Letters to the Editor
Citizen help is needed against drunk drivers
In response to your March 26 editorial "DUI concern mustn't encourage police state," MADD wants to stress that the pending Supreme Court case will not put anyone's personal freedom at risk, but instead could protect a vital tool needed to combat drunk driving, America's most frequently committed crime.
Nearly 16,000 people die in alcohol crashes every year in our country; another 600,000 are injured.
What's at stake is the right of a police officer to use the information from a citizen's call — anonymous or not — as a valid reason to stop a vehicle and investigate why the person was reportedly driving erratically. It is not the issue of "probable cause" to arrest but simply the "reasonable grounds" to stop a vehicle.
Using information received from citizens on the road, our police officers can better prevent serious crashes and make Hawai'i's roads safer.
In 1999, 43 of the 98 total automobile-related fatalities in Hawai'i were alcohol-related. MADD Hawai'i is working with Hawai'i's law enforcement officers and others to reduce that number, but we can't do it alone. We need everyone's help.
That includes ensuring responsible citizens that information they report about hazardous driving can be used by our law enforcement members to help save lives.
Carol McNamee
Co-Founder, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD-Hawai'i)
Cruise ship industry needs better harbors
Your March 28 front-page story on the arrival of the Infinity cruise ship, complete with photos, made my day. How appropriate that the editors noted that this event was "setting a new standard" and that Hawai'i was "sailing into a new cruising era."
I am glad to see The Advertiser give this event the attention it deserves. The cruise ship sector of the tourism industry was the only sector to show continuous significant growth throughout the last decade. While hotels statewide saw declining numbers of visitors during the 1990s, the number of cruise ships calling at all Hawai'i ports increased.
The size of the ships, and corresponding number of passengers each ship carried, increased as well. Imagine this: more visitors without having to build more hotels. What a concept.
Since the ships sail interisland, Neighbor Island economies benefit as well, not just Waikiki hotel owners. It is unfortunate that the only thing keeping this industry from realizing its full potential today is the incredibly slow progress the state Harbors Division is making on improvements to our harbor facilities throughout the state.
Edward W. Enos Jr.
Kailua
'Rights' of one group hurting the others'
Your March 30 front-page story of the Felix Consent Decree is accurate in pointing out that with limited financial resources, other human services must be sacrificed. But this is exactly what occurs when the special interests or "rights" of one group dominate. Court edicts have never left room for common sense.
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act looks for progress in the Individualized Education Program. However, there is no mention of the fact that Judge David Ezra has accepted 85 percent passing on an assessment tool, which was created by his court monitor, Ivor Groves.
Service Testing selects cases, and if 85 percent compliance is not reached, then the entire school complex fails. A few of the parameters include responsible behavior, emotional well-being and parent support of students who have mental health needs.
Your editorials and even your own writers reflect an uncritical acceptance of Judge Ezra's position. It took the Supreme Court to rule him wrong in the Rice vs. Cayetano case. I question his judgment when he makes statements such as "having the system hemorrhage."
Just the fact that Superintendent Paul LeMahieu is asked to look at using regular education money shows how "rights" given to one group can harm the entire fabric of democracy in public education. Judicial edicts have suffocated the skill of using good judgment for what is best for everyone.
Jim Wolfe
'Education governor' faring better at UCLA
The Center on Asian American Studies at UCLA is trying to create an endowed chair in the name of Benjamin Cayetano. Apparently he has given them a tremendous amount of support over the years. I wonder if they are aware of his attitude toward and treatment of the faculty at the University of Hawai'i?
Gov. Cayetano has single-handedly placed the future of the University of Hawai'i at risk. He single-handedly led us to a statewide strike of all public school educators. He's not our "education governor."
Perhaps he is UCLA's "education governor."
Mary Jo Noonan
Campaign finance reform sorely needed
Mahalo to the state House and especially to legislators like Rep. Brian Schatz and Sen. Les Ihara, who continue to push for legislation to enact comprehensive campaign finance reform.
It is infuriating to watch a couple of well-funded politicians like Sen. Cal Kawamoto block campaign finance reform year after year. Clearly, with hundreds of thousands of dollars in their campaign war chests, Kawamoto and friends have no desire to change politics-as-usual here in Hawai'i.
Now that the "reformers" and the "big-money" folks are clearly marked, we have to wonder: Where is everyone else? The majority of our elected officials have been suspiciously quiet on the topic of state-level campaign finance reform.
It is perhaps these legislators who are to blame for their lack of action because they have the knowledge and power to make a difference but are too reluctant to do so. In shying away from this issue, they fail to live up to their duty as community and political leaders.
Many see campaign finance as just one issue, but the ramifications are huge. The overwhelming role of money in politics disheartens voters, discourages good people from running for office, reduces electoral competitiveness, and skews policy priorities and outcomes.
Nikki Love
Executive Director, Hawai'i Elections Project
No more separating Hawai'i's citizens
Jon Van Dyke's and Jim Peterson's attempts to separate my family and friends must end, pau already (Letters, March 29).
They must explain their motivation as instigators of segregating Hawai'i's people, the one 'ohana of Hawai'i. They must add my name together with Bill Burgess, John Carroll, Thurston Twigg-Smith and Ken Conklin, who support a one Hawai'i.
We in Hawai'i have no special racial or ethnic group; we are all special. Hawai'i is and must forever remain that special place. The special place for all the nations of the world to witness people living, working, playing and intermarrying as one. This is the true Hawaiian legacy. This is the true Hawaiian mission.
My hanai sister Pat (who is Native Hawaiian), some 12 years ago, called her children together to introduce them to me. She said, "I have always told you I had a Japanese brother. Now you get to meet Junior, my Japanese brother and your uncle."
That introduction is Hawai'i. We must not allow the one Hawai'i to be separated into racial or ethnic groups by those who promise special programs, money, land and power.
James I. Kuroiwa Jr.
Monarchs actively transformed culture
Attorney Jon M. Van Dyke in "We owe Hawaiians redress of wrongs" (Letters, March 29) is incorrect when he includes Hawaiians with other indigenous peoples who " ... never made a commitment to living in a multicultural community."
On the contrary, beginning with King Kamehameha III in 1840, the Hawaiian monarchs actively sought to transform Hawai'i from a native island kingdom into a modern, multiethnic nation. They extended full citizenship to all residents, regardless of original nationality or race, actively encouraged increased immigration, and incorporated Western religion, technology, law and customs into their own in order to more fully participate with the international community.
The Hawaiians actively encouraged the transformation of their homeland, and this is what separates them from many of the other indigenous peoples of the world whose cultures were transformed, against their wishes, by invading colonials.
Yes, the ultimate overthrow and annexation were unexpected and unintended by the Hawaiian monarchs, but they were a direct consequence of forces that they had set into motion themselves, and this is the best argument against support of self-determination.
Toby M. Kravet
'Hawai'i Rx Program' would lower costs
If you struggle to pay for prescription drugs, you are not alone: 20 percent of Hawai'i residents lack drug coverage or have health conditions that require prescriptions that exceed their coverage.
House Bill 47, introduced during the 2001 legislative session, would establish the self-supporting "Hawai'i Rx Program" to lower the cost of prescription drugs for Hawai'i residents who do not have health insurance and have to pay cash for their medicine.
With a Hawai'i Rx Program card, you and all other Hawai'i residents would get a discount at participating local pharmacies. The state would then reimburse the pharmacies from the rebates received from pharmaceutical manufacturers.
Advocates of House Bill 47 — including Rep. Roy Takumi, the Medicine Bank, concerned senior groups and others — are working to ensure that pharmaceutical lobbyists do not destroy this effort to help Hawai'i's uninsured.
Join others with your support of this bill. Its fate is now in the hands of the Ways and Means Committee. Please contact Sen. Brian Taniguchi (586-6460) or Sen. Colleen Hanabusa (586-7793).
Heidi Wong
Kane'ohe
Why was Vietnam omitted in article?
I am a retired Vietnam-era Seabee living on Kwajalein Island. I received the March 18 Advertiser article "Seabees build themselves a memorial" from a co-worker who was in Honolulu recently. It is a good article and I have no problem with the writer.
My problem lies with the omission of any mention of Vietnam-era Seabees. World War II, Grenada, the Gulf War, Lebanon, Haiti, Bosnia, Kosovo and East Timor were listed as areas where Seabees have served. I am sure your information came from the local Seabee/civil engineer population, and my curiosity has gotten the best of me. Was Vietnam omitted intentionally?
The construction effort in Vietnam was astronomical, much greater than anyplace mentioned in your article, with the exception of World War II.
Billy Abston
Hanauma Bay is just another tourist trap
It is with great sadness that I must say goodbye to Hanauma Bay. One of Hawai'i's most precious jewels will be sacrificed to the tourist industry in the mayor's new Disneylandish tourist trap that will forever change its beauty and our freedom to "public access."
Education is the excuse administrators hide behind to build this 13,000-square-foot "office building" that includes a snack bar and gift shop (only 15 percent of the space; less than 3 percent of the budget is for education).
It's really about money, politics and control of access. This only punctuates the decade-old administrators' failures to manage and maintain the bay properly, while local interest has dropped to the point where locals don't go because of long lines created by "paying" tourists.
Robert Reeder
Sprinkler retrofits are too expensive
The Honolulu Advertiser's March 31 editorial on the retrofit of sprinkler systems in all high-rise businesses and condominiums does not speak for me. So much for a strong public interest in mandating retrofits.
One high-rise fire does not justify this enormous expense to all business and condo owners or their associations. It would cause bankruptcies. Your paper is out of touch with us little people. Who can afford this?
Most condo owners had to pull a second mortgage just to pay for the lease-to-fee conversions. The 1975 sprinkler law is required in buildings after that year over 75 feet. That's it. Too late to change it now.
Firefighters get paid to go into harm's way. That's their job, period.
City Council members, read this: We don't need it. We don't want it. We can't afford it.
George Pevarnik
'Aiea
Fishing isn't easy; time to shut it down
I am 9 years old and I like to fish. I used to catch lots of fish in Lanikai. I never catch fish in Lanikai any more.
I think you should shut down some fishing spots for awhile to let the fish come back. If you do it in Lanikai, that would be great. Then other fishermen and I could catch fish again.
Nick Foti
Kane'ohe
