Superferry would be good for islands

We are writing to express our support for the Hawaii Superferry. We feel it will be an important addition to our state and provide benefits for all islands. We must not let a few vocal anti-development activists kill this opportunity to unite our islands and provide increased opportunities to move freight and families.

What is meaning of 'academic freedom'?

The University of Colorado has launched a review of Ward Churchill's writings and speeches to see if he overstepped academic freedom and should be dismissed. But the university's president, Elizabeth Hoffman, said public debate about firing him only clouds the issue.

Uh ... how do you "overstep" freedom of speech? Does it not apply to university professors? Or only to certain university professors? Or maybe only within certain universities?

What is "academic freedom"? Is it different from other kinds of freedom? How many kinds of freedom are there?

Where can one find a list of all the different freedoms, and where and how they apply?

Hawaii should support clean elections

Currently an important bill is making its way through the state House and Senate that would bring clean elections to Hawaii. By publicly funding the electoral process, clean elections allow political candidates to focus more on the issues than on funding their campaigns. Clean elections level the electoral playing field.

Maine and Arizona, where the majority of candidates run CE campaigns, have demonstrated the effectiveness of such a bill. House Bill 1713 and Senate Bill 1689, also known as the Comprehensive Public Funding bill, has already made it past the first steps in our Legislature and needs your support to become reality. I urge all citizens concerned with maintaining a healthy democracy to contact their state representatives in support of this bill.

Social Security plan doesn't make sense

President Bush talks about Social Security as if the sky were falling! The facts are that Social Security can meet 100 percent of its obligations for the next 37 years with no changes to the current system, according to the Social Security Administration itself.

Privatizing Social Security would cut benefits and place younger workers' accounts at the mercy of the market. The only people sure to benefit from the president's plan are the money managers, who collect commissions whether the market goes up or down.

Without Social Security, almost half of today's seniors would live in poverty. It just doesn't make sense to replace a guaranteed benefit with a guaranteed gamble.