Progressive speed limits are needed

For everyone who believes that the freeway speed limit is an absolute, regardless of left lane or right lane, try this experiment: Gather together three or four of your best friends, each in his own car. Have each driver occupy a lane on the H-1. Then, in lockstep formation, get everyone to drive exactly at the posted limit. See what happens.

A traffic jam will build up in no time. No one will have the opportunity to pass.

Even if it is not the law, the left lane should be for passing and "faster" traffic and the right lane for those frankly timid or oblivious drivers who are genetically unable to keep up the pace. These people ought to look in the mirror from time to time to see the rolling obstacles they in fact are.

Our speed limits are absurdly low, a good 10 mph below what real-world traffic actually flows at (and, remember, proved by the fact that judges have been throwing out "speeding" tickets in this range).

The Department of Transportation should try progressive speed limits as an experiment to help alleviate gridlock. The right lane speed limit should be 45 mph, with 5-mph increases as you move to the left. This ought to satisfy drivers of every stripe. "Slow" drivers wouldn't be compelled to speed up; all they need do is move over to the right. And "fast" drivers wouldn't have to tailgate the slowpokes. I suspect it would enhance traffic flow.

But I doubt the traffic engineers would even try this, as it is just too logical.

Farm Bureau did not assist in drafting Bill 10

In response to your Aug. 1 editorial "City's farm taxation: Be patient with reform," I would like to correct your statements about the Hawai'i Farm Bureau's involvement in the original formation of Bill 10.

First of all, your statement that the Hawai'i Farm Bureau helped draft Bill 10 is absolutely wrong. While our name may have been listed in one meeting or another, we were not intimately involved with this task force in the drafting of Bill 10.

At one of the council hearings, the Farm Bureau did express concerns about the dedication process, urging the council not to make it cumbersome for farmers to qualify. In subsequent discussions with the city, we were assured that Bill 10 was not going to adversely impact the farmers and that it was going to be revenue-neutral — meaning that all farmers' tax liability would be virtually the same.

This editorial urges everyone to be patient with reform. Bill 10 is in effect now, and tax bills are due mid-August. If something doesn't happen soon or adjustments made quickly, farmers will be forced to make critical business decisions within the next few weeks and months.

We supported Bill 35 as an attempt to hold off the implementation of the new ordinance for just one year so that we can address the full slate of mistakes in Bill 10.

The good, bad and ugly of being a tourist

As a temporary "tour guide" for some Island expats, I had the opportunity to experience the effects of our booming tourist industry:

• The Diamond Head Crater restrooms are woefully inadequate in capacity.
• The Pearl Harbor experience was one of long delays (two hours) and inadequate shelter from the sun for the long tourist lines.
• The Atlantis submarine experience was that of a well-organized commercial operation. The agency that runs the Pearl Harbor operation could learn a lot from these guys.
• There's a complete lack of Hawaiian music in most restaurants and other eating establishments (we heard everything from yodeling to rap).

The last point is ironic in that we have a Hawaiian FM radio station at No. 2 in the ratings that plays such beautiful contemporary Hawaiian music.

Bicycles should be major people movers

Bicycles do not have to be used just for recreation, but function well as a method of transportation, as riders do in France, Sweden and Germany. Oh, and don't forget our climate.

A couple of facts from recent Mainland studies indicate how automobiles are currently used: Forty percent of all trips are made within two miles of the home, and 50 percent of the working population commutes five miles or less to work.

I can't imagine that Hawai'i would have greater average distances than these, so let's strive to make Hawai'i more bike-friendly than Colorado, which is currently rated No. 1, and once again don't forget our climate advantage over virtually everyone else in the world.

This would mean continuous, shady and well-maintained multi-use paths, and if we can maintain one area at a high level, maybe the same excellence can spill over into other departments, such as our highways.

Book review on water law in Hawai'i missed the mark

Warren Iwasa's July 18 diatribe against my book, "Water and the Law in Hawai'i," begins with a self-serving question: What could have inspired me to write it when it will not have a broad audience? Why, he then concludes, it must be to get even with the Hawai'i Supreme Court!

Critical analysis is a basic tenet of professional scholarship. While I'm at times disappointed in the reasoning underlying the decisions of the current court and its predecessors, I also conclude that "more often than not, the decisions that emerge result in sound public policy."

My purpose was to explain the laws on water in the context of their scientific, cultural and historical background, and my publisher, the University of Hawai'i Press, identifies my primary audience as "students of the subject and those with an interest in cultural anthropology, planning, Hawaiian history and political science." My manuscript was reviewed in detail by two experts on water law prior to its publication in April 2004. It was the featured publication in a recent university online newsletter, and I have discussed my book with the Natural Resources Section of the Hawai'i Bar Association and had a book-signing followed by a panel discussion sponsored by the Judiciary History Center, both by invitation.

Mr. Iwasa claims that I failed to state the obvious about the complex and contradictory nature of water law in Hawai'i, but what he then goes on to describe summarizes my analysis in the 63 pages of my specific chapter on water law.

On another of his claims, despite the court's June 21 disapproval of one of the Water Commission's approach, it nevertheless ruled that "the 1960s testimonials would be sufficient to set the (interim instream flow standards) at the levels established (and) adequately establish that instream values would be protected to the extent practicable for interim purposes." And it was the court that ordered the commission to consider a water-use permit for ditch system losses, after the commission concluded it was not reasonable to do so."

Mr. Iwasa's emotional response and The Honolulu Advertiser's decision to publish it confirm for me that the general public is interested in what happens to our streams and aquifers. I am happy to be a catalyst, or even a mere flashpoint, for moving the discussion beyond the confines of the legal community.

Now the regents must resign

The mediated settlement agreement between the University of Hawai'i Board of Regents and President Evan Dobelle was a positive first step in the healing process and the campaign to improve the university's image at home and throughout the country.

If nothing else, it prevented a bad situation from getting worse — a protracted trial would have devastated the reputation and undermined the credibility of the University of Hawai'i as an outstanding institution of higher education.

Although the mediated settlement stated that both parties agreed there was "no finding of wrongdoing on the part of either Dr. Dobelle or the board," the circumstances surrounding the dismissal and the dismissal itself have created a situation where only an unprecedented, unselfish act on the part of the entire Board of Regents can correct and heal the damages that were done with the initial firing of Dr. Dobelle. Now is the time for the regents to rise to the challenge before them — to put the best interest of the university and the state of Hawai'i first — to take a step that will show everyone, especially the members of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities and the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges, that the University of Hawai'i is serious about its mission to be an outstanding institution of higher education.

In order to take a significant and meaningful step in this direction, all the regents should consider submitting their resignation to be effective at the end of the year or when the new regents are confirmed by the state Senate, whichever happens first. This would give the governor enough time to find and nominate the new regents.

Once the regents resign — in order to avoid the appearance of partisanship and to get the whole state involved in the selection process — Gov. Lingle should appoint a blue-ribbon panel consisting of the following members: four to be recommended by the University of Hawai'i Professional Assembly; four to be recommended by the Legislature; four to be recommended by the governor; and the chairman of the panel to be the chief justice of the Hawai'i Supreme Court or the chief judge of the Intermediate Court of Appeals.

The blue-ribbon panel would be charged with finding 24 highly qualified individuals from throughout the state who would be recommended to the governor for consideration as the new regents. From the list of 24 candidates, Gov. Lingle would select 12 individuals who would be nominated to serve on the new Board of Regents. Once the nominees were selected, the Senate should then convene in a special session to consider and approve the people who have been chosen to serve as the new regents.

The resignation of the present Board of Regents and the installation of a new board would signal to the world that Hawai'i is serious about furthering and improving the quality of higher education in the state. The best gift and the biggest sacrifice that the present board members could make on behalf of the university that they love so much is to resign so UH can get a fresh start. Anything less would not be very helpful or meaningful in this most important undertaking. Now is the time for the regents to really show — by their action — how much they love and care for the University of Hawai'i — how much of a sacrifice they are willing to make.