Letters to the Editor
Requiring parental consent a good thing
Regarding the story about minors needing parental consent to obtain abortions at Hawai'i Health Systems Corp. hospitals: I see this as a good thing.
If fear of being sued by parents brings about this policy, if it keeps even one abortion from being performed, then in this case fear is very good. I really don't care what Planned Parenthood thinks. If a lawsuit is coming, then I will donate to its defense.
As a parent, I have the right to know and give permission for any medical procedure my child may have. Why should abortion be any different? Abortion is "murder one" with intent.
I also agree with David Matsuura. What's cloudy about parents knowing and giving or not giving parental consent? Choice is not lost because choice happens before conception.
Ronald A. Young
'Ewa Beach
Teachers can take control of classrooms
Regarding Michael Thomas' complaint about Cliff Slater's commentary "DOE: Rigor mortis has set in": Slater was right on. After 13 years teaching in the Detroit public schools from 1959 to 1972 with all but one year in inner-city schools and three years at Central High School, one would assume that I have good classroom management.
In case you are not well-informed, 1967 was the year of the riot. Where? Around Central High School. The National Guard and Reserve used Central as their billets. When school began, there were a lot of angry young men roaming the halls and the streets. I had zero problems because I had rules and they were to be followed.
After Detroit, 25 years were spent working for the Department of Defense in Germany as a middle, junior and high school music, speech and P.E. instructor. Again, not many problems with the students. Most problems were a result of a misconception that children of high-ranking individuals deserved more privileges than others. That notion, also, was quickly dispelled.
R.V. Smith
Kapolei
OHA an embarrassment to the kanaka maoli
Regarding Emmett Lee Loy's Feb. 4 letter: With all due respect and appreciation for Mr. Lee Loy's efforts to help the kanaka maoli, of which I am one, may I suggest that criticizing one individual, Rowena Akana, is inappropriate. I am sure that Ms. Akana has done her best.
Unfortunately, her best and the best of the other members of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs have not been good enough for our people.
Based on my readings of letters to the editor, reported conflicts and controversies within OHA and an apparent consensus of opinion by many, if not all, kanaka maoli that OHA has done very little for the kanaka maoli, the entire board should be removed and replaced immediately. Someone tell us the procedure.
It is an exciting time to live in Hawai'i, with UH sports, Michelle Wie and a new UH president with, hopefully, greater vision and effectiveness.
OHA and its members are an embarrassment to the kanaka maoli.
Keola Choo
Enron could have gone a different way
The lives of tens of thousands of employees and their families, not to mention an untold number of other unsuspecting investors, could be quite different today. All that was needed was for Enron's senior executives to follow The Advertiser's lead: to make (and take seriously) a public commitment to be "diligent, truthful, accurate and fair."
Enron's executives, for example, continue to justify the use of a multimillion-dollar corporate private jet as being more cost-efficient than publicly available $300 to $400 coach fares.
Misguided hubris of that nature is always the fundamental cause of an erosion of trust. The Advertiser, by sharp contrast, is willing to publicly admit that there "are plenty of examples where we simply didn't double-check a fact, or made a bad assumption or got sloppy."
In your openness in striving to "earn readers' trust," The Advertiser has shot a straight arrow at the bull's-eye in achieving its "goal to be as good as they can be."
Irv Rubin
City making a mistake in 'courtesy stop' towing
In early January, my car was cited and then towed from on-street parking in my neighborhood. Mine was not the only one. I had to pay $112 in cash to get my car back and was accessed a $30 parking citation for parking at a bus stop.
I contested the citation because the sign at this stop states the hours one is allowed to park. Upon inquiry, the Department of Transportation informed me that the stop in question is a "courtesy stop," and parking is allowed according to the signs posted.
My concern is this: What about everyone else who was cited or towed? Not only on that day but other days as well. We put our trust in city officials and the Police Department. They make a mistake and we pay. I think everyone who has ever gotten a citation at that location should get their money back.
Check it out on Upper Kalihi Street. Most of the bus stops are "courtesy stops." Don't make a mistake and pay for someone else's mistake. I'm fighting to get my towing charge back.
Theresa Redulla
State libraries aren't what they used to be
Auwe, Don Blanding! 'Tis a sad day in paradise.
I read the effect that budget cuts may have on the State Library system. Yes, many of us actually use the libraries on the weekends. We go there to read, do research and borrow material.
This is what a library is supposed to be, not what it has become. Closing on holidays is the norm now, and further curtailment is planned.
It was fun when I was younger to go to the library. Take a look at McCully library today. There is added security to prevent pilfering. It was sacrilegious to steal then and should be now. One can see a moral breakdown permeating into the library.
Yes, Don, you'd be shocked to see the commercialization of the library. No longer does it feel like a second home. But those days are not gone forever.
The friendliness and open use can be revived. So, let's work together and make a positive change and bring back the good times.
Alfred Akana
'Auntie' Lee Cataluna sneaks up on reader
Like Lee Cataluna's story Tuesday morning about the term "Auntie" sneaking up on her, Lee sneaks up on me three or four mornings a week.
While I'm enjoying my first cup of coffee at Zippy's and going through The Advertiser, Cataluna sneaks up on me with her wonderful column. I may be running late, I've gone through the main news section, the Business and Sports sections, and as I'm about to put the paper back together and get on to work, Cataluna sneaks up on me.
There she is, smiling and peering out of the paper, under the big HAWAI'I banner, and I tell myself "I'll just take a quick look to see what she's writing about today," and that's it — I'm hooked. I stay with her for the entire article. Lee is just a terrific writer. No matter what the subject, she manages to grab my interest in the first few sentences, and away we go.
Keep up the good work, Lee; I enjoy your "sneaking up."
Bill McGill
Kane'ohe
Cancer screening for men also important
Your Feb. 4 editorial endorsing mammography for diagnosis of breast cancer is timely and appropriate, but you failed to mention the need for prostate cancer screening.
Prostate cancer is the second largest cancer killer of men after lung cancer. Some 31,000 men died of prostate cancer last year, and that number is somewhat less than the prior year because of early detection.
All men over 50, and all men in the higher risk groups over 40, should ask their physicians to perform a digital rectal examination and a prostate specific antigen blood test annually.
The current debate over the benefits of early detection notwithstanding, medical insurance must continue to provide coverage for early detection procedures for both breast cancer and prostate cancer.
Phil Olsen
Trees are detrimental to birds on Midway
As someone who had the good fortune to spend a week at Midway Atoll under the auspices of the Oceanic Society, I am sorry that your science writer, Jan TenBruggencate, did not more fully investigate the "other side" of the issues surrounding cutting down ironwood trees on Eastern Island at Midway.
Not only are these trees not native to Midway, but they get in the way of albatrosses trying to land on the atoll. One of the more gruesome experiences for a visitor is the sight of these large birds impaled on the branches or the sound of them crashing as they get tangled in the foliage.
And while your photo may show albatrosses "resting in the shade of the ironwoods," the biologists researching the birds will tell you that these trees block the cross-island breezes, ultimately limiting the ability of the unfledged birds to stay cool enough to survive.
Many things accelerate the decline of this population of magnificent birds, but the Fish and Wildlife Service is not one of them. I sincerely hope that Midway Phoenix's decision to pull out of Midway will create the opportunity for a better and more healthy partnership with the refuge.
Mark Lutwak
Once upon a time, there was death
Johnny and Calvin Talivan (both 19) were running late for their party. "Hurry up!" chimes Johnny, as both jump into his 1999 Honda Accord.
Pulling out of the driveway, tires squeal as they race down the road to hit the freeway at 'Aiea before getting any traffic lights.
"Johnny, you're speeding," says Calvin.
"No worries, there are no cops where we're going."
Taking the pedal to its limits, pushing the Honda's speedometer to see if it really can go that high, Johnny and Calvin Talivan race down H-1 toward Kaimuki — 75 mph, not excessive speeding, but enough for the cops who weren't there to pull them over. Johnny, weaving in between cars to get to their destination 5 minutes quicker than if he drove the speed limit, decides to kick it into high gear, and the Honda, in all its glamour, loses its grip on the road and veers into the next lane.
In the next lane was Mr. and Mrs. Lawabider and their three children, on their way to Ala Moana. They were expecting only to go shopping, buy what they wanted and go home to catch the 8 p.m. movie together as a family. Then their 55-mph van is sideswiped by Johnny and Calvin Talivan. The van spins out of control, hits the freeway barrier and flips three times before coming to a halt upside-down in the middle of the freeway.
The Honda is also scathed, but a few nicks out of the bumper was nothing for Johnny and Calvin Talivan to concern themselves about. Parked on the side of the freeway, Calvin Talivan was busy checking his bloody nose in the visor mirror. Johnny Talivan got out of the car to check on the van.
Through the shattered glass, he could make out the figures of three children, bloody from the neck down, dripping to the roof of the van, because after all, the van was upside-down. As they lay motionless, he hears the whimper of a man coming from the front of the van — at least he thinks it's the front of the van. Johnny Talivan looks and sees Mr. Lawabider's arm pinned underneath the van. In the midst of the whimper, Johnny Talivan see's Mr. Lawabider reach over to caress the face of his wife, bloodied and motionless.
Barely legible, Johnny Talivan hears the words "I love you" come from the lips of Mr. Lawabider. The children, motionless, Mrs. Lawabider, motionless, and Mr. Lawabider, now motionless. The only ones moving were Johnny and Calvin Talivan, who, shocked in disbelief at what has happened, could only think what they were going to tell the approaching sirens.
The moral of this story: Nobody got a speeding ticket.
Mark R. Sprague
ACS operations manager
