Posted on: Wednesday, December 3, 2003

Letters to the Editor

Infectious diseases research not worth risk

Your Nov. 25 article mentioned that the University of Hawai'i John A. Burns School of Medicine would receive a $9.6 million grant from the federal government for research on tropical medicine and infectious diseases.

The various departments, including the military, of our U.S. government have already given multimillion-dollar grants to the medical school to work on other chemical and biological research. This new grant may not be worth jeopardizing the health and lives of Hawai'i's people by the release of harmful, infectious diseases by accident, by intent, by terrorists or by a very large tidal wave striking and severely damaging the new medical buildings in the Kaka'ako district.

It is my opinion that the health and lives of our people are not worth the inflow of additional monies for the different types of chemical and biological research. As the first line of defense for the American continent, as in World War II, the Islands are already exposed to missile attacks by the enemies of the United States because of the presence of various military bases (Pearl Harbor Naval Base, Hickam Air Force Base, Schofield Barracks, Kane'ohe Marine Air Station) on O'ahu.

Why must the people of Hawai'i incur greater exposure to infectious biological research? Just because our population is smaller than that of the American continent is not justification for this risk.

Fans should never boo home team player

Shame on University of Hawai'i fans (I use "fan" loosely) for booing Timmy Chang. I've heard people say, "Oh no, we were booing June Jones for bringing Chang in." Same thing!

I'd bet that none of you chicken-manure fans who were booing ever played a contact sport at the Division I level. If you ever tore ligaments, broke bones or spilled blood in practice or competition at that level, you would know that those boos are like a dagger to the heart.

Maybe some athletes have a shot at the pros, or you might think they are doing it for the tuition waiver, but truth be told, these kids, these future arthritis patients, do it for love of the game.

Their greatest and only reward is the knowledge that they pushed themselves physically beyond what their minds said could be done. Monku quietly in your seat if you want to, but never boo a home team player. Go to a pro game if you want to do that or stay at home.

Boos were for coach, not Timmy Chang

This is in response to June Jones and other Warrior football team members who were disappointed by the fans booing Timmy Chang at the Alabama game.

I can only speak for myself and the other fans who were sitting around me, but the boos were for June's decision to keep Timmy Chang in the game when he was clearly having an off day, while Jason Whieldon was on fire.

Timmy Chang has come through for us on many occasions and the fans have always been behind him. But this was one instance when Jason gave the team momentum and the spark that was much needed to defeat a powerhouse such as Alabama.

As fans, we were disappointed by Coach Jones' lack of judgment and many of us expressed that by booing him. I hope Timmy Chang knows that we appreciate all he's done for us.

Thank you for courage to visit, Mr. President

By now, Mr. President, you are starting to hear from the naysayers. Many will lament about how much your Iraq trip cost — how the money could have been better spent on our lingering social issues.

Politicians will call it political grandstanding — just a campaign stop on your way to the 2004 presidency — a waste of tax dollars. Some will even complain about how you put soldiers at further risk because of the extra security required for the Baghdad visit. Others will say that the leader of the most powerful nation on earth should not take (what they see as) such a foolhardy risk.

Forgive them, Mr. President. They are incapable of seeing the big picture and can only look at life through their own limited self-interests.

If your Baghdad visit boosted our military morale, even a little, it will help our soldiers vanquish their enemies. If just a few more Iraqis find the courage to come to the aid of their country and the coalition forces, it could make the difference in a timely capture of Saddam Hussein. If just a few more of the majority Shiite Muslims in Iraq see the determination and wisdom in your message, it could be the beginning of compromise that brings all Iraqis together. If the Arab news media is moved, even slightly, to soften their slanted news reports, it could be the start of a change in attitude toward America. When any of these come to pass, American and Iraqi lives will certainly be saved.

Thank you, Mr. President, for the courage to take an extremely important and meaningful trip. Thank you on the behalf of all the brave men and women who are putting their lives on the line to protect our nation, and the world, against the scourge of terrorism. Thank you for bringing to us another reason to be truly thankful.

Blame the drivers, not 'unsafe roads'

Every time there's a fatal traffic accident on O'ahu, the media and politicians yell about our unsafe roads. Now we have eighth-graders standing on the side of the road warning drivers about the "perils of the roads."

Folks, get real. There is nothing wrong with our roads. It's the drivers who are to blame. The majority of O'ahu's drivers have never taken a single driving course and are woefully uneducated about safe, defensive driving. Instead of trying to slow drivers down (as if speed were the main culprit), why not educate drivers?

A little driver's education could go a long way toward lessening the fatality rate and decongesting our traffic (which is due, in part, to poor driving).

U.S. has reaffirmed Native Hawaiian right

The United States has recognized and reaffirmed that Native Hawaiians have the cultural, historic and land-based link to the Hawaiian Islands. It is the Native Hawaiian child who has the recognition of the United States to attend Kamehameha Schools. This recognition is reaffirmed in the Native Hawaiian Education Act.

U.S. District Judge Alan Kay's decision is based not on race but on the laws of the United States, that the United States has a nation-to-nation relationship with the Native Hawaiian people. The passage of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act and the Hawai'i State Admission Act is the root of the special trust relationship that United States has with Native Hawaiians.

We Native Hawaiians have never relinquished our claims to the sovereign lands of Hawai'i, which include the lands of the Kamehameha Schools.

Schools should ban use of cell phones

I cannot believe that cell-phone use is an issue at some schools. This is a case of school administrators being reactive once again instead of setting bold policy. It is little wonder that the schools are losing good teachers.

The schools should ban all cell-phone use outright as they are a nuisance to the learning process and can be used to cheat. The one lame argument of needing to be reached in case of an emergency does not hold water because there were family emergencies long before cell phones and a call to the school was all that was required to summon the individual.

Volunteer saw spirit of giving, showing thanks

What a wonderful experience to be involved in the annual River of Life Mission Thanksgiving Day event. As a volunteer for the event, I was extremely blessed to take part and see the true aloha spirit of giving and showing thanks for all of what we have each day.

The staff at the River of Life Mission was remarkable, as were the many volunteers who freely gave their time, love and efforts that day to the homeless and needy.

As I remind myself that Thanksgiving is and should be expressed every day, I ask that all others who may not see it this way to please reconsider and not only be thankful for what we have, but to also give freely each day to those of the truly less fortunate.

I commend all the agencies on the island that offer this life service on a daily basis, and I will make every effort to continue to volunteer to help others in any and every way possible. Not only for the holidays, but for every day that we are fortunate enough to be blessed with another day on earth.

Resource positions must be maintained

I am a parent of an elementary school student in Pearl City, and I was very upset to read Wong Gee Kong's Nov. 26 letter about withholding school money. In the past year, our elementary school has been forced to cut resource hours, as he suggested, and in my opinion, it has been done to the great detriment of the students and the school.

Resource positions at our school include P.E., music, Hawaiiana, Japanese and technology instructors. Those are all classes that help to create rounded individuals with an appreciation for art and different cultures. That doesn't even touch on the need for physical education to help teach kids about exercise and using their bodies in a society that has gotten increasingly sedentary.

Education needs to be a priority in our society. It does not need to be an area that we keep taking money away from. There is a lot more to educating a child than just the basics. The more things you can interest a child in and perhaps develop his or her talents in, the better off that child will be as he or she goes through those challenging teen years.

The elementary years are a formative time for our students. Kids are growing up much sooner and learning things at an earlier age. Let us a make their learning experience a positive one and invest our money in their future and ours.

Let's not rush into regulating prices

I am not likely to get as much space as the former governor commanded on Sunday in The Advertiser, so I'll just make two points.

If ChevronTexaco (and presumably the rest of the gasoline marketers in Hawai'i) make such obscene profits, where are the Mainland independent marketers who, typically, would be the ones to come into a smaller market to fill in the opportunities? There must be something that keeps them from opening up here, and it can't be The Evil Oligopoly, since high prices encourage competition.

Second, Aloha Petroleum has done much to become a credible independent marketer, including investing in storage facilities. So, it is not impossible.

But Aloha, having taken risk and paid dearly for its position, needs the profit margins Hawai'i provides to pay back its investment and compete with the major brands.

So, maybe others have considered coming into this market, but simply found its small, dispersed size presented too much risk for the investment needed. We have a state with more than 1 million nonmilitary consumers, about a quarter of them not on O'ahu, and we have four gasoline suppliers; I would say this sounds about right.

As we have been hearing for years, small markets are different than big markets, and there is a small-market premium for all products. It is a "price of living in paradise," along with almost everything else we buy.

Try comparing other products you buy with Mainland prices on a percentage basis. First, you won't find prices of other goods and services conveniently broadcast on street signs, so it's much more difficult.

Second, you will find many have a higher percentage premium over the Mainland than gasoline (you have to adjust gasoline for taxes).

But it's much easier to hate the gas companies and to take the easy political target, since they graciously post their prices for all to see, here and elsewhere.

However, most of us still pay more for food than gasoline each month, so why isn't this more of a target? A lot of people without cars still eat. After all, food prices are high, therefore there must be a conspiracy. How many supermarket chains do we have? Oh my God, it's another Evil Oligopoly!

Before we rush headlong into trying to use laws to artificially regulate prices, maybe we should consider if that is something we would do to bring all of Hawai'i's consumer prices in line with Mainland costs.

This has been tried before. It was called communism and it failed miserably.