Letters to the Editor
Gwen Mink should should replace mother
Letter writers who have suggested that voting for a deceased candidate would be a wasted vote are ill-informed. Voting for the existing "alive" candidates would be the truly wasted vote.
We need the special elections to send the best possible representative available to Congress, especially at this critical time. I believe we should send Gwendolyn Mink, should she be willing.
Dr. Mink is a highly respected scholar and teacher in the discipline of political science. She has authored several books and many articles on public policy, especially in the areas of civil rights, poverty, women and children. I have been privileged to see her working in professional research networks such as the interdisciplinary Carework Research Network on issues and proposed legislation such as the Reauthorization of TANF.
In these contexts, I have seen her leadership translating social science research into public policy legislative agendas, legislative alerts and actions. It is clear to me that Dr. Gwendolyn Mink truly possesses "the right stuff" to immediately move into the late Congresswoman Patsy Mink's shoes and move the core interests of Hawai'i and the nation forward.
To begin to accomplish this, we need to vote for Congresswoman Mink on Nov. 5.
Joyce N. Chinen
Mink's legacy lives on
There have been calls to vote for Patsy Mink to honor her legacy, and moves to build a statue to honor her legacy, but after reading Gwendolyn Mink's commentary in the Oct. 8 Advertiser, it is clear that Patsy Mink's real legacy lives on in her daughter.
Linda Lingle
Republican candidate for governor
Cayetano, Anzai were flouting the law
It is to New Jersey's shame that their black-robed lawyers decided to flout a simple and straightforward law concerning candidates for election.
It is to Hawai'i's shame that our government considered doing the same.
I find is inexcusable for our governor and our attorney general, who took oaths of office swearing to uphold Hawai'i's laws, to advocate using our own black-robed lawyers to flout a clear and straight-forward law for electing a replacement for Patsy Mink.
I suppose they think that if black-robed lawyers say it's OK, then it must be OK?
Eric Terashima
Hilo
Don't waste vote on someone who is dead
I hope Hawai'i voters don't vote for a dead woman.
They all should vote for Bob McDermott. He's more than capable of representing Hawai'i.
A special election costs too much money, money Hawai'i doesn't have.
In the future, there should be a law in which the governor can appoint a successor if someone can't fulfill his public office.
Derek Stephens
Wai'anae
God shouldn't be forced on anyone
HPD Officer Leland Cadoy, and Christians like him, always have the same attitude that if they are not allowed to force their religion on others, then they are being discriminated against, prevented from practicing their religion and harmed in some way.
They can say the words "So help me God," or anything else they want, any time, anywhere they want.
But why should atheists, Buddhists, Hindus or Muslims be forced to swear to a God they don't believe in? Forcing a religion on people is what Muslim governments do.
Christians would love to be able to do that, even though it is against Christian teachings.
Gordon Banner
Reduce child abuse by condemning abortion
I am 16 years old and am home-schooled. I am writing about the Sept. 23 story, "Mother blames bad day for temper."
There can be no justifiable reason to beat a child. The mother said she hit her daughter on the head and back. She said she did not punch her, even though it looked like it on the tape. What is she trying to say? That she did not abuse her daughter?
I am glad that our government is involved in protecting children from being abused. Our government has the responsibility to protect the innocent from harm, even when it comes from a stressed-out mother.
But what about a child in the womb? Do we not have a responsibility to protect all children? Thousands are aborted each day. Is that not abuse also? I believe life begins at conception. The scientific and common-sense evidence is overwhelming. Abortion is child abuse, too.
Is acceptance of abortion subconsciously causing mothers to more easily accept abuse of older children, like 4-year-old Martha? Child abuse can be reduced when we consistently condemn, without exception, all abuse.
Psalm Cavasso
Violent felons should serve entire sentence
The recent shooting incident in Kane'ohe is sadly reminiscent of countless other such acts in these Islands and throughout the country. The names in the story will change but the storyline always remains the same: Another convicted violent felon is released early, out on the streets breaking the law — again.
Here is a novel idea: If a criminal is convicted of a violent crime, he should serve his entire sentence, every day, every single minute. He would be released not one day before the end of the sentence, period.
Why is the criminal justice system so intent on releasing these violent criminals early? How many times do they get another chance?
Do the innocent victims of these criminals get another chance?
Imagine this: criminals actually thinking twice before committing another crime because the previous convictions were met with very serious and strict punishment. If you are sentenced to five years, you will be released in exactly five years; 10 years means exactly 10 years, etc.
Is the problem a lack of prison space? OK, then we will build larger prisons. If we can build a giant, worthless monstrosity such as the Convention Center, then surely we could build a bigger prison.
Here is the alternative: violent criminals with multiple convictions being released onto these tiny Islands to almost certainly commit violent crimes against innocent people with no regard for the consequences.
Michael Lauck
Question No. 3 would strip us of our rights
This letter is in response to Valerie Muroki's letter about ballot Question No. 3. Muroki and many others have been misled into thinking that "streamlining" the way citizens are accused of serious crimes would help witnesses or save money. It would do neither.
All Question No. 3 does is make the citizen grand jury unnecessary. It would permit serious charges to be brought against any citizen based on hearsay information and without the need for any independent evaluation of the evidence. It is a terrible amendment that would wipe out 200 years of hard-earned constitutional rights. If passed, Question No. 3 would take the power of charging serious crimes away from our citizen grand jury and give it to biased government lawyers.
It would not help witnesses. Under the proposed procedures should the amendment pass, witnesses would likely endure more trauma as defense attorneys would have the right to depose them without a judge present to protect them. Witnesses might also be forced to testify for probable-cause challenges on every case.
Furthermore, we would be likely to see many more cases forced to go to trial at expensive jury trials. In the end, it would cost taxpayers more and we would get less — especially less justice for our citizens.
Before anyone votes on this important ballot question, he should try to find a friend who served on one of our grand juries. Ask him if it is important to keep the grand jury system alive. Should we keep the people in the process?
Question No. 3 isn't about streamlining — it's about stripping all of us of important constitutional rights. I will be keeping our people in the process and voting "no" on Question No. 3.
Barry G. Porter
Attorney at law, Makawao, Maui
Let's focus attention on Big Business flaws
How can so many of our political candidates glibly blame the woes of our economy on the excesses of Big Government and Big Labor, and spare Big Business of any fault, while recommending pro-business solutions of privatization and the downsizing of government, taxes and regulations?
Why isn't business blamed for changing our economy from the building, growing and moving of things to the manipulation of money, securities, financial statements and bottom lines?
Why not focus on the plight of the lowly workers who lose jobs, pensions and medical benefits while their highly paid, platinum-parachuted bosses cheat their companies into bankruptcy?
Why not focus attention on investments and pension funds hoodwinked by deceptive and collusive accounting and fraudulent stock values?
Why not focus attention on and recommend changes for a basically unfair system in which the top executives follow one set of rules while everyone else follows another set of rules, bears a heavier personal burden of taxes and suffers greater economic consequences?
Let's focus attention on and learn lessons from Enron, Tyco, WorldCom, ImClone, Global Crossing and Arthur Andersen, Inc.
Richard Y. Will
'Tradition' no reason for private schooling
Christie Wilson's Sept. 25 article on the popularity of private schools in Hawai'i had many fascinating facts, but the conclusion cited is nonsense. To suggest that "tradition" is the reason our enrollment in private schools far exceeds the national average defies common sense.
True, Hawai'i has many fine private schools with proud traditions, but these schools are expensive. Some are very expensive. Is tradition really capable of motivating parents to work two or three jobs and give up their family life? Are there that many private school parents wealthy enough and willing to make the financial sacrifice for the sake of tradition? I can't think of any.
However, I do know many parents who chose a private school because the alternative was unacceptable — and therein lies a tradition that does motivate sacrifices. Hawai'i has a tradition and national reputation for inferior public schools.
It's a problem military parents have been living with for decades and explains why so many of these parents put their children in private schools immediately upon arrival. It certainly can't be the tradition cited in Wilson's article. Most of them never heard of the private school they eventually select before they got their assignments.
Why do so many of our politicians put their children in private schools? It's because they care for them, understand the situation and can afford the cost of private schools. It's plain old supply and demand. The only reason we have a large private school population is that there is a large demand for a better education than that offered by the public school system.
I have often wondered why our news media are so kind and protective of the public school system. Why do they publish articles such as Wilson's that trivialize the situation with phony explanations and fail to mention the sacrifices and desperation of our local parents faced with the dilemma of choosing between a family life and a sound eduction for their children?
Perhaps they really believe that tradition is the motivator and that the public schools are doing just fine. After all, it is true that many of our most successful citizens are the product of our public schools and many of our finest teachers work in the public schools. If the news media truly believed that there is no real reason for private schools, other than tradition, then where are the side-by-side comparisons of the academic performances of public and private schools?
Articles about Hawai'i's verbal and math SAT scores invariably consist of one-dimensional discussions about tiny fluctuations in the graph of public school scores, which are in reality a depressingly low, flat, horizontal line with little or no trend of improvement. Why don't they ever compare these results with some of our better private schools?
Bill Follmer
'Aiea
