Ban Segways from sidewalks

The only vehicle with a motor on sidewalks should be disabled people in wheelchairs ("Tot’s injury revives Segway debate," Star-Advertiser, Sept. 30).

No motorized bicycles, no mopeds and no Segways, please.

I find the Segway people in Waikiki and elsewhereto be very arrogant. The child is 22 months old and was probably enjoying an outing with his parents; why can’t the sidewalk be a relatively safe place to walk without worrying about being run over?

Segways have taken over the sidewalk when I am walking around Kapiolani Park and along the Ala Wai.I should not have to get out of the way of motorized vehicles. Let them go off the sidewalk to go around me.

Even closer to downtown, by Thomas Square, I’ve had to squeeze into thehedge to let them go by and avoid being run over. They go faster than 8 mph and are arude menace on Honolulu’s narrow sidewalks.

Judith Pettibone
Makiki

Is Kawamoto disturbing iwi?

Recently while driving down Kahala Avenue and seeing Genshiro Kawamoto at work with his bulldozers and heavy equipment, it suddenly occurred to me that it’s possible no one has asked if he is disturbing ancient Hawaiian iwi.

As someone well-versed in ancient Hawaiian customs, I know that, historically speaking, there were many burials along this part of the coast, similar to Waimanalo burials encountered many decades ago.

He is destroying the neighborhood. He should be required to not only have proper grading, excavatingand demolition permits, but have someone from the Oahu Island Burial Council check on his work to see if any ancient Hawaiian iwi are being disturbed.

Mark Blackburn
Black Point

Tighten contract for UH officials

I am not a lawyer, but I suggest the following employment agreement, copied from the University of Southern California’s, be used for the 50 highest-paid employees at the University of Hawaii, including the new athletic director.

By the way, No. 50 receives $211,512 per year. UH President M.R.C. Greenwood receives $427,512. I do not think we will lack qualified candidates who will accept the terms, if the present ones do not:

"In consideration of my employment with the University of Hawaii, I understand that my employment and compensation are at-will and therefore can be terminated, with or without cause, at any time without prior notice, at my option or the university’s option.I understand that this at-will employment relationship may not be modified by any oral or implied agreement, and that no employee handbook, nor any course of conduct, practice, policy, award, promotion, performance evaluation, transfer, or length of service can modify this agreement."

Nolan Ahn
Lihue, Kauai

Business success related to effort

I really want to vote for President Barack Obama because he seems like a really good guy.

However, I have a big problem with his belief in income redistribution and that successful business owners aren’t 99 percent responsible for their success.

He seems to believe government programs are the drivers of the economy.

That’s just not accurate or true.

Yes, we all benefit from some kind of government program, but to suggest that without it, business owners couldn’t succeed, is just wrong.

Any smart business person knows that taking advantage of a good opportunity that furthers one’s business is the way to go. If that means taking advantage of generous government incentives, so be it. But it doesn’t mean that just because a business takes advantage of it, that it would not be successful.

Hard work, ingenuity and determination are the main drivers of success, not government programs.

Please give credit where it’s due.

Grace Saturnia
Waialae Iki

OHA purchase makes no sense

I am dismayed at the trustees who authorized the Office of Hawaiian Affairs’ recent purchase of the Gentry Pacific Design Center ("OHA buys property on Nimitz Highway," Star-Advertiser, Aug. 23).

Trustee Oswald Stender brought the proposal before the board on May 17 but it failed because it lacked the needed five votes.

Trustee Haunani Apoliona supported the proposal, but said she serves on the board of directors of the bank being considered to finance the purchase. Counsel for OHA’s board said it was a conflict of interest and she couldn’t vote.

Then, on June 7, the board counsel opined that Apoliona, miraculously, no longer had a conflict of interest because they took out specific references to Apoliona’s bank from the proposal. She was allowed to vote and the purchase was authorized.

Now OHA is spending a great deal of money to renovate an 80-year-old building instead of using the same amount of money to build a new one. It makes absolutely no sense.

Rowena M. Akana
Trustee at large, Office of Hawaiian Affairs

Exercise helps fight obesity

It has been said that adult obesity will increase during the next decade.

Why does it have to be this way?

Today I see more adults jogging and riding bicycles in the streets,and more aerobics classes than a generation or two ago. And I am happy to hear that now more girls are involved in traditionally male-dominated sports, like soccer.

When I was a teenager in the 1960s, the only way I felt comfortable doing any exercise was to swim in the YWCA pool or take dance lessons, because I was brought up to believe that it’s unladylike to run.

Fortunately, a little later, I found that the parks near the "Y" or other recreation centers have women as well as men jogging, so I began to feel more comfortable exercising in public places.

And these exercises kept my weight down throughout 40-plus years of my married life.

Mariea A. Vaughan
Ewa Beach

A lot of votes stuck in traffic

Attention, Kirk Caldwell and Ben Cayetano: Whoever comes up with a real traffic plan gets my vote.

All over the island, road repair work is going on, day and night. At most sites a police officer stands watching the traffic back up.

At serious accident sites, sometimes many officers are standing watching the traffic jam up. But seldom is traffic being actively directed to get people on to work, or to the doctor, or home where they need to be.

Maybe what is needed at work sites is a private firm providing professional traffic managers at a lot less cost than police officers.

At accident sites, what is needed is an active commitment to traffic direction separate from the accident investigation.

Help us, please: There are a lot of votes stacked up in our traffic jams.

Jim Poorbaugh
Honolulu