Online courses could revolutionize college

The University of Hawaii should take advantage of the revolution in academia and use massive open online courses, or MOOCs. Instead of a president, the UH Board of Regents should hire a tech-savvy CEO who can implement the MOOCs and knows how to judge the compatibility of courses with the UH curriculum, systemwide. Do away with a whole layer of presidents, chancellors, vice chancellors, assistant vice-chancellors, their staff and all their consequent corruptions. MOOCs coming from Harvard or Stanford would deliver a significantly higher quality of education. If remediation is needed, there are immensely motivating online courses. Online discussion boards draw this generation of students like addictive video games and get them involved in classes.

Feroza Jussawalla
Waialae-Kahala

Wearing a helmet should be free choice

Lawmakers seem to have way too much time on their hands ("Skateboarders divided on helmet bills," Star-Advertiser, June 3). The proposal to require skateboarders to wear helmets is ridiculous and a typical knee-jerk reaction to a recent tragedy. Accidents happen, they always will, and that includes skateboarders. What’s next, life jackets for surfers? How about a ban on fast food? We already know that riding a skateboard is dangerous and that eating a Big Mac is bad for you, but we make that choice. We have that right. We don’t need the government to make it for us.

James Ward
Ewa Beach

Phased reviews disrespect our iwi

Gov. Neil Abercrombie is at it again. First there was the Public Land Development Corp. that citizens forced the Legislature to repeal. Now, ignoring a state Supreme Court ruling, the governor’s handiwork, Senate Bill 1171, passed this last Legislature. SB 1171 is a phased review of the impact of development projects on historic preservation and is the wrong way to go. The governor mouths Hawaiian values, but SB 1171 mocks our strong historic preservation laws and the Supreme Court mandate "to survey the complete project." Abercrombie disrespects our iwi (ancestral remains), insulting kupuna and Hawaiian practitioners who oppose highway projects and the rail on Oahu. Are we again forced to repeal another ill-conceived plan by this administration? Must we again resort to the courts for justice? The Superferry misadventure cost state taxpayers $68 million for nothing, because environmental laws were ignored.

Moanike’ala Akaka
Hilo

Tents at curb’s edge are very dangerous

Karen Scheid’s comments about Occupy Honolulu protesters blocking parking meters — and, more important, passengers from exiting cars on Victoria Street because their tents are on the edge of the curb — were excellent ("Protesters unfairly blocking sidewalk," Star-Advertiser, Letters, May 30). But, there’s more: Their tents on the Ward Avenue corner are also directly on the edge of the curb. Should anyone inside a tent stumble and fall, they (and their tent) would fall directly into the street in front of an oncoming car. The city should stop this tent-curb practice before there is a major accident.

Rianna Williams
Waialae-Kahala

Videos of football can be made remotely

Dave Reardon’s column presents a harrowing background of the problems and risks involved in overhead videotaping of football practice sessions ("At UH, even simple projects can’t get off the ground," Star-Advertiser, Further Review, May 31). They are shot from portable cherry-picker cranes — which are unstable in high winds — because it would cost $1 million to build safe towers. There is no need to have a video-grapher hold a camera on top of a tower or crane. Video is shot remotely all over the world, very inexpensively, from public building security desks to the grand telescopes on Mauna Kea, where astronomers control their sensitive observatory instruments from comfortable sea-level offices. Inexpensive, collapsible flagpole-like structures could carry the cameras. The videographer could sit in a chair at the base with a console on the lap. One videographer could control both cameras. This system could be in place in a matter of weeks, not counting bureaucratic overhead.

Jim Harwood
Manoa

Ka Iwi Coast highway is precious resource

The Hawaii Kai Neighborhood Board should be commended for having the vision to request that the 6.8-mile section of Kalanianaole Highway be designated as the Maunalua-Makapuu Scenic Byway. This incomparably beautiful scenic part of Oahu, which includes Koko Head, Koko Crater, Hanauma Bay, Halona Blowhole Lookout, Sandy Beach, Makapuu Lighthouse/Lookout and so much more of the Ka Iwi Coast is a rare, precious, natural and cultural gem — yet only minutes from an increasingly dense urban Honolulu. It is enjoyed daily by visitors and residents alike who on a clear day can see Molokai, Maui, Hawaii island and Lanai, along with humpback whales, green sea turtles, monk seals and numerous birds and fish offshore. The city and the state have spent millions acquiring land — Golf Course 5 and 6 and Queen’s Beach — to protect parts of the area from development. Designating it now as a scenic byway is another important step to ensure it remains in its wondrous natural state, so future generations can enjoy what many of us enjoy now.

Lucien Wong
Hawaii Kai

U.S. enemies someday will have drones, too

Recent discussions about the use of drones seem to neglect an important question ("Drones are effective — and necessary," Star-Advertiser, Island Voices, June 2). Drones can be used for observation, but more dramatically for assassinations of people we don’t like, anywhere in the world, like in a computer game. But hovering in the background of debates about whether to use drones domestically or overseas, or whether they can replace costly military or police interventions, or whether they are immoral and illegal is this question: What if the other side gets them, too? Most people seem to assume that the U.S. will have a monopoly, but nuclear weapons capabilities have proliferated, and so will drone technology, sooner or later. Then what?

David Chappell
Kaneohe

Honolulu skyline looks like a cemetery

The drive from Kapolei on H-1 offers an interesting perspective on the Honolulu skyline. The tall buildings look like a hodge-podge of tombstones. Erecting even taller structures will add to the effect of a crowded cemetery; each successive addition is more obscene. We may need a radical change in urban planning. Maybe we can divert congestion and capital from Oahu and relocate it to a neighbor island. We can start by moving state government. That could make room for more of this ugly development.

Bill Funk
Mililani

FROM THE FORUM @ STARADVERTISER.COM

Readers of the Star-Advertiser’s online edition can respond to stories posted there. The following are some of those. Instead of names, pseudonyms are generally used online. They have been removed.

"City kills attempt to reduce habitual 911 calls," Star-Advertiser, June 3:

» Gee, here was a way to save taxpayers some money and Mayor Kirk Caldwell killed the idea.

» I actually think that someone who has been a paramedic for 25 years, like the current director of Emergency Services, Mark Rigg, might actually have a better idea of what is reasonable for our EMTs to do versus someone who was an emergency room physician, like former ES Director James Ireland, under whose leadership the program was initiated in the first place. Rigg is not saying the program to visit top ambulance users to root out the problems is a bad idea. He’s just saying that community EMTs in Hawaii aren’t the best to do that. He points out that the state could take over the program and have better comprehensive resources for it. The state is eager to do it, but just hasn’t the timetable yet.
——
"Skateboarders divided on helmet bills," Star-Advertiser, June 3:

» Passing bills will not prevent these things from happening. We all have to take responsibility for our own health and safety.

» Unless there’s a law specifically requiring safety equipment, the family of someone injured or killed, even by their own negligence, on public property will most likely sue the city or state.
——
"Commission berates power company for bad service, high rates," Star-Advertiser, June 4:

» All you need to know is that the Public Utilities Commission continues to allow Hawaiian Electric Co. to have the most overpaid CEO in the state. HECO’s executives are nothing special, and because the company is a public monopoly, they are able to pay themselves whatever they wish, at the public’s expense.

» Don’t forget their workers who held us hostage when their contract expired. While everyone else, including the public sector, was taking pay cuts, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers got HECO workers a substantial compensation package.

» It’s not the company’s executives or the union workers, but Hawaii’s "Clean Energy Initiative" that is driving these higher costs.

» Nope. We’ve always had the highest or near-highest energy costs.

» PUC to HECO: "Bad, bad boy! Here’s your increase, now go charge more." The HECO bosses must be laughing their heads off. Take a day of bad press and a tongue-lashing, get 365 days of increased charges to their customers. Is this a great country or what?
——
"Going on a buta hunt," Star-Advertiser, June 5:

» I have seen animals slaughtered for consumption, but this "beast" observer seemed more interested in unnecessarily tormenting a noble forest creature than in providing food for his family.

» The writer Lawrence Downes points out that these hunters who do these hunts help control the population of feral pigs, which cause major damage to our island forests. So no, I don’t believe they’re "unnecessarily tormenting" these pigs.

» Well-written article, as it keeps you riveted to the text. It described the forest layout like you were actually there.

» Articles like this are why I love the Star-Advertiser. On the front page of the print edition, no less. Well done, Lawrence Downes.

» What a totally fascinating and entertaining article about a tradition that many locals know about but mostly have never experienced. The account was so well written and painted rich visual images of the environment. More stories of this caliber, please!
——
"Woman pays back $22,000 swindled from elderly man," Star-Advertiser, June 6:

» Do not believe any sob story or do so at your own risk. If you gotta give money, give it to your kids or family. People come here knowing that we are "soft touches," so be akamai.

» I’m happy that a bank teller had the wisdom to alert the police. Also, when they say the woman had previous conviction, one wonders how many undetected crimes she may have gotten away with.

» She probably scammed some other old lolo to get the $22K. Better check her out more for more victims.
——
"$2.16B biggest ever," Star-Advertiser, June 6:

» Wow. A very bloated city budget and all we are talking about is $8 million for nonprofits. Wake up, Hawaii!

» The City Council increased the size of the budget over what Mayor Kirk Caldwell wanted.

» Any Council members ever heard of the term "aim for a budget surplus"?

» All of these supposed government cutbacks over the last few years only to produce the largest budget ever?

Every year it’s the biggest ever.