Posted on: Thursday, March 4, 2004

Letters to the Editor

Farrington High sends its aloha for all the help

Sometimes the greatest adversity has the most heartwarming resolution.

Your coverage of the arson incident that destroyed my office on Presidents Day generated an overwhelming response from alumni, businesses and friends from throughout the Islands. We had offers of help from public and private schools, and received many monetary donations to assist with rebuilding.

In addition to acknowledging the many people who have stepped forward to support us, we also owe much appreciation to the Honolulu Fire Department, whose quick response kept the fire from spreading beyond the office, and to the DOE and DAGS personnel who were on the scene immediately after our call.

While it will take time for the building to recover, our spirits are already mended. All of us at Farrington would like to thank everyone for their kindness to us.

Gay marriage should be handled at state level

It's not that I am in favor of gay marriage. Gay marriage is too mixed a bag to be an easy call. There are way to many variables and way too many people and attitudes involved to easily say one way or the other that it should be or it should not be.

Barring the political difficulties of getting any amendment to the Constitution passed, I wonder if it is even a good idea to try. The Constitution has been amended to guarantee the rights of humans. It hardly seems right to amend it to discriminate against people.

Being gay isn't even considered wrong in many cultures. The Bible has been interpreted in many ways and for many reasons over the eons, too often for political purposes. That it is interpreted to condemn gays now doesn't mean this is the true intent of God. God made gays, too.

There is mounting scientific evidence that sexual orientation is at least significantly genetic or at least physiological in nature. Very like the color of one's skin. It's not something one has a lot of control over. So are we to write into the very foundation of our legal system this kind of discrimination against a group of people who have little or nothing to say about what it is about them that we condemn?

Seems as if we did that to the Japanese Americans at one time, and African Americans before that. Many people are rightfully ashamed of these episodes in our nation's past.

This is not an issue to be decided at the constitutional level. Once that is done, it cannot easily be changed, and the unrelated and indirect ramifications are unknown. Let this be a state-level issue.

There's no compromise on educational system

Why should professionals like teachers be forced to strike to get benefits they deserve?

Where education is concerned, we should not compromise on the system that affects students preparing to be good leaders, who will teach others in turn. Each stage of education, from kindergarten to college, is important — more so in the final college years, after which they go out and face the world. The job of teaching our future leaders must be done with the best of efforts by all without worrying about salaries and benefits that should come automatically as they gain seniority — with value.

It is not easy, but why not change the present way of achieving compensation with its threats of strikes and walkouts to the sensible way of person-to-person talks without disrupting the process?

America became great because our leaders went through the best education system. Don't pause now but give teachers the green light. Then they can say, "We did our best." Let the world look up to America as the ultimate education hub.

School board stance indicates problems

An article in Saturday's Advertiser ("Local school board bill dies") indicates several problems in our state Legislature's stance on education reform.

First, as stated by Rep. Roy Takumi, "The majority of members felt that governance wasn't the real issue." A bill giving the people of this state the opportunity to decide what we want for public schools would be a great public service and would help policy-makers fulfill their duty: actuating public will. Our state representatives were elected by us, the people of Hawai'i, to be our voice. It's not very effective to speak on behalf of someone you're not willing to hear.

Second, opponents claim that decentralized school boards would add layers of bureaucracy to the public education system. But this fails to account for the proposal's eliminating the gigantic DOE bureaucracy, which has far more positions than seven boards need.

Isn't the problem the Democrats' refusal to let voters decide on keeping the DOE or trying something new?

Cooperation benefits conservation, hunting

Regarding the article on fences and conservation in the Feb. 29 Advertiser by Timothy Hurley: As a hunter and a land manager, I applaud the state Division of Forestry and Wildlife and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's efforts toward developing fair solutions that protect Hawai'i's fragile and unique natural resources, while enhancing hunting opportunities.

The forests in more remote, higher-elevation areas possess valuable biological and hydrological attributes, which are particularly vulnerable to damage from introduced feral animals. Without fences, these resources would disappear, threatening Hawai'i's biodiversity and water supply.

However, the less remote, lower-elevation forests, which are mostly dominated by non-native species, have much lower biological and watershed value and in general can sustain sufficiently large numbers of feral animals for hunting.

Unfortunately, many of the lower-elevation forests, which make up a large portion of the total forest acreage in Hawai'i, are closed to public hunting. Hunters and land managers should work together to identify and open public and private lands that can accommodate public hunting, while locating areas where fences can perpetuate native Hawaiian forest resources.

Through rational cooperation and understanding, I'm hopeful that conflicts between conservationists and hunters can be resolved — with respect for the rights of each other — so that Hawai'i's forests will endure.

Fender Stratocaster has Hawai'i connection

I was delighted to read the story of the 50th anniversary of the Fender Stratocaster in Sunday's Honolulu Advertiser. I would like to remind you of the Hawai'i connection to this historic guitar.

In 1953, Leo Fender hired a Hawaiian musician to help in the design the then-new Stratocaster, Freddie Tavares. Freddie was born in Pa'ia, Maui, in 1913 and died in California in 1990. Freddie was a guitar player for Harry Owens' Royal Hawaiian Orchestra playing at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. He had a gig at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Hollywood when Leo hired him.

One of Freddie's first tasks as a Fender employee was to help Leo design the new Stratocaster. Freddie worked for Fender from 1953 to 1980. While many of Fender's competitors pointed out that Leo did not play the guitar, the response was always "but Leo had Freddie."

In much of the current literature about the Fender Stratocaster, including "Fender, The Sound Heard Round the World" by Richard R. Smith, Freddie Tavares is credited with a major role in the design and creation of the Fender Stratocaster.

To know that artists like Buddy Holly, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan and countless others have used this guitar to create their great music is truly mind-boggling. But to know that 10- and 11-year-old guitar players are still drawn to the Fender Stratocaster, 50 years later — Leo and Freddie must be up there smiling.

Bad luck shows why Hawai'i's a great place

On March 1 about 8:45 a.m., I was driving a golfing buddy, Ron, westbound on H-1 between the Sears distribution center and the Waipahu off-ramp when my right front tire had a blowout in the right lane, caused by a pothole (hope the right state people see this). I pulled over on the shoulder, but it was very narrow and I had to park almost right next to the freeway wall.

I was pulling out the spare and the manual jack from the trunk when Herman Lono, a Good Samaritan, pulled over and pulled out his hydraulic jack and offered to change my tire. If I had to change the tire with my manual jack, there was no room to do it, but with Herman's jack and his ingenuity, we managed to get the jack going, and Herman generously did the job for me.

At the golf course where Ron and I joined two other Makalena buddies, Cy and George, they helpfully suggested where I could get some used tire rims. Later, when I was leaving the golf course with Ron, the right rear tire went flat, probably as a result of running over the same pothole earlier. We were towed from Home Depot in Pearl City by a real pro, a young Lithuanian from Pacific Towing whose name I didn't get but who skillfully took us safely to Lex Brodie's in 'Aiea, where we received great service from the tire shop employees there, who repaired both tire rims (saving me a bundle), replaced one bad tire, and put on the two tires.

There's a whole lot of wonderful people in our Islands who demonstrate the spirit of aloha when you least expect it and need it the most. To all of them and to all of you, mahalo for your aloha. I appreciate it and am reminded that this is why I'd rather live here than anyplace else in the world.

Curbside recycling program won't wok

As wonderful as recycling seems in the abstract, the mayor's curbside recycling program fails the common-sense test.

Recycling firms won't accept mixed materials as sorting it all out defeats profitability. So who's going to sort it all out after the city picks it up?

If Mayor Harris is serious about recycling, we'll all need many bins for recyclables, not just one.

Police officers should receive same protection

Regarding Chief Lee Donohue's Feb. 24 letter on SB 3017 and SB 2775, which involve a law-enforcement officers "bill of rights": I find it unfortunate that Chief Donohue has been misinformed on the effect of this legislation.

As titled, the "bill of rights" simply assures a law-enforcement officer his Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights under the U.S. and Hawai'i constitutions.

As stated by Chief Donohue, the bill of rights "would create statutory protections for police officers during administrative and criminal investigations of misconduct," provisions that are currently enjoyed by all U.S. citizens but denied to our police officers. SB 3017 and SB 2775 provide for an appeals procedure for officers prior to punishment. SB 3017 and SB 2775 also provide for sanctions to anyone who acts maliciously to sanction law-enforcement officers under color of their administrative authority.

Currently, police officers face extreme sanctions by the HPD and are told to appeal the sanction via the collective-bargaining agreement. Months and even years later, the matter is quite often resolved in favor of the police officer, who has suffered the indignity of an unfair sanction by the HPD. There is currently no remedy for the continued excessive discipline or for the grossly unfair discipline within the HPD. Officers are demoralized and financially ruined, and many officers never recover from the capricious and discriminatory actions by HPD administrators.

Chief Donohue concludes that the current bargaining agreement provides for "fair and adequate protections for police officers" and "the union contract is the proper place to establish officers' protections from improper investigation procedures." Unfortunately, the HPD refuses to discuss or negotiate these rights, consider changes or sanction HPD administrators who continue malicious behavior.

The remedy? Passage of SB 3017 and/or SB 2775, for a "police officers' bill of rights."

Rally against ice, drug abuse

An ad hoc group of treatment providers, human service agencies and community groups have scheduled a rally against substance abuse for tomorrow from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the State Capitol, called "Kupa'a: Melt the Ice."

There will be speakers, entertainment and legislative visits, ending with sign waving from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. This is a great opportunity for people to show their support for action against drugs and drug dealers, and for support of those persons, families and communities bedeviled by the ravages of drug abuse.

The tremendous movement created in 2003 against drug abuse (the Town Hall Meetings, sign waving, the Edgy Lee documentary, the Lieutenant Governor's Summit, the Legislative Task Force, the media's great education and awareness campaign) have all contributed to the opportunity of a lifetime to comprehensively address the epidemic of substance abuse that is upon us.

Just showing up at the rally will be a strong sign of support for the excellent bills going through the Legislature right now. Those bills, especially the omnibus bills that came out of the Legislative Task Force (HB 2003 & 2004 and SB 3233 & 3234) present a comprehensive strategy addressing issues of awareness, education, prevention, treatment, law enforcement and community building that is needed to bring this epidemic under control.

Getting these bills enacted and comprehensively addressing the epidemic will help to control other problems (such as crime, teen pregnancy, school failure and family disintegration) for they share many of the same root causes.

Addressing the drug problem will also focus attention on the looming problem of a labor shortage as the construction industry faces a major building boom. Many potential construction workers will be unemployable because of drug-abuse problems.

This in turn will either stall the construction boom or cause the importation of thousands of construction workers, which in turn will create pressure on housing costs and residential development. On the other hand, the boom in construction jobs will benefit recovering addicts, since not being able to find jobs is a major obstacle to recovery.

Being at the rally is also a time to bond with others in the movement, and network for building the stronger, healthier communities that can continue the drive against drug abuse.

For further information, call Andy Anderson at Hina Mauka (236-2600), Alan Shinn at Coalition for Drug Free Hawaii (545-3228) or Bob Nakata at Kahalu'u United Methodist Church (239-9049).

Come on down to the Capitol tomorrow to help win the fight against ice and other drugs.