Letters to the Editor
The cost of visiting Hawai'i must go down
Once again the Feb. 24 paper runs the story of Hawai'i merchants crying about the lack of business. I can't feel too sorry for most of the complainers. You, the tourist industry, are forcing us, the tourists, to stay away. You sit back and ask, how can that be true?
Just look at the increase in cost to the tourist in the last year. It appears that as tourist visits have gone down, merchants have raised prices to compensate for the decrease in sales. Well, let me tell you folks, the more you raise the price, the less we tourists buy.
Every fall for the past three years, I have searched for a place to live in Hawai'i for the winter. Each year I read that the occupancy rates are dropping in hotels and apartment complexes. And each year I am greeted with increasing prices.
The same goes for food. Once I arrive for the winter, I go out only to find that the prices have been raised noticeably again.
Mr. Merchant, Mr. Landlord, Mr. State Tax Man, you are going to have to lower your profit margin to get people back to Hawai'i.
Russell Gust
Big Bay, Mich.
HVCB is targeting the wrong tourist
One has to hope the Hawai'i Visitors and Convention Bureau leadership reads The Honolulu Advertiser. Feb. 24's front-page article by Dan Nakaso, "Closures dot Waikiki streets," provides telling evidence that their marketing strategy, heavily weighted toward bringing back high-spending Japanese visitors, is woefully behind the times.
In his article, Nakaso writes, "Long before Sept. 11, a powerful, quiet economic revolution was under way in Waikiki." And Taka Kono, who surveys businesses for his monthly "Japan Report," bluntly states: "No more big spenders."
Nevertheless, the HVCB continues to waste millions of taxpayer and private dollars chasing the elusive Japanese visitor of yesterday while ignoring tourism's emerging demographic groups. For instance, aside from attending a conference or two, the HVCB has not done anything to target upscale gay and lesbian travelers, a large and growing niche market in the global tourism economy.
For historical and cultural reasons, Japan will likely always be a major source of visitors for Hawai'i, and marketing dollars should be invested to reach these tourists. However, the members of the HVCB and their No. 1 client, the public, through our agent, the Hawai'i Tourism Authority, need more forward-looking and inclusive strategies that reach the lucrative visitors of the future, rather than those who are no longer coming to our shores.
Eduardo M. Hernandez
Oregon bottle law proves it can work
After moving from beautiful Lanikai to Portland, Ore., last June, I was struck by Portlanders' diligence in recycling their bottles and cans. Then I realized it wasn't diligence — it was convenience.
The bottle bill makes recycling a breeze. Nearly every grocery store or corner market redeems beverage containers or uses reverse vending machines. And beverage container litter is simply nonexistent — if someone does litter, a prospecting individual picks up the 5 cents the litterbug left behind.
Returning to O'ahu in January for a visit, I was reminded how littered "paradise" is. Cans and remnants of glass bottles dotted the landscape of our favorite spots, from Makapu'u to Diamond Head to Sunset Beach. Riding a bike from Manoa to Waikiki, garbage — not flowers — paved my path.
The bottle bill has worked in Oregon for 30 years. When will Hawai'i adopt this proven, common-sense approach to recycling and litter reduction?
Deborah Shultz
Hawai'i must provide film, ad incentives
Regarding comments made on Feb. 20 by Lowell Kalapa of the Tax Foundation of Hawai'i and by the state Department of Budget and Finance urging lawmakers to scrap SB 3021 SD1/HB 2803 HD1: For one, if the film and commercial industries do not come, the state loses nothing and gains nothing. No work, no income, no taxes — no nothing.
If the film and commercial industries come, the state of Hawai'i makes money. Eighty percent of something is better than 100 percent of nothing.
The bottom line for any production is the budget. What these bills do is put Hawai'i on the same playing field as places getting most of the work. Canada, Los Angeles and many states and countries are aggressively marketing themselves to this end.
The U.S. lost some $500 million in feature productions between 1998-2000. At the same time, Canada more than doubled its feature spending to over $1 billion.
Wake up, Hawai'i. We need these incentives to compete. Let your senators and representatives know this.
Ben Shafer
Hau'ula
DOE workers should spend time as teachers
I have a solution for a lot of the Department of Education's problems: All employees, other than secretaries and health room attendants, should be required to spend at least one semester every third year in a classroom as a teacher.
This would make the counselors, psychologists, et al., aware of the problems the teachers face. It would also refresh the memories of the administrators.
These classrooms should be in the schools that have a teacher-retention problem. Again, it would make them aware of the problems faced.
New curriculum should be tested in these same schools. It should be tested on the general student body, not a screened and select class. What will work on a screened student body may not be adaptable to the general school population.
Charles A. Phelps
Wai'anae
Criticism of needle exchange inaccurate
Roland Foster's Feb. 25 letter criticizing the Hawai'i syringe-exchange program is inaccurate and unfortunate.
The Department of Health collects data from persons who seek HIV testing from the department and affiliated community-based organizations. The percentage of positive tests among drug injectors has been declining over the last decade, and was zero in 2001. This clearly indicates a low rate of new HIV infections.
The number of syringes exchanged by the program increased from 219,218 in 2000 to 347,793 in 2001. This was not because a large number of new injectors suddenly came into the program. New injectors tend to be in their late teens or early 20s, while the exchange participants have an average age of over 40.
With its comprehensive HIV prevention programs for drug users — including drug treatment, community outreach and syringe exchange — Hawai'i is a model for other states and for the many countries throughout the world where HIV is spreading among drug users.
Don C. Des Jarlais
Beth Israel Medical Center, New York
Dick Adair cartoon of Lyman beautiful
After reading of Arthur Lyman's passing, we were "holding up" pretty well until we saw Dick Adair's illustration in the Feb. 27 issue of your newspaper. A beautiful illustration for a beautiful man.
Then we cried.
Thank you, Dick.
Wallace & Alma Pfeifer
Joliet, Ill.
