Posted on: Thursday, May 12, 2005

Letters to the Editor

UH could draw from civil protesters' vision

Amidst continuing militarization of Hawai'i as a strategic base of the war-fighting United States, the sit-in protesters at Bachman Hall who seek UH independence from secret Navy research deserve recognition and support as freedom-fighting defenders of civilian autonomy.

In addition to their own consciences and beliefs, they can draw patriotic inspiration from General/President Eisenhower's 1961 farewell warning for Americans "to guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military/industrial complex."

Expressing respect for "the free university, historically the fountainhead of free ideas and scientific discovery," Eisenhower warned, "The prospect of domination of the nation's scholars by federal employment, project allocations and the power of money is ever present — and is gravely to be regarded."

The University of Hawai'i needs to clarify and implement in its own strategic plan the vision of becoming an independent servant of peace, not of war, for the people of Hawai'i, the United States, Asia-Pacific and the world.

Light rail doesn't make sense for now

Light rail offers a real possibility of helping solve metropolitan traffic problems. However, its potential is not very often realized.

Cities like New York and London have large, well-used systems that were built before the cost of construction (right-of-way, labor, EIS, etc.) became prohibitive. Recent light-rail projects have been less successful.

Charlotte, N.C., built 10 miles of light rail at a cost of $44 million per mile. Portland, Ore., built 3 miles of trolley at a cost of $26 million per mile. Seattle is planning to build 20-plus miles of light rail at a projected cost of $150 million per mile. (Figures from www.lightrailnow.org.)

In the case of Seattle, years of study produced a proposal to build a large system (60 miles plus) at a reasonable cost. This plan was presented to the public and approved, only to be revised to a much smaller scale at a higher price. The expected cost per ride (to the taxpayers) is somewhere over $100.

As supplies of oil dwindle, the cost of gasoline will continue to rise. This may make light rail an effective transportation solution in the future. However, for the present:

• Light rail will not solve traffic problems.

• Light rail will not be self-supporting.

• Light rail will cost more than anticipated.

• The money raised for light rail will be used for other purposes.

While the need for mass transit seems obvious, I cannot support this light rail project or the GET increase in its present form.

Let's hope Lingle will think outside the box

Great things happen when smart people come together and think outside the box — for example, the coalition of groups involved in the affordable-housing and conservation sector working hard to see the successful passage of the omnibus housing bill and the Legacy Lands bill.

Hats off to each of you and the House and Senate leaders for holding hands on this one.

However, the real question at hand is whether our governor will support mediocrity, the status quo of affordable-housing and conservation efforts by the state — or can we count on her to step outside the box, too?

Mopeds-on-steroids disturbing the peace

With all the issues concerning education, crime, traffic, the environment, etc., this may seem a little trivial, but it is starting to get on my nerves. Is it just me, or do mopeds seem to be getting louder and more irritating by the day?

We banned gas-powered scooters, but the louder mopeds-on-steroids constantly going up and down my street are much, much worse.

The ordinance against excessive vehicle noise must be unenforceable or authorities must believe they have more important things to deal with. They wouldn't feel that way if their kids were jarred from their sleep in the middle of the night or at 5 in the morning by the incessant sound from these vehicles.

Moped riders will say there are motorcycles, cars and trucks that are louder. Yes, and they should also be cited, but there seems to be a significantly higher percentage of mopeds that have this noise problem.

Razing townhouses would be total waste

As it now stands, by July 4 the state plans to have 3.7 acres of bare ground where the 60-unit Uluwehi townhouse development has stood for about 30 years. These units were built as part of the several-hundred-unit Uluwehi project. The remaining units, all of similar design and construction, are all well-maintained to code and upgraded by their occupants.

There is simply no practical reason why these last 60 units could not be restored and brought up to date and to code.

Who would benefit? Sixty homeless families, many today living on Leeward beaches, just waiting; responsible folks well-qualified for low-cost self-help ownership.

"Because it's there," is the reason the Housing and Community Development Corp. of Hawai'i gives to justify using the Uluwehi site for transitional housing. Wrong reason. Wrong site. Too small. Not properly located for site security.

The state and the city have plenty of other, better land that is available. They just need to stop and search a little. Find the best site before investing multimillions in the wrong place.

Sixty families lose this hope now within their grasp. The state wastes high six figures on unnecessary demolition costs. The landfill gets another high six figures of once-valuable construction debris all wasted. Nobody wins.

I must heartily disagree with those who say it is not practical to save those 60 units. It certainly can be done.

It is not too late to stop the demolition — at least long enough to plan carefully and properly.

Catingub and company shined at Krall concert

A big mahalo to conductor Matt Catingub and the Honolulu Symphony Pops orchestra for putting on another fantastic concert on Sunday at the Waikiki Shell with Grammy Award-winning jazz artist Diana Krall.

Ms. Krall and her musicians were in top form, as were the members of our symphony. Even the rain and termites could not dampen the spirits of those who witnessed the event.

Catingub, a great musician in his own right, is to be commended for always striving to bring in the top artists to Hawai'i. He is truly a treasure of our state. Thanks again, Matt.

Tourists are bothering turtles on North Shore

Having been raised in Kailua to respect the ocean and all its amazing creatures, I was truly disappointed to see what I did at a small cove called Turtle Beach on the North Shore. Here is a magnificent place where the threatened honu, or Hawaiian green turtle, has a wonderful source of food (limu), clean water and a comfortable beach (everything we all wish to have).

Unfortunately, the turtles' rich amenities are being endangered by the world's most disrespectful citizens: tourists. While there with friends, I was astonished by the obsessive need for some people (especially tourists) to sit with, touch, photograph and bother the passive turtles and their nesting area.

Case in point: One guy was in the water with mask and snorkel aggressively trying to get a photo of a turtle underwater, and as he tried to swim to get the shot, he hit another man standing in the water who fell onto the turtle.

Rubbish, human contact and harassment are not good for these animals. If we are not careful, we won't have any left to even look at.

If the Division of Aquatic Resources or other government office will not provide the turtles with a peaceful existence, I am urging the community and private industry to take action to help the turtles regain some serenity on that small, beautiful beach. All that needs to be done is to rope off the area so that people cannot get so close to the turtles, periodically monitor the site and educate the public with better signs.

Please kokua!

DHS must value children over families

The director of the state Department of Human Services, Lillian Koller, should be commended for proposing greater freedom of information for children in endangered situations, as described in her Focus article of May 1. However, she does not go far enough in advocating a change in the department's approach for abused children.

I think the department remains focused on keeping the family together at practically all costs, to the detriment of the endangered child. It needs to repudiate that doctrine — the health and safety of the children must override any emotional need to keep biological children with their parents.

If parents abuse their own children, they morally, if not legally, give up the right to retain them in the family. This is akin to an abused spouse still wanting to keep the marriage intact in an abusive marriage — sometimes resulting in the spouse's own death.

With the existing "family first" doctrine alive and well, we will continue to see more "Peter Boy" incidents in the future.

Big Brother does indeed loom

In his May 9 letter "There's no Big Brother at libraries, booksellers," Charles Goodwin wants us to believe that section 215 of the Patriot Act is nothing but another safe, benign law-enforcement tool, designed for nothing but the greater good of society. Being an FBI agent, you wouldn't expect otherwise from him.

But besides the bias, I would have expected a slightly less obvious slant in his attempt to tell us to shut up as all is well. Just trust your friendly government and think no more.

A closer look reveals that section 215 of the Patriot Act allows federal agents to obtain physical records such as financial, medical and library records without having to prove that there is probable cause in open court. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Court would issue such orders. But access to that court is restricted to government attorneys and agents. It is inaccessible to ordinary citizens, denying them any opportunity to know about, let alone challenge, its decisions.

Before the Patriot Act, this court required the showing of vaguely defined "relevance" as well as "specific and articulable facts" to prove probable cause that a person whose records were to be seized was in fact a threat. Today, the authorities only have to show relevance but no more facts.

If a person who was served such a subpoena discloses this fact to the individual whose records have been seized, he or she can be held in contempt of court and fined or imprisoned. The act clearly defines that it cannot be applied to First Amendment activities but leaves the interpretation to government agents. Should law enforcement consider certain activities a threat by their own definition, the First Amendment no longer applies.

Mr. Goodwin is not even authorized to make statements about the application of the statute, as the Department of Justice considers classified any information about if and how often the Patriot Act's provisions have already been applied in actual cases. But the American Civil Liberties Union is quoting a University of Illinois survey, which suggests that by December 2001, the FBI had already approached 85 out of about 1,500 libraries in regard to section 215. If some sections of the act have never been used, why are they there in the first place?

But if they have indeed been used, why do government officials consider it vital to keep that information a secret and lie to the public?

Mr. Goodwin, the FBI is an extension to the government's executive branch and therefore bound by its orders to produce results, especially in the vaguely defined "War on Terror." Don't try to make us believe that the FBI double checking itself and dealing with a court that is not visible to the people affected by its decisions can be considered control.