People seem to think tuition-free college is some sort of new idea. It is not. The entire University of California system used to be free, as were land-grant colleges. The GI Bill also provided free tuition and we received $7 for every dollar spent educating returning soldiers.

The way to pay for it, as proposed by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, is to put a small tax on high-volume Wall Street trading, in which stocks are held for less than a second, as in hedge funds and other trades. This type of tax is used in many other countries — again, nothing new.

Since we spent billions bailing out Wall Street, I have no problem asking it for a little help.

I would take it a step further and use quantitative easing to reduce all student debt, which would be, in effect, a huge stimulus package for the economy. We all gain from a well-educated nation.

Jim Quimby

Kalihi

Don’t stop building rail

Now that Ho‘opili has broken ground, more cars will be added to the freeway. We need to stop extending the 0.5 percent general excise tax surcharge and make it permanent.

We need to look past Ala Moana to the University of Hawaii, Hawaii Kai and Waianae, with rail construction going on for 30 to 40 years, or even longer.

The state should stop taking 10 percent of the surcharge that it collects from the city, which amounts to more than $100 million.

The city should be able to get federal help to extend the rail line to UH. If we stop at Ala Moana, one day we’ll end up saying, ”We should have.”

Herbert Ishida

Mililani

Rail guideway could be garden

Where will it end? Now we have the sham of shims, repairing and replacing parts of our rail transit system before it’s even completed (“Cracks exposed in rail materials,” Star-Advertiser, Sept. 29).

We also have our mayor admitting that we should have hired an experienced rail system professional as director at the start.

My suggestion: Stop where we are and create the “Hanging Gardens of Honolulu,” a la the ancient fabled “Hanging Gardens of Babylon.” At least we would have a new visitor attraction.

Gwen Heliker

Makiki

Hawaii displays winning attitude

What a great Monday morning! After watching those great plays from Hawaii’s 38-17 win over Nevada on Saturday; watching that awesome win by the Wahine over University of California at Riverside on Sunday; and on Monday reading the article, “Federal funds will help state conduct study on new ferries” (Star-Advertiser, Oct. 3): We are finally getting the people at the helm to move our wonderful state of Hawaii forward once more.

We must get together to participate and support those who dedicate themselves in honest and caring ways for our Hawaii.

Milton Kam

Hawaii Kai

Ferry study yet another bad idea

What a great idea: a publicly (taxpayer) funded feasibility study for an inter- island ferry system that we once had operating.

Is that forward thinking? It sounds like the study we once had for a less-costly rail system to West Oahu that got shot down by our elected representatives, leading to the biggest financial transportation disaster in one of the smallest states in the nation.

Taxpayers should ready to open their wallets wide.

Bob Vieira

Pauoa Valley

We should have a ferry system

I’m so happy to see the state exploring the feasibility of a ferry system for commuters and interisland travelers.

Hallelujah! As the process continues, New Zealand must be on the list for the feasibility study.

Preventive measures against invasive species have helped protect these beautiful islands. We can environmentally protect our island home and have reasonable transportation for commuters.

Carrie Weatherwax

Kailua

Nukes primed for first strike

Your article by Ira Helfand and Robert Dodge, “A limited nuclear response would be an unlimited disaster” (Star-Advertiser, Sept. 27), points to a common belief that American nuclear weapons “constitute an effective deterrent to nuclear attack by other powers,” and that there is no other purpose for them.

But the article shows that the 2010 U.S. Nuclear Posture Review explicitly rejects the idea that the sole purpose of U.S. nuclear weapons is deterrence.

In fact, U.S. nuclear weapons are intended for use even in the absence of prior nuclear attack by another nation. As early as the formation of NATO in 1949, the U.S. has depended on the use of nuclear weapons to defend NATO members against a non-nuclear attack by the Soviet Union, and the U.S. has never promised not to use a nuclear “first strike” anywhere else when deemed necessary.

Oliver Lee

Makiki

Bigger problems than plastic bags

The two front-page stories on Sept. 29 were the epitome of ludicrous journalism.

Three-fourths of the page was covered with a jagged crack, and a headline in huge bold inch-high letters proclaimed the rail to nowhere was starting to crack. This will cost maybe a billion dollars more and extend the completion date by a decade, more or less.Can you say “boondoggle”?

Then, near the bottom of the page, a little article informed us that a “city measure would tighten ban on plastic bags.” Didn’t we do that last year with compostable bags? Good grief.

We have paved paradise, overloaded the infrastructure and made a laughingstock out of “Railhenge.” Additionally, the building frenzy has become a race to the stratosphere.

With gridlocked traffic, the worst homeless problem per capita and the highest living expenses in the nation, paradise has become as cheesy as dashboard hula dolls. And we are focused on plastic bags.

Oh, the irony.

Jacqueline Gilmore Utkin

Waikiki

Bags are useful, not too harmful

The hullabaloo about plastic bags should not be a priority for any lawmaker. There are more pressing issues to address.

Besides, plastic bags serve a useful purpose, like wrapping your raw garbage before putting it into the trash can. This cuts down on the vermin that would infest the trash cans and bins.

Yes, there will be the few individuals who have no regard for our aina and carelessly discard their trash, but only a few bags will make it into our waters. Please spare me the cry, “The death of every creature diminishes me.”

Keep in mind that compared to the Pacific Ocean, Hawaii is not even a minuscule blip on its surface.

The Pacific Ocean is 64 million square miles and Hawaii is all of 6,400 square miles. Let’s resolve more important issues.

Tom Baca

Mililani