Letters to the Editor
Expanding highways is the wrong answer
If we are going to spend billions upgrading our transportation network and encourage growth outside of Honolulu, we cannot continue to expand our highways and expect them to be maintained year after year and also be adequate for our traffic needs 20 years from now.
We must envision an integrated bus/rail system, with rail hubs located at certain points on the island and with the buses feeding the rail. One or two of the center lanes of the freeway would be used for the rail, and the depots could be located below or above the stop points.
Doing this, we would be able to improve our public transportation to the point that it would relieve gridlock instead of increasing it; we would be able to qualify for more federal funding, thus less money raised locally; and it would also enhance our environmental quality of life. Large parking structures next to the embark/disembark points would need to be built, but they, too, over time, would generate revenue.
Let's stop thinking of turning this island into a paved oasis and consider something that will be feasible long into our future — not just a bandage for today.
Chris Murphy
Wahiawa
Solve traffic problem with better schools
Attacking the traffic problem by widening the freeway or building hideous double-decker freeways is a waste of taxpayer money.
You don't suck more water through a straw by getting a bigger cup. The cup is not the problem. The straw is. The congestion downtown is what is causing the traffic, and no matter how many tiers of freeway you build, each molecule of water will get there at the same time it did before. Only some will have a better view.
Now this idea is a shocker. Linda Lingle, are you listening? It's a stretch, but here goes. To improve the traffic problem (at least a little), how about we improve the quality of education in Hawai'i? Doesn't make sense, you say?
By improving the quality of education in public schools, parents will no longer feel the need to send our kids off to a private school (in town) to get a better education. Heck, if they still think that money can buy a better education, charge them what they think they should be paying. I won't mind.
Attendance at Punahou and Iolani alone is upward of 5,000. Now, how many of those students actually live in town makes no difference. Even if they're traveling just a few blocks farther to reach a private school, they are hampering traffic.
Oh, yeah, and by improving the quality of education and teachers in public schools, we (as in uneducated public school survivors) just may be able to come up with more bright ideas like this one.
Sock Ho Lim
Give us a monorail to ease traffic problem
One word can fix the traffic problem and also serve as a catalyst to tourism by enhancing the image of Hawai'i: monorail.
The idea was all but built under Frank Fasi, if I am not mistaken. This is an idea whose time has come, and the people must shout out that they are tired of traffic and pollution. Give us the monorail.
Disney showed the world this idea 47 years ago. The ride from the Airport to Waikiki and the Convention Center would be fun and the tourist, as well as the executive coming for business, would love it.
The gas and tire companies would be invited to not block the idea but instead be corporate sponsors of the monorail. It is not that hard to also be innovative and design a corporate sponsorship plan that would help underwrite construction costs.
MIT developed a monorail that runs on magnets and solar energy. The trip from the airport would be smooth, cool, clean, scenic, informative and fast. A stop at Aloha Tower would save that struggling location.
This is a high-tech opportunity serving as a solution to a problem. It moves cars off the road, creates work, makes tourists happy and showcases Hawai'i as a place of global technology balanced with enlightened thinking.
Kimo Kealoha Kahumoku
Maui
Restoration of Harano name correct decision
Kudos to Gov.-elect Linda Lingle for making a commitment to restore the Harano name to the H-3 tunnels. Not to diminish in any way the contributions of the late Gov. Burns. However, Harano's direct contribution on this project as state highways chief should be honored as originally.
Gov. Cayetano states, "If Lingle wants to restore Harano's name to the tunnels, it will probably make good political points for her." But he said that is not the way he does things.
You gotta be kidding me. This is probably Cayetano's biggest, most expensive Democratic political yard sign in Hawai'i's history. An in-your-face reminder of which political party rules. And we all paid for it.
Well, things have changed since Nov. 5, and we now have hope in a new administration that promises restoring integrity and trust in government based on doing the right things. Way to go, Lingle!
Russ Awana
Kailua
P.E. isn't endangered; BOE to address obesity
I'm writing to correct a misunderstanding on reducing the P.E. requirement for high school.
The Board of Education meeting on Nov. 22 of the regular education K-12 committee will not be addressing the graduation requirements for P.E. We will be having a discussion on what we could and should be doing to address the increasing obesity rates in our children.
As a member of the regular education committee, I'm inviting people from the DOE, the Health Department and other experts to give us information on what's happening now and suggestions for solutions on how we can work together to solve the problem of childhood obesity.
I'm personally an advocate for increased physical activity and better health education for school kids of all ages, and will be looking to see how we can implement the good P.E. and health standards that are already in place.
When the graduation requirements concerning P.E. come before the education committee, there will be public hearings on the issue across the state to get input from parents and concerned citizens before making a decision.
Carol Gabbard
'Ewa Beach
Select best steward for Waimea Valley
Though Waimea Valley land has passed condemnation and is closer to becoming a Honolulu City & County park, our city administration has decided that someone else should manage the place. Officials are presently examining the qualifications of several entities that have submitted proposals. One among them could soon become Waimea's best steward or its worst exploiter.
The role of government is to act for the greater good of all citizens. This public mission performed honorably and with utmost fairness is vital to the well-being of every person in Hawai'i and secures the best future for our children's children. Presented with important decisions regarding the health and welfare of Waimea Valley's 1,875 acres, this single question must be asked and answered: "What has greater value to present and future generations?"
The best answer would ensure that primary emphasis be placed on the valley's irreplaceable cultural and historical sites, its world-class endangered-plant reserve brought together by 30 years of professional research efforts, and its enormous potential as an educational resource. The valley's natural richness should be protected and nourished and made available for learning to everyone.
The worst answer would be handing Waimea over to individuals whose only desire is profit-taking from residents and visitors entering the gates of another expensive tourist trap.
James W. Mason
Increased medical care costs are villain
It is interesting that with the rise of insurance premiums, the first thing people do is jump on the "bash the carriers" bandwagon.
The real reason for the increase in the cost of insurance is not that the companies are hoarding money, but the rise of the cost of medical care. Why don't you hear about anyone complaining about the cost of hospital stays, medications, physician services?
If these weren't increasing in cost, the insurance companies wouldn't have to pay out more in claims and increase premiums to cover the claims' cost.
Why doesn't the grand insurance commissioner also take the mantle of healthcare guardian and not allow physicians, hospitals, pharmacies, etc., to raise their fees without going through him first? That would be a better place to start.
Kimo Makano
Kane'ohe
Negotiations on jail should be shelved
Gov. Cayetano should agree with the incoming administration's request to shelve negotiations to build a new jail because he shares the same vision that the new administration and many residents of this state envision for our brothers and sisters who are caught up in the cycle of drugs, crime and prison.
Gov. Cayetano endorsed the implementation of the Hawai'i Drug Court program, launched by Lt. Gov.-elect Duke Aiona in 1996. Gov. Cayetano also introduced a law that is designed to provide treatment for first-time drug offenders.
These types of programs that divert drug offenders from incarceration will have a significant impact on prison overcrowding.
The Maui Drug Court's implementation of the state's first early-release/reintegration program for sentenced offenders will reduce the recidivism rate for parole violators, who represent the fastest-growing inmate population. Funding to expand such programs throughout the state will lesson the need to build prisons. Federal recognition will change the disproportional representation of Hawaiians in prison.
If this is part of the new administration's vision, such a request should be honored.
Jon Kinimaka
Lahaina, Maui
Lingle's jail proposal is more money wasted
It seems our governor-elect doesn't do any homework as to issues like the proposed jail. Studies have been done, the most feasible options were thought of and now she wants it changed? More money down the tube.
She wants to change it because Gov. Cayetano was instrumental in its decision — what a waste.
I hope the Republicans realize she is wasting our tax money.
Earl Tanioka
Call upon a new dawn of compassion, aloha
Reflecting on Gregory Shepherd's review and the subsequent letters of response to the editor, I write to thank The Honolulu Advertiser for the dialogue it has created within our community. This rich opportunity allows us to explore issues and shed light into the darker corners of our society.
Our democracy grants every person in this country the right to free speech. Who, but those who would be threatened, could not listen to another's voice?
In the seven years of touring the United States with my documentary, "Then There Were None," I have learned that people's reactions to the film are much more revealing than they realize.
When the media marginalizes Hawaiians as victims, responding with anything other than dignity does our community a disservice. Such generalizations are divisive. May I suggest, instead, as I did in my narration with the symphony, that we, together, guided by the wisdom of our ancestors, call upon a new dawn — a dawn of compassion and aloha.
I appreciate the opportunity of having been invited to work with the symphony. As with most collaborative efforts, works must be tailored in order to accommodate the performance. In this case, much of the original narration was extracted from my film to enhance the exquisite music of Lalo Schifrin.
Art, in its many forms, is a reflection of its society. I look forward to the day when exploring issues of homogenization and assimilation artistically in Hawai'i will no longer be considered daring or threatening.
To the Honolulu Symphony, my gratitude for extending itself into parts of our community that are often overlooked and underserved. Many Native Hawaiians, including elders and children from Kaua'i to Hawai'i Island, attended the symphony for the first time on Nov. 1 and 3.
What makes Hawai'i rich is not its economy but its people. My kuleana as a cultural anthropologist is to give voice to our kupuna, those who became strangers in their own land. Years from now, long after I am gone and through the efforts of many, there will be generations who will know who they are and whence they come.
Elizabeth K. Lindsey Buyers
