Letters to the Editor
If it's America's fault, what should we do?
The cry "It's your entire fault, America" is being heard on college campuses throughout the country. The sad reality is that to a degree, the protesters are right.
We have made some bad social, economic and political decisions over the past 200-plus years. What is ironic is that the statements and attitudes of Haunani-Kay Trask, Susan Hippensteele and Steve Tayama reflect a spirit of academic freedom not seen in many parts of the world today.
Yes, it's our fault, and what should we do? Dress all women in black veils and head-to-toe robes, deny them education and if they step out of line, stone them to death? How about clubbing a commoner to death when he steps in the shadow of the king?
America isn't perfect; any senior in high school can figure that out. So what's your answer? How are you going to change the current system and ensure the safety and well-being of every citizen, of every race, while respecting and preserving their culture? Not just Hawaiians, but all of us on this small piece of land called Earth?
When you figure it out, let us know.
Steve Shortt
Mililani
Punchbowl tribute was tasteful, poignant
Many thanks to Stand Up for America for sponsoring the memorial tribute last Sunday at Punchbowl National Cemetery for the victims and families of the Sept. 11 attacks. For anyone who missed out, this was the most tasteful and poignant memorial service that I have ever attended. Maybe that's because at exactly the same time in New York City, another memorial was going on there.
Locally, representatives from the Jewish, Muslim, Christian and Hindu faiths all offered comforting words in remembrance of the victims. Various ethnic groups were represented, and the music was truly inspiring.
Probably the highlight of the memorial was when everyone was given the opportunity to offer a lei at the foot of a beautiful display, which read: "Aloha to NYC ... We will never forget."
Hats off to Mike Gabbard and Stand Up for America for putting together this event with such short notice.
Kathy Martin
Reaction to threat was swift, thorough
I would like to commend the individuals and organizations, city, state and federal, that came to our assistance during our recent suspicious letter incident.
Everyone was calm, professional and communicative, even during the tense time between the first positive reading and the final negative clearance from the Navy laboratory. They reacted swiftly and thoroughly to contain and mitigate any potential threat.
We can all feel more secure knowing that our government is prepared and responsive. A big mahalo to everyone.
Sheryl B. Seaman
President, Group 70 International
U.S. should provide proof of bin Laden guilt
Why is it considered unreasonable of the Taliban to ask for proof of Osama bin Laden's involvement in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks before handing bin Laden over to us? And if the U.S. knows that bin Laden is guilty, why do we refuse to show the Taliban our proof? Why does the president respond indignantly that it's time for action, not words?
So we drop a few loads of food at strategic spots in order to get photographic documentation of our compassion. At the same time, we drop thousand-pound bombs helter-skelter, hitting a Red Cross hospital, a school, villages and who knows what else? Undoubtedly, we've killed some Taliban troops, along with noncombatant civilians and children.
I agree that President Bush, on the whole, is doing a creditable job. But he's not really "with it" all the time. Recently he announced that the September terrorist attacks were the first time the U.S. Mainland had experienced attacks on its own soil.
Has our president ever heard of the Civil War?
William M. Stephens
Lahaina, Maui
Out-of-state car still requires tax payment
Buy your new car in a no-tax state and pay no Hawai'i excise tax, says letter-writer Terry Wilson (Oct. 26), who may not be aware that he is encouraging a common but illegal activity.
State law requires that those who purchase new vehicles out of state from no-tax jurisdictions remit to the state a 4 percent use tax in lieu of the 4 percent excise tax. There are no savings of the 4 percent state tax, unless you evade the law.
Some auto dealers require customers who come in for service on their vehicles to provide proof of tax payment if their car purchase was made from a no-tax state.
Hawai'i's franchised new-car dealers employ 3,944 people and remit to the state over $100 million a year in taxes collected. In fact, over a 10-year period, the money collected in taxes by auto dealers is enough to fund the entire public education system for a year.
We all should ask, where would the state be without these collected taxes?
Now the state needs these tax revenues more than ever. Auto dealers and other businesses are doing their part to collect and remit taxes, while providing much-needed employment in a state hit hard by the events of Sept. 11.
Dave Rolf
Executive director, Hawai'i Automobile Dealers Association
Forget landfill debate and focus on recycling
Everyone fusses over where to put a new landfill on our island, and still most of the people of Hawai'i do not want to recycle.
Wake up, people! We are on an island, running out of space, for just about everything. Change your ways for the better.
Yes, we will still need a landfill, but it won't fill up nearly as fast with recycling. Recycling is not only good for the Islands, it's needed to keep our planet clean.
And yes, doing your little part will help. Now don't get me started on littering.
Stephen C. Kohn
Machine politics: Hirono heading schools
I am amazed at how politics works in Hawai'i.
It is incredible that the "powers that be" are considering giving Mazie Hirono the job of superintendent of schools. Bob Dye gushes in his Oct. 28 commentary about how great she would be for the role.
This is just a politically expedient way for Hirono to bow out of the governor's race and still have a prestigious position. This is "old boy network" politics at its worst.
I am praying for the day when our backward system of machine politics can finally be laid to rest.
Robert Owen
They talk about us as if we weren't there
There's an interesting aspect to getting older in this society that somehow seems never to get mentioned in all the discussions about aging. A review in your Oct. 27 paper provides an example. A book reviewer writes: "The generation of men who fought World War II — our fathers and grandfathers — is disappearing ... "
That's what I mean about talking about us as if we weren't there. It wasn't my father or grandfather who fought in World War II — it was me.
I don't want to single out your reviewer. This kind of thing comes up constantly in the media and elsewhere. Another example: a Chinese restaurant had a poster designed to show people which year of the cycle (horse, goat, monkey, etc.) they were born in by listing years of birth that belonged to each. However, the list only went back to 1937. I was born in 1921. It would have taken more patience than I felt to count back all the way.
Although your reviewer speaks of us mostly in the past tense, she says we are "disappearing," not yet "disappeared." Apparently it's not that they believe we don't exist at all, but just that we aren't part of their audience.
No, I think it would be more accurate to say that it's not exactly that they believe that we're not part of the audience, but just that we aren't a part that counts.
Like Ralph Ellison, one feels like an "Invisible Man" — like crying with the Whos in Dr. Seuss's "Horton Hears a Who": "We are here! We are here! We are here!"
Well, I must be off to the VFW club to wear a cap, salute the flag and preach patriotism.
George Grace
Using tobacco fund for med school wrong
The American Heart Association strongly supports construction of a new medical school for the University of Hawai'i.
The association is a long-time supporter of the medical school, investing over $500,000 annually in research done primarily by UH scientists. We are fully in favor of improving facilities and attracting additional researchers to Hawai'i.
The AHA, however, strongly opposes the use of tobacco settlement funds, and specifically the use of half of the funds earmarked for the Tobacco Control Trust Fund. Tobacco control has long been a key element of the AHA's efforts to reduce cardiovascular diseases. The trust fund receives only 25 percent of Hawai'i's share of the tobacco settlement funds, and these funds are dedicated to tobacco prevention and control programs.
We fought long and hard with our coalition partners (the American Cancer Society, American Lung Association, Department of Health, etc.) to create this trust fund. We have but one opportunity to build the fund to a size that would generate sufficient resources to allow the coalition members to design and launch sustained and effective anti-tobacco public education campaigns focused primarily on our children. Such an opportunity may never come again.
A major concern about the governor's plan is that using tobacco-control funds would end up pitting the medical school against public health interests. The settlement between the state and the tobacco companies includes stipulations, insisted upon by the companies, that reduce the companies' payments to the state when tobacco consumption drops.
So as the state and public health groups continue to succeed in reducing tobacco use in Hawai'i, the funding now being redirected to medical school construction will be reduced. In the first two years of the agreement, industry payments were reduced by 13 and 8 percent respectively.
In effect, using tobacco settlement funds to build the medical school will make the university and the state reliant on the future health of tobacco sales to ensure that construction funds are sufficient.
Joana Magno, M.D.
President, American Heart Association of Hawai'i
We need to take away special ed from lawyers
I appreciate the Oct. 30 letter from Felix plaintiff's counsels Shelby Anne Floyd and Eric Seitz, who agree with previous letter writers by stating certain "benchmarks imposed on the state are not specifically addressed by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)." This is the federal law that Judge Ezra has used for the Felix Consent Decree. This is the law that looks for educational benefit and progress.
What seems ironic here is the plaintiff's attorneys admit that the benchmarks are not addressed in federal law. Yet here is a direct quote from Ezra in the Felix Quarterly Status Report of March-May, 2001: " ... the question here is complying with federal law, and upholding the Constitution of the United States." Once again, there is an obvious discrepancy between the progress required by federal law and the benchmarks.
Benchmarks, such as 85 percent compliance on service testing, 85 percent special-education teacher count, reading scores for every special-education student every year, a Web-based information system that requires individual education plans for every student, are just a few examples. I once heard there were 85 benchmarks, but as soon as certain ones are met, additional ones are added.
Floyd and Seitz also state that benchmarks "may not be specifically authorized by IDEA and may impose additional obligations on the state." Perhaps they are referring to the billion-dollar price tag spent on the Felix Consent Decree. However, their position is that it is justified because of the state's previous failures to comply with the consent decree and meet these same benchmarks, which are far in excess of any federal law.
We need to reclaim special education from the lawyers and give it back to the teachers.
Jim Wolfe
Student services coordinator
