Letters to the Editor

There's no 'reward' for TV season ticket

As a subscriber to UH football "live" through Oceanic Cable, I recently received a postcard from it: "You ordered last year and this year we want to reward you!"

It read on, "Call Oceanic Time Warner Cable to order the 2004 UH football pay-per-view season. Take advantage of our EARLY RENEWAL SEASON TICKET PRICE OF $125." This will consist of seven home games.

As a subscriber for the past two years, I paid a price that was $50 less. My understanding from Oceanic is the price is fixed by UH athletics. What is the "reward"? Were the local couch potatoes fixed into the budget so they can count on us for the increase in UH sports' excessive use of funds?

Come on, that is not a "reward."

Senators' support on research appreciated

On behalf of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Hawai'i Chapter, I would like to thank Sens. Daniel Inouye and Daniel Akaka for joining with 57 of their colleagues in urging President Bush to expand the federal stem cell policy.

Embryonic stem cells are special cells that can develop into every type of cell in the human body and may prove useful in developing cures for a wide range of diseases. The stem cells are created from frozen embryos in fertility clinics, donated by couples who no longer want or need the embryo because they have finished with their fertility treatments. If not donated for research, the frozen embryos would otherwise be discarded.

In August 2001, the Bush administration announced that federal funding would be available for limited embryonic stem cell research on just a few stem cell lines that were developed before that date. Researchers are now saying that this policy is insufficient to advance this research to find possible cures and that President Bush should expand it to allow access to additional stem cell lines.

A recent national poll showed that two-thirds of voters support an expansion of this policy. The support of Sens. Inouye and Akaka for this position means the world to the more than 100 million Americans who suffer from diseases that may one day be helped by expanded embryonic stem cell research.

O'ahu needs to be more bicycle friendly

As a Canadian undergraduate student performing research at UH-Manoa this summer, I decided to bring along my bicycle as a healthy and fun way to tour O'ahu. Unfortunately, I immediately found that O'ahu is very unfriendly to bicyclists.

High traffic and roads with little room for bicycles create a perilous environment for cyclists. Riding is further impeded by the large amount of glass, gravel and other debris found on the sides of roads and designated bicycle lanes and paths.

Bicycling is thus unsafe, unpleasant and very stressful.

Many more people on O'ahu would ride their bicycles if the bicycle infrastructure is improved. This would not only help alleviate the severe traffic congestion on O'ahu, it would also result in a healthier population.

Look in the Islands for Dobelle's replacement

What is it about educational leadership in Hawai'i that's so hard? Why do those who select our school leaders go ga-ga over Mainland resumes?

In a state of over a million people, surely we can find talented Hawai'i residents who understand our local culture and who are capable of leading our only major university and our centralized Department of Education.

The Dobelle fiasco is only the most recent, albeit glaring, example of this "Mainland is better" syndrome.

Gov. Jack Burns, in a State of the State speech many years ago, diagnosed this unfortunate propensity to sell ourselves short. Too bad prior regents didn't pay attention to his warning.

Now the ball is in the new Lingle regents' court. While they made the tactical error of proceeding without his presence, they at least faced up to terminating the free-spending, egocentric, politically partisan president. But the real challenge is whether they will search for and find that legitimate nonpartisan qualified leader for UH within our own community.

So what's the cause?

In the Evan Dobelle debacle, if he was indeed fired "for cause," let the cause be made public so we, too, can help send him packing.

If, instead, it was hubris on the part of the regents, let them bear the cost of his contract buyout.

Dobelle's management style anathema to UH

Evan Dobelle appears to have excellent qualifications stretching back to the White House. He headed the Office of Protocol for President Jimmy Carter, was the treasurer for the Democratic National Committee, and president of Middlesex Community College, Trinity College, City College of San Francisco and the University of Hawai'i.

If you look closer (search the Internet), his college stays have been short, with many of the same negative themes repeated that we have seen in his stewardship as UH president. It appears that he forgot about protocol, keeping his personal finances separate, rising above partisan politics and projecting trusting relationships with all parties.

His position requires vision, leadership, fairness and willingness to compromise. His "in your face" management style has no place in a university president who must work with many diverse groups. I am sure there are many organizations that need his autocratic style of management, but not the presidency of a major university.

Poetic justice at UH?

It's ironic that Dr. Dobelle was sacked while shopping a Midwestern university for his son to attend, rather than the University of Hawai'i.