Attitude key for new UH leader

The first criterion for hiring a new University of Hawaii president should be attitude ("Ideas abound as hunt begins for UH leader," Star-Advertiser, May 8).

The new president should have the right attitude toward Hawaii and UH. "I am here to learn and work with you," will be just great. "I know it all, just move over," is a no-no.The spouse or partner should be just as akamai.

The search group should check out "Malamalama: A History of the University of Hawaii," by Robert Kamins and Robert Potter, to learn what made a great UH president.

The right person shouldhave no hidden agenda, like, "I am here to retire."The right person need not be local.I most value the accomplishments ofthree former presidents who all were from the mainland.

L. Stephen Lau
UH professor emeritus of civil engineering

UH travails will deter applicants

I find it difficult to watch certain of our state legislators gloating over the news of University of Hawaii President M.R.C. Greenwood’s decision to leave the job, saying, "It’s what is best for UH."

It may be what is best for making political sound bites, but it certainly is not what is best for the University of Hawaii.

What academic leader of any stature will willingly subject his or her self to the risk of our Legislature putting them through the same ordeal? As former regent Mark Fukunaga put it, speaking on behalf of Greenwood to the UH Board of Regents, "If you allow political interference, you are going to condemn this institution to mediocrity." Amen to that.

Joe Mobley
Hawaii Kai

Kochs eager to sway politics

The proposed takeover of Tribune Co. newspapers by the billionaire Koch brothers is a master stroke in their 2016 election strategy.

They began plotting to defeat President Barack Obama the day after his election in 2008 by supporting the systematic demise of unions (legislation to strip public employees of collective bargaining, which just happened to pop up in red states all over the map immediately after Obama’s victory), and supporting voter ID laws that were intended to keep minorities out of the polls.

Now the triple play: Control public awareness of issues like the impact of voter ID laws and global warming through control of the media. When oil companies run the media, think how many stories on oil spills there will be.

Cal Thomas decries liberal arrogance in justifying media control by oil billionaires while overlooking the facts and the true agenda ("Liberal arrogance has been key to newspapers’ decline," Star-Advertiser, May 7).

Peter Barmus
Kailua

Exposé of DHHL long overdue

I’d like to thank you for your recent articles on the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands and the hardships suffered by our own Hawaiians who should be getting the land they deserved. Sad.

Better late than never, I guess. Go interview the hundreds of indigenous Hawaiians who have been waiting for years for just a simple lot with a hale on it. This has been going on for longer than I’ve been alive.

There are so many discrepancies, prejudices and the whole "who you know" in that agency. It’s just abominable. I believe the same thing goes on with our Princess Bernice Pauahi’s legacy.

Finally there’s a light shining on these obscene practices going on at DHHL. Next, shine a light on which students get accepted at Kamehameha School. I believe you’ll find the same there.

Moana Higa
Kapolei

Kudos for move to protect water

Congratulations to the governor and state Department of Land and Natural Resources for securing funds in the 2014 budget to safeguard our water supply, and kudos to the Legislature for recognizing the importance of this issue.

Fresh water is a critical resource that must be protected, and the governor’s "The Rain Follows the Forest Initiative," which will be supported by the funds, is a step forward in preserving our watershed areas on all of our islands.

The allocated funds will potentially protect more than 13,000 acres of watershed forests across the islands.

Preserving the islands’ water supply is crucial for all of us, and it is encouraging to know that our Legislature has stepped up and taken action.

We need to protect and expand our freshwater resources, and this funding is a good start.

Barbara Kuljis
Conservation chairwoman, Garden Club of Honolulu