Does UH need a chancellor?

The mysterious, Machiavellian machinations at the University of Hawaii deliver another victim.

It is impossible to tell what is going on or who is right, as finger-pointing at UH has become a fine art.

Nevertheless it is clear that the taxpayer, again, will have to pay millions to terminate a contract.

Is it too much to ask that we go throughan intensive vetting process so that a new top administrator will stay a while?Besides, we really do not need a top administrator, as the powers-that-be seem to be able to keep the place running in its usual mediocre way.

Paul Tyksinski
Kailua

Politics trumps principle often

Brian Schatz said he does not agree with a pension tax but he supported one anyway because Gov. Neil Abercrombie wanted one.

What Schatz is saying is that politics trumps principle. Unfortunately, this attitude is pervasive in our government.

Gerald Arakaki
Wilhelmina Rise

Schatz guilty by association?

Regarding Jack Morse’s concern about Washington sleaze and voting for Brian Schatz ("Too bad Schatz hasn’t fired his chief of staff," Star-Advertiser, Letters, July 27): How about Hawaii sleaze and the tactic of guilt by association used against Schatz?

Besmirching someone with someone else’s dirt is not a clarifying method; it mostly clouds the issues.

Jean Toyama
Downtown Honolulu

Violence not always answer

Columnist Charles Krauthammer believes the "fierce urgency of now" is being ignored by President Barack Obama (Star-Advertiser, July 25).

Well, the president does stop the disgraced neocons from advising unilateral military interventions over diplomacy in every world crisis. And he tries to build international coalitions with sanctions, believing history will determine whether limited engagements are effective. At the very least, we are not spending trillions and losing thousands of lives.

When American interests are genuinely threatened, military action is warrant-ed.

The hatred between the Sunnis/Shia/Kurds has historical roots. The insanity of war between the Israelis and Palestinians is tragic. Russia and NATO differences are ongoing.

But hysterical anger and outrage at every injustice that occurs worldwide requires cooler heads in decision-making positions.

Jim Wolfe
Nuuanu

Don’t let trees shade PV panels

Many municipalities across the country already have solar-access legislation prohibiting building structures or growing vegetation that blocks solar panels. Hawaii does not.

In early 2013, Maui Mayor Alan Arakawa’s office reviewed and determined that solar-access rights legislation must be enacted on a county by county basis, but only after the state Legislature gives the counties the go-ahead to do so.

House Bill 2165 (its companion bill is Senate Bill 2239) was introduced in January. This bill passed the Finance and Energy committees, several House readings and into the Senate, but died in March due to inactivity. As written, this bill addressed only blockage by vegetation.

I urge our legislators to support alternative energy and follow up on this legislation.

Steven Milewski
Kihei, Maui

Geothermal good for Hawaii

Innovations Development Group (IDG) has been proposing for years now a community-based model for geothermal development that our clients in New Zealand have embraced.

It has not seen the light of day here because of the tortuous nature of the bid process.

We believe we can do better than HECO’s profit-maximization model that has Hawaii residents paying the highest electricity rates in the nation.

Columnist Richard Borreca wrote that "geothermal energy is not the easy solution to Hawaii’s energy needs" ("Praising geothermal power, from a safe distance away," On Politics, July 8). He cites the problems of past actors, ignores the benefits of new technology and jumps to a conclusion that does a disservice to Hawaii’s need to stop exporting $6 billion annually to buy oil.

Electricity from geothermal energy has been around for about 100 years. Nowhere has there been an accidental release of gases that jeopardized life. Hawaii needs geothermal, not because it is "easy," but because it can be done right.

Pat Brandt
Chief executive officer, Innovations Development Group