Letters to the Editor
Governor changing Hawai'i for the worse
Those who have given up on public education should not have any remaining hope under the Lingle administration.
Gov. Lingle's version of education reform amounts to slashing dollars out of education while she "wags the dog" by proposing a structure of seven separate school districts, which would bring minimal benefits, at best.
How is cutting dollars out of public education going to "raise the quality of public education"?
While teachers and educational facilities are grossly underfunded, Lingle's philosophy on education seems to be that adequate funding is not necessary for efficiency.
We voted in a governor who ran the most effective campaign in a time of need, not one who makes the best budget decisions. With all due respect, how long will it take the public to realize that this darling of the local media is just changing Hawai'i for the worse?
Todd Johnson
Textbooks must be provided to students
Every term, I tell my university students to read their textbooks before they come to class and shortly thereafter. I found this to be most important when I went to college. The majority probably do not read their books prior to class.
One reason local students may not do so is that they never developed the habit, did not have books to take home or may not have had them at all. Textbooks are the best friends of students, teachers and parents. Modern science texts are truly marvelous.
I have had to develop alternative reading materials in the form of Web sites for some classes because no suitable textbooks were available. This is an incredibly difficult, time-consuming process. Despite years of work and favorable reviews by colleagues, my "Webtextbooks" are not as good as I would like. It is far easier to develop up-to-date supplemental materials for dated books than to produce a full-fledged, up-to-date textbook that is extensively reviewed for grade level, content, language and style.
Excuses for not using textbooks in grades 1-12 are poor. I had a bare-bones parochial education (1-12) in the '50s and '60s, and every student had his own textbook for each and every subject. If state laws prohibit families from leasing or purchasing textbooks, they need to be changed. Nothing is more precious or important than public education.
People are willing to pay higher taxes to improve public education. What do we need to do to get our representatives to do something about this ongoing crisis that is robbing our children? No textbook is required to do this.
David T. Webb, Ph.D.
Mililani
Prescription plan criticism unwarranted
We feel the criticism levied by The Honolulu Advertiser in its Feb. 5 editorial and other critics against Gov. Linda Lingle's recently announced Prescription Care Hawai'i program is both unjustified and unwarranted.
The Hawai'i Medical Association strongly commends Gov. Lingle for establishing the Prescription Care Hawai'i program, which will enable approximately 20,000 Hawai'i residents to receive free medication during its first year of operation.
Last year, the Hawai'i Legislature enacted two bills to reduce the cost of prescription drugs: One requires a federal Medicaid waiver; the other awaits a federal court decision before it can go into effect. Critics of the Prescription Care Hawai'i program seem to suggest that the bills can be immediately implemented to fix the problem. This is obviously not so.
Over the next two years, we hope that these problems will be resolved and that the federal government will enact a Medicare prescription drug program for the elderly. Therefore, in two years we can determine whether the Prescription Care Hawai'i program needs to be continued.
We appreciate and acknowledge Gov. Lingle's understanding that not all problems can and should be solved by government, and that frequently enlisting the private sector can efficiently and more cost-effectively address the needs of our community without creating another huge government bureaucracy.
Calvin Wong, M.D.
President, Hawai'i Medical Association
Sherrel Hammar, M.D.
President-elect, Hawai'i Medical Association
Honolulu should build a mass-transit system
I live downtown and notice a big problem with a lot of traffic and cars on the road.
One issue is there are too many single drivers on the road who clog the city streets and highways. A mass-transit system would reduce the number of cars and accidents.
Mass transit would provide all those working people in downtown more access to parking near their working place, not to mention the already crowded parking structures and high parking fees.
People who will use mass transit could enjoy their early commute to work without the anger or frustration of fighting the early-morning traffic.
Although it might take some planning to provide this type of service, the streets and highways would be less crowded, and it would cut down on pollution and gasoline consumption.
Glen Tamu
Don't blame sanctions, blame Saddam Hussein
I'm sure that Conn Hallinan thought he was presenting a balanced dissenting view in his opposition to U.S. forces using non-lethal electro-magnetic pulse weaponry in Iraq ("E-bomb could immobilize Iraq," Focus, Feb. 23).
However, when he claims that "water-borne diseases caused by a decade of sanctions" have killed 5,000 Iraqi children a month, one has to wonder where his loyalties lie. I don't think it's possible that sanctions could cause water-borne disease, but I can see how palace construction and diversion of humanitarian aid money into militarization could have a negative impact on sanitary conditions in Iraq.
But that's an assessment that places blame for the current crisis on the shoulders of Saddam, which is something Hallinan would not consider, as that would mean America wasn't at fault for the suffering of Iraqi innocents. Perish forbid!
But please, keep printing the pap of the "blame America first" crowd. It's getting to be more entertaining than the funny pages.
Brennan F. Schweitzer
Remember Americans who were killed Sept. 11
Many war protesters around the world are concerned that our bombs will kill Iraqi civilians. Their placards read: "DON'T KILL IRAQI WOMEN AND CHILDREN." Rick Lloyd's Feb. 19 letter said we will kill and maim Iraqi women and children.
Enough of this one-sided concern.
Many Americans, including women and children, died Sept. 11, not to mention more than 300 police officers and firefighters. I am a grown-up, but with the news of police officers and firefighters killed at Ground Zero, I cried like a baby. Sure, I care for the Iraqi civilians, but I also care for our dead citizens whose only fault was being American.
Our president does not wish to kill Iraqi women and children, but if we allow Saddam Hussein and the terrorists to continue their campaign against America, we will see more Americans killed for just being American. And the only way to prevent that from happening is to stop Saddam and company.
Why don't the protesters go to Iraq and plead with Saddam to destroy all his weapons? The only way to prevent war is for Saddam to stop being Saddam and cooperate with the international community. We do not want any repeat of World War II; Saddam's actions are very similar to what Hitler did to start that war.
Mar M. Francisco
Waipahu
Homeless violate amenities of park
I have been enjoying Ala Moana Beach Park for over 60 years, and I would like to commend the mayor and his maintenance staff for doing such an outstanding job of keeping the grass green and the park beautiful.
On the weekends, the park is completely full with families and children who are enjoying the benefits of the park facilities.
Unfortunately, with the draw of the beauty there's a downside: the influx of the less fortunate who have taken up residence in the park and along the wall by the beach. I feel they violate the aloha spirit when they relieve themselves right along the wall and we have to live with the offensive odor. This is unacceptable.
I hope the mayor continues with his efforts to do the right things in the spirit of aloha.
Jimmy Pflueger
Hiring all American crews is unrealistic
The recent bill introduced by Sen. Inouye that gives Norwegian Cruise Line exclusive rights to Hawai'i cruises shows how much Sen. Inouye is out of touch with Hawai'i and the cruise industry.
One of the provisions of the bill is that Norwegian Cruise Line hire all American crews for the three ships. This is unrealistic.
I've been on Norwegian Cruise Line cruises to Fanning Island three times and once to Christmas Island, as well as other cruises all over the world. I can tell you that one of the charms of cruising is the international crews. Norwegian Cruise Line should not hire all American crews just to keep from going to Fanning Island. If it does, it probably will lose much of its business. We know what happened to the all-American cruise line just a few years ago.
As you pointed out in a Feb. 17 editorial, the Passenger Vessel Services Act cannot protect an American industry that doesn't exist because there is no American cruise industry and for all practical purposes there is no ship-building industry that builds cruise ships. There has not been a cruise ship built in the U.S. for almost 50 years.
Hawai'i is at a disadvantage because of its distance from any U.S. port. The Alaskan city of Skagway (permanent population 800) receives 270,000 cruise visitors during the summer months. The reason is the proximity to Canada. A ship can sail from Seattle and be in a Canadian port in a few hours, and then on to Alaska.
I suggest this as a remedy: For the purposes of the Passenger Vessel Services Act, all Hawaiian ports should be considered foreign. This would not only open Hawai'i to interisland cruises but to cruises from the West Coast.
Otto Cleveland
Pearl City
Dillingham, Nimitz should be one-way
Hawai'i has a multimillion-dollar freeway that is bottlenecked by couple-thousand-dollar traffic lights on Dillingham Boulevard and Dillingham Highway.
Instead of the contraflow traffic on Nimitz, the Transportation Department should consider changing the traffic patterns for Dillingham and Nimitz. Could be temporary, but this should be made permanent. This will assist the traffic patterns during the afternoon and morning.
Change Dillingham to one-way, 'ewa-bound, and change Nimitz to one-way, diamondhead-bound.
Whether you have the contraflow traffic or the one-way traffic changes, left turns from side streets must be eliminated during the peak traffic periods. And traffic lights must be shortened to favor the main flow of traffic.
Jimbo Miura
Mililani
Salvinia could become renewable energy source
The experience with Salvinia molesta may not be all bad. We've learned that at Lake Wilson it grows at a rate of 400 tons wet basis per day, as reported in the Feb. 22 Advertiser.
Before it's all gone, take a sample to a UH laboratory, dry it, burn it to find its BTUs of heat content and convert that to barrels of oil equivalent per ton of weed. It may hold promise as a renewable energy source.
The dried material should resemble sugar cane bagasse to the extent that it could be handled in a similar manner and burned to produce power just as is done by A&B's HC&S division at its Pu'unene, Maui, sugar mill. There the importation of 600,000 barrels of oil a year is avoided, with the resultant electric power being fed into the Maui electric grid.
On a drive last November to Hale'iwa, I was appalled to see what was once beautiful sugar cane land lying fallow where the Waialua and Wahiawa plantations once thrived. The area is relatively flat, so one could prepare the soil and create long, shallow troughs lined with plastic. The length would be determined by the time required for a crop of salvinia to grow from seedling at one end to being mature and harvestable at the other. There harvesting and de-watering would occur — perhaps even using crushing rolls from an abandoned sugar mill. Then visualize it being transported, dried and burned to create electric power.
To get maximum land and sunlight utilization, the troughs might be in the form of truncated isosceles triangles alternately head-to-toe and toe-to-head whose widths would increase to match the expansion of the growing crop.
And the water. Why not get it suitably treated or even less treated from a sewage treatment facility and save some wear and tear on the ocean?
The former sugar plantations might be back in agriculture as energy plantations.
Ed Flavell
Kihei, Maui
