Posted on: Tuesday, August 24, 2004

Letters to the Editor

Stop the criticism of local businesses

We've all heard the controversy about the new logo designs, so enough already. Any successful institution should have an integrated identity, whether it be educational or corporate. Think about the logos for Apple, Disney or your favorite sports team. A logo not only identifies the company or institution, but also should be a rallying point of pride to those who belong to it.

Of all the people praising the old logo's strong imagery, how many actually knew what the words on the logo said? I bet a vast majority didn't know until now.

It is unfortunate that the Dobelle debacle had to happen, but no one should tie those problems with the logo search. Perhaps UH should have done what the athletic department did and unveiled the new logo without public opinion.

What people should remember is that these were done by well-respected local companies. Maybe the logos presented weren't the public's overwhelming favorites, but the last thing local people should do is rip into local businesses that are only trying to create an image that represents them.

High-income earners still carrying burden

You folks certainly are carrying the class politics ball on this story by endorsing the argument that the intent of the Bush tax policy is to shift the tax burden from the relatively richer to the relatively poorer.

You are, of course, quite right in noting that under the current administration, everyone's taxes have fallen. They have. And it is also true that while the rich still pay much more of every dollar they earn in taxes than a commoner such as I, the rates they pay have indeed fallen proportionately more.

But oddly, the joke still seems to be on them, because, as you note, the wealthiest 20 percent in our country still pay 63.5 percent of total federal taxes. Although this burden is down from 64.4 percent in 2001, I'm not sure that this exactly qualifies as some kind of boon for the rich and a threat to the existence of our middle class. On the contrary, when it comes to taxes, I'll bet those rich people still feel pretty endangered.

No, given that total personal income taxes as a percent of GDP have fallen from a post-World War II high of 20.8 percent in 2000 to 18 percent by 2002, the sinister objectives of this administration's tax policy appear to be to reduce the total tax burden we all pay, and to partially roll back the ever-increasing tax burden that high-income earners bore during the 1990s. The first objective is hard to argue with, and as for the second, given that they pay over 60 percent of all our taxes, we poor folk want that top 20 percent of rich people to eat right, stay motivated and, by all means, keep working.

Would you block a police car at 55?

Regarding B.S. Brechtel's Aug. 18 letter "Would you tailgate a police car at 55?": I would like to ask Mr. Brechtel if, hypothetically, he were in the left lane at 55 mph, and a police car (with no emergency lights flashing) were to pull up behind him, would he move over to the right lane to let the officer pass?

My guess is that he would. And if he would do so for the police officer, why would he, or any other person for that matter, not respectfully do so for another fellow traveler?

To me it's simple: make a habit of driving in the right lane, and if you need to overtake a slower-moving vehicle, pass on the left, then move back to the right.

Hiram Fong was vital to East-West Center

A major accomplishment of Sen. Hiram L. Fong during the early days of Hawai'i's statehood was the passage in 1960 of Senate Bill 3395, which established the East-West Center. The ultimate success of this bill, incorporated into the Mutual Security Act of 1959, could not have occurred without the leadership and political acumen of Hawai'i's two new senators, Sen. Fong and Sen. Oren E. Long, a former governor of Hawai'i.

Sen. Fong, a Republican, met often and successfully with members of the Eisenhower administration; and Sen. Long, a Democrat, won the advocacy of Lyndon Johnson, president of the Senate. Our Hawai'i senators persuaded many of their senatorial colleagues to join them, bringing the total sponsors to 49, a number unheard of at that time and perhaps even today. Prominent senators such as Everett Dirksen, Mike Mansfield, Hubert Humphrey and Robert Byrd joined as co-sponsors.

Today the East-West Center is thriving, with an outstanding faculty and thousands of graduates all over the world.

This is a tribute to Sens. Fong and Long. We can be thankful for their vision and efforts in these early days of statehood.

Assisted dying actually cuts suicide numbers

A just-released Oregon study appearing in The Journal of Clinical Ethics seems to confirm what advocates of assisted dying have been claiming all along: Legalization actually lowers the incidence of hastened deaths.

This apparent paradox results from several factors, including the willingness of patients to discuss suicidal thoughts with their doctor, which in turn can lead to treatment of any underlying causes such as pain or depression. Increased hospice utilization is also thought to reduce the desire for a hastened death.

In states where assisted dying is illegal, including Hawai'i, patients are often afraid to approach their physician over fears of being institutionalized for having "suicidal thoughts" or implicating the physician in a crime should the patient later take his or her life.

Other contributing factors include Oregon's safeguards, which require a second medical opinion, a 15-day waiting period and mandatory patient counseling.

0Studies outside of Oregon suggest that the rate of physician-assisted suicide in the terminally ill is about one in 250, versus Oregon's rate of one per 1,000.

Rep. Tamayo should withdraw from race

If state Rep. Tulsi Tamayo had her constituents' best interests at heart, she would see that the solution to her dilemma is simple: withdraw her name for re-election. How does she expect to serve her community in the Legislature if she's in Iraq?

Tamayo's willingness to overlook the needs of the people she represents to keep her seat is selfish and self-serving. We all support her in answering the call to duty. But there are larger and more important issues that she'll have to deal with like the emotions of missing home, functioning as a team member of her unit, watching the backs of her buddies and just staying alive.

With the real possibility of getting killed staring her in the face, running for re-election should be the last thing on her mind.

Organ-donation group puts members in front

Regarding your Aug. 19 story, "Son lives on through transplant recipients": If more people were as generous as Jessie and Frank Ginoza, we wouldn't have over 6,000 Americans dying every year waiting for organ transplants.

Most of those deaths are needless. Americans donate only half of the organs needed that could save lives and reduce suffering. They bury or cremate the rest.

The solution to the organ shortage is simple: If you don't agree to donate your organs when you die, then you go to the back of the waiting list if you ever need an organ to live.

A grass-roots group of organ donors called LifeSharers is making this idea a reality one member at a time.

LifeSharers is a nonprofit network of organ donors. Members agree to donate their organs when they die, and they give fellow members "first dibs" on their organs. This creates a pool of organs available first to members. The existence of this pool gives other people an incentive to sign donor cards and join the network, and this incentive grows stronger as the network expands.

LifeSharers also makes the organ allocation system fairer. About 70 percent of the organs transplanted in the United States go to people who haven't agreed to donate their own organs when they die.

Anyone who wants to donate their organs to others who have agreed to donate theirs can join LifeSharers at www.lifesharers.com. Membership is free. LifeSharers has 2,469 members, including 20 members in Hawai'i.

Fond memories of earlier Advertiser age

It was known to me for some time that The Honolulu Advertiser would be printed in Kapolei (even though news, circulation and advertising operations will remain at the Kapi'olani building), but it became real when I read a recent edition.

While I have lived on Kaua'i for 56 years (two years after my marriage in Honolulu), whenever I reminisce about my childhood growing up mauka of The Advertiser building, I always recall the little treks my siblings, friends and I made to the building to sit in front of Radio KGU's studio to watch whatever was going on at the moment there. Then we would walk down those grand stairs and back to our homes. It is just about the only building still standing where it was when I was a preteen and then a teen.

So whenever I visit Honolulu and drive past the building, either on Kapi'olani Boulevard or King Street, nostalgia surrounds me.

In those days (early 1930s), children were not unruly. Your staff would never question our going up or down those stairs.

Those were the days!

DOE structure must be razed

Kudos to John Kawamoto (Letters, Aug. 5) for saying what many of us feel but did not have the words to express ourselves as well as he did.

As a veteran teacher of 30 years with the Department of Education, I have heard superintendent upon superintendent espouse reform again and again with limited success. This cycle of rhetoric has resulted in many teachers who are cynical of the bureaucracy. So much is being demanded of teachers these days that many have simply given up and opted for early retirement or will just put in the hours necessary and leave at the end of the day.

Part of the reason is what Kawamoto said: Throwing additional money into the system does not equal quality education. What will result in real reform is a change in the structure itself.

The top-heavy, overweening organization may have been successful 100 years ago, and yes, perhaps up to 50 years ago, but it is ill-prepared to respond quickly to the demands of the many unique communities and the needs of the students in them today. The most we can expect from officials in Honolulu is a token visit to schools that may vary from an hour's visit per year to perhaps one every few years. Very few of them know exactly what the needs of the schools or the students are. Very few understand the workings of the school politics or the culture of the individual schools.

There will be no real reform until there is a change in the structure and until the bureaucracy is willing to accept diversity and innovation and really listen to new ideas. The Department of Education is more concerned about everyone being on the same page, and, true to style, promotes those who think alike. As a result, the department is surrounded by yes men and will squelch those who have different ideas.

What a shame when we are supposed to be encouraging students to be creative, individual thinkers!

By the way, I can only speak my piece because I retired after 30 years of service and after having been frustrated by the onerous rules, regulations and policies. It wasn't the students who prompted my decision to leave the field earlier than expected; I just couldn't handle the bureaucracy and the people in it anymore.

The last parting shot was, after all those years of service, after having taught thousands of students and served in many, many capacities, the DOE did not even have the decency to send a form letter thanking me for the years of service and congratulating me on my retirement. Now what kind of message is that?