New bike lanes are start toward civility

No one mentions a big safety plus that’s built into the new bike lanes along King and Beretania streets:They’re located on the left side of the streets.

Drivers will see all the two-wheel traffic from the steering-wheel side of their cars.

Especially when they’re set to turn left, they’ll see it all, coming up at their driver’s-side windows.

Honolulu is not London or Tokyo, but we’ve made a good start toward civility. Why not give it a chance?

The new bike lanes are not so many accidents waiting to happen. They’re civilization trying to get started.

Dave Baumgartner
Moiliili

All societies have social problems

Peter Apo asserts that "racism, sexism, violation of indigenous people’s rights, income inequality, unjust wars — all these things have blighted, and continued to blight us, as a nation" ("‘Nation within a nation’ is best outcome for Hawaii’s people," Star-Advertiser, Island Voices, Nov. 20).

Has any tribe, nation, republic or empire enjoyed immunity from what the author decries? Does he fancy that his proposal will do away with human nature?

John J. Stephan
Round Top

Football supports other programs

Francis Nakamoto’s perspective of the University of Hawaii football program is pervasive in this state ("UH football program needs better finances," Star-Advertiser, Letters, Nov. 23).

For the uninitiated, football programs are the financial engines for almost all major U.S. universities’ athletic programs.

Simply put, without football there would be no athletics program at UH.

To be clear, no tennis, no track, no swimming, no baseball, no basketball or any other athletic endeavor. It’s the football program that generates most of the athletic revenue, not to mention the signage fees that companies pay to be seen. Without football, I promise you they wouldn’t be all that interested. Throw in the fact the state charges UH rent for Aloha Stadium, collects money for parking and concessions and gets free publicity on nationally televised games, and it’s easy to see who is subsidizing whom.

Get it straight: It’s the UH athletics department that loses money, not the UH football program.

Pat Kelly
Kaimuki

Democrats wrong to shun president

According to political pundits, Democrats lost the U.S. Senate majority because the voters who were instrumental in President Barack Obama’s victory in the 2008 and 2012 elections did not vote.

I don’t blame them. Who would vote for candidates who seemed to be ashamed of their party’s platform and accomplishments?

Instead of inviting the president to campaign with them and together reminding the American people that it was the Democratic Party that worked hard to build the ladders of opportunity for the working class to help them fulfill the American dream, some candidates for U.S. Senate distanced themselves from him. This cowardly behavior undoubtedly turned off many Democratic voters. You don’t win games when you bench your most prolific scorer.

Those candidates who lack the courage to stand up against the Republicans’ relentless efforts to dismantle the core values and principles that every progressive has fought for and deeply cherished deserve to lose.

Rod B. Catiggay
Mililani

Bicycle helmet law unequally enforced

When I participated in my first triathlon training, we were instructed that if we rode our bikes on the roads, we were required by law to wear a helmet.

This applied to all no matter what your age. In fact the Tinman Triathlon required us to have a helmet check prior to the race.

My son’s only mode of transportation to work in Waikiki is his bike or skateboard. He has been stopped, harassed and ticketed by HPD more times than we can count for riding on the sidewalks, and riding without a helmet. Why are we allowing tourists in Kailua to ride on the city streets without helmets, and ride on sidewalks in town in a commercial area without enforcement?

I think our laws should apply equally to everyone, in Waikiki or in Kailua, for the safety of our community, and our pedestrians.

Candas Lee Rego
Kailua

Military allowance for rents suspicious

The reason most military personnel live off base is due to the amount of BAH (Basis Allowance for Housing) they receive in Honolulu.

An E-1 thru E-4 is allowed $1,956 monthly with no dependents and $2,607 with dependents, per the military.com website. The higher the rank the more BAH.

In the case of the five soldiers living together, if they are all E-1’s, their total household income for rent would be $9,780 ("Military raises cost of housing," Star-Advertiser, Letters, Nov. 19). That’s a very hefty amount for rent even in the Honolulu area.

Are they allowed to keep the remaining monies after they pay their portion of the rent? This does not include their base pay and other benefits.

Is the intent of the BAH to allow multiple soldiers to live in one rental and get tax-free money? Are landlords making individual leases for each renter?

The military housing authority should investigate waste, fraud and abuse charges.

Manuel August Sr.
Kaneohe

Kudos for lauding Vietnam War heroes

I wanted to express my gratitude to the Star-Advertiser for publishing a full-page ad for Vietnam War Faces Never Forgotten as a public service (Nov. 23).

The war was not liked by the public and some who fought in Vietnam were not volunteers but performed their service as a duty for their country. My platoon was 90 percent draftees.

The Hawaii call for photos for those Vietnam heroes who died for their country is a good thing and honorable. All the brothers deserve recognition and a face.

Inocencio Cacho
Waipahu