Letters to the Editor
Humane Society priorities misplaced
My life was made miserable for over a year by a neighbor's dog that barked incessantly morning, noon and night. I love my pets, but I also try to respect my neighbors' right to peaceful enjoyment of their home.
Calls to the Humane Society yielded no help — they didn't have funding for staff to address the problem.
But now, suddenly, a rescue at sea costing $50,000 for a pet of an alien merits their attention and that of all the media. Was P.R. the real intent of the Humane Society? In my estimation, they have flunked big time.
Carol Ann Ellett
Maunawili
June Jones followed dictum of friendship
When I was a kid in my grammar school days, it was impressed on me by my family, my school and my church that "a friend in need is a friend indeed." I think most of us grew up in Hawai'i following that good dictum.
It seems strange, therefore, that when June Jones tried to help his friend by writing a very nice and sincere letter about his friend to the judge, he was castigated like a common criminal by some know-it-alls.
June Jones has the human kindness and warmth we sorely need. As one who traveled to near death and back, he understands the basic human needs — friendship and understanding.
June Jones can walk proudly among friends in Hawai'i because he has a clean, pure heart. His only mistake, if any, was using the University of Hawai'i letterhead for his letter. Hey, that is minor, and to err is human.
Edgar A. Hamasu
Teachers should consider job action
After all that has happened with the school strike and teachers not being paid the benefits they deserve, government now wants to take away their medical benefits and money invested by the teachers because of a budget crisis.
A slap in the face again. This is not right, and it's time to take a stand.
Teachers, why not give Gov. Cayetano and all of the lawmakers who don't support you exactly what they want. Instead of working long "extra" hours preparing lesson plans, grading and correcting papers, if you don't have the time, don't do it. When school gets out, leave as soon as you can by contract. Stop using your hard-earned money to help supplement what the state is supposed to supply in the first place. Use your sick leave to take days off to spend with your families. Most of all, stop devoting your lives to an employer or government that doesn't appreciate you nor wants to pay what you are worth.
Yes, the children will suffer, but something has to happen before any changes will be made. Teachers and their families have sacrificed long enough.
Clifton J.M. Uyeda
Waipahu
Hurricane danger greater this year
I recently graduated from the University of Hawai'i-Manoa with a degree in meteorology. Knowing some stats in this field, I say it is a dangerous time to use any money from the Hurricane Relief Fund.
Here is a fact: In 1982 and 1992, hurricanes 'Iwa and 'Iniki hit Kaua'i and West O'ahu, with severe monetary damages. Both years were El Ni–o years. Recent observations indicate a continued evolution of El Ni–o. El Ni–o is associated with a wide range of climate anomalies, including a higher frequency of hurricane activity.
Legislators, be cautious. We saw what 'Iwa and 'Iniki did to Kaua'i. Imagine what could happen if a strong, slow-moving hurricane slammed into O'ahu.
Something to think about.
Lance Yamasaki
Motorized scooters endanger children
In Albert T. Young's April 5 letter, he defends the use of motorized scooters by children, claiming these noisy, unlicensed and unregulated vehicles are an "essential transportation alternative." This is ludicrous.
Every day in Kailua, I see kids as young as 8 to 10 years old riding on busy streets or through park areas in packs of three or more. They are not using these "go-peds" to get anywhere in particular. They are racing them, and it's just a matter of time before a young child gets seriously injured or killed in an accident.
But since Mr. Young sells these motorized menaces, he actually suggests that parents buy them for their kids as "incentives" to keep up their grades. In other words, bribe your children to do what they should be doing. And we wonder why so many kids act like spoiled brats?
Moreover, considering the growing problem of obesity in Hawai'i's youth, we need to encourage overweight, physically inactive kids to walk more or ride bikes for exercise instead.
Our elected officials must do something to stop the use of motorized vehicles by young children. These go-peds are not toys and they do not belong on our roads or in our public parks.
Rich Figel
Kailua
Back candidates who back cleanups
Your article and editorial about Waikiki residential needs was excellent. The Waikiki Neighborhood Board has promoted cleanup efforts for eyesores in the area, and Councilman Duke Bainum got the Okada property started on a cleanup and is trying to get the job done.
This long-time-neglected property shows the need for a city ordinance requiring cleanup of such lots by owners, with the city doing the job, if necessary, and assessing the costs to the owner, as is done in many communities. It's a real black eye for the city when there are no play areas for kids makai of the Ala Wai between McCully and Kapahulu, meaning they must play in dangerous streets.
Meanwhile, the city is spending half a million for a hula statue. Where are the city's priorities? We need more Duke Bainums, Mindy Jaffes and neighborhood board activity to get things squared away. We need to support their efforts and their candidacies to get a better city.
Warren Robens
Young Democrats an ebb, not a flow
John White's assertion that Deron Akiona erred and that he, Brian Schatz and Chris Ovitt are the leaders of today's "new breed" Hawai'i Democratic Party are perceptions not widely shared beyond perhaps their own threesome.
The Democratic Party lost its youth when it started mortgaging the future of Hawai'i's people and that of its children by spending beyond the means of its society. The seeds that were sown in the Waihe'e years bore fruit in the Cayetano malaise that followed. In fact, the exodus of kama'aina from Hawai'i's shores escalated during the current tenure of the "New Young Democrats."
When a society's greatest export is its children, when those who are left feel that their vote doesn't count, when the economy has been stuck in neutral for over a decade, Hawai'i's people will cry out for a new beginning. Nov. 5, 2002, will usher in a team of new leaders who will work for all of Hawai'i.
Micah Kane
Chairman, Hawai'i Republican Party
Hawai'i's quarantine must be preserved
I have been reading comments by readers for keeping our present quarantine system and those who want it changed or abolished. I am not unsympathetic to those who say that their animals suffer, but caution needs to be exercised in the face of what our state gives up if we further change our quarantine laws or abolish them.
Our state has been rabies-free because of the quarantine. I have seen an animal that became inflicted with rabies, and it scared me to death. I was here in Hawai'i when we had a rabies scare, and it was a stressful time.
I urge caution and ask everyone to think of those who would be hurt the most if we were to have rabies: our animals, children and families. Once we have it in our state, it will be impossible to remove it. Also, there is no known cure for rabies.
If we have rabies here, imagine the panic if some animal shows its teeth at your animal or child. Think about our animal population that presently roams freely or all of the attorneys who might want to build a practice around potential lawsuits or all of those gun owners who might want to shoot first and ask questions later.
Yes, life in Hawai'i as we know it may change permanently.
The costs of quarantine should not even come up in this debate, as you can't put a price on life and the rabies-free life we have come to know and love.
David K. Choy
Letter on molestation of children spurious
Neither the public nor ongoing debate is positively served when your paper prints letters with erroneous, spurious or demonstrably false information such as that from Phillip Smith ("Preventing tragedy may have to start in schools," April 5).
His declaration that homosexuals are 10 times more likely than heterosexuals to molest children should be of interest to the FBI, whose crime statistics show the exact opposite.
He also claims that only 2 to 3 percent of males practice homosexuality. I wonder why he chose to exclude the other 8 percent of males who, having got it right, no longer feel the need to practice.
Andrew Thomas
Why no bike lane in Waikiki project?
The city has spent millions of dollars on the Waikiki beautification project. New bandstand, new light poles, new plants and trees, and a wider Kuhio Beach. One lane of Kalakaua Avenue was eliminated to widen the sidewalks to become more pedestrian-friendly.
Could someone please tell me why, in all these grandiose plans for Waikiki, no bike lanes were built? If the city wants to alleviate traffic in Waikiki, shouldn't it be making the streets more bicycle-friendly, too?
Deborah Peck
Van cams lack police discretion
Having served this community as a police officer for the past 26 years, I feel I must express my utter disbelief, disgust and dismay at the release of the March "van cam" citation program statistics.
I have served in the HPD as both a uniformed patrol officer who issues citations and a uniformed patrol supervisor who reads the citations issued by subordinates.
I was taught that the purpose of a traffic stop or traffic citation is to call attention to and then correct an unsafe and therefore unlawful driving practice. As a young officer I was taught that the degree of severity of a traffic infraction was always the deciding factor in the issuance of a citation. Discretion was the rule, not the exception.
It seems the state and the DOT fail to recognize this basic truth in their current mode of traffic policing.
Of the 10,000 or more citations issued by the van cams, only about 1,500 citations are what I would consider warranted or "quality" citations (those for traveling 15 or more mph over the posted limit). That's 15 percent of the total.
By my reckoning, the van cam program has failed miserably in its supposed capacity as a "traffic safety program" 85 percent of the time.
In other words, 85 percent of the citations issued by the van cams amount to nothing less than a money grab. The infractions were barely perceptible to an untrained eye and therefore add insult to injury.
Had this van cam program been an officer under my supervision, I would have to take disciplinary steps to ensure that the officer correct his flawed traffic enforcement technique.
But then, our HPD officers aren't profit-motivated.
Let's do the math, shall we?
- 1,500 warranted citations net the van cams about $40,500.
- The other 8,500 citations net the van cams $229,500.
- The state General Fund coffers would stand to receive an equal or greater amount.
Wow! Based on those numbers, it would seem that the DOT has a van cam "quota system."
Do you think I have a case? Five will get you 10 that Marilyn Kali will be on the 6 o'clock news denying the existence of a quota system.
"We don't have a quota system," she'll claim. "We can give out as many citations as we want!"
But hey, it's all about safety, right?
Sgt. Steven Perry
HPD (retired)
