Letters to the Editor

Let's build a home for orangutan at zoo

I see in your Jan. 27 newspaper that Rusti, the orangutan at the Honolulu Zoo, still lacks a permanent home.

During the many years that Rusti has lived at the zoo in a "temporary" situation, he has become the zoo's most popular animal. He is one of the finest and most impressive orangutans that I have ever seen.

I recommend that our zoo find ways to keep this animal and build him a proper home. I feel sure that others will join me in making a contribution to the Honolulu Zoo Society to help build Rusti his new home.

Give parents the power to choose what's best

The Honolulu Advertiser's "Focus on education" commentary package on Feb. 1 was comprehensive and thought-provoking. Unfortunately, the key element in restoring the focus of the schools was not fully engaged. It was mentioned frequently, but not accorded the key-to-success factor that it is.

The end result — accomplished, productive, responsible young adults — can and will only be achieved if parents are given autonomy to choose the education avenue best suited to the needs, wants and concerns they attach to their children. That should include voucher-enabled choices from all schools, not just "public" ones. That is precisely what the post-World War II G.I. Bill did. There was no restriction to go to government-operated learning or educational establishments.

The result? Great productivity in private and government venues that was the spontaneous result of intense competition for satisfying individual wants, needs and concerns.

"Principals and teachers" did not need to be "empowered." The good ones enjoyed the enormous power of the marketplace. The poor ones did not.

Most of the discussion presented in the section talked about "we," as in "we need to do this" and "we" give teachers that. But "we" (whatever it is) is a hopeless, helpless nothing if parents are absent. So "empower" them and get the heck out of their way.

Support measure that would help theft victims

Our community is being overrun by property crime and ice. How do hardcore ice addicts support their habit? They steal our stuff. And where are they selling our stuff to get instant cash to buy their ice? Pawnshops.

The collective answer from the pawn industry is, we have no way of knowing what is stolen and we are following the law.

It is obvious that the current law does not work. With over 54,000 property crimes annually, the police are overwhelmed.

There is currently a bill in the Senate that would help by letting victims be involved in recovering their property. This bill would require pawnshops to photograph every item that they receive and upload a picture to a Web site where police can direct victims. If a victim finds his property, he calls his police detective. The item is then taken into evidence, and the courts decide who is the rightful owner based on the description in the victim's police report.

This system would cost a pawnshop less than $650 to install, a small price to pay for an industry that is inadvertently profiting from two of the worst problems Hawai'i has ever faced. The pawn industry does not want this change. It has Donna Ikeda, former politician-turned-lobbyist, using her political contacts and influence to kill this bill. It is up to all of us to call our legislators and Sen. Ron Menor's office at 586-6740 to voice support for SB2382.

Council was swayed by fluoride opponents

I applaud Councilmen Charles Djou and Nestor Garcia for voting no on Bill 66, which prevents fluoridating our water.

By voting no, these council members were attempting, I believe, to continue the dialogue rather than simply shutting off the process.

I am concerned that the other council members were too easily swayed by the vocal opponents of fluoride and did not give enough thought to the potential harm that could result from their quick and easy vote on Bill 66. I look to our city officials to be thoughtful and analytical and to do what is right, not what is popular at the time of the vote.

Political pressure on commission risky

From all we have seen so far, the work of the Campaign Spending Commission has been favorable and to the satisfaction of the public it serves. With this in mind, it would appear to be inappropriate and politically risky for any legislator to try to curtail, control or interfere with the activities of the commission and its chairman.

And it makes about as much sense to call upon the state auditor to check into the commission as it does to challenge and investigate the office of the state auditor itself.