Letters to the Editor
Soldier's call for support was heard
I was deeply moved after reading Pfc. Nathan Kalani Bouchard's call for support for our troops (Letters, April 2). Nathan, thank you for your heartfelt message and request for support.
Rest assured that there are many of us who indeed support you and all of the troops wholeheartedly, who appreciate your hard work and sacrifice, and who will never forget that our freedom is not free. Our voices may not be loud, but know that our quiet, diligent prayers for your safety and victory are daily offered up to God.
Thank you for fighting for our freedom. It is because of you and your comrades that our children may have the opportunity to grow up with the same freedoms that we have been blessed to enjoy. A sincere thank-you goes out to all those other brave men and women who have fought the same fight for our freedom in years past. May God bless America and our troops.
Kristi Akamine
Cartoon excoriating Moore was uncalled for
I am so disappointed with The Advertiser for running the cartoon excoriating Michael Moore's acceptance speech at the Oscars during which he exercised his freedom of speech and denounced the administration's war on Iraq.
Actually, his was a voice for millions and millions of Americans and most of the rest of the world.
It is neither unpatriotic nor nonsupportive of our people in the military to say that we do not want to support this agenda of a few privileged, white, power-hungry corporations and their mouthpiece politicians.
Michael Moore is an American hero. He is courageous, he speaks for those who are disenfranchised, he dares to question the status quo, and his voice is filled with the integrity and clarity of his Midwestern, working-class heart.
Barbara Mullen
Waimanalo
View may be wrong, but dissent is essential
I was among the hundreds of people who turned out this past weekend to express support for our men and women serving our country in the Middle East. The turnout and the public expression of support at the rallies held at the Convention Center, Ala Moana Beach Park and the State Capitol was truly awesome.
We may not all agree with the reasons for our troops being sent to Iraq, but we should be unanimous in our support for our loved ones and in our desire that they return home safely.
For those who chose to express their opposition to the war at those rallies, let me say that while I strongly disagree with their views, I am grateful to live in a country where such dissent is allowed. As a member of a small but growing minority of Republicans in the Senate, I'm painfully aware that the majority is not always right, and that someone occasionally needs to dissent and talk them down from the ledge.
Sen. Bob Hogue
R-24th (Kane'ohe, Maunawili, Enchanted Lake)
It's time to expand UH-West O'ahu campus
The need for the new University of Hawai'i-West O'ahu campus can no longer be ignored. For over 25 years, governors and Legislatures have agreed on this need.
The state has conducted traffic-impact studies that have predicted a decrease in rush-hour traffic when a new campus is constructed. After all, how many of us who work in town don't dread the additional traffic when classes at UH begin in August?
You hear talk for the need of a strong economy, yet you hardly hear of how higher education drives the economy. With Kapolei deemed the high-technology region, the need to provide students with educational facilities and the means to fill and support the labor force with skilled individuals are crucial.
With the construction of the new campus, UH West O'ahu will be able to expand the programs and degrees offered. The new campus also means new job opportunities and an increase of resources to the people of the Leeward and Central districts.
This year, the UH Student Caucus, a board consisting of representatives from each of the 10 campus' student governments (thus representing the entire UH system student population) designated the construction of the West O'ahu campus as a high priority.
By expanding UH-West O'ahu's resources, more of the Leeward and Central population will be able to increase their educational and economic opportunities. Providing quality education to individuals where they reside is not only a necessity, but also a promise that must be fulfilled.
Gary Sugiyama, Shane Omoto, Lawson Nakano, Debi Stephens, Shannon Yamaki, Mua Lutu, Tracy Carr, Gary Williams, Trudy Pajinag
Hawai'i must market itself to Europeans
Demographics on world tourism show that New Zealand and now Mauritius, among other tropical travel destinations, enjoy strong and growing arrival numbers despite the ongoing war in Iraq and possible concerns of terrorist attacks. The latter confirms a survey released early this year by the World Travel Organization.
The reason: decisive and intelligent promotions and advertisement.
If we continue to rely only on the HTA and HVCB experts on tourism, Hawai'i will not win necessary targetÊmarkets over or back. We should act immediately. The more Hawai'i waits, the more it will have to endure the consequences.
We need to get Europeans back to Hawai'i. It appears the HTA and the HVCB is focusing too much on markets that for rather internal economic issues have difficulties to increase their travel output regardless of our efforts. We need to concentrate more on "receptive" markets, such as Europe.
Let's not forget that this market went from 130,000 arrivals to 18,000 arrivals under HTA's tenure. As long as tourism remains one of our main sources of income for Hawai'i, and it appears that Hawai'i is in great need of revenues, we have to increase all available efforts to decisively promote our beautiful state.
If we continue to only rely on HTA and HVCB recommendations, we should not be surprised by or complain about fewer arrivals.
Dieter Thate
Owner, Dieter's Tours and Kimapa Hawaii Corp.
New prisons would benefit prisoners
As an inmate for more than 14 years, I would like to express my concern about Hawai'i prison overcrowding.
Halawa Correctional Facility was designed and built for 500 inmates. Today its population is well over 1,000. Some cells hold two to three, and maybe even four, inmates.
Some may think that overcrowding is not unconstitutional. But it can lead to many other serious unconstitutional violations, such as violence, inadequate medical care, shortage of food, clothing and bedding, lack of rehabilitation programs and worklines, etc.
This problem could have been resolved many years ago. But because of poor decision-making and selfishness, this minor problem is now a serious problem.
We respect the Hawai'i culture and the protesters' concerns. But we need everyone's kokua to defuse this time bomb that is ready to go off. Tick ... tick ... tick ...
We can all benefit from one or two new prison facilities. And they don't have to be built in Halawa. The new prisons could be built on the Big Island, Moloka'i, Maui, etc. It would resolve the overcrowding and create many jobs; adult corrections officers wouldn't have to leave their families to find work somewhere else, and for those who are serious about wanting to have your loved ones in Mainland prisons return home, now is your chance.
In we are to benefit, we must give a little.
Lael Samonte
Let the state decide on leasehold land law
When one hears of the City Council struggling with the implementation and impact of a lease-to-fee conversion law for condominiums, it is not the real story.
Forgotten, above all, are the landowner-lessors who have struggled with this horrendous issue for many years and have taken a tremendous beating as they are threatened with the loss of their family and trust lands through the power of eminent domain — under the pretense of public purpose, which transfers their land rights to others for their private benefit.
As far as the lessees are concerned, they knew from the very beginning about what their signed, bona fide lease contracts stood for, which did not give them the right to take the land. Lessees made this choice, and the lessors did not force them to do so.
It was our state government that enacted the Horizontal Property Regime Act to encourage landowners to go into this leasehold arrangement, making it absolutely clear that their land would be returned to them at the end of the lease agreement.
Here's the bottom line: This issue started with the state, and it should end with the state. Let's move ahead at the state level to hear current legislation that will, once and for all, overturn the unconscionable policy of taking private land from one to give to another.
T. Phyllis Zerbe
Member, Small Landowners Association
$8 fee should be for those who need service
Regarding your March 26 editorial "Recycling will cost us, but it's worth it": I oppose City Council Chairman Gary Okino's suggestion that everyone pay a monthly $8 fee for the twice-weekly garbage pickup.
Since most families can manage with once-a-week garbage pickup, why should we all pay the $8 fee? Mayor Jeremy Harris' proposal of replacing one of our twice-weekly pickups with one weekly curbside pickup — with those who opt to keep their second weekly garbage pickup paying $8 a month — could be improved with one change: Only large families that produce more waste than the average household would pay $8 a month for once-a-week garbage pickup, but these families would be issued another garbage receptacle.
Odor and health problems could be taken care of by putting all perishable garbage in trash bags before putting them in the trash receptacle. Let only the people who need more service pay the $8 a month.
Ernest T. Yuasa
Cockfight breeders should do the fighting
Looks like another animal cruelty bill dies at the hands of the Judiciary Committee (SB 1518).
If the holdup is cockfighting, then how about if the "game breeders" change the rules — let the birds spectate, put the owners in the ring, one-on-one, each with a sharp knife, and may the best "man" win.
Now, I'd pay to see that! Legalize it, tax it, and there's a whole new revenue source. Maybe then we can have an animal cruelty law.
Barbara Ikeda
Layoffs of substitute teachers not justified
The No Child Left Behind Act has to date not addressed substitute teacher standards. In fact, its only reference to substitute teachers is in the Final Regulations addendum, where it references "long-term substitutes" who teach students for four or more weeks. In this circumstance, parents must be notified.
In more than 25 states, substitute teachers are required to have only a high school diploma for licensing, and while this standard needs to be raised, the substitute workforce has been traditionally undervalued and neglected.
The average substitute daily wage across the nation is $65 per day, and most substitutes never receive any health-related benefits, professional development or training. For the most part, they enjoy no due process, and their job security is marginal.
It's no wonder there are rampant national substitute-teacher retention problems.
In Hawai'i, over a thousand substitute teachers have recently received layoff notices because they are being told by the state Department of Education that federal guidelines in the No Child Left Behind Act dictate that they hold a bachelor's degree by the start of the next school year. There is no such guideline spelled out in the act. If there were, at least 150,000 substitutes would be absent from our nation's classrooms in the fall, and the public educational system would essentially collapse.
Additionally, if "volunteer" subs (without pay and without college degrees) are being enlisted in Oklahoma, for example, at the rate of 3,000 per month because of state budget shortfalls, how on Earth can Hawai'i's DOE justify the layoffs of its hard-working substitutes, who have at least some college credit and are committed to obtaining their bachelor's degrees within the next few years?
Someone needs to promptly enlighten the DOE about its unreasonable and unfair actions.
Shirley Kirsten, M.A.
President, National Substitute Teachers Alliance
