Letters to the Editor

Build the West O'ahu campus to ease traffic

The state and city are once again looking to reduce traffic congestion by building a light-rail system. This is based on the consensus that "we have to do something."

People on the west side of O'ahu will probably be in favor of light rail for the same reason every other community on the Mainland has been for it: They hope their neighbors will use it so they can drive their own cars. This belief is causing huge problems for city and state governments around our nation whose systems are now running deficits due to lack of ridership.

So what should we do? Ever notice when the schools and the university are closed, traffic gets better? Students driving to UH-Manoa and parents driving their kids to private schools out of district seem to contribute in a big way to the problem.

Building the UH-West O'ahu campus and developing top-notch public schools on the west side of the island as well as accelerating the Second City concept could significantly decrease traffic. $1.5 billion over 15 years could make this a reality.

If light rail fails to reduce traffic, we will be left with a white elephant that will scar the landscape for decades to come. If educational opportunities on West O'ahu are enhanced and the Second City becomes a reality and traffic is still bad, we will still be left with more jobs in Kapolei and a better-educated populace. Now that is not a bad thing.

Vision teams should go in tax-increase era

Letter writer Jake Ng ("Don't crucify fruits of the vision teams," Oct. 29) misses the point.

We are looking at tax increases coming at us from all directions on top of what we've already experienced this year. It just doesn't seem right that the mayor would continue to funnel money to the vision teams while at the same time telling us we are looking at various tax increases to fund the recent pay raise awarded our police officers and raises negotiated by the bus drivers. And we still have HGEA contracts to deal with.

There's no denying that the projects Jake noted in his letter contribute to the well-being of the community, but when one looks at our budget situation over the last few years and the near future, most of these projects fall into the nice-to-have category. Especially when viewed in the context of the ongoing reduction of city services to the public and impending tax increases.

As a member of our neighborhood board, Jake also knows there are regular channels the board can pursue to get some of these projects done. I say it's time to end this experiment in grass-roots spending. Then we can all set back and judge the results by our own yardstick.

Separation from U.S. would prosper economy

There have been hundreds of letters published analyzing the history of Hawai'i and the overthrow of Queen Lili'uokalani, many including snippets of alleged "facts" to justify the writer's position.

But where is Hawai'i today? Hawai'i is still geographically remote from the rest of the United States. Hawai'i is ethnically and culturally very different from the rest of the United States (remember, Forbes magazine several years back characterized Hawai'i as a "Third World" country).

What is amazing is that after more than 100 years of American hegemony, Hawai'i is more different from the rest of the United States than it was during my early life here. This notwithstanding thousands of Mainland immigrants, some of whom (but certainly not all), like attorney H. William Burgess and attorney John Goemans, continually strive to remake Hawai'i's society to fit into their Mainland-created belief system.

The effect on Hawai'i's economy of separation from the United States is too complex an issue to argue here. I am personally convinced that assuming a reasonable separation treaty with the United States, Hawai'i's economy would be better as an independent country than as part of the United States.

The overthrow and subsequent annexation by the United States was a historical accident. There is certainly no reason that a majority of Hawai'i residents could not make things pono. Now this is an issue that deserves serious discussion by your letter writers.

Don't blame president

Lee Cataluna's column on the "sorry state" of this state makes me wonder if she has any idea of the stranglehold the Democrats had on this state with the "underfunded, overtaxed, bureaucracy-laden school system." Who has been in charge for decades? President Bush has not been in office long enough to be responsible for this mess even though she seems to blame him.

Paper's views don't represent community's

One of The Honolulu Advertiser's self-proclaimed missions is to "provide a voice for all the community." However, when I compare the majority of the opinions expressed in your editorial pages to the opinions of the people I work with and my neighbors, I find a serious disconnect.

In an effort to provide a voice for those of us whose viewpoints are neglected by your editorial staff, the following opinions on current events are respectfully provided:

• Protesters arrested at Army's Stryker meeting. These protesters don't want to debate the issue; their minds are made up. They just want an opportunity to pitch a tantrum in a public place and intimidate everyone else at the meeting.
• Iraq and Arab issues. We can fight 'em over there using our military or fight 'em over here using our civilians. You choose, because they're not going to go away.
• Homosexuality. It's unnatural and disgusting, just like coprophilia, necrophilia, pedophilia and bestiality. Guess which groups will be lining up for their "rights" next.
• The ACLU, or anti-Christian Liberals' Union. Pornography yes, prayer no. Christians object to the liberal agenda. Christians must go!
• Gov. Lingle. In any other state, she'd be considered a liberal Democrat. I guess if you're a Socialist or a Commie, that's too "right wing."
• Taxes. This state withholds as much from my paycheck as the feds do. Poorest return for my dollar I've ever gotten, and I was raised in New York.
• "Cherish the Land and Sea." I nominate the wind-blown plastic bag as the state bird.

So why do I even read The Advertiser? More funnies than the competition and two crossword puzzles.

Hawaiian warrior image should be re-examined

Vili Fehoko, the UH mascot, can be a positive role model. But I have the impression that with the face paint, screaming and drumming, body flora and a giant of a man, this only reinforces the stereotype, to the haole and others watching, of a savage from a land that still uses seashells for money.

The UH Hawaiian studies department should be contacted for an intelligent opinion of what the true Hawaiian warrior is all about. We all know Vili has a big heart, and maybe now it's time to show our conference and other opponents of how big he and UH really are. If we are to make the transition to being a top-notch school with better opponents, then this is also necessary to show the real class we have.

We're lucky to get Army Stryker brigade

I can't believe the number of letters I read from Hawaiian activists who oppose the Stryker program coming to Hawai'i. Do these people realize how many Hawaiians and non-Hawaiians depend on the military for a roof over our heads and food?

There are many other states battling for the Strykers. We should be honored to be selected.

Have any of these activists seen what has happened to Barbers Point since the military left? The place is a dump — garbage everywhere.

The military is here to stay. And grow. Get used to it. God bless America!

Don't blame officer for enforcing the law

Regarding the Oct. 30 letter on the keiki carnival: I'd also like to thank all those who volunteered their time with the carnival. It's great that the community can work together for our children and our school.

As a resident of Hawai'i Kai, I do appreciate how quick our law enforcement officers are in responding to complaints to our mayor's office.

As adults, we are supposed to know the rights and wrongs. It is by choice that we lead ourselves into situations, and it is with blame we console ourselves. We are taught to abide by the law, and we expect our law-enforcement officers to heed our every call. To expect a person who is enforcing the law to bend it, even if the violation was non-hazardous, is shameful. The law is the law.

I commend this female sergeant for upholding her responsibility by enforcing what we, the community, should be obeying. This sergeant has shown commitment to the principles that police are entrusted to: integrity, for the honesty; respect, to the complainant for the vehicles being ticketed; and fairness, to all, for leading by example and abiding by the law.

HECO profits should be based on cleaner energy

Why have we set up a system that rewards the utility for creating pollution and causing more money to leave the state?

It is clear that we are not going to solve our environmental woes if companies can profit by polluting more.

Hawaiian Electric's power plants already emit some 10 million tons of global-warming-inducing carbon dioxide annually. If it really is getting hotter — as the utility has claimed the last few quarters — then this link between profits and emissions isn't something to ignore. After tens of thousands of heat-related deaths in Europe, the melting of the largest ice shelf in the Arctic last month and massive fires in California, the "dots" are nearly connecting themselves.

We can do better. Let's divorce the utility's profits from the amount of electricity it produces. After all, residents and businesses in Hawai'i aren't interested in electricity per se, rather the services it provides: cold beer, hot showers and comfortable environments. Surely we are sophisticated enough to structure a system that rewards the utility — and its shareholders — for providing more or better service reliably, cleanly and at lowest long-term cost.

Some progressive New England states have enacted rate structures to do just that. We can also implement a renewable portfolio standard, a law that requires a set amount of electricity sold by the utility be generated by clean, local sources. Such a measure, which will be discussed during the next legislative session, helps to ensure that the utility's profits can increase without more pollution, and Hawai'i's electricity prices won't increase with spikes in oil prices.

The utility and its shareholders deserve to profit. But let's find ways for them to profit by providing a cleaner, more secure energy future, not by sending Hawai'i's hard-earned dollars up in smoke.