Will taxpayers bail out flooded library again?

The University of Hawaii's Hamilton Library again sees damage to books due to heavy rains (Star-Bulletin, Oct. 28). They say this time that “;water poured into the second floor due to debris-clogged drains. Then the water just poured in between the new and old portions of the roof into the library like a faucet.”;

I would say this is just another prime example of bad management and lack of responsibility by employees to do their job. Is anyone checking these drains on a regular basis? Did anyone do a water test between the new and old portions of the roof when the last repair was completed from the last time it leaked? How much money have we thrown at this in the last five years? Will the contractor be held responsible for this damage or will we taxpayers be stuck with the bill again, again and again! Let me guess, it's always the taxpayers who are stuck with the bill in Hawaii.

Olympics hurt Beijing's common people

Hawaii Pacific University professor Bill Sharp's commentary “;Beijing trades shame for respect”; (Insight, Star-Bulletin, Sept. 14) was excellent. For anyone interested in how the recent Olympic Games affected the common people and overturned much of the city's centuries-old lifestyle, I recommend the 2008 book “;The Last Days of Beijing, Life in the Vanishing Backstreets of a City Transformed”; by Michael Meyer, available at our state library.

American Meyer has lived in Beijing since 1995, living among Chinese people in hutong (old, narrow, crowded lane) and teaching English in a local school. He describes the evictions and forcible moving of thousands of people from their centuries-old homes and cultural activities to poorly built highrises often one to four hours away from their beloved neighborhoods and often from their businesses (if they still exist), done mainly in preparation for the Olympics. It is a sadly fascinating story.

Kahana residents are needed there

Hawaii supported the cultural living park concept in Kahana so much that the valley was bought by the state for that purpose. Families must remain in Kahana to provide enough human cultural resources on site to make it work. Eviction now is unnecessary and wrong. The cultural living park functions when overall (and not individually) enough people are guardian and caretakers of the several Hawaiian project areas, so they should stay where they are.

The Kahana community had a plan much superior to the one of the state with families close to specific Hawaiian projects. It is important that the cultural living park succeed. This cannot be done with a bureaucracy in Honolulu and individuals in Kahana. It must be mediated by a local community organization on site. This cultural living park must be a model replicable in other ahupuaa through Hawaii. Let us work together to make things right.

Find someplace else for Kahana evictees

The families at Kahana Bay have been living there for generations. While no one disputes the state's authority to evict them, it seems so inconsiderate not to find a place for them to relocate. The state holds thousands of acres of Hawaiian homestead land. It would be not only kind and generous, but also appropriate, for the state to give them priority. They might even be able to move their houses.

It is poor public policy to leave these Hawaiians homeless.

Genetic engineering has more benefits

It's time to move beyond the fear-mongering perpetuated by anti-GMO activists, to more reasonable and rational decision-making based on fact, not fiction. Third World countries all over the globe have experienced protests, rioting and political unrest caused by soaring food prices. It's clear that the world cannot address the growing demand for food unless farmers everywhere are able to produce more with greater efficiency.

Agricultural biotechnology has been used safely and successfully by millions of farmers living in developing counties. Disease and pest resistance, greater crop yields and drought tolerance are critical benefits of biotechnology in the face global warming.

Third World countries recognize that biotechnology could reduce hunger in their own populations, but activists from affluent countries fight governments to oppose adoption denying the rights of people who choose food over philosophy. Activists, such as those from GMO Free Hawaii, do a terrible disservice to millions of people for whom the cost and availability of food is literally a life-or-death matter. It's easy to say “;no”; to genetic engineering when your stomach is full.