How can you have a $3.6 billion budget and not make our schools better? Worst yet, House Speaker Calvin Say wants to sacrifice our children by increasing class size to balance the budget. Auwe!

Michael Englar
Pearl City

School budget cuts hurt teachers, students

I'm a student at Waipahu High School and the child of a part-time teacher of English as a second language. I'm concerned about education budget cuts, the security of my mother's career and the education of immigrant children.

First of all, a budget cut would drastically affect the way the students learn. The supplies and the resources are outdated, yet we don't have a choice but to use them.

The persons responsible for the budget claim we can't afford such things. So in that case, it is not the fault of the school that the students' standards and test scores are not meeting the requirements. Not only does this hurt the students but the teachers as well. The teachers use their hard-earned money to ensure the students have adequate supplies.

My mother's concern is making sure that the immigrant students are served and that their needs are met in the learning process in school. It is important that the students get what they deserve, for the regular teachers are not bilingual. That's the purpose of the second-language teachers, to help the children learn English and other subjects.

The immigrant students are already struggling in their classes. If you take away the part-time teachers, how can they learn anything if the schools are already lacking full-time teachers? This situation will only stress the students more and will cause more students to drop out.

Laura Dela Cruz
Waipahu

'Hidden arms' would give us better protection

Your April 14 editorial on "hidden arms" has done a fine job of perpetuating several myths about gun control. Please check the facts instead of "imagining" raging gunfire from peaceable citizens.

Many of us have visited Mainland states like Nevada, Washington, Oregon and Florida. You didn't notice it, but these are among the 33 states where the law-abiding are trusted to carry a firearm if they wish. See any "Wild West shootouts" while you were there? Of course not, and Hawai'i citizens are no more dangerous.

The advantage is that criminals are intimidated by the possibility that a potential victim may be able to fend off his attack. Oh, yes, Hawai'i's crime numbers are better than other places, but if it's someone you know and love who might be the victim, I'm sure you'd prefer a deterrent.

Imagine, if you will, a potential attacker who, because you might be armed, decides to leave you or yours alone. And you don't even have to be a firearms owner. Just help Hawai'i to pass a concealed-carry law.

John Mack
Mililani

Public shouldn't have to pay for cam debacle

Hopefully, our legislators and the clueless DOT have learned a lesson or two from the Tali-van debacle. I hope our legislators finally have learned the meaning of the law of unintended consequences.

Our legislators, after all, are the people who brought the law into being that allowed the Department of Transportation to establish the camera program. Maybe, finally, the Legislature will learn that new laws aren't the solution to every problem that (apparently) afflicts us.

As for the DOT, I would hope it learned that you just can't foist something on the people — who ultimately empower government — and that it would simply be accepted, warts and all. Such was their arrogance that they ignored the advice of ACS in how to "educate" (a.k.a. brainwash) the people into accepting the program.

I also hope the DOT has learned that the speed limits they arbitrarily — even whimsically — set are indeed too low, proof being the 10,000 or so drivers ticketed despite knowledge of the presence of the vans. Put simply, most people want to get from Point A to Point B in a minimum of time with a minimum of fuss. You would think this would be the goal of people associated with "transportation."

If ACS is due up to $8 million in compensation for ending the program, I suggest it come out of the paychecks of Brian Minaai, Marilyn Kali and the deputy attorney general who signed off on that contract. It is truly insane to write a contract without including an escape clause. The taxpayers of this state should not be punished for the incompetency of the DOT.

James Ko

Legislature followed our wishes on cams

I just caught a TV news piece where our governor seemed to fault our Legislature for killing the state's unpopular van cam program, saying that the legislators did so because of upcoming elections.

Governor, that's exactly how our representative form of government is supposed to work.

Our Legislature is supposed to reflect the will of the people — not, as our governor would have it, be a government that knows what's best for us and nanny us from cradle to grave.

Unfortunately, the van cam program was started with good intentions, but like some other government programs, its implementation cast too wide a net.

Other programs that need fixing: no-knock entries and asset forfeiture. These programs were started to catch the drug lords but are easier to implement against the common citizen and are now abused nationwide.

Eric Terashima
Hilo

Few had opportunity to get an education

Cliff Slater's "Greater expectations in education" (Second Opinion column, April 8) certainly brought out "a 200-year perspective" for all of us.

During our early years as a nation, most people had no or little opportunity for formal schooling and a classical education. Mr. Slater should know that children, generally, were working to feed themselves and help their families survive.

The American public educational system was established to educate every child-citizen. It's important to represent our history in balance and properly outline our educational policies, past and present.

As far as Thomas Jefferson and his nephew were concerned, of course, those particular persons did have high expectations for themselves. They were among the few in young America who could afford education and have access to the best schooling private money could buy.

Bruce G. Karolle
Big Island

Second Amendment applies to the militia

For those in doubt as to the position of the U.S. Supreme Court on the Second Amendment, please see: United States vs. Miller, U.S. Supreme Court, 1939.

I have a question for these people who think "the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed": Does this mean I have some sort of "paramount right" to know how to build my own nuclear arms, to defend myself against some great menace?

The "right to know" is not absolute and the Second Amendment does, indeed, apply to the militia.

Phil Robertson

Lester Cingcade was exceptional person

We were saddened to learn of the death of Lester Cingcade. Les was an exceptional person in a unique period in Hawai'i history. He certainly was enormously influential in our lives, bringing a calm, warm, compassionate and visionary leadership to everything he did.

With the support of former chief justice William Richardson, and through their work with the National Center for State Courts and the National Conferences of State Chief Justices and Court Administrators, Les created in Hawai'i an efficient, humane and farsighted court system that was an acclaimed inspiration to all American and many foreign judiciaries.

We join with others in celebrating his life and work.

Wayne Yasutomi
Anna Yue
Sohail Inayatullah
Jim Dator

Dog rescue attempt good story for kids

As an adult, I find it heartwarming to read a story in the daily newspaper about a group of people wanting to rescue a dog lost at sea. It gives us humans a purpose for living in this great world.

This story is also great for the children. They learn to respect life as a precious moment no matter what is being saved.

My hat's off to the Hawaiian Humane Society.

Michael Nomura
Kailua

Saudis have supported terrorism for decade

Your recent commentary on the Saudis losing pro-U.S. support is naive and unworthy of print in any decent newspaper. The Saudis have been supporting terrorism for at least 10 years through the spread of their Wahabi fundamentalist, pro-terroristic brand of Islam. This is so widespread that moderate Muslims are afraid to speak for fear of being executed by their own governments.

Of course, in Saudi Arabia, in such a restrictive society where women are chattel, cannot even go to a store alone or drive a car or wear what they like, the easy outlet is to blame the U.S. and Israel in order to vent their anger away from the Saudi rulers.

The Saudis themselves are supporting the homicide bombings in Israel and funneled money toward the World Trade Center bombing. The administration is not in danger of losing its support. It is just a more blatant hostility.

Imagine holding a telethon to support terrorism. It is very clear where they are — they should be lumped with Iran, Syria and Iraq.

Ellen Spielvogel

Give us school uniforms

I am a student at Kaimuki High School and I just want to say that school uniforms would be great. The uniforms would show what school we come from. We cannot lose if we wear uniforms. It would unite the school.

Kammy Matthew

Moe Keale deeply cared about Native Hawaiians

My wife, whom Moe Keale affectionately dubbed "Hula Hair Pattie," and I always regarded our visits to his poolside bandstand at the Sheraton as the most important reason we visited Hawai'i.

Whenever I requested something offbeat, like Beethoven's "Für Elise" or a blues tune, he always obliged. And, during a break, he painstakingly dictated to me the chords to his version of "The Hospital Song," one of my wife's favorites.

One of the most compelling things about his act at the Sheraton was his thorough knowledge of the background, setting and intention of each song, which he always presented before treating people with his smooth, full-of-feeling voice and his uncommonly melodic, yet rich, 'ukulele stylings. Moe was a brilliant player, which ought to be obvious because he could play his intricate style after hearing any style of a piece once, despite having no formal training.

But Moe was more than witty, talented and caring. He was deeply affected by the plight of his people. He more movingly represented the longing of the Native Hawaiian than most of the representatives of the sovereignty movement. You could see it in his sometimes sad eyes and his unmistakable reverence for the songs, the places and the spirit of Hawai'i, a reverence he sometimes expressed directly in words but almost continually exuded through every pore of his body.

But, most of all, you could see it in his restlessness in private moments, his muted dissatisfaction with the world.

His close relative, Israel, of whom he spoke to Pattie and me, apparently knew of this private emotion and echoed it in his more explicit political statements. I am grief-stricken by his passing, mostly because of his cat-like restlessness in a world that seems determined to forget that all of us are continually hurting terribly under the yoke of our various compromises with homogenized, deadening culture.

When he snuck in "Ain't Nobody's Business" in the middle of the tourist-oriented set he was doing, I heard the entire world's longing for aloha.

Love forever to Moe and his family and friends.