Posted on: Tuesday, September 21, 2004

Letters to the Editor

Advertiser Staff

Mindset that affects all of local society

I agree with Paul Tyksinski (Letters, Aug. 7) about underachievement. It seems to me that this mindset extends to all of local society and especially our government. Van cams, new power lines and Stryker brigades? Not in my back yard! How about electing people based on their leadership and voting out ineffective career politicians? Heck no, we are so happy wallowing in the mud that we have no need for change at all!

I'd like to introduce everyone to a related term: disunity. This is a condition where an issue is argued round and round, only to end up back at square one with no consensus, and repeated again to give the illusion of progress. I see its presence in the University of Hawai'i logo, Kamehameha Schools/Bishop Estate leadership, the mass transit ideas kicked around for decades, and public school system reform.

It is ironic and saddening that this happens in the land of King Kamehameha the Great, one man who alone was able to unify the Islands.

Youthful offenders don't belong in Utah

The Office of Youth Services plans to transfer six girls from the Hawai'i Youth Correctional Facility to a detention facility in Utah, citing overcrowding and staff shortages as the reason.

It is important for youth who are incarcerated to have regular contact with their families. When incarcerated children feel loved and supported by their families, they are more likely to benefit from educational and rehabilitation programs and less likely to commit future offenses following their release from prison.

If these girls are moved to Utah, they will not receive personal visits, and contact will be limited to phone calls and letters. They will be thousands of miles away from home and family.

Many of the youth in the Hawai'i Youth Correctional Facility (HYCF) are in need of mental health or substance abuse treatment. They enter the HYCF as a result of status offenses (which would not be offenses if they were adults) or probation violations. Few youthful prison inmates are violent offenders who would be a danger to the community. We need to place young people in community programs where their needs can be met.

Surely a better solution can be found to house and rehabilitate our youthful offenders than exiling them far away from their homes and their 'ohana.

3 other reasons to doubt his guilt

Shaun Rodrigues faces 20 years in prison for robbery and kidnapping, and Bob Rees has shown why there is reason to wonder whether he deserves it ("Rodrigues' conviction was hardly convincing," Sept. 19).

In addition to the reasonable doubts documented by Rees, three large points merit mention. First, studies show that side-by-side photo lineups generate many more false positive identifications (and no fewer true positives) than do one-photo-at-a-time procedures. The HPD should never again use the side-by-side method, and they should not have used it in the Rodrigues case.

Second, studies show that judges are much more inclined to convict than juries are. This is not surprising: as employees of the state, judges tilt toward the state more than ordinary citizens do. In a case this loaded with reasonable doubt, the Rodrigues defense team may have miscalculated by asking for trial-by-judge.

Third, studies show that wrongful convictions are widespread in America. How many get exposed is largely a function of how hard people look for them. There is little reason to believe that the innocent are convicted less often in Hawai'i than in other American states. What sets Hawai'i apart is how undeveloped the institutions are for identifying and demonstrating miscarriages of justice.

Singapore best model for Hawai'i to emulate

I read with continued amazement over the ongoing public transportation debates and the various ideas to solve Honolulu's deteriorating traffic situation. Benchmarking programs in Mainland cities will not lead to a workable transport solution because these programs cannot fit Hawai'i's unique geography and urban situation.

The only successful comparable is Singapore, which has used a solid mixture of financial controls and well thought out public transportation projects to successfully tackle similar issues.

Why do Hawai'i people not seize opportunity?

Hawai'i is so proud of its culture, heritage and people. A few of the most significant reasons why immigrants come to America is because of its freedom, its rights and its privileges.

I moved to Hawai'i from Sao Paulo, Brazil. Growing up in Sao Paulo, Hawai'i was always in my future. In Brazil, it's the law to vote. Without great reason, if someone does not vote, that person is fined, or must do public service time.

Why, when the people of Hawai'i have the opportunity to vote, have the opportunity to voice their opinion, and have the opportunity to make a difference, do they not embrace this, and make that difference?

Voting does make a difference. As American citizens, the people of Hawai'i can make a change, and should make that change.

Mahalo, and I look forward to seeing a successful turnout for November's voting.

Isle-based TV shows fail to measure up

I'm an avid lover of Hawai'i. I lived on O'ahu twice, once on active duty in the Air Force and the second time as a federal employee. I love the Islands and the 'ohana. That's why I'm writing about the two television shows I've recently watched called "North Shore" and "Hawaii." I was hoping for some kind of quality of "Hawaii Five-0" or "Magnum, P.I." but I don't see anything that even resembles that at all.

At least "Baywatch Hawai'i" showed some of the outstanding qualities of living on the Islands. I've watched "Hawaii" three times so far hoping to see something that would help me like the show, but so far, nothing. In my opinion, for the most part, the acting is terrible. In addition, the new transition techniques they are using totally destroy anything they might have accomplished by using the widescreen format.

As for "North Shore," I turned it on once, for about 10 minutes, and that's all I could handle. I guess that says enough about that show.

I understand they are going to make a movie version of "Hawaii Five-0." I was fortunate to read an earlier script of that idea and thought it was a great idea. I'm hoping they are finally able to bring back the quality of that program to the big screen. I would also love to see the Magnum crew come back for one of those reunion programs.

19th-century trader leaves enduring mark

Wade K. Shirkey's account of renaming the Scandia (Sept. 17) was informative and helped clear up the mysterious history of Makee Street for me — especially welcome since I live on Makee Road and have been wondering how this poor little street got its name, and why it is so short.

But his article is wrong in one important detail. Makee 'Ailana is not "part Scottish, part Hawaiian," as he claims. The word 'ailana is only the English word "island" pronounced according to Hawaiian sound-patterns. So the compound name is really "part Scottish, part English." Which, considering the history of the term that Shirkey sketched so interestingly, probably gives an even more engaging "sense of place ... about a romantic little part of Waikiki now long gone."

Thanks for support

I would like to take the time to thank all of the people (11,000-plus) who endorsed me in my bid to be elected to the Board of Education. It was a marvelous experience which gave me the opportunity to meet some outstanding individuals.

Two of my opponents, Garrett Toguchi and Lei Ahu Isa, impressed me with their experience, sincerity and intelligence. I am asking those of you who supported my candidacy to cast your vote for these two candidates in the general election.

Thank you again for your support in my bid to be elected to the BOE.

Lyon Arboretum: Let volunteers get it reopened

Through the kindness and altruism of Dr. Harold Lyon and the Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Association, the property where the Lyon Arboretum now sits was donated to the University of Hawai'i and the people of Hawai'i. The Lyon Arboretum has become the most treasured thing at the university — with its great image and service, better than any other public program there.

Nearly all of this is due to the dedication, funds and activities of the private volunteers.

It is now unfortunate that the arboretum has become a political football, mainly because the university administrators do not consider it valuable, worthwhile and assign it the lowest priority for funding, release of appropriated funds, or upkeep and maintenance. It does not have the eye-catching popularity of the current medical school improvements.

Its buildings are old and in need of repair, though the term "unsafe to health and welfare" is not correct — for most have been functioning for years and house some very important and world-recognized research. Part of the problem stems from the fact that the previous, appointed director hired unqualified and unlicensed people to make repairs that have not been completed and have been left in an unsound condition for a long time.

In the meantime, and because of what is obvious (exposed wiring, piping, termite damage, etc.) the arboretum has been closed "until further notice." That is a crime — to slam the door because of a few minor things, when most of the buildings and areas can be safely used by the many local enthusiasts, schoolchildren and volunteers who have made this the showcase that it is.

If the university administrators cannot quickly make the necessary repairs to bring the buildings up to code, I propose that the project be turned over to private volunteers who will provide the funds and licensed contractors to do it. All of the work would be acceptable to the Department of Land and Natural Resources and the university, but these would be repairs to the existing and not new modern, concrete structures that would be both costly, out of place and take a lifetime of approvals and construction.

Please, make some areas off-bounds, and then open the gate to let Lyon return to its lively activities. Give us the permission to help out.

Fund drug programs now

Gov. Linda Lingle has been refusing to release most of the $11.7 million of the $14.7 million approved by the Legislature in Act 44 for anti-drug (basically anti-ice) programs. (The other $3 million has been released by the state judiciary, which is a separate branch of government that she does not control.)

In retrospect, she has been against this funding from the time it was proposed in the Legislature in December 2004. Her response then was "no money." When it passed, she nearly vetoed it, even though all but one of the Republican legislators voted for it

In spite of overwhelming acknowledgement throughout the state, she does not seem to believe that "ice" is a major problem. In contrast, she quickly decided to use federal welfare funds to support culture and arts programs, even though state funds are available.

The governor's refusal to quickly release these and other funds (for the Commission on the Status of Women and for the DOE, for example) are puzzling. She said she was waiting for the Council on Revenues' September projections before making decisions. Those projections are in now and indicate several hundred million dollars more than in the May projections, on which the current state budget is based. This is far more than the projected deficits she has cited as reasons for caution in releasing funds.

While her staff is correct in saying that the programs should be evaluated as to their effectiveness before releasing the funds, as previous governors have done, it has been five months since the funds were allocated, ample time for the administration to have evaluated the programs. Many of them have been in existence for years, with annual evaluations by the state Department of Health. In addition, most of the programs are run by nationally accredited agencies. They are evaluated annually by the accrediting bodies.

If the administration had studied the state Department of Taxation's reports, it would have anticipated the increase in the Council on Revenues' projections several months ago. Those figures show that General Fund tax revenues for the calendar year 2004 through August have grown by 17.3 percent over revenues for the same period in 2003.

This trend began growing at the beginning of the year, to the point where July and August 2004 revenues were 25.6 percent above revenues for those two months in 2003. These are amazing numbers, unlike anything since the days of the Japanese bubble economy of the late 1980s. Leroy Laney, First Hawaiian Bank's economic consultant and former Council on Revenues member, recognized the strength of the economy in a Sept. 9 article. He says that this economy has a stronger foundation than that of the 1980s, because that was built on speculative money, and this one is based on three major booming economic sectors of tourism, construction and military spending.

Even the concrete strike did not slow it down. The hurricanes in the Caribbean, the Gulf Coast and Florida will probably give a boost to our tourism industry. Except for escalation of the war in Iraq, another 9/11, or fallout from the huge national debt, this economy looks sustainable.

The governor should release the anti-drug funds. The funds are there, and according to statistics from the city medical examiner's office, there has been an average of more than one ice-related death a week on O'ahu alone. The funds will not stop all these deaths, but they will help reduce the number of deaths.