Letters to the Editor

Advertiser Staff

Duke Bainum ducked questions on Kailua

On Tuesday evening, Oct. 5, the Olomana and Maunawili community associations sponsored a candidates' night for the people in Kailua. Both Mufi Hannemann and Duke Bainum were given five minutes each to speak or to reduce their speaking time and answer questions. Both chose to use the time to address the audience of almost 200 residents.

However, forms were provided to those in attendance to write out their questions. Since there was time available after all the candidates spoke, we asked both Mufi and Duke if they would answer questions. Mufi readily agreed, but Duke refused, stating that that was not what he had agreed to.

The questions were pertinent to issues in Kailua, and those in attendance had a right to know how the mayoral candidates stood on those issues.

It appears that Bainum is inflexible or is he afraid of being asked questions that he can't answer. He appears to rely on "canned" speeches and is not able to "speak on his feet."

He did a disservice to the people of Kailua.

Public schools are leaving us behind

As a junior at a public high school with a strong reputation for academics, I have realized that I am being left behind.

The most frustrating aspect of Hawai'i's public school system is the teacher shortage. Because of this, my school was unable to foster my interest in science. In a previous chemistry course, my class suffered through more than three months of substitute teachers until a real one could be found.

This year, my accelerated-physics teacher has only one year of teaching experience in the subject, and my AP chemistry teacher is a brand-new teacher with no experience. Both are going at a pace too slow for me to be challenged. In addition, only one honors-level course is available in the 9th and 10th grade, forcing gifted students to study at a heterogenous level.

Hawai'i public schools should look beyond "No Child Left Behind" test scores. Every group of students — not just those who could score better on standardized tests — should be considered. Some Mainland schools have small "academies" for gifted students that can replicate the quality and courses of a private school education, located within public schools. But before that can happen, teacher salaries must be increased to attract more college graduates from higher-paying jobs in other industries, especially at a time when baby boomers are retiring.

The public school system is definitely not helping me develop my potential. The only option I have now is to apply to a private school.

Third-grader is just another homeless

After being evicted from an apartment in Kane'ohe eight months ago because there were too many people living there, James has lived in a car, at the beach, in a dirty room in Waikiki with no kitchen or bathroom.

James loves school, and his favorite subjects are math and languages, but he has fallen behind in his third-grade class because he has had to change schools four times in eight months. He is just like any other child, saying "I want TV and a bed. And a dog. Not a cat, just a dog." Doesn't he deserve to have a home and live the normal life of a child, to go to school and play?

Hawai'i was one of the top 20 "meanest cities" to the homeless, putting bars on benches so they cannot be used to sleep on, or putting people in jail if they sleep on the beach. Let's not forget what makes Hawai'i special, the Hawaiian aloha. There are always other options.

Make a difference in a child's life by volunteering at a shelter, voicing your concerns at a City Council meeting or writing to your legislator.

Low-income bus rider being taken for a ride

The low-income bus pass program was to be implemented after the bus strike in September 2003. It is 13 months overdue, and a report says that it won't be implemented for "an uncertain period of time." In the meantime, the city has profited an estimated extra $4,995,000 by charging the low-income bus riders the full fare.

The people affected by this delay are asking, "When will the program be implemented?" A second important question now is, "Is the city going to reimburse the low-income bus riders for 13-plus months of wrongly charging them the regular full fare?" For those people affected (and those who wish to correct this injustice), please ask both questions.

Everyone should contact the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawai'i (522-5900) for assistance and the Federal Transit Administration (888-446-4511) to file a civil rights complaint. They may need a letter or filled-in form. Please make the extra effort to stop the discrimination by the city of Honolulu. In the coming and future elections, remember to vote against your City Council member who allowed this injustice.

City has missed a bet with reconstruction

Now that the design for the landscaping along the Ala Wai is apparent, I am hard-pressed to discern much difference between what was there before the reconstruction and now, with the addition of bump-outs.

There are more palm trees, which can't be a bad thing. There is nice new turf, although joggers have always made that into dust rather quickly every other time new turf was planted.

And there are new "mounds," which make nice places to sit to watch whatever happens to be going by on the the Ala Wai, canal or boulevard.

Mmmmmm. You think that is what this is all about?

But why didn't they just transplant the bleachers from the Natatorium?

Combined yellow, white pages too big

Back in the 1980s when I headed the public affairs department at GTE Hawaiian Tel, I led the push to split the O'ahu Telephone Directory into two books. We were getting complaints back then that the book was too big for customers to handle, and the 1980s version was a heck of a lot thinner. We decided our goal was to serve local customers and not to mimic what Mainland phone companies do.

It made sense then, and it still makes sense. Split books are easier to use and therefore used more. Split books also set the phone company's books apart from its competitors in consumers' minds. The rationale of having everything in one book doesn't do you much good if your customers can't lift the book.

I don't know how many people commented to me that they did not like the big Paradise Pages when they landed on their doorsteps some weeks ago. When I told them that it was not the phone company's book and that the phone company was the one with the split books, they all look relieved. How wrong I was. I had no idea that Verizon was going to give us a monster book as well.

Maybe at the public hearing the other night someone should have asked the PUC to make it a condition of the Verizon sale to the Carlyle Group that the O'ahu book be split again. It's been proven that one of the best ways for a company to maintain customer loyalty is to admit its mistakes and correct them. I sincerely hope our phone company will do just that come next year.

We owe it to our kids to start recycling now

Yesterday, I saw a brand-new blue recycling bin at my curbside. To the powers that be, thank you for bringing recycling back to our Mililani community. My guilty conscience was really beating me up for throwing away recyclable items, only to be landfilled.

I don't think we all are aware of how much trash we generate, only to be buried, with no return value. It's humongous! We should all take a field trip to our local landfill and see how much we throw away daily. Be prepared for a rude awakening.

Our society is so efficient in displacing waste that the public doesn't know where it is. If you still don't get the picture, try saving all the plastic water bottles you use in one month and multiply that by 1 million. Now, try to find a place to put it.

Recycling is not a political decision or a union-supported change. It's a cultural change that needs to happen now, starting with you and me. But don't do it for me. Do it for my son, Ethan. He'll be 3 in December. We owe our kids that much.