PEDESTRIAN SAFETY

DOT PURSUING NEEDED ROAD IMPROVEMENTS

I'm worried about our state legislators. It seems that math is not one of their strong suits.

The Legislature, especially Sen. Rosalyn Baker, hasn't been able to do the math when it comes to pedestrian safety. The administration plans to spend $18.5 million for pedestrian safety improvements statewide, and now Baker is squabbling over $3 million that the Legislature irresponsibly appropriated from the highway fund.

Perhaps she is confused because her $3 million could net the state $12 million in a 4-to-1 match of federal funds. She obviously doesn't understand the rather uncomplicated mathematics.

The improvements DOT is pursuing are needed and were planned, not to mention the fact that the legislators' $3 million doesn't even compare to the administration's $18.5 million.

MAHALO

TOURIST FAMILY SHOWED TRUE ALOHA TO RESIDENT

I have multiple sclerosis. I am also a sixth-generation missionary descendant.

While these two statements may not seem relevant to each other, please read on.

While crossing Kamehameha Highway in front of the Hale'iwa Post Office, also next to two bus stops, I collapsed in the crosswalk.

The folks waiting for their bus just kept waiting. And passing drivers shouted obscenities at me and drove on.

Finally, a couple stopped and pulled me to the side of the road and called 911. They were not from Hawai'i. They were visitors from Colorado.

Hawai'i's tourism officials thrive on telling tourists about our aloha for everyone who comes to the Islands.

What has happened to the real aloha in Hawai'i? Is it just a bumper sticker slogan and come-on in Waikiki nightclub acts?

Or maybe if I looked more "local" and less "haole" someone would have have come to my aid and pulled me off the road? I don't know anymore.

And while I harbor no bitterness about this incident, it has awakened me to the unpleasant realities of 21st century Hawai'i.

But, most importantly, mahalo nui loa to the Gates family from Colorado, who showed such true aloha.

HELP NEEDED

JANEVIA TAYLOR FACES LONG ROAD TO RECOVERY

As University of Hawai'i fans gear up for another exciting season of football and Wahine volleyball, I ask that they continue to keep a gifted UH athlete of another sport on their minds and near to their hearts: former Wahine basketball point guard Janevia Taylor.

I recently visited my teammate at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital, where she remains after a horrific car accident on June 23. Seeing the young lady, who dazzled both her team and fans alike with her amazing ball handling and perpetual grin, sidelined in such an incapacitated state is one of the most difficult things I've ever witnessed.

While she has overcome some serious obstacles over the past few weeks, Nevi still faces a very long and challenging road to recovery.

I ask that the people of this great state keep her in their prayers, and consider offering any support they can in offsetting her burgeoning medical costs.

Please give of yourself now to an athlete who always gave everything she had while donning the green, white, and black for the past four years. There is no Hawai'i athlete in more need of your support at this time.

Contribute to her medical fund at any First Hawaiian Bank branch, or by mailing donations to: Friends of Janevia Taylor, c/o First Hawaiian Bank, 2764 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, HI 96822.

MIDEAST

Could compromise be reached on Iraq views?

I think it's wonderful that both sides of the debate on troop withdrawal are being considered in the letters you publish, specifically Renee Riley ("Support our troops, bring them back home," Aug. 3) and Michael Kemna ("Both mission, troops must have our support," Aug. 7).

Perhaps some compromise could be reached between these disparate views, such as the ideas currently being proposed by Barack Obama. If elected president, Sen. Obama intends to pursue more intentional diplomacy with our enemies and to redeploy our troops to Afghanistan to make sure that Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida's core leadership are captured or killed.

Mr. Kemna's invoking of 9/11 suggests that people sharing his views could support the idea of going after the people actually responsible for that attack. The renewed emphasis on diplomacy could appeal to adherents of Ms. Riley's standpoint by hopefully preventing war with Iran and/or Syria (among others).

Extreme views rarely achieve widespread approval in American society — that's what our democracy was designed to prevent. There is common ground toward the center that we can all hopefully find a foothold on, we just have to be willing to compromise.

PETS

RABBITS ARE NOT AN ENDANGERED SPECIES

I understand J. Lyn Montague's letter about eating rabbits (Aug. 3).

Many people have a hard time understanding how we can eat the flesh of animals that we think are cute and cuddly. One person might have a pet rabbit, and another might enjoy the taste of rabbit stew. I've eaten rabbit, and it wasn't one of my favorites.

But, please understand that rabbits are not an endangered species. Their reproductive rate is high enough that the world is not going to run out of them any time soon. If let out into the wild, rabbits can be a very destructive species to farmers' crops.

If anyone thinks that keeping them instead as pets is humane, I wonder how this "sentient" species might feel if the only reason for their existence was for humans to keep them as pets. I doubt if rabbits think about much, aside from eating, sleeping and reproducing.