Why did police have to confiscate my bike?

I was recently a victim of Waikiki's active police patrol. I was pulled over in Waikiki on my bicycle for not having proper lighting after dark. I understand the safety concerns, but when they pulled me over and realized my bike was not adequately licensed, they took my bicycle.

Hawai'i must be one of the few states in the union that requires bicycles to be licensed, and it probably is the only one that will take your bike for failing to do so. They don't take your car for the same incident. With all the problems here in Hawai'i — traffic, methamphetamines, unaffordable housing — the idea of hunting down cyclists and taking their bikes leaves a bad taste in this citizen's mouth.

Counties should also get part of the fines

I was impressed with the April 24 article "Local-kine drivers" because it is true and fair: Each pictured practice is witnessed by motorists daily. All that was pictured is against the law, and references and rules can be found in the very handbook used to prepare for the driver's license test.

For the most part, those laws are repeatedly broken because for many years they have not been regularly enforced and now too many people apparently believe that such actions are acceptable.

Mike Anderson, in his April 25 letter to the editor ("Police get no help from state, its coffers"), may well have identified the reason there is very little enforcement — not that it is acceptable. But, being that it is true, wouldn't it benefit all (state, counties and driving public) if traffic fines were shared between the state and the counties where the citations were issued?

It seems that the county police agencies would receive much-needed funding and the state would receive additional funds through fines for violations that are presently not being identified to the courts (citations not being issued) — something evidently not happening now.

If money is the needed incentive to obtain more and stricter traffic enforcement, then I support it. Why, already motorists on Makakilo Drive and Palahia Street are back to their old practice of speeding while children are crossing the streets to either catch a school bus or wait for one, with no crosswalks for them to use.

Ala Wai plant cleaning step in right direction

Regarding the April 23 story "Plant cleaning of Ala Wai gets OK": As one who dabbles with fish and plants, I was glad to hear the state is rethinking its approach to improving water quality.

The $500,000 grant for floating islands is a step in the right direction. It will take a lot more to counteract the negative publicity aquatic plants received when the state spent $1.7 million to remove them from Lake Wilson.

Aquatic plants, as well as grasses and other plants on the banks of Lake Wilson and most of our streams, receive regular applications of poisons. It's unfortunate since they do the same thing the native plants on floating islands will do without costing us $500,000.

UH sports teams should pay their way

Did I read correctly that the University of Hawai'i athletic department lost $544,900 in the 2003-2004 fiscal year? Even after the men's football program, the men's basketball program and the women's volleyball programs contributed just over $4 million to the athletic department?

All the while, the university is trying to nearly double the cost of tuition over the next five years. The fact that its loss was "less than projected and less than last year" is not an excuse.

The athletic department needs to find these massive leaks in its budget and plug them immediately. If money-losing programs like the men's baseball team and the women's basketball team cannot be tuned so that they do not cause a deficit, they should be eliminated. Doing anything less is a disservice to the students, community and taxpayers.

Don't lower driving age for bus drivers

I am visiting from Australia, using a monthly bus pass to travel all over the island. Regarding dropping the age for bus drivers: I am a bus driver in Australia and don't agree that 18-year-olds have the responsibility to safely carry passengers on a bus.

In Australia, the age to drive a bus is 21. I do not feel that an 18-year-old has enough driving experience; defensive driving is an absolute must for being a bus driver — or any other type of driver, for that matter.

I notice how much easier the bus drivers here in Hawai'i have it than in Australia. The flat-rate fare is an excellent idea. You have an excellent system.