PAIN BECOMES REAL FOR OTHERS

As I read about the layoffs at KHNL, I can feel the emotions of Diane Ako and how she will be more sympathetic to laid-off employees.

I am one of the 1,900 employees who got laid off from Aloha Airlines in March 2008, and while most of us have moved on, the feeling of love that the Aloha Ohana have for one another is still there and I am blessed to have had 40 years of a great career.

The state employees are going through the layoff process and as a state employee, I am again vulnerable to being affected. Every day I feel the pain that these employees feel and my heart is heavy for them. As Diane Ako said, she now knows what it feels like.

Harriet lum | Pearl City

PARK CLEANUPS

MAHALO TO ALL WHO MADE A DIFFERENCE

On behalf of Mayor Hannemann and the City and County of Honolulu, I would like to express our sincere appreciation to everyone who organized and participated in Make A Difference Day this past Saturday and cleaned seven beach parks from Mäili to Sandy Beach. We're very grateful to the nearly 1,000 student athletes, athletic directors and coaches of OIA schools who participated, and want to especially thank HHSAA Executive Director Keith Amemiya and OIA Executive Director Dwight Toyama.

These athletes truly showed their appreciation for the tremendous efforts of the Save our Sports campaign spearheaded by Amemiya. They coordinated their efforts to focus on Make A Difference Day and emphasized the power of community service and the ways it can enhance the quality of life for everyone.

Many of these athletes were involved in league playoffs the night before and later that afternoon, yet still found the time to say "Thank you" to the community by picking up several thousand pounds of trash left by others in our beach parks. Mayor Hannemann has always been a proponent of community service and was truly impressed by the positive disposition these students displayed as they went about making a difference.

richard haru | Deputy director, Honolulu Department of Parks and Recreation

FURLOUGHS

DEPRIVATION WILL BE SEEN IN HEALTH, TOO

The decision by Gov. Lingle to cut 17 days from the Hawaii school year is woefully shortsighted. Depriving children of an education not only leads to the loss of the next generation's educated workers, it also leads to worse health.

The more education a person has, the less likely that person is to suffer from a wide range of diseases, including stroke, heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, asthma and ulcers. More educated people have fewer symptoms of depression or anxiety and are less likely to miss work because of illness. Most strikingly, people who are more educated live longer than those who are less educated.

Depriving a generation of Hawaii's children of an adequate education under the guise of saving money will only end up costing us big in the future — not just in money, but in lives lost. It's time to reinstate funding for our children, for our future.

ameena ahmed, m.d. | Honolulu

TAPPING RAINY-DAY FUND IS A SOLUTION

Our mission is to provide essential services to the people of Hawaii. The agreement between the Hawaii State Teachers Association and the governor calls for 17 educational days to be eliminated.

Because the state has a responsibility to provide essential services to its people, I believe tapping into the rainy-day fund will address this shortfall to our public education system.

The rainy-day fund was created by the Legislature nearly a decade ago for use in times of emergency. The purpose of the fund was "to maintain levels of programs determined to be essential to the public health, safety, welfare and education."

Here, we have a shortfall in the education budget, and we need to restore the 17 days that are targeted for elimination for the school year.

First, the Legislature would have to secure a two-thirds vote from both houses; thus, we would need a special session. Next, once approved, we would restore the instructional days back to the school calendar.

We can do this. We have approximately $41 million to $44 million in the rainy-day fund. It's not too late to act now.

Rep. john mizuno | District 30

STATE BUDGET

OUR ELECTED LEADERS, UNIONS MUST STEP UP

Silence is golden, but we need to hear from our elected officials and possible candidates for governor.

Gov. Lingle is trying and taking action.

In business, the job at the top is lonely, but we are talking about government.

In government, leaders debate and propose solutions. Today the only solutions are furloughs, raising taxes and raiding the hurricane fund.

Proposed solutions are obvious but maybe not realistic.

Union leaders should step forward and accept a reduction in government employees.

Why is unemployment rising, yet there is no reduction in government employees?

Businesses are reducing employees by better planning, reviewing actual need, trimming excess and sizing their work force efficiently.

Too little is known about staffing and productivity in government operations.

Everyone should be more aware of government activities and advise their elected official if improvement may be made.

As we all suffer, we must all work together to find solutions.

john guzman | Honolulu