TEACHERS

NO DRUG TESTING, THEN NO TEACHER PAY RAISES

Since the HSTA now finds that the members refuse to comply with the labor contract they agreed to, there is only one fair thing to do.

The state must stop all pay raises, reverting back to the pay scale in effect when the new contract began.

They must also recoup all money paid to HSTA members under the new contract.

Negotiations should be restarted, just as if a contract had never been agreed upon.

The union will, of course, threaten to strike. HSTA never had any intention of meeting the requirement for random drug testing, they intended from the start to get the raises and then find a multitude of reasons why they cannot/will not do random testing.

Isn't it about time the HSTA learns it does not control the state?

LOOKS LIKE UNION IS AFRAID OF TEST RESULTS

As a parent of children in the Hawai'i public school system, I am outraged by the teachers not being randomly drug tested.

It's disturbing to think that there is excuse after excuse for not being tested.

People are randomly tested in other occupations that don't even deal with children. Some occupations even require drug testing before a person is employed.

What are you folks really afraid of? If you're not on drugs, it shouldn't be a problem. Unless the state and teachers union are afraid of what they might find! Because that's what it looks like.

Teachers are responsible for our children's well being and education while in school. Stop making excuses. You folks really look bad, and it looks like you have a lot to hide from the public.

It seems to me you don't want to have to deal with the results from the testing. Obviously, the well-being and education of the children of Hawai'i isn't that important to the teachers union.

DRUG TESTING POLICY IS NOT UNCONSTITUTIONAL

In her July 10 Island Voices column, Kim Coco Iwamoto opined that the Department of Education could not implement random drug testing because no state "actor" can constitutionally conduct such testing.

Her analysis, however, appears to be based on situations where the state imposes random drug testing by law or policy. That is not this case.

The drug testing policy that the DOE has not implemented is in the teachers' collective bargaining agreement. Legally, that constitutes consent.

As one federal appeals court stated over 15 years ago: "Even where a drug testing policy has been held to be constitutionally infirm, a public employee may not pursue a civil rights suit based on that infirmity where his union and his employer agree to operate under that policy."

In short, it is not unconstitutional for the DOE and the state to implement that agreed-upon testing.

WAI'ANAE

DON'T STEREOTYPE THOSE WITH MENTAL ILLNESSES

As a Wai'anae resident with some familiarity with mental health treatment and services, I was disappointed in the irony that a local contestant in the battle for funding and power would try to use stereotypes about Wai'anae residents with mental illnesses as perpetrators of heinous crimes. That was a blatant surrender to ignorance and stigma.

First, for the majority of readers who have not spent much time here, Wai'anae is a warm, inviting community with as strong a core of intelligent, committed citizens with integrity as anywhere.

Second, there is no support for the argument that people with mental illnesses served through any Wai'anae mental health case-management providers are threats requiring more intensive care than can be offered by other trained or newly assigned, qualified professionals.

Wai'anae is strong, resilient and quite capable of achieving its highest potential when the stereotypes and stigma about mental illness are buried.

And, while we are at it, let's deep-six all the biased nonsense about the Wai'anae coast.

DIABETIC PATIENTS

HMSA WORKING TO BETTER QUALITY OF CARE

A recent letter questioned the use of cholesterol-lowering drugs, called statins, by people with diabetes. The unconventional view presented in the letter may be cause for concern, so I thought it important to set the record straight.

Specifically, several scientific studies have shown that giving statins to diabetic patients over age 40 who have additional risk factors such as hypertension and hyperlipidemia reduces their risk for stroke and heart attack. This is an "A" level recommendation from the 2008 American Diabetic Association guidelines. The clinical measure in the HMSA Practitioner Quality Service Recognition (PQSR) program reflects this "best practice" guideline.

For the past 10 years, HMSA has worked with local physicians to identify best practices. The use of these measures is not just an academic endeavor. HMSA diabetic patients who are taking cholesterol-lowering medications have fewer hospital admissions than diabetic patients who are not taking cholesterol medications.

Clearly, the decision to use a medication in a given patient is best made by the patient and his or her physician after a discussion of the benefits of therapy, weighed against the risks and side effects.

HMSA will continue to work with local physicians and national organizations to improve standards of practice and the quality of care provided to our members.

Adhering to these high standards reduces the demand on our healthcare system and helps keep costs down.

But most importantly, it also reduces complications from chronic illness, which improves the health of our members and their quality of life.

OBAMA, MCCAIN

PRESIDENTIAL RACE IS STYLE VS. SUBSTANCE

The upcoming presidential election is a classic case of style versus substance.

Barack Obama clearly has style. He's young, he's dashing, he's charismatic, he's a rock star.

But where's the substance? A few years as a community organizer, whatever that is, followed by a few years in politics doesn't prepare you for the biggest job in the world.

John McCain, on the other hand, is pretty much devoid of style. He's gray, he's plodding, he mumbles, no rock star here.

But look at the man's life. He has served his country honorably for decades. Yes, he lacks style, but the guy sure has substance.

YOUNG VOICE OF REASON WAS VERY REFRESHING

It was a breath of fresh air reading Graham Hawes' article (Focus section, July 13).

Just when the tidal wave of young adulation of Barack Obama seems to be peaking, a young voice of thought and reason comes through. All his points are valid and well thought out. As he so aptly points out, there is little substance behind all the "change" rhetoric.

That someone this young actually took the time to think it all out and come to his conclusions gives me hope that many of today's young are not the apathetic slackers the media would have us believe. Kudos to Mr. Hawes.

AIRLINE LUGGAGE

IF YOU USE A SERVICE, YOU SHOULD PAY FOR IT

Why this tempest over paying to check in airline baggage?

If you use a service, you must expect to pay. If you do not pay, who will pay for you? The airline has costs involved in carrying luggage, including clerks, baggage handlers, equipment operation and fuel. And these costs are considerable.

The airlines do not have the money to pay for all this. And passengers who do not check baggage may resent paying higher ticket prices for others who do.

People who use the service should pay for the service, and others should not.

I no longer check bags. I don't care to wait in baggage claim for a bag that may or may not come. I have learned to pack light, and am on my way while others are waiting in baggage claim.

I do not want my ticket price increased to cover the costs of those who check in baggage.

Airlines are losing money. They cannot afford to give away services for free. It is only right that they charge for checked bags.

Learn to pack light.

RAIL DEBATE

RAIL PROJECT WILL RUIN BEAUTY OF OUR ISLANDS

What beauty these islands have left are only moments away from being ruined; the rail will see to that. It would be like painting a moustache on the Mona Lisa. Once it's done, it cannot be reversed.

Tourists come to see the natural beauty of these Islands and our aloha spirit. Soon, our new tourist attractions will be the scars left by rail construction, higher surcharges for them to pay and gloom in the faces of our people miserable in debt.

Our state motto to protect this land from harm is being challenged here by the mayor's rail.

To preserve the charm and beauty of these Islands for the enjoyment of future generations to come, we cannot let these heartless politicians destroy their splendor for greed of money.

We need the help of all who care for these Islands to get involved, because the beauty of paradise is forever endangered.

We must stop the rail and get these politicians who are trying to ruin these Islands out of office.

RAIL SYSTEM WILL MEAN SMART DEVELOPMENT

Development will occur out west regardless if rail is built or not.

West-side development without rail means cheap, generic tract homes built on cul-de-sacs where one cannot get anywhere without a car.

West-side development without rail means acres and acres of land wasted for vast parking lots to accommodate thousands of cars for the new houses, shopping centers and the UH-West O'ahu campus.

West-side development without rail means unabated, low-density, auto-driven urban sprawl creeping like a cancer over the entire 'Ewa Plain.

Alternatively, west-side development with rail means pedestrian-friendly, vibrant, mixed-use transit-oriented developments that are designed for people and not cars.

West-side development with rail means rail stations at the new west-side shopping centers and UH-West O'ahu, allowing thousands of shoppers and students the option of taking rail.

West-side development with rail means 15,000 new homes built using smart-growth principles clustered within a mile radius of the rail stations and using 1/12 the land footprint of traditional cul-de-sac, car-oriented developments of similar capacity.

The time is now. Let's build rail.