Letters to the Editor

HPD should expand checkpoint program

The Honolulu Police Department is doing a fine job of setting up designated DUI checkpoints before or after a holiday weekend. Another great job is the "Click It or Ticket" program.

Why not set up various non-designated driving checkpoints around the island(s) to check drivers for a current insurance card, safety check, registration and driver's license? If not available, that driver should be ticketed or fined. Isn't it necessary for all drivers to maintain and also have it available whenever operating a vehicle?

Hawai'i's drivers need to take responsibility, slow down, think safety and be more conscious and courteous to other drivers.

Kamehameha wrong to aid non-Hawaiians

I was disappointed that non-Hawaiian students received financial aid intended for Hawaiians. Four non-Hawaiians have scholarships for fall 2004, but deadlines are a month away for new applicants and three months for renewal applicants.

How can students be awarded money when Kamehameha Schools still needs to review a student's spring 2004 transcript?

For 2002-2003, I received $7,000 from KS (total cost of education at my school: $22,000); the next year I received none. Fellow Hawaiian financial recipients said they received less or no money this past year because KS said budget cuts left less scholarship money available.

KS states that the applicant list ran out before the money; how can that be when countless Hawaiians saw none of it?

The confusing application process may prove daunting to applicants, and although KS holds workshops to assist applicants, more needs to be done.

Consider eligibility requirements: be a Hawai'i resident, be a student in a degree-seeking program at an accredited post-secondary institution, be enrolled full-time in an accredited two- or four-year post-high school degree program, maintain a certain GPA and demonstrate financial need. Now tell me there are no Hawaiians who meet the requirements and you will find it impossible.

A strong supporter of KS, I know it strives to assist students of Hawaiian ancestry in achieving a higher education, but something is wrong when non-Hawaiians receive aid while Hawaiians are left with empty pockets still dreaming of a brighter future.

Spain commentary focuses on our errors

Three cheers for The Advertiser's March 21 column on "Spain not necessarily 'giving in,' " by David Polhemus. It brought clarity and resonance to the many voices in Hawai'i who share the belief that Spain's new president, JosŽ Luis Rodr’guez Zapatero, is not a modern re-enactment of Chamberlain's appeasement of Hitler.

Iraq was not an imminent threat to the United States, and America's invasion of Iraq had no tendency to help in this country's war on terrorism. In fact, the opposite is true.

The invasion weakened America's current and future war on terrorism by diverting huge resources to Iraq and away from fighting the group known to have attacked us on 9/11 and before. It allowed al-Qaida to establish Iraq as a new terrorism base and also aided in its recruitment.

Civil service reform criticism is unfounded

We would like to respond to criticisms by Legislative Auditor Marion Higa regarding separation incentives for Hawai'i's civil servants ("Auditor says effort to thin bureaucracy hasn't worked," March 9).

Mrs. Higa claimed there is no proof that abolished civil service positions were removed from the budget files.

In fact, the departments of Human Resources Development (DHRD) and Budget and Finance (B&F) ensured that these deletions occurred and adjusted the budget accordingly.

Mrs. Higa also claimed that separation incentives were not developed for all jurisdictions. Under the law, however, we were not required to create a statewide program of separation incentives. And if we had done so, the state executive branch would have overstepped its authority.

Finally, Mrs. Higa said the separation incentives law has done little to reduce the overall size and cost of government. It's important to note that the law is not intended to reduce the size of state government. The intent was to provide for a voluntary management tool to facilitate the restructuring of programs and services and to minimize the negative impact on affected employees and service to the public. Moreover, it's the responsibility of individual jurisdictions, not DHRD and B&F, to make civil service reforms as appropriate for their personnel.

Thank you for letting us clarify this complicated and often misunderstood issue.