SENATE RACE

JONES ACT DESTRUCTIVE, EXPENSIVE FOR HAWAI'I

The Advertiser suggested we need to know more about where U.S. Senate candidates Daniel Akaka and Ed Case stood so we could make an informed decision.

Well, now that I know Akaka stands with the shipping companies to the detriment of everyone living in the state of Hawai'i, I know who to vote for.

What I don't understand is why the rest of our politicos won't stand up and speak against this very destructive and expensive law.

RAIL TRANSIT

IT'S TIME TO GET REAL ON ISSUE OF RAIL TRANSIT

Let's get real here, folks. I am tired of hearing that rail transit won't work here in Hawai'i. Let's build a rail system from 'Ewa Beach to the convention center. It should be an express, with no stops along the way. That way all of the tourists staying in 'Ewa Beach can get to the convention center in about 15 minutes. What? No tourists stay in 'Ewa Beach and not many people use our beautiful convention center? So what, we still need a rail system.

HELP COMMUTERS

WEST O'AHU CAMPUS IS BETTER TRAFFIC SOLUTION

The six-sentence editorial "Time to refuel UH-West O'ahu plan" (July 7) just scratches the surface of the real story that links why our legislators did not fund the new campus but instead have chosen to fund the $3 billion rail system. How are these connected?

The rail will begin in Kapolei and go to UH Manoa. Why? To get the 10,000 UH Manoa students off the road during rush hour and onto rail. Rail transit studies predict 150,000 riders a day but fail to state that the majority of these riders will be former bus riders.

A better, cheaper and more effective way to relieve congestion is to build the UH West O'ahu campus to give Leeward students a beautiful state-of-the-art campus. The main political roadblock to all this is that a UH West O'ahu campus does not provide decades of union construction projects, maintenance and operating expenses and, therefore, does not give the most vote for the buck expected from rail transit.

While the state House passed the UH West O'ahu funding, the state Senate, including 'Ewa Beach Sen. Willie Espero, took it out of the budget. It is ironic that the majority of our legislators who do not live in our area and do not suffer our daily traffic nightmare have chosen not to relieve it by funding the West O'ahu Campus but to make a $3 billion alternative for those already riding public transportation. It is also equally ironic and irresponsible that our senator has taken the position that he wants rail instead of true relief.

WAITING AREA

HILO AIRPORT'S FURNITURE EVOKES SENSE OF PLACE

I read your editorial on Hawai'i's airports and I was surprised there was no mention of the Hilo airport. The Hilo airport is a great example of how the state can give the residents of Hawai'i and our visitors a sense of Hawai'i. If you haven't seen it yet, the waiting area at the Hilo airport is completely furnished in classic Hawaiian style furniture. The rich wood and anthurium carved sofas and lounge chairs make you feel at home instead of the stale cold plastic and chrome benches of most airports. This was all done under budget and the people of Hilo and Hawai'i have something to be proud of.

SONAR

TERRORIST THREAT MAKES TRAINING NECESSARY

John Culliney, professor of biology, supports the ban on the use of mid-frequency sonar during RIMPAC, asking what threat could possibly justify killing whales and dolphins.

While everyone is looking up, wondering what the Defense Department is doing to protect us from a developing North Korean missile threat, the Navy is looking down at defending the United States against an existing diesel submarine threat.

Jane's (1995) stated that North Korea had 21 Romeo diesel submarines operating in the Sea of Japan. These submarines have a 9,000-mile operational range. Ten years ago they carried torpedoes and mines; by now they have probably been retrofitted with short-range missiles. China had more Romeos plus some Kilos with the same range. More capable and less detectable submarines are now available. Either of these regimes can easily sell submarines to terrorists and train their crews.

Is there any doubt that terrorists would use them against our cities? These submarines are passively undetectable and very difficult to detect with active sonar; that's what the mid-range sonar is for. Eliminating or reducing the existing threat of an undetectable submarine is worth the arguable risk of losing a few marine mammals.

ALASKA

AKAKA SHOULD REVISIT OIL DRILLING STANCE

Last year Sen. Daniel Akaka testified in favor of the McCain-Leiberman climate change bill. He focused on the rapidly melting glaciers and ice sheets that are causing sea levels to rise, threatening our Pacific islands. Al Gore's film, "An Inconvenient Truth" underscores this growing crisis and presents additional data relevant to Senator Akaka's stand on opening Alaska's North Slope to further oil and gas development. Namely, while such development depends on driving equipment on frozen roads, the number of days that the Alaskan tundra is frozen solid enough for such activity has declined from more than 200 in 1970 to about 80 in the year 2000.

Senator Akaka has maintained that developing oil in ANWR is an indigenous rights issue. But as many press reports have shown, the people themselves are divided on the question. As the cover story in the May 2006 issue of National Geographic ("Selling Alaska's Frontier") documents, numerous wildlife species depend on the National Petroleum Reserves Lands (already opened for development by the Bush administration) and the ANWR. Clearly far more is at stake than the "rights" of the relatively tiny number of indigenous people who favor oil development (in opposition to the indigenous people who do not). How wise is it to pursue a strategy that is financially and environmentally risky, with a minimal payoff in future oil under the best of scenarios? It's time for our esteemed senator to re-examine this issue.

ELECTION

SENATOR MUST BE ABLE TO FUNNEL FEDERAL FUNDS

As with many things in life, the Case vs. Akaka campaign has a serious underlying issue that nobody wants to debate because it is so sensitive. Who is going to become Hawai'i's chief "money getter" after Senator Daniel Inouye?

He has done a superb job of funneling federal funds to Hawai'i, and we have gotten used to it. He has been in office so long that he has become an icon that we take for granted will last forever.

So we have a choice: An incumbent senator who has not shown great expertise in this area, or a newcomer who does not know where the bodies are buried but has determination.

We know that the military presence in Hawai'i is a major component of the state's economy. Recently, except for Sen. Inouye's intervention, we might have lost a big portion of the repair work done in the Navy yards at Pearl Harbor.

Other states are constantly working to bring more federal money into their communities. We need a strong, determined person to protect our interests and our economy.

WARD DEVELOPMENT

OWNER SHOULD BE ABLE TO RELOCATE BONES

Your article "Don't move bones, families say" (July 13) mentioned that the families of ancient Hawaiian burial remains found at the Ward Village Shops construction site want the bones undisturbed.

Hawaiian history shows it was common practice for families to bury their relatives on the property of their residence, such as in backyards. When O'ahu was controlled by a Hawaiian chief or king such burial sites were not considered community sacred sites. Therefore, the current owner (General Growth) should have the legal right to relocate the bones at another area on the property.

Descendants should not have the right to prevent the legal owners of property worth millions of dollars from continuing commercial development that benefits our entire society, creating employment and generating additional taxes for our state, city and federal governments.