No to the TMT
As a concerned resident of Hilo, I feel that it would be unwise to permit the building of yet another telescope on Mauna Kea that would scar our mountain even more.
How much more of the mountain will we allow to be scraped away before we realize that it is too late? Is it not bad enough that to even look at the mountain we must first look through telephone poles and wires?
Hawaii County passed a law that has banned the use of plastic bags to preserve our island from further pollution so that future generations can enjoy the island as we have. Is it not the same if we put another telescope on Mauna Kea?
I don’t want another Waikiki, where the beach has been ruined by the countless buildings of hotels lining up from one end to the other. I beg the Board of Land and Natural Resources to think long and hard about the decision they are about to make. After all, our Mauna Kea is a finite resource, and once it’s gone, we will never see it again.
Shawn-Rhey Caldetera
Hilo
Soapy concerns
Tuesday’s letter (Tribune-Herald, Your Views) from Pete Lizdas regarding people using soap and shampoos just a few feet from the ocean’s edge concerns me as well.
As a frequent swimmer at “Four Mile” (Carlsmith Beach Park) and Richardson’s Beach Park, I often see folks lathering up with soaps. Pete points out that these suds flow into the nearby ocean, probably harming the turtles and other marine life.
Since we have signs in downtown Hilo reminding us not to dump hazardous waste since it flows to the ocean, perhaps the county Parks and Recreation Department can post similar signs on the oceanfront showers.
Surely, this issue is not limited to Keaukaha. I would like to suggest that the county … look at this as a countywide issue.
Jeffrey Mermel
Volcano
Viruses kill
I thought Jack Milon’s call to arm the keiki in his Feb. 10 letter to “Your Views” was a parody, though a strange one. However, his “nanny state” paragraph regarding the Hawaii vaccination requirements for students as protecting them “from diseases no one even has anymore” demands a vigorous rebuttal, as there are those who do or may believe this.
The state requires vaccinations, preschool through post-secondary, against Haemophilus influenzae B, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, measles, mumps, rubella, hepatitis B and chickenpox. These viruses are found worldwide. In the United States, they are controlled by vaccination; in other places, and in the absence of vaccines, children suffer and die. Measles, for example, kills almost 200,000 people per year.
Our children, all children, deserve the protection vaccinations offer.
Please don’t mistake Milon’s parody for truth.
Ed Comstock
Hilo
