ADVERTISER CONTRACT

MUST BE GIVE AND TAKE ON BOTH SIDES IN TALKS

Dr. Jack H. Scaff Jr. offered his diagnosis (Letters, March 10) without examining the patient.

It's not clear whether Dr. Scaff was merely blasting U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie, or taking sides in a labor dispute without bothering to look at the facts. Dr. Scaff is only correct in his assertion that there "needs to be give and take on both sides."

The facts are: The Honolulu Advertiser and the six unions that represent Advertiser employees opened negotiations in May 2007 and have only met sporadically since then. Then, suddenly the company issued an ultimatum: Accept our final offer in 30 days or we will implement it. There was no "give and take" on the part of the company.

Fortunately, cooler heads at the newspaper prevailed, and the company agreed to return to the bargaining table. Hopefully now, "give and take" will have a chance.

As for Dr. Scaff's charge that Rep. Abercrombie "has little or no experience in business," he misses the fact that Abercrombie has been instrumental in creating thousands of good-paying jobs for Hawai'i's workers and millions in profits for Hawai'i businesses.

RECYCLING

HI-5¢ PROGRAM IS ALL ABOUT RAKING IN MONEY

I am not convinced that the editor who wrote the HI-5¢ editorial fully grasps the program as designed.

People do not stand in line to "cash" in bottles and cans for 5 cents. They do this to "get back" their 5 cents. They have already lost their 1 cent to the program (paid 6 cents).

They have also lost the time spent in bagging bottles and cans, traveling to redemption centers, and standing in line.

This is not a great incentive to recycle for the environment. When they look to see whether cans are eligible that tells you they are not truly into recycling or landfill concerns. It's the money, stupid!

The state is about $25 million ahead at this point of the program and counting. And they can't give people 5 cents for an ineligible can, preferring to let it lie in the gutter?

Why can't people understand this is not an environmental thing, it's a money thing.

DRAGON'S GIFT

MAGNIFICENT EXHIBIT AT ACADEMY OF ARTS

The February-March exhibition of "The Dragon's Gift" at the Honolulu Academy of Arts is magnificent and fascinating.

It brings the viewer into the mysterious Himalayan Buddhist world of Bhutan, a thunder dragon land of steep ranges, deep valleys and dense forest between Nepal, Burma, Tibet and India.

It displays the Buddhist Bhutan cultural arts through 110 paintings, sculptures, textiles and ritual objects.

This is a country that has a official policy of gross national happiness rather than gross national product.

I want the Bhutan dorje (wisdom) and drilbu (compassion). Bring me into Bhutan's world of arhats, bodhisattvas, stupas and mandelas.

ENERGY COSTS

SHOCKED AT INCREASES IN RECENT HECO BILLS

I have reviewed my Hawaiian Electric bill for the past two months and am flabbergasted at the 41 percent increase from a year ago.

I realize energy costs have increased, but 41 percent? That is about $100 more a month from last year, and nothing has changed in our household of four people.

I called HECO to see if there was a mistake, and was told this is happening to everyone.

Can this be true? Wonder what the CEO is pulling down.

RAIL

MITIGATION MEASURES WILL CUT TRANSIT NOISE

The Honolulu Advertiser article of March 11 ("Steel rail cheaper but noisier option") reminded me how difficult it is to explain the "rocket science" mathematics of acoustics.

As a member of the city's project team working on noise analysis, I think it would be beneficial to understand a few basic concepts regarding transit noise.

Noise levels are measured on the A-weighted decibel scale (dBA) according to how sensitive the human ear is to sounds of different frequencies. Sound levels in typical libraries are about 40 dBA. Noise levels in a busy store like Macy's or Sears would be about 60 dBA.

The newspaper article included a table of pass-by noise levels for various technologies. If we adjust the values to 50 mph at 50 feet for each, the two rubber tire technologies are reported as 74 and less than 80 dBA. The three steel wheel values become less than 75, 77 and 77 dBA. These numbers are consistent with the FTA-provided values and demonstrate there is almost no difference between the technologies in the noise generated.

With a modern rail system, nearly all of the noise is generated where the wheel contacts the guideway. This is very different from city buses, where most of the noise comes from the engine and exhaust system.

If the vehicles are operating on an overhead guideway, a very short barrier 2 to 4 feet high will block the wheel noise generated by rail transit. A rubber-tired guided bus would require an 8- to 12-foot barrier to mitigate the noise it generates. For people standing on the ground, the noise level would be reduced by 5 dBA or more by these barriers.

The impact calculations quoted in the article from the Alternatives Analysis did not include any noise-reduction measures. Discussing noise impacts without considering these mitigation measures is akin to talking about the noise generated by a car without a muffler.

Preliminary results from the environmental impact statement analysis suggest that with mitigation measures that will be included in the project, all of the noise impacts from rail transit would be reduced to moderate or completely eliminated.

EGG-THROWING INCIDENT

SAINT LOUIS SCHOOL MUST TACKLE PROBLEM

I was not at all surprised when I heard that the four boys involved in the recent incident in Lanikai were students of Saint Louis School. If harassment issues are not addressed within the school itself, then how can they expect the students not to take this type of behavior out into the community?

Students, primarily athletes, are so used to getting away with things like this on campus that they may feel untouchable when they step off campus.

Yes, there are punks at all schools, but it is how the administration fairly handles these situations.

Covering up and turning their heads when certain students mishave will lead to more incidents and embarrassment for the school in the future.

We all remember the Las Vegas incident a few years back. One would think that was a wake-up call.

VANDALISM MAKES EVERY ALUM LOOK BAD

Let me begin by saying that I will not be surprised if the Saint Louis students (football players) who were involved with the vandalism in Lanikai are not disciplined.

I have seen nothing significant happen to previous football players who were involved in other behavior unbecoming of a Saint Louis man (vandalism in a Vegas hotel room, under-age drinking, etc.) during my years at Saint Louis. I have seen preferential treatment given to football players and teachers who make excuses for it.

If Saint Louis wants to make a change in the status quo, if it wants to really stand behind what its mission statement is in developing boys into "gentlemen in character," then it needs to have a zero-tolerance for behavior like this.

Everyone makes mistakes when growing up, but making decisions like this (as well as those that I mentioned earlier) should be unacceptable. When an incident like this occurs, it makes every alumnus of Saint Louis look bad.

There was a time when men of character meant something to every Saint Louis graduate. Let's see if history does in fact repeat itself.

WE DON'T HEAR ABOUT DISCIPLINE FOR TEENS

Gerard Jervis did the right thing.

Anybody would have done the same thing. If someone threw eggs at my house, I would chase them, too.

The problem here is these teens will get a slap on the hand and Mr. Jervis will get the more serious charges.

We are not hearing about any consequences for these teens who threw the eggs. These so-called football players should be suspended for the rest of the year.

Again, Mr. Jervis, you did the right thing. Family Court should slap these boys with the stiffest penalty.