Letters to the Editor

Waikiki should have car alarm ban like N.Y.C.

New York City will soon ban ear-piercing car alarms, according to an article in The New Yorker magazine dated Jan. 5. Waikiki must join the many cities across the nation considering bills banning and possibly ticketing cars' obsolete car alarm systems.

Ninety-nine percent of all car alarms are triggered by rumbling trucks and loud motorcycles. Research has shown that audible car alarms are totally useless in preventing car theft. Any thug knows how to disable an alarm in seconds. Most insurance companies stopped giving discounts for alarms. A brake lock ($60 in auto supply stores), silent alarms that page the owner and the "Immobilizer," which requires a key to start the car, are all very effective in preventing theft.

Audible car alarms harm public health, decrease worker and student productivity and erode urban civility. Smarter police work and locking up repeat offenders stop car thefts; blasting car alarms do not.

In most cities, if a thief drives away in a wailing car, most people would cheer. In Waikiki on the Ala Wai Canal, motorcyclists play a game to see how many car alarms they can set off nightly. Loud bikes should also be banned and fined.

Letting students drop out is not acceptable

In response to Libby Tomar's letter of Jan. 26, "Let high-schoolers exit system early": I strongly disagree with this idea. I believe that this type of thinking is responsible for the current unemployment problem in this state.

I don't know if Libby is a parent or not, but I am. I have worked very hard for many years to keep all three of my children in school. I know firsthand that dropping out of school is the wrong way to go. And the idea of going back at some future date to get a GED is ridiculous.

I can tell you from my own experience that it is much harder to get a GED later than it is to finish school. Parents, aunties and uncles should encourage their kids to finish school. Let's help our kids, not hurt them. Don't make the same mistake I did many years ago. Stay in school!

Hamamoto's approach to reform is better

I watched and listened to the speeches of Gov. Lingle and Superintendent Hamamoto on our "failed" education system. I was moved and impressed by the eloquence and brilliance of these two people.

I favor the superintendent's approach to improving our education system. I hope and pray that our governor will rethink her approach and support our superintendent.

Law enforcement must get stronger powers

I read the tragic story of Maui woman Lisa Tomita Kaina with great sadness. A young mother of three with prior arrests for drugs, shot to death by police after stealing a car and failing to stop.

Here's another example of why lawmakers must give law-enforcement officials more authority to combat crystal methamphetamine, such as strengthening the state's electronic surveillance laws and legalizing procedures such as "walk and talk."

Because of the drug ice, life in Hawai'i is getting more dangerous all the time for both citizens and police. Perhaps Lisa would still be alive today if it weren't for liberal judges and lawmakers in our state who care more about the civil liberties of drug dealers than about innocent victims who become addicted to ice.

Bravo for editorial on fluoridation bill

First of all, I would like to applaud The Honolulu Advertiser for its Jan. 28 editorial entitled " 'Fluoridation' measure at council should die." The comments were succinct and well-written.

For my part, I testified at the City Council meeting against Bill 66 and would like to applaud two City Council members for the courage to vote against this bill. Council members Charles Djou and Nestor Garcia were impressed with the information presented, and asked to defer the vote and seek more information from both sides.

Unfortunately, the other council members chose to go ahead and vote on the bill, which passed 7-2. We would like to thank council members Djou and Garcia for their willingness to go on record that they were in favor of good public policy as a result of the facts and not based on myths and misinformation.

Generosity helped seniors enjoy holidays

Catholic Charities Hawai'i has been serving Hawai'i since 1947. We help people in need to help themselves, regardless of their faith or culture.

Catholic Charities Hawai'i Elderly Services provides programs to help seniors living in their community, with dignity and compassion for their individuality. Over the past five years, Victoria Ward Centers gathered their holiday efforts to help seniors receive gifts for Christmas.

The Giving Trees at Victoria Ward shops collected 280 gifts from generous shoppers during 2003.

As staff members delivered the special gifts to the clients, many of the seniors had tears in their eyes for the much-needed gifts, such as blankets and shirts.

For most of these seniors, this was the only gift they received.

We thank the generous people of Hawai'i for making this past holiday season one filled with joy and happiness for the seniors of Catholic Charities Hawai'i.

What's been suppressed is far more interesting

I'm beginning to wonder whether it's the football or the commercials that are the bigger event on Super Bowl Sunday when newspapers across the country start running stories to hype the advertisements CBS will be airing to this year's coveted 90 million-plus viewers.

What seems more newsworthy to me are the ads CBS won't be running. For instance, the one about our nation's more than $500 billion deficit, an amount the Congressional Budget Office confirmed last week to be the largest in our nation's history.

CBS, part of the Viacom Inc. media conglomerate that reaped big rewards in the recent FCC ruling over what share of the public airwaves it ought to have access to, will be running an advocacy advertisement sponsored by the White House warning against drug use. Yet it has claimed that the paid 30-second Moveon.org ad, which contains just a single line asking who will pay for our nation's deficit, is too "controversial."

Ironic that CBS will air the Super Bowl, an annual American celebration of the spirit of free athletic and now commercial competition, but won't support the free competition of ideas in this latest triumph of corporate self-interest over the public interest.

See the ad instead on CNN during half time.

Sen. Kawamoto must go

It's time for Sen. Cal Kawamoto to retire. He's out of touch with the community. He can use his big campaign war chest as part of his retirement package.