Letters to the Editor
What this state needs are more scandals
What procurement reform needs are bigger and better crises, not fewer.
We need Scandals with a capital S. And we need them publicized, not hidden. A good scandal involving an improper procurement process, an illegal act and a senior politician can be a powerful force for change.
The crisis, when subjected to public scrutiny, can unify upper management and politicians in a newly found and shared resolve to solve the problem. It can free up scarce resources and elevate the significance of procurement.
Imagine a daily dose in the newspaper and TV of procurement scandals in our state and local governments. We'd have "fair and open competition" and "transparent" practices within months, not years.
Larry Nelson
Mililani
Education center points to problem
I look at the front page or turn on the news to see these wonderful renovations made to the education center at Hanauma Bay, extravagant renovations totaling almost $13 million, and I can't help but feel negatively toward the city and state.
I question the positioning of priorities. Where does education stand in the minds and hands of the people who have the power to improve our public school systems? We concentrate so much energy on improving tourism while watching our schools disintegrate and test scores fall. Who will run these newly renovated centers when we (your children) have left these Islands to seek the quality education and job opportunities we all deserve and hope for?
Where does education stand? I got the impression long ago that it was second rate in this state, and for that I am sorry. As a full-time college student and full-time employee involved in the tourism industry, I can honestly say I do not feel "lucky to live Hawai'i."
M. Kahili
Kailua
Casino at Ko Olina would be a mistake
I am appalled at Stuart N. Taba's Aug. 14 letter and his willingness to throw away people with an addictive disease.
The numbers of people from Hawai'i who go to Las Vegas for entertainment would not be enough to support a casino at Ko Olina. A casino needs a feeder community within a 35-mile radius on a regular basis to keep it in business. That takes in the entire Leeward and Wai'anae coasts.
Part of the method used in casinos to keep people betting is to ply the patrons with free drinks. Do we want people who have been constantly drinking pouring onto Farrington Highway?
While a small minority of people become alcoholics and drug addicts, it is a major problem. Gambling addiction is a disease that affects a small minority and can grip one's behavior as powerfully as a chemical addiction. Nationwide, adolescents make up the fastest-growing group of problem gamblers.
Does Taba really think people would spend thousands of dollars to fly to Hawai'i to gamble when they can drive to any one of 46 states to gamble?
Greg German
Wai'anae
Scouting For All is not an alternative group
I wish to correct a factual error made in Emmet Cahill's Aug. 17 letter. The letter said that those who are prohibited from joining the Boy Scouts should form their own groups, and it mentions a group called Scouting For All.
Scouting For All is not an alternative scouting organization. It is an organization headed by Eagle Scout Steven Cozza that is seeking to persuade the Boy Scouts of America to rescind its discriminatory practices.
As for the suggestion that gays and atheists form their own scouting group, many former and current members of the Boy Scouts are so deeply dedicated to the BSA, an essentially good, but in this case terribly misguided, organization, that they are unwilling to abandon it even while the BSA has abandoned them or someone they care for.
Why would people like Cozza work so hard to fight injustice? Ironically, the answer is Scouting. Page 46 of the Boy Scout Handbook states, "You should respect and defend the rights of all people ... "
Discrimination and prejudice are anathema to true Scouting and American traditions. It is time the Boy Scouts of America lived up to its values.
Peter Dunn-Aurello
Hilo
Airport frisk qualifies for stupid-law review
How's this for an example for a stupid-rule review? I was at Honolulu Airport recently with my grandson when, at the gate just prior to loading, my grandson, who is 11 years old and stands 57 inches tall, gets singled out by a burly security guard, 6 feet tall and weighing about 250 pounds, and told to step out of the boarding line.
The guard proceeds to frisk my grandson with his magnetic wand and has him remove his shoes for inspection, much to the amusement of those watching.
I swear their rules must state that the guards are only to check up on little boys and grandmothers with gray hair.
Tak Yoshihara
'Aiea
Senate must act on aiding welfare system
Aug. 22was the sixth anniversary of the signing of the legislation that ended welfare as we knew it. This anniversary should have been given some attention in the media.
The current economic conditions are hurting a growing number of welfare-to-work families. Congress must reauthorize the legislation this year and make sure these families are not gravely harmed due to the layoffs of their wage-earners and the difficulty in finding other work.
The House has passed a welfare reauthorization bill. It's time for the Senate to follow suit since the well-being of many low-income families is at stake. This is especially true since state budget crises are threatening work support programs designed to help millions of low-income families get and keep good jobs.
The bipartisan welfare reauthorization legislation awaiting Senate action makes significant improvements to the welfare system by expanding opportunities for education and training, restoring benefits to legal immigrants, and providing help to low-wage workers and children. When they return from recess, senators should act favorably on this legislation right away.
John Witeck
There is no God, so no 'act of God'
Fletcher Young wrote about "an act of God" when a boulder killed a Nu'uanu woman. To believe that such a horrific and saddening tragedy was "an act of God" is just terribly weak. To say that a young woman with dozens of possibilities ahead of her died just so "God" could show us something shows how sick religion can sometimes be.
There is no God. If there were, are you saying that "God" allowed thousands of people to die in the World Trade Center so we would know how to build a better building? Or let young men and women go into war over and over again, even though death is usually the normal outcome?
There is no reason why things happen. They just do. The boulder accident would have been prevented if we humans did a better job. It's time for us to do something about the world, and not let some "Ruler of All" do it for us.
Stop going to church on Sunday; instead, go to a park and help out a homeless man or pick up trash. Prevent neighborhood crime, help make the economy better. Be what a real human should be, not another mindless believer in "God."
Chris Lee
Nurses outstanding during emergency
Despite the nursing shortage that exists nationwide and locally, I was overwhelmed by the excellent personal care I received from the Kaiser Emergency Clinic, where I was admitted for a condition that required an overnight stay at the hospital.
My heart goes out to these dedicated people. It was an experience I shall not forget.
Kay Kauhini
More than parents should be responsible
I applaud Chris Murphy's Aug. 3 letter in which he notes the critical connection between a rich early childhood experience and young children's readiness for kindergarten. However, his letter falls short in claiming that parents are solely responsible for providing this experience.
Earlier this year, momentous legislation was signed into law in Hawai'i defining school readiness and acknowledging that parents, community and school in fact share the responsibility of preparing young children to succeed in school. This legislation now provides a foundation for collaborative efforts to track the readiness of Hawai'i's keiki and develop strategies to ensure they are safe, healthy and ready to succeed.
Murphy is correct in calling for parents to be accountable; however, schools and the communities in which children reside are equally responsible for the development of Hawai'i's young children. Together, we must ensure that schools are ready for children, and children are ready for school.
Elisabeth Chun
Good Beginnings Alliance
Disruptive students should be thrown out
Walt Novak's Aug. 18 Focus column, "Teacher abuse leads to failure of schools," should be an eye-opener to all the politicians and administrators who condone the students who are continually disruptive in the classroom.
What do you do with these disruptive kids? I would give them and their parents two chances to straighten out; the third time I would kick them out of school.
Why should the majority of the students who want to learn suffer because of two or three bad apples?
My son had to take my grandson out of the New York public school system for the same reasons Novak described. My son has to pay $3,000 a year to put my grandson in a Catholic school; so it's like double taxation because in New York, as in Hawai'i, there is no voucher system.
I've known teachers in the New York school system, and they've been telling me for about 30 years that disruptive kids are the biggest problem facing the public schools.
God only knows why the politicians and administrators have let this problem fester for so long.
Fred Cavaiuolo
Naming of highway should reflect all vets
Regarding the Aug. 22 Raymond Nosaka letter on naming a highway after the famed 442nd Regimental Combat Team or the 100th Battalion: While they are certainly deserving for their heroism in World War II, it would be a disservice to all veterans if a highway was named only after the 442nd or 100th.
After all, veterans from all branches of the military did their part, in time of war and peace, to maintain the freedom we enjoy today.
I would go one better and name the H-1 Freeway "The Veterans Memorial Freeway," in tribute to the thousands of veterans now living in Hawai'i. I believe everyone can live with that.
Louis Baldovi
Korean War veteran
Landowner rights are not absolute
Regarding Jeremy Lam's Aug. 17 letter about leasehold issues: It should be pointed out that landowner rights are not absolute. They are subject to many different conditions and restrictions — for example, zoning laws, the payment of property tax, eminent domain, etc.
People who defend the right of the landowners to take back their land (and the lessees' homes with it) when the leases expire will point out that the lessees knew that their homes were on leased land when they bought it. True. But landowners knew when they bought their land that landowner rights are subject to the government regulations and conditions mentioned earlier in this letter and that governments at the state, federal and local levels have the right to condemn land and, yes, even take it from one private owner and sell it to another if it is done to accomplish a public purpose.
Anyone who denies this should be aware that landowners tried to stop the city's mandatory conversion law. They took it to the U.S. Supreme Court and, ultimately, the city's right to do this prevailed.
The big difference is that when the government forces the landowners to sell their properties to lessees, the landowners are legally guaranteed compensation. However, when the leases expire, if the landowner chooses to take back the land and tells the lessees to vacate their homes, the lessees are legally entitled to nothing except a letter notifying them about it.
Joseph O'Brien
Bush has not proved case for war with Iraq
Cheers to The Advertiser for the Aug. 19 editorial "Is removal of Saddam a moral imperative?" It correctly demonstrates that the Bush regime has not proved a case for war against Iraq on any grounds — political, moral or historical.
A peaceful, disarmed, law-abiding Iraq is a worthy goal, but it is unlikely to be achieved without a strategy for the region's long-term political and social stability. The Bush regime is not offering such a plan; and in any case, its credibility is undermined by its many personal and financial connections to the energy industry.
Any case for war would need to be supported by a multinational coalition to be believable.
Andrew Lohmeier
