Bullying bill isn’t pro-homosexual

It’s important that the Star-Advertiser include a diversity of points of view, but I have to wonder why you would run a guest column that includes such ludicrous insinuations as those written by James Hochberg ("Law aimed at bullying in schools poses threat to freedom of speech," Star-Advertiser, Island Voices, Feb. 19). To claim that the state government is intentionally promoting a "homosexual agenda" is ridiculous.

Safe schools and anti-bullying initiatives are intended to protect our youth. Kids are so vulnerable. Students who are targets of harassment can be severely affected. (Hawaii has a very high rate of attempted teen suicide.) On the other hand, the time to learn to be pono in speech and behavior, to be inclusive (or at least tolerant) of differences, is when one is young.

These are the strengths of improving Safe Schools.

Nancy Aleck
Manoa

Rail system leaves passengers standing

Wake up, rail supporters: 254 passengers will have to stand all the way to Ala Moana, unless you are one of the 64 lucky passengers to get a seat ("Rail’s road," Star-Advertiser, Feb. 19).

Somehow I doubt that the 40,000 automobile drivers that the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation is expecting to ride the rail are going to leave their cars to stand sardine-style with 318 other passengers.

Stop this craziness before 127,000 cubic yards of cement sink this once beautiful island of ours.

Pat Meyers
Kailua

Leave pensions out of overtime pay

Concerning pension spiking and the inability of either the governor or the chairman of the House Labor and Public Employment Committee to correct the glaring problem, blaming it on "management": Here’s a novel idea. Provide a tool management can utilize to correct the problem. Direct that overtime pay will no longer be included in the calculation for the establishment of final retirement pay. This way, managers can still assign overtime as needed without bankrupting the state in the long term.

Steve Wiggins
Ewa Beach

Principals deserve their compensation

Reporter Mary Vorsino seems shocked that Department of Education bureaucrats were making less that school principals ("Principals out-earn DOE superiors," Star-Advertiser, Feb. 17). I’m offended by the tone of the article and would be shocked if more people wouldn’t agree that the goal should be to keep the most talented and committed educators at the schools working for and with students and that school principals deserve to be compensated appropriately.

Admittedly, I don’t know the inner bowels of the DOE hierarchy, but if it is like the rumored University of Hawaii bureaucracy, there are way too many administrators and not enough educators helping students.

Kris Matsumoto Wong
Kaneohe

Marianne Cope’s sainthood praised

As a Catholic Church convert at Saint Louis High School in 1957, it is welcome news to me that Sister Marianne Cope, who administered to Molokai’s Hansen’s disease patients, will soon join Father Damien as a Hawaii saint!

Frankie Kam
Waikiki

Travesty of justice at Waipahu High

The recent case at Waipahu High School of the failure of school officials to report a possible sexual harassment case involving a student and teacher is a flagrant travesty of justice against the rights of the victim. It certainly brings to light why the public has a poor perception of the public school system.

Obviously, one can only make the assumption that these officials are poorly prepared to be administrators, which is the fault of the Department of Education.

I am outraged that Waipahu High did not initially report the incident to the police. Any excuse by the DOE or Waipahu High administrators to try and circumvent the procedure is indeed inexcusable.

Randall Ng
Kapahulu

Give tax breaks for bus-riding workers

Hawaii offers a variety of tax incentives, credits and exemptions to attract new businesses, help existing businesses and stimulate the growth of Hawaii’s economy.

To encourage people to leave their cars at home and use the bus, why couldn’t we have tax credits for employers who pay their employees’ bus fare?

Ideas on how to get more cars off the road take lots of time and money because of planning, construction and implementation.

Legislating tax credits and having a statewide campaign to get employers and workers "on board," could be done with a lot less time and effort.

It would be a win-win situation.

For employees: Free bus fare and less traffic aggravation.

For employers: Fewer stressed-out employees.

For TheBus: More ridership to justify expanded service.

For the state: Less wear and tear on the highways, which mean less-needed maintenance.

Ted Kanemori
Kaneohe

Car fees have not led to better streets

The registration fees for my car and van have more than doubled and are now approaching triple of what they were 10 years ago.

My question is twofold: Why so high and where does the money go to? It was my understanding that road and street maintenance would be funded by the fees, but I’ve seen little improvement on Waialae Avenue, where I live, and the conditions have gotten worse these past few years.

I hesitate to buy a new car because the conditions are so bad.

Gary Nakanishi
Kaimuki