Letters to the Editor
Mental health affects all in community
May is Mental Health Month in Hawai'i. Mental health matters to every individual and in every community. Hawai'i is no different.
Mental health matters to our healthcare system, our businesses and our families. From keiki to kupuna, one in five people in Hawai'i, and throughout America, experience a serious emotional disturbance or mental illness each year.
Hawai'i cannot afford to ignore illnesses so prevalent in our community. In fact, mental illnesses are more prevalent than cancer, lung disease and heart disease combined — leading the U.S. surgeon general, Dr. David Satcher, to declare mental illnesses one of our nation's leading public health issues in December 1999.
Mental health matters to overall health and is key to maintaining good physical health. Research shows that depression is common in individuals who suffer from heart diseases, diabetes and other chronic illnesses. Although physical illnesses are generally treated, too often the mental illnesses are not.
In addition, great disparity exists between mental and physical health. Individuals may not prioritize their own mental-health needs, many health insurance companies do not offer comparable coverage and healthcare providers often do not recognize the symptoms of mental health problems — even though nearly half of all visits to primary care doctors are related to psychological disorders such as anxiety and depression.
Mental health matters to our business community. Absenteeism, employee turnover and lost productivity are just a few of the economic costs associated with untreated mental illnesses in the workplace. Stress and depression rank as the second- and third-largest issues facing employees, according to a survey by the Employee Assistance Professional Association.
All told, mental-health problems cost the economy in Hawai'i millions of dollars each year. And the cost to individuals can be even greater as workers experience mental-health problems that affect their health, satisfaction, productivity and wages.
May is a time for our community to acknowledge the importance of mental health and take action to ensure that individuals with mental illnesses have access to care, treatment and prevention services they need. Senseless barriers such as stigma, misunderstanding and discrimination can be torn down by recognizing that mental illnesses are real, mental illnesses are common and mental illnesses are treatable.
It's time we let our policymakers and community and business leaders know that mental health matters to Hawai'i as well. Gov. Linda Lingle and Lt. Gov. Duke Aiona proclaimed May as Mental Health Month in a public ceremony on April 24 with mental-health advocates in the state.
Benjamin L. Carroll III
President
Paula Heim
Executive director
Mental Health Association in Hawai'i
Tourism meetings should be for 'marketing folks'
I read Eric Gill's letter (May 1) and I understand his concerns that our front-line employees, his hotel workers and my beach boys and lifeguards, who have much more direct contact with Hawai'i's visitors than any of those folks invited to the summit, are not being heard.
However, I believe the governor was right to not include the unions or companies like mine because we only provide services and activities to the visitors after they arrive. It is the marketing folks who develop the sales strategies and programs that bring them to our Islands, and this is what we need now.
It appears from the Advertiser article "Tourism groups meet privately" (May 1) that those invited to the summit were either directors of marketing (they run the advertising budgets) or hotel managers (they pay the advertising bills), and that is how it should be.
My real concern is how all of this will play out in the next few weeks and months. Private meetings like the recent tourism summit, although needed, breed suspicion and discontent in the rank and file. And now there are four major players in Hawai'i's marketing effort: the Hawai'i Visitors and Convention Bureau, the Hawai'i Tourism Authority, the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism and now five new summit committees. Do we need all of this duplication? Will these entities, all composed of the same people, work at cross-purposes? Is there a dominant mind in all of this? What role will the governor play? I am sure that our governor will sort this out for us very soon.
At some point in the future the governor may want to hear from the folks in the trench; maybe then she might invite us.
Bob Hampton
Waikiki Beach Activities
State falling behind in animal-protection laws
I would like to thank you for the front-page article April 28 by Will Hoover regarding the new federal law that will prohibit the shipping of fighting gamecocks.
Cockfighting was made illegal in Hawai'i under monarchy law in 1884 — that's more than 100 years ago. Since then, Hawai'i has enacted many laws considered progressive for their time such as in the areas of labor, equal rights and discrimination. Unfortunately, in recent years, we have fallen behind in laws relating to animal protection.
In 28 states cockfighting is a felony, but our Legislature refused to pass a similar bill this year. And now, Hawai'i is going to fall even further behind our country's widespread disapproval of cockfighting, since the federal government has taken a strong position against this cruel form of gambling.
Hawai'i has long been recognized as a melting pot of cultures from all over the world, and we in turn strive to be the finest and most progressive state in the country. Cockfighting cannot be tolerated in any form in this great Aloha State.
Pamela Burns
President and CEO, Hawaiian Humane Society
Drugs will do less damage if made legal
I am a student at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa who defies one of the stereotypes typically associated with college students. That is, I am rigidly opposed to drug use. I do not drink, smoke, toke, shoot, snort, drop, etc. I think drugs are one of the most horrible things plaguing our society today.
However, I firmly believe that marijuana, cocaine and heroin should be legalized in this country. Why? Because keeping them illegal is destroying America. This is something that is not terribly obvious in a city like Honolulu, but all you have to do is travel to just about any city in the Mainland and go to the wrong part of town. You can see right in front of you what the illegalization of drugs is doing.
The truth is, we cannot stop people from wanting drugs. And it follows that if someone can't get something they want legally, they'll have to get it illegally. The results of this are crime rates of epic proportions, the likes of which no industrialized nation on Earth other than the United States has to deal with.
When this country instituted prohibition laws, it led to one of the biggest crime sprees ever seen. This is still quite obvious today because gangsters who breed violence throughout the nation control the drug trade.
If we legalize many of the illegal drugs out there, we can effectively put the drug lords out of business. Crime rates would plummet. Unemployment would drop. And, contrary to popular belief, usage will not increase. Legalization of heroin has been tried in Switzerland and not only did more people not start using it, but many habitual users quit because they said legalizing heroin took all the fun and excitement out of doing it.
We will never be rid of people's desire for drugs and alcohol. It is something that will probably be with the human race forever; however, it is my firm belief that drugs will do far less damage when they are legal than when they are illegal.
Adam Breckenridge
Hawai'i should revise outdated 'recon' laws
"Recon" (car reconstruction) laws have been plaguing car enthusiasts on this island. I believe that recon laws do serve a purpose, but they are outdated. The recon laws that society has to abide by today are the same laws that were issued in the 1980s. These outdated laws set limits to what can be modified.
All car enthusiasts who enjoy modifying their vehicles experience the dreadful task of passing recon inspection. One problem is that the only recon inspection building on this island is in Kaimuki.
What makes it worse is that it is only open for about three hours on weekdays and it is closed on weekends. The problem with trying to revise or repeal the recon laws is that others believe that, by eliminating recon laws, the death toll from street racing will rise.
I believe that is ridiculous. I know a lot of car enthusiasts who fix up their vehicles not for the purpose of racing. The state should take action by revising the recon laws, establishing more locations and extending inspection hours.
Christian L. Joaquin
Jaron's menu filled with mouthwatering dishes
In rebuttal to Matthew Gray's April 18 article stating that "Jaron's food doesn't live up to menu's billing," we would wager he has never had the Sunday brunch. Or we wonder if he has sampled anything other than seafood.
The prime rib, for instance, is pretty special, with garlic mashed potatoes, Caesar salad and chocolate mousse at $15.98. And we like the Coconut Katsu Shrimp appetizer at $7.95. The Ginger Dragon Sauce is a bit spicy for us, so we concoct our own with cooperation from the kitchen. It's that easy!
My son, a much-traveled executive in the food business in California, says Jaron's blackened 'ahi is the best he has tasted. Also, most of the chef's "from scratch" cream soups are exceptionally tasty, and we wonder, too, if Gray has ever sampled the chef's "homemade" cheesecakes. Ono! The Watermelon Pie is exceedingly refreshing any time of day (or for dessert at late night, if one can tolerate the utterly-too-loud "music.") On weekdays the Pastabilities menu is extensive, interesting.
We suggest you give Jaron's a try, especially for Sunday brunch. You, too, might choose to become one in the sizable group of regulars who take exception to much of Gray's article.
Virginia T. Druz
Renew commitment to save social services
In Hawai'i, those being most affected by the state budget crisis are our most vulnerable citizens. When community health centers close, when libraries cut their hours, when there is less money for schools, it is our working-class and lower-income people who feel the most acute pain.
Hawai'i, of course, is not alone. Dozens of states on the Mainland are suffering from the worst state fiscal crises since World War II and are laying off teachers, policemen and other public workers.
Republican Party neoconservatives have openly welcomed federal and state deficits as a way of shrinking government and social services. They are doing everything they can to intensify it.
We witness President Bush demanding that Congress pass a $750 billion tax cut. Not only is this measure, like his $1.4 trillion cut two years ago, designed to benefit the nation's most affluent people, but even Republican economists admit that it will provide little, if any, economic stimulus.
Projections of federal deficits now run in the vicinity of $2 trillion over the next decade. The new tax cut, together with costs of reconstructing Iraq, will propel this deficit into the region of $5 trillion or more. The upshot will be higher interest rates and slower economic growth just as the nation confronts the retirement of the huge baby-boomer generation.
Federal and state governments will lack the means to provide social and educational programs for millions of Americans who need them.
Hawai'i's senators and congressmen must vote against Bush's destructive tax bill and seek to renew federal commitments to social spending.
Noel Jacob Kent
'Roadwork ahead' signs seen all over island
Everywhere I go there is traffic. It is never ending. The reason for all this backup is roadwork all over the island. I am glad that they are doing construction to fix the roadways, but how long will this take?
I never know how much traffic there will be, whether I am going to school, work or an appointment. You can never tell when they are working and when they are not.
I do not see why they cannot work during less-busy hours. Sometimes they are doing construction in the middle of rush-hour traffic. This does not make sense.
I agree that roadwork has to be done, especially when looking at places with huge bumps and potholes like Moanalua Road, but can they please hurry it up?
I hope that they put an end to this madness soon. It will be great when I can drive one whole week without seeing orange cones or "roadwork ahead" signs.
Renee Hi'ilei Uehara
Mililani
