Letters to the Editor

Arafat no stranger to terrorist activities

The naivete exhibited by your Oct. 11 editorial, "For Sharon and Arafat, a time to make choices," is truly amazing. You state that Yasser Arafat " ... can join the West in its battle against terrorism ... or he can go against it."

You overlook the fact that Arafat has openly conducted ghastly terrorist activities for decades. His presence at every terrorist summit from Sudan to Cuba is well documented, as is his appearance at the United Nations wearing a gun.

Let's call a spade a spade: If Arafat stops being a terrorist, he ceases to exist.

G. Cornfield
Hawai'i Kai

Arakaki's comments were heartwarming

In the Oct. 7 Advertiser, state Rep. Dennis Arakaki wrote a commentary headlined "In darkest of times, don't let down our keiki." It was such a beautiful article and so well written. The children of this state and the whole nation are affected by this tragedy.

He goes on to say how parents can help them through this terrible event, and talks about the hope for the future and celebrating our children.

I was so touched by this article. Well done, Rep. Arakaki. Thank you for your heartwarming article.

Shirley Sasano

Arctic oil reserves aren't a panacea

Duane White's Oct. 9 letter accuses Arctic oil-drilling opponents of distorting numbers. Since no one really knows for sure what is underground, we are faced with a range of estimates.

The U.S. Geological Survey, a nationally accepted authority, offered the following numbers, as reported on page 50 in the August 2001 National Geographic magazine.

While drilling proponents claim 16 billion barrels of petroleum are available, and some opponents say the figure is less than 4 billion, the USGS gives far greater probability to the lower numbers. The USGS estimate is that "the likeliest amount of oil that might profitably be recovered would probably fall between 3.2 and 5.6 billion barrels, assuming a market price of $20 to $25 a barrel."

If Congress were to approve drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge today, "production would not begin until around 2010. At peak production — probably not until 2030 — the field could produce about one million barrels a day. At today's rate of consumption, that would reduce the current need for imports by only 9 percent." (This percentage assumes no change in imports or use, and continued high domestic production levels — an unlikely scenario.)

The Congressional Research Service noted in 1996 that "Extra domestic crude production of the greatest imaginable amount would still leave the nation dependent on imports for at least 40 percent of its petroleum needs. From an energy security perspective, the basic situation would be unchanged — the nation would still depend heavily on imports."

In spite of sweeping statements by noted oil industry boosters like President Bush, facts are facts.

Daniel Grantham
Ha'iku

Aloha Stadium needs to rethink policies

Fans understand the need for extra security precautions at Aloha Stadium. However, some of the new rules and procedures clearly flunk the "common sense test" espoused by UH President Evan Dobelle.

For example, the stadium will not allow you to bring in plastic water bottles. Yet it is again allowing vendors to sell beer to drunken fans during the second half of the game. What's more dangerous — a drunk driving a car out of the stadium parking lot or someone with a water bottle?

Another example is the boneheaded decision to ban all purses. Yet the stadium will allow fanny packs, which are essentially purses worn around the waist.

Dumb move No. 3: banning umbrellas. What sense does that make? The stadium is already making it as hard as possible to bring in rain gear since you can't pack them in bags or purses. Moreover, if someone wants to conceal a weapon, it's actually easier to hide it in a jacket or poncho draped over your arm, or putting it in your pocket.

And last, if they want fans to cooperate, the stadium personnel should do their part as well. They said anyone entering a particular parking lot gate would also leave via that gate. Yet when cars began leaving toward the end of the first game, parking lot personnel forced many people to drive across the stadium lot to a different exit. Why? Because they were not told to open that particular gate until the game was "officially" over. Common sense says if you see dozens of cars are leaving, it's time to open the gate.

These are tough times for all of us. But overreacting and instituting irrational policies only makes matters worse for everyone. The Aloha Stadium management and UH athletic department administration need to rethink their decisions or risk alienating thousands of longtime supporters and fans.

Rich Figel
Kailua

Anti-gambling coalition not just 'conservatives'

Responding to Gary Edwards' Oct. 1 letter, "Gambling must be approved by state. There, I've said it," with an uninformed remark about the "religious conservatives": The following is a list of a few of our organizations that are members of our coalition:

Advocates for Consumer Rights (Hawai'i), Animal Rights Hawai'i, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Coalition, Hale Kipa Youth Services, Hawai'i State Green Party, Hawai'i Youth Services Network (52 agencies), Honolulu Police Department, Kokua Council for All Generations, League of Women Voters of Hawai'i (three counties), Life of the Land (Hawai'i), Mestizo Association, Pacific Gateway Center, Rainbow Coalition.

"Mainstream" religious groups also are members, such as the Hawai'i Conference of United Church of Christ, the United Methodist Church of Hawai'i, the Hawai'i Presbyterian Council. We also have as members the Muslim Association of Hawai'i, S.S. Constantine & Helen Greek Orthodox, Hawai'i Association of International Buddhists, Temple Emanu-El and Temple Bet Shalom, Windward Coalition of Churches, the Honolulu Friends Meeting, World Conference on Religion and Peace, First Unitarian Church of Honolulu. We have Neighbor Island groups, also diverse.

There are many more organizations opposed to gambling that are not official members of our coalition but have positions against legalizing gambling in Hawai'i such as the Chamber of Commerce of Hawai'i, the Hawai'i Bankers Association, Law Enforcement Coalition (U.S. Attorney, Hawai'i attorney general's office, county prosecutors and county police departments).

Dorothy M. Bobilin
State president, Hawai'i Coalition Against Legalized Gambling

Governor's vision needs some explaining

Jackie Kido's Sept. 30 letter defends Gov. Cayetano's vision, but doesn't explain how it works.

First, the governor has printing of all HVCB magazines done in Canada, the building of interactive promotional displays done in California, giveaway lei made in Asia, hires an anti-union management company from Pennsylvania to run our convention center and imports skilled labor from the Mainland to take our jobs.

Perhaps, after the governor's trip to Japan, we could fly the pope in from Rome to administer the last rites to our dying economy. All expenses paid, just like the Asian Development Bankers.

Lucky we live Hawai'i. Huh, Ben?

Jim Curtis

HTY performances saved by the Army

We at Honolulu Theatre for Youth thank the Army command at Fort Shafter for helping HTY find a way to meet security regulations so that our school performances of "Beauty and the Beast" can be held at Fort Shafter's Richardson Theatre this month for some 15,000 elementary schoolchildren from around O'ahu.

Our special thanks go to Vanita Rae Smith, the indomitable patriot producer at Richardson Theatre and HTY friend.

In the same breath HTY thanks Deena Dray at Diamond Head Theatre, Marty Myers at Kennedy Theatre at UH-Manoa, Karen Meyer at Castle High School Performing Arts Center, Peggy Anne Siegmund at Kaimuki High School PAC, Don Ranney at Leeward Community College Theatre, Pam Silva and Newton Koshi at the Convention Center, and Linda Verdugo at Tenney Theatre for trying to juggle schedules to find us a space to play. Also, we thank the many theater people who wanted to help but simply had no space available.

(We certainly found out that every nook and cranny of theater space on this island is busy just about every minute.)

While HTY will play school performances at Richardson Theatre, the weekend family performances of "Beauty and the Beast" will be a movable feast. Using our tour set, we will play "Beauty" for family audiences as follows: Saturday, Oct. 13, Diamond Head Theatre; Sunday, Oct. 21, Kennedy Theatre; Saturday, Oct. 27, Ron Bright Theatre at Castle High School. All weekend performances will be at 1:30 and 4:30 p.m. For tickets and information, call HTY, 839-9885.

Jane Campbell, Daniel A. Kelin II and Mark Lutwak
HTY's management team

Not everyone here is an L.A. Laker fan

Every night recently I read an article about the Los Angeles Lakers training here in Hawai'i. You would think they were the only team here. What about their opponent, the Golden State Warriors? Why don't they get the same press coverage as the overpaid, overpublicized Lakers?

The Warriors have some of the best young talent in the league. Former NCAA Player of the Year Antawn Jamison is a rising star. He was snubbed in last year's All-Star game while averaging about 24 points per game. The Warriors also have two-time Big East Player of the Year Troy Murphy and Jason Richardson from the 2000 National Champion Michigan State Spartans. This upstart team is led by Boston Celtic legend Dave Cowens.

Randy Hiraki

Hold your Christmas party now

One of the things we as a community can do to help our local economy in general, and Waikiki in particular, is for companies to hold their Christmas parties now, in October and November, instead of waiting until December. Companies would funnel tens of thousands of dollars, probably already allocated, into our economy when it is needed the most.

The hotels and restaurants in turn might issue a 10 percent or 15 percent discount for next year's Christmas party reservation. This would be a win-win situation.

Frank Adolfi
Kailua

Felix decree being confused with law

The media mistakenly continue to equate and therefore confuse compliance with the Felix consent decree with compliance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the federal law that governs special education. Printing John Mussack's misinformed Island Voices column of Oct. 5 only confuses the issue further.

The IDEA mandates an appropriate education (defined by the Supreme Court as a program reasonably calculated to provide educational benefit) delivered in the least restrictive environment. While there is no requirement to maximize a child's progress, courts have repeatedly ruled that the educational benefit standard is not met if a child makes no progress or only trivial progress, unlike Mussack's assertion that progress is not required.

Spurred by the Felix consent decree, Hawai'i's Department of Education has, at long last, developed the infrastructure and hired adequate personnel to provide necessary services to students with behavioral health needs, thereby bringing the department into compliance with federal requirements. Parents who feel that proposed services are inadequate or inappropriate continue to have the option of pursuing a due process hearing.

The decree, however, is a moving target, with ever-expanding benchmarks that go far beyond compliance with the IDEA. For example, the decree requires that the DOE fund medication-monitoring by psychiatrists, a service expressly excluded by the IDEA as a medical rather than educational service.

Another example is the decree's requirement that a reading assessment be completed for every IDEA and Section 504-eligible student, regardless of whether or not the student exhibits reading problems. The IDEA, on the other hand, requires a reading assessment only when a reading problem is suspected or known.

No one questions Judge Ezra's commitment to improve special education services to Hawai'i's children, but simplify and streamline? Get real!

Rebecca Rosenberg
Special education teacher, Kailua