Letters to the Editor
Drug forum should use common sense
Not even the mighty hand of Sen. Inouye can lead Hawai'i out of its current problems with crystal methamphetamine as long as DEA Director Asa Hutchinson continues to support the failed war on drugs.
While I am encouraged that Director Hutchinson chose Hawai'i, where meth abuse exceeds that of most other communities, for a meth summit, as reported in the Aug. 25 Advertiser, I am skeptical that anything positive will result. Mr. Hutchinson has not given any signs that he really wants to change the status quo.
Hopefully, somebody among the invitation-only guests will insert some ideas aimed toward reducing the harms that meth is causing among our people. Hopefully, the summit will adopt a platform based on common sense, science, public health and a sincere concern for human rights, none of which is acknowledged in our current drug policies.
Donald M. Topping
President, Drug Policy Forum of Hawai'i
Homeless should not be labeled "riffraff"
Your Aug. 26 editorial is right: "Honolulu's homeless policy is heartless and shortsighted." But words matter, and calling the homeless "riffraff" encourages the very policies you deplore.
"Riffraff" also means "refuse" or "rubbish," so to label the homeless as such is to call them human trash. And what does one do with trash? Get rid of it (or them).
This, unfortunately, is the practice such language promotes.
David T. Johnson
Associate Professor of Sociology, UH-Manoa
This time, let's not go to the polls undecided
It is my understanding that undecided voters typically make up a sizable bloc at election time. Voters often go to the polls without a clear idea of the candidates they will vote for once they get in the door.
This is a critical election, and we should take the time and make the effort to select the candidates we think would best represent us. We need leaders who are committed and hard-working. We need leaders who have a precise plan and the will to implement it. We need leaders we can trust.
We do not need candidates who promise to do their best once elected.
As a voter, I long for change. Hawai'i is going nowhere fast. We can turn this around by electing strong leaders.
I have recently heard two very excellent speakers: Linda Lingle and Dalton Tanonaka, both Republicans and candidates for governor and lieutenant governor. Both have detailed plans and goals to return Hawai'i to its glory days.
Let's not go to the polls undecided and vote for the first name on the ballot or the first name we recognize. Instead, let's go to the polls armed with information and insight on the candidates and their platforms.
I'm going to vote for Lingle and Tanonaka. You might prefer to vote for someone else. That's OK, too.
But please, make an informed decision.
Kay Brennan
Lingle shouldn't throw ethical stones
Rather than run for governor, Linda Lingle should become a high school physics teacher. You see, she has deftly proven Newton's Third Law of Motion, which states for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.
For there she was, going along her merry way touting the lack of ethics in government, when her very own 1998 ethics violation surfaced.
Did she somehow forget that she used Maui County resources to issue a political release during the governor's race four years ago? Or perhaps if you start madly crusading against something, it washes away your own transgressions. Something like confession, except that you confess everyone else's sins in order to absolve your own.
There's nothing wrong with wanting ethics in government — we all want that — but to point fingers when you're just as guilty is the ultimate in hypocrisy.
Ry Barbin
Wailuku
History shows GOP party of civil rights
Why is it that the Republicans are accused of being for the rich and against the poor? History proves otherwise.
In 1856, the Republican platform called for the abolition of slavery, and in 1860 the Republicans repeated that call. The Democratic platform supported the Dred Scott decision, which stated that African Americans were not humans but property to be bought and sold on the slave market.
Finally in 1865, Congress passed the 13th Amendment to abolish slavery. It was approved by a vote of 119 to 56. All 88 Republicans voted for it, but only 22 percent of the Democrats supported the end to slavery. President Lincoln was so pleased that he personally signed the 13th Amendment even though the Constitution does not require presidential approval.
After this, the 14th Amendment passed by a vote of 138 to 36. This was primarily to provide civil rights to former slaves. The 36 opposing votes were all Democrats.
So why are the Republicans called the party of the white or the rich?
Terry Bosgra
Tanabe represents the best in coaches
On our annual visit to Waikiki, I got caught up in the Waipi'o Little League story. I watched the team's game against Missouri, and was highly entertained by the effort and tremendous skill of both teams in an exciting game, won by Waipi'o 2 to 1.
I was even more impressed with the attitude and words of Waipi'o's coach, Clyde Tanabe. With the game on the line in the late innings, he visited his son Kurt on the mound, told him to try his hardest, and said how proud he was of what Kurt had done. I've never seen a kid more determined than Kurt as he got through the inning with only one run given up on a wild pitch.
Before the team's last at-bat, Clyde quietly told the whole team to give it their best, be proud of what they had done, and enjoy the moment. Finally, when Travis Jones hit a home run to win the game, as he rounded the bases, Clyde congratulated him and told him to slow down, always the calming influence under difficult as well as exhilarating circumstances.
The team was disappointed to not advance to the next round, but certainly the words and actions of their coach had to make them all feel very good about themselves for what they had accomplished.
Earlier, ESPN showed a documentary on how nasty and cutthroat parents can be in Little League. I would like them to do a show on the Waipi'o team as an example of what a great experience Little League is for most kids and their parents. I commend Mr. Tanabe as a prime example of what all coaches should be — patient, caring, always putting the situation in perspective.
And I congratulate the Waipi'o team for a great Series, and I'm sure it is an experience they will remember for the rest of their lives. Finally, I'm looking forward to seeing Sanoe Aina on future U.S. National Softball teams.
Jerry Clark
San Jose, Calif.
City ignored Kane'ohe plea for traffic signal
Regarding the Aug. 25 article "School traffic light plea denied": In an ironic turn of events, the decision by the city's transportation director, Cheryl Soon, not to install pedestrian crossing devices at King Intermediate School comes on the heels of an announcement by the state that it is going ahead with plans to install traffic signals at Kapolei High and Middle schools.
In Kapolei, state officials decided to install stop signs and signals after residents expressed fears about the safety of schoolchildren crossing a street. In stark contrast, the response of city officials to Kane'ohe residents has been indifference.
The city decided not to proceed despite a high-priority request and designation of $200,000 in capital improvement funds by the Kane'ohe Neighborhood Board for the signals. The end result is that we have two communities with similar problems that are being treated differently by their governing officials: state officials who thought that the safety of schoolchildren should be paramount on the one hand, government functionaries who placed their faith instead on traffic flow studies and eight-point criteria on the other.
Roy Yanagihara
Chair, Kane'ohe Neighborhood Board
UH Warrior football as Abe might have seen it
Four years and many scores ago, our fathers brought forth onto these Islands a new football coach conceived to pass and dedicated to the proposition that speed kills. Now we are engaged in a new season, testing whether this coach and his team so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. We are met on a great football field of this season. We have come to dedicate a portion of this field, as a final resting place for the Cougars, the Bulldogs, the Broncos and our other fallen foes. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
The polls may little note, nor long remember what we say here, but we, the fans, will long remember what they do here. It is for us the fans, rather, to be dedicated to the unfinished work which those who struggled here have thus far nobly advanced.
It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored athletes we take increased devotion to that cause for which they give the full measure of their devotion — that we here highly resolve that this season shall not go down in vain ... a winning season and a bowl berth.
Les Omura
Pay teachers more, lower classroom size
Teachers do deserve a very good wage increase. Please support them in giving them the most the state can afford to give them.
I realize, however, that receiving a good wage will not improve the classroom environment they are in. We need to build more classrooms to reduce the number of students each teacher is educating. The large student-teacher ratio contributes greatly, I believe, to teachers' dissatisfaction.
More teachers need to be hired. Giving teachers a raise will not mean students will receive a better education. However, giving teachers a raise will show we support them and understand the poor working conditions they endure day after day.
Sylvian Imamura
