Back to school, try to stay cool

Opening day has arrived for a new school year — and in the midst of ultra-hot weather, too. With the lucky few schools experiencing the exceptions, discomfort in the stuffy classrooms will be the rule.

And that had Corey Rosenlee, newly elected president of the Hawaii State Teachers Association, returning to a familiar talking point this week: the lack of air conditioning in most school buildings.

Of course, if your building happens to include computer equipment, those do need cooling. For example, the new data center on the grounds of the old Liliuokalani Elementary School will include AC for the optimal operation of the systems.

So, kids, you can keep cool, too, just by sitting next to computers in your school — if only computers weren’t in short supply, too.

Many conches against TPP

People rallying against the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which is being negotiated on Maui, have chosen an apt attention-getting device by seeking to break the world record for conch blowing during their protest against what would be the largest regional trade agreement in history.

The TPP seeks to link 40 percent of the world’s economic output, and would trample indigenous rights in the process, according to opponents. The blowing of the conch in this instance is certain to resonate throughout the Pacific, record or no.