Who wants to mess with manta rays?

I cannot believe people would waste time and resources trying to enact legislation to protect manta rays (Star-Bulletin, May 2). I cannot believe anyone would try to even catch a manta ray! Any foolhardy attempts to subdue these creatures would result in destroyed fishing gear and/or bodily harm.

If anyone is dumb enough to attempt to mess with a manta ray, let them. Then tune in to the evening news and watch as these lolos get admitted into the emergency room. Public humiliation would be suitable punishment.

An empty place at the dining table

It has been a month since my son and best friend, Nathan, was killed on Makakilo Drive. His room now stands empty, his Star Wars action figures still set up on the floor, waiting for him to play with them.

When my family sits down for dinner it is more painful than any parent can imagine to see his empty seat. He is still there in spirit, but we miss his smile, his laughter and his presence. His mother, sister and I are at a loss as to how to continue, Nathan was so much a part of our lives. Therefore, I hold my sign on Makakilo Drive every Monday, in the hopes that I will change one more person and save a parent from this pain. I will fight against the Department of Transportation and all others that fail the common-sense test until all pedestrians are protected on our streets.

I would also like to take this time to thank Honolulu Police Department Officer Gabriel Gonsalves for helping us out with our efforts to slow traffic down. On Monday morning, Gonsalves pulled his cruiser over behind where Carolyn and Michelle Golojuch and I were holding our signs. At first we thought that he would tell us to disperse but it made me cry when he pulled out his radar gun and said that he was there to help us out.

Finally, I would like to pass on a message to the residents of Makakilo: Please slow down and pay attention on our roads! Our children are worth it as they are priceless!

UARC protesters ignore money troubles

The University of Hawaii students currently "demonstrating" against the $50 million military classified research program, and their right to know what is going on, should consider what will happen if the proposal to make UH a University Affiliated Research Center is turned down.

Perhaps the protesters can also suggest where to cut $50 million in expenses to balance out the loss.

Perhaps there could be cuts in programs such as astronomy, teaching, Hawaiian programs, medical, sports and arts. Or perhaps there should be an even stiffer hike in tuition, since the protesters seem to think money is no object.

Give me -- the taxpayer -- a break.

Media-driven hysteria drives coqui effort

Arnold Hara's statement that killing frogs with hot water is approved by the federal Animal Welfare Act is absolutely wrong ("Pipe traps can control frogs without chemicals," Star-Bulletin, April 28). The AWA (7 USC, 2131-2156), does not include any protection for cold-blooded animals such as frogs, something the reporter could have easily checked on the Internet. Instead, readers might proceed to cause suffering to thousands of frogs, while thinking it humane.

Sadly, the hyperbole that has driven the war on the coqui is the product of enviro-hysteria whipped up by local media who regurgitate predigested propaganda, using words like "shrieking" and "alien" to demonize a tiny frog whose voice is beloved in Puerto Rico.

In 2003 Mike Pitzler of the U.S.D.A. conceded that "it's sad, but true ... this may be an animal we're going to have to live with." So why in 2005 is the Legislature throwing millions of dollars at an impossible goal? Why have our representatives bought in to this issue with such fervor? Doesn't anyone at the Capitol take the time to educate him/herself beside what is told them by entrenched agency bureaucrats and lobbyists?

It is a case of the tail wagging the dog and the media bears much of the blame.

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