Posted on: Tuesday, January 20, 2004

Letters to the Editor

Legislative task force on ice deserves praise

We want to acknowledge with mahalos and commendation the Joint House-Senate Task Force on Ice and Drug Abatement for the comprehensive report distributed Jan. 12.

This document is a landmark of findings that reflects the needs of our communities. The recommendations are the beginning for finding solutions for devastation caused by crystal methamphetamine (ice) addiction. The report focuses on the need for prevention, intervention and treatment for many different populations, and is very much aimed at resolving addiction issues as a public health epidemic, rather than our past attempts to incarcerate the problem through law enforcement only.

We applaud all of the task force members for their diligence, perseverance, long, long hours at hearings and talk-story sessions and countless community town hall meetings. We also applaud the governor and lieutenant governor for their leadership at the "ice summit" in September.

Last but not least, we applaud the speaker of the House and president of the Senate for the creation of the Task Force on Ice and Drug Abatement to address this public health epidemic.

Sierra Club justified in pursuing runoff issue

Regarding the Jan. 15 letter "Sierra Club accusation reveals its true agenda": The Sierra Club should not be accused of being an economic troublemaker, but the political passivity toward Hawai'i's developmental trends should be. I think the Sierra Club is in a righteous position to use the runoff issue as a means to question the economy's direction — not for NIMBY purposes, but for NIOBY (Not In Our Back Yard) purposes.

So the Clean Water Branch said that the North Shore developer caused "minor amounts" of runoff. But, if we add up the number of development activity happening around the state, then we have a major problem for our waters. Development is not isolated to the North Shore, but a problem on Maui, Kaua'i, the Big Island and Lana'i.

We are experiencing more construction to house new residents, but less state regulation of the construction activity. The state has yet to balance the need for revenue brought in by newcomers, and the need for responsibility to longtime residents and the environment.

The Sierra Club's Blue Water Bill is not an annoyance to development industries, but a conscience for state planners. The organization is using the runoff issue as a tool to confront the economic direction of the state, so there is a genuine foresight that protects not just one backyard, but all our backyards.

Mad cow of the sea: mercury contamination

Regarding "Hawai'i has grass-fed solution to mad cow" (Dec. 24): As stated in this editorial, we are what we eat. If, after the recent mad cow scare, you thought eating fish was a safer dinner option, think again.

While the health affects associated with mad cow are severe, the scope of the problem remains small. By contrast, mercury, the toxin that causes severe neurological and developmental delays, especially in children and fetuses, is found in many fish pulled from U.S. waters, including those used in sushi.

Health officials have issued widespread advisories for women and young children to avoid or limit their consumption of certain types of fish because of mercury contamination. Despite these warnings, one in 12 women in this country has levels of mercury that could put their children at an increased risk of birth defects and brain damage.

Unfortunately, the Bush administration in December weakened protections against mercury by allowing power plants, the largest industrial source of mercury, to emit over six times more mercury over the next decade than allowed for in the Clean Air Act. If power plants were required to install the maximum available pollution controls, as required by the Clean Air Act, for toxic chemicals like mercury, then power plants' mercury emissions would be reduced by 90 percent.

Mercury is highly toxic and its contamination already widespread. It should not take a highly publicized scare to yield meaningful action. President Bush should protect public health and enforce the strong mercury standards in the Clean Air Act.

Lingle wrong to shield Neighbor Isles from tax

I do not understand Gov. Lingle's position on taxes for rail transit. It's my understanding that the large tax revenue base of Honolulu has always subsidized projects on the Neighbor Islands, due to their inability to generate sufficient revenues because of small populations, etc.

I agree with Sen. Cal Kawamoto that the project will benefit the whole state. Gov. Lingle's belief that the Neighbor Islands shouldn't pay for a system in Honolulu isn't appropriate for a state-of-Hawai'i representative. She should stop representing the counties and represent the state of Hawai'i as governor.

Airline safety plan on lavatories a bad idea

The recent news ("Airlines to warn passengers," Jan. 8) that airlines have been told by the Transportation Security Agency not to allow passengers to congregate near lavatories on planes makes me worry that the TSA thinks the only way to make air travel safe is to drive the airlines out of business.

With passengers crammed in like sardines, too few lavatories and serving carts blocking aisles during meals, passengers just have to line up to use the facilities. I suggest Tom Ridge try flying coach with his fellow Americans and see if his rules make sense after four or five hours in his seat.

I thought the TSA was supposed to keep anyone dangerous off the planes. If there are doubts, the planes shouldn't fly. As we have seen in several recent incidents, if anyone does try anything while airborne, in the spirit of United Flight 93, every flight attendant and passenger from 8 to 80 is going to protect that cockpit door and then come after the hijacker. Our flight duct-taped the individual in question.

If I were Tom Ridge, I'd worry less about air passengers with full bladders and more about air cargo and all those shipping containers that come uninspected into this country.

Don't blame Jones for football brawls

Russell Motter's Jan. 12 column in The Honolulu Advertiser reads well but largely consists of fiction. He clearly has had little interest in the university's football team in the past, as he did not exhibit any knowledge of the team or its history. He also apparently did not even see the Houston game.

I have been a season-ticket holder since the old Honolulu Stadium days. Football is football, and always has been. The arrival of June Jones did not change anything except that the team wins more often.

There is no coach who cultivated the warrior tradition more than former coach Larry Price. Nobody criticized his teams for their warrior spirit then, mainly because Price lost most of the time. The criticisms focused on other areas.

The most negative person I ever met was Fred vonAppen. I knew he was a loser from the day I met him because I knew such a negative person could not recruit. He managed to deflect a lot of criticism by always complaining about other things himself. He, however, was fired after going 0-12.

The Houston game was out of control because the officials did not control the Houston players. I saw instances of punches being thrown by Houston players during the game. I saw videotape of June Jones constantly complaining to the officials about the Houston players' actions during the game. Yet there were no personal foul penalties called on Houston during the game.

There is a common denominator between Cincinnati and Houston. Both teams are comprised primarily of undisciplined kids. Both schools run largely outlaw programs where few football or basketball players graduate. The end-of-game brawls in both cases resulted from Hawai'i winning hard-fought games, and Hawai'i having many players from a culture that does not back down to the types of aggressive behavior exhibited by Houston and Cincinnati.

Advertiser two-faced on U.S. economy

The Advertiser shouldn't have it both ways. It decries the "soaring" federal deficit as a "sign of fiscal recklessness" while offering no alternatives to spur America out of the recession that began in the final months of the Clinton administration.

The Advertiser acknowledges that reputable economists argue that our "huge budget deficits and trade deficits won't alarm investors so long as they believe that fiscal policy is under shrewd and prudent management ... " but then concludes, without offering any reasoning, that this amounts to "wishful thinking." (See Jan. 12 editorial page.)

The Advertiser laments a Congress unable to cut spending but invariably commends the efforts of our congressional delegation to bring home as much federal budget pork as possible. (How many Advertiser readers know about the Tax Foundation figures that show Hawai'i gets about 50 percent more in federal dollars than is collected in taxes in the state?)

So what is it, Advertiser? Cut federal spending (and federal dollars coming to Hawai'i)? Raise taxes and cut dollars available for spending in Hawai'i? Refuse to stimulate a weak national economy and have Hawai'i disproportionately endure the pains of a recession? Or does The Advertiser simply like to publish half-truths to support its partisan attacks on George W. Bush?

I think the last, and it's tiresome.

What are on-site park keepers doing?

I agree that the state parks are in need of cleaning and refurbishing. My question is, just what are the state-paid park maintenance personnel who live in homes on the park sites doing to alleviate the problem?

Sand Island State Park, when it first opened, was the park gem in the public's eyes. Our family grew up using the park and thoroughly enjoyed the pristine facilities, lawns and clean restrooms. We returned recently after a 10-year hiatus with grandchildren in tow to let them experience past memories. We were shocked by the uncut grounds, disarray of the area and the restrooms.

Needless to say, this is the current state of all the state parks throughout the Islands, and a major turn-off from visiting the parks for visitors and locals alike. If the current live-in park keepers cannot maintain the parks, then we must look into alternatives, which include contracting out the cleaning of the facilities on a daily basis by roving crews. The visitors and the locals will benefit from this immensely.

Planting of Nu'uanu palm trees was foolish

Each time I drive by the Nu'uanu Valley sign, I marvel at how foolish it was to plant all of the palm trees. Not only foolish, but also shortsighted, as they will need to be trimmed to keep palm fronds and coconuts from falling.

Why weren't 'ohi'a lehua trees planted? They belong in the valley and would add beauty without adding maintenance demands. Add some 'akia and it would be lovely.

Ironically, a letter to the editor appeared several weeks ago regarding the proposed Nimitz landscaping, pleading for a low-maintenance plan. That same issue told of the planting of the palms around the Nu'uanu sign.

Our city and state crews already can't keep up with trimming along the roadways and removing growth in drainage pukas on highways.

Like the speed-bumps mistake and subsequent removal, take out the palm trees and plant for low maintenance.

Drivers, show aloha by stopping for pedestrians

I'm complaining about drivers in Honolulu.

When I'm in a crosswalk trying to get across the street, some drivers don't stop for me. This is so even if I am holding up traffic on one side by standing in the middle of the crosswalk waiting for cars to stop for me.

It's the law that pedestrians always have the right of way while in the crosswalk. I often see drivers disobeying this. It upsets me that drivers don't care that a pedestrian is blocking traffic on one side because the other side doesn't want to let the pedestrian finish crossing the street.

I worry cars won't stop and will hit me because they are coming down the street so fast.

Come on, people, this is Hawai'i; please have the aloha spirit and let pedestrians completely cross the street. If we are already in the crosswalk, please let us get out of the traffic by letting us go. I would appreciate everyone's cooperation on this.

Potholes have a plus

I have to agree with the assessments of the terrible conditions of our roads as a most likely result of poor workmanship. However, there is also a bright side to it. We should leave the potholes. They prevent speeding. And may save lives.