Posted on: Thursday, July 3, 2003

Letters to the Editor

Aircraft carrier group would be bad for state

Arguments to base an aircraft carrier group in Hawai'i for "defensive" purposes and to benefit the economy are spurious at best.

Hawai'i is already armed to the teeth. U.S. military expansion has actually created the conditions for increased terrorism to occur. More and more terrorist acts are being committed because of an increased military presence around the world. Innocent civilians die in the process. A carrier group would make Hawai'i more prone to attack, not less.

Regarding the economy, 90 percent of military personnel in Hawai'i are not from here. They increase the costs of resources and drive up the cost of housing. Taxpayers also pay their salaries, which are mostly spent at commissaries and post exchanges, not in the local economy. The civilian jobs created would be typically few and low-paying. When economic factors are evened out, including environmental damage costs, we would be lucky to break even.

Our so-called leaders should stop instilling fear in the public mind and realize that the terrorist threat is an internal dilemma of their own making. Only then can solutions be found.

Make helmet, seat-belt use a personal decision

There has been ongoing controversy for years about motorcycle and bicycle helmet use and seat-belt use. Arguments have been made repeatedly for requiring or not requiring same, but I don't believe I have ever seen the following point. Maybe legislation built around this point could resolve the controversy.

First, let me say I survived a bicycle accident in which I incurred a severe head injury. In a very groggy state in the emergency room, I remember one of the physicians asking if I had been wearing a helmet. I said yes. He said, "Good, otherwise they probably would have delivered you to the morgue at the other side of the hospital." I never ride without my helmet on, and I wear my seat belt in the car.

In our free country, a person should be allowed to do anything he wants to do, so long as it doesn't hurt anyone else. So why not make helmet and seat-belt use a personal decision? But the financial cost of that decision should be borne by that individual, and should not be a burden on society.

Therefore, allow, or even require, insurance companies to void directly related medical coverage for persons injured while not wearing either the helmet on motorcycles and bicycles or seat belts in motor vehicles. That way, the financial burden of the decision to use or not use these devices falls on the person making that decision.

The law should also prevent welfare procedures from picking up this cost. Cold-hearted? No, just letting fools do what they want to do and bearing the consequences.

Contraception editorial lacked victim sympathy

The June 25 editorial on emergency contraception in the emergency room was disturbing to me because it seemed to minimize the crime of rape.

Rape is bloody, dirty and messy — after a rape, a woman or man feels violated both in body and spirit. It is one of the most vicious of crimes, and often the victim is blamed.

To get up off an emergency room cot and go to town for an emergency contraceptive pill is asking a woman to submit to more humiliation — in addition, she might just want to go home to bed. A rape victim is often hysterical and bruised and battered.

Perhaps you did not realize that the tone of your editorial was very matter-of-fact — or perhaps you have never been a victim.

We must discourage drive-by entrepreneurs

Rep. Galen Fox's June 19 column, explaining both his and Gov. Lingle's position on Act 221, was very informative.

Rep. Fox's position is based on the idea that tax credits should encourage a business sector or enterprise that offers long-term economic benefits to the state (more jobs, expanded tax base). If the state doesn't see a long-term benefit, then that particular tax credit is a bad idea. Using that criterion, Act 221 has some serious flaws.

In too many cases, creative and liberal interpretations of Act 221 have not only cost the state lost revenue, but we have actually ended up subsidizing short-term projects. Just recall the $350,000 check recently written by the state to an out-of-state company. All based on the loopholes in Act 221.

We taxpayers should expect that beneficiaries of Act 221 legitimately pursue high-tech research and long-term programs that will benefit the state of Hawai'i. Rep. Fox and the governor want to change Act 221 so that its beneficiaries aren't drive-by entrepreneurs who collect a check on the way to the airport. Their position sounds exactly right to me. Act 221 needs changing.

The real mystery here is why House Democrats don't want to change Act 221. In its current form, Act 221 seems to be exactly the type of corporate welfare that Democrats claim to hate. Could it be that they just can't resist the natural Democrat proclivity to give away taxpayers' money?

Waiawa's warden adds humanity to job

I am an inmate of the Waiawa Correctional Facility. Over the nearly two years of my "rehabilitative" travels through OCCC, Halawa and finally Waiawa, I have rarely seen the warden of any facility.

That was, however, before I met Waiawa's warden, Ted Sakai. The man is everywhere. I have seen him inspecting the chow hall, reviewing the educational programs, walking the fence, supervising the cutting-back of view-obstructing hedges, participating in room and building inspections, shaking inmates' hands and providing words of wisdom, always with a smile.

Sometimes I wonder if there are Sakai triplets. In my travels around the facility, I see him three to five times a day. He always has an encouraging word. When once I said to him how proud I was of my nephew, he said, "Mr. Spiker, one day he will be proud of you as well."

In the daily stresses of prison life, I cannot begin to express how important a kind word is to me.

I would like to thank Warden Sakai for adding humanity and hope to my life. He is the walking warden.

Leon Uris a caring, sensitive tough guy

Thank you for your paper's coverage on Leon Uris. The world mourns the loss of a brilliant popular novelist. Better than tears, we should celebrate his life.

I remember Lee Uris, the author (he preferred to be called "Lee" by his friends) as a caring, sensitive tough guy, a man who loved and lived life to the fullest. I met Lee in person only once, on Oct. 7, 1981, in New Orleans at a weekend event where he was guest speaker. He so believed in the charitable cause, which the event represented, that the speech was pro bono. He was a decent, genuine man who took the time after the event to send a personal note thanking me for handling his arrangements with "style and class."

The time I spent with him is deeply riveted in my memory. He called me the afternoon I dropped him off at the Pontchartrain Hotel and invited me to join their private party for dinner. He was quite the raconteur; the ribald stories flowed as well as the wine and liquor. Lee picked up the tab for everyone.

To illustrate the depth of this man's sensitivity, I once sent a note mentioning I was seeking new employment. He responded quickly by offering to send a reference on my behalf.

Kamehameha suit is not a bad thing

This suit against the Kamehameha Schools because it allows only children of Hawaiian ancestry is not a bad thing. Nor is it wrong. It is the personal will of a courageous and intelligent kupuna of our culture and our history.

This legacy and gift to us are as great as that of David Malo. They both had the foresight of what I have heard many call prophetic. I most definitely agree. They were educated and could see ahead from the events of the present circumstances and situations they lived in, the rising tide of the (invading) foreigners. That is why David Malo is buried on top of the mountain in Lahaina. That is why Bernice Pauahi Bishop said in her will to have her school for Hawaiians only.

This talk about discrimination and racial preference by people who have no idea of the Hawaiian people or our culture shows they really have no aloha for their own children. Tell me, Mr. Lawyers, where does it say that a child cannot attend the Kamehameha Schools because of the color of his skin? Tell me how this unnamed child you call a plaintiff was harmed. You, the lawyers and parents, are harming our children.

If any of you call yourselves Christians, or go to church no matter what religion, do not continue this horrible act. Or else you are no better than the missionaries who came to Hawai'i in the 1800s preaching the Bible, while stealing and lying their ways upon us.

Shame ... shame ... shame.

Bring back scooter stolen from Waikele

I doubt the person who took my daughter's scooter from near our front door in Waikele on June 25 during the day can read, but in case you can, this is for you:

Bring back the scooter. My daughter has been crying about it and wonders why someone would be so mean to do this. If you preyed upon those of us who don't use drugs because you needed money for drugs, then go get help before you further ruin yourself, your family and your community.

While you are at it — please return the statue you took — the one of my old cat that died. That made us cry, too; to think someone would be low enough to steal our memories.

Walk in our shoes

If it's really not about the money, let June Jones work for $45,000, with no assistant, no clerical help and in run-down facilities like most of the rest of us in the UH system and donate the difference to the UH Foundation for instructional purposes.

How much is that prime Florida bottomland again?

Lingle: Take care of our people

In the governor's televised address on the state budget, she used the analogy of moving into a house and treating the termites rather than adding a new coat of paint to an old problem. However, the governor is not treating termites but rather doing major remodeling by tearing down current supporting beams and flooring that have been the foundation of our communities for years.

The governor said the Legislature failed to cut existing programs and failed to fund the Hawai'i Health Systems Corp. and that is why she used her veto pen. What she ended up vetoing was $3.6 million in the Emergency and Budget Reserve Fund appropriated to various health and human service agencies.

According to the governor's veto message on SB 1305, she stated that because of the budget deficit, if we do not show "fiscal discipline and prudent management of the budget now, it will be impossible to restore trust and integrity in government and expand and diversify the economy in the years ahead. This kind of tough decision is needed in order to achieve a true New Beginning for the people of Hawai'i."

By contrast, the Legislature said that these monies, of which she vetoed more than one-third, were to maintain levels of programs that they determined to be essential to public health, safety and welfare.

These funds are not part of the general fund that can be used to balance the budget. These are funds that are already available. In fact, the governor approved using $3.26 million of the fund for other health and human service programs. What was the rationale used to determine which programs were more essential than others? In my opinion, they are all essential.

The governor does not understand that cutting some of the health and human service programs will not make the problems go away, nor will it achieve a "new beginning," but rather it will be the end of the safety net that is an interwoven network of programs essential to the public health, safety and welfare for the people of Hawai'i.

Many of the programs she cut are for children and youth, the poor, disabled and the elderly. These are programs that are an investment in the infrastructure of our society, i.e., the people of Hawai'i. In fact, using the same example of the cleanup of Lake Wilson that the governor cited in her speech, funding these programs now will prevent problems from blossoming and becoming unmanageable in the future. Lake Wilson would not have needed massive cleaning if the weed problem were taken care of in its early stages.

Taking care of the people of Hawai'i is taking care of the aloha spirit of our beautiful state. The quality of life of the people of Hawai'i is the basic foundation of the house the governor inherited. She needs to take care of it, not destroy it.