Letters to the Editor
School bus fare hike is a regressive tax
Windward senator Bob Nakata deserves the praise of every Hawai'i taxpayer for speaking out against the Board of Education's plans to double the charge for children to get to and from school.
Nakata is 100 percent right in calling this fee what it is: a regressive tax that strikes hardest against low-income and rural families.
A better debate might be why Hawai'i is about the only state in America where school transportation — a basic part of the free public education embedded in our national history — has been privatized.
And of interest also should be the absence of the usual opponents of tax increases from the GOP and Democratic right. They never seem to miss a chance to protest taxes that hit the wealthy, but cannot be found in the battle over increased costs for ordinary working people, e.g., increases in the bus riders "tax," the University of Hawai'i tuition "tax," "taxes" on public park usage, and now the increase in the "tax" on school transportation.
I agree with Sen. Nakata — the Legislature needs to deal with this problem.
Keola Kamaunu
If you don't like law, work to get it changed
I am writing in response to a letter from a reader who disputes the fine that is charged for failing to wear a seat belt. He claims that he agrees with the seat-belt policy, but feels the fine is outrageous.
I have only a simple rebuttal to offer: We have laws. Unless we are willing to become involved in the process that makes the laws, then we are bound to abide by them.
The statistics compiled from results of traffic fatalities make a compelling case for the current seat-belt policy. As a citizen, it is my responsibility to abide by the laws for the sake of everyone else in my community. As a parent, I feel it is also my responsibility to set examples of good citizenship for our kids to see.
Shall we make fines comfortable enough that breaking the law does not inconvenience us so much?
I urge everyone to get involved in the process of making our laws. Our democratic process provides that everyone has equal opportunity to be heard.
Cindy Rasmussen
Koa Ridge development doesn't make sense
I am concerned about Castle & Cooke's proposed 7,500 housing-unit Koa Ridge development that would be constructed on 1,250 acres of prime agricultural land.
I am concerned about the trend of development in Hawai'i, suburban sprawl eating its way farther and farther from Honolulu while leaving unattractive, endless, similar-looking houses in its wake.
I am concerned that we do not have enough water to sustain all this development, and soon we will be forced to use freshwater streams or desalinate ocean water once the groundwater is all pumped out.
I am concerned that traffic will crawl along even more slowly on H-1 in the early mornings while everyone sits sleepy-eyed, waiting to get into town — and in the late afternoon, while everyone sits angrily glaring at each other and waiting to get home.
While some perceive there is a demand for housing on O'ahu, this particular development, located between Waipi'o-Gentry and Mililani, would be destroying 1,250 acres of mostly prime agricultural land that could otherwise be productive. We cannot eat houses.
What we can do is realize that Central O'ahu is already scheduled and approved to be paved and developed into lots and lots of new housing, some 13,000 units. This approved development of homes will already be stressing our water supply through consumption, diversion of natural water flow to streams and into the groundwater that flows to the aquifer, and ultimately lowering the water table to an extreme that would negatively affect other much-needed existing wells that supply our water for the city of Honolulu.
Does it really make sense to add more houses and increase the demand for water in an area that cannot sustain it?
Naomi Arcand
Mechanical aid isn't necessarily required
Judy Birt's May 23 letter, "Handicapped passes should be redistributed," seems to forget or ignore people with heart, respiratory and arthritic problems that fall within the terms of qualification for disabled placards (difficulty walking over 200 feet) yet do not require one of the mechanical aids she specifies.
I do agree that there does appear to be misuse of the handicap pass system. We must remember, however, that things are not always what they appear to be.
B.G. Judson
Kapolei
Linda Lingle's positions represent GOP creed
In response to John Carroll's May 20 letter, I would like to introduce him to the creed of the Republican Party as set forth by the Republican National Committee many years ago.
I think it is a little too lengthy for a letter, but I would like to excerpt the parts that are pertinent and are especially important to me as to why I became an active Republican many years ago. I keep this on my desk to refresh my memory when I am beginning to wonder why I'm spending so much energy fighting an uphill battle year after year.
I am a Republican because:
"I believe the strength of our nation lies with the individual and that each person's dignity, freedom, ability and responsibility must be honored.
"I believe in equal rights, equal justice and equal opportunity for all, regardless of race, creed, sex, age or disability.
"I believe government must practice fiscal responsibility and allow individuals to keep more of the money they earn.
"I believe the proper role of government is to provide for the people only those critical functions that cannot be performed by individuals or private organizations, and that the best government is that which governs least.
"I believe the most effective, responsible and responsive government is government closest to the people.
"I believe Americans must retain the principles that have made us strong while developing new and innovative ideas to meet the challenges of changing times."
If Carroll has not seen this, I'll be happy to send him a copy so he can read the whole thing. Linda Lingle's positions have exemplified the above party creed, and she will continue to promote the rights of the individual and fiscal responsibility, and her only "agenda" is to get Hawai'i out of last place economically and educationally.
Shirley Hasenyager
We should be armed against terrorists
It's nice that the federal government warns the public about suicide bombers in the U.S. They do not tell us, those in danger, what to do.
Not too long ago in Israel, a suicide bomber in a supermarket was attempting to self-destruct. He was noticed by a woman shopper, who promptly shot and killed him and saved herself and others.
According to one news source, Israel has recently issued over 60,000 "Permits to Carry Concealed Firearms." The woman mentioned has a permit to carry. She saved not only herself, but many others.
If our government is going to tell us we are in danger, we should be allowed to defend ourselves. Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida said that all Americans are now terrorist targets. I and my wife are targets who want the right to shoot back.
After all, if you're in a supermarket in Hawai'i and you see someone trying to set off a suicide bomb, will you be alive after you call 911 and wait for the police to get there?
Vernon Okamura
Violence against civilians is wrong
In regard to F. William Pelzer's May 20 letter and the last question: "How would we react if a foreign power ... ?": Ah, I suppose being part-Hawaiian I could answer that. I can also tell you what it feels like to live in Wai'anae and see the gorgeous houses that "foreigners" reside in when I go to the other side of the island, past Diamond Head and Hawai'i Kai.
Instead, I will tell you what I tell my more "militant" brothers: Any violence against civilians hurts our cause and makes us wrong, period. You do not intentionally take the lives of innocent civilians for a political agenda. The minute you do, you lose all credibility. How can any group of people demand self-rule when they cannot even control their irrational members?
Pelzer also seems to have difficulty understanding exactly what a terrorist is. In the simplest terms, a terrorist is someone who intentionally kills civilians. Minutemen, veterans of all wars, policemen, etc., do not fit this criteria. Palestinian "freedom fighters," who sacrifice their own children to kill other children, do.
Yes, we do live in a government that allows the public to search for the truth. I really wish that people would, instead of listening to propaganda and spouting hate.
Check out who runs those refugee camps, who finances them and why they are still around after almost half a century. Remember that unlike Israel, which makes the best tanks and guns, or the other Arab countries, which have oil, the Palestinian people have no means of income. They are the biggest recipients of international welfare. Ask, who does the continuation of war benefit?
Surely, somewhere in the mind of a pro-Palestine there has got to be a free-thinking Westerner.
Nani Tavares
Wai'anae
Caesar warned us about warmongering
With all of the war- and fear-mongering coming out of Washington and distributed widely and without questioning through the media, I am reminded of a quote attributed to Julius Caesar: "Beware the leader who bangs the drums of war in order to whip the citizenry into a patriotic fervor, for patriotism is indeed a double-edged sword. It both emboldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind.
"And when the drums of war have reached a fever pitch and the blood boils with hate and the mind has closed, the leader will have no need in seizing the rights of the citizenry. Rather, the citizenry, infused with fear and blinded by patriotism, will offer up all of their rights unto the leader, and gladly so."
Let's hope the citizenry of this country will see through this manipulative political ploy and demand restoration of the rights that were once guaranteed by our Constitution before the troika of Bush-Ashcroft-Rumsfeld launched their attack.
Donald M. Topping
Cataluna fan club
I nominate Lee Cataluna for governor or mayor or president. I have enjoyed her plays so much. Her writing — smart and funny — has lots of aloha.
Any seconds?
Laurie Meech
Millions for center but not enough for library
May 23, 2002: "Don't delay building Kapolei book collection" — Building a library publication collection costs $800,000.
May 10, 2002: "Debt cripples Japanese center" — "The Japanese Cultural Center, recipient of millions of dollars in private donations, is on the brink of losing its land and buildings to bank foreclosure. ... It was for that reason ... that (Sen. Taniguchi) put an $8 million item into the new state budget to help the center by buying the Beretania Street site where the center sits."
We cannot find $800,000 to put books into a library, but we can find $8 million to buy land for a center supported by "millions of dollars in private donations."
Jo-Ann Adams
Legislature let down the students of Hawai'i
Why is the state cutting the education budget by $24 million?
I go to a school with no soap in the bathrooms, no toilet paper and no doors on the bathroom stalls. Many classes don't even have textbooks for students. Our globes still show the U.S.S.R., and there are books in our library that say "someday man hopes to land on the moon."
The aging auditorium still has asbestos, and our rooms are swelteringly hot. Our locker rooms are infested with roaches and covered with red dirt — and we can't even dream of having hot water.
Thankfully, we are having renovations done to our school, but they will be completed long after I graduate, and with this cut, I doubt very many more of the schools in the state in the same condition will be renovated as well.
What an embarrassment and letdown to the students of Hawai'i. Legislature, thank you so much.
Kenji Hobbs
Roosevelt High School
