honoluluadvertiser.com

Sponsored by:

Comment, blog & share photos

Log in | Become a member
The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Monday, March 4, 2002

Letters to the Editor

A few days of relief from traffic cameras

What a nice few days of driving it was while the traffic cameras were removed from the roadways. During my several trips across O'ahu, traffic was flowing smoothly, efficiently and without the dangerous roadblocks produced wherever the camera vans were set up.

Compared to Mainland big-city drivers, Hawai'i drivers are so mellow it is unbelievable that the Department of Transportation disrupted our safe highway driving environment by setting up a traffic-enforcement business to make money for the state. Nationally, Hawai'i ranks among the top three or four safest states to drive in, so we don't have a "safety problem," as the DOT claims.

Additionally, the majority of vehicle-related fatalities occur at speeds less than 35 mph, and motorcycles account for 12 percent of the overall total — both of those categories aren't enforced by traffic cameras.

Only the police can provide on-the-spot enforcement and proactively prevent accidents caused by drunk, drugged and reckless drivers.It's time to stop spinning our wheels on cameras and invest in more police.Besides enforcing traffic laws, they also catch real criminals.

Ed Aber-Song
'Aiea


Obesity is becoming more of a concern

Experts at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting last week warned that obesity is now joining and even surpassing malnutrition as a dietary concern in some of the farthest reaches of the planet.

A number of extensive, reputable studies published by the American Cancer Society and American Heart Association have shown that obesity is the precursor of diseases that account for more than a million premature deaths each year. Among these are heart disease, stroke, cancer and adult-onset diabetes. Overweight children are twice as likely to suffer from heart disease in later years.

The leading causes of obesity are consumption of fat-laden meat and dairy products and inadequate exercise, particularly during formative childhood years.

Clearly, health hazards associated with being overweight can be prevented. Consumers must learn to replace animal-derived foods with wholesome grains, legumes, vegetables and fruits and to undertake a regular exercise program at the earliest age. Parents must insist that their children's schools introduce wholesome food choices, and the USDA must stop using the National School Lunch Program as a dumping ground for surplus meat and dairy commodities.

Laurelee Blanchard
Ha'iku


Campaign 'reform' effort disingenuous

Recent attempts by state legislators to look as if they are doing something about campaign fund-raising abuses are nothing more than a deceitful attempt to give incumbents an advantage and to restrict participation in the political process by the common folks.

Adding momentum to this charade is the recent support Gov. Cayetano has given these "reform" measures. In case anyone forgot, Cayetano is not running for election this year. But when he ran in 1994 and 1998, he consistently abused the letter and spirit of the campaign spending laws.

It is time that Rep. Sylvia Luke and other incumbents are called on this issue. This kind of "reform" should be called the "Incumbency Protection Act of 2002." It guarantees an advantage to those in office who print and mail at taxpayer expense, have staffs paid for by taxpayers, hold public meetings to get to know their constituents at public expense, etc., etc.

Adding insult to injury, under these "reform" proposals, political action committees will still be able to make contributions. Special-interest groups, unions and big businesses form PACs. The common folks and small businesses do not.

The real problem is that we have politicians and their supporters strong-arming contractors and consultants to give money or else risk the loss of government work. Let the Campaign Spending Commission do its job. Now that the commission is moving to enforce the existing laws, all of a sudden incumbent politicians say we need to change the laws.

These "reform" proposals are simply an attempt by incumbents to stay in office.

Brennon T. Morioka
Finance director, Hawai'i Republican Party


State must provide affordable education

Regarding the article "Cuts would hit UH's 'heart' ": What is the problem in providing affordable public higher education for the children of Hawai'i?

Annually we hear of a crisis or threat of budget cuts, increased tuition, students struggling to get the classes they need, a shortage of instructors at UH. What alternative do parents or students have? Private college tuition starts at $14,000 per year in Hawai'i.

Two-income families don't seem to make it anymore. I hope my daughter will graduate on time and that the John A. Burns School of Medicine will still be around when she applies for medical school.

Cheryl Rapoza


June Jones is giving us faith, hope and love

Regarding the Feb. 20 letter from a Warrior football fan suggesting that Coach June Jones earn the raise he is asking for: Although Jones isn't a Top 10 coach in the sport's polls, to many of us he is.

What he has given to the team and state is definitely priceless. He should be able to renegotiate his contract without being criticized.

The letter also asked that he "give some aloha back to us" since "we" had to put up with schedule changes, "we" had to endure security hassles, "we" had to deal with traffic and "we" rallied around him after his accident. Don't you realize that, besides his crash, everything he has done was for us? He changed schedules so that "we" could perform for a national audience, security was stepped up so "we" as spectators would be safe, and the traffic problems occurred because he made "us" want to go out and support our team.

Wanna know about aloha? He's given the players faith in themselves and the knowledge that nothing's impossible; he's given them hope that our talented young high school players will stay and represent Hawai'i; and he's given us love. Which other coach hugs their players and embraces a state at the same time? Let's see: faith, hope and love. If that's not giving aloha ...

Mark Allen
'Ewa Beach


Managed-care plans need legislative attention

The February 2002 AARP Bulletin highlighted that "a growing number of state legislatures are filling the void with laws that protect some consumers enrolled in managed-care plans."

"State laws apply to individuals who are not in employer-sponsored plans," the Bulletin reported. "Most protections passed recently aim to help patients resolve coverage disputes that arise. ... Eleven states now allow patients to sue their HMOs for damages if care denied to them causes harm. And 41 states have passed measures allowing consumers to ask for an external review of an insurer's decision by independent medical experts.

"Half of all states publish 'report cards' comparing the performances of different health plans to help consumers choose an insurer."

Of the four categories (external review, right to sue, managed-care ombudsman and HMO report cards), Hawai'i legislators have only accomplished the external-review category. The Legislature needs to take additional action to protect consumers in managed-care plans.

It is important we contact our representatives, otherwise they will not have the above very important issues on their prioritized agenda.

George J. Winter


Kalaupapa will always be essence of who I am

I know this may seem strange to most of you, but I need to try to set something straight, if I can. I was recently interviewed for a TV piece on Kalaupapa. What I heard myself say was so opposite of what I meant — yet another "senior moment."

What I truly meant to say was that Kalaupapa and all the fabulous people I knew and know there, and all the experiences I had growing up there, are so special to me that no matter where I go, it is Kalaupapa that always will be the essence of who I am.

Makia Malo


Misinformation marring death-with-dignity debate

Regarding Will Hoover's Feb. 26 article, "Assisted suicide bills get hearing": It unfortunately references an inaccurate claim made by Kelly Rosati that likens the death-with-dignity bill now before the House as being the same as the euthanasia law practiced in the Netherlands.

To set the record straight, euthanasia in the Netherlands is performed by lethal injection and sometimes to patients who are incompetent or in an unresponsive state. The bill we are backing only applies to competent and terminally ill adults who voluntarily request a self-administered prescription to hasten death and end their suffering.

The choice to take the oral medication always remains with the patient. Should the patient become incompetent or lose awareness before self-administering the prescription, the conscious choice no longer exists, and no physician or other medical personnel can legally proceed in hastening that patient's death. To do so would be a felony under the proposed Hawai'i law.

As for the so-called "slippery slope" argument, which states that terminally ill patients may feel under pressure to take their own lives rather than be a burden on their families, four years experience with Oregon's death-with-dignity law reveals this simply did not happen there and there is no reason to believe it would be different in Hawai'i.

Roland L. Halpern
Social Justice Council, First Unitarian Church of Honolulu


There's way to rein in high medical care costs

Suddenly we have legislative discussion of medical costs going out of control. It is certainly a problem and has been for years — common knowledge among business owners.

The cause? Hawai'i's Prepaid Health Care Act, a legislative "solution" in 1972 that produced supposedly unintended consequences.

"Supposedly" is used because there is some language in that bill that virtually mandates a monopoly in medical insurance.

Medical care and medical insurance are two separate issues, sometimes related but always separate. You can have lousy medical care with a so-called "good" insurance program. You can have superb medical care while having absolutely no insurance coverage.

The goal should be to get quality care at the lowest possible price. If mainstream reporters or our legislators want to discover some truth in medical care, here's an experiment for them to try.

Go visit a doctor you do not know. Tell the staff (they will ask) that you will pay cash and that whether or not you have medical insurance is simply none of their business. When you come face to face with the doctor, say this: "Doctor, I am here to seek your best advice based on your professional knowledge and experience. I do not want that advice tainted or influenced by an insurance company or a government or any other outsider. Consequently, I am going to pay you cash for your advice; and I will expect a substantial discount in your fee. Is that satisfactory with you?"

If you get no answer, ask why. The doctor will probably tell you that she doesn't want to give you a discount because if HMSA finds out, it will lower her (the doctor's) future payments for service accordingly. If the answer is yes, ask how much. The answer should be 35 percent to 50 percent off the standard, but you may be asked to keep mum about it.

What does that tell us about typical medical care under Hawai'i's Prepaid Health Care Act?

• Charges (whoever pays) are about 50 percent higher than they should be.

• Doctors sometimes give advice colored by outside rules and dictates.

Once those truths are revealed, our legislators can, if honestly well-motivated, find a solution, such as opening up the market for individual choice and genuine competition in care as well as insurance.

Richard O. Rowland
President, Grassroot Institute of Hawai'i