Don't blame gambling
for death of little girl

Gambling did not kill the 7-year-old girl in Las Vegas; the suspect is an 18-year-old boy from California (June 2 editorial, "Gambling can produce tragic consequences").

The little girl was not left unattended and roving the casino at 3 in the morning, instead of being in bed, because of gambling. A negligent parent set up his child to lose her life.

Although gambling is the patently adult attraction of Las Vegas, it does not detract from the shows, food and carnival atmosphere that draws families to the city that is "open 24 hours a day."

Gambling has no blame here. Toot your anti-gambling propaganda horn elsewhere.

Al Coleman
Waipahu
(Via the Internet)

Transfer of women inmate
only helps state of Texas

It was with some dismay that I read of the Department of Public Safety's decision to ship out 64 women (and an additional 236 men) to a Texas prison. Most shocking were the callous comments of DPS officials about their failure to consider motherhood (most women in prison are mothers), since "children were not considered in deciding which males were transferred."

This statement assumes that male and female inmates are similarly situated when it comes to parenthood, hence the appearance of fairness. This, sadly, is not the case.

When most men go to prison, their spouses take care of their children. The family, while fractured, continues to limp along.

When women go to prison, they are most often the custodial parent. So when they go to prison, visitation is a rarity under the best of circumstances and the very existence of the family is severely challenged.

The possibility that these women will be able to hold their families together over such a distance is tragically remote.

What is particularly sad about the current practice of transportation of inmates is that it is unnecessary. Virtually all of the female inmates at the women's prison are non-violent offenders serving time for probation or parole violations, not new crimes.

Better and far-cheaper approaches to the prison capacity problem should be sought in the community, rather than enriching those in Texas who have no compunction but to serve as Hawaii's jailers for profit.

Meda Chesney-Lind
Department of Women's Studies
University of Hawaii-Manoa
(Via the Internet)

POST is a shameless example
of UH screw-up

A.A. Smyser's May 29 column was right on when he revealed bureaucrats are threatening the University of Hawaii with mediocrity. That must include those who didn't learn from past design errors in Manoa's science laboratories and other buildings.

A week earlier, Smyser contrasted the challenges faced by UH President Ken Mortimer and ex-President Al Simone. Simone, invited back to speak at commencement, could see buildings that were started during his administration, including what was implied as a completed POST Building.

POST, however, has been so delayed and bungled that it now is a victim of the prevailing austerity. In February, Star-Bulletin writer Helen Altonn described the fiasco: four floors lofted (empty, unfinished), plus the top three floors, at least, that couldn't function.

Now, faculty and administrators can move into offices a year and a half after they were "completed."

Nevertheless, with serious flaws and missing furniture in the research and instructional labs (and the lofting), the POST building cannot yet fulfill its primary mission for researchers and students. To date, more than $40 million in federal and state funds have been invested.

We potential users saw the necessity for modern facilities and proposed the construction. Ten years ago, we submitted, as requested, our lists of room-groupings, space, furniture and utilities for each needed office, lab and even storeroom, and also for such requirements as special air-conditioning.

But those who have never taught a class and never raised a nickel to support research thought they knew better, as we continue to discover to our dismay.

Why can't Hawaii do something right and on time for a change? Will continued bad publicity force the remedial effort? Send us Helen Altonn again.

Ralph Moberly
Chairman
Department of Ocean Engineering
Professor
Department of Geology
and Geophysics
University of Hawaii-Manoa

Hello, how about putting
the phone book online?

Someone recently complained about the smaller size of the new telephone book. I find the new book to be lighter and easier to handle. The maps, instructions and government lists seem to be intact as well.

Another appreciated feature is the paper and forests that were saved.

I hope that the option is soon available to have the phone book information on a CD to load into our computers. This will allow computer searches and automatic dialing, not to mention the cost savings to the environment and taxpayers.

Chuck Leland

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Same-sex archive

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