Alfred-E.-Newman expression, Bush still doesn't get it. Unfortunately, his half-witted supporters also don't get it.

C.W. Griffin
Honolulu

Ed funds aren't just waiting to be spent

Your July 2 Star-Bulletin editorial "Release money to hire teachers" leaves your readers with the false impression that there is $2.1 million in an education savings account waiting to be released by the governor. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The Democrats in the Legislature have a bad habit of appropriating money the government does not have. This misleads parents, students, the public and teachers into thinking there is money for hiring more teachers when that money does not exist.

I would like to encourage the Star-Bulletin to look at the existing $1.6 billion the Department of Education spends in operating funds. According to the DOE, there are slightly more than 9,000 regular and more than 1,800 special education teachers in the classrooms. However, another 13,800 people in the central DOE have professional credentials. Many of these have the background and expertise to teach. In fact, one of the objectives of the governor's plan to break up the DOE was to free up these people to go back into the classroom where they can make a real difference in the educational achievement of our students.

The one thing that is clear is that the DOE can do a more responsible job of using the immense resources it now has to put teachers back into the schools and make student learning the top priority.

Sally Harper
Retired teacher

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[ BRAINSTORM! ] The city owns a large, underground facility at Fort Barrette in Kapolei that is sitting empty. What could it be used for? Some sort of archive? A place to stash gigantic holiday decorations? A temporary storage site for Evan Dobelle’s ego? Send your ideas -- include your name, address and phone number -- by July 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