College golf tourney a taxpayer rip-off
February and we have the John Burns College golf tournament, the biggest rip-off for the taxpayers of Kaua‘i.
I assumed that the colleges paid an entry fee, but I was told that is not true.
My understanding is that the colleges pay no entry fee, and that the county pays the green fees for all the players, the cart rentals for the coaches and family.
Let us not forget the additional labor cost for the grounds staff to get the course in shape, the extra cost for the county workers to erect the tent for the players and the loss of revenue from the locals and visitors for these four days of prime golf.
Why not charge an entry fee of $1,000 to each college to cover the cost of the green fees and cart rentals as opposed to the taxpayers of Kaua‘i footing the bill? Surely these college programs could afford an entry fee to come to Kaua‘i in February.
Peter Tran, Kilauea
Social media reminds us of our troubled society
Look no further than social media to see the continued downfall of our values in society.
Why question the negative actions carried out by our youth of today when we as adults, can’t even lead by example?
Today was yet another day that I was filled with disgust as I read the comments below a news story that appeared on my social media feed.
Unlike many of the news stories that report negative happenings in the world, this one was supposed to share one of positivity, and I was glad to see such a positive story, so I clicked on the story with happiness in my heart until I started to read the comments posted below.
The heartfelt story was practically torn to pieces by being met with comment after comment of negative judgment and criticism, even going as far as to make degrading statements that wouldn’t make any sense had these commentators taken the time to read the whole news story.
It takes only a few minutes on social media to see all the hate and bullying that we put out there in the world. Then we have the audacity to sit back and be baffled by the rage and wrongdoings of our youth when it is clear that we as adults can’t even set a positive example for them. Although social media has its pros, it is really a disgrace that we often use it to bring each other down.
Kathy Chamlal, Lihue
Good news about COVID-19
When I submitted a warning letter here a month ago, the COVID-19 virus was growing very rapidly, yet the media and the stock market did not seem very concerned. Now, the media and the stock market are in panic mode. At the same time, there is some recent good news to share.
The average time to death has been reported to be 14 days, so I will consider current cases to be those less than 14 days old. The first good news is that the total number of current cases has been declining. Based on WHO (World Health Organization) reports, the world total current cases on Feb. 13 would be 39,179. On Feb. 27, the total current cases would be 35,297.
These totals are mostly from China. But what about other countries? There were 20 countries which reported COVID-19 cases as of Jan. 31. Consider how these countries’ current cases have changed from Feb. 13 to Feb. 27. Six now have no current cases. Four have a declining number of current cases. Six are holding steady. Only four are growing.
One of these four is the U.S. The U.S. reports 60 cumulative cases, but 57 of these were contracted overseas and two were from spouses who traveled overseas. Only one case in the U.S. was acquired from the community. So the virus has not been growing in the U.S. either.
Another of the four is Japan, who has had moderate growth, which my friends in Japan tell me is mainly from the large number of Chinese tourists, which has now been curtailed.
Only two countries out of the 20 have had rapid growth, South Korea and Italy. Iran has also had rapid growth. It started later so it was not on the list of 20.
Keep in mind that these three rapid-growth countries and Japan all experience colder winter weather. The weather is now warming. The flu season is winding down.
The COVID-19 virus is dangerous. We should be careful. However, I think the current level of fear in the media and the stock market is too high. There is good news to consider.
Mark Beeksma, Koloa
