Letters to the Editor

Regents knew what needed to be done

Hooray for Lily King Yao and the rest of the UH Board of Regents. Students of the University of Hawai'i system should realize that these regents were chosen for a reason.

The tuition increase is not about race or ethnicity. The issue is money. Regardless of a student's ethnicity, the cost of a university is pragmatic. How many of us would walk into Liberty House and complain that we can't afford a sweater because of our ethnicity? The cost of tuition should be understood as the cost of tuition.

A good pair of shoes is worth the price. The incoming University of Hawai'i president comes highly qualified and is very influential. Yes, his salary is high, but no one is arguing his credentials. Let's be optimistic.

Remember June Jones? The coach has definitely proved to be worth his weight in gold. How could we not be happy with the probable chance that Evan Dobelle will accomplish great things for our troubled university? You get what you are willing to pay for.

A higher education is not a right; it is a privilege. Lee Cataluna quoted Mamo Kim as saying, "I think it's important to remember that the university owes the community an education."

The university does not owe any one of us an education. If you want a higher education, you owe it to yourself. If you have a dream, make it your responsibility to fulfill it no matter what the cost or hardship. A college degree is a privilege; ask anyone who doesn't have one.

Natasha Lum

UH holds its own against Ivy League schools

Ivy League schools are considered the best because of the small class sizes in the upper-division courses, and the faculty at these schools are often on the leading edge of research and publishing.

Well, UH-Hilo has small class sizes in most of its upper- and lower-division courses; the professors are considered by many as the best in their fields; and faculty works are published alongside the names of faculty from Ivy League schools.

Since the education I am receiving is comparable to that of prestigious private schools, then the faculty members who bring me that education should be entitled to a comparable salary.

Please, Gov. Cayetano, negotiate a fair and equitable contract for our university faculty. Show the voting public that the Democratic Party is committed to education. You have the singular opportunity of rewarding the hard work that has produced many learned students.

Becky N. Kawaihae

Tuition increase needed to pay Dobelle's salary

UH Students have protested the tuition increases. In fact, more students have signed petitions than voted in the last Associated Students of UH election. President Mortimer called them "rude."

Right now, there's a ceiling on tuition — community college students who take 15 units pay the same as those who take 12 units. By eliminating the ceiling while adding 3.3 percent to the per unit cost, the tuition will rise 30 percent for those carrying 15 units.

The university must increase revenue from all sources to pay the salary of the new UH president, Evan Dobelle. He does have an impressive resume. And it was necessary for the selection process to be secretive in order to be successful. But $442,000 (plus College Hill) is huge. According to a recent issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education, the median salary of a chief executive of a higher education system was $255,000 for 2000-2001.

The 23 California State University presidents were told in 1998 that their performances would be evaluated in part on their ability to woo individuals, corporations and foundations to give money. In all, a record $882 million was raised systemwide, including grants and contracts. Of the total, $252 million came in cash and in-kind gifts.

The market tanked last week. The 2001 mid-year endowment performance will be zero at both Stanford University and the University of Michigan.

Meanwhile, the combined endowment of those two fine universities exceeded $13 billion in value last year. The UH endowment last year (according to the annual survey published in the Chronicle of Higher Education) was $163 million. Adding a "modest justified" 30 percent to the UH endowment over five years will make Dobelle a hero.

But the UH should avoid any tuition increase. UH was founded on the belief that higher education is an imperative, not a middle-class perk, but something necessary in your bones. Squeezing the last dollar out of those least able to pay has been the approach recently.

Richard Thompson

Students can't afford to put off their plans

I don't know where or how to begin, but like many of the students at UH-Manoa, I am concerned and stressed out over our uncertain future.

I am one of the many students expecting to graduate in May, and I cannot afford to lose a semester's tuition or the effort and time already put into this semester.

Many of us have internship plans, others are transferring to other schools to continue in their education, and others cannot afford to put their plans on hold

If a strike takes place, then students will receive "incompletes" instead of a grade. Please do not let this happen to us. Nothing will be able to compensate the loss of a semester. Please be fair to the professors at UH because they help us attain our future goals.

Jane Ravarra

Ehime Maru's captain needs to explain, too

While the skipper of the Ehime Maru is in town, an investigative reporter should ask some questions about the accident, or the Navy Court of Inquiry should.

We have not seen any answers to some of the questions from the other side of the accident, such as:

• Who was at the helm of the Ehime Maru and who was at the sonar detection gear that most fishing boats now have?

• Have the Japanese government and fishing schools been notified of the federal judge's ban on longline fishing in Hawaiian waters?

• Has the Navy requested a reading of the log on the Ehime Maru?

• How many of these training ships are in Hawaiian waters?

• Are these trainees required to join the Japanese navy after graduation?

• Was evasive action taken to avoid the accident?

G.R. Conradt

Senate also must kill breakwater legislation

Congratulations to state House members for killing a bill that would call for the demolition of the existing breakwater walls at Kuhio Beach, Waikiki, and replacing them with unproven T-head large-rock groins.

Eliminating present breakwater walls would destroy this now-protected and safe swimming and wading area, not available elsewhere in Waikiki.

It is now the Senate's turn to stop any attempt to put this funding of $3.3 million back into the governor's budget.

Had the Department of Land and Natural Resources provided the public with an environmental impact statement, a process allowing maximum public input, it would have been better educated as to why these breakwater walls were built over 45 years ago.

George Downing
Spokesman, Save Our Surf

State can't afford to renege on tax cuts

In 1998, the Legislature recognized the need to cut taxes in Hawai'i and enacted a series of income tax cuts to be phased in over four years. The Senate is now moving in the opposite direction, trying to cancel the tax cuts scheduled to take effect for 2001 and 2002. Senate Bill 791, passed by a vote of 14 to 11 last week, would repeal those cuts.

The reality is that we can't afford to delay a tax cut. The total tax burden on our economy is already too high. We need real and substantial tax relief.

Legislators say they want to attract new businesses to Hawai'i. They want to encourage investment and economic growth. They want entrepreneurs to come to Hawai'i and create jobs. Somehow, though, they just don't see the problem in expecting all this while we have state taxes that are among the nation's highest.

At the same time, the national economic expansion appears to be slowing substantially and Japan continues to struggle.

Other major vacation destinations (Mexico, Puerto Rico and Las Vegas, just to name a few) are competing aggressively for the same tourists we hope to attract. Over the next few years, we cannot count on external factors to boost our Hawai'i economy.

We need to stimulate business and economic growth in Hawai'i. SB 791 is a move in exactly the wrong direction. We should follow through with the planned reduction in income tax rates and look for more ways to reduce the total state tax burden.

Ronald I. Heller
Leadership Council Chairman, National Federation of Independent Business, Hawai'i


Critical reader responds to editor

Regarding Editor Saundra Keyes' March 11 commentary in which she discusses the upcoming competition between her paper and the Star-Bulletin: Keyes notes that The Advertiser's "mission statement" calls for her to be "diligent, truthful, accurate and fair," yet I found three items of interest in her commentary.

First, she states that the matters surrounding the sale of the Star-Bulletin "hurt both newsrooms" of the two papers, yet I can envision only one newsroom that suffered — The Advertiser's — because of the ethically challenged actions of its parent company, Gannett Corp. Those actions have, according to almost everyone I've spoken with, steered community sympathy and support toward the Star-Bulletin.

Keyes then notes that "Once the presses here in the News Building can be devoted only to The Advertiser, we can publish an afternoon edition." That statement implies that they have been planning an afternoon edition for quite a long time, yet I don't recall that ever being mentioned prior to now.

Last, and most shameful, Keyes wrote that "If you wanted full coverage of the crash of two Army Blackhawk helicopters, of UH football coach June Jones' automobile accident, or of the USS Greeneville's collision with the Ehime Maru, you HAD to read honoluluadvertiser.com and The Advertiser." The blatant and exceptionally misleading implication there is that the Star-Bulletin did not cover those events. Nonsense.

Keyes' comments do not strike me in the slightest as being "diligent, truthful, accurate and fair." However, her "mission statement" also calls for The Advertiser to "entertain." Well, with comments such as the ones above, it is indeed entertaining.

Rick Ermshar