Letters to the Editor
Somebody must help solve this traffic mess
It was a mess recently on the Leeward side. Hopefully one day we will have an alternate route to enter the Wai'anae Coast when this kind of severe traffic jam happens.
I'm writing in the hope that the city or state will help the people on the Leeward side. Some kind of sign, a way of informing us of the delay. Maybe we could do some shopping, watch a movie, have dinner before entering this dead-end road to frustration.
For example, coming up on the freeway to Red Hill there's a sign letting people know what's ahead.
Please help.
Cris Visoria
Leeward resident
Different comparison needed on gas prices
Your Sunday Business section article on gas prices contains a chart of Hawai'i/U.S. average gas prices, and a comment that "the average cost of gasoline in Hawai'i has fallen nearly 13 cents from a year ago." The chart shows the following differences:
Regular: 24.3 cents; mid-grade: 25.7 cents; premium: 26.2 cents. If you average these averages, you get 25.4 cents. So, under any possible math, it is way beyond 13 cents.
The relevant comparison you should be making is between O'ahu and an average "basket" of U.S. prices from counties of about the same in population and isolation as O'ahu, before taxes (which differ greatly from state to state). I'm sure this is available from the data source you use. Using the "U.S. average" for gas prices is like taking the U.S. average for newspaper advertising rates and comparing it to the Advertiser's rates.
Brian Barbata
Kailua
State school system lacks real standards
How very droll!
In the very same (Sunday, Sept. 15) issue of your paper that we find a letter from teacher Kim Hunter of Makaha adding her voice to the primal scream of Walt Novak (Aug. 18, "Teacher abuse"), we also find a vigorous defense of the status quo as served up by, who else, the state superintendent of schools.
The latter has the brazen audacity to complain that "We're hearing 'solutions' that would cripple schools" in a hideously convoluted system already crippled with inefficiency and lack of accountability.
The superintendent's claim that "we strive to make high-quality, standards-based education a reality for all students" would be a bald-faced lie were it not for the Clintonian precision with which she selects the word "strive." There are no standards, and she knows it.
There is no curriculum. There is no common grade scale. The so-called performance standards are an amalgamated wish list of mush. There are no — repeat, no — measurable performance standards.
It has gotten so bad in the discipline of mathematics that DOE folks now refer to "performance indicators" rather than pretend any longer that there is anything even close to a measurable performance standard. Without measurable performance standards, one cannot tell if learners are learning or teachers are teaching.
This is no accident. Were accountability for real results ever to crop up within the DOE, careers would be at risk. Careers count. Kids don't.
Let's try a Q and A:
Q: How much longer will defenders of the status quo high up in the bureaucratic food chain be able to hide the results of their handiwork behind a burgeoning thicket of words?
A: November beckons.
Thomas E. Stuart
Public school teacher, Kapa'au, Big Island
Sports anchor story assaulted the language
As a copy editor, I'm irritated at The Advertiser for this sentence from a story it ran recently about line-up changes at KGMB Channel 9:
"Chun, Hawai'i's first full-time staff woman sports anchor, will man the desk at 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. weekdays."
I hate to be picky, but the humor of her "man"-ing the desk is lost in such a serious article. I would've said "staff" or "anchor" or "run," but never "man"! How gender-based.
Laurie Cicotello
Hastings, Neb.
Switching from Pidgin to English not that easy
Many have weighed in on the Pidgin English question recently. Some have said they can switch easily between standard English and Pidgin.
Unfortunately, however, often those who think they are speaking standard English are not. They simply don't recognize subtle usages that set them apart from standard English speakers.
Writing is also a problem. I encounter teachers in our school system who post classroom rules or send home worksheets using non-standard English. I'm not talking about worksheets in which the grammar is supposed to be corrected.
My 11 children were born and raised here, and Pidgin English could be considered their first language. They have laughed at my tries to correct their grammar and usages, stating that they are local and proud of their language. They are only now beginning to understand how it has handicapped them. Now they are struggling to learn how to speak and write standard English fluently.
Susan Endo
Many older bikers have avoided accidents
I enjoyed reading about older bikers. I'm 71 and just started when I was 65. I took the MSF course here in Hilo and learned a lot.
Too bad you focused on accidents of older bikers — and not (probably because of no statistics) the many, many of us who don't get into accidents.
Riding a motorcycle takes me back to when I learned to surf in the early 1940s. It is really cool.
Bobby Cooper
Hilo
Banks shouldn't put hold on Mainland checks
I live and work on Maui. Like a lot of new arrivals, I still use my Mainland bank for most of my finances. Upon my arrival, I established a local bank account and make a monthly deposit by personal check to handle my local finances.
The funds I deposit locally are not made readily accessible. The banks place a hold of six to 10 business days on the funds deposited, which is allowed by federal regulations, but is not mandatory. It is at the bank's discretion, and more specifically the teller's discretion, whether or not to place a hold on a deposit, as I was told by a banking representative.
I can understand the practice for a few months. After that, a person should have access to his money immediately. If we have no access to our money, why should we tie it up in Hawai'i banks?
Something needs to change. Honest individuals should have access to their money. All this practice does is drive money from Hawai'i, and honestly, can the businesses of Hawai'i afford that?
Michael Gass
Kihei, Maui
Iraq poses no threat to us or anyone else
Where is Hawai'i's delegation to Congress in this moment of peril? The Bush administration, obsessed with overthrowing Saddam Hussein, is clearly preparing for war. But Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld & Co. have not even begun to make a reasonable case.
Iraq poses absolutely no threat to the United States or anyone else; our allies in Europe and the Middle East understand this and clearly indicate they will not support U.S. aggression against another country.
Can it be that Bush's real impetus for this war is to divert attention (just before the November election) from a stagnant American economy and corporate scandals linked to Republicans, and perhaps to grab huge Iraqi oil reserves for U.S. oil companies?
The consequences of this war will be with us for many years. The United States will be identified throughout much of the Muslim world (and beyond) as an aggressive superpower bent on war and conquest. This will lead to an inevitable backlash and make Americans the targets of violence. U.S. troops will be occupying Iraq for decades to come to protect the puppet rulers we place in power. Bush's flouting of the congressional right to declare war will work to erode American democracy.
So where are the voices of senior Sen. Daniel Inouye and House Military Affairs member Neil Abercrombie? Why aren't they organizing town meetings and forums to get citizen input into this critical issue? We need the broadest public dialogue right now.
Noel Jacob Kent
Bill 53 is an attack on social justice
Bill 53, currently before the Honolulu City Council to force the sale of Queen Lili'uokalani Trust lands, is an attack on social justice for all people of Hawai'i, not just Native Hawaiians, and I urge my fellow citizens to speak out in protest.
If this bill is passed, the children of Hawai'i will suffer the most, and the children are the future of our entire community.
Hawaiian sovereignty needs to be taken seriously by recognizing the sovereignty of Lili'uokalani Trust over Lili'uokalani Trust lands. The council has no right to force the trust to sell its land to lessees. The council's actions are mirror reflections of the unjust and illegal actions of the so-called Committee of Safety in 1893, which usurped the proper authority of Queen Lili'uokalani and the Hawaiian Kingdom.
Attacks on the Lili'uokalani Trust, OHA, Kamehameha Schools, Hawaiian Home Lands, etc., are not just Hawaiian issues. They are issues of social justice that effect everyone. "An injury to one is an injury to all." It is time we all stand in solidarity for justice. Let us stand with aloha for the children and say "no" to Bill 53.
James V. Albertini
Kurtistown, Big Island
Democracy at work?
At last! Primary election day is tomorrow and we will finally have the long-awaited answer to the question: "Who has the most signs?"
A well-informed electorate is the key to democracy.
Bob Meyer
Koloa, Kaua'i
Free health insurance for kids
Believe it or not, there are still 14,000 uninsured children in the state of Hawai'i who are eligible for free health insurance but who remain uninsured.
In fact, the state will lose $14 million in unspent federal dollars at the end of September because we, as a state, haven't invested enough in finding and helping eligible families through the sometimes intimidating application process.
This is a real shame, first and foremost for the children who miss out on needed healthcare and their stressed-out parents. But we're also leaving federal money on the table that we desperately need in our local economy — to support our health centers, doctors, hospitals and all the services and suppliers that depend on them.
Health insurance really matters when it comes to getting appropriate and timely healthcare. All children should have it, and most families in Hawai'i can get it. Working families with moderate incomes are eligible for free children's health insurance. It doesn't matter if the family owns a car or other property, and immigrant families qualify, too. The chart at right shows the family income limits for eligibility:
Information and applications are available by calling 211 (free from all islands) or from the Hawai'i Covering Kids Web site at www.coveringkids.com
We need to get all the kids under 200 percent of poverty level enrolled, but we could and should go further. Hawai'i could adopt a rule to make children up to 300 percent over poverty level eligible. That way virtually no child in Hawai'i would need to be uninsured.
And guess what? This program doesn't cost Hawai'i taxpayers a dime in state taxes. Seventy percent of the cost is covered by the federal government, and the state's 30 percent contribution comes out of the tobacco settlement.
Health insurance for our children is important. Help make it a reality for all kids in Hawai'i. If you know children who are uninsured, tell their families about this opportunity. And tell your gubernatorial and state legislative candidates that you support this great opportunity for the health of Hawai'i's children and its economy.
Beth Giesting
Executive director, Hawai'i Primary Care Association
