Homeless making a mess of beaches

I have lived in Waikiki for many years and was very happy to see most of the homeless people off our sidewalks.

Recently, however, I went to the beach near Kapahulu Avenue and to my sorrow saw much trash littering the beach.

I asked the lifeguard if he noticed it, too. He told me that now that the law prohibits sleeping on the streets and sidewalks, the homeless are using the beaches for sleeping. To further attest to the problem is all the trash, including beer cans, that are left for us to pick up. I was on the same beach the day before and watched while a group from the Waikiki Aquarium spent hours cleaning that same area.

Aren’t the beaches being supervised to stop this problem? What good are all these laws if the police are not patrolling the area? I truly feel embarrassed that the many visitors who come are being subjected to what I feel to be a disgrace to Hawaii.

Ruth Weiss
Waikiki

Will Aiona mix religion, politics?

I believe in freedom of religion. But James "Duke" Aiona’s recent Scripture-laden campaign speech concerns me ("Aiona campaign aims to win religious voters," Star-Advertiser, Oct. 12).

How can he claim to be fair and objective when he sounds like he’s running on a religious law platform?

There are more than 20,000 different sects of Christianity in the world. Not surprisingly, Christians don’t agree on a lot of things — including the same-sex marriage issue.

If elected governor, what interpretations of Scripture will Aiona govern by?

More important, shouldn’t we have a governor who doesn’t curry favor from specific religious groups and is committed to our representative form of government?

Our Founding Fathers ran away from political religion. Preservation of our religious and personal freedoms requires we do the same. "Faith-based" voters should be as concerned as secular ones.

James B. Young
St. Louis Heights

Some TV ads being unfair to Aiona

I noticed recently a story on former Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona running a so-called negative advertisement.

Now on TV a real negative and non-factual ad being run from mainland sources against Aiona is not being called out. It seems like a double standard.

I am not a Republican or a Democrat. However, I have heard Aiona on numerous occasions say that while he is against abortion, he is in favor of a woman’s right to choose. He goes on to say that he has two daughters and a granddaughter.

I think most people are against abortion. It is an awful and serious decision that a woman (and maybe her doctor, family and spiritual adviser) should make.

I think that the Star-Advertiser should condemn these hatchet jobs on our people, much like the despicable job done on former Gov. Ben Cayetano. Let’s be fair.

Joseph Alexander
Waipahu

Don’t charge people for going to college

Young Americans who are not wealthy or able to secure financial aid or scholarships are all too often discouraged from seeking higher education.

They are forced to work or borrow extensively and upon graduation are saddled with stifling student loan debt, averaging $29,000.

Germany recently did away with college tuitions.The Germans know that denying a promising student educational fulfillment is denying society a contributing citizen to boost its economic and social well-being.

Germany even offers international students, including Americans, full, free college education, realizing that they can also contribute to the nation if they choose to stay.

My American son got a full scholarship in Japan to earn his master’s degree.

We do educate a lot of foreign students, but due to archaic and biased labor and immigration laws kick them out when they can contribute most to our society. Why can’t our laws be as enlightened as those of Germany and other countries?

Francis M. Nakamoto
Moanalua Valley

Opening hiking trail would be terrific

Hip! Hip! Hooray!

I am thrilled and encourage all parties involved to find a solution to open Stairway to Heaven ("Haiku view would be seen again," Star-Advertiser, Oct. 10).

It has been on my bucket list to do once, but have never been willing to risk getting arrested.

Bambi D’Olier
East Honolulu

Amendment poses threat to separation

Constitutional Amendment 4 on the November ballot would authorize tax support for "private early childhood education programs" in both secular and faith-based private schools.

While the proposed law and Article IX, Section 1 of the Hawaii Constitution both prohibit tax support for any form of discrimination (by race, religion, sex or ancestry), Amendment 4 would not seem to prohibit sectarian indoctrination in the tax-aided faith-based private schools. So Hawaii taxpayers could be taxed to support sectarian indoctrination that they would not choose to support voluntarily, and this would violate Article I, Section 3 of the state Constitution that protects religious freedom and separation of religion and government.

Amendment 4 also would allow public funds to be diverted to private schools not under public control.

Edd Doerr
President, Americans for Religious Liberty