Letters to the Editor
Essential posts must always be manned
Those correctional officers should not take blame for recent escapes. We are not in control of staffing of posts. We are aware and well-trained in what security breaches are.
We have made it known that closing posts and cutting staff at facilities not only makes it unsafe for staff, but compromises security and makes escapes likely. This has been known for quite some time within the correctional-officer community.
On March 28 we had a meeting with the UPW to address this problem. Our UPW handbook, UPW BU 10 handbook, describes what black and red posts are. In other words, what an essential post is and what post is not essential.
What is not essential can be closed down in lieu of staffing needs. What is essential cannot be closed whatsoever and must be manned at all times. Correctional officers disagree with this. Correctional officers do not even see, much less have fair representation in the process in which policies are passed and agreed to.
Listen to those correctional officers who work on the line. Listen to their input on where the security breaches may be, and staff those areas.
Samuel Gutierrez
Adult correctional officer
Use religious literature as springboard for talks
I commend the Department of Education for spelling out the legal right to distribute literature before and after school by students. In the midst of all the negative forces at work on our campuses, it is refreshing to find a positive moral influence supported by churches of dozens of different denominations.
It is a far cry from my 6-year-old granddaughter's experience a few years back in Birmingham, Ala. When she talked about Jesus to a classmate on the playground, a teacher overheard the conversation and took her to the principal for severe reprimand.
If parents or students find anything offensive in the student survival kits (Maybe they believe it's wrong to honor parents? They think it's a good thing to steal? They're in favor of adultery?), I recommend they discuss their reservations with a Christian friend. Let's use the student survival kits as a springboard for discussion.
Elaine Masters
More money should be earmarked for education
Once again our public schools have taken a back seat to politics. Instead of debating how to fund the Department of Education's $430 million repair and maintenance backlog, all attention was focused on creating local school boards.
We can debate about governance until the cows come home. At the end of the day, the real issue is about adequately funding public education. More funds are needed to continue the day-to-day operations of the DOE and to ensure that our children learn in a safe and healthy environment.
Politicians who don't want to make the hard decisions to come up with the funds say "money won't solve our problems." Well, we asked for $120 million and got one-third of that amount to fix our schools. I just hope our schools will survive another year.
Garrett Toguchi
Board of Education
Use Warrior 'H' logo for marketing purposes
As a University of Hawai'i Warrior fan and former Hawai'i resident, I am happy that they are not changing the powerful "H" logo. What is wrong with using the logo you have now for marketing purposes?
The symbol of the Warrior "H" is a powerful and distinctive representation of Hawai'i's sports program. It reflects on and represents Hawai'i's strong Hawaiian heritage. The whole Warrior personality is derived from it. It's a lot better looking than the old logo, that's for sure.
Also, please forget and get rid of the idea of having "The Rainbow" or " 'Bows" as a part of the teams' names because, if you remember, the teams are named Rainbow Warriors, not Rainbows or 'Bows. Makes the many teams sound wimpy. That's right, wimpy.
Jaymie Fuller
Fullerton, Calif.
Big green-waste load can't fit into trash cans
Can you hear me now? Manoa, East O'ahu, Kailua, Kane'ohe, etc.
Just to remind everyone: The proposed changes on waste removal and recycling initiated by Mayor Jeremy Harris are to take place July 1. Now is the time to speak up or this will be another van cam debacle!
I can live with recycling. It's long overdue and I do it regularly anyway. Garbage pickup reduction ... more of the government wanting more and then providing less in return. Keep it twice a week. We live in a warm area, no bugs please.
The big worry for me is green waste.
As I understand it now, once every other week there will be a green-waste pickup in lieu of our second weekly trash pickup. That green waste is supposed to fit within the confines of our current 96-gallon can. Fine for some of the smaller housing areas with small lots. What about our 1950s-size lots? I have two avocado trees, one olive tree, one plumeria tree and assorted shrubs and hedges as well as grass. My yard crew cuts the hedges and grass. I provide the muscle and prune my trees. I cut, bag, bundle and stack my cuttings on a regular basis. I do not own a truck, I have a Honda. I'm not able to take the trash to the green-waste transfer station to dump my stuff.
Recently both of my avocado trees finished the yearly shed. Last pickup was 20 bags of leaves ... quite a lot, but remember it's once a year for several weeks only. How in the world would I get rid of that stuff under the new system?
I plan my scheduled maintenance around the days of pickup so it's ready to go. If we are to use only these cans, I'd need to hire a tree trimmer with a shredder to take it all away. I'd then have to pay through the nose for the trimmings to be disposed of. My costs would rise dramatically.
I'm a taxpayer, remember me? Work with us, Mr. Mayor, and cut where the excess is. Not this basic service paid for taxpayers.
Kathryn Kane
Many movie scenes exist in Joe's subconscious
I read with interest your article in the April 30 Advertiser (after watching Joe Moore's play "Dirty Laundry" at the April 19 showing). I enjoyed the play and felt that it accurately portrayed some of the discussions that existed in many of the television newsrooms I worked in. While I agree that there are many similarities in the scenes and dialogue of "Dirty Laundry" and the movie "News at Eleven," I have to believe that the end result is purely coincidental.
In the 11-plus years I have worked with Joe, our conversations often turned to little pieces of films and/or TV shows we had watched. Joe is an incurable old-movie buff. He could often recite exact dialogue from old movies as if he had just witnessed the film yesterday. It's my belief that many of the scenes from "News at Eleven" and other films exist in Joe's subconscious. I think that most aspiring authors will tell you that when you're writing a screenplay or a novel or a script for a play (and God knows, I've tried and failed), these authors often grab from their subconscious without even thinking where it came from.
I'm hopeful that the purpose of The Advertiser article wasn't about embarrassing Joe or calling his integrity into question. Joe is an outstanding anchor and an extremely talented writer/actor/producer. I believe I speak for thousands of others who are envious of his talents and who continue to appreciate his rock-solid reputation.
Bob Hogue
Kailua
Military, families pay share of state taxes
This letter is in furtherance of the comments made by Eric Metcalf last Sunday in response to Cindy Au's April 21 letter.
Military personnel and their families do pay their share of Hawai'i taxes.
It is true that most military members pay their vehicle registration taxes to their home states. However, many do not and register their vehicles in Hawai'i and pay the required registration fees and taxes.
There are hundreds of military spouses and children working in full-time and part-time jobs in Hawai'i. They are required to pay Hawai'i state taxes on their earnings. The same applies to the hundreds of Hawai'i's active-duty military members who are employed in part-time jobs or are self-employed.
Military members also pay the same state taxes assessed on residents for all local purchases of goods, services, cars, homes, etc.
Metcalf's statement in regard to seeing more local residents than active-duty personnel in military commissaries and exchanges requires clarification. There are good reasons why thousands of residents are eligible to shop in the commissaries and exchanges.
Hawai'i is home to tens of thousands of military veterans who gallantly served in the military during World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the Gulf War. Most live on O'ahu. Thousands of these veterans earned commissary and exchange privileges from their service in the military.
Add in the 8,000-plus residents who are members of the Hawai'i Army National Guard, Hawai'i Air National Guard and Hawai'i's Reserve forces for the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard. They also have commissary and exchange privileges.
Many residents do not realize the extent to which the military is an integral part of Hawai'i's 'ohana. They are a vital part of Hawai'i's economy, a major source of tax revenues to the state and city, and they play a prominent role in our society. We should embrace them as 'ohana.
Charlie Ota
No scientific evidence, just financial interest
I couldn't agree more with John Griffin's April 27 piece ("Not all changes at UH are for better"). Not all, but too many, University of Hawai'i professors, either as consultants or just grant recipients, put their financial interest above the environment and the public interest.
In last year's rejection of the so-called CO2 experiment of putting 63 tons of toxic CO2 in the pristine waters off Kona and Kaua'i, 14 UH professors testified before House and Senate committees in favor of the project, which was soundly rejected by the public not only in Hawai'i but also in Norway.
In each case the UH professors' testimonies offered no scientific evidence that would have been appropriate, but argued that rejection of the project could cost their institute millions of dollars in grant money.
If a business wanted to pollute our ocean and the only justification it gave was that it wanted to make more money, it would have been summarily dismissed by our elected officials — but these UH professors, using the prestige of the university, almost won.
Some UH professors have lost their moral compasses and the Ethics Commission should look into the problem.
David Holzman
Kailua, Kona, Hawai'i
'Unteachable education'
Reading Eloise Aguiar's report of the new school reporting system ("School report card gets new look," April 29), I was at first puzzled by the E, M, N, U, NA grading scheme. After reading the progress and status reports on your Web site, I think I have it. EMNUNA is an acronym for Education Made Nearly Unteachable, Nastily Abstruse.
Victor Meyers
Kailua
Bush's plan allows for coordination
Your recent editorial opposing President Bush's plan to strengthen the Head Start program referred repeatedly to the proposal as a "block grant" and asserted that the proposal would mean "states can shift money from one federal program to another, perhaps politically favored, effort." ("Head Start must be kept vital, strong," April 17) Neither assertion is true.
Block grants allow states to spend federal money as they decide, so long as the broad guidelines of the respective law are followed. The president's proposal, in contrast, would merely allow states the option of submitting a plan to the federal government, for its approval, indicating how it might better coordinate Head Start with state-run preschool programs.
States submitting such a plan would have to provide assurances that it would continue to serve at least as many Head Start-eligible children as are currently enrolled in Head Start, maintain existing state funding for preschool programs and continue to provide comprehensive services to children supported with Head Start funds, including health, family and social services.
Hence, under the president's proposal neither state funding, the level of services nor the number of children served would be reduced.
President Bush's plan to better coordinate Head Start with state-run preschool programs would help provide more efficient and effective services to low-income children and their families.
As your editorial noted, the president's proposal does give "states greater flexibility to respond to local needs." The winners will be children in Hawai'i and around the country who will have more opportunities to arrive at school healthy and ready to learn.
Wade F. Horn
Assistant secretary, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
