Oil drilling vote wasn't about natives' wishes

I am very disappointed in the recent vote by Sens. Akaka and Inouye regarding opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling.

Both senators "said that they believe their votes represent the position of a majority of the native peoples in the region" ("Hawai'i senators help open Arctic to drilling," March 17).

Kaktovik, the largest town on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge's coastal plain, has just 284 residents.

As laudable at it may sound to take the wishes of the "native peoples in the regions" as a primary consideration, it is equivalent to the U.S. Senate voting on Hawaiian issues based on the wishes of the population in one apartment complex in Pearlridge.

Let's mention that those noble Alaskans have a very high monetary incentive to want the drilling regardless of the irreversible damage that it will cause.

Shame on you, Sen. Akaka and Sen. Inouye.

It's just about pork

About the Alaska drilling vote: Funny that the liberals who claim each election that we should re-elect Sens. Akaka and Inouye because they bring the pork home act outraged when those two horse-trade to keep the pork coming. Is anyone really naive enough to think our congressional delegation is about integrity instead of power?

Parents must be role models for teenagers

I am responding to the Jan. 25 letter "Minors-and-alcohol proposal shortsighted." Can teenagers learn responsibility when parents purchase alcohol and hand it over to them? No.

Granted, teenagers need to be responsible and learn the dangers of alcohol, but before we can expect this from them, parents need to be educated first.

Ever heard of the saying "Do what I say and not what I do?" Well, this perspective will never serve to help our teens grow to be responsible and law-abiding citizens. Children learn by example, so parents should be good role models in order for their children to do the same.

Good role models do not drink and drive. They would enforce the Zero Tolerance Law by discouraging teens from consuming alcoholic beverages because underage drinking is illegal. Studies have shown that the leading cause of death among young people 15 to 20 is car accidents. Underage drinkers combined with inexperience as drivers make a deadly combination.

Parents who willingly supply alcohol to their children, condone their drinking and allow them to drive under the influence should be held accountable.

Parents need to set boundaries that are clear and be consistent when enforcing the consequences.

Right-wing politicians have seized the issue

Congress has no place intervening in the private medical decisions of any American. In a gross abuse of governmental authority, right-wing leaders have turned the life of Terri Schiavo into a media circus and exploited her condition for crass political purposes.

Americans everywhere are rightly outraged at the insatiable demands of right-wing politicians to decide when and how people should live and die. The political manipulation of a personal life-and-death issue by right-wing leaders is shameful and morally repugnant.

Make no mistake about it: President Bush, Tom DeLay and Bill Frist are no friends of the Schiavos. These actions were designed solely for political gain and represent a new low for the ethically challenged House leader, Tom DeLay. A memo distributed by Senate leadership to right-wing members called Schiavo "a great political issue" and urged senators to talk about her because "the pro-life conservative base of Republican voters will be excited."

It's a case of humanity: Side with Terri's life

Terri Schiavo is on video with her eyes following a balloon around the room, laughing with her father and opening her eyes at a doctor's command. She has been seen crying when her parents leave and heard moaning in pain during her menstrual cycle.

Shouldn't any one of these traits be reason enough to pause and question why Terri's life is being ended? Terri is able to see, able to laugh and able to cry, yet society will allow her husband, who is currently living with another woman, to make this decision based on his word alone.

This story is not a "right to die" case; it is very simply a case of humanity. With any one of these questions being asked about the Schiavo case and the questionable circumstances of how Terri got in this state, should we not, as a society, take a stand on the side of life?

HPU coverage needed

I grew up reading The Advertiser and even delivered the paper. I now reside in California and have a son who is a student athlete at Hawai'i Pacific University. I am really disappointed in the lack of coverage you give HPU. I understand that the University of Hawai'i is the "big school," but those of us who have student athletes at HPU feel there is plenty of space for their attention — after all, they also represent the Aloha State.

Hannemann promises have become vendetta

Nice to have vs. need to have. That was Mufi Hannemann's mantra on the campaign trail. Now it's becoming his vendetta as mayor.

I don't doubt that some or portions of beautification projects undertaken by former Mayor Harris might have been ill-advised for a number of reasons. But Mufi's apparent "slash and burn" strategy for getting rid of the fingerprints Harris left all over the island is just as self-serving as the former mayor's effort to build his legacy.

Let's all hope that the promised reason somehow prevails at Honolulu Hale.

Foreign policy for Asia is nothing to brag about

Regarding the March 20 commentary by the former U.S. assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, James A. Kelly: The glaring omissions of significant foibles and failures of the Bush administration's foreign policy in Asia during Kelly's watch make his commentary seem self-serving. To mention but a few:

• The squandering of the wellspring of sympathy and soft power enjoyed by the United States in the aftermath of 9/11.

• The marked rise in anti-American feeling among Muslims in Southeast Asia, particularly in Indonesia and Malaysia.

• The growth of anti-Americanism in South Korea that could even endanger the alliance (as argued by Richard Halloran in the same pages).

• The heightened tension between China and Taiwan due in no small measure to the emboldening of Taiwan by the U.S. declaration of military support for Taiwan if it is attacked by China.

• Serious deterioration of relations between China and Japan, in part due to U.S. pressure on Japan to take a more active military role in the region, including in the defense of Taiwan.

• The coddling of the Musharraf dictatorship in Pakistan, including the ignoring of its possible complicity in the Khan nuclear network.

• The failure to make any progress in the denuclearization of North Korea, in part because of the stubborn U.S. refusal to negotiate bilaterally with it or to guarantee its security in writing.

Kelly writes that there will be no pronounced changes in U.S. policy because "many policy aspects worked reasonably well" and "there is little reason to change them." This means we can expect more hypocrisy, arrogance, threats, bullying and unilateral or U.S.-led extra-U.N. actions in U.S. foreign policy in Asia in the remaining Bush years — with predictable negative consequences for U.S.-Asia relations.

Indeed, the Bush/Kelly Asia policy has left Asia more dangerous for both Asians and Americans.

State, city recycle programs meant to work in tandem

There seems to be some confusion regarding how many recycling strategies we need to employ in order to get the job done — the job being defined as eliminating our reliance on landfills. Definitely more than one.

Richard McMahon suggests in his March 9 letter that we dump the deposit program in favor of curbside recycling. That would work if everyone lived in single-family homes serviced by city collection — and all were conscientious about bringing their beverage containers home from work, shopping, beaches, parks, sports activities and school. No, still wouldn't work. We'd have to somehow bring home all the containers from beverages consumed by our visitors as well, and what about restaurants, military bases and all the other islands?

Curbside recycling is a major initiative, which is expected to capture about 30,000 tons of recyclable material annually from approximately 160,000 homes. We expect the deposit program to recover an additional 33,000 tons on O'ahu. While curbside recycling will offer a convenient collection program to all of us in single-family homes, the deposit program will stimulate collection activity in condos, commercial facilities, beaches, parks, schools.

It's already happening. The city is offering wheeled recycling carts to condos, schools and nonprofit organizations to support the startup of new recycling programs. In one month we've received requests from more than 35 schools, 25 condos and 15 nonprofits, and they continue to come in. (Information is posted on our Web site at opala.org.)

The deposit program provides a new economic base upon which we can build collection systems around the Islands. Right now as it starts up, it's still somewhat inconvenient and a bit of a bother. I've waited in line at the redemption center, too. Please, give it time to settle in and mature.

If I may add a note to those who have written letters to the editor with comments similar to Mr. McMahon's, accusing the state of deliberately making the program inconvenient to pocket our money and lamenting, "why can't I help thinking this may have been the intent all along?" Please take a moment to rethink. Such a statement makes no sense. I was among the group that helped craft and support the deposit law. This program emerged from all of us who have been working in the trenches for years to increase recycling activity around the state — recycling and waste officials from every county, state agencies, environmental groups and recycling industry leaders.

Our intentions were squarely focused on significant increases in recycling and decreases in litter. We expect this program to achieve 80 percent recovery and to operate with a self-sustaining balanced fund.