Posted on: Friday, October 10, 2003

Letters to the Editor

Another potential problem next year

The city failed to anticipate the number of senior citizens applying for their new bus passes and now scrambles for resources, equipment and personnel to handle the volume. What happens next year when all these seniors have to renew their annual bus passes?

Wouldn't it have been better to stagger the renewals so as not to create another deluge of bus-pass renewals? Spreading the renewals over several months is not rocket science.

Driving a bus means having to say I'm sorry

As a city bus driver, I would like to apologize for having a spine.

I'm sorry for setting the tone for thousands of other public employees to get the raises they deserve. I'm sorry for standing up to the city when it was going to make 100,000 hours of service cuts to bus schedules. I'm sorry for having the self-confidence that it takes to not settle for status quo.

In five years when this contract is over, I'll remember to lie down and let the mayor and OTS walk all over me and my family.

Buses are essential to riders, retailers

Welcome back, buses! As a bus rider who commutes to work downtown every day, I have observed the following since the buses started rolling again:

• The aisles of Long's downtown packed with people (compared to nearly empty a week ago).

• Elderly shoppers filling Chinatown's markets, talking with one another, laughing and buying fresh produce.

• Forty-four people boarding the 4 o'clock bus to 'Ewa Gentry — at the first stop!

During the strike, there were those who booed TheBus. But TheBus is an essential service, not only for those who ride it, but also for those whose income depends on customers who are bus riders.

The hours of endless traffic caused by additional cars on the road during the strike shows us how much all of us depend on safe and efficient public transportation. Mahalo, TheBus!

Runoff trash problem seems to be out of hand

On Sept. 13, The Honolulu Advertiser reported on the trash that flowed down from the nearby mountains into the Ala Wai Canal due to heavy rains. I live in Waikiki, and I could not believe the mounds of trash I saw that day.

My wife and I love Hawai'i and plan to stay here until we die; but as a newcomer, I am appalled at the trash I see in the drainage ditches around the area, as well as trash all over the island and in the streets every day. Barf!

I know tourists contribute to the problem, too, but it makes me wonder what kind of people live in Hawai'i and how they feel about it. I feel as if I have moved to a Third World country that knows or cares little about the environment. If I am incorrect, please let me know.

Leonard Leong should continue on commission

I grew up in Honolulu with The Honolulu Advertiser and now keep up with Hawai'i news from Maryland via The Advertiser's Web site. I am now compelled to express my views on the controversy surrounding Leonard Leong's volunteer position on the Police Commission.

Before passing judgment on his continuance, the public should consider whether his misdemeanor charge has impacted his dedication and effectiveness as a commissioner. His effectiveness has earned him the Police Department's 2001 Citizenship Award. I have observed him interrupting his Mainland visits to his children to conduct police business.

His decision whether to continue after nearly seven years as a commissioner will be based on his caring nature rather than on legality. The public would be best served by retaining the service of such an unselfish citizen.

Good surfing days are, indeed, precious

The first high-surf advisory of the winter is now in effect. The surf has been small until today, and this first swell is stormy (poor quality). There are a few surfers out at Sunset Beach, some at Waimea Bay and a couple of intrepid souls scattered along the outer reefs.

It is Oct. 3, a couple of weeks after the first scheduled surf contest, and the first good day of winter surf has yet to arrive.

Good surfing days are, indeed, precious.

Where are the adults?

According to Associated Press reporter Ron Fournier (Advertiser, Oct. 8), Arnold Schwarzenegger's victory in California was an act of "voter petulance." Petulance? Kids and teens pouting because they can't get their way? As a native and longtime resident of California, I ask, where are the adults? Come on, people, grow up!

Private schooling doesn't mean success

Experts, including William Ouchi, say principals and parents must have more power or else schools will not get significantly better. Mr. Ouchi adds that Hawai'i public school students consistently perform below students nationally on standardized tests. Parents who can afford it send their children to private schools for better education. There is no good excuse for this to continue. He then ridicules the 258 bureaucratic principals.

Laura Thielen says, "We are failing our students miserably."

Mr. Ouchi argues that the parents are to choose what public schools their children should attend and become better educated. Then, please tell us what Mr. Ouchi's grandparents did for his parents to ensure their better education? Did his grandparents choose the schools that his father should attend? What elementary, intermediate and high schools did his parents attend? Were they graduates of private universities? Mr. and Mrs. Ouchi are success stories.

Were the governor and Thielen graduates of the private school system? Did they graduate from private universities?

A craps dealer at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas told me that he is a graduate of Castle High School. Then, pointing to a fellow worker dealing at a black jack table, he said laughingly, "He's a Punahou grad."

DOE needs an overhaul a la Gen. George Patton

In Franklin Schaffner's 1969 classic film "Patton," a memorable passage is attributed to the cavalry general as he takes over command of the whipped force recently humiliated by Rommel's Afrika Korps at Kasserine Pass in Tunisia: "A blind man could see it in a minute. They don't look like soldiers, they don't act like soldiers, they can't be expected to fight like soldiers."

This scene was called to mind by The Advertiser's recent report that "Schools (are) puzzled by lower scores" (Oct. 5).

Why anyone should be "puzzled" is a mystery; a blind man could see it in a minute.

The so-called department of "education" that has refused to establish an academic curriculum and is unable to define performance standards aligned to curriculum with which to assess either student achievement or teacher effectiveness will not even define a common grading scale to quantify the grades A, B, C, etc., yet continually whines about being underfunded.

Student scores — determined by tests on material that students may or may not have been taught — cannot be expected to be anything but dismal in the belly of a gargantuan, lavishly funded, chaotic ad hocracy. That beast is guided by one and only one survival strategy: protect adult careers, point fingers every which way, CYA at every opportunity ... and to hell with the kids.

Maybe it is time for the voters of this state to embrace the remedy successfully applied by George S. Patton in 1943: "We're going to turn those boys into razors. They'll soon lose their fear of the Germans. I only hope to God they never lose their fear of me."

The DOE is the enemy. Innocent public-school children are victims in need of rescue. In less than 13 months, there will be an election in which the fate of the DOE may be put into the hands of the voters if the governor resurrects and champions her legislative package of ed reform.

If the voters become razors, the DOE may be in for more than just a close shave.

HECO is behind renewable energy

In a Sept. 19 Island Voices commentary, Rep. Cynthia Thielen enthusiastically discussed the potential of wave power and suggested that this future promise makes it worth paying more for it today.

At HECO, we agree that strong support for renewable energy is critical to reducing our state's use of fossil fuels and moving us in the direction of an energy future we would all like to see. And we believe there are renewable sources that can be tapped now that don't require our customers to pay a premium price.

At the same time, we support the research and development efforts that will help bring other energy sources like wave power to the point of commercial maturity and a more reasonable cost to our customers.

That's why we recently formed a subsidiary, Renewable Hawaii Inc., to help provide financing to renewable energy ventures that are commercially viable and cost-effective today. RHI's objective is to get more of those renewable energy sources on line serving Hawai'i as soon as possible. We're off to a promising start.

RHI's recent Request for Project Proposals for O'ahu yielded eight diverse proposals from companies as far away as Russia. Three of those proposals are now undergoing further screening; all three are proven renewable technologies that have the potential to provide power at a competitive price for our O'ahu customers. This month, RHI also issued a second request for renewable projects serving Maui, Moloka'i or Lana'i. Proposals are due by December.

On a parallel track, HECO is partnering on research and demonstration projects to help develop renewables that are not commercially viable into a more cost-effective option. In a report to the Legislature, the state DBEDT has put wave power in this category.

When it comes to wave power, HECO is working with the Navy to provide engineering support for the Kane'ohe Marine Corps Base wave project, including input on how the technology can be safely and reliably interconnected to the grid. Other partnerships — such as the Hawaii Fuel Cell Test Facility at HECO's Ward Avenue site with the UH-Manoa's Hawai'i Natural Energy Institute, the Office of Naval Research and UTC Fuel Cells — are helping other technologies move toward future commercial use.

We all agree on the important goal of reducing Hawai'i's use of fossil fuels. Our three-pronged approach in partnership with our customers includes using more energy-efficient equipment, the best applications of combined heat and power technology and the development of renewable energy.

When it comes to providing support for renewable energy, it is important not to confuse today with tomorrow. There are likely a thousand ways to make electricity from renewable sources, but only a handful of them can currently produce power at a competitive price for customers today. We need to support both categories of renewable energy in a way that is in the best interests of our customers.