Letters to the Editor

Parents should pay for child's textbooks

What? Now as a taxpayer, with no children in public school or private school, you want me to pay for your child's textbooks? What happened to parental responsibility?

When I attended public school in a notoriously poor state, textbooks were provided to only the poorest of students, not everyone. My parents knew that at the beginning of every school year, they would need to have a little extra in the checking account to cover my books, lab fees, etc.

Granted, our bloated, nonfunctioning and failing DOE wastes enough of our tax dollars that the possibility of providing textbooks could be a reality, but not my tax dollars. You want your kids to have textbooks, do as my parents did: pay for them. That $200 to $300 you spend on fireworks each year would cover textbook costs.

Mission in Iraq isn't worth American lives

During the past weeks, like other Advertiser readers, I have been emotionally affected by the letters from the men and women serving in Iraq. One wishes all of them a safe return home. But what are these young soldiers risking their lives for?

Surely, it is not democracy. The American occupiers are trampling on the rights of Iraqis and trying to install a pro-U.S. client regime in power. And who are the chief U.S. allies in the region? Dictatorships like Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Egypt and a "democracy" like Israel that is carrying on a war of repression against the Palestinian people.

Surely, it is not, as George Bush claims, to safeguard the security of the American people. The evidence is in on this: Saddam Hussein's regime represented no threat whatsoever to us. In fact, what the unprovoked war of terror launched by Bush against the Iraqi people has done is to undermine our security by convincing millions of people in the Arab world and beyond that America is their enemy.

The billion dollars a week being wasted to pay for the Iraqi occupation erodes our ability to deal with the real sources of our homeland insecurity — crumbling educational, medical and social systems inside the United States and the cynicism and despair of so many Americans.

The sad truth is that the young soldiers who are writing to The Advertiser are pawns in the hands of U.S. empire builders intent on controlling the Middle East and its resources in their own interests. That mission is not worth the life of one American or Iraqi.

Dobelle wasn't taking credit for UH research

I disagree with the tone of the comments by Roger Lukas (Letters, April 15). President Dobelle appointed me as interim vice president for research and has given me the responsibility and authority to tackle the imposing infrastructure problems facing UH researchers.

The university officials responsible for research — Dobelle, David McClain, Peter Englert and Sam Callejo — have been completely supportive of my efforts and have not micromanaged. Responsibility fot lack of progress in addressing the problems of money, space and research administration that plague the researchers rests with me.

What Roger interprets as the president taking credit for the researchers' achievements, I interpret as pride and interest in their accomplishments. The president also states that our intercollegiate athletic teams "are winning," again not a claim on his part that he is responsible for the victories.

UH researchers have done a terrific job, past and present, but their future is clouded by needed improvements in research support. I am committed to improving that support, but if the pace is too slow, I am responsible, not the president. I expect Roger Lukas to be a prominent contributor to the solutions, as he has in the past.

OHA needs to do more on education

Regarding the April 16 commentary by Haunani Apoliona: She starts off by saying "The public-school system has worked against Native Hawaiians." Why are they performing dismally, as she points out, compared to others at the same school? They aren't any dumber than other children going to the same school.

I submit that it's not the school system at fault, but rather all the other outside influences that determine whether a child succeeds or fails.

Maybe OHA needs to do more to better the social conditions surrounding those OHA is charged to help. Maybe OHA can put some pressure on Kamehameha Schools to truly help the Hawaiian children by takingÊfewer of "the best and brightest" and more of those children Apoliona points to in her article.

Local governance might seem like the answer to many people, but that alone will not take care of the pressing need to get smaller classes, textbooks or anything else so sorely needed. It takes more money to get those things and not just specifying who gets to spend it. Giving the principal authority over the budget doesn't help if your budget isn't big enough.

Mass transit will also deal with parking crisis

I applaudÊRep. Marilyn B. Lee's April 15 commentary on fixed transit and want to add in a few things.

Not only will mass transit take cars off the road, it will also take care of our parking crisis. What frustrates me even more than waiting in traffic is being unable to find a parking stall once I get there. Sometimes, this leads me to avoid certain stores, or abandon selected wants completely. "Sure, I'd love to eat at that mom-and-pop restaurant, but there's no parking; therefore, I'll just go to McDonald's. In fact, I don't want to wait in all that traffic, so I'll just eat at home." This natural attitude does not make business happen.

Also, Rep. Lee mentioned that Honolulu wastes $151 million every year on congestion due to lost time and fuel costs. A professor I spoke with recently told me that our current gas prices, at a record high, will be the lowest price we will ever see forÊthe rest of our lives. As China becomes more capitalized, it will increase the worldwide demand for gasoline, skyrocketing prices in the very near future.

To close, I want to speak of TheBus commercial that I recently saw on television. It showed images of people reading, listening to music, working on their laptops, all while using public transportation. The same can be applied to light rail. Make efficient use of your time, for nobody has enough of it.

Government cannot operate a 'quality' park

The Honolulu Advertiser editorial of April 22, "Quality state parks are an economic necessity," made a great point as outlined in the headline. The conclusion, however, was flawed. The state government will not and cannot run a "quality" park system.

If we want quality, the function must be privatized in a way that focuses the operators' attention on the users of the system (customers).

I give this point credence; think of how many state functions that are efficient and effective in operation. Then think of private ones like Disney or our own Hawaiian Waters Adventure Park.

Your solution is a Band-Aid, throwing good money after bad and leaving the systemic problem firmly in place. Economic necessity? It is more like "economic boondoggle."