PARENTS

EDUCATION NOT FOCUS OF CONSTITUTION'S FRAMERS

Regarding the Nov. 6 Op-Ed "Schools are key to democracy," by Lyla Berg and Mildred Sikkema: They claim that "public education was established by the framers of the U.S. Constitution to create and sustain a democratic society in our country, to enable active participation in a free society."

Nowhere in the founding documents is there any mention of education as a government function. The U.S. had a fully functioning democracy and the highest literacy rate in the world before the first government-run schools were formed about 1850.

Before 1850, parents were responsible for schooling their children, just as they were responsible for teaching them good manners, responsibility, accountability and other aspects of child rearing.

Many of the problems cited by Berg and Sikkema are outgrowths of government intrusive activities.

Confusion in accountability is not conducive to good results, and that is what we now are experiencing. A village cannot raise a child. Neither can a school.

TEACHER WORK

REPORT CARD CREATORS SHOULD GET A CLUE

Regarding the standards-based report cards and the DOE's three years of consultation and development: Those brilliant designers should go back into the classroom, walk in the shoes of teachers for at least a semester, refresh their memory as to what teachers do on a daily basis and culminate their homecoming by doing the standards-based report cards for the 150 students in their classes.

It's easy to idealize, visualize and vocalize change when one is isolated in air-conditioned offices away from the grit and grind of the classroom. Their advocacy for change would be more credible if they led by example and demonstrated how to do things rather than just tell teachers what to do and to do it.

Kathy Kawaguchi, DOE assistant superintendent, who tells teachers to be patient while addressing their criticism of the new report cards but insists the DOE will move on with the grand scheme of things, should be among the first to volunteer her service in making believers out of teachers. She needs to get down and dirty and be visible in the trenches rather than just talking like a visionary in the media.

I retired this year not so much because of the students but more so because of the system. Not even the nice pay raises would have kept me around for the standards-based report cards in 2007.

FILTH

STORES SHOULDN'T HAVE TO TAKE BOTTLES, CANS BACK

The Nov. 10 letter in support of the stores taking on the recycling of bottles and cans on their premises argues in reality for a penalty or additional tax that the store would have to pay to handle all these materials. The stores are already doing the state's work by collecting this bottle tax and paying it to the state.

To require the stores to collect all these filthy bottles and cans infested with cockroaches and other insects, plus bacterial and fungus infestations, then store them on the premises, is just not a good idea.

There is nothing wrong with the present, out-of-the-way recycling centers. Why should private enterprise have to pay extra for others' big ideas, plus subject their employees and their customers to potential disease and infections?

PARTY DECLINE

DEMOCRATS MUST NOW ACTIVELY SEEK SOLUTIONS

Ira Rhoter's Nov. 11 commentary in The Honolulu Advertiser hits the nail right on the head with his evaluation of the Democratic Party. However, it is just one more case of "closing the barn door after the horses have escaped."

As a long-time Democratic Party member, I am aware of the problems in Hawai'i. Every thinking Democrat must know them as well. One more pointing finger is not what we need — we need solutions.

Ira is extremely astute, but where are his answers to the problem? I hope that all caring party members are wracking their brains for these answers.

Those of us who care should be actively searching for solutions.

NEW IDEAS

SLOW PEDESTRIANS NEED MORE PROTECTION

Prudent able pedestrians can cross the road "between breaks in traffic," but we have to worry about those pedestrians who see the next wave of cars coming at them but are physically too slow to get out of the way.

Every police officer (and perhaps every policymaker) should be required to come up with his or her own idea of how these slow walkers can safely negotiate an unsignalized crosswalk, and it would show confidence in their ideas if they would be willing to walk slowly and demonstrate their personal method under the same conditions that elderly slow pedestrians face.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

CAYETANO'S COMMENTS ABOUT LINGLE LAUGHABLE

The Oct. 31 analysis "Is Lingle just too popular to beat?" quoted former governor Ben Cayetano as saying "Lingle is vulnerable because she has accomplished little."

What about the procurement reforms she got enacted into law? What about bringing education to the forefront? What about making people believe that things can be different? And all this despite a Legislature that fights Gov. Lingle at every turn.

Mr. Cayetano's achievements as governor were meager at best, and he had a Legislature dominated by his own party. His comments about the current administration are laughable.

PROVEN RECORD

METERED ON-RAMPS ARE ONE WAY TO MANAGE FREEWAYS

In his column in Monday's Advertiser, Cliff Slater suggests that the solution for the traffic jams on our freeways is congestion pricing, in which motorists pay more for traveling on highways with peak demand. There are at least two problems with this idea.

First, as he notes, it would require motorists to agree to pay for something that formerly was free.

Second, which he does not mention, it would be a form of regressive taxation. It could eventually lead to a situation in which only the well-to-do could afford to use freeways during rush hour, with those less well off consigned to side streets.

Mr. Slater does say that there is another way to manage the freeways, and that is by rationing. But he fails to point out that there is an equitable way to do that, at no direct cost to the motorist. And that is by installing metered on-ramps. Metered on-ramps have a traffic light at the entrance to the freeway. The light alternates between red and green, and for every green light one and only one car is permitted to enter the freeway. The frequency of the green lights is adjusted to keep the traffic on the freeway moving at an optimum speed.

Contrary to Mr. Slater's assertion that congestion pricing is the only remedy that has worked elsewhere, metered on-ramps have a proven track record and are clearly effective. The freeway system in the Los Angeles area has had them for years.

At first, one might worry that installing signal lights at the ramps would cause traffic to back up still farther in the neighborhoods near the on-ramps. In fact, with the freeway speeds being managed so that cars do not slow to a crawl, the roadway capacity is increased and the backups at the on-ramps will be smaller, not larger.

Since this is a tested and proven system, it does not need further interminable study contracts. What is needed is a demonstration installation at a high-congestion point such as the Lunalilo on-ramp to H-1 west, or the Vineyard on-ramp to H-1 east.

CANCER PATIENTS

LEARN OF ACUPUNCTURE'S PROMISE

Amy Miner describes acupuncture as "being a tremendous benefit" for her as she prepared for and recovered from cancer surgery. Jeannette Kojain credits it largely for her mother living two years longer than predicted with a good quality of life. Sue Welch sees it as playing an important role in her decision to move forward with her treatment.

The good news is that these people turned to acupuncture during cancer treatments and uniformly benefited. The bad news is that they had to find their own way to the acupuncturists. Of the many physicians they saw during the course of treatment, none referred them to acupuncture or even mentioned it as something that might help.

To her credit, the Stanford University oncologist attending Kojain's mother was so impressed with the outcome of the acupuncture treatments that she called the acupuncturist to see if they could do some research.

The research had been done by Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, however, and tomorrow, one of the researchers is being flown to Hawai'i to talk about the results.

Amy used acupuncture for surgery preparation and saw it as helping reduce worry, boost appetite, support the immune system and increase her circulation. After her first surgery, she spent two days in the hospital and then left in a wheelchair. On the day of her second surgery, she was able to leave and later that afternoon walked for a mile. She believes that much of the difference was the pre-surgery acupuncture treatments.

Sue experienced instant relief with the first placement of acupuncture needles in her abdomen and now goes for an acupuncture treatment after each chemo session. She reports that her energy is up, white cell count is up, sinuses and coughing have been helped, and she feels more peaceful and relaxed.

Hawai'i has some of the best-trained acupuncturists in the country. It is the only state that requires that all professionals practicing acupuncture have a minimum of 1,500 hours of training.

Research and experience show that acupuncture can play a significant role in supporting people going through the cancer healing journey. No cancer patient should go uninformed about the benefits of acupuncture.

We urge people with cancer, their families and their doctors to attend the lecture tomorrow. The lecture, co-sponsored by Kaiser, HMSA, Hawaii Pacific Health (which includes Straub, Kapiolani and Wilcox medical centers), Hawaii Society of Naturopaths, Hawaii State Consortium of Integrated Healthcare and Hawaii Psychological Association, is free and is the second of the monthly workshops offered by the Hawaii Cancer Lecture Series.