Letters for April 25, 2015

• UH abortion study should be protested • What’s behind move to drive tourists away? • Perhaps a better solution

UH abortion study should be protested

I realize I live in a “blue” state and attitudes toward abortion will be pretty lax or even accepting, but I want the public to know that the University of Hawaii is now accepting volunteers for a study which will involve aborting second trimester fetuses.

Girls as young as 14 are eligible.

To reiterate, our public flagship university is sponsoring 14-year-old girls to abort fetuses that would be completely viable outside the womb.

Have we sunk so low? If you have a soul and this outrages you, please contact your representatives. This is what people should be picketing outside UH Manoa, not some telescope.

Don’t believe me, check the link https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/study/NCT02083809?view=results

David Bickham

Koloa

What’s behind move to drive tourists away?

I am not much on crazy conspiracies, but these attacks on tourism have me baffled.

These “cease and desist” letters going out to the established B&Bs is a case in point. Why all of a sudden are they a problem? I know a couple of the operators personally, and knowingly breaking the law is not what they’re about. The bootleg operators will continue to exist, and the only ones suffering are the legitimate innkeepers. Oh, and of course the tourists, who have had to cancel vacation plans. Not something they are likely to forget. Probably will share the experience on social media. Who benefits?

Now the dairy farm in Mahauleupu. This bad idea has a lot wrong with it. For the promise of 35 (?) agriculture jobs and the promise of possible fresh milk after it has been shipped to Oahu, processed and shipped back, they are willing to ruin tourism on the South Shore and the thousands of jobs that go with it. Who benefits?

Then it came to me. If the chemical companies posing as farmers wanted to turn the Westside into a petri dish for experimenting with various poisons, they would have an easier time without the prying eyes of the tourists. Like I said, crazy, huh?

Allan B. White

Hanapepe

Perhaps a better solution

I read in TGI that the state is spending $3.5 million for the removal of albizia trees on the North Shore. The article also expresses the concerns of the associations and many others about the traffic delays that will occur during this tree removal project.

I wonder if state officials have looked at other alternatives to this perpetual problem.

On the outskirts of Hilo town, there is an area where the albizia trees are obviously all dying. It turns out that someone figured out that if the albizia tree had no leaves, there would be less wind resistance and therefore the branches wouldn’t be so easily bent and broken by the wind.

Apparently, there is a tree poison that can be applied to a small notch cut into the trunk of the tree. It kills the tree. The first thing that happens is all the leaves fall off, making the branches far less wind resistant and therefore much less prone to dropping branches. Eventually, the tree dies and much lighter branches fall. And eventually the entire tree will fall.

Now, I am not saying that this is a remedy to solve the entire problem, but rather than going in and removing all the trees, why not just remove the branches that could fall into the roadway or on someone’s house, and use this poison on the rest of it?

The state needs to look at situations with a lot more sense of innovation, conservatism and accountability. It is their kuleana. Perhaps a good beginning would be to first realize that you’re spending taxpayer’s money and those taxpayers are for whom you work. And they’re also the ones that are terribly inconvenienced by your unnecessary and inconsiderate work ethics.

The aloha spirit is not only about doing things for people. It’s also about not doing things to people. Think!

Larry Arruda

Kapaa