LET'S URGE OBAMA TO HONOR HOPE OF PEACE

Three days have passed since the president announced he is sending 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan. Three issues of The Advertiser have landed on my doorstep, and I have looked in vain for some sense of how readers are reacting to this massive escalation. Where is the outrage that billions more of our already stretched tax dollars are being thrown into the bottomless pit of warmaking?

Why does war take priority over basic human needs? Michael Moore expresses the disappointment and dismay of millions of Americans: "President Obama, it's time to come home. Ask your neighbors in Chicago and the parents of the young men and women doing the fighting and dying if they want more billions and more troops sent to Afghanistan. Do you think they will say, 'No, we don't need health care, we don't need jobs, we don't need homes?' "

Well, the president is coming home for the holidays - not to Chicago, but to Hawaii. Let's welcome him and urge this keiki o ka äina to honor those who voted with the hope of getting a long-awaited "peace president."

WALLY INGLIS | Honolulu

HOMELESS

MOVING PEOPLE AROUND NO SOLUTION

Another day goes by, more people living in the streets. Hey thanks, Mayor Hannemann and Gov. Lingle; let's close the loopholes and hope they all just go away. Well, drive around Oahu and see that the problem is growing daily and it's going from bad to worse. You remove them from one area and they end up somewhere else.

Hey, let's build the rail. We really don't need those billions of dollars. Oh, and let's all take pay cuts and benefit cuts or maybe lose our jobs all together, but how many in our government hierarchy have done the same? Oh, it's an eyesore; oh, not in our neighborhood; oh, not Waikíkí - what will the tourists think? Always some excuse. Well, wake up, people: Where do you want them to go? Get a job, I hear from some. OK, at $8.25 an hour can you please show me an apartment they can rent and pay utilities and eat?

Moving people around solves nothing; it is just a temporary solution. We need to find ways to help because this problem is growing daily.

So, Mr. Mayor and Ms. Governor, find us a solution - we are tired of musical chairs.

HOLLY REIPLINGER | Honolulu

HEALTH CARE

TOTAL COST MUST BE ADDRESSED IN REFORM

We fully support the reform of health care, but we need to start over. Its foundation must be a reduction in national health expenditure as a percent of GDP. It is irresponsible to proceed with new programs without addressing the total cost issue.

There are positive elements of the proposed legislation that get at "best practices" and look to reduction in "waste and abuse." The problem is that there are virtually no "market" or economic reforms in the bills.

We see lots of politics, but very little leadership. We need the president to set a very specific goal, something like "National health expenditure will be 15 percent of GDP by 2016."

Setting a goal "to spend less than $0.9 trillion and not add to the deficit" is incredibly wimpy. It also continues to foster the lack of transparency that pervades our federal government - using Medicare savings to fund new entitlements, or putting the "Medicare doctor fees" fix in a separate bill so it's not charged against the health care bill. It has given way to two bills that keep us on track for health care to be greater than 20 percent of GDP by 2017.

Peter wolcott | Kapaa, Kauai

TIGER WOODS

PROBLEM IS WITH SOCIETY'S FIXATION

I am a high school golfer and a sports fan watching the media's fascination with the recent Tiger Woods incident. The relentless media coverage of this incident has caused me to question if society is the cause of the attention being paid to Tiger Woods' accident or if Tiger Woods truly deserves such media coverage.

In our society, star professional athletes are treated like gods and the compensation they receive in one month can be greater than what an ordinary individual would make in his entire life.

Also, they are idolized, chased and mobbed by fans. People want to know where they live, what they eat, what they wear — their every move.

Would people be chasing after an ordinary citizen for an autograph if they worked in an office and made $50,000 a year? Would anyone care if my father could hit the golf ball 300 yards? Would my mother hitting her van into our mailbox garner any attention? I doubt it.

I think the problem is not Tiger Woods, but our society. When will our society, if ever, stop its fixation with professional athletes? After all, they are just human beings.

ADAM CHING | Honolulu

COLLEGE SPORTS

ATHLETICS, EDUCATION TOGETHER ENRICH LIVES

We recognize Gilbert Gaul's concerns about college athletics ("For college sports, it's all about money," Dec. 1). However, last week our small Division II school was privileged to host the 26th EA Sports Maui Invitational. In addition to some superb basketball, we witnessed a group of determined athletes who are creating new opportunities for themselves through the venue of a college education. Athletics have enabled many disadvantaged students to access an education, and in turn, enrich the lives of our athlete-scholars. At Chaminade, we call this: Educating the Whole Person.

Athletics also bring families together. In addition to parents who came with booster clubs to Maui, more than a hundred Maui youths turned out, parents in tow, to participate in the pre-tournament hoops clinic in Lahaina. At Chaminade, we call this: Educating in the Family Spirit.

As to the economics, we heard heartfelt appreciation from Maui people everywhere (it's hard to argue with an annual $8 million boost for your island).

Despite challenges, when athletics is embraced as an integral part of your mission together with the overall academic program, it creates a "win-win" through affiliation and pride for the campus, alumni and community supporters.

BERNARD J. PLOEGER, S.M., Ph.D. | President, Chaminade University