Letters to the Editor
Anti-war side can still support the president
The Advertiser has reported extensively on the disagreements between those who support the Iraq war and those who oppose it. However, you should note that there is some room for agreement.
Although I disagree with the pre-emptive attack and disagree with the unilateral character of the war, I am in complete agreement with President Bush on one issue: It is advisable for our nation, acting unilaterally, to bring about a regime change. I differ only on the process and venue.
Joseph Gedan
Newspaper misused 'patriot' in article
As a former resident of Hawai'i, I enjoy checking in with the Islands by reading The Advertiser online. However, I was extremely disappointed on March 28 to find that an article discussing a pro-war rally was given the headline "Patriots join Kaua'i's roadside rallies."
The phrasing of the article suggests that the term "patriot" has been reserved by The Advertiser to describe those citizens who support the current war in Iraq, with the obvious implication that those who oppose the war are unpatriotic.
Patriotism comes in many colors, but above all it reflects support for the ideals on which this country was founded. Not least among these ideals is the right to disagree with the government and raise a voice in peaceful protest.
The Advertiser's suggestion that protest is unpatriotic is disgraceful. I am proud to be American, but I disagree with this administration's insistence on a pre-emptive war. I hope The Advertiser will reconsider its use of such a potent word in future discussions and will recognize the exceptional patriotism of all Americans brave enough to voice their beliefs.
Jackie Caplan-Auerbach
Fairbanks, Ala.
Those opposing war are wasting their time
At first, I strongly opposed the war, but when I come to think of it, the outcome of the majority of wars we have fought was for the better. One war in particular that was fought for the better was the Revolutionary War. Without that war, the United States of America in question wouldn't exist.
After the Gulf war began, I concluded that those in opposition are just wasting their time. The war is being fought, and there is nothing to stop it. Americans should just be united and support our country whether we like the war or not.
Thank you, to all the families who sacrificed their loved ones. Just let it be known that "ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country."
Ashley Napoleon-Kawelo
Wai'anae
Those for war seem blind to hypocrisy, irony
A thought for those recent letter writers who think Americans should not protest while we are at war: Should concerned U.S. citizens then have to go join the hundreds of thousands of other democrats protesting Bush's war in such freedom-loving places as London, Madrid, Rome, Turkey, Australia, Jordan, Greece, Indonesia, Germany, Canada, Mexico, Korea, Pakistan, etc. in order to exercise their freedom of speech?
It is sad that those for war seem blind to the hypocrisy and irony.
Steve Scroggins
Please continue to show your support
I am very glad to see that there are people out there in Hawai'i who support our troops.
I left Hawai'i for the Navy in '96 on graduation night. I literally stripped my cap and gown and left for boot camp, and since then I have been through a lot. Twice I was involved with the fighting in Bosnia and I don't know how many times in Iraq.
Please continue to show your support for us. It does make a difference.
Jonathan Ahuna
Let legislators buy their own computers
Go figure? Do our state Legislators live on planet Earth? Where was Rep. Calvin Say (and his legislative counterparts) when Gov. Lingle announced the state will run out of budgeted funds and Honolulu's Mayor Harris mentioned something about a multimillion-dollar deficit, abolition of vacant positions and tax increases?
Former state Rep. Ann Kobayashi caught Mayor Harris' comments, and I'm sure she, like everyone else in the state of Hawai'i, also heard about the plight of the University of Hawai'i and the state's library system.
One hundred and five thousand dollars for laptop computers for our legislators? Give me a break! Those purchases were supposedly "justified" because they were purchased in bulk (at a discount, no less) and a non-elected bureaucrat believed the House was able to afford them through personal savings promulgated by our state legislators over the past seven years.
"Savings" — that's a novel idea for our elected officials to ponder.
We pay and retire our state legislators with a very good compensation package. Let them buy their own compatible computers, at a discount, at their own expense. I'm all for modernizing the government, but I think it would be much less expensive to taxpayers if our elected officials simply took their heads out of the sand.
Stephen N. Bischoff
New Prescription Care program misunderstood
Regarding a March 24 letter by Michael C. Jordan, Ph.D., criticizing the Jeanette and Harry Weinberg Prescription Care Hawai'i program recently announced by Gov. Linda Lingle:
First, the Hawai'i Medical Association is not the sole organization involved. Rather, the program is a collaborative effort by what has grown to a partnership of five private and public organizations: the Hawai'i Department of Health, Hawai'i Health Systems Corp., Hawai'i Medical Association, Primary Care Association, and the most recent addition, the Department of Human Services.
The Hawai'i Health Systems Corp. Foundation will manage the $3 million generously provided by the Weinberg Foundation. The criticism leveled by Mr. Jordan at Prescription Care Hawai'i is unwarranted when we all need to be working together to solve the drug-prescription problem.
Together, we can help to fill the unmet needs of patients by assisting them to obtain costly prescription drugs.
Mr. Jordan questions why it will take six months to start Prescription Care Hawai'i. Doing something right the first time takes time, money and personnel. To start Prescription Care Hawai'i requires manpower and coordination with the participating agencies. The program has recently hired Sharon Hicks to be the program director, and two other organizations are in the process of identifying other personnel.
Calvin Wong, M.D.
President
Sherrel Hammar, M.D.
President-elect
Philip Hellreich, M.D.
Past president
Hawai'i Medical Association
Spelling Bee can help boost self-confidence
During this Spelling Bee season, I'd like to thank The Honolulu Advertiser for sponsoring this worthwhile event. While there are many outlets for students with athletic talent, the Spelling Bee provides an opportunity for students with linguistic and verbal abilities to shine as well.
As the mother of the 2001 Advertiser Spelling Bee champion, Matthew Won, I know how much work these middle school students put in studying their word lists. While it is vital and important to exercise the body, studying word lists for the Spelling Bee exercises the mind and expands students' vocabulary.
The adolescent, middle school years can be challenging, a time when students are forming their identities and their independence. The Spelling Bee provides a way to boost self-esteem and self-confidence.
Angela Fraiola Won
Kane'ohe
Blame some lawyers for malpractice mess
The March 21 letter from my friend Lunsford Dole Phillips told only half the story regarding "tort extortion" lawsuits.
Lunsford said, "Perhaps premiums would level off if doctors and their insurance companies protected plaintiffs from the 4 percent of doctors whose incompetence accounts for 50 percent of the total malpractice damages paid."
Obviously, premiums would go down if consumers and insurance companies were protected from the small percentage of greedy lawyers who account for a huge portion of the total malpractice settlements extorted from doctors who settle rather than waste more money fighting frivolous lawsuits.
Fred Hemmings
Don't plant lantana to attract butterflies
When I read "Get butterflies to flutter by" (Ohana section, March 23) I had to do a double-take. The article listed lantana as a plant that attracts butterflies, and by association implied it would be a good plant for a butterfly garden.
Auwe! The Advertiser should have done some homework on this one. State and nonprofit agencies (and ranchers) in the Islands have been fighting this thorny, invasive shrub for years. With budgets tighter than ever for control of alien species, we need newspapers, public education programs and private nurseries to be more accountable for the information they put out to the public.
Please, don't plant lantana ... and while you're at it, don't buy salvinia for your fish tank, either — even if pet stores or nurseries sell them.
For a really good source of information on invasive species that anyone can tap into, check out the Hawai'i Ecosystems at Risk home page on the Web. It will change your mind about what ought to grow in your garden.
Penny Levin
Palolo
Who needs enemies with such supporters?
Lance Bateman's March 24 letter supporting the Democratic Party reveals a dismaying truth: "Most recently, all sectors of the party avoided any stance that might cost a vote, instead of telling people what the party and the candidates stood for."
So, if voters find out what Democrats intend to do, they'll vote against them? With supporters like this, who needs enemies?
Jim Henshaw
Kailua
Why public pays for transportation
Regarding "Is paying for transit a waste?" (March 10 commentary): Cliff Slater seems to have confused the issue by failing to note what's a cause and what's an effect.
First, he notes that the transit mode share has declined despite massive subsidies to transit. It would be cause and effect if the subsidies were used to pay people to ride transit. They aren't. They serve only to limit the cost of transit to the user.
From the article, one would never know that transit ridership as an absolute number is on the increase. If we did not invest in transit, then the growing ridership wouldn't have a seat on the bus and the average age of transit vehicles would continue to climb. Traveling costs money, and we have chosen a system in which both the traveler and society at large pay the cost.
The commentary also fails to note the sequence of public acquisition of mass transit. Private operators ran transit at a profit to the point of bankruptcy and then walked away. Anyone can make money by deferring maintenance until the system breaks. Mass transit is essential in places like New York and Boston where literally no alternative exists for getting from point A to point B.
It's not that the public sector needed to subsidize transit. The transit companies needed more money than the fare box received and the owner, public or private, needed to put in more. Now, that's a public-sector thing and not one that the private sector could do, so it's logical that the private sector got out of transit.
But don't think that transit is alone in this. Our general taxes pay for the streets and highways. The trust fund pays for certain big-ticket items like the interstates, but my street is plowed, patched and cleaned with money from general revenues. That's a subsidy. And airlines have failed to carry their own weight since the inception of the commercial airline system.
In the case of transit, we pay a subsidy so that someone else will ride transit and get off the road. At least there's a return on that investment.
Finally, traffic congestion is on the rise because travel is on the rise both in terms of number of trips and the length of those trips. We have failed to construct any mode of transportation at the rate of the increase in vehicle-miles of travel. It's not transit's failure that congestion continues to rise. We have not maintained the balance between getting there and the means to get there.
Transportation is an essential function that receives public support because the public needs it. And that's why the public pays for it.
Alan Brick-Turin
