"We didn't start treating drunk driving seriously until we paid attention to the tragedies that were occurring and got a sense of outrage about it," he continued. "Now we're addressing drunk driving, but ignoring the larger issue of alcohol abuse and underage drinking. We have to get a sense of outrage about this, too."

Such a sense of outrage may in fact be building in Hawai'i, particularly with regard to underage drinking.

A suggestion to ban alcohol sales on the University of Hawai'i campus has been gaining momentum. So has the so-called "Use It and Lose It" bill, now being considered at the Legislature, which would require judges to suspend or delay driver's licenses of people under 21 convicted of illegal possession of liquor.

And outrage was certainly apparent in responses to a recent City Council proposal that would allow the sale of alcoholic beverages at three public parks.

Simbra remembers when he was an assistant coach on his daughter's Bobby Sox team in the 1970s.

"We'd go to Manana park and there would be guys out on the sidewalk outside drinking beer," he said. "By the time the games were over, they were half-drunk, yelling and swearing and getting rowdy.

"If they start serving alcohol inside, you just know something bad is going to happen."

Trying to save money

The proposal, introduced by City Council Budget Chairwoman Ann Kobayashi, would allow alcohol sales at Central O'ahu Regional Park, Waipi'o Soccer Complex and Hans L'Orange Park. That would clear the way for a private contractor to take over maintenance and security costs at the park in exchange for the ability to sell alcohol and other concessions.

The city would save money, but O'Donnell, the Damien president, said the trade-off isn't worth it.

"Frankly, we already have a problem with conduct at games," O'Donnell said. "The last thing we need is parents being served alcohol on the premises. If we're endorsing drinking at these places, what kind of crowd control will we have then?"

O'Donnell said he's equally concerned about the message kids will get from seeing alcohol served in places traditionally intended to be family environments.

"This will only encourage young people to drink," he said. "And to support the maintenance of these parks by selling alcohol, that just says that everything is negotiable if the price is right.

"That's a bum message."

The issue of alcohol sales in public parks has been raised before. In 1995, the West Oahu Cane Fires of the professional Hawaii Winter Baseball league, asked for permission to sell alcohol at Hans L'Orange Park. The team withdrew the request following negative public testimony, notably from former City Council chairman John DeSoto, whose son committed suicide following a night of heavy drinking.

DeSoto said he contacted Kobayashi to express his concern over the most recent proposal.

"We have this drug, this legal drug, and to allow kids to be around it in a place that is primarily for kids and families is not the right direction," DeSoto said. "It's a bad precedent."

Like O'Donnell, DeSoto said he's concerned drinking at games will alienate the people the parks are supposed to serve.

He recalled the last time he and his grandson attended a UH football game:

"There were these guys sitting behind us who were drinking and yelling," he said. "There was beer flying all over us, so I told my grandson, 'We better go.' And we haven't gone back since."

DeSoto said it didn't matter if the drinks were sold at concession kiosks or in restaurants, as has been suggested.

"The City and County is supposed to promote health and safety and we should abide by that mission," he said. "There are other avenues for dealing with the cost of maintenance. Selling alcohol in a park for revenues is a bad, bad idea."

Connie Abram, executive director of the local Mothers Against Drunk Driving, is one of many who see the City Council proposal as inconsistent with the broader community effort to combat underage drinking and drunken driving.

"I'd agree that it sends a mixed message," Abram said. "It says it's OK to combine healthy activities with alcohol. It says it's OK to drink at athletic events and then drive home."

MADD-Hawai'i is part of a committee looking into the alcohol sales ban at UH. The organization also supports the "use-and-lose" bill.

Abram said the current push to address underage drinking is partly a response to the dramatic increase in people killed due to drunken driving two years ago (a 53 percent increase over 2002) and partly a result of continuous effort by government, private organizations and concerned individuals to educate the public.

"We need to take a multi-pronged collaborative approach," she said. "Parents are the most influential figures in a child's life, but children are not always in their parents' sights and we need a community response to make sure the message about drinking is clear and consistent."

UH ban debated

The ban on alcohol sales at UH was requested by Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona in a letter to Interim UH President David McClain.

On the heels of a spate of drinking-related fatalities at colleges on the Mainland, Aiona also asked UH to establish stricter drinking policies and suggested UH ban alcohol companies from sponsoring any campus sports.

Pearl City resident Myra Ozawa said such actions would make her feel better about having her grandchildren attend the school.

"I think a university campus should be considered a safe place," Ozawa said. "The focus here is academics. Students should go off campus for socializing which involves alcoholic beverages. We must change our mindset from alcohol as refreshment to alcohol as a serious potential problem, such as smoking and drugs are now known to be."

Not everyone is as convinced the measures being considered to stop underage drinking are the right approach.

"The fact is, it's still legal for people over 21 to drink alcohol," said University of Hawai'i student Kaliko Hamer. "Yes, we need to stop underage drinking. But is it necessary to step on the rights of legal drinkers to accomplish that?"

Hamer said it's important for the university to enforce existing rules about underage drinking in the dormitories, but she doesn't see the logic in banning alcohol sales on campus.

"The problem isn't Manoa Garden selling alcohol to freshmen," she said. "It's underaged students drinking outside of these places with friends who get the alcohol off-campus. Are they going to close down Star Market next?"

John Bello, another UH student, agreed.

"People forget that there are nontraditional students, grad students, teachers, workers and other people on campus who have a legal right to drink," he said. "People can drink responsibly. This isn't prohibition."

'Use It and Lose It'

People are also divided on the "Use It and Lose It" bill.

Under the current provisions of the proposal, people under 21 who purchase or possess liquor in any public place will either have their driver's license suspended for 90 days or, for those who are not licensed to drive, have their eligibility to obtain a driver's license suspended until the age of 18 or for 90 days, whichever is longer.

In an e-mail message, Advertiser reader Scott Ferguson of Waipahu said the proposal was unfair because it could potentially punish an underage person who drinks illegally but shows the good judgment not to drive home. He suggested a night in jail and community service would be sufficient punishment.

But MADD's Abram said taking away or postponing the underage violator's driver's license sends an appropriately strong message that the two issues are related.

"It lets them know that there are consequences," she said. "It hits them in ways that truly impact them. Their license and their time are really valuable to them."