VIRGINIA TRAGEDY

STRONGER GUN LAWS NEEDED IN THIS NATION

I am deeply saddened by the senseless loss of life at Virginia Tech, and my heart goes out to the victims and their loved ones.

At the same time, I am angry that our lawmakers aren't addressing the rampant epidemic of gun violence in our country.

The U.S. has the highest rate of firearms deaths in the developed world. In 2004, there were 29,569 gun deaths in the U.S. — more than 80 Americans a day. Why do we tolerate this horrendous level of violence?

And why don't tragedies like the mass shooting at Virginia Tech spur widespread outrage, and a call for national laws that would help prevent many senseless deaths?

This is not a partisan issue and it is not about perceived constitutional rights, it is about responsibility, preventing violence and saving lives.

I believe the best way to memorialize the Virginia Tech victims is to implement responsible gun reform laws that will protect all citizens and help to prevent future deaths.

It's up to all of us to make our voices heard, and insist that our representatives advocate for and enact such legislation.

HEADLINE ON SHOOTING STORY NOT APPROPRIATE

"Grief, anger over what wasn't done." What a poor decision this headline (Page One, April 17) was.

Why would you begin to second-guess the calls that were made in the middle of a crisis situation before you would memorialize the victims?

As the main headline in the paper, it literally had me taken aback when I unrolled the newspaper and saw it. You should be ashamed.

"Loved ones share lives of students, faculty killed" would have been a little more appropriate, but I'm sure had you not tried to hone in on blame the first morning after a tragic event, you could have come up with something better.

COMPENSATION

VETERANS' BENEFITS SHOULD BE GENEROUS

The April 12 story in The Advertiser about the failure of the Department of Veterans Affairs to find enough money for the Filipinos who fought in the U.S. Army against the Japanese during World War II contained an unexpected confession concerning our own veterans.

I am referring to the explanation as to why our government cannot pay the price due these people who risked their lives helping us fight the Japanese in the Philippines in WWII.

According to Ronald R. Aument, deputy undersecretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, the veterans who live in the Philippines, should they receive full benefits, would have a "much higher standard of living compared with the rest of the country's population."

He then sticks his foot in his mouth, when he says "VA benefits paid to beneficiaries living in the United States, such as U.S. veterans, do not enable those beneficiaries to live higher than the general U.S.population."

Why, after putting their lives on the line for their country, shouldn't our veterans be able to receive compensation that would put their standard of living higher than the general population?

ELECTRICITY

MANY ENERGY SOURCES COULD POWER HAWAI'I

Recently, The Advertiser received a letter from a gentleman from Denmark who could not understand why Hawai'i was not energy independent via wind and solar energy.

It made me think about the $300 million we need to keep Hawai'i's farmland in agriculture and its farmers in the black ("Cost to save farmland: $300 million," April 1).

If Hawaiian Electirc Co. and its Neighbor Island subsidiaries provided incentives for wind farms on private and state windward lands, solar farms and hydrogen production from solar and sea water at places like Ka'ena point and Makaha (and their counterparts on the Neighbor Islands), methane production from ranches, along with wave energy and the geothermal already in use, perhaps sustainable agriculture and farmland could be a reality, and profitable to boot.

Every household and office building in Hawai'i could have a solar water system and photovoltaics for a fraction of what is being spent on death and destruction overseas each month.

Real jobs could be created. And, best of all, Hawai'i could export hydrogen and we might gain some real energy independence from foreign oil, increase national security and even have Hawai'i become a net exporter of energy. Imagine that, HECO.

MAKAHA

CITY SEEKING SOLUTIONS FOR PARK PROBLEMS

We share Rep. Maile Shimabukuro's concern about the facilities at Makaha Beach Park (Letters, April 9), but her criticism of the city is misplaced.

The recently removed comfort station was installed more than 15 years ago as a post-Hurricane Iniki emergency measure. It was supposed to serve as an interim facility, until permanent facilities could be built.

The permanent comfort station and a canoe halau were built across Farrington Highway because of the state's plans to move the highway farther mauka. Since then, the state has made it clear that it won't build the bypass road in the near future.

The park is split by the highway, and we share Rep. Shimabukuro's concern about safety. That is why we recently asked the state Department of Transportation for a crosswalk light to be installed on Farrington Highway. The state rejected the request.

Meanwhile, the interim comfort station on the makai side of the highway had deteriorated to the point that it needed more than $100,000 in repairs or had to be removed. We are looking into reinstalling a shower in the area where the temporary station used to stand.

Until we are able to reinstall this shower, for those who do not want to cross the highway, there is a shower on the makai side of the park toward Ka'ena Point.

HANNEMANN

IS CITY'S FULL-PAGE AD ON SEWERS APPROPRIATE?

I do not understand why it's appropriate or even legal for the city to take out a full-page ad in The Advertiser to justify its position regarding sewage transport and treatment overhaul.

Why do we have to be told over and over again what a good job is being done by Mayor Mufi Hannemann versus what a lousy job was done by Mayor Jeremy Harris?

This problem has been building for a long time, but we also know that it has to be fixed and it's now on Hannemann's watch.

So get focused, quit griping about the Environmental Protection Agency and tell us how you are going to fix the problems.

CONFIRMATION

YOUNG HAS WORKED TO PROTECT ISLE RESOURCES

We have closely followed the Senate hearings on Board of Land and Natural Resources Chair Peter Young's confirmation to determine whether our initial support of his nomination would be shaken by a "smoking gun" that senators on the committee indicated would be forthcoming.

We have considered public testimony, the public subpoenaed testimony and those portions of the written confidential subpoenaed testimony made available to the public on Saturday. There appears to be no "smoking gun."

Rather, the committee dredged up long-standing institutional problems within DLNR that pre-dated Young's appointment, and which will take many years to fix and the commitment of not just the director, but the HGEA, state employees, and the Legislature.

For example, the practice of using small-boat harbor fees for enforcement officers with harbor duties started long before Young was at the helm. And, ironically, raiding special funds for unrelated purposes is a practice that the Legislature itself has committed. The subpoenaed witnesses even noted that the disrepair of harbor facilities was a decades-long problem that started long before Young arrived, and to which the Legislature had contributed by underfunding the division.

One of the public testifiers said it best. If a director wants to be confirmed, "no do nothing." If you "try do something," you make enemies, and you will not be confirmed.

It is a lesson that other failed nominees, like former attorney general Margery Bronster, have learned the hard way.

Young has done nothing more than his best to work tremendously long and hard hours to protect Hawai'i's treasured natural and cultural resources. He has won back the trust of the very environmental and Hawaiian organizations that called for his resignation two years ago. He deserves re-confirmation.

The environmental and Hawaiian community will be watching the full Senate vote closely this week.

SPORTS

ILH STINGY WITH INFO ON GIRLS WATER POLO

Bravo for the OIA and its regular listing of scheduled girls water polo games, statistics and results in the newspaper.

For all the cost of attending a private ILH school, don't those female student athletes deserve the same publicity as their public school counterparts?

It would be great to know what's happening in the ILH girls water polo league, if it ever made it to the newspaper or onto the Web.

Shame on you, ILH athletic directors and executive director.

Will you ever update your Web site?

'ROMANCE'

PLAY REVIEWER WAS NOT AMUSED, AUDIENCE WAS

No one likes a bad review, but everyone deserves at least a fair one.

When Joe Rozmiarek states in his review of TAG's "Romance" that "the exaggerated farce is not funny," he once again fails to write either precisely or accurately.

While he is certainly entitled to say that he was not amused by the play, he was plainly in the minority that evening, as evidenced by the chorus of sustained and hearty laughter of the majority in attendance at the sold-out performance.