Posted on: Tuesday, September 23, 2003

Letters to the Editor

NCAA double standards for Wie, Theocharidis

I just wanted to be sure that I understand this correctly.

Michelle Wie has already played with both men and women professional golfers in professional tournaments with amateur standing and will retain that standing throughout her high school and, possibly, college years, until which time she decides to turn pro.

Costas Theocharidis played about 20 games with professional volleyball players (for which he received absolutely no compensation) and the NCAA is taking away the national championship in men's volleyball from UH.

I want to commend the NCAA for its remarkable consistency in interpreting rules governing "amateurism" in the various sports over which it has control.

Cancerous growth is no longer sustainable

It hope it is not too late to deal with the never-ending "sustainable growth." The handwriting has been on the wall for some time.

Once we get saltwater mixed in with our fresh water, we've gone over the top. Our fresh water is seriously endangered. To continue to promote "sustainable" growth by desalinization will be at a great cost environmentally and in both taxes and individual water bills.

Something is wrong when we worry about the drought and promote more in-migration of both tourists and those recruited to purchase homes in the ongoing housing development. While developers have run with their short-term profits in their pockets, the taxpayers will pick up the permanent tab to operate new schools, highways, police stations, parks, libraries, etc. Whatever happened to tried and true (and honest) cost-benefit analysis?

The thought of more and more dreadful ribbons of concrete highways, especially the latest plan for a two-story concrete mess, is another indication of the lack of assessing the negative growth consequences, such as environmental damage and crowding. Long ago we reached our capacity. From this point on, growth is not environmentally sustainable.

Developers and their politician accomplices don't seem to realize that the only way to sustain this island is to put an end to growth.

Is there no means in a democracy to control such devastation in both the ecosystem and in the society? I thought the zoning concept had something to do with controlling what happens to this 'aina. In-the-box thinking says growth is always good. But what they don't acknowledge is that growth is also cancer.

We had better take a good look at ourselves

When any species aggressively consumes the ecosystem it relies upon, the scarcity of resources created by unchecked consumption automatically curtails expansion of the species. Humans are not beyond this process.

While we convince ourselves of intellectual superiority over the rest of creation, we use the intellect to promote the survival instinct, consuming resources necessary for survival into the future.

Dwindling resources encourages a species to turn upon itself, competing for survival in a slow, rebalancing act of self-destruction. As we struggle to cooperatively and consciously manage our lives, survivalist tension accumulating in the subconscious collective mind manifests as predatory aggression, undermining cooperative activity. In individuals, this tension erupts as emotional dissonance.

The kind of drugs becoming increasingly popular in American culture indicate a desire to anesthetize awareness from the constant and increasing tension emanating from the subconscious. This is an understandable reaction to a culture that promotes individual success over social well-being, profit over people, obscurity over honesty.

If we are serious about addressing our drug problem, we had better take a good look at ourselves. The core of the problem goes much deeper than economic inequality or family instability. We must penetrate our hypocritical complacency, examining the corrupt values our culture entertains. We must become honest about our excessive predation as a species, and work cooperatively to assure a life worth living for all.

Every individual must be willing to become aware of his own motivations before effectively influencing the motivations of others.

Harris has dodged illegal-donation bullet

With there being nearly 20 suspected fund-raising minions arrested, seven pleading no contest, and a guilty plea ("First guilty plea in Harris probe," Sept. 17) — many of whom were well-known attorneys, business people or engineers — I can think of only one question: Why hasn't any of this stuck to Mayor Harris or the head of this fund-raising campaign?

Surely they had to have known, or should have known, that his campaign organization was participating in illegal activity. He was the top dog of the organization, and the buck should stop with him.

But nothing is going to change if we only slap these people with a $300 fine. Does that punishment make someone who willfully and illegally gives away thousands of dollars even cringe? I doubt it.

Overthrow, will are part of the debate

A Sept. 17 letter on Kamehameha Schools implies that the 1893 overthrow and the will creating the school have no relation to the ongoing debate about entrance.

Not — they have much to do with each other. Because the 14th Amendment was for a special purpose, to address those who suffered involuntary servitude or slavery. And today a right-wing approach to all existing problems seeks to apply a form of reverse discrimination under the 14th Amendment as a desirable colorblind approach. And to conveniently apply the 14th Amendment to the institution of Kamehameha.

Kamehameha was created in the image of its nation's founder and government, which was disabled by force but is still a matter of debate or discussion as never having given up its jurisdiction and assets, and is noted in the apology and draft Akaka bills.

Who are we to believe, with the issue of reconciliation being called for in the apology bill?

Recycling your trash isn't rocket science

What do we have to do to convince people that recycling is easy? I'm sure everyone already knows that recycling does a lot of good for everyone, but do people know that it takes little or no effort at all?

It isn't complicated at all. Separate trash before you bag it so you don't have to sort it later. All you need is another small bin for recyclables. As you throw things away, put glass, paper, plastics and aluminum in one bin, all other trash in another. Even if people are "too busy," I'm sure they could handle this.

As for trash pickup, if reduced to once a week, it'll be fine. Daily trash will be reduced because people will be recycling. If not, $8 a month is a minimal cost, even for a college student like me.

Recycling should be a major part of our culture because ignoring the problem won't make it go away.

Games were marred by UH fans' violence

I had the opportunity to watch the two recent University of Hawai'i road games at USC and UNLV.

I was appalled at the behavior of some of the UH fans at the UNLV game. With eight minutes left in the game and UH playing poorly, several fights broke out in the stands. From what I observed, the fights were instigated by several inebriated and frustrated UH hotheads.

Perhaps this is the first time these so-called "fans" attended a game outside of Aloha Stadium. It was apparent that they did not know how to handle themselves when visiting someone else's stadium.

Fans should be encouraged to cheer for their respective teams. However, this should never rise to physical altercations.

I was truly ashamed to be a Hawai'i fan that night. I can handle the loss on the field but not the loss to the state of Hawai'i's dignity and honor.

Mayor should give union its pay raise

Why is the mayor of Honolulu holding the entire island of O'ahu hostage with public transportation? It has been three weeks with no progress at the table.

The union is asking for a small pay raise to keep up with the cost of living that will be covered with the new fare. It is time to give them this and let the people of O'ahu ride the bus again so we can continue our lives and get back to normal as soon as possible.

Bus drivers shouldn't make more than I do

I am an elementary school teacher in Kailua. Rarely have I been as moved to public discourse as I have been regarding the bus strike.

It is utterly appalling that many bus drivers, earning $44,000, make over $22,000 more than I did as a full-time teacher in Pearl City only two years ago; when I started teaching third grade, my salary was $21,700. My average workweek was about 60 hours long. My salary this year is still below $30,000, and, yes, I still work between 60 and 70 hours each week.

A society that rewards its bus drivers more than its educators is heading down a one-way road to destruction, and I for one am sick and tired of the endless whining I hear from the union about its drivers being underpaid. There is something wrong with this picture.

It is no small wonder why the DOE is struggling to fill positions in our public schools. Why should I work as a teacher for 60 to 70 hours per week to move a brain from one point to another when I could work fewer hours and earn nearly twice the pay for moving the whole body from one point to another as a bus driver?

I say, let the bus strike continue. Put the money we save on an over-paid, revenue-losing transportation workforce toward increasing the compensation of those responsible for educating the future generation of problem-solvers.

Kanoelani Gibson is still Hawai'i's Miss America

Congratulations to Miss Hawai'i, Kanoelani Gibson, for a great finish at Miss America. First runner-up is still very good and is one step from that title just in case.

She performed superbly. Being away from the Islands for 10 years, my family and I were awestruck watching her perform in all phases of competition. We are now in Nevada, and there is no humble feeling of support for anything up here.

One personal note, Kanoe: Even though you came home without the crown, you're Hawai'i's Miss America. Way to go.

Bus drivers already have received raise

Bus drivers either don't read the newspaper or fail to comprehend what they read — otherwise they would know they have already received their increase via the increased premiums to maintain their current benefits.

Everyone else knows that the substantial increase in Kaiser, HMSA, et al., premiums means that employers will need to lay off some workers or increase employee contributions, and employees know they will either lose their jobs and their benefits, or end up paying much higher deductibles.

Since bus drivers obviously do not understand the simple mathematics of living in Hawai'i today (especially on less than $40,000 per year), I suggest giving them the same medical/dental/vision/pension benefits as other working-class people over the next three years.

If nothing else, bus drivers will at least learn to be grateful for what they have received from taxpayers.

Negotiators aren't being inconvenienced

Enough is enough! How long do we put up with such nonsense?

What do we need to solve this problem? We need leaders. People dedicated to do what it takes to put the buses back in service. What do we have? We have people on both sides of the table with the biggest egos around, still collecting full paychecks and not personally inconvenienced by the strike, while the people of O'ahu struggle day to day.

So far, the so-called "talks" have been a big joke.

Each leader knew that nothing was going to come of it. Maybe that is why the news stations' coverage of this strike is dwindling down to almost nothing.

Our roads not the worst

Regarding the Focus section commentary Sept. 21 on poor roads: The statement "Hawai'i's roads the worst-maintained in the nation" gave me a good laugh when I think of the potholes in Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Philadelphia that I have traveled on for years.