Give Coach Chow his walking papers now

The University of Hawaii needs to release head football Coach Norm Chow.

Currently, the worst thing the university and its regents can do is nothing. The athletics department announced it will lose $3.5 million this year; it would take less than $1 million to buy out Chow’s remaining contract.

Coaches are given a three-year contract with a possible two-year extension for a reason. They need to show improvements in the team’s performance and game attendance within the first three years.If successful, their contract is extended.

Not making a decision will hurt the program and the institution.UH will lose more money by not releasing Chow now.

Write the season off and invest in the future by giving a new coach time to recruit for next year.

Steve Fukunaga
Ewa Beach

Interim hoops coach was excellent choice

Kudos to University of Hawaii-Manoa Athletic Director Ben Jay for giving the basketball team the support, leadership and guidance it needs now, in the aftermath of Coach Gib Arnold’s unfortunate firing, by giving the assistant basketball Coach Benjy Taylor the position of interim head coach for the 2014-2015 season.

UH officials could not have made a better choice than Taylor. He has proven himself to be a pillar of support for the team, encouraging the players’ academic and athletic pursuits. He genuinely cares about them as students, athletes and human beings.

In the interest of objectivity, it is apparent that both Jay and Taylor have no other agenda than the welfare of student athletes.

Roselyn Locke
Downtown Honolulu

Earn’ does not apply to concept of aloha

This is in response to the letter stating that bicyclists need to earn aloha ("Sometimes aloha has to be earned," Star-Advertiser, Nov. 13).

I have heard that about respect, but it seems to go against the very meaning of aloha to say you have to earn it.

I used to commute by bicycle but had many experiences of people not respecting my space on the road, leading me to quit for my own safety.

I’ve been sideswiped on Kalaianaole Highway while in the bike lane.This means there is now another car on the road in front of, next to, or behind you in traffic, instead of a bicycle in the bike lane.

I’ve never understood people’s animosity toward bicyclists, but it is real on Oahu.

Embrace the bicyclists, especially the commuters.Each one of them is one less car on our already congested roadways.

If I felt safe I would be riding my bike from Hawaii Kai to Kahala to work, but it’s a war zone out there for two-wheelers.

Jane Fee
Hawaii Kai

Cycle track will make King Street safer

James Kidder is wrong when he says that the new King Street cycle track is putting people at risk ("New bike lane seems dangerous," Star-Advertiser, Letters, Nov. 8).

The fact is that cycle tracks make our streets safer not just for cyclists but for all users.

A recent study by the New York Department of Transportation found that roads outfitted with cycle tracks saw injuries of bicyclists, pedestrians and motorists decrease an average of 20 percent.

In reality, bloated, multi-lane roadways like King Street are inherently dangerous when placed in a tight urban area. Narrowing them with cycle tracks is a smart way to calm traffic, separate vulnerable users and reduce the length of pedestrian crossings.

Given King Street’s grisly history as a hotspot for pedestrian deaths, this change is long overdue.

Richard G. Galluzzi
Makiki

Editorial insulted unionized employees

As the advocate for thousands of dedicated public school workers, I was offended by the disrespectful and insulting remark in the Star-Advertiser editorial, "Ige raises hope for DOE reform" (Our View, Nov. 12), which states that "Ige(‘s) fiscal restraint should serve to tamp down the HSTA and HGEA’s wildest dreams."

Statements such as this only serve to demonize unionized employees without regard to the good and essential work they do every day. These are our neighbors, family members and friends who are dedicated to serving our communities in important, but oftentimes not-so-glamorous positions, such as school clerks and educational assistants, and who bring home very modest salaries.

Let’s not take these workers for granted.I, for one, will never be ashamed to advocate on their behalf.

Randy Perreira
Executive director, Hawaii Government Employees Association

FROM THE FORUM

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.

“State needs its soldiers, public asked to tell feds,” Star-Advertiser, Nov. 10:

>> The mentality behind Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s argument is wrong. Hawaii is a strategic military position and logical military strategy should be considered in terms of size of defense. You don’t keep military on the island so they can go shopping!

>> The military should downsize. Its presence here is disproportionate to the size of the community and our land area. Hawaii has more to offer than tourism for the masses (8 million a year and increasing) and the positioning of troops and weapons on Oahu.

>> Military families do much good beyond creating jobs. They volunteer, help build community service agencies and are law-abiding. Without them Hawaii is not much.

>> For years our politicians — who could have spent their time and our money in trying to diversify our economy — instead put their faith and our money in the HGEA and UPW. They take tourism and especially the military for granted. Now when the possibility of the military pulling its troops out comes up, they want us to beg to keep them here.

———

“State trails on premature births,” Star-Advertiser, Nov. 10:

>> This is a complex problem, but I’m not sure the gross rates tell the whole story anyway. First of all, the national rate is only 1.1 percentage point below ours, not a huge difference — especially when compared to the goal of 9.6 percent.

>> Could it possibly be related to the fact that it’s so expensive for people to buy reasonably healthy food here? And that women are likely working long hours for paltry wages without sufficient rest just to have a roof over their heads?

———

“Presidential medal for Patsy Mink,” Star-Advertiser, Nov. 11:

>> It’s amazing to see how much progress has been made since Patsy Mink tried to apply to medical schools to become a doctor. It’s hard to imagine the world she lived in where women had so few opportunities.

>> Title IX is the worst thing that ever happened to college athletics.

———

“Homeless might not be placed on Sand Island,” Star-Advertiser, Nov. 11:

>> The Sand Island camp was just a means to pass the sit-lie bill. There was no intention on the part of the city to establish this camp. Just another example of “the end justifies the means.”

>> Ready, fire, aim!

———

“Shipping seascape will change,” Star-Advertiser, Nov. 12:

>> The stranglehold gets tighter again. We need an exemption from the provisions of the Jones Act. The Act overall can stay in force but the non-contiguous states of Alaska and Hawaii need to be exempted from the provisions that drive our cost of living ever higher.

>> Companies come and go, but the Jones Act keeps commerce, trade and the American maritime industry securely in place.

>> Yes, at a great price for the shipping businesses that buy Congress for its support. Then they are free to charge whatever they want, and are able to get it from the people of Alaska and Hawaii. With shipping and oil charges in Hawaii, the state Public Utilities Commission is worthless and just a sham.

———

“Justices to hear arguments on marriage equality law,” Star-Advertiser, Nov. 11:

>> This should have been put on the ballot.

>> Civil rights issues cannot and must not be subject to decision by popular vote. If they were, African-Americans would still be segregated in the South, women wouldn’t be able to vote, etc.

———

“Gap in funding questioned,” Star-Advertiser, Nov. 13:

>> If the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands would get out of the home construction business and return to its fundamental mission of awarding homesteads, meaning undeveloped land, its current budget might be adequate.

>> The Hawaiian people have been ripped off for decades; nothing new here. It’s their fault for believing that the government is looking out for their best interest. Government is set up to do what’s best for the people that put them into their positions: political contributors, public unions, etc.

>> Yet another example of the impossibility of merging statehood with traditional Hawaiian values and life. Award a homestead with infrastructure (streets and utilities) and beneficiaries can’t afford to build. Award an unimproved homestead and state and county codes prevent the beneficiary from living on it in the way they can afford. Ultimately it will come down to sovereignty or loss of culture.