Letters to the Editor
Hawai'i Food Drive set new state record
On behalf of the National Association of Letter Carriers and the U.S. Postal Service, I would like to extend a sincere "mahalo nui loa" to the people of Hawai'i for helping us make our 9th-annual Food Drive a complete success.
On Saturday, May 12, the largest single-day food drive is conducted across the nation in over 10,000 cities and towns. We asked you to support our drive locally, and you came through for us by donating a new state record of 276,477 pounds of nonperishable goods for Hawai'i's Island Food Banks.
Due to the tremendous response, we surpassed our goal of 250,000 pounds and beat last year's total by 46,000 pounds.
Rudy R. Salazar
NALC Food Drive co-chair
Program already exists for dispute resolution
As an adolescent counselor, I found Alice Keesing's article "School quarrels wind up in court" (May 19) an important one. Schools and parents must model for teens how to resolve problems. For nonviolent disputes, the answer is not a court-issued temporary restraining order, but rather "talking it out."
I have worked with the nonprofit Mediation Center of the Pacific and know it already provides mediation services for the Department of Education — such as special-education mediation — and provides training for local and federal government personnel and others in alternative dispute-resolution techniques.
Why would Superintendent LeMahieu want to spend $240,000 to set up his own alternative dispute-resolution program for principals and teachers when the Mediation Center of the Pacific can provide this training for the DOE and can and does mediate school-based disputes?
This kind of "reinventing the wheel" by the DOE may help explain why it never seems to have enough money.
Emma Pavich
There's life outside of the State Hospital
We'd like our community to know there is life apart from the Hawai'i State Hospital for the vast majority of persons with emotional problems and mental illnesses.
At any given time, one in five individuals, or 260,000 people in Hawai'i, are in need of some sort of mental-health services.
The State Hospital has been the center of controversy and attention of late, and while we certainly should be concerned about security and quality of care at the hospital, that concern and attention should not be at the expense of mental-health services and quality of care for the many outside the State Hospital who need services.
Persons who live with mental illness daily can attest to the value of community-based residential programs, outreach and case management services, vocational training opportunities and peer and professional support that encourages independence.
More importantly, persons with mental illness can share their success stories. Is anyone willing to listen?
Joanne L. Lundstrom
Vice chairwoman, Hawai'i Behavioral Health Coalition, CEO, Mental Health Kokua
Hanauma Bay snafu is really not an 'error'?
"It's not an error at all," Mayor Harris is quoted in the May 23 issue of The Advertiser as he commented on the city project at Hanauma Bay that somehow was being built five feet higher than the project concept provided for. This is in the face of strenuous opposition from members of the community.
The foregoing is really no problem as we taxpayers shall foot the bill.
If Mayor Harris is successful in his run for governor, can the taxpayers be assured of an "error"-free administration?
Robert B. Fowler
Giving up a child for adoption selfless
The individual circumstances that contribute to each adoption triad (adoptee, birth parents, adoptive parents) are unique; but all are filled with emotion, the strongest being love.
All three sides need and deserve support from each other, from 'ohana, our community and society as a whole. In many cultures, the act of giving a child an opportunity for a better life, whether hanai or adoption, is considered to be selfless and loving.
We need to honor all birth parents who have taken this brave step. Our family is forever grateful to two in particular.
Adrienne Sweeney
Adoptive parent
Annie Kawasaki more than just a champion
Congratulations to Annie Kawasaki for a great win in the girls 1,500-meter finals at the Hawai'i state track championships. If it's true that one deserves only what one earns, then she truly deserved that hard victory.
Also, mahalo nui for her friendly advice to my daughter, Tia, concerning a certain strategy that contributed to her success. Annie exhibited a lot of class as an athlete and a person. A hui hou aku.
Mark Ferguson
Kula, Maui
