Letters to the Editor

Anti-mosquito product takes care of the pests

I used to get four or five mosquito bites every time I went outside. Please allow me to recommend a product that has almost totally eradicated mosquitoes from my yard: Mosquito Dunks. It is available at 800-227-8664 from Summit Chemical Co. in Maryland.

Here is how it works: Place a quarter of one of the donut-shaped dunks in a five-gallon paint bucket half full of water and get rid of all other breeding areas. Mosquitoes lay their larvae there but the larvae never hatch because they are attacked by a bacteria in the product.

I have been using this method for two years now and it really works. Perhaps the state should consider using it as part of the control program. Six dunks cost about $12.

Jan Becket

Fluoridation decision was our No. 1 priority

I'm writing in response to the Sept. 21 letter from Edmund Pestana. Ed, if you knew the facts, you would not be so "shocked." Lana'i was not a "target" of the Department of Health back in March. We have a yearly community meeting sponsored by the Lana'i Hospital to prioritize our health needs for the upcoming year on Lana'i.

Two years ago, Lana'i decided that the No. 1 priority was the need for a kidney dialysis clinic, which we now have. In March, the DOH was invited, along with other health professionals and providers throughout the state, to give presentations on assisted living, emergency room upgrades and care, ground and air medical, fluoridation and others. Once the presentations were given, the Lana'i residents in attendance had the opportunity to vote for what they thought was a priority. It was a close vote but the Lana'i residents present voted fluoridation of the water system as the No. 1 priority.

As for letting the media know — why? It's a Lana'i community issue and none of their business, nor yours. In your statement about fluoride ("never been scientific proof"), here is a tidbit you might have overlooked. On Aug. 17, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta in its weekly report again recommended that community water systems be fluoridated to prevent and control dental caries in the United States.

Tell me, Ed, who should we believe — you or the CDC? Are you aware that Lana'i children between 5 and 9 years old have the highest rate of cavities in the state?

John Ornellas
Lana'i City

Early retirement is needed for Cayetano

Aloha Airlines has been offering early retirement for employees to help the company in time of financial crisis. I think Gov. Cayetano should look at this same idea for himself. That way the state won't go further into long-term debt.

The money he is asking for construction projects clearly shows he is concerned with his legacy. He's asking for a new West O'ahu UH campus when the present campus is in such desperate need of repairs and maintenance — not to forget the public schools with much-needed repair.

As for a new university medical school facility, do you think the state can maintain a medical facility right at the water's edge? The ocean conditions on that waterfront will have that state building looking like the Ala Wai boat slips in no time at all.

Early retirement is a good option for the governor so that new, positive ideas can take the state out into a diversified field.

Tom Aki

Yasser Arafat wants elimination of the Jews

Regarding your Oct. 11 editorial on Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat making choices: I urge that your editorial hierarchy read up on Arafat and the Palestinians.

Arafat is a terrorist, plain and simple. He was offered everything he could conceivably want by Sharon's dim-witted predecessor to the shock and amazement of the Western world — and he turned it down. He wants more than a negotiated peace; he wants the elimination of the Jews.

H.C. Coleman

Air passengers take on added responsibility

As most frequent flyers know, all commercial airplanes have several seats that are prized for their extra leg space. For the privilege of being seated in this area, passengers be willing and able to assist the crew in case of an emergency landing. Duties include opening the emergency exit door and assisting passengers debarking the aircraft.

Now it will be the duty of all capable passengers to assist the crew in subduing disruptive or unruly people, whether they are terrorists or deranged or simply enraged people who potentially interfere with the safe operation of the plane.

Passengers and crew locked in a closed physical environment, thousands of feet above the ground, must maintain solidarity and assertiveness to ensure their safety and that of fellow travelers. It's no longer possible to sit idly by and wait for flight attendants or pilots to handle potentially dangerous people.

Those intent on causing trouble on an airplane are greatly outnumbered and can be overpowered if passengers remain alert and cooperative in preventing a tragedy.

Bob Engelbardt
Kailua