Builders should first have to provide roads

Before building permits are issued for housing starts in new communities along highways already too heavily traveled, the builders should be required to provide adequate highways to provide for the anticipated additional automobile traffic.

A recent Star-Bulletin article told that houses will soon be constructed along the H-1 freeway, which is already heavily overcrowded with automobiles. These housing starts should be stopped until adequate highways have been constructed.

My main concern is with the Ewa Beach/Kapolei area since I frequent it.

Much of teachers' work is off the clock

I can understand where Cheryl Yuen is coming from in her letter of May 9 ("Teachers should count their many blessings") as she and many others look upon teachers as working seven hours, five days a week for about 185 workdays a year.

Perhaps if they were aware of the hours each day (including weekends) that teachers spend without compensation, attending meetings with parents, grading papers, doing paperwork and making computer inputs relative to No Child Left Behind, special ed and helping students, outside of class time, with academic (and sometimes personal) problems, they would have a much different picture and attitude.

Teachers, for the most part, have baccalaureate degrees (or the equivalent) in education and have specialized in various areas (social studies, English, mathematics, music and the like). To be certified they must pass a special battery of tests and show satisfactory performance for a specified duration.

Teachers have a lot of required education under their belts, more work assigned than meets the layman's eye, and the "time off" should be more correctly identified as "time away from the school complex but not necessarily away from school-related work." We are losing too many teachers to early retirement, change of vocation or movement out of state to consider teaching in Hawaii as a high-paying, "cushy" job.

Why do races do well in different sports?

It would be interesting to compare the dominance of blacks over whites in certain sports and the dominance of whites over blacks in certain sports.

In professional basketball, there are more blacks than whites. In track, in the short races (the 100, 200 and 400 meters), the blacks dominate.

The whites dominate in swimming, men's golf and tennis.

What is the cause of this domination? Is it the physical structure of the participants or environmental factors? A research study of the causes would be an interesting subject.

Akaka bill favors 1 race, is bad legislation

The Akaka bill is not only unconstitutional, it is bad legislation. It is unconstitutional in that it aims to organize a sovereign government entity based on ancestry, a proxy for race in this case. Participation in the proposed governing entity is clearly limited to individuals of a Hawaiian ancestry, violating the equal protection clause of the 14th and voting rights clause of the 15th amendments. The United States is founded on the principle of equality for all citizens to enjoy certain rights, liberties and representation.

Furthermore, if a group of citizens received past unjust treatment, we abide by the practice of acknowledging the injustice, making reparations and ensuring equality of rights moving forward. We do not create within our country distinct sovereign governments based on association to that particular group. No such government entity exists for women, African Americans or Japanese Americans.Why are our elected officials attempting to illegally organize a race-based government that will segregate our nation?

I implore Senators Inouye and Akaka to work within the framework of the Constitution and vote against the Akaka bill.

Question about God, a tree and Satan

Regarding the May 6 story "Kansas puts Darwin on trial again" (creationism vs. evolution): If only God can create a tree, who, then, created Satan?

Preparation aids recycling effort

At the risk of overloading our favorite recycling site, I'd like to thank the people who operate the recycling program on the University of Hawaii campus on Sundays (except next Sunday, due to commencement).

We minimize our wait time by separating and counting our containers before we get there. We then notify the helpful staff of our counts and within 5 minutes leave with our "loot."

Don't let right-wingers infiltrate isle media

The sale of KHON and KGMB stations by Emmis Communications concerns me (Star-Bulletin, May 10). On the mainland, the right-wing conservative groups are buying out many media outlets to spread their conservative agendas.

I hope Hawaii will not make the mistake in giving in to these right-wing groups. I don't want to be brainwashed by their constant reminder that what's good for them is good for the country. I believe in the inclusiveness of all of our diverse people, and not by a select few.

UH should play match with service academy

Here is an idea for the Hawaii Bowl: Have the University of Hawaii play the service academy -- Army, Navy or Air Force -- that has the best ranking each year. Attendance will go up and a national audience will follow.

A UH-academy game will generate a national audience, not to mention fill the seats. It's time to make this meaningless bowl mean something!

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