Letters to the Editor

Trying to find, kill shark is a bad idea

This is in response to Dan Stillman's Nov. 5 letter regarding his belief in going out and killing the shark that attacked that young surfer recently.

First off, tiger sharks don't remain in a given territory for long. How could fishermen know this shark was the shark that attacked her without senselessly killing who knows how many animals in the process?

Second, how can anyone blame sharks for attacking people? The ocean is their natural environment, not ours. No one is forced to go into the water. Anyone who does is doing so at his own risk. All surfers realize this. Everyone else should, too.

There's a better way to handle traffic jams

It seems quite absurd that our city and state governments are once again considering spending in excess of $2 billion in an attempt to solve a traffic problem that occurs for about two hours only on weekday mornings and afternoons. For the rest of the day, traffic along the H-1 Freeway moves relatively smoothly, at the posted speed limit.

The goal: To reduce by a couple thousand (perhaps 30 percent) the number of vehicles traveling east to west along this corridor, between the hours of 6 and 8 a.m., Monday through Friday. And at the same timeÊprovide adequate, low-cost public transportation for the displaced drivers to the downtown business area.

The solution: Establish strategically placed toll booths at the entrances to the freeway, extracting a fee of, say, $1 or $2 from all single-occupied vehicles. All other vehicles would proceed at no charge. The fee collected would be used to subsidize city buses, which would provide free transportation to Ho-nolulu. Free parking and bus pickup service would be provided at locations such as Aloha Stadium.

No such remedy would be required during the afternoon drive as the entire problem would be parked at the stadium.

Keep your fingers away from our income

This a very good idea; however, why is it that the only way to make this dream come true is to raise taxes? Keep your pineapple-picking fingers off the gasoline tax, the retail tax and any other taxes that involve killing locals' income.

Why can't we float bonds to cover the money needed to provide transportation for the citizens of O'ahu? Haven't there been enough studies and money spent to provide the powers-that-be a good foundation for a mass-transit system?

Let's hope that the powers-that-be consider the entire island, not just the western portion of the island (it's on its way to over-population).

Schools can already deal with disruptions

Again, the governor's advisers have failed to do their homework (Advertiser, Nov. 2) when she proposes to introduce legislation that would give teachers the ability to remove disruptive students from their classrooms. And again, she implies that the Board of Education and the Department of Education have failed by not proposing such legislation.

Just so the governor knows, the BOE has a policy addressing student discipline, and there are currently laws that provide both administrators and teachers with the right to remove disruptive students from their classrooms or schools (Chapter 19). The teachers' contract further reinforces this right of removal of disruptive students.

Problems of student discipline do exist. More often than not, teachers do not make student referrals because of lack of support from administrators or the need to have more, if not better, classroom management skills. Usually, principals do not document infractions because of lack of facilities to place disruptive students, perceptions of ineffectiveness by the amount of reported infractions and lack of proper training.

What is badly needed is legislation and funding to provide for more classrooms (smaller class sizes), alternative learning centers where disruptive students can learn responsibility and respect for oneself and others, and professional development for teachers and administrators. At least this would make more sense than reinventing the wheel.

Paper should leave Kamehameha alone

Regarding your Nov. 6 editorial on the Kamehameha Schools "scandal": I disagree with your statement that Kamehameha "has made itself a subject of great public interest ... " and that the school should "share the results of its findings and the changes it might impose with the rest of the community."

This is a private matter among the students, their families and the school. There are lots of people who just don't want to hear what you think about Kamehameha. I am one of them. Go pick on some other private school for a change.

Everyone must join in on water conservation

Hawai'i's water is a most precious resource, but it is running low.

Tell everyone you know to conserve. Be creative and examine your lifestyle and see where you can reduce the amount of water used — from not running the water while brushing teeth, shaving and doing dishes to shorter showers, fewer loads of laundry, fixing leaks and many other creative water-saving measures.

We at the residential level can effectively reduce the water levels consumed, and the results will be more precious water for our health and living. Continuous water consciousness needs to be each person's daily activism. This is not anything the government can do.

Letters to the editor are basically preaching to the choir. Well, here is a call to the choir to start singing out.

Distance-learning campus would better serve state

The expenses for a conventional Kapolei campus for West O'ahu are daunting; so why can't we think more creatively about its future?

UH-West O'ahu has outstanding faculty, many of whom have embraced distance learning. Why not build a small cluster of offices all wired for state-of-the-art online distance learning in Kapolei's business section? A few attractive classrooms can serve students who are a short commute from the physical campus.

Quality online distance learning serves students located anywhere in the state, and faculty and students can have asynchronous discussions that can be exceptionally rich, with a good teacher. It's already been shown that online distance learning can be as effective as traditional classes while containing infrastructure costs. The technology required is expensive, but today the Internet is a must for communication.

Examples of successful online distance learning already exist: University of Illinois, Penn State, State University of New York, for example. All are accredited, have quality standards, and their distance-learning enrollments have grown exponentially without lowering faculty salaries, and with relatively small classes that foster interaction. Some have Hawai'i students.

Hawai'i can create an affordable West O'ahu campus that serves the entire state.