Letters to the Editor

Help your community by watching for crimes

It is up to each of us to protect our homes against property crime. Although it is not the only answer to reducing crime, as citizens we can take action in our homes and communities that will lessen our risk of being a crime victim.

We can make it harder for criminals to target our homes. There is a "Do It Yourself Home Security Checklist" on the Honolulu Police Department's Web site (www.honolulupd.org/community/crimprv1.htm). We must know our neighbors. Knowing what is normal in our neighborhood allows us to identify what is suspicious.

We also must report suspicious activity and crime to 911. We cannot think that someone else will take care of it. It is everyone's responsibility to report information about crimes to the police.

Let's do our best to prevent crime before it happens. We need to create communities where neighbors look out for one another, and where criminals don't want to go. Start a neighborhood security watch. Call your local police station and speak with the crime-prevention officers to get started. In Mililani, call the Neighborhood Security Watch office at Mililani Town Association (440-2633). Crime is everyone's problem; as citizens, we all must do our part in preventing it.

Let's reconsider search for the attack shark

Apparently, many feel that hunting for the shark that bit off Bethany's arm is nothing more than a futile act of vengeance that will not stop future attacks from sharks and would only serve to hurt the ecosystem. Let's consider another point of view.

A few years ago, I watched a documentary on television where thousands of people in India were killed by tigers wandering into villages in search of human prey. Researchers theorized certain tigers may have acquired the taste for human flesh when they, for some reason, ventured from their normal hunting habitats, or perhaps stumbled upon the corpse of someone who died in a sandstorm or other calamity. The researchers felt that those tigers may have changed and begun to see people as a food source, losing their natural fear of humans altogether.

The most effective solution was to have hunters come in to deal with the threat.

In America, vicious dogs that maul or kill someone are often put to sleep on the premise that the dog has crossed the line and is predisposed to attack and perhaps kill someone again. Somehow, I don't feel that a 12- to 14-foot shark is any different from a vicious dog or hungry tiger.

Why can't teachers run the schools?

On Nov. 14, your front page said the education of the children in the state of Hawai'i is gaining, according to the test scores. Whatever that means. I believe the words were "significant improvement."

I heard the same words 30 years ago. As before, the union got into the act, saying we need to have smaller classrooms, more teachers and, of course, more pay. I would suggest we continue along those lines to reduce school size and to reduce the school district size.

Nov. 17's front-page article stated that more than 30,000 students are eligible for free tutoring because 81 public schools did not meet performance standards. Something is wrong here.

Why can't the teachers run the schools? Why can't they hire, vote in or appoint their administrative people?

May the teachers freely exercise their choice in what they believe is right for the children, not the union.

Lunalilo Home Road project is a disaster

So far I have not seen any benefits of the Lunalilo Home Road project. I see more potholes, poorly planned turnaround lanes and a poorly planned project.

First they had the lane lines painted on the road. From the shape of the road, they will have to repave the road, then re-draw the lines to divide the lanes once more, requiring more money and more taxes.

I wonder how tall the bushes will be in the center divider. It will probably obstruct the view for the turnaround lane and cause more accidents.

As for a beautification project, the people who live along Lunalilo Home Road now have to park their cars on their lawns. And I'm one of them. Am I the only one complaining?

Story omitted factson tech-job losses

In Sean Hao's article on Nov. 20, he neglected to mention that the AeA's study did not count biotech jobs in its survey — nor did he mention that a majority of the job losses were related to Verizon laying off its managers and other workers here.

After reading Sean's article, I would come to believe that all of these tech-job losses would point to Act 221 not working. In fact, Verizon did not receive any 221 credits and it is laying off 400 workers. Being that the total job loss was 440, it would make the numbers sound much less devastating than they appear to be. The tech industry in general is making a comeback as the economy improves, and job creation will follow.

If you are going to print an article, please do not leave out relevant facts or paint the article in favor of or against an issue. Print the facts and let us decide.

Let marketplace take care of the brain drain

Once again, an observer becomes cognizant of native-born residents of Hawai'i leaving the state and offers his plea. Gerald Farinas' commentary in the Nov. 18 Advertiser ("Brain drain must be stemmed") is certainly a thoughtful effort, but it is within the context of a model society fashioned in his mind by mainstream academics, journalists and politicians.

Those relics, as he refers to the established leadership, now control the institutions of learning, law and information. Given that Mr. Farinas was likely educated by the mainstream, his solutions to Hawai'i's problems won't amount to much more than vague ideological platitudes. Unbeknownst to him, the institutions have learned how to train "fresh faces" to regurgitate old socialistic ideas.

And why do I say socialistic? Because he assumes, like so many of his peers coming out of higher education, that the solutions to social and economic challenges rest, first and foremost, at the feet of central planners and not with free markets, private associations and voluntary organizations.

What he doesn't grasp is that many of our ills would disappear if government would concentrate on protecting basic human rights and then get out of the way.

Editorial is off-base; an EIS is imperative

Your editorial suggesting that an environmental impact statement for the Sand Island sewage sludge facility is a luxury we cannot afford is off-base, for at least two reasons:

• You assert that the sludge is to be converted into "organic fertilizer," yet the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Organic Standards expressly exclude sewage sludge (and materials derived from sludge) from use in farming that may be labeled "organic." And for very good reason.

Because of the hazardous waste materials disposed of into sewers, sludge routinely contains industrial wastes, hospital wastes (pharmaceuticals, antibiotics, disease-carrying organisms), radioactive wastes, heavy metals and synthetic organic compounds (e.g., PCBs and related compounds), as well as human fecal waste.

An assessment of the EPA sewage sludge program conducted by its own Office of the Inspector General in 2002 concluded that, "EPA cannot assure the public that current land application practices are protective of human health and the environment."

The Cornell Waste Management Institute alone has received over 350 sludge-based health complaints. Documented symptoms include respiratory complications, abscesses, reproductive complications, cysts, tumors, asthma, weight loss, fatigue, eye irritations, flu-like symptoms, gastrointestinal complications, headaches, immunodeficiency problems, lesions, nausea, nosebleeds and rashes. Nationwide, thousands of people have reported sludge-related health problems, and at least three human deaths have been attributed to sewage sludge.

• The National Environmental Policy Act, one of our oldest and most important federal environmental laws, mandates that an EIS must be prepared for a federal action that "may" significantly affect the environment. This requirement cannot be avoided simply because the EPA, or the state Department of Health, claims the process is "safe."

The law exists to ensure that the environmental and health impacts, and alternatives, are thoroughly — and publicly — assessed before decisions are made. Claiming, as the editorial does, that "we don't have time" for an EIS is irresponsible. We certainly have time to ensure that we don't make a mistake that we will all repent at our leisure.

Mass transit must be competitive

A most popular and, by most measures, hugely successful mass-transit system is already operating on O'ahu. It's known as the car. If alternate commuter transit systems are to succeed, they must successfully compete.

Such a contest is won or lost on the net results of thousands of individual consumers who compare the costs (dollar-wise, time-wise, psychologically, etc.) associated with the alternatives. Therefore, if an alternative system is to succeed, it must seem to be a better overall choice than the system it seeks to supplant.

Commuter rail systems work best where it's less costly to get to a station, pay the fare for the train, and then get to one's destination — compared with the costs of commuting by car. Therefore, rail works best in locales where residential population density is high and commercial density is also high — New York City is a good example. Easy walks on both ends of the commute are critical.

In other venues, rail systems are invariably subsidized by tax dollars and rarely result in less highway traffic because commuters remain free to alter their behavior based upon changes in costs over time. (Look at Baltimore and Miami as examples.)

Therefore, any success that a train has in cutting road traffic undercuts its future success unless draconian taxes are arbitrarily levied on motorists — and the current proposal to hike auto registration taxes to pay for police raises is a hint this type mindset is already deep-rooted in Honolulu Hale.

What typically occurs when suburban-urban commuter rail systems are built is that they don't get much use — until developers build high-density residences and business centers near the stations. Indeed, Washington, D.C.'s Metro system ran largely empty until high-density development occurred near its stops. Meanwhile, road traffic in and around Washington has steadily worsened over the 27 years Metro has been open.

Our leaders here in Hawai'i need to look at New York, Washington, Los Angeles, Miami and other cities for clear illustrations of ever-worsening traffic — despite the fiscal black-hole presence of commuter rail.

However, if the real purpose for a light-rail system on O'ahu is to reward landholders (those who own property near stations), commuter rail is a great way to make them rich. Or, if another real reason is to penalize those who aren't "sophisticated" enough to not want or need to drive cars, it'll work to achieve that, too.

However, if you don't already live in a high-rise in Kapolei (are there any?) next to where a rail station would be located and have a job in downtown, you'll very likely be one of us who will still fester in traffic wondering what commuter rail has done for you — other than lighten your wallet, of course.