Letters to the Editor

Not much was settled in bus drivers' strike

Bus strike settled? What is settled? Teamsters VP Jim Santangelo says the contract offer is doo-doo because they can never get enough money. The drivers say they're unhappy but they're happy to get back to work.

The City Council admits it doesn't have a clue how much money it takes to run the bus system and is secretly hoping that ridership will fall to such lows that there will have to be layoffs and route reductions, and the maestro who orchestrated this whole mess, Mayor Jeremy Harris, brags that he will be out of office soon and this whole mess can fall on someone else's shoulders.

The community showed its toughness and banded together to provide rides for family, friends and strangers, though the more marginal members of the community have truly suffered.

Dear Jeremy has generously offered up a week's worth of free rides while Honolulu gets taken for a ride for the $6.8 million that the City Council wants people to entrust to its brilliance. Knowing that my next bus pass will cost 40 bucks leaves me unsettled.

Monorail system should be studied

Your recent articles regarding the transportation situation here in Hawai'i prompts me to suggest that the newly formed transportation board look into the creation of a monorail to run between Honolulu and the rapidly developing area along O'ahu's southwest coast.

A monorail operates cleanly and quietly, and can run alongside existing roadways without downgrading the neighborhoods they cross. Monorails are currently used in such cities as Miami, Portland and Osaka, Japan. Monorails are elevated, so they do not create the automotive interaction problems of light rail systems such as those in Los Angeles, where drivers have never fully adapted to the rail crossings and accidents are routine.

While the idea of monorails has often been rejected by transit managers, they could be used to great advantage here in Hawai'i. And if the infrastructure elements (cars and track) are currently available only from overseas, well then, there is an opportunity to create jobs by producing them here.

Hawai'i has shown itself willing to examine fresh alternatives to gridlock problems in the past; the "zipper lane" system is one example. I call upon Hawai'i's transit development community to examine the monorail alternative and show the world we are able to manage transportation problems with innovative and imaginative solutions.

Bring back War Dept.

Considering the current Bush administration's aggressive policy of embarking on pre-emptive wars, perhaps it is time that we change the name of our Defense Department back to the War Department, as it was named before and during World War II.

Edgy Lee's film on ice epidemic boring

Edgy Lee's film on Hawai'i's ice epidemic is important because it brought attention to a very serious problem. Only hurricanes and tsunamis get more coverage.

But the film itself was painful, not powerful. It was like watching an extremely long public service announcement brought to you by all of the recognizable faces in law enforcement and public office that Lee could think of. Then we were bombarded with statistics, statistics, statistics.

What's more, the historical narrative of ice use in the U.S. (which was plastered in the middle of the film) occasionally made no sense. And did that music come straight off court TV?

Unfortunately, the audience was shown only brief testimonies of ice abusers and ex-abusers, which is the heart and soul of a powerful documentary. Maybe "Frontline" will give it a try.

Program on ice scary but sends a message

When I saw the television program on ice, I got scared. But then my parents told me the program is just telling you about a really bad drug. And so I realized it wasn't scary but it was put in a scary way, because it was telling you you shouldn't take ice, and I hope all of us don't take ice. I hope the doctors will make a medication to cure ice and destroy ice for good.

So, kids who watched the television program, don't be scared, it's just telling you what ice is all about. And I hope it will never be sold to any of our schools and children. We all realize we should never take drugs in the first place.

Drugs are bad for you, like cigarettes that make your lungs go bad and you can die, and like alcohol because if you drink it you can get in a car accident if you drive, and it won't be our fault because you're the one who drank it. If you drink alcohol, another person should drive the car.

Never take ice; it's bad for you.

Artifact re-interment was proper decision

This is in response to your Sept. 24 editorial regarding the Hawaiian Homes Commission's denial of Bishop Museum's request to enter the Kawaihae caves.

As you correctly pointed out, Bishop Museum originally gave its blessing to Hui Malama and its intent to re-inter the artifacts, a correction of the wrong done by their removal in 1905. Now the museum, because of "liability" concerns, would like them removed again.

In the Hawaiian language, the word "kuleana" can mean responsibility or liability. I believe the action taken to re-inter the artifacts was an appropriate demonstration of the former.

Race-based preferences don't divide peoples

Regarding the Sept. 23 article "Akaka bill called divisive": It is of interest that the greatest opponent to the bill, Sen. Jon Kyl, is a representative of an area with a large number of Native American reservations, which include the Tohono Oodham, Pasqua Yaqui and Apaches.

Therefore, how can Sen. Kyl say race-based preferences will divide the community and cause conflict when in his own district this conflict has not happened?

Since I go to the University of Arizona, which is located very near these reservations, I have observed the benefits of them: Tribes get free tuition at all universities in the state, and they have their own government organizations, from healthcare to police. They have casinos that bring in millions of dollars. For instance, the Pasqua Yaqui were almost extinct 25 years ago; then they were federally recognized, and now they are a major economic force in the community.

I think Sen. Akaka needs a better explanation from Sen. Kyl because his reasoning to oppose the Hawaiian recognition is hypocritical.

Show a little aloha

In traffic, when someone lets you cut into a lane, a simple hand wave thanking the person who let you cut in is gratifying. Nowadays, I notice a lot of people don't do this. Where has the aloha gone? Come on, people, show a little aloha; it goes a long way.