Letters to the Editor
500,000 protesters aren't the majority
Much ado was made about protests, local and national, this past weekend opposing military intervention in Iraq. Estimates ranged from 100,000 to 500,000 protesters nationwide, while local reports indicated 1,000 marched on Ala Moana Boulevard.
Lest we make a mountain out of a molehill, let's put the numbers in perspective. Perennial presidential candidate Pat Buchanan received close to 450,000 votes for president in 2000, over 1,000 coming from Hawai'i. Did such "support" warrant inclusion of Mr. Buchanan's policy views and objectives into the national debate? Hardly. It was a feeble showing. His vote total was less than 1 percent.
Using a very liberal number of 500,000 protesters amounts to less than one-fifth of one-tenth of a percentage of the American population. Much to the chagrin of protesters, the people support the military and its commander in chief, President George W. Bush. Nice try, though.
John Turner
'Aiea
Thank you for support during nurses' strikes
Mahalo to the community for its support during the recent strikes at Kuakini, Queen's and St. Francis.
Thank you to those who said, "Hang in there," as you walked by us on the picket line, who asked us what the issues were, who brought us food and drink, and who waved and honked. You lifted our spirits day after day.
Thank you to our families and friends who so generously gave us their understanding and support, who called us to check on us, who baby-sat and helped us financially. You sustained us.
The support from the community, family and friends helped us obtain contracts that will improve patient care and protect nurses. Thank you.
Barbara Lynn, R.N.
The sanctity of life can't be compromised
First of all, let me say that I am glad Willis Butler is not my doctor. He seems just a little too willing to pull the plug on me should he detect that I am suffering just a little.
Also, Mr. Butler, your disdain for religion and those who are against physician-assisted suicide (homicide is more appropriate) is all too apparent. Do the following words sound familiar to you at all?
- "Warmth, sympathy and understanding may outweigh the surgeon's knife or the chemist's drug."
- "If it is given me to save a life, all thanks. But it may also be within my power to take a life; this awesome responsibility must be faced with great humbleness and awareness of my own frailty. Above all, I must not play at God."
- "I will prevent disease whenever I can, for prevention is preferable to cure. I will remember that I remain a member of society, with special obligations to all my fellow human beings, those sound of mind and body as well as the infirm."
These are words from the oath you took at some point upon completing your medical training. Nowhere in the oath does it say or allude to: "Our duty is to alleviate suffering, by all means available and with the maximum possible participation of the patient."
It is not, as you insist, the right of the individual or particularly the right of the physician to determine when and where and how an individual dies. It is a natural process, one that must not be interfered with, as the oath says: "I must not play God."
The sanctity of life should not and cannot be compromised.
James Roller
There are better ways to achieve sovereignty
Gov. Lingle's political promise to pass the Akaka Bill actually promises only more disappointment for Hawaiians. Congress voted no. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled adversely to lineal descendants (Hawaiians) on the law.
There are better ways to get this mess straightened out that work for everyone, because law, justice and the U.S. Constitution are involved, not party politics.
When the blood is 50 percent indigenous, there is no advantage to whatever ethnicity the other half is. U.S. policy is to prefer the indigenous, or native, quantum. Other races are not indigenous to Hawai'i, even when lineal descendants. U.S. law and history are not going to be subverted to satisfy desires of a minority of non-indigenous citizens, who apparently believe their own propaganda that they deserve more than everyone else, including the actual native Hawaiians (of the blood).
If Hawaiians are indigenous, declare sovereignty, set up a kingdom on land bought with OHA's trust fund, have gambling and practice the missionary copy of the original culture learned at Kamehameha Schools, then fight it out using international law with the state, the U.S. and the native Hawaiians, who are already recognized in U.S. law.
Maui Loa
Hale'iwa
Parents receiving aid should be drug-tested
We are talking about doing drug testing in high schools, but the problems lie beyond that. Our biggest problem is our economy.
The cost of living in Hawai'i is so expensive, it leaves us no choice. We have to work (sometimes we end up working two jobs just to be able to provide a roof over our heads and put food on the table).
My point is: The people getting public support — AFDC, Food Stamps, etc. — are the ones who need to be drug-tested. If they test positive, then they should be cut off and put into rehab.
Use that money to come up with some kind of support system that would allow mothers to spend more time with their children, versus having them work, which leaves us no choice but to let society raise our kids.
Because parents have to work, the kids have to go to after-school programs, and eventually the bonding between parents and kids starts to disappear. One day, we realize that we do not know our kids as well as we would like to.
Aileen S. Whiting
Pearl City
Mayor Harris alive and well despite critics
My comments pertain to the Jan. 13 article headlined "Harris probe's fallout uncertain," wherein a UH political science professor felt it was quite surprising the mayor hasn't held a news conference since he dropped out of the governor's race, etc., and the comment from a City Council person who said Harris should expect no free ride from the council in the upcoming budget debate.
As a concerned citizen and voter, I'm appalled at the insensitivity and arrogance of those statements, which are a throwback to the bickering of the past. I think the people of Hawai'i want and deserve more.
As for Mayor Harris, he is alive and well. All one had to do was attend the recent Sustainability Workshop to see his tremendous command of the current issues and vision for our city's future.
I know him to be honest, decent and very hard-working. We are lucky to have him as our mayor.
Chuck Heitzman
Coach Wilton should get a salary increase
Mike Wilton, head coach for the University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team, was just given a new contract at $90,000 a year. His team won the national championship last year as the best college team in the whole country.
June Jones, head coach for the UH men's football team, is already being paid more than $350,000 a year, and his agent is negotiating for a new contract with an increase in pay. UH President Evan Dobelle agrees that Jones ought to be given more money.
What's wrong with this equation?
Carmen U'ilani Haugen
Failure to respond to survey disappointing
I was very disappointed by the lack of response by many of our elected state legislators in the survey of the politicians in the Jan. 12 Advertiser.
Some legislators failed to respond altogether on all the questions. On the budget/school/tax questions, there were over 90 percent non-answers by the House Democrats.
Of course, it is possible that the response rate might have been distorted by the fact that the survey was administered during the hectic holiday season. However, the different response rates along distinct party lines suggest that politics is still carrying the day instead of accountability to constituents.
It is disappointing that one side of the aisle in the Capitol is still more interested in holding its cards close to the vest than in clearly demonstrating to constituents what its vision for the future is.
It is my hope that the contrasting response rates were really due to legislators being overtaken by the holiday spirit and not by the multi-headed monster of business-as-usual, i.e. politics instead of accountability.
Helen Estrella
Beach check-ins could help thwart thieves
Congratulations to the small-business operators determined to thwart theft on the beach. This is enlightened self-interest.
I would like to make the following suggestion: Establish beach check-in points every few hundred feet where swimmers can leave their valuables with an attendant and receive a waterproof receipt they can wear around their neck or wrist. If this service is made known to visitors, it would provide an efficient and cost-effective cure to the problem.
The check-ins could feature the name of the sponsor. A win-win situation.
George Cassarno
Let love begin here
The Jan. 19 letter by Alani Apio on kuleana speaks to all who live in and love Hawai'i. We are here for each other, and together we can make Hawai'i truly a place of aloha. If there is to be love throughout this world, let it begin here.
Harriet Natsuyama
Death penalty snag
Olga Waterhouse's Jan. 20 letter advocates the death penalty because "bullets are less than 8 cents each" for a firing squad. She's right — if the crime occurs in China, where they don't have pesky things like the Bill of Rights, a respect for life or fair jury trials to unduly add to the expense.
Jim Henshaw
Kailua
Gambling assertions unfounded
While the American Gaming Association does not take a formal position on gaming expansion, we would like to set the record straight about the false allegations made in your Jan. 7 editorial, "Stressed lawmakers must resist gambling."
Reporting misstatement, even when attributed to a national news source such as The New York Times, is a lesson in Rumormongering 101. Fortunately, many independent studies have been conducted that refute those erroneous assertions on the social effect of gaming.
Research conducted for the National Gambling Impact Study Commission found that
" ... the casino effect is not statistically significant for any of the ... crime outcome measures ... " The General Accounting Office corroborated the commission report, stating "(C)rime cannot be linked to gambling."
Additionally, commission research estimated that the pathological gambling prevalence rate was 0.6 percent in 1999, whereas in 1976 it was 0.77 percent. Despite a significant increase in gambling opportunities, the rate has remained relatively unchanged.
The "standard" for American gaming can be found nationwide — riverboats along the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, land-based casinos in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Detroit, New Orleans, as well as resorts on the Las Vegas Strip. These and other U.S. casino jurisdictions have experienced an economic boon since the introduction of gaming in the form of tax revenue, jobs and increased tourism, which bolsters neighboring businesses.
Casino taxes help make improvement to infrastructure and fund police and fire departments as well as local charitable causes. In fact, according to research conducted for the commission by the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences, "(G)ambling appears to have net economic benefits for economically depressed communities."
Local officials from communities where casinos are located echoed this sentiment in testimony to the commission. In its 1999 final report, the commission states, "Without exception, these elected officials expressed support for gambling and recited increased revenues for their cities. They also discussed community improvements made possible since the advent of gambling in their communities and reviewed the general betterment of life for the citizenry in their cities."
Frank J. Fahrenkopf Jr.
President and CEO, American Gaming Association
