IRAQ WAR

SET COST-BENEFIT RATIO FOR ALL U.S. PROGRAMS

In regard to Amber Knight's letter (March 28), are we going to use the same metrics she used on the Iraq war — cost/benefit ratio — on everything America takes on?

Frankly, I would welcome it.

Should we declare the war on poverty a loss and pull out? After all, it has cost taxpayers some $7 trillion since 1965 and we still have the same poverty rate. Should we abandon New Orleans? After all, in a little over two years it has cost over $1 trillion and counting.

Also, should we ditch Medicare/Medicaid? It was promised by the Democrat Party when it was proposed that it would only cost $20 billion a year. Try $250 billion to $300 billion annually now with no end in sight.

My favorite program is the Education Department. It is one of the largest consumers of tax dollars in America if you count in what the federal government and the states put in. And it is an abject failure.

The problem with all of the programs I cited is their budget increases 10 percent every year, it never goes down. Right now these programs consume more than $2 trillion a year.

By the way, Ms. Knight, I agree that we should have never gone into Iraq. We should have gone into Syria first and then Iran and finally Iraq.

I also agree that Donald Rumsfeld was inept at running the military. He should have been fired before he was hired.

ACCOUNTABILITY

DOE PROGRAMS AUDIT HAS BEEN ACTED ON

In his March 26 Volcanic Ash column, David Shapiro wrote about an audit by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP commissioned by the state Board of Education in 2005.

His inaccurate statements need to be corrected.

The auditors examined programs within the state Department of Education. As the 2005 audit was a program audit and not a fiscal audit, there were never any findings of "grossly inadequate financial controls."

Shapiro also claimed the department has not acted upon the recommendations made by the auditors. This is not true.

For example, key performance indicators have been developed to measure performance in all programs.

Internal program audits are cyclically performed in accordance with a board policy passed in 2006.

And, programs have been reassigned or consolidated to maximize resources.

Two years ago, the Board of Education further increased the department's accountability by establishing the Committee on Audit.

Former chairperson Donna Ikeda mandated the department to report proposed corrective actions and responses to the committee. In addition, updates are reported to this committee on the fourth Thursday of each month.

DOE MUST BE AUDITED BY CREDIBLE SOURCE

The April 10 Honolulu Advertiser editorial "DOE needs authority to be held accountable" requires clarification for the public to make decisions regarding the DOE, which has made misleading the public an art form.

In 2006, the Fix Our Schools Act increased the education CIP by $300 million of surplus funds. In 2004, the Legislature passed the Reinventing Education Act granting greater autonomy for the DOE along with $700 million more in the operating budget.

The ballooning $2.4 billion budget, with decreased enrollment, results in exorbitant statistical per-pupil spending. Increased spending hasn't improved education for Hawai'i's children. Hawai'i ranks well below the national average in fourth- and eighth-grade proficiency testing. SAT scores are atrocious.

The DOE tries to obfuscate the truth by lowering testing standards and offering ludicrous dual diplomas. Realistically, we're paying more for less.

SCR 118 requests that the DOE convene a working group to propose areas for improvement and develop a related implementation plan as well as recommendation on needed resources and funding. The DOE audit the DOE? This would produce more ineffectiveness. The DOE needs to be audited by an outside, independent and credible source.

I proposed SCR 91 for a comprehensive management audit of the DOE and the chairman of the Education Committee didn't allow a public hearing.

Kailua High School got a management audit in 2006, which showed it had serious flaws and mismanagement problems. As guardians of an astronomically high and ever-increasing budget, the DOE needs to be held accountable.

POAMOHO

HIKERS WORRY ABOUT A LOSS OF ACCESS TO TRAILS

Many of us in the hiking community dread to hear these words. Just the word "reserve" seems to us a threat to all who enjoy hiking.

If those in authority don't totally close access to the "reserves," they make the process to gain access so onerous that many don't even bother.

The most glaring example is the Kipapa Trail, which was built with taxpayers' money. The government purchased the trail and the area surrounding it with our tax money about 10 years ago, named it the O'ahu Forest National Wildlife Reserve and closed the trail to public access.

In the case of Poamoho, there are many native species living there. Best of all, there are almost no non-natives in the area even though hikers have been using the trail since the 1920s. What is it the government is worried about? The best way to keep the forest native is to educate people about the variety and importance of native plants and animals. One way to accomplish this is to allow people to experience the ambience of the forest and not lock them out. Each forest experience gives a person a deeper appreciation of the beauty of nature.

In addition to the forest experience, the state and the local medical community are on a mission these days to get people to exercise more. They are actively promoting hiking as a means to a healthier lifestyle. The state should be trying to open every trail they can to public access, not closing or limiting access.

Poamoho and Kipapa should both be open to one and all, and the experience of these two wonderful places shared with as many as possible.

ETHICS

ANTI-NEPOTISM RULE NEEDED IN ETHICS CODE

The House Judiciary Committee, headed by Rep. Tommy Waters, is to be commended for including a much-needed nepotism provision for the State Ethics code in SB 945, HD 1, Relating to Ethics.

The nepotism provision in the bill, however, falls short, since it only applies to top officials in state government. However, nepotism is wrong when done by anybody in state government, regardless of position. Nepotism is all the more offensive during tough economic times, when jobs are scarce.

Under the current proposed nepotism provision in SB 945, a state researcher, for example, who is not a "top official" and receives a multi-million dollar grant, could hire his or her spouse or immediate family member with impunity. This makes no sense.

I would like to ask the people of Hawai'i to contact their elected representatives and urge them to pass a nepotism law that applies to all state officials and employees. The people of Hawai'i deserve an equal chance when state jobs are available. State government is not a private business, but a public trust.

ALOHA AIRLINES

EMPLOYEES OF AIRLINE EXEMPLIFIED ALOHA

I would like to thank Aloha Airlines for what it has done for the Islands (and Mainland) for its contributions and endeavors. I have traveled over the years using Aloha and have felt the "mana" of its mission.

Whether it was for business on the Neighbor Islands or pleasure of going to a pro football game in San Diego, the entire staff's optimism always brought me back home with a positive attitude.

Thank you to the numerous flight attendants who gave me advice on where to stay and what to eat. Thank you to the pilots who would answer my questions and tell me what the weather would be like for the game. Thank you to the ticket agents for making fun of my slippers but still giving me the right gate to go to. Thank you for the smiles, laughs and aloha you emulated.

Next time I fly won't be the same. However, it is all of the Aloha Airlines 'ohana who will still be with me regardless of fun or work, and you all will forever be in my heart and thoughts.

Thanks to all, for you are a class act, perspicacious and the true meaning of aloha. Aloha may mean hello or goodbye, but aloha to me means what you as employees exemplify, and we should all use you as a role model to make our Islands a better place. Thank you.