Posted on: Tuesday, October 12, 2004

Letters to the Editor

Drug treatment helps addicts to stay clean

In an Oct. 4 letter, the author criticizes state support of drug treatment for ice users. The author argues that ice use is a crime and users must pay for their actions instead of having their hands held in drug treatment.

Regardless of whether we turn to drug treatment or rely on "tough-on-crime" responses, such as time spent in prison, we all pay in the end. And if our response to this crime doesn't work, we pay over and over. In fact, Hawai'i shells out as much as $30,000 per year for each incarcerated inmate. As recidivism rates suggest, most prisoners — once released — will re-offend and go back into the system.

Call it soft-on-crime, hand-holding or any other derogatory term, drug treatment works in terms of leading addicts to hold down steady jobs, repair damaged relationships and walk away from a criminal life. It also costs less than imprisonment.

So, if you want to continue supporting a justice system focused on punishment, then feel free to do so. Only, please pay for this prison system yourself, because it doesn't work for addicts and it is much too costly.

Don't mess around with marriage laws

Reps. Ed Case and Neil Abercrombie have clearly not thought out the long-term ramifications of the gay marriage amendment (Editorial, Oct. 2). Once a marriage between two people of the same sex is sanctioned, there will be little to stop the continuing meltdown of the institution.

Today there are thousands of single parents with children. The new law would say that for the nominal marriage fee, any two parents could go to city hall and "declare" themselves wedded, thereby becoming eligible for the lucrative IRS marriage deduction.

Let's make the picture a little clearer. Let's say Oprah and Martha were disgruntled over how their taxes were being spent so they signed these now all-but-meaningless papers to take their windfall tax millions elsewhere, leaving the rest of us to pay for highways and Iraq.

Let's say my cousin Fred has no health insurance and so he proposes marriage to me. Any attorney worth his salt could easily neutralize the disqualifying "mixed gene" issue.

As it's not illegal for couples to live under separate roofs, two elderly widowed investors living in Manhattan and Beverly Hills who pay a million each in taxes could likewise qualify for a windfall profit without ever seeing one another again. Now multiply their numbers exponentially. Half the nation's singles (especially the money-wise, affluent elite) could save billions by obtaining the now-diluted certificate.

Our two well-meaning congressmen ought to explore all of the variables before messing with a time-tested arrangement that has been in universal effect for a very long time. Making laws is important business.

Ethanol would cost us $1-plus per gallon less

I respond to B.W. Ho (Letters, Oct. 4), who expressed the opinion that the use of ethanol in Hawai'i was only for political reasons, had not been studied carefully and would lead to an increase in gasoline prices. These assertions are not correct.

The production and use of ethanol in Hawai'i has been carefully studied in detail over many years and undergone a thorough examination in DBEDT's fuel ethanol work groups, consisting of oil refiners, distributors, ethanol interests, consumers, government representatives, etc. Experts on ethanol blending, from both the oil and ethanol industries, were brought in.

Ethanol is being used throughout the United States today and helps to reduce gasoline prices. It costs much less than gasoline, especially with the federal tax incentives. In Hawai'i, the net cost of ethanol is more than $1 per gallon less than gasoline, even after reducing RVP and local distribution costs.

The bottom line is that ethanol is renewable, costs less, pollutes less and keeps our money in Hawai'i, working for us. It's a good idea for Hawai'i, environmentally and economically.

Rep. Abercrombie needs to be replaced

As we look back on 15 years of Neil Abercrombie in Congress, we see a track record that reflects shortsightedness.

Abercrombie's tenure is marked by blind support for union leadership, even when the long-term results are harmful to the security of the unions' own members.

When asked about his record, Abercrombie frequently points to federal tax dollars brought into Hawai'i, as though our congressional representatives are nothing more than brokers trying to get the greatest return on our investment in some Capitol Hill stock market. The truth is, federal funds brought into Hawai'i as a result of Abercrombie's efforts have, by and large, provided short-term jobs that have only served to perpetuate the service-sector economy of Hawai'i's struggling working class. Abercrombie's return on investment has been a zero-growth return.

What Hawai'i's First District desperately needs today is a representative in Congress with a true vision for the future. A congressman with an understanding of Hawai'i's position in today's Pacific Rim economics. A congressman who recognizes the need for federal government involvement that promotes that position and raises the standard of living for all of Hawai'i's citizens.

Dalton Tanonaka is the man with the experience and vision to work with both state and federal leadership to help guide Hawai'i into a robust, dynamic 21st-century economy.

Neil Abercrombie is a good man who no doubt believes all he advocates, but his time is past. It's time for Dalton Tanonaka.

Save your bus fare

I am glad that federal funding for the Bus Rapid Transit system has been denied. Now the town folks can save their bus fare and purchase a bike to ride to work.

Native Hawaiians, others are priorities

Thank you for the informative article by Vicki Viotti ("College next focus for Hawaiians," Sunday). Increasing financial assistance and expanding student support programs for Native Hawaiians are critical priorities for Hawai'i and the University of Hawai'i.

We are all inspired by the achievements and contributions to the university and the state by OHA trustee Colette Machado (a College Opportunities Program graduate) as well as Kua'ana doctoral student Ikaika Bantonlina and undergraduate Kawehi Ho'okano.

More resources are needed to support Native Hawaiian students at all UH campuses. In addition, UH is committed to increasing the number and success of African Americans, Filipinos, Laotians, Vietnamese, Samoans and other Pacific Islanders who are underrepresented at UH.

Pot program helped ice get its foothold

Good story on ice in the Sunday paper. One glaring factor that was missed, however, is that the immoral, counterproductive "marijuana eradication program" caused the conditions for poverty and hard drugs in this state, as the National Institute of Drug Abuse concluded more than 10 years ago. See thc-ministry.org/NIDA_Report.jpg for details. Please tell the whole truth about this tragedy or you compound it by omission.

Pay attention, 2-wheelers: This could save your lives

The state of Hawai'i should require all moped, motorscooter and motorcycle riders to attend a safety and defensive-driving course.

Right now, the law requires motorcycle and motorscooter operators to wear protective eyewear (glasses) if their vehicles are not equipped with a windshield. Moped riders are not required to wear them.

The difference between a scooter and moped is the rated horsepower, and mopeds are not allowed on freeways. You need a motorcycle permit or license and insurance to operate a scooter, but not for a moped. Mopeds can travel just as fast as a scooter and can keep up with vehicles in traffic. The difference between the moped and scooter could be just one horsepower.

If a bug hits you in the face when you are riding a motorcycle or scooter traveling about 20 to 25 mph, it feels like a pebble. Just imagine if someone riding a moped or bicycle gets hit in the eye by a bug or pebble; he will probably lose control and cause an accident.

I attended the Motorcycles Riding Course; it was very helpful. I believe that everyone should attend this course. I know that if you try to make it mandatory, there will always be some opposition. If you already have a motorcycle-/scooter license, you should be grandfathered and not be required to take the course, unless you get ticketed for an unsafe or reckless violation.

Presently, if you take the course, which is available at the Coast Guard Station at Sand Island or Leeward Community College, it costs about $150. It will take three days or 24 hours to complete the course. When you complete the course, you will have a motorcycle license and not be required to take a state road test. You will also get a 15 percent discount on your insurance.

The good thing about the course is that the motorcycle and helmet are supplied. You have to dress accordingly and supply your own glasses and gloves.

Riding a dirt bike is completely different from riding on the road. Many new motorcycle riders get into accidents, especially on turns. This course will teach you everything you should know about defensive riding.

Whenever you ride on the road, all you need to make is one mistake and it might be your last.

Hold parents, kids accountable

One of your Oct. 8 headlines read "52% of Island schools meet 'No Child' goals" and was followed by lots of stats. What the article doesn't tell the public is that the Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) target for the past three years has been 28 percent proficiency in reading and 10 percent in math; that means the average school population needed to score 28 percent or better on the HSA reading test, and score

10 percent or better on the HSA math test.

Unfortunately, they (a body of wisdom) have upped the ante for years 2005 and 2006. Now for schools to meet the AYP target, an average school population needs to score 44 percent or better on the HSA reading test and 28 percent or better on the HSA math test. That means more schools will fail to meet the AYP in the next two years.

I'm sure by now your readers are horrified; the standard is that low, and schools aren't meeting the target.

What the article fails to mention is that the target includes everyone in the school population; that means special-education students and those who can't speak English, the ESL students. For schools to meet the target, besides calculating scores of the average school population, race and free or reduced lunch, low-income groups are further sorted into subgroups. Some students are counted more than once. If any of the subgroups don't meet the target, then the school is labeled "not met."

A subgroup is criterion-based; it is discounted if there are not enough numbers to make up the subgroup. It's obvious, then, to conclude that how a school fares would be based on the type of community it services, and the size of the school population.

Everyone knows the major reason why students fail in school, but no one wants to talk about it. I can definitely tell you, it's not the teachers. In fact, teachers today are over-qualified. To be licensed as a public school teacher, they make you jump through a lot of hoops. And once you become a teacher, they make you jump through even more hoops.

The real reason is parenting.

How many parents are licensed? To be a parent, all that's required is to be fertile. As a result, some parents think it's a teacher's job not only to educate their children, but to raise them, too. Some parents would like to drop off their kids in kindergarten and pick them up after their senior year of high school. In the meantime, don't bother them, because they just want to do the mommy/daddy thing, whatever that is.

For those parents who feel that way, let me politely correct you. For a child to succeed in school, teachers are only one-third of the equation; the efforts of the parents and the students control the other two-thirds of the equation. And parenting starts at conception, not when the kids start kindergarten. Until everyone makes that effort, and regardless of what sanctions are put on a school, the results will be the same.

Pat Hamamoto, even if you standardize the school year, it would not improve the HSA scores. So, Ms. Hamamoto, I urge you to do something really innovative, like making the other two-thirds of the equation equally accountable, instead of the same old rhetoric that just threatens the teachers.

Or, step aside and let someone else do it.

The ultimate goal is for 100 percent of our public schools and their students to reach 100 percent proficiency on the HSA tests. If natural selection is not a factor, and students all speak English, and all students come from the same socioeconomic background, then this might be possible. Otherwise, the DOE and the geniuses in Washington, D.C., need to be more realistic and revise their goals.

Stop punishing your teachers, who are already working above and beyond the call of duty.