FISHING

GILL NET ENFORCEMENT SHOULD BE IMPROVED

This is in response to the July 24 editorial on lay gill nets. As a fisherman on Maui, I have seen firsthand the destruction that these nets can do.

Recently, I have read some disturbing letters as well as e-mails calling for the banning of lay nets statewide due to the recent monk seal deaths and fear of more endangered species perishing.

I am a supporter of the ban, but I wonder if everyone realizes the real problem at hand is that the two seals that died were killed by nets being used illegally.

Maui has a complete ban on lay gill nets, but people still use them. This shows that a complete ban statewide will only result in people using nets illegally.

To say it is easier to enforce a complete ban rather than the current restrictions is a stretch of reality. Either way, enforcement officers are needed.

The only way to prevent more seals from dying in nets being used illegally is to beef up enforcement staff.

Another solution is to have all gill nets registered. This would help enforcement as any net not registered can be confiscated before it is used.

If any legislation is to be introduced, it should be to beef up our current enforcement resources incrementally over the next few years.

Or we can ban nets statewide and continue to find nets being used illegally while watching more seals die.

TRIBUTE

ROOSEVELT AD CHANGED MANY STUDENTS' LIVES

Thank you for recognizing the retirement of Roosevelt High School athletic director Rodney Iwasaki.

He has been a genuine life-changer for so many local, public school student-athletes. As mentioned in the July 21 article, he truly believed in "Kids first, athletics second."

In 1986, his words changed my life. While walking home from practice, I passed him as he was weeding the field — something he did most every day. He asked me what I planned to do after I graduated, and I couldn't answer him because I didn't know. He looked up, "Shawn, you are a Division 1 college football player. I'll write letters to some schools for you."

At that instant, he not only changed my life, but changed me.

He believed in me and that helped a young, unsure student-athlete believe in himself. You could look back at his time at Roosevelt High School and find many other stories like mine.

Although he would never admit it and refuse to take the credit, he most certainly deserves it.

Thank you so very much, Coach Iwasaki. I owe you.

TRASH

BULKY-ITEM PICKUP HAS BECOME EASIER TO USE

Thank you to Mayor Hannemann and his staff at the city for expanding the bulky-item pickup program.

It has become so easy to have large items picked up right at your curb. The instructions on the phone at the bulky-item pickup are easy to understand.

I hope everyone takes advantage of this program. Thank you for making life a little easier.

JAPANESE TOURISM

ADVICE GIVEN IN 2003 STILL HOLDS TRUE IN 2007

The diminished Japanese tourism market was predicted four years ago and these predictions have come true.

Some folks blame the fall of this market on the fall in the value of the yen and higher fuel costs. This is true, but equally true is the advice given by Japan's consul general to Hawai'i four years ago.

On Feb. 13, 2003, Masatoshi Muto, then consul general of Japan, shared his concerns, advice and insights into what it takes to attract Japanese tourism. Muto pulled no punches with the Pacific Asia Travel Association.

Muto said advertising in Japanese media may be a waste of money. He said we need to be in the Japanese media as often as we can with real stories about the people of Hawai'i, Hawai'i's culture and events and, of course, the weather.

He stressed that Hawai'i's weather is one of its major assets in the Japanese market. He nixed golfing and shopping as lures because golf in Japan is now affordable on good courses and most of the stores in Hawai'i are now available in Japan. Muto predicted that if Hawai'i did not make these changes, it will lose its share of this market.

Muto said we need to make Hawai'i "exciting" to Japanese travelers by developing and promoting water sports because this is what the "new" Japanese traveler wants.

Muto said stories in Japan about pickpockets and purse snatchers hurt Hawai'i's image. Muto said Hawai'i needs to make a major reduction in crimes against tourists. It appears today that law enforcement is proactive in this area with some new tools in this fight.

From our view on the beach of Waikiki, Mr. Muto was right in 2003, and he is right today.

ENVIRONMENT

SEWAGE SMELL ALSO NEAR KAHUHIPA AND KAHEKILI

Your article about the sewage smell in 'Aikahi (July 23) was timely and impressive.

If you would really like to enjoy the aroma of sewage where it shouldn't be, I suggest your reporters check out Kahekili and Kahuhipa any morning around 6.

Somewhere upslope of that intersection, there has to be a sewage-system problem. I have been driving that intersection Monday through Friday for the past four years, and I never fail to wonder why this has been allowed to go on.

If this daily stench was in Waikiki, Hawai'i Kai or Kahala, I'd bet the city would have taken action to correct the situation long ago.

I can't understand how the city can simply ignore this. It's both a health issue and an environmental concern.

It would be nice if Eric Takamura, director of the city Department of Environmental Services, would address this issue.

'AIEA CRASH

LET INDUSTRIAL SECTOR HAUL MILITARY FREIGHT

In reference to your July 29 article, "Range of failures led to 'Aiea overpass crash," the Sept. 5, 2006, accident on H-1 raises several important subjects.

Today's warfighter is smarter and better trained than at any time in our history. However, the expertise demanded of young military professionals is complex and diverse. That is one of the reasons America's military relies on and collaborates with the industrial sector: to draw on the unique strengths of industries in a way that results in a more capable and lean military in a state of readiness.

Everyone can learn lessons from incidents such as the accident at the 'Aiea overpass. In this case, it is the view of the professional trucking industry that, except for vehicles that are part of military unit deployments, military freight over public highways should be accomplished using commercial motor carriers who do this type of work every day.

Leaving it to the trucking professionals is better for the taxpayer, and lets military personnel focus on the work that is unique to their calling and for which they have been trained.

MIDEAST

U.S. HAS DESTABILIZED IRAQ FOR PAST 50 YEARS

I'd like to expand on Alfred Bloom's July 19 letter and invite Dave Reed (Letters, July 27) to consider the following.

The U.S. has meddled with and destabilized Iraq over the past 50 years: assisting Saddam Hussein in assassinations in 1959; assisting Saddam and his Baath party in 1968 with coups and assassinations; selling Saddam billions in military weapons throughout the 1980s despite his murderous campaigns; doing nothing while Saddam massacred Shiites and Kurds after the 1991 Gulf War; and now the current debacle arising from Bush's lies about WMDs.

I suggest the U.S. has done enough interference and chaos in Iraq. We need to leave now and seek accountability for our actions in order to obtain justice.

Once justice occurs, then peace will follow.

TRAFFIC

ALL BICYCLISTS, DRIVERS CAN LEARN TO SHARE ROAD

In regard to a letter on July 19 about bicyclists who don't obey traffic laws:

After riding my bicycle to work recently (completely legally) and being illegally cut off by a car, causing me to swerve, hit a curb, fly off my bicycle and break my finger, I have very little appetite for this kind of attitude from automobile drivers.

Last November, Honolulu voters amended the city charter to make our city pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly. While funds dedicated to this goal will go a long way, a change in attitude of some drivers (and bicyclists) will go even further.

Let's all learn to share the road.

CLINTON

WEREN'T 1993 FIRINGS OF U.S. ATTORNEYS SUSPECT?

You write: "So when the unusual mass firings of federal prosecutors by the Bush administration seemed suspect ..."(Editorial, July 27).

This implies that the mass firings in 1993 by President Clinton did not "seem suspect." Hmmmmm, guess The Advertiser has a short memory or selective definitions of what is suspect and not suspect.

HEALTHCARE

VA SYSTEM AN EXAMPLE OF UNIVERSAL CARE IN U.S.

On March 6, in response to a series of articles in The Washington Post that documented the poor conditions, neglect, and bureaucratic hurdles faced by outpatients at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, President Bush authorized the creation of the President's Commission on Care for America's Returning Wounded Warriors, headed by former senator and decorated World War II veteran Bob Dole and former Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala.

Recently, the Dole-Shalala Commission released its draft report, proving to the American public that the Walter Reed fiasco is just the tip of the iceberg. This draft report illustrates the enormous scope of hurdles facing our nation's wounded veterans. Many troops and veterans are forced to wait months and even years for medical appointments and disability pensions. Some veterans forced to wait have committed suicide, while others have fallen deep into debt.

In his latest film, "Sicko," Michael Moore states without hesitation that all of our healthcare problems would be solved by establishing a government healthcare monopoly (i.e., single-payer system advocated by every Democrat presidential candidate).

Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't the VA system already a form of government healthcare?

Perhaps Moore and all leading Democrats should read a copy of the Dole-Shalala report before imposing a system that will force Americans to commit suicide, just like the veterans do today, while waiting for the corrupt and bureaucratic government system to provide them with rudimentary medical care.

PENSION

COURT'S RULING ON ERS FUND IS LONG OVERDUE

Lawmakers cannot make future attempts to raid the state Employees' Retirement System. Thank goodness.

This ruling should have been made many years ago. The only failure in the ruling is that they do not have to pay back the $350 million. Why not? They should be required to pay back the millions plus interest for the past 40 years or so since they started using the money. The public is subjected to such requirements when we borrow money.

How come two justices cannot agree it is and has always been unconstitutional to raid and steal from the ERS?

Lawmakers have received glorious credit for their public works projects, which they were too incompetent to accomplish without robbing the ERS.

ERS is for the retirees and only the retirees.