Think creatively to upgrade UH

As the 2014 legislative session gets set to convene, I can’t help but reflect on the $500 million facility maintenance repair bill at the University of Hawaii-Manoa. This gets us up to par; no frills and no upgrades.

We also have a shortage of operating funds at UH-West Oahu. The Campbell Estate donated the land to house an institution for higher learning, not to sell to fund daily operations.

Let’s think outside the box and explore other options. Why not consider the sale of parts of UH-Manoa to fund new construction to create a state-of-the-art university on the UH-West Oahu campus?

Imagine reduced traffic congestion during the rush hour commute, more of our children kept home for college, affordable tuition and a nice ride on the rail to support our Rainbow Warrior athletes in their new sports complex.

Jason Takara
Palolo

New pesticide a serious danger

Bioengineered herbicide-resistant corn and soy crops are blanketed with herbicide and everything dies off but the crop itself.

This has been in practice for decades. As the weeds around the crops have become resistant to this herbicide, Dow AgroSciences wants to create bioengineered corn and soy seed crops that can now be resistant to 2,4-D.

If the U.S. government deregulates corn and soy seeds, this means creating corn and soy seed crops that are bioengineered to resist the 2,4-D herbicide, which is classified as a "hormonal" herbicide.

2,4-D is highly toxic and for these grain crops to be bio-engineered to be resistant to this toxic chemical is a serious danger to the consumer. Also, America’s livestock is fed these grain crops, thus practically everything we consume will potentially contain traces of the highly toxic herbicide if this deregulation ensues.

Just to imagine our corn and soy plants doused with 2,4-D is unfathomable and a serious danger to anyone’s health.

Han Song
Kaneohe

Fireworks law seems adequate

Other than permitted firecrackers, all forms of fireworks have been banned since 2011, because they are dangerous.

Shadrach Ramos-Dias, a 25-year-old adult, was seriously injured while handling banned fireworks ("Grandmother urges ban on fireworks after grandson’s injury ‘shatters’ family," Star-Advertiser, Jan. 3).

His grandmother wants "stricter laws." Stricter than "banned"? Or sufficiently strict that Ramos-Dias and his purveyor will be fined or arrested?

My grandma said, "If you play with fire, you’ll get burned, so don’t come crying to me." If only we could protect people from themselves by banning irresponsible behavior.

John Corboy
Mililani

Girl’s overdose was criminal

The staff at that dentist’s office did what the late Michael Jackson’s doctor Conrad Murray did ("Girl injured at dentist office dies at hospice," Star-Advertiser, Jan. 5). There is glaring probable cause that those responsible for the death of 3-year-old Finley Puleo Boyle should at the very least be arrested for manslaughter.

Murray went to jail for overdosing Jackson and not following medical protocol.

This is even worse than the Jackson case, as Jackson facilitated the event. This little girl was completely innocent.

Earl Arakaki
Ewa Beach

More lights deter homeless

I get up and walk down Kalakaua Avenue between 4 and 6 every morning while I am on vacation in Waikiki.

I noticed that I don’t encounter anyone sleeping on the street on Kalakaua from Lewers Street all the way to Liliuokalani Avenue.

I quickly came to the conclusion that from Liliuoka-lani Street to Kapahulu Avenue, the streets are very dark and have little or no bright lighting, so it invites sidewalk sleepers to take a nap for the evening.

Better lighting does help.If business owners along Kalakaua added better front lighting, tourists would be most appreciative and feel much safer, too. They would not have to skip around all the sidewalk sleepers.

Alex Chalmers
Vancouver, Wash.

Delegates lack budget restraint

Upon review of the 2014 priorities of our four elected members of Congress, all I can say is, "Wow" ("For a better Hawaii," Star-Advertiser, Insight, Jan. 5)!

They are all economic deniers. None of them start with the basic economic facts of life. After reading about our need to fund pre-kindergarten, fortify and expand Social Security and other bleeding-heart, progressive spending schemes, we are now $17 trillion in debt as a nation. Affordable health care reform is proving to be more expensive than proposed, with more people losing insurance than getting it.

How about a 2014 resolution to stop wasting money? We don’t need federal funding of cowboy poetry or government studies of romance novels. And if we plan to save any more car companies like Chrysler, could we please not save the ones now owned by the Italians?

Mark Felman
Kapolei

Fuel pellets will leave waste

Regarding the use of biofuel pellets for fuel ("Pellets pitched as fuel for Oahu," Star-Advertiser, Jan. 3), there is no mention of the waste products and the cost to remove them.

Perhaps one of Hawaiian Electric Co. engineers could comment on this before wasting the customers’ money.

Les Q. Spielvogel
Hawaii Kai

Make parking at Laniakea safer

The tradition of parking between Laniakea Beach to Velzy is along the side of Kamehameha Highway.

To expedite parking, it would help if the shoulders were paved or improved to allow for smoother and faster ingress and egress.

The concrete barrier along Laniakea beach only shifts the same problems to areas before or after the barriers. Moving the problem is not solving it. An improvement to the shoulder would reduce the amount of time that cars are stopped while vehicles maneuver to avoid pits or deep drops along the edge of the pavement.

Parking along Kamehameha Highway will occur, so make it safer and easier to park and leave.

Leonard Leong
Manoa

Knife wielders can act quickly

It is always very easy to judge a police officer’s action after the fact ("Police overreacting to knife wielders," Star-Advertiser, Letters, Dec. 26).

I encourage critics to sign up for citizen’s police training or become officers themselves.

They will learn that a person wielding a sharp-edged object such as a knife within 21 feet can get to you before you can unholster your weapon. In a hot, dynamic situation, where your life and those of others are in danger, it’s not as easy as one would think.

Moana Higa
Kapolei