Posted on: Wednesday, February 25, 2004

Letters to the Editor

Legislative bills would unfairly help strikers

I have appreciated your coverage of the concrete workers strike. You rightly point out the deep implications it has on other jobs. It is the carpenters, plumbers, electricians, roofers, glaziers, painters and other subcontractors who are on the losing end of the current strike, no matter what.

Going on strike involves an inherent risk. Workers may never recover lost wages and they may ultimately lose their jobs. That is why a strike should be the last option.

Unfortunately, there are bills in the Legislature that would encourage labor unions to go on strike quicker and stay on strike longer. HB 2701 would restrict management from hiring non-residents to replace strikers. In other words, "Go on strike. The government will hold your job for you."

House Bills 2697 and 2699 would extend unemployment benefits to strikers. In other words, "Stay on strike. The government will pay you for it."

By cushioning strikers from risk and subsidizing walkouts, the state would do a painful disservice to the people of Hawai'i.

As someone who has worked in construction as a painter, laborer, landscaper and drywall hanger, my heart goes out to the workers and their families whose jobs are at risk. I am also deeply saddened by the Democrats who are driving these measures. They would hurt Hawai'i's families and its recovering economy.

Driving taken too lightly by many locals

The statistics don't lie, and we have to learn from other tragedies year in and year out. After the many accidents that happened Saturday, we as a community should strive for patience and good motorist skills and pass them on to family, friends and keiki alike from day one.

Yes, it is true that there are too many vehicles on the island, the police force is stretched too thin and everyone is in a hurry to get to a red light. Prevention is the key.

Braddah got the new car, but the turn signal is broke. Head-ons happen a lot from improper signaling. Most of our accidents stem from inattentive driving, adjusting within the vehicle and plain ignorance, which should never be an excuse. With more power available within a compact car, mixed with chilling and laid-back driving, drivers worrying about how loud bass speakers are until the trunk is ready to pop open, it all happens when least expected.

Expect it! Transportation is taken far too lightly with the technology at the wheel and the status of our roads. How many more must die? I can go on forever about all the faults I see — and all over O'ahu.

We must learn from the tragedies. We must follow through and identify those infractions such as speeding, failure to signal, unlawful merging, etc.

Drive with aloha and responsibility. If not for yourself, for the 'ohana here.

Lowering class size would have big effect

Children come home with questions every day that parents feel should be answered by the teachers. But here in Hawai'i there is an average student-teacher ratio of 27 to 1.

That makes it hard for teachers because there are just too many students and too little time to answer each individual's question as well as instruct. The public-school system can make changes like adding schools to areas with large populations and hiring more teachers, so students can learn more effectively.

Some schools like Farrington, Mililani, Pearl City and Waipahu have enrollments of over 2,000 students. Building more schools in areas nearby would lower enrollment.

In large classes, there is generally a lot of wasted time because of interruptions. By hiring more teachers, class sizes would be reduced, allowing teachers to instruct without interruptions. This also gives them the opportunity to answer any questions the students may have.

Limit Pidgin English for our children's sake

"Da kine," "How you?" ... These happy and sometimes funny phrases are part of our everyday language in Hawai'i. But for visitors from the Mainland, they may be thinking that we don't know how to talk correctly.

In the past, Hawai'i's SAT scores averaged less than most of the United States. This could be due to the confusion children face in school while learning proper English but hearing Pidgin English all around them. Although there are many people who can distinguish between the two, sometimes we hear more Pidgin than proper English.

Today, we have a shortage of teachers, and there was a recent call out to the public for anyone who has a degree if they would like to teach.

There is something seriously wrong with this picture. We are losing the qualified teachers due to inadequate income for inexperienced teachers who are often very young. It is a common principle: "the older, the wiser."

We all need to help our children learn in every way possible by speaking proper English and limiting the extreme Pidgin English for our children's sake.

Lingle's trip to Iraq more than justified

Even in my isolated North Shore/country existence, I am touched by several families and friends who have family members serving in Iraq. It is the duty of our governor to look after the welfare of all Hawai'i residents and to gain a compassionate understanding of their circumstances, whether they are soldiers stationed here or Hawai'i residents serving overseas.

I sincerely believe the trip was not a "PR junket" and not motivated by politics — it very simply was the right thing to do when the opportunity arose.

No record to look at

For the record, chief negotiator Ted Hong has never "sat across the table" from the Unit 3 Negotiation Committee. Therefore, we are not qualified to testify at the Senate as to whether his temperament is appropriate for a judge.

Block J sale shows greed, lack of ethics

Well, I give our City Council a new award — the "Missing IQ" award. It was not bad enough that council members raised car taxes to pay for an increase for HPD officers (Merry Christmas, Honolulu). Although our police deserve a decent salary, we all know it was the threat of the unions, police chief and our trustworthy mayor who pushed that.

Now, the City Council has sold downtown land (a parking lot) for $10 million to a car dealership. First of all, is that what our city really needs?

Are the citizens of this fine city actually watching what a handful of greedy and unethical politicians are doing? We need neither. We need responsible, open-minded and progressive leadership, and more voters to change that.

Driving 30 mph over limit should be felony

I fully support passing a law to make going 30 mph over the speed limit a felony. Confiscating vehicles is too hard, the police are understaffed and we all want order restored on the roads. There is no valid reason for going 20 to 25 mph, much less 30 mph, over the limit.

We all talk about the racers, but there are other drivers who choose to rocket through traffic, knowing their chances of getting caught are slim. Since people know there are not enough police officers, they choose to take a lot more risks on the roads. Showing blatant disrespect toward authority and other drivers has become commonplace and acceptable by too many.

The law would be successful by forcing all drivers to be mindful of speed or face stiff penalties. No one would want a felony on his record along with stiff fines and many hours of community service. In lieu of jail time, I would impose a very large fine coupled with an excessive amount of community service working with road crews, along with the felony offense.

Mililani needs a nice breakfast restaurant

I enjoyed the article on the best breakfast places of O'ahu, but I noticed that there were no restaurants in Mililani on that list. Then it occurred to me that there really aren't any breakfast restaurants in Mililani anymore.

You would think that such a large community would have more family-style restaurants, but since the Sizzler (still sitting empty) and the I Love Country Café (now Ruby Tuesday's) restaurants closed down, the only place that I know of where a family can go eat pancakes in the morning (besides fast food) is the new Zippy's.

I'm sure I'm not the only Mililani resident who would love to see another restaurant in the area that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. The empty Sizzler restaurant is just begging for a Denny's or Anna Miller's, or something to open there (and so am I).

There's a reason for driving on side of road

People, come on, now, the bikes don't have radiators. They (Harleys) are air-cooled, and if they're sitting in stop-and-go traffic for 10 or 20 minutes or more, their motors will get so hot that the motor knocks off. Sometimes they cannot be restarted and must wait until they cool off. This is the reason why the bike rider must keep the bike moving.

This is why you'll rarely see any motorcycles in slow-moving parades. They move too slowly; it gets hot-hot-hot!

We're sorry about traveling on the right side. Sometimes it's necessary.

Vacation was lovely, save the gunfire noise

Mahalo to the people of Hawai'i for a wonderful vacation. Our week in Honolulu was wonderful, including drives to the North Shore, trips to Waikiki and days on the beach at Kailua.

The one aspect of our trip that did not turn out as we had hoped was our trip to Hanauma Bay. While we loved exploring the coral reef and the marine wildlife, the tranquility of our day was repeatedly interrupted by live rifle fire. The sound of gunfire was a disconcerting constant for all tourists attempting to enjoy this natural wonder.

I am quite puzzled and disturbed about the fact that a shooting range would be in such proximity to one of the primary tourist attractions on the island. I would like the state to consider the effect this noise pollution has on Hanauma Bay.

Multiple school boards could worsen matters

U.S. News and World Report (April 18, 1994) had an article in its Science and Society section praising Hawai'i for having one school board. After listing many of the problems encountered by multiple school boards across the country, it concludes its report: "Paralyzed by special agendas and trivial pursuits, envious reformers and educators in the other 49 states may find themselves looking more and more to the Hawai'i experiment."

The statistics cited to support these concerns included:

• Nationally, a quarter to a third of the school board seats are vacated every year, resulting in a decrease in the caliber of the candidates.
• A majority of the 15,200 school boards have unsalaried or part-time positions while the demands of the job increased with suspensions, purchasing and litigation.
• School board members run as single-issue candidates, and low voter turnout makes it easier for them to get elected.
• The political needs and the special-interest agendas rarely are representative of the communities they purport to serve.

Even back then the policy-makers were urging reform in school governance, but their question was, "Is the local school board a failed institution?"

For example, politically active Christian fundamentalists called themselves Citizens for Excellence in Education and published a voter guide and a 67-page handout "How to Elect Christians to Public Office." Following a successful election effort in Vista Unified School District, the concept of evolution was called into question by the school board in San Diego.

Perhaps an even more troublesome aspect discussed was the trend to micromanage day-to-day operations of the schools. Meddlesome school boards were cited as a major reason why the superintendents of 20 of the nation's 25 largest school systems had vacated their posts. And because of civil rights and collective-bargaining legislation, constant litigation had prevented top-quality people from serving.

Is it possible that some of these same concerns could become true for Hawai'i as well if multiple school boards are adopted?