Letters to the Editor

Editorial on gambling had faulty reasoning

Your recent editorial on the "decreasing interest in gambling" is another example of your continuous "spin" on this subject.

Your reasoning is based upon voters in a few states who recently voted down riverboat and Indian reservation gambling. What you failed to mention was that those states already have legalized gambling in some form.

I would venture to say that more people voted down Indian reservation gambling because of its history than the "evils of gambling." Where Indian reservation gambling does exist, most of the Indians receive nothing from the casino profits; for those who do, most squander it on drugs, booze and worldly possessions, and many gamblers feel the slots on the reservations are much "tighter" than in Vegas or Atlantic City.

I don't care if gambling comes to Hawai'i. Neither do the couple of thousand who fly to Vegas on the daily non-stops.

But many of us can see through your editorials.

Assessment test results misinterpreted

An article in the Nov. 14 paper on assessment tests in Hawai'i's public schools reports that in math, fourth-graders showed "significant improvement" and eighth-graders made "smaller gains." It's not at all clear that this is true.

Reading the article closely, you find that the 2003 math test is not the same format as the 2000 test. Therefore, higher scores can mean either that learning has improved, or simply that the test is easier, or a combination of both. There is no way to separate these two factors.

The only meaningful thing to do in this case is to compare Hawai'i scores against the national average. Here you get a different picture. In the fourth-grade math test, Hawai'i lagged the national average by 5 points in 1992, 7 points in 1996, 8 points in 2000 and 7 points in 2003. Hardly a "significant improvement." In the eighth-grade math test, Hawai'i has remained a steady 10 points below the national average on all four occasions.

The article does not state if the reading test is the same as in previous years. But again comparing Hawai'i to the national average, fourth-graders have improved from a 13-point deficit in 1998 to an 8-point deficit in 2003; eighth-graders have improved slightly from a 12-point deficit to a 10-point deficit, contrary to the headline "reading holds steady."

Interpreting test scores is a tricky business, and absolute numbers should be treated with caution, particularly when test formats are changing.

Moratorium needed to stem urban sprawl

A few weeks ago, I was invited to speak to those people at Makakilo concerned with the seemingly unchecked growth in their community. I was impressed by their enthusiasm, like sign-waving, distributing leaflets and generally doing everything they can think of to get their government leaders to put the brakes on the urban sprawl steamroller before it is too late for Makakilo.

What they say they need is a moratorium on development in their area, and from what I saw, their concerns seem justified.

Revealingly, the one-hour-plus drive out to Makakilo led me to believe the moratorium should not stop at Makakilo's gate.

Kaho'olawe is proof that activism pays off

Kaho'olawe is a good example of what happens when you voice your mana'o, when you go to hearings, when you hold signs about Hawaiian issues, when you give testimony, when you write letters to the newspaper and sometimes get arrested or even die when you persevere.

I always hear the same excuse from Hawaiians: "Why bother? You can't change anything."

For those Hawaiians sitting on the sidelines and not out there fighting for the Hawaiian culture, I suggest you move to Las Vegas because if you don't fight for your culture, you don't deserve to live in Hawai'i. Read the Hawaiian Apology law 103-150. Get off your rear end and get involved now.

Lingle understands the need for rail system

Gov. Linda Lingle has the right idea to improve the traffic flow in Honolulu by proposing the rail system.

She understands that the longer we postpone this project, the higher the price tag will be. She also understands that not everything we do in life can be measured with a price tag.

For those of you who have to endure the morning and afternoon traffic gridlock every weekday, you all will agree that having a smoother flow of traffic will improve the quality of our daily life.

The mess with Act 221 should be cleaned up

As a supporter of a strong and sustainable technology industry, I would like to get a few points across to our legislators before the next session begins.

The mess with Act 221 should be a wake-up call to both sides. The administration continues to claim massive abuse of Act 221 and wishes to change the law. The tech community has been asking for proof, and so far none has been presented. The fight can be summed up by saying that there was no vision, leadership or goals set in the passing of Act 221.

The vision was spread all over the map; there was no clear-cut and defined vision for building a tech industry. One only needs to look at provisions lumping performing arts in with Act 221 to see this. Research and development was thrown into the mix without limiting the applicants, causing a giant controversy.

No one person stood up and took responsibility for the project. There was no leader charged with developing the vision and the plan — it was left up to everybody. That is politically the easy way out because the folks that put together Act 221 are mostly gone now.

The goals of the act were never defined. It was simply to build a tech industry in Hawai'i and to provide high-paying jobs. The present administration hasn't even released all of its statistics for 2001 yet, and we are nearing 2004.

If there is ever a time to learn from past mistakes, this is it. The legislative session is nearing, and we need to move beyond Act 221. In creating new legislation, I would hope both sides can sit down and come up with a clearly defined plan with measurable goals that require statistical reporting in a timely manner.

It would help us to be able to clearly see the direction to take next and would help define policy for the next administration. Responsible lawmaking leads to successful endeavors.