Mahalo for publishing Sally Chen’s commentary on affirmative action (“I’m a Harvard grad. Affirmative action helped me succeed,” Star-Advertiser, Oct. 27).

Like her, 40 years ago I was helped by affirmative action to get admitted into undergraduate and law schools. Despite graduating with honors and having a good GPA my last two years of college, I was informed by some counselors that my LSAT score was too low to get accepted. I decided to take the exam a second time and greatly improved my score.

I had always believed that those college aptitude exams are not true indications of one’s potential. With that said, I was admitted to six law schools and rejected by one. I chose to attend the University of Hawaii’s Richardson School of Law because I wanted to be here in Hawaii and to be with a diverse student body. I was not disappointed.

It was also around that time that the U.S. Supreme Court upheld affirmative action programs in Bakke v. California Board of Regents, holding that someone’s racial and cultural background may be taken into consideration when reviewing a student’s application. We still need affirmative action programs today, given the underrepresentation of a large minority population even in our own state (Filipinos and Native Hawaiians).

Wilfredo Tungol, Esq.

Pearl City

Constitution prohibits establishment of religion

Kari Lake, who is running for governor of Arizona, said we should have a Christian government. When asked if she would concede if she lost the election she stated (twice) that she was going to win. What’s next if she is elected? Will children be forced to pray in school? Will Arizona government hire only Christians?

The First Amendment grants freedom of religion and it has two clauses, establishment and free exercise: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”

In the absence of establishment, every citizen is entitled to pray to any god. Or not pray at all! The pilgrims came to our continent to escape establishment of a religion to which they did not adhere. And the founders made clear that government would not dictate religion by adopting the establishment clause of the First Amendment.

Nancy Grekin

Makiki Heights

Price per kWh should be included in reporting

I was more than a little surprised that “The price of power” article by Andrew Gomes was missing the actual price of our electricity per kWh.

The rate we pay is important for many reasons, starting with how much I pay per 100 miles for my electric vehicle. The design of a PV system uses the cost per kWh to calculate how long it will take to pay back your investment. On Oahu, we pay approximately 46 cents per kWh. On Lanai and Molokai, it costs much more. The article would have been much more informative with this information.

Kevin Connelly

Waialae

Hawaii, Israel pact will benefit both parties

It is obvious Robert H. Stiver has another agenda by calling out Israel as a “Zionist regime” (“Ige should withdraw from Israel agreement,” Star-Advertiser, Letters, Oct. 27). The government of Hawaii has entered into an agreement that benefits both states. Gov. David Ige can count that as a shining moment in his administration. History teaches us that trust between sworn enemies must have a place in modern times.

Throwing in Jesus was a nice gesture of sympathy but has no comparison to the monarchy of the Hawaiian nation selling out its birthright. The people here in Hawaii have the power to do anything. They get to vote and have had that right for more than 100 years.

Allen Canter

Hawaii Kai

Brewbaker wrong about effect of STR restrictions

Where does economist Paul Brewbaker live? Under a rock?

His contention that those servicing illegal short-term rentals would be forced to leave Hawaii if they didn’t have that business is pure speculation, since they are not in that position now (“Short-term rental law could hurt economy,” Star-Advertiser, Oct. 24).

What is happening now is locals deserting Hawaii in droves because there are no affordable rentals. This has happened to several people I know.

Brewbaker ignores the facts. And then he dramatically says Hawaii can become the new Detroit. Scare tactics from an economist?

I just paid property tax of $22,836.08 on a one-bedroom apartment zoned for short-term rental.

Crack down hard on all those scofflaws, Mr. Mayor!

Dan Aregger

Kuliouou

Russian attacks nothing like atomic bombings

Gilbert Horita is another misguided historian in his letter (“Russian drones used for destruction of civilians,” Star-Advertiser, Letters, Oct. 25). He tried to link the current Russian atrocities of bombing civilians in Ukraine with the U.S. dropping the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II.

He completely missed the point answering his own question: “… were the bombs dropped to shorten the war by killing or maiming as many innocent civilians as possible to pressure Japan to surrender?”

Unfortunately, they were.

Should the Americans have invaded the home islands of Japan, President Harry Truman’s think tank projected shocking losses of 1.7 to 4 million U.S. casualties, along with 5-10 million Japanese dead. It was expected that Japanese citizens would defend as well. And the war would have gone on for at least another year.

Chip Davey

Downtown Honolulu

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