ATHLETICS

CONGRATULATIONS TO UH MEN'S TENNIS TEAM

Congratulations to the University of Hawai'i men's tennis team, which won its first-ever WAC championship this past weekend.

Along the way, it defeated three-time defending champion Boise State in the semifinals, and No. 1 seed Fresno State in the finals. The Warriors have earned a trip to the NCAA regionals May 9 to 11.

Most importantly, the Warriors represented Hawai'i as true ambassadors of aloha. Their level of sportsmanship while maintaining athletic intensity was a delight to witness.

Special kudos to Spence Mendoza, who came back from one set down to clinch the victory for Hawai'i, and to WAC freshman of the year Dennis Lajola, who won big in singles, despite some bizarre taunting from his outmatched opponent.

Finally, thanks to those Hawai'i expatriates who cheered the Warriors on, and the Las Crucens who adopted the Warriors as their own during the finals.

WAI'ANAE COAST

TENT-DWELLERS CLEARLY DO NOT INTEND TO MOVE

Why bother cleaning up the beaches, and wasting time and money?

Ma'ili Beach is supposed to be clean and rid of the tent dwellers, yet there are tent dwellers dug into the beach itself.

Numerous calls to the police fall on deaf ears. Try going for a walk next to Ma'ili Cove and encountering these squatters.

They have no intention of moving, and the police don't make them. So again I ask — since the community of Wai'anae is viewed as second-class citizens — why bother?

Obviously, we don't deserve the same benefits of those in various other parts of the island.

PRIDE OF ALOHA

CRUISE TO NOWHERE A CHERISHED EXPERIENCE

My family and I, all 17 of us, enjoyed a wonderful overnight cruise to nowhere on the Pride of Aloha this past weekend.

This was something that should have been offered on an ongoing basis to the local people a long time ago — something different, at an affordable rate. We didn't care if we docked anywhere. They could have anchored out at sea to save fuel and it wouldn't have mattered.

The fun was being on a cruise ship, enjoying all it had to offer — dining, entertainment, shopping, different activities all over the ship, meeting old friends and just enjoying great service.

Mahalo, NCL, for a wonderful overnight cruise. We're sad Pride of Aloha is leaving Hawai'i's waters this month. Safe journey to your next port.

GROWTH

RESIDENTS OF MILILANI NEED MORE PARK AREAS

Mililani continues to grow with more residential developments and crowded streets.

Whether on the sidewalk, on streets or in the dog park, there are people all over the place.

The parks in Mililani are crowded with baseball teams on one side and soccer teams on the other.

We need more parks to uphold the increased growth population in Mililani.

How about a bike park?

TRAFFIC

EXPANDING BUS SERVICE WOULD REDUCE CARS

Honolulu has a nationally recognized, award-winning, efficient bus system.

It would seem to me that greatly expanding this system to be of service to all neighborhoods might just be the incentive for folks to leave their cars at home, especially at $5 a gallon of gas (don't blink, it's coming).

As further incentive, make it free for everyone, 24/7.

I would have no problem paying the 0.5 percent extra general excise tax for such a worthy goal, which could be implemented very quickly.

I am strongly against the proposed huge white elephant called the rail, which is even now obsolete and will serve very few of us 10 years from now from Kapolei to Waipahu.

TRANSIT

RAIL SYSTEM WILL HURT OUR TOURIST INDUSTRY

We all know that tourism drives our economy.

Tourists come here and many rent cars to explore our beautiful island.

They want to see the ocean, feel island breezes and see mountain vistas. They don't come to look at an ugly elevated rail system. They want to drive our beautiful scenic and lightly traveled roads.

They want to have an island experience that will bring them back again and again.

But if our mayor gets his way, the promised traffic nightmare will eventually drive more and more visitors away from our island.

So, what started out as a positive act to restrict urban sprawl actually ends up being a new method of shooting ourselves in the foot.

Aside from overlooking the needs of the kama'aina drivers, can we really afford to pursue a path that will certainly hurt our visitor industry and thereby hurt everyone on our beautiful island?

Decent roads are an asset to all of us, and to our visitor industry.

Let's all get together and do the right thing.

Stop Rail Now is collecting signatures as you read this, so sign up and have your voice heard.