Raise for UH coach not the way to go

Your article on University of Hawaii basketball coach Gib Arnold being offered a 44 percent raise from $240,000 to $345,000 a year left me incredulous ("Arnold offered $105K a year raise," Star-Advertiser, Sept. 29).

Such a wage offer at a time when other UH staff are being made to swallow 5 percent pay cuts, parking rate increases and hikes in health care premiums while paying a greater share of the premiums?

And while students’ tuitions are being hiked substantially?

A 44 percent pay raise for a coach with a 19-13 win/loss record?

Give me a break.

Even with a 32-0 record, to pay a coach a million bucks in three years sends the wrong message.

This is a very bad move for UH in these tight times — even if boosters are willing to put up some of the big bucks for the coach’s salary. Where is such support for academics or the other essential functions of the university? This offer to the coach is not the way to go.

John Witeck
Kamehameha Heights

Voluntary homeless have it figured out

Optimistically, we can humanely solve Oahu’s homeless problem.

Realistically, we must distinguish between those who are involuntarily homeless and those who choose a lifestyle of squatting.

In Hawaii, anyone can choose to live absolutely free on the most expensive real estate in the world — commandeering prime oceanfront properties and beautiful parks, enjoying free utilities and facilities, and free food delivery to the occupied areas with free clean up services.

Police ensure the protection of the rights of these individuals who choose from this smorgasbord of it’s-not-illegal-to-be-homeless options.

And there’s $1.5 million to provide on-site psychiatric care.

Actually, it’s those who enable the voluntarily homeless to thrive who need psychiatric assistance.

Stann Reiziss
Kailua

Ho‘opili needed for jobs and housing

There’s no doubt that our kids are our future, which is why we need to ensure that they have a bright one in Hawaii.

I, as well as my parents and grandparents, have all put in numerous hours of hard work in seeking a better life for our families.

I also have grandchildren, ranging in age from newborn to 11 years old. In just a few years, they will begin looking for work themselves. Where will that work be? Where will their better life be? Where will they raise their children?

For us to ensure stability for them, we need to create jobs and offer them housing opportunities so they can continue to live in the place they love.

Ho‘opili is the answer we’ve been looking for, to help keep our kids here in Hawaii.

Sidney Higa
Kapolei

Pot prohibition breeds violence

A recent court case in which the defendant had mutilated and dismembered his partner in a marijuana-growing business shows how money can bring out the worst in some individuals when the price is right ("Defendant found guilty in killing, dismemberment," Star-Advertiser, Sept. 2).

I no longer believe the federal drug czar and the Drug Enforcement Administration when they demonize and bad-mouth marijuana; without them doing that periodically, we would not have the black market in this country that we have. Much of the profit from the black market in marijuana goes to fund violence with the Mexican cartels.

Government officials used to lie to us about tobacco because the campaign contributions from Big Tobacco were so sweet; they lie about marijuana, too.

Phil Robertson
Kailua

If we want prosperity to return, root for the Yankees

Economists and political pundits are focusing on the wrong factors.

The only way for the United States to avoid a double dip recession is for the New York Yankees to win the World Series. And the only way for economic prosperity to return is for the Yankees to win again and again and again.

The Yankees’ championships in 1996, 1998, 1999, and 2000 overlapped with the greatest bull markets ever. The Dow hit a high on Jan. 14, 2000. The Yankees won the series that year, and I am confident that the bull market would have continued had they won in 2001.

Lehman Brothers collapsed after Red Sox won the World Series in 2007 (another part of the curse?). The markets were horrible in 2008 and early 2009, closing at a decade low on March 9, 2009.

Granted, the Yankees won the World Series later in 2009, but they failed to repeat in 2010, thus perpetuating the economic mess. All of this can be corrected easily with the commencement of a new World Series reign by the Yankees.

Surely this is something that Americans can agree on. Many Republicans doubt global warming, but they will acknowledge the need for the Yankees to win the series once they appreciate the benefits. Economic growth will accelerate, the unemployment rate will come down, and the likelihood of sovereign debt defaults in Europe will diminish.

Even rabid Red Sox fans must yield to the logic of the natural order; a Yankees’ victory will correctly realign the planets.

Charles D. Booth
Honolulu