Why must schools sell soft drinks at all?

The Board of Education has taken a step in the right direction in voting to restrict sales of sodas on campus (Star-Bulletin, Aug. 19).

Although this measure will ensure that students have the choice of healthy beverages, sodas will still be available for students to purchase on campus. It seems to me that the many students who drink soda will continue to choose soda as long as it is available.

With the high incidence of obesity, tooth decay and other problems associated with an unhealthy diet, the board and Department of Education should do everything in their power to encourage and educate students in proper nutrition.

Wouldn't it be more cost- effective for the state to supplement the schools' budgets by the estimated $725,000 generated by the soda commissions rather than pay for long-term health-related costs associated with an unhealthy diet?

We also need to be sure that the "healthy" beverages are really healthy and not sugar-loaded fruit drinks.

Oblivious pedestrians pose a danger, too

In response to Daniel Stempel's Aug. 22 letter: Cyclists on the sidewalk are not the only danger around. Oblivious pedestrians wandering with no regard to their environment pose a much greater risk than a properly trained cyclist. They are unpredictable and make navigating more difficult.

Stempel says cyclists at the University of Hawaii should be forced to carry a bell to signal. But how would this work if they aren't even allowed on the sidewalks of UH in the first place?

Instead of prohibiting cyclists and treating them as terrorists, recognize them as having the same right to the pavement as everyone else. Then train them. Help them to know how to share the sidewalk even with people who don't want to share.

Until then, they will be outlaws and won't be in the right mindset to ride responsibly, let alone signal when wandering pedestrians get in their way.

Restrict nightclubs to human wildlife only

In Sunday's Kokua Line, Darren Tsuchiya, co-owner of Blue Tropix, describes the environment at his nightclub where he keeps three squirrel monkeys as being "no different from a zoo." Tsuchiya needs to go to the Honolulu Zoo and take a look at the Tamarin enclosure (the closest species to the squirrel monkeys the zoo has). He will see that the environment in which these animals live is completely different.

At Blue Tropix the squirrel monkeys are completely exposed to the stares of customers, their enclosure is horizontal in design and the sounds they hear are loud throbbing music and humans' partying. At the zoo, the animals have many places to get away from the stares of the public. The new primate enclosures are vertical in design to simulate their natural environment, and the animal are exposed to the sounds and smells of the nature.

In addition, the zoo is accredited by the American Zoological Association, which mandates that the zoo follow strict guidelines such as providing staff who are trained to recognize the needs of these animals.

Heinz Kerry will make a good first lady

Teresa Heinz Kerry is my kind of woman. She speaks her mind and is absolutely fearless when someone puts words in her mouth, such as when a news reporter asked what she meant by the term "un-American."

She sought him out and told him she said no such thing, "So shove it!" Right on, you go girl.

Then in an interview with Peter Jennings on July 27, when the incident was brought up, her reply, "When someone questions my integrity, I have a right to defend myself."

I can't wait to see her in the White House. Until now, we've had a string of lovely, outstanding first ladies who by and large deferred to their spouses.

Heinz Kerry has piercing brown eyes that say, "One false move, and I'm going to be all over you." I like that!

She reminds me of my dear late sister, Mina. She wouldn't take guff from anybody. Mina, like Heinz Kerry, possessed the same kind of "Watch-your-mouth toughness."

Except Mina would have said, "So shove it!" Then promptly bust the guys chops!

Opposing views on economy will aid voters

Last Sunday the Star-Bulletin printed excerpts from Governor Lingle's recent speech to a Rotary Club regarding the state's economic picture and what the governor perceives as her accomplishments. This Sunday the Star-Bulletin aired Democratic lawmakers' perspectives on the governor's speech.

Both articles make interesting reading. They cause one to look deeper for an accurate perspective, and they should prove helpful to voters at decision-making time.

Service in Iraq means more than re-election

I can't figure out what the big deal is with Rep. Tulsi Gabbard Tamayo's re-election ("Legislator headed for Iraq wants to keep her House seat," Star-Bulletin, Aug. 17). Is she actually going to miss any important change in the way the Hawaii Legislature does business?

If someone can prove to me that by being thousands of miles away, with better cell service then we receive on island, her election will cause a hardship for those she represents, I might become a believer in the Hawaii legislative process.

But I am not going to hold my breath. In 40 years nothing has changed. Tamayo should go to Iraq and do something that is much more important in the long run.