Letters to the Editor

Facts were omitted in Bishop Estate piece

John Griffin, in his zeal to sell his point of view, left out some very important facts regarding the Bishop Estate in his Nov. 3 commentary.

He forgot to mention that the only way Gov. Cayetano and his administration were able to get rid of the rightful trustees was to abuse their powers and positions of trust.

Cayetano and Margery Bronster got a fellow attorney, Richard Frunzi, to provide testimony before the grand jury. The attorney general persuaded a federal judge to lower Frunzi's prison term from 15 years to 2 months. Cayetano added to the deal by forgiving Frunzi of four years of taxes.

These are the facts. It may be more about how the news is reported in this town than about how innocent people can be easily indicted by a governor and attorney general. So much for Constitutional Amendment Question No. 3.

When dealing with our people, Mr. Griffin should be more concerned about the facts than the "spin." During the time of the controversy, Kamehameha Schools/ Bishop Estate was the most successful trust in this country. Just as Arthur Andersen misrepresented the facts about Enron, they also misrepresented the facts of the Bishop Estate.

This community deserves the facts, not the "spin."

I guess, by Mr. Griffin's standard, the behavior of the A.G. and the governor is acceptable. Is this the kind of "reform" Mr. Griffin expects?

Henry Haalilio Peters
Wai'anae

Have children tested before drugging them

Thanks to The Advertiser for the Nov. 13 article on Ritalin for children. It's telling that children often exhibit signs of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or Attention Deficit Disorder in the classroom environment but nowhere else.

My son would "tune out" and even sleep in class. The principal derided me for not giving him Ritalin. After an evaluation by a developmental pediatrician who suggested that a stimulant drug would allow my son to focus on overcoming his dyslexia, I tried it for about a week. The effect was loss of appetite, mood swings and an overwhelming increase in noise levels for him in the classroom.

I then sought an audiological evaluation with Debbie Gabe, a Kapi'olani Medical Center audiologist specializing in Central Auditory Processing Deficits. My son had one of the five CAP deficits, and it was determined that he needed a quiet, acoustically sound learning environment complemented with systematic language instruction — teaching basics like decoding, syntax, etc.

The poor acoustics and noisy classroom environments in our public schools interfere with children's ability to concentrate and learn. The use of explicit language instruction, such as Orton-Gillingham, is nearly nonexistent in public school classrooms.

Parents: Before giving drugs to your child, find out if it is the classroom environment and inappropriate instruction that is making your child "sick."

Laura Brown
Mililani

Gov. Cayetano should leave office gracefully

I am elated that our call for political change has finally been heard and answered. The sudden flurry of activities by our outgoing governor is puzzling, though.

A hastily appointed executive director to the Hawai'i Tourism Authority, who has no expertise in marketing or tourism but receives the highest salary ever, is troubling. Especially so close before the elections. Highway tunnels are being renamed, $5 million is being withheld because Ben Cayetano disagrees on one of the appointees, a new jail contract is negotiated ... and what else?

My advice to the outgoing Cayetano: Try for once to show political class and leave in grace and dignity. Try to make good, just a little bit.

And all the people who are state employees who stood out and up publicly and stated loud and clear that Linda Lingle is the wrong one for Hawai'i should leave with Cayetano — Evan Dobelle included.

By the way, I would have hung up on Dobelle, too. He should be a role model, but betrayed us. Now it turns out that Dan Inouye convinced Dobelle to endorse Mazie Hirono. I commend Linda not just for hanging up but, most of all, for admitting it.

To all of you who stated that Linda Lingle is the wrong one: I admire you for speaking up, but now you must stick to your beliefs and make room for progress. You wanted change? Here, you have it.

Dieter Thate
Kailua

Lingle has chance to be magnanimous

While I agree with Dave Shapiro that Evan Dobelle compounded his initial mistake, I also feel this is a wonderful opportunity for Linda Lingle and Duke Aiona to be magnanimous.

An example of grace would be a great start toward a "New Beginning" as the gesture would convey an attitude of inclusiveness and the desire to build bridges between people rather than walls.

Russell Stephen Pang

Lingle should visit West O'ahu students

After reading letters by N. Kimura on Sept. 26 and Linda Lingle's press secretary, Lloyd Yonenaka, on Oct. 8, I was confused.

I called the Lingle campaign headquarters to ask if she supported the building of UH-West O'ahu or not. The nice woman I talked with assured me that someone would get back to me with an answer. I am still waiting for that call.

Now I see that Gov.-elect Lingle does not support building the campus in the near future. I also see that she has had a falling-out with UH President Evan Dobelle because he supported her opponent in the recent election. I hope that these two occurrences are not related.

I would again like to recommend (as I did in my phone call) that Lingle visit the campus and talk story with the students there. It would be unfortunate if these wonderful, deserving students get shortchanged again just because the governor-elect wants to make a statement about a university president's indiscretion.

Roy Ishikawa
'Aiea

Council must resolve rooster noise issue

The City Council's decision to defer legislation on the "farm animal" issue is disappointing. This matter has been an ongoing problem to many residents of O'ahu living within residential areas.

This is not an issue of who came first, roosters or people, but one that needs sane and reasonable leadership to resolve. The council missed an opportunity to send a clear signal that all residents must be accountable and show due regard for their neighbors.

We don't need excuses from a legislative council; we need solutions. Owners of these animals have offered little to help make their case for the so-called "pets" they have no control over.

Do I expect to have owners keep the roosters from cock-a-doodling? Unreasonable. Do I expect to have the council restore peace to the many affected by this unabating nuisance? Yes.

Robert A. Espinosa
Kapolei

Mixed messages

Upon entering the Honolulu International Airport via automobile, I became confused by the new airport directional signage. My daughter commented that "Arrivals" and "Departures" are now two concepts that do not exist.

Gary Jennings