Military personnel deserve all they get

Basic Allowance for Housing is intended to provide soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines affordable housing for one person.

The $1,956 monthly amount is based on the average cost of housing and utilities on Oahu.How they choose to use this is up to them, but living with four other people is not without its problems.

More important, these heroes don’t complain about protecting the freedoms we hold dear or take for granted — freedom of religion, to vote, or to express views in a newspaper.

You also don’t see them complain when they are pried away from friends and family and sent to austere, foreign lands to protect our way of life.

They are forced to live in unbearable conditions while getting attacked by America’s enemies. Many come back maimed.Some give the ultimate sacrifice to our country, their life. Why? Because of love of country.

They not only deserve this money, we don’t pay them enough for their selfless sacrifices. God bless them andGod bless America.

Pat Larson
Ewa Beach

Housing allowance sets local rental rates

All military personnel either reside in subsidized affordable housing, provided by their federal employer, or they can choose to apply the full subsidy as rent or a mortgage payment.

The choice is theirs. Those who receive their affordable housing subsidy from the state or county welfare trough should be so lucky.

Of course, our landlords know what to charge. The military’s Basic Allowance for Housing has become the standard. For those working the living-wage issue, that works out to be about a $40-per-hour income for a family of four.

Dennis Egge
Salt Lake

Bicycle lanes coming, so let’s welcome them

About that King Street Cycle Track: "The times they are a-changin,’" as well they should.

We are adding more cars and people to our streets every day. More people on bikes means fewer people in cars taking up space.

More bikes in use also means less pollution and dependence on oil, and better public health as well — but you knew that. Every major city is making this move, most of them with much less favorable climates.

It took guts for our mayor to put this in place. We did not elect him to keep Honolulu in the past, so let’s let him do his job and bring Hono-lulu into the future where our streets are for people, not just cars. If not, more cars will come and the slow one now will later be fast.

The bikes are coming; let’s welcome them in.

Nick Blank
Hawaii Kai

UH needs more deans like William Ditto

Amid ongoing crises at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, one administrator stands out: William "Bill" Ditto, dean of the College of Natural Sciences (CNS).

Bill steadfastly supports students and faculty, acts transparently and makes data-driven decisions.

Since his arrival in 2011, CNS enrollment is up 35 percent, he’s hired excellent new faculty, and extramural funding is increasing.

For the first time in years, CNS faculty, students and staff feel supported.

Stakeholders can count on Bill’s candor and transparency, even when faced with typical "hide-the-ball" UH politics and fiscal brinksmanship. Other deans, directed to balance their budgets without cutting classes, might claim to do so. Bill is refreshingly clear about the impact of balancing the CNS budget, which receives roughly 15 percent of the tuition it generates.

It’s alarming when UH executives blame others for this most recent fiscal crisis without offering credible mitigation options or sustainable long-term solutions. UH needs more administrators like Bill.

Signed by the following department chairs/professors on behalf of 127 faculty, students and staff (http://imuamanoa.org/dean-ditto/).

David N. Chin
Information and Computer Sciences

Erik Guentner
Mathematics

Maqsudul Alam
Department of Microbiology

Pui Lam
Physics and Astronomy

HandiVan managers should be riders, too

I wish that all the managers of the HandiVan, those of the city and of the contractor, were required to ride it twice a day.

I wish that they were required to phone three days ahead for each day they are required to use the van.

I wish they would have to use this service for the rest of their lives, and that they live to 120.

Alan E. Wickens
Kapolei

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.

"More vagrants in Chinatown, merchants say," Star-Advertiser, Nov. 24:

>> If you feed them, they will come.

>> Just to be clear, these are not homeless families. The downtown/Chinatown crowd are mainly mainland transplant chronic vagrants. They refuse to use the police substation bathrooms and they refuse to enter shelters. As a result, they constantly commit crimes by violating many of the historic district laws, so they are mostly criminals.

>> I can’t imagine how difficult it is for the merchants there, to live with it day in, day out.

——

"Vessel swept away in tsunami is returned to Japanese owner," Star-Advertiser, Nov. 24:

>> Great to see the owner still alive after that terrible disaster. Things such as that boat can be replaced, but human lives can’t.

>> The gesture demonstrates how people can relate to each other kindly.

——

"Injured men file suits over restored beach," Star-Advertiser, Nov. 25:

>> I am sorry for these two individuals’ unfortunate outcomes. Regardless of who is at fault, I do not dive into any water any more. I used to, but not any more.

——

"Narrowly beaten candidate wants recount or new vote," Star-Advertiser, Nov. 25:

>> The results were close enough to warrant a recount. I do not find Tommy Waters’ request to be unreasonable at all. This is how our great democracy works.

>> Really? Now I feel even better about voting for Trevor Ozawa. There was a time when the results were the results. Now we need to do it again so every professional politician who lost by a close count can sleep at night. I hope the Office of Elections sends Waters the bill for the extra time wasted on his personal feel-good request.

——

"’The fountain had to go’," Star-Advertiser, Nov. 26:

>> Isn’t it an outright shame when some people ruin something that could have and should have been a beautiful feature? This is why I have no patience or sympathy for the homeless.

>> I live in Chinatown and I always enjoyed walking by the pond. I’m sorry to see it go. There was no problem with the pond. The problem is the fact that there are no public bathrooms in Chinatown. The homeless had no other place to urinate except the sidewalks. 

>> Why does our city not have public restrooms downtown? I can think of a couple of reasons. No 1: People destroy or vandalize the facilities. No. 2: The city and its workers somehow can’t seem to maintain what they built, thereby contributing to No. 1. I’ve traveled to many states and foreign countries and my observation is that Hawaii public facilities are among the worst.

——

"Rail to hit H-1 for 1 year," Star-Advertiser, Nov. 26:

>> Here’s my next prediction: It’s going to be longer than a year.

>> An environmental and economic catastrophe in the making.

>> I will never vote for anyone who supported rail construction. The "benefits" we will supposedly get for this colossal fiasco are not worth the $5 billion-plus cost and the horrible inconvenience drivers face during the construction period.

>> Quit complaining. It’s already coming. The only thing we can do now is hope it is built within a reasonable time frame and not too much over budget.

——

"Grace under pressure," Star-Advertiser, Nov. 27:

>> A simple and very real Thanksgiving.

>> It’s heartwarming to hear about the spirit of sharing and giving in this community that has endured so much strife.

——

"Judge quashes Big Isle GMO ban," Star-Advertiser, Nov. 27:

>> For once, a judge with common sense.

>> The voters who put this law in place will not go away. They will get angrier and come back with more people. And it will become all more irrational, destructive and divisive. Hawaii agriculture will be irreversibly damaged with a free hand given to the GMO corporations. Force feeding doesn’t taste good. Doesn’t smell good, either.

——

"BC’s Elimimian selected CFL’s outstanding player," Star-Advertiser, Nov. 28:

>> That’s at least three from the University of Hawaii who have ascended to the top in the Canadian Football League: Jim Mills, Chad Owens and now Solomon Elimimian. Congratulations.

>> It’s great to see another UH athlete excel at the next level.