We're paying far too much for electricity

Many of us in Hawai'i despair when gasoline goes up 25 cents a gallon, yet we dutifully pay twice the national average for electricity. Something is wrong.

Oil and gasoline are expensive, high-energy-density fuels whose use should be limited mostly to transportation needs. Therefore, it's not surprising that the U.S. Department of Energy reports that only 3 percent of U.S. electricity comes from oil, 52 percent from coal, 21 percent from nuclear. Yet, according to HECO, almost 80 percent of O'ahu electricity comes from oil — oil that is increasingly scarce and whose price swings wildly. Here in Hawai'i, we get only 15 percent of our electricity from much-cheaper, American-mined coal and less than 7 percent from burning trash, wind turbines and everything else.

Because HECO burns the most expensive fuel available to generate electricity, it should come as no surprise that here on O'ahu, we pay more than twice (over 15 cents per KwH) the national rate (under 7.5 cents/KwH) for electricity. It's even more on the Neighbor Islands.

Notwithstanding that Hawai'i's costs are higher (because we are an island state — no interstate power grid to fill in for spot shortages), there is no excuse for Hawai'i electricity running more than twice the national average. Why aren't we burning cheap American coal instead of expensive imported oil? Why doesn't HECO use price incentives to limit peak demand via time-of-day metering? Where are the wind turbines one sees in California?

Next time you get your electric bill, ask yourself, why so much? It's like paying $5 per gallon for gasoline.

Lobby for Congress to OK amendment

The legalization of same-sex marriage in Massachusetts and elsewhere in the country means that homosexuals married in other states will soon come to Hawai'i and challenge the 1998 decision by Hawai'i's people to ban same-sex marriage.

Issues as fundamental as how we define "marriage" should be decided by the people, not by a handful of activist judges. And the only way to make this happen is to pass the Federal Marriage Amendment. If Congress does pass the Federal Marriage Amendment, the people in every district in Hawai'i and across America will get to have their voices heard on the issue.

Our Founding Fathers made it so the only way the Constitution could be changed is by the people themselves — through their elected representatives — at both the federal and state levels. This established process of amending the U.S. Constitution was meant to ensure that the voice of the majority of Americans would be heard and honored. Our Founding Fathers never intended to allow judges to change the Constitution without the people's input.

Please contact your representative in Congress. If the Federal Marriage Amendment is not passed, the people's voice will not be heard, and same-sex marriage will become legal throughout America.

Neighbor Islanders were the big losers

Aloha, tug and barge workers. I am so happy you got your raise and benefits. Now I am sure you can provide all the security and happiness your families require.

But could you possibly come to my house and explain to my children why they could not have the glass of milk that usually accompanies their dinner, or why they could not have cereal for breakfast this morning?

As parents, you should understand my pain at not being able to provide for my children. Lucky you, that you reside on O'ahu. Plenty milk there, I am sure. But you penalize my kids, just because they live on Maui. Enjoy your riches, achieved on my kids' deprivation.

People should stop feeding the peacocks

In Mililani, some families are feeding the wild peacocks, and it is becoming a problem. They should stop. The peacocks make loud, annoying sounds that keep me from sleeping or concentrating on my homework.

Second, they are tearing up roofs with their claws. They also carry many diseases. And they poop all over, leaving a big mess. Peacocks are very pretty animals but they are very disturbing.

I think a solution would be to stop feeding the peacocks. Then they will have to move into the valley to find food.

City golf course is in appalling condition

I am appalled at the condition of the Ted Makalena Golf Course. The course itself is far below par. The restaurant and restrooms are dirty. The great name of Makalena, evidently, means nothing to the city.

I felt ashamed for the Makalena family seeing the rundown condition of this city-owned facility. This is not a golf course named after the area it is in. It is named after a very special Hawaiian golfer.

Something has to be done. Hire someone who can restore this facility to the first-rate golf course it should be so that the Makalena family and all golfers can be proud of it once again. All we want is action and a major cleanup to the Ted Makalena Golf Course and its facilities.

I challenge all you golfers to do your part in letting the city know that you care about this problem, too.

Excitement over Dobelle turned to disappointment

I've been in the UH system since 1969, and in my time I've known and worked with five presidents (Harlan Cleveland, Fujio Matsuda, Al Simone, Ken Mortimer and Evan Dobelle). Obviously, I worked with some more closely than others, but I was on the Senate Executive Committee of the UHM Faculty Senate during the first two years of President Dobelle's tenure.

I can still recall the excitement and hope that we had about his presidency at the outset. I also recall the deep disappointment that began, for me, some months into his tenure. After hearing him say he was a "bottom up," "faculty driven" administrator, we hardly ever saw him again; his talks announcing major new university initiatives were all delivered off campus.

Then, he suddenly sent letters out to all UH administrators essentially telling them they were fired unless they heard otherwise from him. Ultimately, he barely avoided being censured by our senate (and that was stalled only because he threatened to make Deane Neubauer resign if we went through with it).

After the first year, filled with cronyistic hiring, excessive and expensive foreign and domestic travel, and grand schemes, he sort of disappeared. Candidly, most of us felt he was phoning in his performance for much of the last year.

One additional comment about the Dobelle legacy: I have never seen an administration that treated women and minorities so badly. Dobelle's top administrators were virtually all white males, though he ultimately hired a non-Caucasian for a position most of us did not think was needed (chief of staff). Moreover, he made no secret of his disdain for the Asian women (and other women) from the previous administration. All of them were encouraged to retire or faced demotions. Finally, the one local woman he hired was paid far less than the male she replaced (despite the fact that she had far more credentials than he for the position).

Suffice to say that those of us who care deeply for the university, and who have spent our lives building it and sustaining it (through good and mostly bad times), will not miss him. In fact, we feel hopeful that all of the wasteful spending in Bachman might finally be reined in before more of our classes and programs are canceled.

Place the blame on parents

Not only does Hawai'i have to change the school system, but so does the whole nation. Our system is over 100 years old. Our nation has changed but the school system has not. This assembly-line approach to education is no longer working, and we as a nation have to look how we can make it relevant in today's society.

Do parents think that education ends at 2 p.m.? It does not. Education is a 24-hour process. While some parents are very involved with their children's education, others are treating the schools as a day care center.

I have had the opportunity to speak to many teachers, and their No. 1 complaint is class size. Their No. 2? The special-education kids. I'm not talking about the children with real mental or physical (medical) disabilities. I'm speaking of the emotional or socially inept children. The children who are violent and disruptive. The children who have had no discipline at home and are unruly in school.

While a single teacher is trying to teach 30 students math, at least five (if not more) out of those 30 are being disruptive and sometimes violent. And what are the parents doing? Threatening to sue the teachers because their child is disruptive. I heard a teacher actually quit mid-year due to this. Many teachers are retiring early or looking for other options. Can you blame them? Yes, the DOE is failing our children. Yes, there are bad teachers.

The real problem, though, lies with the parents or the lack of parenting skills. We, the parents, are failing our children. Five hundred teachers short this year. I see the number growing as the years go by with would-be teachers picking other careers or new teachers quitting as they find out what they're getting themselves into. Maybe they'll all become bus drivers. I hear the pay is better.