Letters to the Editor

Prison doesn't solve Hawai'i's ice problem

I have been attending the various meetings around town and listening to the rhetoric of fear about the "ice epidemic" and cannot help but wonder what the legislative agenda will be when the dust settles for the 2004 session. I hope that "get tough" legislation is not the only thing that comes from this. That will result in the same old "song and dance."

Locking up drug addicts by itself does not solve the drug problem. Treatment and prevention strategies are where money is desperately needed. You can lock them up, and when they're released, these people are still drug-addicted — only now they're better criminals because they've gone to criminal "graduate school."

Also, don't make the mistake of over-simplification, that the drug problem in this state is only ice. Alcohol and tobacco still kill more people than all other drugs combined.

Paper should not have published pictures

Does The Advertiser have no shame?

You've exposed these beautiful children to a life of embarrassment and humiliation with your profile of them on the front page ("Children of ice," Sept. 14).

These children are the innocent offspring of their parents' ignoble behavior.

You have caused them to be pointed out by their peers and neighbors. Embarrassed by their community and teased by their classmates. You should've printed a picture of the parents — not the blameless children.

You could've shielded and protected these children from exposure — not exploited them for your copy.

You've done them a great injustice, and I pray they'll recover from your stupidity.

Misconceptions abound about 'aweoweo run

It seems as though everyone is talking about the recent 'aweoweo run, and it's time to clarify some misconceptions.

First of all, runs such as these are very unusual and cause major disruptions in the reef's ecosystem. Because 'aweoweo are predators, the enormous quantity of them hunting the reefs poses a serious threat to inhabitants smaller than they are.

Competition among them is fierce, and the resulting "feeding frenzy" demonstrates the lack of food available to sustain the school. (Fishermen have even commented that some fish were caught by biting and holding on to the lead sinker.)

Frequent anglers have noticed that the condition of the fish being caught is beginning to deteriorate as food sources begin to dwindle and 'aweoweo begin to aggress against each other.

The fact of the matter is that the reef will never be able to support such a huge population and, as is always the case, a massive fish kill is inevitable. Even if it were possible to allow these fish to grow to maturity, no one would want this to occur. Every species of aquatic life would be in serious jeopardy.

I do not by any means condone the gross overfishing and greed demonstrated by some of the anglers. This type of mentality has certainly led to the depletion of our resource. However, Clay Tam's comment that "There's plenty to go around as long as they use it and don't abuse it" is right on the money. Catch what you need, but realize that this is an exceptional situation.

Gas price caps aren't free-market thinking

If our legislators think gas caps are such a good idea, why on earth did they pick California for the cap price?

That bill was passed just after I had been on a trip to Southern California and Arizona. Arizona prices at that time were really low. We crossed back into California and they zoomed to very high rates, and when we got back to Hawai'i, we were 10 cents less per gallon. California continues to be as expensive as or more so than Hawai'i.

Congressman Case mentioned in his Sept. 12 commentary something about relief for rural O'ahu. The last few times I've been to Wai'anae or Makaha, prices there were about 15 cents less per gallon than Honolulu or Kailua. I've asked, but have not found out, why this seems to be consistently the case.

Sen. Hemmings is correct that everything is more expensive here. Where would the legislation start and stop? Why not cap the price of cereal, beef, vegetables and maybe toilet paper, while we are at it? How about cars, televisions, computers? Where else would we like lower prices? Those grocers and manufacturers must be making an excessive profit. Let's pass a bill!

Sorry, but this is not competitive free-market thinking. It is communistic.

Recycling program seeks community's feedback

Feedback and community input are integral to the success of the pilot curbside recycling project.

Greg Chapman from Mililani was hoping to have more opportunity to provide the city with input prior to the start of the pilot curbside recycling program (Letters, Sept. 14). He's rooting for success and felt his "two cents" could help. Bill Nelson from Hale'iwa felt that the curbside system needed to be piloted in different neighborhoods to test its applicability in areas with varying demographics (Letters, Sept. 15).

Input and feedback from island residents is exactly what the city is looking for during this pilot phase from both within and outside the Mililani community. Of course, we will be focusing on Mililani with surveys and monitoring of the operations, but we welcome comments and suggestions from everyone.

During the four-month pilot, the city will be gathering data through three phone surveys (a pre-program survey has already been conducted), a written online survey at the end of the pilot, and in-the-field monitoring of household refuse/recycling set-out, collection operations and processing operations at the recycling/composting facilities.

Our phone line and e-mail are open full time for comments and questions. Pilot information is posted on our Web site at www.opala.org. Call us at 692-5410 or send an e-mail through the Web site.

All comments and questions are being tracked and will be included in the evaluation. And, if there are opportunities to make adjustments in the pilot program, we certainly will.

A pilot project opens the door for community feedback. It's one of the best ways for us to measure interest, test what works and smooth out the kinks. More will be gained from a pilot program than from further public hearings or meetings. I think we've discussed the concept sufficiently at several City Council public meetings.

It's time to roll out a program, even if it's in just one community, and give us more to talk about.