Posted on: Friday, March 7, 2003

Letters to the Editor

Roadside politicking worse than cell phones

If our state leaders want to in fact eliminate distractions to drivers, they should outlaw roadside politicking. A sign-waver, sometimes in the traffic lane, is significantly more distracting than is dialing or answering a cell phone.

The driver can decide at the time of placing or receiving a call whether it is an appropriate time or place to do so. The same can't be said for sign-wavers. They are out on the road during peak traffic times with the sole intention of luring the drivers' attention away from the road in order to attract voters. Also, they potentially distract every driver on the road, whereas with cell phones, only the user is affected.

While I argue that roadside politicking is more distracting than cell phones, I'm not pushing for the abolishment of either. I am only pointing out the political nonsense our state leaders try to pass off as beneficial for our state.

Jail term appropriate for campaign violation

Shame on Lee Takushi and his wife, June, for their role in illegally financing Mayor Harris' campaign. However, if no jail time is handed out to Mrs. Takushi, what incentive is there for cooperation with authorities, or not violating campaign finance laws?

Once again it appears that the "old-boy network" remains entrenched within Hawai'i politics. Despite it being disgraceful that Lee Takushi was using his wife to funnel money to Mayor Harris, it is equally disgraceful that our mayor receives money in this manner.

The fact that simply crying "my husband made me do it" ensures that a small fine is the only penalty to be handed out almost ensures that others will be doing the same in elections to come. Jail time for June Takushi is the only acceptable remedy for this problem.

If corruption related to non-bid contracts isn't handled, then what's to stop the festering, "back-scratching" corruption that our state is notorious for?

Let's show terrorists the spirit of aloha

It wouldn't be too farfetched that right now as you are reading this, there's some terrorist camping out here in Hawai'i, learning about some important place to attack.

If you think Hawai'i is safe, that's good — we all would like that, knowing we are safe. But no place is really safe from terrorist radicals who detest the American way. An attack doesn't have to be big-time like 9/11.

What is important is to practice or read up on what to do if some disaster strikes. If some gas is let out into the air, what do you do? What can you do? Not to be paranoid, but expect the unexpected. People make jokes about terrorism — "Nah, we live ova hea, not going happen, brah." But what if something happens? Some looney walks up to our streams and releases poison that cannot be contained, or small explosives are set off where security is lax, all in the name of hatred for the free world.

So maybe we should invite all possible terrorists to come to Hawai'i and show them the spirit of aloha, take them to a luau or something; maybe they'll change their ways. Take them to Sea Life Park, show them that "Hey, man, life doesn't have to be evil; just chill out and relax, sip another mai tai, Abdul, and listen to this, it's Bradda Iz's Greatest Hits — cool, eh?"

Toll freeway would be better than mass transit

The state should take a survey of how many people would actually ride a rail system that goes from Leeward Community College to the University of Hawai'i at Manoa. It should also ask if they would pay a dollar to get from Mililani to town in 35 minutes on a toll freeway.

Cliff Slater has written on the decline of mass-transit ridership and the success of toll freeways that actually are profitable. He has indicated in previous columns that there is not one instance in the United States that a rail system reduced congestion.

Building a rail transit system at the cost of $1 billion for bus ridership that is falling per capita from 96 rides in 1984 to 76 rides in 2000 just does not make sense. Assuming 20,000 people use the new toll freeway at $1 one way, 20 workdays a month, 12 months a year, this would generate an income of $9.6 million a year. This would be in contrast with the millions in operating costs for the rail system that would be subsidized by the taxpayers.

Airport signs need some common sense

I would like to thank Judge Joe Gedan for making me feel less stupid, since I have company (Letters, March 2).

When my son came home from college for Christmas, I was totally confused by the new Honolulu airport signs. After a challenging effort to read the almost invisible words onÊthose newly paintedÊgreen-on-yellow signs, I was still at a loss as to where my son was supposed to "arrive" and "depart" since he had no baggage to claim and had booked his e-ticket online (not that "line" at the airport ticket office. I wonder if there is still any such line).

While creativity may be a virtue among even government officials, common sense is a more important quality. Tourists from all over the world may think they came to a non-English-speaking place.

Don't compare races with cruise-ship visits

In Sunday's business section, Sandy Beddow, executive director of the Moloka'i Visitors Association, compared the impact of regular cruise-ship visits to Moloka'i with the impact of the Moloka'i Channel outrigger canoe races. There is no comparison.

While the races bring a large number of people to the island (1,000 to 1,500, according to the article) and undoubtedly strain the island's resources, the impact is concentrated in a three-week period. Moloka'i and its people have 49 weeks to recover and prepare for the next race. The cruise ships would arrive on a regular basis all year long, with no breaks for recovery.

I am sure there are folks on Moloka'i who do not appreciate the invasion and would be happy if the races disappeared forever, but in the 20 years that I have paddled, I have never seen or heard of a single negative incident. Moloka'i's residents welcome paddlers with open arms and go out of their way to help teams from around the world.

The reaction to the proposed cruise-ship visits has been quite different.

The Na Wahine O Ke Kai and Moloka'i Hoe outrigger canoe races are important athletic and cultural events, and are recognized as such around the world.

Unwelcome, regularly scheduled cruise-ship visits are financially motivated examples of our dependence on tourism, and comparing their impact to the canoe races is like comparing apples and French fries. They may both be food, but they are in no way the same thing.

Name sewage plant after Rep. Coble

Many of your readers have been understandably outraged by U.S. Rep. Howard Coble's comments about Americans of Japanese ancestry; however, it is unlikely that he will listen to calls to resign. I have a more modest but effective means by which the state could express its sentiments.

I would suggest we name the Aikahi sewage plant after Howard Coble: Both produce deeply offensive byproducts — one by design, the other by choice. Those offended by Coble could look forward to years of expressing their contempt as they went about their daily business. The plant might, with suitable facilities, even become a modest tourist attraction.

More seriously, comments like Mr. Coble's reinforce the need for a museum in Hawai'i to remind us of the roles played by the 100th Battalion, the 442nd and others, and to warn us that what happened to the AJAs in World War II could all too easily happen again and again.

Or, we could just keep naming sewage plants after the ignorant and hateful.

Investigation, debate needed on Akaka bill

I was pleasantly amazed to see the op-ed piece written by Ekolu Wale No in the Feb. 25 Advertiser. Their commentary brings forth crucial issues that should be in daily discussion throughout the Islands but have been curiously stifled. Investigative journalism is a commodity in short supply in Hawai'i, so that is not entirely surprising.Ê

The various "Akaka bills" are a most interesting development in relations between the United States and Hawai'i. As one who is haole and a resident of these Islands for a mere 12 years, it is not my place to tell folks, especially full-blooded Hawaiians, what to do. I would like to encourage much more investigation and debate on the merits and dangers of this legislation. The opinions of my friends, haole and kanaka maoli, on this matter range from "maybe this is the best we can do" to "the bill represents a clear and present danger to the nation."Ê

If I may be so bold, I agree with the latter opinion. I pledge to do my best to make whatever small and appropriate contributions that I am able toward the restoration of justice and independence to this occupied nation. I encourage others to engage in education and discussion about this issue.

Meanwhile, I call on the press to engage in serious, analytic investigation of this legislation. I'll wager that everyone will be quite surprised at what crawls out from under rocks if a genuine investigation takes place.

Smithsonian cover-up

First the writer for the Smithsonian magazine insults the heritage of Hawai'i with her piece on the Duke Kahanamoku stamp, and now the editor insults our intelligence with the crock about the article being intended as "light humor." When will people learn that an apology is better than a (flimsy) cover-up?

I would like to add another idea on how to eliminate the Salvinia molesta in Lake Wilson: Call on Sam Choy to concoct a recipe to make it a gourmet's delight. Offer it free for the taking to the public and it would soon be as hard to find as 'opihi. Also, ask Sam to also concoct recipes for the coqui frog and the brown tree snake — simple and inexpensive solutions.

State Librarian Lowell must bend

It seems the old cliché "War is too important to be left to the generals" can be applied to the state librarian. Our public libraries are far too important to be left to Virginia Lowell, who appears to put greater weight on her own "professional" standards than on serving the interests of the Hawai'i public.

We had an early warning of this when she wanted to keep the new Kapolei Library closed rather than use donated books and volunteer labor as a temporary means of serving the Kapolei public. Only after a hailstorm of protest did she relent and agree to a temporary "reading room."

Now she again demonstrates her lack of concern with library patrons and with the general public whose tax money, after all, supports the roughly $22 million library budget. When faced with a 2.5 percent budget cut, her "solution" is to cut library hours, including weekend hours.

Her goal, in her own words: "The real solution here is to put pressure on the lawmakers to adequately fund the library system."

In other words, let's cut library hours so library patrons will scream and their representatives will back down. No, Virginia — the state of Hawai'i is not Santa Claus and your role as state librarian is to serve the people of Hawai'i, not to squeeze them or patronize them with shibai about the "energy savings" in being open all day or not at all.

A more professional approach to the budget cuts might include some of the following:

• Immediately (at least temporarily) institute a freeze on new hires.
• Distinguish between library activities that directly and immediately impact library users (such as library hours) and activities that can be deferred without immediately impacting library patrons.
• Distinguish between truly professional library services (reference desks, book selection and ordering, etc.) and those services that could very well be handled by trained volunteers: checking books in and out, sitting at reference desks to be sure reference books do not disappear and re-shelving books.

Having worked at a library myself, I know that volunteers could be very quickly trained for these duties — and, during a hiring freeze, could free up the professional librarians for work that only they can do.

Are volunteers dependable? You bet — they work regularly scheduled hours in many agencies and organizations. Do volunteers destroy the "professional" mission of hospitals, schools, museums, etc.? Of course not. Yet Virginia Lowell seems to feel threatened rather than heartened by the mere thought of volunteers in the library.

The state library is crucial to all the people of Hawai'i. It belongs to them — to taxpayers and library users alike — not to Virginia Lowell.