Posted on: Tuesday, March 15, 2005

Letters to the Editor

What makes Lingle the odds-on favorite?

Jerry Burris, on Feb. 27, suggested that Rep. Ed Case has taken a look at the next race for the governorship and has concluded that Gov. Linda Lingle has done a good job of triangulating the body politic in Hawai'i by appealing to Republicans and moderate Democrats.

Her triangulating Trojan horse, instead, has led to a self-inflicted strangulating demise of her highly shrilled educational plan and popular vote loss in President Bush's exaggerated attempt to sweep Hawai'i in 2004.

Has Lingle done anything immediately for the befuddled drivers because of the spewing sewers and the red-necked drivers on the freeways during mishaps? Did she and her appointed regents investigate the flooding at the University of Hawai'i and aid and comfort the stricken Manoa residents?

Finally, Lingle fumbled the ball, nonchalantly unreported by the press, by being derelict in ignoring the tensions at certain public high schools because of man-to-man conflicts, racial slurs and the attack of a public official in a recent competitive game.

Mr. Burris, what are her triangulating leadership qualities?

How can state take over what it runs?

So the state is going to take over 24 schools, huh? Gee, I thought the state already ran the school system here. Do you suppose the upper-level bureaucracy is going to run things better than people at the local level?

I guess they are really trying to prove the point that local school boards just won't work in Hawai'i. They must have looked at the models in other states that have local school boards instead of state-run operations and seen that our test scores are much, much better than in those states. Oh! Our school test scores are lower than in those states? Hmmm. And could you explain just how, then, the bureaucracy that runs the entire system that has some of the lowest scores in the nation is going to improve things by getting even more directly involved?

I must be missing something.

I suspect the answer lies less in the principals and the teachers and more in the physical plants they are forced to deal with, the equipment they have to use, the numbers of immigrant children they have to deal with, the impediments to hiring and advancement, the way the DOE treats and pays the teachers, and the support they get from the DOE.

I think the answer lies with the parents and the population's general lack of interest in education and excellence, not the teachers and principals.

Lifeguard towers should be improved

As a lifelong resident of Hawai'i, I am in favor of the project to improve the lifeguard towers at our beaches.

Lifeguards risk their lives to save the lives of others and deserve our utmost respect and support. The beaches are one of our most valued treasures, and all of us have had our share of great times and great memories with family and friends.

Most of us hardly notice the person in the tower who diligently watches over the crowds at the beach. I know that I want the person in the tower to be focused on my safety and not on the wind that could blow his tower down.

In our offices, we lobby for a better work environment and safer conditions on the job; I believe that lifeguards deserve the same consideration. Improved lifeguard towers are a small way for us to show our appreciation to these community servants. Mahalo.

Mayor, don't be a fool

Mufi, don't make me regret I voted for you. My husband is already telling me I should have voted for Duke, as he did.

We want both beauty and function on the streets. Please don't change the routing on Punchbowl Street. We love it just the way it is. The trees in the median are truly beautiful, and two-way driving makes it easy to reach the freeway.

You should not have reversed Mayor Harris' beautification of the makai section of Punchbowl Street. What a waste of money, and it shows you don't have an eye for beauty.

Competing goals rule public school system

Contrary to the Advertiser's March 6 opinion that "The goal, always, should be to elevate and improve our public schools, not abandon them," parents' goals are to get the best education possible for their children, not fix the public school system.

The taxpayers' goal is to get the best services at the lowest cost.

The Department of Education administration's goal is to keep jobs without facing accountability.

The HSTA and HGEA unions' goal is to grow compulsory dues-paying membership to increase their political clout.

The last two listed goals are in complete opposition to the goals of parents and taxpayers. That is why education will never be reformed in Hawai'i under current circumstances.

However, if our legislators listened to the parents and the taxpayers instead of the DOE bureaucrats and the unions, they would initiate competition with government schools by allowing school choice to flourish.

Let the public school system have another 50 years to try to improve itself, but let parents get an education for their children right now.

Waipahu High School is getting a bad rap

I am a student at Waipahu High School and I feel that the negative publicity about my school is all bull! I really feel safe in my school. Waipahu was portrayed poorly by the media, which made me really mad. We are all very good and friendly people. At times, there may be misunderstandings, but we all get along fine.

Many fights start with rumors, relationships and maybe even from racial slurs. One great activity that can help decrease fights is what we call Marauder Challenge. It's a great activity in which students hang together and actually open up to each other and talk about our personal problems. We all smile, laugh and may even cry during this challenge day, but we learn more about others and sometimes become friends with our enemies.

Other schools should have this day of challenge. Waipahu is a very good school.

Could it be football is disservicing males?

If Mr. Gerald Nakata (Letters, March 8) has a bone to pick about Title IX's limiting male sports at universities, he should go straight to the football department.

At the small private college I went to, the list of women's sports did outnumber men's sports, and the only reason for that was that football took up so much of the men's sports budget. Because of the view that football is a college's biggest moneymaker, it soaks up the majority of the sports budget. Women's sports might not mean much to Mr. Nakata but they mean everything to the participating women, and are often a source of pride for the school.

Ask athletic departments to cut the budget for prominent male sports, and maybe we'll get a men's soccer or water polo team. Or maybe people can start attending the women's soccer and water polo matches in the same numbers that they do for football.

Until then, please do not discount female athletes and the contributions they make to university sports.

Don't blame governor for Akaka bill's lack of success

It's clear by their March 12 comments that Reps. Ed Case and Neil Abercrombie are becoming increasingly frustrated that Hawai'i's delegation in Washington has not been able to get the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2005 (the Akaka bill) passed by Congress during their tenure.

The bill to provide federal recognition to Native Hawaiians has languished for years. And it has not mattered which political party has controlled Congress or the White House.

That's why it's almost laughable when Case and Abercrombie say the governor does not understand how Washington works. Well, frankly, that's not her job. That's why voters sent Case and Abercrombie to Washington.

In a recent letter to the governor, Case and Abercrombie confirmed that the strategy on the Akaka bill was to "ensure the administration's neutrality and subsequently obtain its support of federal recognition." So far, the governor has done just that.

Realizing that she can also use her relationships with Republicans in Congress, the governor has had success in addressing Arizona Sen. John McCain's concerns about the bill. And in fact, Sen. McCain enthusiastically passed the bill out of committee, crediting Gov. Lingle's testimony for its passage. She also has had success in getting more Republicans to sign on as cosponsors of the bill, including Sens. Lindsey Graham (South Carolina), Norm Coleman (Minnesota), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Gordon Smith (Oregon).

It's a shame that Hawai'i's congressmen, who were elected to represent us in Washington, feel the need to blame the governor for their inability to work with their colleagues across the aisle in Congress in moving this important piece of legislation forward. I hope they stop politicizing this nonpartisan issue and get back to focusing on the bill's passage during this session of Congress.

As everyone has said, it's the right thing to do.

Focus on underage drinking

There has been a lot of discussion lately regarding the presence of alcohol in our public parks and at the University of Hawai'i. Whether or not you support stronger restrictions on the sale of alcohol on state- and city-owned-and-operated properties, the main issue cannot be ignored: Hawai'i has an underage drinking problem that none of us can continue to overlook.

Underage drinking affects everyone, not just parents and their children. Underage drinking is the No. 1 drug of choice for teens in Hawai'i. It often leads to abuse of other drugs such as crystal methamphetamine, or ice. Alcohol and drugs negatively affect our youth in and out of the classroom. Underage drinking has been associated with poor academic performance and decreased physical abilities, and often leads to risky sexual activities and victimization. Too often, underage drinking leads to death — whether as the result of a traffic accident or as a horrible ending to a night of binge drinking.

Simply put, underage drinking continues to plague our youth and our communities every day.

Some have downplayed the impact of selling alcohol in city parks. In their view, selling alcohol in a city park is no different from operating a restaurant in Ward Warehouse or downtown Honolulu. What's lacking from this analysis, however, is the fact that the primary purpose of a city park is for recreation, not commercial business. At many of our city parks, this recreation is youth-oriented. There is no reason, other then gaining additional revenue, to sell alcohol in city parks.

Our children look up to us — they learn our habits, both good and bad. Do we really want them to learn that it is acceptable to consume alcohol at youth-oriented sporting events, or that alcohol is an essential element of enjoying family activities? Do we want to teach them that as long as you can make money from a venture, then go ahead and do it no matter the cost to society?

The citizens of Hawai'i have already made it clear that just because there's a potential for revenue, we will not ignore the negative impacts that are likely to accompany a venture. Hawai'i does not support establishing gambling facilities in our state despite the potential to raise revenue. The recent public outcry against the City Council's proposal to sell alcohol in city parks reasserts this stand.

To strengthen efforts to curb underage drinking, the Lingle-Aiona administration is working with the University of Hawai'i to ban alcohol-related advertising and sponsorship of UH athletic events. This proposed ban is not unique to UH as there is a national movement to ban alcohol advertising and sponsorship for all collegiate athletic events.

Some concerns have been raised regarding revenue loss if alcohol sponsorship is banned from UH activities. Unfortunately, these concerns fail to consider the health and welfare of the greater community.

We ask all of you to join our administration in our efforts to fight underage drinking and making Hawai'i's communities safer for all.