Letters to the Editor
Don't blame 'tropical plants' for mosquitoes
In response to A. Asukura's letter of Nov. 9 regarding the mosquito problem in Hawai'i: The letter seems to focus on "tropical plants" in homeowners' yards being the prime culprit.
As a plant nursery owner who grows thousands of bromeliads, I can assure you the life cycle of a mosquito can be interrupted easily by flushing the water out of the center of the plant on a weekly basis. These plants in a homeowner's yard are more likely to be attended to than all of the rubbish, old tires, etc., we find daily around O'ahu.
It is not the fault of the "tropical plants" but the fault of people in general not taking care to dispose of their rubbish. Homeowners with bromeliads and other plants that hold water, please flush out the centers once a week. and you will interrupt the larval cycle of mosquitoes.
Tina Jensen
Kama'aina Land Plant Rentals
Pupukea
Don't rewrite history of Hawaiian people
Auwe! Auwe kakou! Ken Conklin's ho'okano attitude is a disgrace to all people, especially Hawaiians (and those who are Hawaiian in spirit). He further polarizes the Hawaiians and haole by proclaiming that his views ("hijacked," "activists," "hurt," etc.) are best for the community.
It is very apparent that Conklin does not know what really happened to the Hawaiian people. In 1790, there were about a million pure Hawaiians, but by 1840, the number had dropped to fewer than 75,000. All of this was due to diseases and other problems brought by Westerners.
Perhaps Conklin's ancestors were of the mindset that "the savages (Hawaiian) need to be Christianized, Americanized, Anglo-Saxonized, whatever it takes ... " When will people like Conklin learn that my family's ancestors are to be treated with respect — not arrogance or contempt for our beliefs and culture.
We are Hawaiians, and many of us will continue to believe in our government of the past: kings, queens, chiefs and other ali'i.
How dare you, Mr. Conklin, try to rewrite what really happened to the Hawaiian people. 'Iolani Palace, the Royal Mausoleum and many other sites of the Hawaiian people are sovereign and sacred to us. And no self-proclaimed government can take these things away from the Hawaiian people. 'Onipa'a!
Anakoni Ako
North Kohala, Big Island
Board vote to control growth was correct
Kudos to 'Ewa Neighborhood Board chairman Jeff Alexander and the four board members who took the difficult stand to control growth in the 'Ewa area pending construction of the long-overdue second route to the H-1 Freeway.
As reported in the Nov. 29 Advertiser, the 'Ewa Neighborhood Board, in response to concerns of the construction industry, will revisit its building moratorium decision of October 2001. The majority of board members voted in the best interest of their community on an open-meeting agenda item where all concerned testified. Instead of coming forward with a viable plan, the developers chose to bully our community leaders by overwhelming the November and December meetings with hardhats concerned for their jobs.
The state indicated a tentative completion date of 2007 for the north-south road. This is the same state that took 14 years to build the Wilson Bridge at Wahiawa. Now the people of 'Ewa Beach have finally got some attention. 'Ewa board members, stay the course.
Earl Arakaki
'Ewa Beach
Flight into Hawai'i lacked Island flavor
I have just returned from another trip to the Mainland — this time on American Airlines — and I was amazed. Where I was sitting, I was surrounded by tourists, all eager to catch that first glimpse of Hawai'i, and yet there was none of the Island "hype" that I see on other airlines.
At a time when we are trying to stimulate Island travel, I noted that nothing was done to start the Island experience. The attendants' uniforms were the same as any other segment across the country — no mu'umu'u — and, as we were approaching Honolulu, there was no short film showing the wonders of our great place.
Ted Green
Ka'a'awa
Dobelle era at UH should be interesting
Someone once said that most leaders, whether in government or elsewhere, are much like firefighters. They respond only after a fire starts. So it is with some amazement that we have a new University of Hawai'i president who, instead of waiting until a fire starts, is going around like an arsonist, setting everything and everyone under his command on fire.
The governor, who is watching all of this, must be cringing and mumbling to himself but nevertheless glad that he will not have to cope with all of this in another year. But pity the next governor who will be running around like a fox in a forest fire trying to control the conflagration.
When asked to explain the runaway costs of the renovations at his residence, President Evan Dobelle first stated that much of it was already in the works before he came aboard. (Seems like he got some advice from Mayor Harris on how to handle this type of situation.) But the public quickly learned that the escalating costs were mainly due to design and other changes requested by the president's wife.
Mrs. Dobelle, it turns out, is quite an extraordinary person. She has exquisite and impeccable taste. She doesn't believe in mediocrity and knows how to stretch the dollar. She has put everyone on notice and left no question as to who is running the household at College Hill.
It will be interesting to see what the Dobelle era will be like for the University of Hawai'i. From what we have seen so far, it will be highly unwise for any of the administrators to either maintain an "oh, well" attitude or tell the president that "Rome wasn't built in one day."
Teruo Hasegawa
Foreign students aren't singled out
Regarding your Nov. 11 editorial, "Foreign students must not be singled out": When foreign students plan to expand their horizons and opportunities by studying at U.S. educational institutions, they accept the conditions of the academic institutions and the terms of their visas. American students who choose to study abroad submit themselves to laws, regulations and restrictions they would not find acceptable here.
In the global war against terrorism, foreign students should not feel singled out if their aim is purely educational. All of us are subject in many ways to security measures normally unacceptable to us.
There is little doubt in my mind that purely motivated scholars, young and old, from foreign lands would seriously question our policy now on immigration (educational and visitor visas) and its enforcement. Our security should make them feel secure.
Bernard Lavin
Kailua
Traffic cameras will raise our costs
I'm sitting here at work, reading The Advertiser. I work at a hotel here in Waikiki. It is so quiet in the lobby, I can hear myself think. I have just read an article about the cameras for speeding and red-light runners. When will our leaders wake up and smell the coffee?
We are at war and in the most desperate times in tourism. No jobs, no Japanese visitors, high gas prices, no extra money. People have been speeding and running red lights since the first Fords were on the road. Now we have cameras to be our witness, jury and judge.
This is typical of our leaders; it is just terrible. This is not something the people of Hawai'i need now, or ever. It is worse than the wasted money for the Zipper lane. No one uses it. Whoever heard of three or more people going to the same job or area in the morning rush hour? It should be used by single-passenger cars doing the speed limit, not by Uncle in his old Datsun pick-up with five kids in the back going 40 mph.
We need to stop giving our hard-earned money to Mainland companies that think they can solve our problems in Hawai'i. The cost of living in Hawai'i is only going to go up.
Canlo Campanelli
More traffic tickets another heavy tax
The officials involved in installing the traffic cameras for speeding citations should be subject to prosecution for deliberate fraud.
This is only about revenue and has nothing to do with public safety. The absolute proof rests with the fact that a few years back, Honolulu police stopped using their radar guns out of concern that they caused cancer in the officers using them. There was no statistical evidence of increased accidents or fatalities during the time of no speed traps. There was a big loss of revenue, resulting in the department getting the laser guns they wanted.
The fact that speed is involved in many fatal accidents does not mean that ticketing the average motorist for going slightly over the posted speed limit saves lives. Traffic engineers have used the 85 percentile of the observed usage speed on new roads as a good indicator as to what the speed limit should be. If this were the case here, the speed cams would not get enough to pay their way. The people have already paid for these roads.
We do not need a new heavy tax for the normal use of them and the increased insurance premiums that go with the tickets.
Dan I. Carpenter
Kane'ohe
State's explanation is hard to believe
I suppose if Department of Transportation spokeswoman Marilyn Kali states often enough that the goal of the camera program is not to issue more citations (which means higher revenues) but to cut down on violators and save lives, some people might begin to believe her.
I believe that additional revenue is a primary consideration in implementing the camera program. To support my belief, I bring up the question posited by Mike Leidemann. Q. Is there any room for leeway in the system? A. No. The state says that speeders will receive a citation whether they were going 3 mph or 30 mph over the legal limit.
Since when does 3 miles over the speed limit cause loss of life? I suppose if I were caught going 56 mph in a 55-mph zone, my contribution to this new form of "road tax" would be $32. Focusing on my speedometer to ensure complete compliance to a speed limit may jeopardize my ability to focus on my immediate environment, a condition that certainly leads to accidents.
Ms. Kali, please tell me again how many lives will be saved by DOT's no-tolerance policy on speeding; then tell me again ... and again ... so I can begin to modify my belief system.
R. DeRyke
Kailua
There are plenty of other violators
I am a professional driver. I spend more than 10 hours a day on our roads. I see a lot of things that happen on our streets every day.
The cameras that are set up on our streets should take pictures of all traffic violators, not just speeders and red-light runners. What about kids who speed around in modified mo-peds (some that reach speeds of more than 70 mph)? Will they have citations mailed to their residences?
How about jaywalkers? About 80 percent of pedestrian accidents are due to jaywalkers. Will they have citations mailed to their residences?
What about motorcycle speeders? Their license plates are so small you can hardly read them. How are you going to send them citations?
How about motorists who drive way below posted speed limits? That is a major traffic violation.
Mayor Harris and Gov. Cayetano, you both have to come up with better solutions. What's good for some violators should be good for all violators.
M.W. Fernandez
'Ewa Beach
Money is ill spent on traffic program
Suddenly, it's 1984 ...
The introduction of O'ahu's new "Big Brother" traffic cameras is ill-timed.
As Hawai'i faces its most significant economic crisis in recent history, the thing we probably need the least is an indiscriminate, zero-tolerance dispenser passing out tickets to an unsuspecting public, especially for low-level infractions like stop-line encroachment or going a couple of miles per hour over the speed limit.
I'm sure that some of the few extreme drivers in our community will be caught by these devices, but many innocents will also end up having to pay up. It's like target shooting with a shotgun.
While the cost of purchasing, installing and maintaining all of these robot traffic cops is unknown to me, I'm sure the money could have been put to more productive and humanitarian uses like food and shelter subsidies for the newly unemployed or the upgrading of our deteriorating water and sewer systems.
Roger Yu
