POTHOLES

ROAD MATERIAL MUST BE SOURCE OF THE PROBLEM

So I see by the newspaper that we had 81,000 potholes so far this year. I assume that is only the ones that have been identified. I could point out another 81,000 potholes.

Rains should not have caused all that damage. It seems clear that our streets are not made of good material. And perhaps the material used to fill the potholes is not as good as it should be.

If our mayor will not take strong action to fix this matter, then the City Council should. Instead of asking questions of the bureaucracy, the City Council should hire an independent firm to look into the matter and come back with a report.

It is very disturbing that the city government is so lax in the matter of streets and sewers. They should be willing to do the work to give us good city government.

Apparently, that is not the case. If the mayor is not willing to do what is necessary for streets and sewers, we should get a different mayor.

HONOLULU'S POTHOLES MUST BE FIXED — NOW

Driving home from the Parade of Boats, my car hit a huge pothole at Po'ipu and Lunalilo Home Road. My car's alignment was instantly destroyed, and the car could have gone out of control.

The solution to potholes in Hawai'i is simple. People should hire asphalt companies to fix holes in their neighborhoods and then take the cost off property taxes due the city. In law, it is called mitigation of damages. I definitely had damages.

I also pay huge taxes in Hawai'i Kai so that bureaucrats can sit in offices and tell us what is best for us. What is best for us is for them to get off their bureaucratic butts and fix our streets. Now.

FOOTBALL

MANY UH FANS CHOOSE TO WATCH GAMES ON TV

A lot of people are complaining in letters to the editor (and elsewhere) about supposed "fair weather fans" of the University of Hawai'i, especially concerning the Warrior football team.

I've been watching and supporting UH sports for more than 35 years — since I was a kid. I've been to games. I watch them on TV. Nowadays my kids and I grab any opportunity to get an autograph when we see a favorite athlete around town.

The past few years we've purchased the pay-per-view package from Oceanic that allows us to watch the games at home. This year we forked over more than $300 for the football-volleyball-basketball package.

Just because we don't buy season tickets or attend every home game doesn't make us fair-weather fans.

If filling the stadium is the criterion upon which a fully successful season is judged, don't put the game on TV. Make it so that the only way to watch UH football is to go to the game.

And if that should happen, I would predict that UH will actually decrease its fan base significantly.

Stop scolding those of us who choose to watch UH on TV. Let's focus on the team and their well-being and success. Watch 'em live or watch 'em on TV. As long as we watch and support our university, that's the main thing!

MIDEAST

IRAQ WAR NOT POPULAR, BUT HASN'T BEEN IN VAIN

In response to Stephen Burns' Dec. 13 letter requesting that Americans hold President Bush accountable for the 4,000 troops who have died in valor: To even compare our president's leadership to Michael Vick and his dogfighting ring is a disgraceful and an unthankful gesture toward our men and women in uniform who every day support our president during a time of war.

Where were you in history class when they spoke of the Holocaust? Do you remember how many Americans we lost in that war to combat tyranny across Europe?

This war might not be popular because of the time it has taken, but if we had not rid the Taliban of power in Afghanistan, taken out the ruthless dictator, Saddam Hussein, in Iraq, and continued to battle a war on terrorism, you probably wouldn't be here to write your letter. Remember 9/11?

Please think about the families who have lost someone in this war; they did not die for nothing.

EXPERT PANEL

TRANSIT GROUP MUST CONSIDER ALL OPTIONS

Mr. Jonn Serikawa (Letters, Dec. 17) is in favor of a panel of experts to determine the best choice on transit technology.

By his or any other criteria, our mayor would not qualify as a transit expert. Yet our mayor has deemed fixed rail as the only option. He has decided that HOT lanes, buses or other alternatives are not in the equation.

The mayor's proposed panel is solely to decide what type of fixed rail we get. The City Council cannot abrogate its responsibility to O'ahu taxpayers for a foreordained conclusion.

Any panel of experts must include advocates of all possible transit technologies and the pros and cons of each, which hopefully include realistic cost and use numbers. They cannot be tilted to one solution only.

The City Council can review the results, and then vote.

If it is fixed rail, so be it. At least all technologies will have had a chance to make their case.

COMMUTING

DETRIMENTAL CHANGES TO BUS SERVICE AT UH

Much has been written about changes to Route 1 by TheBus. However, no one has written about other detrimental changes that TheBus recently made. For example, the 80A and 6 were the only two buses that serviced the interior of the University of Hawai'i-Manoa campus.

The 80A no longer goes through campus. It starts on University Avenue, which is already heavily serviced by the A, 4, 6, 18, and several express buses. The options are to walk across campus to University or take the 6 bus up through Manoa and back.

I have a disability that makes walking, standing and taking stairs painful. Hiking across campus is not an option. In the past when I rode the 6 up and back, I was sometimes rudely confronted by drivers, even though I was not bothering anyone. So I take the 6 bus to the next stop and walk down University. Hopefully my legs will be able to tolerate this. It now takes me 1 1/2 hours to get from UH to Downtown — a trip that takes 15 minutes by car.

Mail from former 80A riders yielded only form letters in return. The e-mail I sent has been ignored. I have been a loyal customer for years, but now I am thinking about getting a car and dumping TheBus.

TEEN BIRTH RATE

STUDIES HAVE VALIDATED ABSTINENCE EDUCATION

Does anyone else find it ludicrous that Planned Parenthood's CEO implied that abstinence education is connected to a rise in the teen birth rate?

Barry Raff's generic claim that "dangerous abstinence-only education programs, which every study has shown to be ineffective." is unreferenced. The widely quoted Mathematica Study evaluated only four of the earliest developed abstinence programs. These programs targeted middle-school students and were never reinforced.

Recent studies conducted by nationally recognized publications such as Journal of Adolescent Health, American Journal of Health and Journal of Health Communications have validated the efficacy of abstinence education.

Nationally, abstinence-only programs receive $176 million, while $1.8 billion is spent on comprehensive/contraceptive sex education (Heritage Foundation 2004).

If we are going to blame the rise of the teen birth rate on education funding, then contraceptive sex education, which receives the largest piece of the pie, has the most accountability.

Medically accurate education needs to include abstinence as the only method to prevent pregnancy and STDs 100 percent of the time.

The practice of "safe" sex has failed to protect our young people against STDs, unplanned pregnancies and the emotional scars often suffered after contracting an STD or having an abortion. What is "dangerous" is unhealthy sexual practices that expose our teenage population to dozens of STDs and uncertain futures.

Don't be deceived. Pregnancy is caused by sex, not abstinence.

PRIMARY ELECTION

DEMOCRATS MUST LEAVE VOTING PROCESS ALONE

Let us be clear what Richard Port really means when he claims our primary system is unconstitutional (Letters, Dec. 16).

He is referring to the freedom of association, which is intended to protect political-interest groups of all ideologies from control by the government.

Last I checked, the Democratic and Republican parties were the government. Honestly, what protections do the two parties need that they can't already pre-empt themselves?

Forcing voters to register for a party in the primaries satisfies the letter of the law, but absolutely mangles the spirit of the law.

If our primary system is changed, it will give elite party insiders the freedom to force any candidates they wish down the throats of the people of Hawai'i, including the rank-and-file of their own parties.

To borrow Mr. Port's own ridiculous analogy, it would be like having Herman Frazier pick our quarterback in the Sugar Bowl, a prospect I don't think too many people would be keen on right now.

If the parties wish to salvage any pretense of doing what is best for the people of the state, they will leave the voting process alone.

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