Commission is asset to state department

Having served on the state Transportation Commission, I can say that the commissioners are a dedicated group of experienced individuals who volunteer their time and sincerely want to help their fellow citizens.

As an advisory group, the commission can enhance the operation of the Department of Trans- portation without hindering managerial planning or operation.

It’s impossible to quantify the negative impact to the public, since no one can predict the future, but losing this asset would be a loss.

I can’t see how elimination of the commission, as called for in Senate Bill 1214, will streamline operations of the department. There is no cost to the department for work done by commissioners outside of or during meetings. Commissioners receive $20 per diem and parking, plus air fare for those who travel from the neighbor islands.

It’s sad that the department has chosen to not utilize this high-value, very low-cost asset. Elimination would deny Hawaii citizens involvement in their government for the future.

David Marshall
Hilo

Nurses associations no longer affiliated

Your editorial, "Nurse layoffs could hurt care," was filled with important information for the general public (Star-Advertiser, Our View, Jan. 31). However, there was a point that needs to be clarified.

The American Nurses’ Association is not the parent of the Hawaii Nurses’ Association (HNA). HNA membership severed its ties with the American Nurses Association several years ago. It’s a pity that the name never got changed in the process.It creates confusion.

As a former executive director and board member of HNA when it was ANA-affiliated, I wouldn’t want anyone to link the two organizations at this juncture. The redesigning proposal and lack of process is too serious in nature.

In order to belong to ANA, which I do, I need to be a direct member.That’s the only way that Hawaii nurses can, in fact, belong to their national organization.

Marion Poirier
Mililani

Caan apologized, so let’s let him be

What’s with the vitriolic witch-hunt against the actor Scott Caan?

He has every right to state his opinion. In this great country, he can say what he wants, and we should all defend his right to say it,even if it sounds offensive.

Lucky we live in a country that lets you speak whatever is on your mind. And, after all, he did apologize.What more does he need to do?

Show some aloha and forgiveness, for heaven’s sake! No one should ever be threatened, or intimidated to pack up and leave (in his Danno character, or for real) just because he, or she, says something off the cuff on a late-night talk show, or wherever.

A poll run in this paper; a ridiculous petition against him?Stop! Get a grip, Hawaii!

Susie Eubank
Diamond Head

NFL players equal to gladiators of old

Plaudits to the RedBlueAmerica column for offering a strong clash of opinion ("Can NFL stay popular if head injuries persist?" Star-Advertiser, Feb. 3).

Sunday’s opinions were indeed diametrically opposed. But given the headline, I kept waiting for one of them to take a classical perspective and ask, "Can the emperor’s gladiatorial expositions stay popular if deaths persist?"

Football is the American equivalent of the violent exhibitions of the Romans. It raises the testosterone levels of its mostly male viewers, thereby distracting them from their misfortunes. "Safety" measures added in the century or more since its inception have only encouraged players from 5 years old to NFL greats to play more brutally and recklessly.

Ed Gaffney
Ewa Beach

Owner of killer dog is the real problem

I express my sympathy to Joan Severs-White on the loss of her cherished Yorkie, but it’s not the breed that is the problem ("Pit bulls, pit mixes should be banned," Star-Advertiser, Letters, Feb. 4). It’s the owners.

One, they let their dogs run loose in the neighborhood. Two, they did not properly socialize the dogs, or worse, trained them to be aggressive.

All dogs were once wild until mankind took steps to domesticate them. The wild traits will always be there. As with firearms, it is how one chooses to use them that counts. It is convenient to ban the dogs rather than hold the owners accountable.

Matthew L. Morita
Kapaa, Kauai

Gun permit bill just a money grab

The Legislature’s proposal for annual firearms permit renewal actually has nothing to do with gun control or public safety. It’s just another money grab — a lucrative new tax. With an estimated 1 million firearms in the state of Hawaii, an annual permit renewal fee of $25 (or more) per gun will generate enough new revenue to allow the legislators to vote themselves another 30 percent raise next year.

It can all be done by mail, similar to our annual car registration renewal fees.

Our lawmakers’ primary task seems to be coming up with new ways to increase state revenue by legalized robbery through excessive taxation of the public.

Donald Wyand
Makiki