Letters to the Editor
Waddle book deal insensitive, ruthless
Cmdr. Scott Waddle's attorney is either extremely insensitive or ruthless to have the nerve to say that his client should be rewarded with a movie or book deal.
I suggest there be nine books or movies made about the pain the Japanese families suffer over the loss of their children and husbands.
How arrogant and heartless we Americans have come to be.
Li Lundin
ADB protest will come with a price
Hawai'i is ready to welcome delegates of the Asian Development Bank for their conference here in May. We are equally prepared to welcome the bank's protesters whom we remember all too well from watching news stories of violence in Seattle and Quebec City.
The ADB makes loans to developing countries to create jobs so that poor people can buy food for their families. I support that. I also support every individual's right to free speech.
Just remember, ensuring the freedom of speech of those protesters with a history of civil disobedience comes at a great cost to the people of Hawai'i. Not only do we have the added expenses of training and equipment for our law enforcement, but we bear the burden of costs of the damage these "visitors" cause to our citizens, facilities and reputation of aloha to all in the eyes of the world.
Barbara J. Ward
New UH president has priorities wrong
On April 6, you published an interview with Evan Dobelle, the new University of Hawai'i president, that highlighted his enthusiastic support for college athletic programs. I found Dobelle's views to be really scary.
My fear stems primarily from Dobelle's remark that "What they (athletes) learn in those athletic contests is gonna have a lot to do with the success of the state in the future ... because they are going to be tested under game conditions."
By competing in sports, athletes learn that post-athletic life may be hard and that courage and persistence are often required. This, I believe, is what Dobelle had in mind and explains his additional remark that sports teaches "that you can come from behind."
Okay, so what's wrong with that goal? Nothing at all, if you don't mind subsidizing the sports department and bleeding resources from academic departments so that a small group of athletes can learn that life requires some discipline and responsibility. Nothing at all, if you can use the term "student athlete" with a straight face.
So what, then, is so scary about Dobelle's love of college sports? It's simple: It's his apparent eagerness to generate and allocate resources for an activity for which he has such low expectations. Facing a hostile governor and a lack of money, UH desperately needs a leader capable of juggling limited resources to attain the chief goal of a university, which isn't to throw a wicked slider or spike a volleyball, but to provide a rigorous and balanced education that prepares students for future challenges.
In his apparent love of sports, Dobelle closely resembles Kenneth Mortimer, the outgoing UH president, who supervised the dismantling of many academic programs. Can anyone possibly see this as an encouraging sign?
Todd Shelly
Combined heat, power system is our answer
Regarding your April 18 editorial "Power plant emissions a price we have to pay": Your staff is grossly misguided.
We do not have to pay as high a price for electricity, economically or environmentally. Hawai'i would be a much better place if the large, dirty and inefficient power plants were replaced with a small, clean-burning system distributed throughout the state.
Despite the claims in the article, combined heat and power (CHP) systems are 25 times cleaner and three times more efficient than any utility power plant in Hawai'i. The noise levels are lower than most new cars or commercial air conditioners. CHP also reduces the need for more power lines, such as the infamous 138 kV line up Manoa Valley, because electricity is generated where it is needed.
CHP is the future of electricity and energy. CHP systems generate power in the buildings where it is needed most, and uses the heat from the generator to heat water for the building or make air conditioning with absorption chillers.
Conventional electric generation is inherently inefficient, converting only about a third of a fuel's potential energy into usable energy, with the other two-thirds thrown off into the ocean and our air.
In addition to the loss of heat, emissions of carbon, nitrogen oxides and sulfur are ejected into the environment in amounts significant enough to be measured in tons.
CHP can contribute to the transformation of Hawai'i's energy future. It offers significant, economy-wide energy efficiency improvement and emissions reductions.
Scott Bly
Beware the ambition of Mayor Harris
The current mayor of Honolulu has announced he plans to resign next year to run for governor. In other words, the current mayor, who had no money for firefighters and police officers but had money for bandstands and the Natatorium, wants to replace the current governor, who has no money for teachers but has money for an aquarium.
Be afraid. Be very afraid.
Tom Gartner
Mililani
Raising speed limit would increase safety
I've read with interest a number of letters discussing the safety, or otherwise, of Kaukonahua Road. An HPD officer put it best, I feel, when he said that it wasn't the road that was dangerous but the drivers.
It was suggested that in the interest of safety, the speed limit be decreased from the current 35 mph. Given that much of the frustration felt by regular drivers is generated by drivers going 35 mph or slower and compounded by the very limited passing areas available, may I suggest that "the powers that be" raise the limit to 40-45 mph. The road is safely driven at that speed, traffic flows well at that speed and the frustration of being stuck behind a "slow" driver is removed, as would be the need to pass in a possibly hazardous manner.
If this is done in concert with acting on another suggestion to make the entire road a "no passing" zone, we may find that, with the need to speed lessened, the number of accidents and fatalities decreases.
Ross McGerty
UH strike had many ramifications
The historic 13-day University of Hawai'i Professional Assembly strike achieved more than meets the eye:
• The union got a contract in spite of a lack of advocacy from most top UH administrators and opposition from one of the most highly centralized state governments in the country.
• A decent contract for UH teachers makes faculty stability more likely, which means fewer teachers leaving so that UH students are more likely to get the courses they need when they need them ... and thereby to graduate on time.
• Faculty strikers experienced personal and professional disruption from the strike. That determination sent an unavoidable message to UH administrators and the governor.
• Some faculty and many students went beyond typically narrow trade union perspectives. In particular, many faculty began acknowledging a greater sense of obligation to local taxpayers, who pay their salaries.
• By honoring picket lines, joining demonstrations at the state Capitol, writing their own leaflets and bringing other pressures on UH, state government and UHPA, UH students exercised discriminating and sophisticated political power. They have begun reclaiming a vital working-class heritage handed down by many of their grandparents.
In the past two weeks, UH students and others learned civics lessons that often can't be taught in a semester.
Vincent Kelly Pollard
Ceremony in House strictly nonpartisan
I write as the clerk of the state House of Representatives to respond to the April 23 comments by Garry P. Smith criticizing the April 16 proceedings in the House chambers honoring men and women who have served in this body.
We received many positive comments from those who participated in or viewed the bipartisan nature of the proceedings on public television.
Perhaps Smith is a newcomer to our state or to local politics, as he would have recognized former Congresswoman Patricia Saiki and former U.S. Sen. Hiram Fong, both Republicans, seated on the speaker's dais alongside former Lt. Govs. Jean King and Tom Gill, both Democrats.
After opening remarks by House Speaker Calvin Say commending these men and women for their years of service to the State of Hawai'i, House Majority Leader Marcus Oshiro and House Minority Leader Galen Fox moved for the adoption of the commemorative resolution and stood in strong support of "some of Hawai'i's greatest sons and daughters." House Majority Floor Leader David Pendleton alphabetically introduced each former House member present by name, years served and district represented. Party affiliation was intentionally omitted from the "roll call." Close to 100 former House members were in attendance.
As I read the resolution, I was able to glance up to see some of these leaders who are well into their 70s and 80s and perhaps beyond, sitting proudly upright in their chairs on the floor. I reflected on the morning's pre-session activities in which one gentleman, who served in the late '60s, came to the Capitol at 10:00 a.m., well before the noon session start, to take a look at his former desk in the chamber and to note who was the current occupant of the chair. Many other former House members came early to say hello to staff. Neighbor islanders flew in at their own expense from Hilo and Maui.
It was one of those busy days at the Capitol as we were preparing for the paperwork involved with conference committee formations and logistics for the remainder of the 2001 session. But yet it was one of those days support staff went home with a good feeling, proud to be able to have worked with, and to be working with, such a dynamic and extraordinary group of individuals.
Patricia Mau-Shimizu
Chief Clerk, Hawai'i State House
Absolute power back at Legislature
It is remarkable how quickly things can go backward at the state Legislature.
Many years ago, committee meeting times and places were not announced. After public pressure, they started giving notice so that the public could observe and improve decisions by giving input.
Ten years ago, chairs were often the only legislators present at committee hearings and made decisions unilaterally. The first step away from that, led by Les Ihara and other reformers, was requiring that a quorum of committee members be present at decision-making and that their votes be recorded.
The big remaining problem was conference committees. Often these hearings were recessed and reconvened at unknown times and places. Sometimes new bills and amendments were introduced and passed at the last minute. Often the committee chairs made unilateral decisions.
Finally, last year, the leadership agreed under public and legal pressure to announce all conference committee meeting times and places, to only discuss bills and amendments that had already been heard in public, and to require a quorum and recorded votes at decision-making. Some people predicted chaos, but in fact, things went more smoothly than usual.
Now, committee chairs suddenly have veto power over their members' votes. Whoa! First of all, why should some legislators' votes count more than others? How can citizens who voted for committee members be shut out? Isn't that a violation of equal protection?
Second, this seems to conflict with Senate Rule 22-3, which says that bills are passed with a majority vote. This rule hasn't changed, so how can the chairs suddenly overrule a majority?
Finally, this is big step backward toward a dictatorship of the chairs. Why should committee members bother to go to hearings and vote at decision-making when the chairs can do what they please during conference?
In the past, committee members occasionally overruled their chairs with a majority vote, serving as a check on the chairs' power. Now that is gone. The chairs have absolute power. And as Lord Acton said, absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Larry Meacham
Common Cause Hawai'i
