• About those numbers
• Travel agents sending the homeless?
• Care for your child if you have one
About those numbers
After reading the article in Wednesday’s Garden Island paper on the International High Tech Symposium being held on Kaua’i I felt compelled to comment on the revenues generated by this symposium’s participants. The figure quoted by Mr. Burley, who works for PMRF was 5.3 million dollars which 600 participants pay, for hotel rooms, meals rental vehicles, gifts and other expenses incurred on Kaua’i. This works out to a little under $9,000 per person! Now I don’t know what the “other expenses” are or the gifts are (maybe a bit of jewelry for the wife or something), but it sure sounds like a lot of money for a three-day symposium.
I have heard this figure used before by the Department of Defense in the “PMRF won’t make land grab” article that was published on Sept. 13, 2003 in which Capt. Connelly said that 300 test personal are flown over twice a year for the missile launches and will generate 5.5 million dollars into the economy of Kaua’i at hotels and eating at local restaurants. I thought that was high, but when about the same figure number was used again I started to wonder if this is all just “smoke and mirrors,” used by the DOD to persuade the people of Kaua’i of the economical benefits to the island’s economy. To “pump up” the numbers is wrong.
I would like to see someone with an economics degree analyze how much the DOD really spends on Kaua’i and Hawai’i and how much they really give the state in rent, taxes, on island payroll, etc., so that we can see a figure that is independent from the DOD’s spin doctors.
As far as the symposium goes, I am glad to see that Kaua’i’s high-school students were invited, so in the future more of our people on island will get the “high-paying jobs” at PMRF.
GREG HOLZMAN
Travel agents sending the homeless?
We just returned home to Kaua’i after two days on O’ahu.
The lady and child seating next to us said a San Diego travel agent sold her a ticket to Kaua’i because “You can sleep on the beaches.”
I applaud the mayor’s handling of clearing the parks. But now I wonder if our handling of the homeless may be a magnet to attract more people in the same unfortunate situation?
Do we need to somehow inform the travel industry that Kaua’i is not one giant, free campground?
Duane E. Robinson,
Princeville
Care for your child if you have one
Child negligence is not cool. Babies are born everyday maybe by accident or even by mutual agreement by two adults. When you have kids it is now your responsibility to care for and nurture your child.
What a woman did off island to her little child was not cool. How can you go and leave your child in the back seat for as long as he was and totally forget about your child. This shows that maybe you did not want the child in the first place or at least you might be an irresponsible person. Again child negligence is not cool and if you want a child make sure you do everything in your power to care fir and protect your child.
Chezvis Montero,
‘Ele’ele
