HAWAI'I KAI NEEDS LIGHTS, OTHER PROJECTS

I applaud Matthew Derby for his observations and concerns (Letters, Sept. 24). The much needed light repairs are just one of many more infrastructure projects requiring attention.

Attention must be given to ADA approved ramps to these intersections, repairs to sinking road gutters and street repaving.

We must have political leaders with the grit to support projects that improve the overall livable quality of our community. Leaders must not make decisions on voices of the minority who speak the loudest but are not speaking for all of us.

Milton Kam | Honolulu

FURLOUGHS

STUDENTS NEED MORE GUIDANCE, NOT LESS

It is easy to say that 17 school days equates to roughly 3.5 weeks of classroom time. Over the next two years that the teachers' furlough contract will be effective, Hawai'i's keiki will have been shortchanged roughly 200 hours of instructional time.

As a recent public high school graduate, I have seen teachers stress to pick what materials to cover within the short academic school year. With the furlough, students will have to put more time in outside of school without guidance. With two working parents, Hawai'i's keiki will need somewhere to go on the 17 Fridays off. How will parents pay an additional daycare fee if money is already tight?

In the Sept. 27 story "Hawai'i teachers union officials stick by Friday-furloughs decision," there were a couple of locals who supported raising taxes. A few extra dollars is worth giving Hawai'i's future a better shot at having an education.

Children's brains are like sponges at an early age and it's vital to teach them as much as possible at that age. High school students need the 17 days of instructional time to prepare them for the world after high school. With furloughs, the future is dim.

Kryssa Isobe | Waipahu

A STRAIGHT PAY CUT WOULD BE BETTER

I'm disgusted and tired of hearing about all the contingency planning required to support the new two year teachers "furlough" contract.

If teachers, union officials and politicians really cared about children, improving their education, and reaching education goals, why didn't they just approve an 8 percent pay decrease across the board and leave the school calendar intact? Wouldn't that have been the logical thing to do?

Tim Baier | 'Aiea

THUNDERBIRDS

SHOW VITAL, INSPIRING AND WELL WORTH COST

Every morning I await the delivery of my Advertiser and head straight for the Opinion section. We are blessed to be citizens of a nation in which we have such a forum to express our diverse views.

In that spirit, I am compelled to respectfully disagree with Nancie Caraway (Letters, Sept. 24) and her views on the recent Thunderbirds performance at Hickam. I not only welcome the military's opportunity to flex the muscle that protects and defends, but consider it vital. As for "downsizing the military's mighty footprint," I suggest that faced with the threats that we are today, this is not an option. The Summer of Love has long since passed.

Equally as important, as I attended the Sunday show I was deeply touched by the awe and wonder in the eyes of our keiki as they witnessed the courage and discipline of these pilots. These are traits that are sorely needed in society today. If even one child was inspired to follow in the footsteps of these heroes (as I suspect is the case) then I say it's money more than well spent.

Lorenzo Lucero | Hale'iwa

VIDEO LAWSUIT

ACORN DESERVES ITS POOR REPUTATION

I find ACORN's knee-jerk reaction to the mire that it has found itself in, in lashing out with a lawsuit, laughable (ACORN files suit against video makers, Sept. 24).

If I am correct, defense counsel in such a case will have the right to subpeona any and all ACORN records in discovery. Yup, that nationwide brownout that you just witnessed was triggered by the stress put on power grids by ACORN shredding machines.

As for the "extreme emotional distress with attendant physical symptoms and injury to their reputations" supposedly encountered by plaintiffs named in the suit, cry me a river. I have never seen such brash disregard for America and its citizens within our own borders. They are pathetic and deserve no less.

Joan Rank | Waialua

FILM OFFICE

CUTTING DEPARTMENT A POUND FOOLISH IDEA

If you look up "Penny wise but pound foolish" in a proverb book, you could well see the example of Ted Liu dismantling the Hawai'i Film Office.

As we enter the final season of filming for ABC's smash "Lost," Hawai'i has never been hotter for the lucrative, clean, and tourist-promoting industry of filmmaking. O'ahu has proved it can reproduce almost any city or locale in the world. "Lost" has the largest global syndication in TV history — 200 countries and tens of millions of viewers and potential tourists. We need to get more series and films.

Mr. Liu's stated goal of wanting generalists and not specialists just doesn't cut it in the specialized area of film. If the office and the expertise are allowed to lapse, we may never regain the momentum to spring forward after the departure of "Lost" next year.

Mark Stitham | former Screen Actors Guild board member and working actor, Kailua