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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Thursday, April 21, 2005

Letters to the Editor

Earth's dire status needs more attention

I applaud your April 6 editorial on the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. This is not the first warning of our present dangerous path. In 1993, more than 1,600 scientists from 49 countries signed and published a "World Scientists' Warning to Humanity." In that report they stated:

"If not checked, many of our current practices put at serious risk the future that we wish for human society and the plant and animal kingdoms, and may so alter the living world that it will be unable to sustain life in the manner that we know."

That report received almost no attention from the media. The present study is getting some attention, but still far too little.

Your editorial made good suggestions about how each of us can make a difference. However, the urgency of the situation deserves more action.

In the words of the 1993 study, a new ethic is required. We can only achieve the fundamental changes required by rethinking many basic features of our society. This includes, in my opinion, our education system. We need a much greater emphasis on educating young people in the natural sciences. This is a key to a new ethic.

Glenn Metzler
Honolulu



Recycling facility has quality service

With all the negative thoughts about the bottle program, I would like to add something positive.

I redeem my bottles at the Enchanted Lake facility. I have always been amazed with the quality of service provided by these Reynolds workers. They are very helpful and patient with their customers. Every time I have been in there, I find people in good humor — even though they may have to wait for a period of time. Patience and humor go a long way.

Keep up the good work, Reynolds; you sure hired some good service-oriented workers.

J.M. Kalama
Kailua



Confiscated lighters should be recycled

I read the article regarding the federal ban on lighters from airplanes, which went into effect on April 14. The article said that all of the lighters surrendered will be destroyed by a private hazardous-waste company hired by the federal Transportation Security Administration.

I have a better idea.

Why not have the people who are boarding planes put their lighters in a lighter recycling box? The arriving passengers, after getting off the airplane, could pick up a lighter from the lighter recycling box. This would make the arriving passengers happy and save the cost of lighter disposal.

William Brady
Hawai'i Kai



Let us be the model

The April 10 article by Jan TenBruggencate, "CO2 reading taken on Mauna Loa up sharply," is the best summary of the causes and trends of global warming I have ever read. Wouldn't it be exciting to have Hawai'i take the lead in moving toward alternative-energy sources in a way that could serve as a model for the rest of the country? It doesn't hurt to dream.

Lynne Johnson
Makiki



Why can't our leaders solve traffic problem?

I find it hard to fathom how our attention is constantly diverted by our city government and, of course, the Legislature on issues such as ripping out the Harris trees on Kuhio or other diversions, leading us away from the nightmarish traffic jams consuming our island and, moreover, the lack of parking.

I am sure everyone who attended the triathlon was clearly outraged over the solution: build a multi-level parking structure at the Waikiki Shell overflow lot.

Why is it so hard for our elected leadership to face and solve this crisis before we are all buried in cars, turning us into the largest junkyard in the Pacific?

Timothy A. Cook
Waikiki



Priorities appalling in cruise ship firing

I am appalled at the arrogance and priorities of Hawai'i's Democratic Party.

First, some Democrats go out of their way to assist a convicted child molester in finding a job. Then, even after they find out about his past in the Philippines, they feel the need to protect him by trying to punish the company that fired him for alleged sexual harassment.

Who keeps voting these people back into office?

Jessica Janusz
Honolulu



Foodland has made our bottle-law day

Bravo to Foodland for lending its helping hand in this ridiculous bottle law.

With the extremely low turnout rate for the bottles, any help is more than welcome. Even when I make my way to the redemption centers, the hassle is just not worth it. Now I can shop and recycle on the same trip and use the redemption money to knock off the grocery bill at the register.

Also, what a good business move by Foodland. I guess it took some notes from Maui (Kahului, Aloha Shell Service). This would greatly attract customers to shop at Foodland with its in-store credit.

Yoo Chong Kim
Honolulu



Military research opposition is off base

In response to Tony Castanha (Letters, April 13): First, UH is not advocating for classified military research. The University Affiliated Research Center is a funding mechanism to supplement research projects undertaken by university faculty. A small percentage of those projects is/will be classified. Classified research is not permitted on the UH campus by Board of Regents policy.

Opposition is not a majority. The UH Faculty Senate did not endorse a measure against UARC. The state House did put forward a poorly informed resolution. Equally uninformed petitions were circulated. Further, the attendance at the public forums was mostly art students seeking an opportunity to hone their performance art skills and the usual "activists" under the spell of an open mike.

Chancellor Peter Englert is a strong advocate of the Hawaiian cause. The Hawaiian student who asked him about a Native Hawaiian place of learning constantly and rudely interrupted him when he tried to respond — the chancellor then said he would address that question later.

Finally, UARC isn't about classified military research. It is about much-needed funding for research and education at the University of Hawai'i.

Patricia Cooper
Waikiki



Checks and balances is also part of the equation

UH law school dean Avi Soifer's defense of "judicial independence" (Advertiser, April 11) is based on two fundamental ideas in American-style government: federalism and separation of powers.

Federalism concerns the division of sovereignty between a central authority and component state authorities. Separation of powers concerns the sharing of governmental authority by different and independent branches of government. Sharing of governmental power exists for both the central authority (federal government) and each of the component state authorities, as mandated by the U.S. Constitution and the 50 state constitutions, respectively.

What Dean Soifer leaves out of the discussion is a third fundamental idea in American-style government: checks and balances.

Each of the separate governmental powers (legislative, executive and judicial) held by the independent governmental branches is not unconstrained, also by constitutional mandate. Judicial power held by the judiciary is checked and balanced by the legislative and executive powers held by the Legislature and president/governor. The leaders of the legislative and executive branches (federal government and certain state governments) together select the leaders of the judiciary, its justices and judges. The legislative branch controls the judiciary's budget and has a major say in determining the jurisdiction of courts. The legislative branch can override the substantive decisions of courts and judges by initiating constitutional amendments or statutory amendments (in certain cases).

A judiciary that is too independent could jeopardize societal stability, and the long-term survival and political stability of judicial institutions in American society may be dependent upon prudent exercise of judicial power by judges and courts. Although judges "will not be beholden either to political power or to what might seem a very appealing outcome to a passionate majority," judges themselves may and do at times exercise self-restraint in judicial decision-making and policy-making.

Judicial independence, while proper and vital, is not an absolute (political/governmental) good.

Edmund M.Y. Leong
Nu'uanu



UH med school tuition daunting

The proposed University of Hawai'i tuition hikes will affect nearly all undergraduate and graduate students, but the increase is of particular concern to medical students.

In the proposal's current form, average tuition at the UH John A. Burns School of Medicine is slated to increase annually by $2,208 for residents and $5,650 for nonresidents for the next five years, resulting in a yearly tuition of $27,120 for residents and $57,384 for nonresidents by 2010. Such a dramatic increase in medical school tuition would have significant adverse effects on the future of Hawai'i's healthcare.

The educational debt incurred by medical students is already unacceptably high. A study in The New England Journal of Medicine found that the median debt of a medical student graduating from a public school in 2004 was $105,000. Moreover, unlike business or law students, medical students must complete three to six years of additional training after their four years of medical school, during which time interest accrues on their student loans.

It is therefore not surprising that medical students increasingly favor higher-paying medical subspecialties over primary-care fields such as pediatrics, internal medicine and family practice. A nationwide study three years ago showed that one-third of medical students interested in primary care chose an alternative specialty because of student debt. Without enough primary-care physicians, access to healthcare will suffer, particularly in medically underserved areas.

Indeed, many potential future physicians are deterred from even applying to medical school because of the high cost of a medical education.

A survey by the American Association of Medical Colleges found that, of qualified premedical minority students who do not attend medical school, their primary reason for not attending is the cost.

The mission statement of the UH medical school reads: "The school has always and will continue to play a historical role in expanding opportunities for women, minorities, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders, and the socio-economically disadvantaged." Yet these are exactly the students that would be most affected by a tuition increase.

UH medical students currently pay $15,594 a year — more than the $14,607 national average for public medical schools, and far more when Hawai'i's high cost-of-living is taken into account. The proposed tuition hike would further increase this disparity. With an eventual tuition of nearly $30,000 a year, Hawai'i's brightest students may choose to attend medical schools on the Mainland. In the long run, this "brain drain" would likely undermine the quality of care available to Hawai'i's people.

We fully understand the need for financial discipline at the university. However, the proposed tuition increase is false economy. We ask the Board of Regents to please take the aforementioned issues into consideration when finalizing the tuition proposal.

Adam Bracha, Catherine Ho and Victoria Wong
Students, John A. Burns School of Medicine