Posted on: Wednesday, December 31, 2003

Letters to the Editor

Hookers, pimps are getting out of hand

I work a late job in Waikiki, and lately I've noticed that the hookers, pimps and the crowd they draw are getting out of hand; I no longer feel safe anywhere near Nahua and Kuhio.

Recently I had to skirt several fights between military men, hookers and their pimps to get home. Is there some unwritten agreement between the Waikiki police and the hooker, pimps and strip shows they work out of on Kuhio that says this is some kind of tolerated red-light district?

The bottom line is that the neighborhood is no longer safe for the rest of us.

UH regents should cut Dobelle loose

Evan Dobelle parlayed marginal collegiate academic and administrative credentials into a sweetheart deal for himself at the University of Hawai'i — a ridiculously high salary and a golden parachute. But you can't blame him for that disgraceful contract. The regents who agreed to it should be held responsible. Didn't they hire him without even bringing in other candidates to meet the faculty and community?

As a Democrat who supported Mazie Hirono, I was disappointed when Dobelle endorsed her for governor because he had no following. As a matter of fact, his endorsement probably cost her votes. Linda Lingle should have been happy that he didn't endorse her.

Dobelle has brought in his cronies at inflated salaries and produced little for UH. The regents should cut him loose. Since he is no big name in academia, his departure would not hurt UH. It would probably help it.

UH is a good institution and Hawai'i is a wonderful place to live. Across the country, there are scores of university administrators, better qualified than Dobelle, who would jump at the chance to become president of UH.

CPB should mind its own business

What is up with Central Pacific Bank? Why is it being such a big bully to City Bank and forcing a hostile takeover?

I can see it if City Bank were in financial difficulties and needed help. But it is not. I think that Central Pacific Bank should mind its own business and leave City Bank alone. It makes me wonder what Central Pacific Bank is loyal to.

The bottom line? It shows the lack of professionalism at Central Pacific Bank. And that it doesn't care about anyone but itself. So I tell City Bank to continue to fight to the end and don't let the troublemakers at Central Pacific Bank win.

U.S. has a different attitude about world

Seems some letter writers to this paper are suggesting Hawai'i should forget that the United States terrorized and overthrew the Hawaiian monarchy. A writer says the United States apologized and Hawaiians should just deal with it. But when we discuss 9/11, we are not about to take that attitude. We want justice. But justice for the Hawaiians isn't required. Is this fuzzy logic or what?

If it's OK for the U.S. to overthrow a government, then one should understand the United States has set a precedent and other powers believe they have the same right. This may provide some insight as to why 9/11 occurred. Besides overthrowing Hawai'i, the United States has been involved in numerous unsavory activities worldwide, using its military to persuade foreign countries to allow American businessmen to help themselves to those countries' natural resources and cheap labor. If you were one of those cheap laborers slaving away for 50 cents per hour or less, how would you feel about America?

Another example: the United States aiding Israel to the detriment of neighboring Arab states. Billions for the Israelis, but poverty and no education for the Palestinians (the seeds of terrorism). I'd suggest we walk a mile in a Palestinian's shoes if he had any.

There are no disclaimers for gay marriages

In response to Eduardo Hernandez' Dec. 18 letter criticizing Summer Cavasso's letter: The definition of marriage is the unity of one man and one woman, period. There are no disclaimers for gays, lesbians, pedophiles or others who try to pervert a sacred union.

Summer Cavasso does not have to experience love to know right from wrong. Common sense tells you that homosexuality is unnatural, not to mention sick.

Hernandez compares apples with oranges when he attempts to find similarities between civil rights for gays and civil rights for interracial couples. Marrying someone of the opposite sex who is of another race is in no way a perversion of traditional marriage.

I hope Hernandez will examine more critically his sources of information on the matter. He thinks Summer needs to study the history of her findings — why doesn't Hernandez read the ultimate history book, the Bible, and see what happened to Rome because of homosexuality?

Punish reckless spending at the voting booths

The mayor and City Council should be ashamed of themselves, holding a council meeting and voting to increase vehicle taxes on Christmas Eve. Did the council members expect any opposition on that particular day?

I don't think there are many citizens who would argue against raising the pay of our police officers; they deserve the raise.

The problem is this city administration (including the council) spends way more money on nice-to-have projects than they should. The city can hardly maintain existing facilities, and yet the mayor and council choose to add additional parks, roundabouts, neighborhood signs and other various unnecessary projects. This police pay raise should have been budgeted before any new projects were approved. The City Council chose to blame the tax increase on police pay raises.

Why not tell taxpayers the mayor wants to build new parks, and in order to do so they must pay more taxes? Because most people would choose to wait until the money is there instead of raising taxes. It does not matter if I am paying for pay raises or new parks, the bottom line is I pay more for the mayor's and council's incompetency at running the government.

My property taxes will go up $1,000 this year, my vehicle registration will now go up, and there is no end in sight to the reckless spending. Stay tuned for more tax increases. If the state allows the counties to levy an excise tax of their own, the culprit will then be mass transit. The only solution to this madness is to vote these nuts out of office.

Terrorist alert level system should be simple

The color-coded terrorist alert system is an example of how government agencies tend to over-complicate things and confuse people. What is the purpose of the colors? There is no intuitive relationship between the colors and the levels of the alert, except perhaps for red alert, the highest level.

Why not keep it simple? An example would be: lowest, low, moderate, high, highest (call this "red alert" if you must use a color). Or how about 0 to 10? Either of these would be simpler than the current system in which you must memorize what color goes with what level.

Football team should get rid of its mascot

I am a recent graduate of the University of Hawai'i and I believe that we need to replace our current mascot, Vili the Warrior. He is rude, taunts the opposing team and shouts on national TV that our opponent is not welcome. I suggest that we get a handsome, spirited and friendly college student to play the part of Vili.

In addition, the little kids banging on the drums with Vili on the football field just creates a bunch of unwanted noise. We do not need little kids or Vili banging and making noise on the drums when we have a hardworking, polished and talented University of Hawai'i marching band.

Vili the Warrior does not represent the aloha spirit of Hawai'i.

Hawai'i Bowl game was bad publicity for UH

After a great game on national television, the University of Hawai'i football program gave yet another "black eye" to UH for its actions after the game.

Yes, the University of Houston is also to blame. But the head coach placing the blame on the refereeing, not taking responsibility for his players, is very unbecoming of a professional, a leader and mentor.

Also, what is up with the coaching staff wearing war paint on their faces while on the sidelines? And with Vili the Warrior cruising the bench area during the game? He's just a mascot.

Democratic Party urged to boost membership

The Democratic Party of Hawai'i needs to wake up and register new voters. The membership in the Democratic Party has been declining for the past decade. People of all ages are encouraged to join the Democrats. This is common in areas statewide like Pearl City/'Aiea, which is in Region 5 of the O'ahu County Democratic Party.

The chairman of O'ahu County needs to communicate better with the state chairman. It is very crucial for the upcoming elections in 2004 that the Democrats make gains in Hawai'i and nationally. This is a good opportunity to get rid of the current president, who does not deserve to be in Washington, D.C.

The voters of Hawai'i need to make a good showing at the polls in 2004. Increasing the membership of the party allows people to have a say in the party's policies at the local, state and national level. This is the fundamental principle of our democratic system of government. The policies are debated and decided by the people who are elected to attend the conventions from the neighborhood precinct.

Please join the Democratic Party of Hawai'i so you can participate in the caucus meetings in your neighborhood on Feb. 24.

People should feel safe in their neighborhoods

I keep reading about the homelessness problems in our state, and I'm wondering if the writers of these articles have ever been accosted, harassed or followed by any of these individuals in the downtown area (between Bishop and Nu'uanu).

Granted, some of these guys who cause trouble might not be homeless but just criminal, crazy or strung out on drugs. But it'd be a lot easier to get support for solving the homelessness problem if citizens felt safe walking in their own neighborhoods. Remember, downtown residents pay taxes, too.

A recipe for disaster in our public schools

You might think that educating Hawai'i's children would require a straightfoward recipe: a schoolroom to fit 30, plus one; a qualified teacher; a board and some chalk, some paper and pencils; 30 sets of books; a computer and Internet connection; stir gently for 1,080 hours per year for a dozen years; let the children learn from their parents and teachers; let them play in the parks.

About 13,000 contact hours later, extract a group of functioning, literate, potential employees and citizens. Multiply the formula by the appropriate number of children, teachers and spaces in the city, town or village. Simple enough: Teachers are qualified, in charge and accountable. A recipe for competence.

Now, let's make some improvements: Take away the teacher's classroom or disciplinary control; add in union and other pecking-order issues; mix in several competing layers of oversight; stir in fashionable ideas; try to accommodate all children equally despite varying skill, intelligence and status levels; add some teacher's aides; outsource maintenance and supplies to a remote bureaucracy; outsource book-buying and educational direction to a different source; require the entire assembly to compete annually for funds to a part-time Legislature. As a topping, remove any clear standards or guidelines, allow no standard curriculum, and remove 15 percent of those wealthy enough to be privately educated. Then pay administrators more than the teacher — double the top administrator's pay. Everybody now has a say but is not accountable. This is our educational recipe for excellence.

Well, OK, but maybe we need to consider changing the educational power-to-weight ratio a little down-slope, perhaps using those working teachers with advanced degrees to better effect.

Speeding rampant on this 1.3-mile stretch

It is unfortunate that lives are taken because of negligence on our highways. The most recent fatality occurred two days before Christmas on Pali Highway near Queen Emma Summer Palace.

For years, residents have asked that this stretch of 1.3 miles be made safer. Since removing the "speed bumps" at the Wyllie and and Waokanaka intersections, speed along this residential area of Pali Highway has increased dramatically. We have had several roadside signs knocked down by cars speeding, a traffic signal at La'imi Road knocked down because of a speeder, several accidents related to speed and numerous other speed-related occurrences, all of this within the past 30 to 45 days.

It's just 1.3 miles ... slow down!