Clear the air on public buses

Riding the bus should be a pleasant experience.

Highly offensive odors that create a disruption and make people physically queasy create an unhealthy and unsafe environment for passengers.

Chicago libraries, for example, have a rule that patrons “;should not enter if they have neglected their bodily hygiene so that it gives offense and constitutes a nuisance.”;

An exception should be made for those who have a debilitating condition certified by a physician that prevents them from attending to their personal hygiene.

Councilman Rod Tam has a long-standing record of listening to his constituents and supporting their legitimate concerns. Tam is a man ahead of his time. For example, he once supported a “;naps”; bill that would allow workers to take a short nap on their lunch hour or during a coffee break. Research, including a Harvard University study, shows that a power nap boosted performance back to morning levels.

I applaud Councilman Tam for his courage in representing his constituents' wishes as far as protecting the right to breathe Hawaii's pure, fresh and clean air while riding buses.

Government-run programs worrisome

Are we seriously considering going down the road of a government-run program for health care? Can't we learn? Look at the previous government-run programs and their status today: Medicare and Medicaid—essentially bankrupt and full of fraud, waste and abuse; education system—we spend the most per student than any other country yet rank poorly in most technical subjects like math and science, and is fraught with fraud, waste and abuse; financial stimulus packages and bailouts—most monies have still not been distributed, have had little positive effect and no doubt we'll eventually learn about fraud, waste and abuse. See any pattern here? Government is good about spending the taxpayers' money; its just not very good at managing the expenditures and often exempts itself from having to use the system set up for us normal people to use.

Going down this road is insanity at its very finest—doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

Gary Stark
Honolulu

Rider ready to trade TheBus for TheTrain

I'm a bus rider who is eagerly waiting for the new rail to start operating. I catch TheBus to and from work because it saves me a lot of money on gas and parking, and reduces the wear and tear on my car. But my bus is slow, seems to catch every single red light and, when UH and public schools are in session, it's often late in the afternoons.

When the rail system starts service in a few years, I will happily say aloha to TheBus and start riding the brand new trains. I'm sure they will be faster than our buses and much more reliable because they don't have to stop for red lights or accidents. I just hope the “;new train”; smell is as nice as the “;new car”; smell.

Tony Malufunga
Waianae