Letters to the Editor

UH coaching situation doesn't pass smell test

Has someone lost his mind? We cannot afford to pay teachers, we cannot find money to buy books for libraries. Did I miss something, or did Hawai'i just get an NFL franchise?

The governor is paid only $94,000. Maybe UH needs to study more math. Football is a great sport, and I love it, but will that change the way we build Hawai'i? I think not.

One person who manages 50 to 60 people gets better than half a million dollars. The governor and mayor manage some 63,000 government employees.

Let's do the math. Football is big money, we love it, and we all know that, but how much does it bring into the state of Hawai'i?

This is not the NFL; it is Hawai'i. How much does the coaching job pay at San Diego State University?

UH's situation doesn't pass the smell test.

Airport personnel need better training

Several times this year, I have stayed in Honolulu on the way to and from New Zealand. Recently I've been very disappointed in the lack of the aloha spirit that used to make arriving in Honolulu such a pleasure.

The first surprise is the surliness of immigration and customs officers. Whatever happened to the smile and "welcome home" or "welcome to Hawai'i" with which passengers used to be greeted? Now it's just as unpleasant as arriving in Los Angeles.

Next is the filthy taxi waiting area — swathed in cigarette smoke and deep in butts, the curb lined with trash.

I must say that at my last departure, the agriculture and security people were great, keeping up a professional but pleasant demeanor, and the United Airlines check-in people were friendly and efficient.

If Hawai'i is serious about its tourist business, I suggest some training programs for airport personnel and a good cleanup of the airport surroundings.

Consult the community when making transfers

Let me get this straight. An interim dean (not the provost or the chancellor) decides to transfer the best coordinator that the Leeward-Wai'anae branch of Leeward Community College has ever been given (say the students and the community) — that is, he wants her demoted to where she had been 32 years earlier. (If that's not a demotion, what is?)

At the same time, the interim dean vaunts himself as the best judge — not of what Wai'anae needs but of what he needs to control Wai'anae? Is this a promotion for him to acting provost or acting chancellor? Doug Dykstra isn't even a dean yet, remember. The sergeant major gets to play general.

For the Lucy Gay transfer, Dykstra, the interim dean, should be, as he calls Lucy's status, "not demoted," but put back to teaching history, because he has not yet learned that the community is not the classroom.

Wai'anae has trusted the numerous Dykstras before (even some real, non-interim provosts). It will not swallow elephants on trust. Trust must be earned, like respect. The community counts in decision-making.

Sandy Beach littered with beer cans, bottles

I moved here a year ago and love the beaches. Some of the prettiest beaches in the world. And most of them I've been to are really clean. But lately the area at the Kealahou light at Sandy Beach is terrible. Beer cans, bottles and cases all over this beautiful beach.

This area is one of the places I like to relax at after a hard day's work. So last weekend I took it upon myself to pick up all the trash. A good community thing to do for the island. And I went back last night and it was all there again, so I picked it up again.

I like to have a beer on the beach, too, and relax, but can you please pack it up and take it with you or put it in the trash cans that are there? This is such a beautiful beach and island; let's keep it that way. You wouldn't want someone leaving all the trash on your lawn — why would you do it to the beach?

Students should be able to design uniforms

Public school uniforms are a big burden on intermediate and high schools, where students complain about the design. Students would tend to wear their own clothing underneath the uniform or wouldn't wear it at all and just violate the dress code.

During the past school year, I visited Wai'anae High School, the first public high school to have uniforms, and I saw some students wearing their uniforms properly, some not wearing them and some students overlapping their regular clothes with them.

As a student, I feel that the Department of Education and the school administrations should allow students to design their own uniforms, while still maintaining the school dress code. This would let students feel more proud of their uniforms.