Posted on: Thursday, February 12, 2004

Letters to the Editor

Union leadership is hurting Hawai'i

Just as the economy in Hawai'i has started to turn around, we have another strike on our hands. Unlike the bus strike, this will do more than add some time to your commute.

When will the rank and file learn that the union is only looking out for its own pocketbook? Just ask the bus drivers how many years it will take them to recoup the wages they lost. Five years? Eight years? Does the union leadership care? Guess who still has to pay dues, working or not?

Prior to the establishment of agencies like the Department of Labor, OSHA, etc., the unions were a necessary evil, but when was the last time you saw 9-year-old kids working in a factory, or 16-hour workdays? Wake up, Hawai'i.

Maybe students should buy their textbooks

The book situation in public schools is getting sad. The DOE should look into the possibility of having the students buy books for the classes they attend.

If the student cannot afford the entire cost of the books, then a program to help offset the cost of the books should be implemented. Maybe it's time to charge a small tuition for school to help with the ever-rising cost of education.

Private schools charge tuition, and included in the tuition at some of them is the cost of books.

It doesn't have to be very expensive, but I'm sure parents out there are willing to pay the extra cost of books for their child's education.

When the books are no longer needed, they can be resold or kept.

No more excuses for failing our youth

When did our schools begin failing our youth?

In 1983, discipline was removed from classrooms. Hawai'i schools steadily declined. Yes, gang activity was in schools before that; now it has steadily climbed since '83.

Teachers have gone on strike twice — "Give us higher wages, more money, we'll do better." They won, grades are still declining. The Leeward Coast excuse: The area is economically disadvantaged. (Poor does not equal stupid.)

Stop making excuses for teachers and a rickety old territorial system. A teacher stated that students forget lessons over summer vacation. They never learned them.

Give local school boards authority over their school, and have district school boards. They know the problems; let them deal with it. The state board could then work with the Legislature, decide teacher credentials, disperse funds to local school boards, which, with the principal, would formulate individual budgets.

Teachers say they do have books but can't let the students take them home. Make students responsible for choices and consequences.

It is time to change. Look to the top systems in the nation; model after them. They obviously did something right.

Politicians should give Hamamoto a chance

Hawai'i now has a leader in education who is a light at the end of the tunnel. Superintendent Pat Hamamoto knows exactly what's broken in our system and told us how it needs to be fixed.

What is also broken is our political system. This is the barrier that has kept us from progressing in many areas in our state. Now the Republicans are claiming that Ms. Hamamoto is a front for the Democratic Party.

I couldn't care less whether the Democrats or Republicans support her. It's infuriating to see how the politicians are again playing their game, using the people of Hawai'i as their pawns. The governor and her Republican Party are doing everything they can to shoot down Ms. Hamamoto's proposals. I wonder why.

After hearing Ms. Hamamoto's speech to the Legislature, I was uplifted with optimism and hope for our kids. She's been there. She was right on target. I've taught in the public schools here for decades, and along with many teachers and administrators, I "worked around" the broken system. Many outstanding and dedicated educators never gave in to their frustrations for their precious students' sake, in spite of the overwhelming challenges at times.

Let's give Superintendent Hamamoto a chance. The politicians and other uninformed screamers must put aside their own agendas, untie her hands and support her.

Term 'Kahuna' is now in the popular culture

I read the Feb. 4 article on the uproar over the Dodge Kahuna with a mixture of amusement and chagrin. It is the very thing that makes Hawaiians seem small-minded and pedantic.

What's next, scholars of Homer upset over the use of Odyssey for Honda's minivan? Palio horseback riders petitioning Toyota's Sienna? Aborigines and crocodile hunters angry about the Subaru Outback?

Like it or not, the term "Kahuna" has been appropriated for use in popular culture. Taking offense and getting angry is not going to change what was put into place years ago.

Opponents of the usage should welcome the fact that the Hawaiian language is getting nationwide attention. We haven't gotten this much press since "lana'i" made it into Merriam-Webster.

Pro Bowl parking lot traffic was a mess

Getting to the parking lot at the Pro Bowl was very frustrating.

We waited in line patiently while car after car cut in even though cones were in place. Finally, upon arriving at Gate 5, we were told that only "pass holders" could enter. Why weren't there signs along the way stating that Gate 5 was restricted to pass holders? We then went around only to find that gates 3 and 4 were closed. That left the only gates open by Crosspointe — and that's where we started.

The Stadium Authority needs to do a better job with signs directing people to the right parking places. The police need to do a much better job keeping traffic flowing and keeping people from cutting in lines.

This year was the worst traffic mess I experienced, and I have attended every Pro Bowl since Pro Bowl No. 1.

Air ambulance crew dedicated to saving lives

Our daughter is a paramedic who flies with Hawaii Air Ambulance so we know firsthand how often these professionals put their lives on the line to help people who are gravely ill and require transport to another island. It is a great tragedy that we lost three of these individuals who chose to spend their lives in the service of others.

Our heartfelt condolences and prayers go out to the families of Ron Laubacher, a top-notch pilot, Joseph Daniel Villiaros, a skilled firefighter and paramedic, and Mandy Shiraki, a dedicated professional as well as a mentor to others.

These men were not just co-workers at Hawaii Air Ambulance. They were close friends to all who worked with them, dedicated to saving lives, and will surely be missed by everyone who had the privilege of knowing them. May God take care of them as they took care of others.

Let's start thinking about Rusti's interests

I've read every article published in The Advertiser about Rusti (I may deserve a medal, as they're pretty turgid) and have been tempted to write you. Your latest, the Feb. 5 letter from EnviroWatch Inc., pushed me over the edge. Doesn't anyone in this whole mess have the poor animal's interests in mind? EnviroWatch is worried about spending tax money to support Rusti.

Don't the paying visitors at the zoo come to see him, as well as the other animals? Instead of quibbling, EnviroWatch should join with the Orangutan Foundation, the zoo and Kualoa Ranch to get him a good home, whether it's at the Honolulu Zoo or elsewhere. Then everyone could be happy, especially Rusti.

Help and intervention must start at home

This letter is in response to Sid Rosen's writing about the relative cost differentials between incarceration and interdiction with regard to high-risk youth and young-adult crime — specifically an incident in 1994. Mr. Rosen paints the simplistic picture that "for want of a staffer the child was lost" — to paraphrase Shakespeare. I could not disagree more emphatically.

As one who has over 20 years of experience working with at-risk youth and families, I can attest that help and intervention for these kids must start at home. No outside force — church, state-sponsored programs, private foundations, etc. — can match family in terms of setting, and enforcing, limits on behavior; teaching morality and consequences; and enforcing boundaries designed to teach and guide.

In the absence of that structure, society has stepped in to take the place of the family unit. It simply masks the problem. Personal accountability, access to healthcare and education, and a knowledge of legal punishment as a consequence of law-breaking are what should be reinforced here — not the idea that if Mr. Rosen's group had more funding during that year, a tragedy could have been avoided.

Hawai'i bicyclists can unite in forum

There is a new public forum on the Internet for the bicycle-riding community in Hawai'i.

I created it for bike riders to share their views on bicycling-related issues in this state, as well as to inform other riders about road hazards, publicize bike-riding events and any other issues relevant to the bicycling community in Hawai'i. It doesn't cost anything to join or participate.

It is set up in Yahoo! Groups, but you don't need an account with Yahoo.com to post or receive messages. Anyone with an e-mail account can subscribe.

This new forum is located at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hawaiibicyclists.

You can subscribe by sending an e-mail to hawaiibicyclists-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

Library is vital part of education

I guess one's reaction to the commotion over education reform depends on your background. As a retired teacher of English and a longtime library volunteer, I was struck by the fact that not one of the remedies I have read about, or heard discussed, included libraries.

That is a glaring omission, and it graphically illustrates how undervalued our libraries are. The state library system is, and has been for years, the orphaned foster child of the Department of Education, and is mostly treated that way. That is a mistake. The library could, and should, be a vital part of your plans.

One of the biggest problems with our schools is low test scores in reading. The problem is that kids think of reading as a school subject, like math or science — something they do at school, and only at school. The idea of reading for pleasure, reading at home and reading for fun never occurs to them. They are programmed to push buttons — TV, VCR, DVD, CD, or computers — but reading, like everything else, needs practice.

You may know how to surf, but if you don't practice, you're not going to be a very good surfer. The trick is to make the practice of reading enjoyable.

This is where the library comes in. The library can provide a very wide selection of reading materials from "I-Can-Read-It" books for beginners, to adult fiction for those who are ready for it. There are funny books, scary books, adventure stories, love stories, animal stories, biographies, mysteries and more ... and the library is free!

If you want to bring parents into school improvement, get them to take the kids to the library once a week. If parents' working hours won't mesh with library hours, all of the schools have libraries, which are mostly underused. Both the public libraries and school libraries are severely underfunded and understaffed, but they do a remarkably good job with what they have.

So, to all who are concerned, to all who are involved in planning, and to those writing legislation — making more and better use of all of our libraries requires very little tinkering or change. To use a timeworn phrase, just throw a little more money at the problem. In this case, I think that's all that is needed.