Posted on: Friday, September 27, 2002
Letters to the Editor
Hawai'i should ban feeding of sharks
Do you wonder why Forbes calls Hawai'i a "Banana Republic"? The "North Shore Shark Adventure" exemplifies the mentality. Did our government license this with any thought to the long-term consequences?
Why have Florida and the Caribbean outlawed feeding marine animals? Their governments are protecting their citizens and visitors.
Debbie Bocken
A separate 'no God' police force needed
Mitchell Kahle is saving us again, from whatever he is saving us from, by forcing a change in the HPD oath. Of course the police don't need God's help — they have arms and bulletproof armor.
What we need is a separate "no God" police force. A few examples of how it would work: You're waiting in line at City Hall and in your frustration you mutter "Oh, God." Government building, right? Immediate arrest. Or you sneeze in the state Capitol and someone says "God bless you" — maybe a suitable mandatory minimum sentence for that crime. And how about "God" as part of a common swear word, uttered in the Federal Building? Probably a capital offense.
So, Mitch, let's get cracking; there is much work to be done.
Arg Bacon
Public access TV wasn't in compliance
In the Sept. 22 article "Public access TV must open records," Ho`ike managing director J. Robertson said, "Our records have always been open." The truth of Ho'ike's compliance to open records can be found in their own minutes and records.
According to Ho'ike's minutes of the Oct. 9, 2001, meeting, the June 5, Aug. 29 and Sept. 7 minutes were not accepted until the October board meeting. These minutes from all these months were not released to the public prior to that date.
The excuse made by Robertson and the Ho'ike board for not releasing minutes within 30 days is they were not "approved" yet. This policy has been in effect during Robertson's past 17 months as managing director of Ho'ike.
The delaying tactic that a board can wait months to approve minutes before they can be made available is not allowed. Ho'ike's policy is at odds with the Office of Information Practices and the state Uniform Information Practices Act (UIPA) definition. That definition requires the board's written minutes be publicly available within 30 days after an open meeting. It is not only a definition; it's the law. There are no exceptions.
There are many examples of how Ho'ike has not been in compliance with UIPA. When members of the public informed the board repeatedly of this violation and other bylaw infractions, police were called. People were threatened with arrest for being disruptive. The only disruption I saw occurring was Ho'ike in violation of open records law and sunshine laws.
Someday, Ho'ike will thank the public for caring enough to pursue these issues and bring the entire organization out of the shadows into the sunshine of truth and accountability.
Carol Bain
Hirono's statement insulting to legislators
Mazie Hirono was quoted in the Sept. 24 issue that she does not see "how a Republican governor can work with a Democratic Legislature to bring about the kind of positive changes that we want."
Hirono's statement is both insulting to current and future Democratic legislators (insinuating that they would be unable to compromise and work with a Republican governor), to the long history of bipartisanship that has generally flourished in other states and at the federal level, and to the very nature of our multiparty democracy.
Further, Hirono's statement raises the obvious question: If it takes a Democrat to effect real change with a Democratic-controlled Legislature, why have 12 years of that exact situation produced so little in the face of growing economic, social and educational problems?
Eric J. Piesner
Mazie Hirono has impressive resume
support Mazie Hirono for governor because, according to her biography on her Web site, she came to the Islands as an 8-year-old, attended the public schools in Hawai'i and the University of Hawai'i. She graduated from the Georgetown University Law School, a top law scho
Hirono served in the state House of Representatives for seven terms and was very successful. She became Hawai'i's lieutenant governor for two terms.
Her list of accomplishment at all levels is very impressive.
People should check the Web sites and compare the two candidates. They would be able to judge for themselves rather than listen to all the biased remarks.
Alfredo Acierto
Voters should do better homework
A hardworking, dedicated man who really understands the needs of Hawai'i's public education system lost his bid for the Board of Education largely, I feel, due to public apathy. James Kuroiwa was running for the Windward seat that was voted on statewide, but lost to other, more recognizable names.
Just from speaking with people in general, and looking at the high number of blank votes, I have come to the conclusion that, although everyone agrees that educationshould be one of the highest priorities of our state, the BOE elections are given relatively little media coverage and most people vote purely on name recognition — or not at all.
I wish more people took the time to read through their election tabloids provided by our two dailies to get to know the candidates in every category — not just the "popular" ones — and I encourage even further research with follow-up calls, checking out Web sites and attending forums. It is important to make it your business to know about the people you are putting in very powerful positions who will have an impact on our children, our future. I urge you to watch the BOE's performance over the next few years, and when the next election comes, be more aware of whom to get rid of due toineffective leadership, and what new people can bring, other than a familiar name. Mona Wood
Adults must vote for teenagers' future
As a teen, I find my generation avid observers of and commentators on events in these uncertain times. Still underage and unable to vote, but not ignorant or uninformed, we realize that we will inherit the world adults have fashioned.
Don't let us down; we need hope for our tomorrow.
Do not associate our youth, our inexperience or "votelessness" with apathy. We know the difference between right and wrong. We have a conscience. We have personal opinions and deep convictions, too. So don't disappoint or disillusion us. We're counting on you to do what's right for our generation.
It's up to you, the voting adults, to make a difference for us. We need you. As individuals, you can make a difference by casting your single vote. It matters. It means that you still consider the average citizen an important stakeholder in our communities. It tells my generation that if we all become participants instead of "political complainers," we will be able to propel Hawai'i forward into a brighter, and a better, future. We need to elect a state House and Senate that will make the right decisions for us. Right is right, and wrong is wrong. There is no room for mediocrity when Hawai'i's future is at stake. As a young person on the verge of adulthood, I'm old enough to know the difference.
Johnna Tanji
Hirono poster person for the status quo
In Kevin Dayton's Sept. 23 article "Defining change a challenge," he says that "figuring out exactly what the voters understand change to mean is getting tricky."
No, it's not tricky. Mazie Hirono's history and current endorsements position her as the poster person for the status quo. Change is anyone else.
We get one more chance at change this November, and our choice has been narrowed down to Linda Lingle. Neither we nor our children can afford to wait another four years.
Corey Christopher
We'll be in the news, so be sure to vote
Register today for the general election and, on Nov. 5, VOTE!
We will be in the national news in November when we elect our first woman governor, and the stories are almost certain to tell readers and viewers all over the country about our turnout.
We'll look pretty silly, almost uncaring, if only 40 percent of our registered voters vote and if we let fewer than 20 percent of our eligible voters choose our next governor.
Ken Kiura
What got beating victim into Halawa prison?
This message is in response to the Sept. 24 letter by Lael Samonte, who is in the the high-security prison at Halawa:
I wonder how much "pain, pain and more pain" you wielded on your victims to get into Halawa? Also, if you were unconscious, how did you know that it took the nurse 15 minutes to get to your side?
Helen Arnberg
Former AG also wanted 'snooping bill'
Recently, I was looking through your issue of Feb. 14, 1970, and lo and behold, I come across an article that looks so familiar today.
John Mitchell, our attorney general at the time, wanted a "snooping bill." Our current attorney general, John Ashcroft, recently did get something similar under the rapturous title Patriot Act.
It is always amazing how influential people can succumb to a power itch and disregard their oath of office to uphold the Constitution.
It may behoove the current John to read up on what happened to the former John. That one's wife left him and he ended up in jail.
Gerhard C. Hamm
A better way to run our schools
Last April, most public school third-, fifth-, eighth- and 10th-graders took the Hawai'i Content Performance Standards II State Assessment Test. This assessment showcases what students have learned in the classroom up to this point in their academic achievements.
Based on the latest standardized test scores, 82 schools are listed as failing to meet state academic and performance standards.
As a public school teacher, it is my opinion that the Department of Education has placed the cart in front of the ox when it comes to enacting performance standards in our public schools. A standardized curriculum should be the driving force that precedes and dictates any kind of performance standard.
Many of the difficulties and frustrations that educators experience result from the complete absence of a standard curriculum, much less a standards-based curriculum, that teachers can align performance standards to. Too many of our teachers are continually asked by the DOE to devise, develop and redefine their own curriculum and align it to ambiguous performance standards with inferior or nonexistent materials (textbooks) and resources.
These "performance standards" and the "benchmarks" the teachers are asked to present and perfect are a joke. Performance standards fall short of implementing some sort of cohesive or sequential academic paradigm that can be quantifiable.
Currently, most of Hawai'i's performance standards are lumped into large clusters for grades K-3, 4-5, 6-8 and 9-12. Teachers are then asked to pick and choose which skills and standards to address and teach. To implement standards in their current form is an exercise in futility, with inherent duplications and omissions between grade levels.
There are a number of excellent educational programs and resources that are research-based and align to national and statewide standards. These assorted standardized curricula could easily be selected and certified as meeting the standards and benchmarks set forth by the DOE.
Once the state has designated what curricula it would endorse, it would then allow school complexes — a high school and its feeder schools — to choose from the collection of certified programs that would best meet the needs of its students and staff.
Once complexes have chosen a program and have acquired its required resources, they should initiate a scope and sequence from kindergarten to 12th grade. An educational scope and sequence would mandate and delineate what children will learn in each critical discipline at every grade level that leaves no room for ambiguity.
Standardized curricula that can be executed and effectively measured at each grade level are essential if we want our children to perform, produce and prosper in the 21st century.
D. Perry Alexander
Puhi, Kaua'i
Kailua
Roosevelt High School
