LITTER

RUNNERS AREN'T THE ONLY LITTERBUGS AROUND

A Dec. 12 letter to the editor lamented all the trash left by those at the Honolulu Marathon. Perhaps they just took their cue from the locals.

As a transplant from California 10 years ago, I am constantly disappointed and disgusted by the rampant litter, trash, bulky items, junk cars and graffiti that foul our 'aina.

People drop their cups, food wrappers, cigarette packages and bottles on the ground or toss them from cars. What on Earth are they thinking? It is mindless.

Then there are the ever-present "bulky items" decorating our sidewalks all over town, which then become trash disposal sites for litterbugs passing by. In California, you take your junk to the dump or hire a guy with a pick-up truck in the hauling and basement cleaning business. What a concept! Why not here?

SPEEDING

NABBING SPEEDERS WON'T CUT FATALITIES

Our police department is clueless about the method of stopping traffic deaths, especially by DUI. Its method is to issue thousands of speeding tickets on our highways, on top of the regular take.

The count may be 7,000 tickets in one month and while the campaign is going on, we still have ongoing traffic deaths. The speeders police ticket are not the ones crossing the center line, sleeping at the wheel, going airborne in a drunken stupor or taking risky chances.

About 43,000 people die every year even while millions of tickets are issued.

Police motives are good, but they're clueless.

IRAQ

REAL LIVES ARE AFFECTED BY PENTAGON'S GAMBLE

The recent front-page article on the Pentagon ("Pentagon pushes for more troops in Iraq," Dec. 13) was truly shocking and awful with some unbelievable quotes from a Pentagon defense official and a military analyst to the White House. They stated: "This is a double-down. You are buying an opportunity to enter a lottery — I think it is worth trying." Has anyone forgotten that the "chips" in this gamble are really the lives of young men and women? Or that the massive amount of money to pay for this effort is on loan from foreign governments for future generations to pay back?

VOLLEYBALL

TEAM'S SEASON WAS ONE TO BE PROUD OF

Thank you to the Wahine volleyball team for a wonderful season. Although we missed it by one game to get to the final four, it was a successful season.

To go through a season losing three starters because of injuries and lineup shuffles must have been stressful. The ball-handling was an issue with this year's team, so I hope they will correct this next year.What really impressed me this year was the blocking. It got better as the season progressed, and I believe they became the fifth best blocking team in the nation at one point.

Thank goodness for new Associate Coach Mike Sealy and volunteer Scott Wong. We'll be losing a great setter in Kanoe Kamana'o, but we must go forward and support our new setter next year.

I'm sure I'm not the only one, but the win over fifth-ranked USC will long be remembered. Go 'Bows!

VACATION RENTALS

ILLEGAL RENTALS COULD POSE LIABILITY THREAT

The pros and cons of residential vacation rentals have been volleyed between supporters and detractors with the gusto of a Windward Wimbledon.

Absent in the discussion has been the effect of these rentals on property taxes. Few O'ahu families can shoulder a $5,000 monthly mortgage, but to an investor looking at the possibility of generating $15,000 or more from a typical Windward beachside property, price is not so much an object.

The property is sold as residential, but because of our city administration's lax enforcement of existing laws governing vacation rentals, it effectively becomes a commercial entity. County tax assessments are based on a property's assessed value, which is in turn based on most recent sales.

Residents in the area around the new illegal commercial operation see their property taxes increase accordingly, yet they accrue no benefit from this pseudo zoning. Just try to open an auto repair shop in your garage and see how quickly you're shut down.

Meanwhile, appeals to the mayor's office get little more than a suggestion that aggrieved homeowners take out home equity loans to cover their inflated property tax bills. I see a class action suit in the making here. Is there a lawyer out there who isn't involved in a vacation rental hui who might want to take this one on?

KAMEHAMEHA

HAWAIIANS ENTITLED TO SCHOOL AND BENEFITS

Mr. Lathrop's letter to the editor (Dec. 13) concerning the Kamehameha ruling misses the point. He wonders what would be next, a school for Samoans only? Tongans only? If we were in Samoa, yes. I believe there should be a school for Samoans only if they want one, same for Tonga.

No matter how you look at it, we live in Hawai'i. No matter what you believe, the fact is the United States was involved in the illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian kingdom. Hawaiians are entitled to reparations in all forms so, please, allow us to relish this positive decision for the Hawaiian people as a whole.

I have never attended Kamehameha Schools, nor have had any of my family attend. I do not live on a Hawaiian homestead. But because I do have a chance to benefit from these organizations just by being 50 percent Hawaiian, I feel privileged.

I know a lot of Americans want the Hawaiians to disappear and become just ordinary Americans like them. I am happy to say, that's never going to happen. When you are Hawaiian, you are Hawaiian for life.