Why, why, why? Letters, 18 February

The Bay of Plenty Times welcomes letters and comments from readers. Here you can read the letters we have published in your newspaper today.

School pupils will lose out

Re class sizes (News, February 11). What a hare-brained idea - which bureaucratic bozo thought this one up thinking it would save money?

It will, in the long run, cost more in that teachers will leave, children will struggle to keep up and will either cause trouble in class to get attention or not bother trying to learn, and end up leaving school unable to read and write.

A fair number of teachers and students are struggling to cope with the classroom sizes as they are now. What makes this bozo think that increasing the classroom sizes will improve the situation?

But this is what these brilliant idiots do - sit on their bums in their fancy offices and think up stupid ideas and ways of doing something that won't work.

The so-called money saved would only employ more bozos.

My suggestion is keep smaller schools open and reopen some that have been closed. Offer teachers positions here and at lower-decile schools, give them a school house at a reduced rent or rent free for three years with the promise of wiping their student debt should they stay for the full three years.

This way, the smaller schools, country areas and lower-decile schools get teachers, classroom sizes are smaller, children aren't exhausted before they start the day by travelling long distances on the bus.

It's a win-win situation all round and they may enjoy country/mall town life and stay longer.

Rachel Day, Tauranga

Don't trash books

Tragedy of tragedies. My literature-loving wife and I went, with 150 minutes to spare, to peruse the Lioness book fair at the Mount Sports centre on Anniversary weekend. However, instead of a building teeming with treasures we were greeted by a locked and empty building. Sucks ... had it finished early?? Fair enough we thought, that is life.

Then outside, around the corner of the building, we saw the crime scene. Hidden from view, an uncovered skip sat laden with the rejected and dejected books which had not found a happy home. Thousands of books covering all topics and themes.

This groaning skip, a rusted bulk of Rena proportions, stacked to the gunnels with literature and left to the mercy of the environs.

Why, why, why? Couldn't they have given these treasures to another charity or given them to those that care? What saddens us, and I am sure anyone who may have donated or bequeathed any cherished publication or print, was this final unnecessary outcome.

I see there is another fair this Saturday. I only hope there is not a repeat of this senseless waste.

He taonga nga pukapuka.

Anthony Moore, Greerton

Fell on deaf ears

I have taken on a new job as a carpenter. However, I refuse to purchase the tools that I need to carry out the job I have chosen, and I believe the taxpayers should be forced to pay for them for me.

Once again the Greens use their weapon of unearned entitlement to suck on the State tit.

Constantly on the search to help themselves to other people's money, they are at least consistent.

Perhaps Ms Mathers should contemplate the fact that it was her choice to enter politics. Understanding the disadvantage she has by her deafness, surely she must have understood that there would be certain tools she would require to manage her chosen occupation. Or had she always thought that the taxpayer would foot the bill?

Then Russel Norman comes on TV saying that charity organisations are tired of having to appeal for voluntary donations to gain funding and it would be better to receive funding. Once again, he undoes himself. Mr Norman wants us all to give and be charitable at the point of his gun. More Green thuggery under the guise of compassion.

If governments conduct themselves with theft and thuggery as their tool of sustenance then it is hardly any wonder that the same trends will become prevalent in society.

Graham Clark, Lower Kaimai

Climate change

As well as the appeals to the Speaker of our House of Representatives for assistance for the hearing impaired Mojo Mathers, there would appear to be a desperate need for Dave Finney to be provided with assistance to overcome his deafness (and blindness) to the accumulating evidence of global warming and the threat of climate change.

Judging by his recent letters this need is becoming increasingly urgent.Eddie OrsulichOtumoetaiUniversity siteLike Mr Patterson I believe that having the university in the Western Bay of Plenty is a great idea. I also agree with Mr Patterson about the issues of parking, traffic and access if the university is located in the CBD.

Do students really want to be stacked up in an office building with no campus around them? Students do not attend lectures all day. They need somewhere to sit, talk, debate and discuss with their peers.

That is as much a part of university life as sitting in a lecture theatre.

The inner city site does not provide that opportunity. While the coffee bars might think they welcome students, are they prepared to have them take up a seat for hours on end nursing a single coffee while waiting for their next lecture?

Do the bars and the businesses want the mayhem that occurs in Dunedin on a fairly regular basis where the campus is centrally located?

Furthermore there is a dearth of inexpensive housing in the area around the CBD.

Albany and Massey have managed very well being positioned somewhat out of town and have grown attractive campuses with space for the students to move around.

The polytechnic campus at Windermere has room for growth, and could become a great centre for student life.

Who is the campus designed to attract? The students or the staff?

Frances Denz, Tauranga