Letters to the Editor
Rejection of nominees recalls McCarthy ploy
The rejection of Shelton G.W. Jim On and Edward D. Sultan to the Board of Regents smacks of McCarthyism.
During the confirmation debate on the Senate floor, it became clear that Education Committee Chairman Norman Sakamoto voted against the governor's nominations and influenced his fellow senators to do likewise based on an e-mail message that was received by Sen. Donna Mercado Kim.
When he was asked by Sens. Bob Hogue and Fred Hemmings to produce the message and identify the sender, he declined to do so. There being no way to confirm the veracity, let alone the existence, of the message, it appears that the nominees were rejected on the basis of nothing more than rumor, innuendo and hearsay.
Sen. Joe McCarthy ruined the lives and careers of many people on the basis of "secret information" he said was contained on sheets of paper he often waved in front of the Committee on Un-American Activities that were later discovered to be blank.
Sen. Sakamoto, if you have some information that would disqualify the nominees, would you please disclose it so that we may know that you are not just waving around blank sheets of paper?
Roy Yanagihara
Kane'ohe
Legalizing drugs would be a mistake
Regarding the May 7 letter by Adam Breckenridge, "Drugs will do less damage if made legal": It's not the illegalization of drugs that's destroying America, it's the deterioration of morals, values and standards.
Because we don't hold certain values and morals important anymore, it's usual to see so many dysfunctional families in our society. Drug use is a symptom of these ills, not the cause.
People are always going to have a desire for and addiction to illegal drugs. But it's crucial that we keep illegalization laws in place; they serve as a deterrent.
Making drugs legal wouldn't solve any problems. The reason for most of the crime connected with drugs is that people need money. Drugs would still cost money and people would still commit crimes to pay for them. Usage would increase because they'd be available to more people, their accessibility would make them more tempting. What's the result? Taxpayers would end up having to mop up these drug users' mess.
There's a reason why the belief that drug use is bad is widely popular. Drugs hurt people. How is it less damaging to have these drugs — which significantly harm not only the user but his family, friends and numerous other people as well — widely available to society?
Joy Wright
10th grade, Wheeler AAF
Hawaiian Airlines' boss has much to answer for
Hawaiian Airlines CEO John Adams makes my stomach hurt. Why? He is a self-admitted expert on making money from "troubled companies."
And how does his boss, Randall Smith, and Adams make their money? They buy the stock or bonds of distressed companies, infuse capital into them to raise the stock value, then sell out. Adams and Smith are referred to as "vulture capitalists."
In 1996, they bought majority stock ownership and absolute control of the board of directors of Hawaiian for $20 million and put in Adams as chairman and CEO. Hawaiian received $30 million in federal 9/11 aviation benefits — badly needed cash the airline needed to pay for aircraft debt, labor, fuel and other critical operational needs, right? Wrong.
Of that money, $17 million went directly into the investment pocket of Adams' and Smith's investment company in New York. That's money "off the top." Remember, Adams' and Smith's initial investment to control Hawaiian was $20 million. Oh, in addition, they also paid their Smith/Adams investment company $2 million in consulting fees. Now their initial investment of $20 million is only $1 million and they still own the majority control of Hawaiian's assets and management. Then they declared bankruptcy to hold off creditors (most of which could have been paid from what they put in their pockets).
Just think what would have happened had Aloha and Hawaiian merged with Hawaiian in control. That's really scary.
And here's a little dessert: Adams (board chairman) gave himself a raise, from $200,000 in 2000 to $400,000 in 2002 (after 9/11). He also paid $75,000 a month to their Smith/Adams N.Y. company for consulting fees (of which Adams is president). All this while severe cuts in wages and benefits are forced on the employees of the airline and bills go unpaid.
David Miho
Hawai'i Kai police station No. 1 priority
Suzanne Roig's May 6 article quotes Mary Houghton as representing the Hawai'i Kai Neighborhood Board and stating "The money for a police station was stolen from the parks budget ... I object to this strongly."
As a member of the Hawai'i Kai Neighborhood Board, I can say that Mary is a wonderful and hard-working community leader. However, I do not believe Mary was authorized to speak for the board, nor do I believe that she stated she was.
It is a matter of public record that the Hawai'i Kai Neighborhood Board unanimously supported the construction of the police station and stated that it is the community's No. 1 priority during our Jan. 3 meeting. Councilman Djou is simply listening to our community and seeking to fund our highest priority.
Speaking for myself, I wholeheartedly support Djou's courage and conviction to respond to our No. 1 priority. He did not create the fiscal mess the city is in — that was done by others. He is merely trying to support critical core city functions while holding the line on tax and fee increases.
Hopefully, other elected leaders will follow his lead.
Anthony Paresa
Raised rumble strips should stay on Pali
The removal of raised rumble strips in the residential area of Pali Highway in response to the complaints from some drivers is a bad move.
These complaints come from drivers who exceed the speed limit there; getting such drivers to observe the speed limit is the very reason for the raised rumble strips. The new strips with gaps that allow motorcyclists to pass through unhindered defeats their very purpose.
I have driven Honolulu streets for close to three decades and have noticed — as all who have driven here notice — practically nobody observes the residential-area speed limit on the Pali Highway. That is a real shame because pedestrian lives are at stake and too many drivers forget their common courtesy — and their very human decency — when they get behind the steering wheel.
Exceeding the speed limit by 200 percent along the Pali will save a driver how much time? Ten, 20 minutes? Is that worth the increased danger to pedestrians?
If flagrant abusers are ticketed, they will serve as an example. I know the police have battled this for many years, but surely the problem can be resolved with cooperation from all parties involved.
Stuart N. Taba
Education can help prevent dog bites
As a board-certified plastic surgeon in the Honolulu area, I have often been called to repair the devastating injuries of a dog attack. Every 40 seconds, someone in America seeks medical care because of a dog bite.
Children make up 60 percent of the 4.7 million Americans bitten by dogs each year. Tragically, some 20 people will die from dog attack injuries this year.
Most disconcerting is that the problem is largely preventable with just a little public education.
Dog bites are not caused by "bad dogs" but by irresponsible dog owners. The Humane Society of the United States reports that dogs that have not been properly socialized to other people, that are not supervised or safely confined, that are not sterilized, or that get little attention and handling are those that often attack. Dogs that have not been spayed or neutered are three times more likely to bite.
Dog owners: Obedience-train your dog and keep it healthy. Parents: Advise your child to never approach an unfamiliar dog and never run from or scream at a dog.
To learn more about the national "Beware the Bite!" dog bite prevention campaign, visit the American Society of Plastic Surgeons' Web site at www.plasticsurgery.org.
In the event that you or someone you know is attacked by a dog, seek emergency medical attention immediately. Be sure to ask the emergency room physician to call a plastic surgeon certified by The American Board of Plastic Surgery.
May 18 to 24 is National Dog Bite Prevention Week. Together, by educating the public on the issue and asking dog owners to train and restrain their dogs, we can prevent future tragedies.
Kevin Dieffenbach, M.D.
Member, American Society of Plastic Surgeons
Programs financially help small businesses
It continues to amaze me that our City Council has, for the past two budget sessions, worked overtime to eliminate two of Mayor Jeremy Harris' most successful programs — Sunset on the Beach and Brunch on the Beach.
I am a one-person business. I have benefited from the opportunity to work within the Sunset on the Beach program, both in the Waikiki venue and in the Rediscover O'ahu programs in the outlying communities. Our state legislators have done little to nothing over the years to assist businesses of my size — they are too heavily influenced by union pressures.
Harris' Sunset on the Beach and Rediscover O'ahu programs have, in their less than two years, put hundreds of thousands of dollars back into the hands of our very smallest businesses. The opportunity for visibility and the opportunity to sell our products have been priceless — the Rediscover O'ahu program averages 60 to 125 exhibitors and vendors (both food and product sales), and the Waikiki venue averages 25 to 40 exhibitors and vendors. The Brunch on the Beach venue highlights our finest Waikiki eateries — a fabulous boon, given today's economic picture.
The Sunset on the Beach and Brunch on the Beach programs are looked forward to by our local residents and our visitors to Waikiki. Every visitor and local attendee I've spoken with over the past year in Waikiki has raved about these events. However, these two programs are about so much more than just entertainment. They provide one of the most constant, well-attended and productive opportunities for our city's small-business persons to survive.
Nancy Calhoun
HMSA's filed premium rating structure flawed
As he is senior vice president for HMSA, I must assume that Cliff Cisco's response is reflective of his employer's position on premium-rate determination. I find both Mr. Cisco's stated conclusions and HMSA's filed premium rating structure fundamentally flawed and inconsistent with national industry standard practices.
First, pooling risks is a method for spreading the financial risk of the pool participants over the group. It is supposed to have the effect of stabilizing rates among the pool participants, not lowering them. The fact is that many participants with good loss experience pay higher premiums to offset the losses of those participants with poor experience.
Second, HMSA's premium filings with Hawai'i's Insurance Division places any employer with fewer than 101 employees into the community rating pool. This pool has 22 different rate levels, which fluctuate wildly from one end of the spectrum to the other. According to HMSA's filing, an employer can be placed in a higher level if the employer had a 120 percent loss ratio (or greater) over a previous three-year period, or be placed in a lower level with a 40 percent or lower loss ratio.
The reality is that employers who approach 100 or more employees generating annual premiums in the hundreds of thousands can withstand several claims and not exceed 40 percent of their premiums in losses, whereas an employer with only 10 employees generating annual premiums of less than $20,000, on the same rate level, could easily exceed 120 percent of his or her premium with a single claim.
Thus, the pricing strategy within the pooled group negatively impacts the smaller employers and is not a fair financial spread of risk among its participants.
Finally, according to HMSA's filings, it has over 600,000 members (about 50 percent of the state's entire population). The small-business community pool represents approximately 80,000 members, according to HMSA's filings. If this smaller group is receiving a 9.5 percent general rate increase, how much would HMSA need to increase its rates if this amount was spread over its entire population, which is the national industry standard for risk transfer insurance?
This doesn't mean that larger employers cannot be individually rated, it only means that HMSA needs to include within its "base rate" a factor to offset losses in the small-business pool.
Arthur P. Lessing
Independent risk management consultant, A. P. Lessing & Associates
