Letters to the Editor

If teachers stopped teaching, then what?

Clifton Uyeda's letter of April 10 on how teachers are treated made me think back to last year's teacher strike. As a teacher, I remember several people saying, "You all should have known what teachers get paid before you entered the profession. If you don't like the pay, go do something else."

Well, if all the teachers went into another field, who would be left to teach? Would the state then sheepishly decide to raise wages?

And speaking about putting in time, as a band director, I put in time rehearsing students before and after school, teach during every lunch, work with students on weekends, repair instruments with my free time, plan major concerts and other activities, and shuttle kids to and from practice, in addition to paperwork and other things. Is the state going to tell me that I don't work hard enough for my money?

Henry Fu
Wai'anae

The choice to commit suicide is not the issue

Physician-assisted suicide is a euphemism for suicide.

Anyone can commit suicide for any reason at any time in any number of ways. It does not require the assistance of another person, much less a physician.

Advocates of the bills introduced by the governor claim the legislators are taking away the choice of terminally ill people to end their lives. The choice to commit suicide is not the issue. The issue is making physicians accomplices to suicide by prescribing the poison.

The Unitarian Church claims to have a survey showing Hawai'i residents support a law allowing physician-assisted suicide. I am a Hawai'i resident, and no one asked me. I am against such a law and have made my position known to my representative.

My father died of cancer. He fought in World War II in the 100th Infantry Battalion and was awarded a purple heart. But I got to see his courage firsthand in the way he faced cancer and death. He truly died with dignity.

Gloria Kaneshiro

$50,000 wasn't wasted in attempted rescue

The attempted sea rescue of the dog on a stricken boat did not cause $50,000 to be thrown into the ocean. It paid wages to people involved and is newsworthy enough to give people something nice to think about, what with more bad news than good news.

That dog did not cause itself to be on the ship, unlike some humans whose own actions put them in jeopardy and we have to spend thousands of dollars and even risk lives to rescue them. This money is not tax dollars. It's private funds.

The Humane Society in its discretion has done lots of good and gives people's spirits a lift. Even this attempted sea rescue kept me riveted and hopeful for a shining moment.

Life has to be more than just thinking in terms of money.

Teresa W.L. Wang

Women are available, so let them coach

Your April 3 article, "More female coaches needed in sports world," raises very critical issues. As a parent of a female athlete, I would like to know why our daughters do not have the opportunity to have mentorship and instruction provided to them by female role models in positions of leadership in the sports programs they participate in.

Can anyone from the OIA and the ILH inform us of the efforts they are actively taking to recruit and retain qualified female coaches for not only the girls but for the boys athletic teams as well? I know it is not for lack of qualified women who can fill the positions because our own state has hundreds who could step in if they were given the chance to do so.

So here we are, 30 years since the passage of Title IX, and the majority of our daughters' high school sports teams are still coached by men, and there are but a handful of female athletic directors in our state. Everywhere I look, it is a rare and enviable sight to see another team with a female in a head-coaching position. This is not to say that some of the male coaches are not good at what they do, but rather to ask where are the women who could be in these positions?

I also do not see female coaches for the boys athletic teams. So, again I ask, where are the women coaches? Hey, guys, I say let's play fair and let the women into the game, too. It's an effort that is 30 years way overdue.

Nora Schubert

Councilwoman Mansho a dedicated individual

It is sad that such a fine person as Councilwoman Rene Mansho was forced to resign.

I have known Rene for over 40 years; we were classmates in high school. She is a dedicated individual who worked really hard for the people in her community. She is a very trusted and loyal friend who is not afraid to help others.

There are so many of us who don't like politicians but are afraid to run for office to make changes. I'm one of them. I distrust almost every politician in office because they are out for one thing only, themselves. I haven't lived at home for over 23 years, but I know Rene very well, and she is a very good person. She and her family will always be my dear friends.

Good job, Rene Mansho.

Roland Nishimura
Las Vegas

Do something now about iguana problem

"If we could, we would like to try and eradicate them, but I don't think it's possible," said Lisa Nakayama of the iguana problem (April 9, Advertiser).

With that attitude and lack of action, our tourist business gets another nail in the coffin, to go with the "it's not my problem" attitude that was in effect at the beginning of the dengue fever thing. Wait until the tourists get a load of one of those iguanas.

The very first thing Nakayama and her department should have thought of was demanding of the governor a $50 or $100 bounty on each and every iguana, dead or alive, effective yesterday.

The fines and jail time for the idiots who are responsible for this destruction of Hawai'i should be doubled or tripled. We need something done now and the first thing should be the firing of the people who have allowed this to happen.

Don McDiarmid Jr.
Kailu


Traffic cam contract was way out of focus

Transportation chief Brian Minaai justified entering into a bounty contract with ACS, saying it would minimize cancellation expenses should the program be dropped after 90 days — approximately what has happened.

Later he said it would cost a million to scrap it. Also, ACS gets its bounty whether the tickets are held up in court or not.

Now $8 million is the "opening" negotiating price tag for a parting of the ways. I hate to imagine what it would have cost taxpayers to cancel the contract had Minaai signed a "loose" flat-fee agreement.

Edward Greaney

It's a mess out there; let's all clean it up

I am concerned with the garbage that is everywhere you look.

I spend my Sundays cleaning up bus-stop areas and have accumulated about 20 bags full from about three areas: Ward and Kapi'olani by Jack in the Box; Beretania and Punchbowl; and the Express lot on King Street. Dillingham is a mess; Nimitz Highway is the same.

I think residents should be asked to clean up to make Hawai'i attractive again. Businesses should police the outside for trash. Your help would be greatly appreciated.

Don Kambel