Posted on: Monday, April 18, 2005

Letters to the Editor

Blame conversations for driving problems

I agree with Rep. Joe Souki and your editorial about the importance of banning the use of cell phones while driving.

Hopefully, people who eat or apply make-up would do so only at a red light or when traffic is at a standstill. In the case of cell phones, a conscientious driver could start a conversation while at a red light but that conversation could extend well into the time that the car moves again.

Another fact to consider is that as the car is moving, the signal gets distorted, making it necessary to turn one's head. Some drivers have the common sense to pull to the side of the road to use their phone, but they are in the minority.

As for another survey, how many drivers who cause an accident would admit that they were on their cell phones?

I am for banning the use of all phones, hand-held or otherwise, because it is the conversation that takes the mind away from the concentration that should be focused on driving safely.

Legislators, do the right thing on cell phones, and then get yourselves back on track about red-light runners before it's too late.

High-stakes testing misses point: learning

An article posted on April 10 regarding a breach of student test security triggers critical issues about high-stakes testing. As a nation, we pour millions into high-stakes testing, and to support this insanity, we argue that these tests help teachers provide better instruction for individual students. However, testing often occurs at the end of the school year and therefore can't serve this purpose.

We also coerce ourselves into believing it's a valid indicator of student learning. However, research by Berliner and Amerin says these tests "do not, as a general rule, appear valid as indicators of genuine learning"; furthermore, "data from high-stakes testing programs too often appear distorted and corrupted."

When the stakes are high, we do what it takes to survive. As teachers and administrators are forced into survival mode, stress and fear levels increase due to the "high-stakes" attached to results.

This causes a narrowing of the curriculum and exposes children to meaningless and rigorous drills that teach to the test. This harms our children and deprives them of meaningful and exciting learning opportunities they are entitled to.

We all must pitch in to conserve energy

Your March 27 Focus commentary on the energy/environment dilemma was pretty much on target, but understated both the gravity of the problem and the urgency of finding solutions.

The danger is that global warming caused by greenhouse gases may produce disastrous, irreversible climate change sooner than we can counter it. This is not a distant danger; warming can trigger sudden climate change in as little as a decade, with results as far-reaching as the 1930s Dust Bowl in the United States, or creation of the Sahara Desert.

Coal gasification has the political charm of being an energy industry-related bridge technology, but finding places to store its carbon dioxide byproduct on the necessary scale, tens of billions of tons a year, is a daunting prospect.

Writing in Discover magazine, Nobel chemist Rick Smalley argues persuasively in favor of solar power combined with super-efficient electrical transmission and storage, recognizing that breakthrough technologies will be necessary.

In the meantime, there are lots of ordinary things we can do, centered on conservation and energy efficiency, including:

• Urging our council members and mayor to pursue energy-efficient building codes

• Asking our congressional delegation to promote tougher vehicle fuel economy requirements, including those for SUVs and pickups

• Making Earth Day (April 22) the day to personally begin to save energy by turning off the lights when leaving a room, doing laundry in cold water and using energy-efficient appliances and light bulbs

We can all help. Immediacy should be our guide.

Sad to see another piece of Island life go

It saddens me to see another icon of Island life and my childhood fade away. Iida's at Ala Moana joins the lunchwagons, drive-ins, mom 'n' pop stores and other businesses that are succumbing to the homogenization or "Mainland-ization" of commerce in Hawai'i.

I hope I can move back to Hawai'i before there's no difference between the businesses in Hawai'i and those in Houston. Support your local businesses, or they, too, will be history.

Population growth bad for the Islands

I read Melvin Partido and Clifford Jamile's letters on April 10 and decided to address both on two issues.

First, building a bridge over Pearl Harbor is an excellent idea coupled with opening that "secret" tunnel under the harbor as well; it would take care of our traffic problems temporarily. Second, all the money being spent by the Honolulu Board of Water Supply to conserve water is a noble move; however, in addressing both these issues, these "solutions" are all just very temporary.

As we keep allowing people to move here from abroad, all these "solutions" will catch up to themselves in a relatively short amount of time. Obviously, we can't build bridges connecting all the islands, nor can we tow Kaua'i (which has all the water for all the Islands) to O'ahu, so we are back to where we are with just the temporary "solutions."

Am I suggesting we stop growth in Hawai'i? Well, you think about where we are located compared to the rest of the United States and you figure it out. "Conserve, conserve, conserve our water," they cry, but we keep building more and more homes, which puts more vehicles on our depleting roads and more water into the pipes — bleak for the future on O'ahu and the rest of the Islands, yeah?

Wealthier Americans just getting wealthier

On the same day (April 13) you report the state's anti-ice task force may be eliminated due to lack of funds in President Bush's proposed 2006 budget and the FDA rejected Hawai'i's request for money to fight the invasive coqui frog problem, we also learn that Congress is set to permanently eliminate the estate tax that affects only the wealthiest Americans.

Lately, we hear from Bush and others that the Social Security Trust Fund "IOUs" are worthless as our national debt continues to skyrocket.

Bush says the government doesn't have the funds to make good on the money borrowed from the trust fund. He is also slashing funding for many programs that do good in our communities and help the most needy among us. Why? Bush needs more tax revenue, which is increasingly coming from the average American and the extra money we put away to help fund Social Security for another four decades, to subsidize his giveaways to wealthy individuals and corporations.

Is it any wonder Bush and the Republican majority in Congress continue to give tax breaks to the rich at the expense of middle- and lower-class Americans?

This is not an "ownership" society; it's one in which the concentration of wealth will continue to grow among the super-rich while the rest of us are left working harder and longer for less money and paying more for healthcare and other essentials. At least it's something to keep in mind when the ice epidemic ignites again or you can't sleep because coqui frogs have moved into your neighborhood.

UH should rule out drinking on campus

This silly pussy-footing at UH about the drinking problem is getting tiresome. How about simply saying: "No drinking on campus. Drink and you're out"?

Alcohol has been proven without question to be dangerous and deadly. And, for the most part, unnecessary. If learning how to handle liquor is part of the students' education, let them do that on their dime, not mine, off-campus.

The public's hard-earned monetary support of UH's presence is not intended for this particular education/edification/indulgence.

UH's reassurance measures comforting

It is comforting to see the strong concern and effort by the University of Hawai'i toward making our campus safer.

After the recent rape incidents occurring near UH, the university is actually doing something. At a recent rally at the university, Interim President David McClain reassured students of their safety and discussed recommendations that are in place to strengthen campus security.

Whenever you hear of such incidents as the ones that occurred these past few weeks, it is unnerving; but I'm glad the university and students are doing what they can to prevent future ones from happening. To many students, the university campus is home, and if you cannot feel safe in your own home, where can you feel safe?

Rule of law should also apply to 'Dog'

I am responding to the April 12 Island Life article "The law according to Dog." While this piece does a great job of selling the "Dog," it is really fluff. The author fails to address any of the real issues surrounding bail enforcement.

As it stands, Hawai'i allows convicted felons to break down doors, throw people on the ground, cuff them and abduct them.

The idea that a private citizen is allowed to engage in behavior that would land an HPD officer in jail is ludicrous.

Hawai'i needs to follow the example set by other states, such as Oregon and Ohio, where bail enforcement agents are subject to the rule of law just like everyone else. The arcane 1872 court case that allows "Dog" and his merry men to break into homes has been struck down in many other states. It is time for our politicians to introduce legislation to protect our civil liberties from "Dog" and his ilk.

Bail is a critical part of our justice system; it is meant to keep innocent people out of jail until they stand trial. Unfortunately, many of the victims on the show never get an opportunity to go to trial before they get the "Dog" treatment.

This system is being polluted by a lack of oversight, jeopardizing this vital element of the law. Is this really the image of Hawai'i that we want to project to millions of people?

The "Dog" is turning Hawai'i into an episode of Jerry Springer.

Government just isn't getting job done

Is there anyone else out there who is as fed up as I am reading daily in the paper about assorted government screw-ups?

Every day, there are three or four, or more, stories about one bungled job or another. There are the street maintenance and sewer messes, the dismal failure of the state to collect and distribute child support funds despite a multimillion-dollar computer program, Child Welfare Services that allows tiny tots to be beaten up and/or starved by their adult supervisors, crooked cops dealing drugs from their own homes, and now failure to reimburse the bottle collection agents so that they are out hundreds of thousands of dollars while the state sits with the money in the till.

This short list doesn't begin to cover all of the screw-ups. The legislative bodies say they can't reduce taxes or fund needed programs because the money is needed to increase public payrolls.

Based on the above, a whole lot of the public employees should be fired. No way are they entitled to a wage increase. And a whole lot of the blame has to fall on the management of various government programs. They set policy and must train and instruct the working people, but it's not happening.

Killing of dog meat bill was unconscionable

I just read your March 5 article on the "Bill to ban sale of cats, dogs for food dies in the House" and I am very saddened and upset. Cruelty to animals is against the law, but you are telling me that eating dogs and cats is not? Why are we letting this happen? What is the country coming to when people have to resort to eating animals that we call pets? What a disgrace.

Furthermore, I am very upset that the state House has shelved this bill. What were our state representatives thinking? This is very irresponsible of them.

Please publish the names of our state representatives who voted against this bill. The public has a right to know who they are. They do not deserve to be re-elected and serve this state! If they cannot be part of the solution, well, then they are part of the problem.