VACATION RENTALS

B&BS KEEP MONEY IN ISLAND COMMUNITY

Barbara Krasniewski (Letter, Nov. 10) talks about the impact of vacation rentals in our communities. They do impact our communities. These rentals particularly benefit small businesses in the community, such as neighborhood retail stores, neighborhood restaurants, local art galleries and gift shops, grocery stores, and bakeries.

The money isn't sent off island to Mainland hotel companies, it stays here in our communities.

These rentals also provide income for cleaning, yard, pool and other businesses. That money also stays here in our communities.

There is a place for well-run, well-regulated vacation rentals and B&Bs in our communities.

ADDRESS HOUSING WOES BEFORE ADDING B&BS

Wouldn't allowing more B&Bs take away from rentals in our local communities?

Before we allow more B&Bs, we should address our own problems: housing affordability, homelessness, housing availability.

It is a shame that we have to shove our families in makeshift buses or in tents and then hear about allowing more B&Bs. Maybe if we don't allow more, there will be more places for locals to rent and we can help take away that temptation or idea that the only way to get by in Hawai'i is to have a tourist-type business in your home or neighborhood.

Sure, it won't solve our housing problems completely, but at least it would be a step in the right direction and not be adding fuel to our problem.

LOCKER SEARCHES

SCHOOLS MUST ENSURE RIGHTS OF STUDENTS

If the Board of Eduation intends to approve random school locker searches "with or without cause," they must ensure they respect individual privacy while looking out for student safety.

First, students need to be aware before they get a locker that it can be searched. A simple agreement stating the terms of the policy will be adequate. If students object, they can choose not to use a school locker.

Second, there must be a system of accountability. Schools should emphasize that while searches can be random, officials will ensure that they will not happen just on a whim.

Each search should be recorded, noting date, time and result. If during the search a student's personal property gets damaged or lost, officials should accept liability and offer compensation. These measures offer a sense of security to students.

Schools can argue they are not obligated to do anything because lockers are their property. But if searching lockers really will make students physically safer, then certainly these procedures that respect their rights and demonstrate responsibility on the part of the school aren't too much to ask for.

SUPERFERRY

STATE SET POOR EXAMPLE FOR FERRY'S OPPONENTS

The court has ruled and so the Superferry will sail again, and I think that is a good thing.

But how it will arrive is more than just questionable. Our attorney general has said he hopes no one on Maui will violate the law and he has intimated that demonstrations against the Superferry would be a threat to the rule of law.

My question to the attorney general is, "What incentives do Superferry opponents have to respect the law when they have watched the state do just the opposite?"

ISLANDERS CAN'T FALL VICTIM TO NIMBYISM

There have been a lot of NIMBY (not in my back yard) issues in the news lately. Things from school expansions, landfill relocations, and the Superferry have all been greeted by the cry of "NIMBY!"

Everyone needs to remember that we live on small islands in the middle of a large ocean, and there simply are not enough backyards to satisfy all the complainers.

SHIPPING COSTS

JONES ACT NO LONGER VALID IN TODAY'S WORLD

Shipping costs are going up again. Given the rising cost of oil, the increase is no surprise.

However, I think we all know a significant reason for the high cost of living in Hawai'i is the cost of shipping in almost everything we purchase.

The Jones Act severely limits and virtually eliminates competition among shippers to the Islands.

The tired old excuses justifying the Jones Act are just that. Tired old excuses that are no longer viable in today's world.

It is essential that our representatives in Congress address this issue and get relief from the Jones Act for the good of Hawai'i.

Competition among shipping companies is needed. It is the only way we can gain some modicum of relief from the ever-rising cost of living in Hawai'i.

ALOHA STADIUM

CAMERAS WOULD HELP MONITOR UNRULY FANS

To improve the safety for all the many football fans who attend games at the Aloha Stadium and to expedite the removal of unruly individuals, Aloha Stadium officials could better monitor the crowds by using video cameras capable of filming anyone who physically and or verbally harass others during the games.

IRAQ

VOTE FOR CANDIDATES WHO WANT TO END WAR

I am a hard-working person for a nonprofit organization that has positive impact in the Islands. I cannot begin to imagine what it would be like to be employed by an agency whose business plan was based on lies and whose work orders were to cause destruction and pain to families, workers, homes and communities. Through death, injury or having to live with the psychological aftermath, the lives of service members and their families are being permanently scarred by this illegal and immoral war.

We know that nearly 4,000 U.S. troops have died. We know that hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have died. We know that a few corporate entities are profiting enormously from an occupation that has no official end.

I stand in solidarity with Americans, Iraqis, and peoples of the world calling for an end to the occupation, in solidarity with Lt. Ehren Watada for declaring the war is illegal and speaking truth to power.

I refuse to vote for any candidate who is not willing to immediately end the occupation. I hope many others feel the same.

REFUGEES

BHUTAN ALSO HOLDS A DIRTY LITTLE SECRET

Mike Gordon's article on Nov. 5, "A Portrait of Happiness," and, I suspect, Tom Vendetti's film "Bhutan: Taking the Middle Path to Happiness" only portray some of the realities of Bhutan.

Beneath the mystique and glamour of its fabled Shangri-La image, Bhutan holds a dirty little secret.

In the early 1990s the Bhutanese government forcibly expelled tens of thousands of ethnic Nepalis whose families had been living in Bhutan for generations. The original families had been invited to Bhutan to fill a critical shortage of agricultural labor necessary to feed the people of Bhutan.

It is difficult to reconcile ethnic cleansing with the adherence to the Buddhist teaching that all forms of life are sacred as described in the article.

So much for Shangri-La — these people born and raised in Bhutan yet not recognized as citizens have languished measurably unhappy as stateless refugees in camps in Nepal for more than 15 years with no resolution on the horizon, lost or otherwise.

TRAFFIC SAFETY

DRIVERS NEED TO PAY ATTENTION ON THE ROAD

Two recent letters on traffic safety make it clear those drivers don't have a clue.

The operator of a motor vehicle is required to look as far down the road as can be seen and anticipate everything that might happen along the way.

With more than 50 years of driving experience around the world, I have yet to hit a bird, cat, dog, bunny, kangaroo, man, woman or child because I pay attention to the road ahead.

I don't hold conversations with passengers, play with the radio, drink, smoke, text message, telephone, shave, groom or read because I know that, without warning, a pothole or other obstacle could blow out a front tire, a rock could suddenly fall from the sky, a driver's door on a parked vehicle could suddenly swing open and I might encounter a vehicle being driven on the wrong side of the road.

As for the letter requesting more traffic lights for pedestrians, that is the last thing pedestrians need because the buttons soon become inoperative, making it impossible for pedestrians to cross the street in a fair, timely or legal manner during the six to 12 months it takes to replace a defective button.

I'm betting I'll die of old age before the pedestrian button at the busy intersection of Kalakaua and Kapahulu is repaired.

LICENSING

DRIVER FINDS CITY'S VISION TEST INACCURATE

My experience with the vision test for a driver's license was the same as Loren Lee's (Letter, Nov. 9).

On two or more occasions, I failed the driver vision test only to go to an optometrist and measure out to 20/25.

At the optometrist's, I was surprised at how clear the chart was as compared with the one at the licensing bureau, where the horizontal lines were much weaker than the vertical lines.

Jeff Coelho's repeating of the manufacturer's praise for their machine does not change the fact that for me, at least, it did not measure my vision correctly.