UH administrators should handle work

Enough on the Wonder Blunder — who did what, political intrigue, hidden agendas and more taxpayer money spent, to what end?

If the University of Hawaii Board of Regents hired President M.R.C. Greenwood to lead, then let her. If the regents want her to be an administrator, then replace her. There is a fundamental difference between leadership and administration. Unfortunately, people with strong leadership ideas and drive typically don’t make the best administrators, so hopefully they select staff to complement their strengths and weaknesses.

The administration required to run UH should be handled by competent staff that can manage the day-to-day details such as approving expenses and dealing with security. Highly positioned and paid staff administrators should be dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s independently, as outlined in clearly written roles and responsibilities. Maybe it is time for a roles-and-responsibilities review.

Greg Schmidt
Hawaii Kai

Synthetics show futility of drug war

Your article, "Danger in disguise," highlighted not only the foolishness of our current drug policies, but also the waste of resources because of them (Star-Advertiser, Oct. 21):

» Because marijuana is illegal, more dangerous designer drugs are sold to "mimic" the effects of marijuana;

» Because of drug testing policies and the fact that marijuana is detectable by those tests for up to six weeks after its use, people use far more dangerous, yet undetectable drugs; and

» Every year, the Narcotics Enforcement Division adds drugs to Hawaiì’s controlled substances list and, time after time, chemists find ways to introduce drugs, sometimes by changing just one molecule that are not covered by the list.

Our current drug policies actually increase the harm of drug use and put the public at additional risk. More sensible, effective and less costly approaches are available if only we weren’t so focused on continuing the 40-year war on drugs.

Jeanne Y. Ohta
Executive director, Drug Policy Forum of Hawaii

Political elites usurp Senate seat

I am dismayed to keep seeing the phrase "once-in-a-generation Senate race in Hawaii" referring to the Lingle-Hirono contest. Are voters, the media and the entrenched political elite of Hawaii so jaded in their outlook to believe that whoever wins the 2012 Hawaii U.S. Senate race will inevitably be reelected in perpetuity?

That has indeed been the case in the past; however, how sad to believe that mere legacy is a reason to keep electing an individual. Apparently, healthy competition, merit and effectiveness after this election for the junior senator from Hawaii will be null and void as this is a "once-in-a-generation Senate race." The elite political class perpetuates its legacy.

Kurt Wollenhaupt
Haiku

No train means lawsuits, pollution

If the person running for Honolulu mayor who supports increases in greenhouse gas emissions and bus-jammed roadways in the urban core manages to pull off a win on Nov. 6 and then "stops the train," let’s be clear that there will be many more lawsuits filed by professionals who’ve invested their companies’ time in Honolulu’s mass transit system.

And that doesn’t even begin to cover the capital costs of building the proposed roadway "upgrades" or buying an additional 100 buses or covering the operational costs to hire hundreds of additional drivers and maintenance workers.

In the meantime, we will have shipped at least $30 billion out of state over the next 10 years to petroleum companies destroying our country’s environment and to political despots in the Middle East, South Asia, Russia and Africa just to power up significantly more privately owned internal combustion engines on Oahu’s roads, as well as the buses.

Shannon Wood
President, Windward Ahupuaa Alliance

BRT doesn’t need federal funding

Ever since this rail project came up, there has been talk about the $1.55 billion in federal funding. Even U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye talks about how important it is to get the $1.55 billion. I also heard that if we go with former Gov. Ben Cayetano’s plan, we will not get the $1.55 billion. Are we trying to build this rail only to get the federal funding? Since the $1.55 billion federal funding is not a guarantee, it seems that the rail is something above our heads that we cannot afford.

I think Cayetano has a good plan that won’t disrupt as many businesses and homeowners, and is cheaper. With his plan we don’t need to rely on the federal funding and it would relieve traffic sooner.

Kenneth Ikenaga
Pearl City

Space goes unused in Next Step shelter

Cindy Ellen Russell’s photo of the homeless Next Step shelter in Kakaako shows a lot of unused vertical space ("Colin Kippen," Star-Advertiser, Name in the News, Oct. 19). It appears that the shelter could certainly double or maybe triple its capacity, depending on the exact vertical dimension from floor to ceiling. A wooden or metal flooring system, similar to the shelving erected at Sam’s or Costco, can support tremendous loads. Obviously, stairs need to be installed and lighting and ventilation also need to be addressed.

Peter Aquino
Aiea