BUDGET SURPLUS

IT'S HIGH TIME TO FIX CIVIL DEFENSE SYSTEM

The confluence of new concerns about inadequate hurricane preparedness on O'ahu, as described in your articles about potential flooding and a lack of shelters, and the recent reports about huge state budget surpluses make this an ideal time for our state government to remedy our civil defense shortfalls once and for all.

The case has been made that we need to do more, and the money is there to do it. Why should O'ahu wait until 2018 to make the changes necessary to avoid flooding due to strong hurricanes in Waikiki, McCully and Mo'ili'ili?

Why should we delay having enough hardened shelters available for everyone that might need them? Even with the best of preparations, something will have been overlooked, and preparedness will be less than anticipated. Can we afford to be blamed in the future for not having addressed all the problems that we foresaw?

Now is not the time for complacency. I urge O'ahu citizens to speak up while the means are available to get the necessary work done.

EVACUATION

CONSIDER PET SHELTERS TO MINIMIZE HUMAN RISK

Articles like "Fluffy and Fido depend on you" (Sept. 23) are well-intentioned, but give pet owners a false sense of security. In the wake of a hurricane, anyone who thinks that leaving Fido home alone with extra food and water constitutes sufficient care is fooling himself.

The reality is that pet owners, according to the American Humane Society and other animal-welfare organizations, should never leave their companion animals alone in the wake of a hurricane, or other emergency, because doing so greatly reduces the animal's chance of survival.

O'ahu Civil Defense says that in order to protect humans, it doesn't evacuate pets. Huh? If the Civil Defense really has people's safety in mind they would realize that without a place for pets to go, many people will choose to stay at home with Fido, risking their safety and maybe their lives.

Haven't we learned anything from Katrina about the importance of providing pet shelters? Texas is learning and new policies allow residents fleeing from Rita to take their pets. Hawai'i needs a similar plan to avert needless loss of life and for those more self-interested readers, political fallout.

BEV HARBIN

TAX PROBLEMS DEMAND CALL FOR RESIGNATION

I am a resident in District 28, which was represented by Rep. Ken Hiraki and is now represented by Beverly Harbin. I am appalled that Gov. Linda Lingle will not call for the resignation of Harbin, even though Lingle is now aware of tax problems that would have prevented Harbin from being appointed in the first place.

The governor's failure to call for Harbin's resignation speaks volumes; her lack of action shows she doesn't care about the people of District 28, only her own political maneuvers.

'EXTRA TIME'

ZIPPER LANE GOOD FOR ANYTHING BUT DRIVING

After patiently stopping, err, driving in the zipper lane, I finally ventured back into the regular lanes, shaving 15 minutes off my commute. Crazy, but sadly true!

Rather than being negative about the changes made to the zipper lane, I instead want to thank the DOT for allowing me an extra 20 minutes in the zipper lane, which let me finish a book, file my nails, enjoy a cup of coffee, apply my makeup and return calls on my cell phone.

Those things aren't against the law when you're at a complete stop are they? I had time to have a really good conversation with my son and even a chance to read The Honolulu Advertiser.

Gosh, now that I think about it, that incredible slowdown in the zipper lane isn't so terrible after all. I just want to say to the DOT, "Keep up the good work and study the zipper lane traffic until your heart is content." All of the car poolers and bus riders thank you from the bottom of their hearts for giving them some extra "me" time in the morning. Who really wants to get to work on time, anyway, right?

NANAKULI

ROAD WORK SHOULD BE DONE LATE AT NIGHT

I have been thinking about all the traffic in Nanakuli. When it's rush hour, construction workers work on the road so the traffic is even longer in Nanakuli.

One time my mom was going to the doctor and my dad and I were with her. On the other side we saw traffic from Nanakuli to Campbell. Then we were going back to our house two or three hours later, and there was still traffic. When we finally got out of all the traffic, we saw that there were only cones on the road and no one was working there.

I think the construction workers should work at midnight so the traffic won't be as long. Thank you for your help.

(Similar letters were received from many other students at Maili Bible School)

ENFORCEMENT

WHY HAVE LAWS IF WE DON'T FOLLOW THEM?

I used to believe in the law. I used to believe in the ability of people to discern between right and wrong.

But with the recent passage of yet another law (pedestrians in crosswalks) that the police either can't or won't enforce, I find my faith waning.

I remember a philosophical question: "If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make any sound?"

Apply this to driving and our society. If someone breaks a law and no officers are around to enforce the law, is a law broken? Judging by the way people act and drive, I'd guess they wouldn't think so. Seems the only time people drive and act accordingly is when they know an officer is present.

What's the purpose of having laws if people don't believe in them or obey them? Kinda scary to think what the future holds.

HAWAIIAN ENTITY

AKAKA SHOULD REVIEW CONSTITUTION AGAIN

Your Sept. 22 front-page article mentions that U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka stated, "The question of whether or not Congress has the authority to federally recognize a Native Hawaiian governing entity is an issue that has yet to be ruled on by the courts."

As a U.S. senator, Akaka should know that under Article I of the U.S. Constitution, members of both the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives have the power to make laws, to add amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Under Article III, the courts, the judicial branch of government, have the power to enforce the laws over issues raised under the Constitution, not to make laws.

Therefore, the creation of a new state, or a new sub-self-governing entity exclusively for Native Hawaiians, under the U.S. government and its Constitution, is the fiduciary responsibility of the U.S. Congress and not the courts.

If Sen. Akaka does not agree with our U.S. Constitution, in the best interest of the majority of U.S. citizens, he should resign.

HAWAI'I HOUSING SOLUTIONS MAY EMERGE FROM KATRINA

I am watching with great interest the solutions that are used to solve homelessness for the hundreds of thousands of victims made homeless by Hurricane Katrina. U.S. officials say they are trying to find ways to move more than 200,000 Katrina evacuees from emergency shelters around the United States to more permanent housing.

On May 26, Market Trends Hawaii conducted a point-in-time count of O'ahu’s homeless and found a total of nearly 3,000 homeless individuals. Surely, the methods used to help Katrina’s victims can be used to solve homelessness for the relatively few that we have here in Hawai'i.

Much like technological advances that emerge from NASA’s space program and result in benefiting our daily lives, perhaps some housing technology that comes out of this mass disaster will emerge to be applied to solving the homelessness that has resulted from personal disasters.

It’s almost been a month for Katrina’s evacuees who are homeless and, as we who regularly work with people who are homeless all know, the more rapid the exit from that situation, the easier it is to successfully place them into housing.

I hope that the governor and the mayor are watching with as much anticipation as I am for the housing solutions that emerge. It will take their political will to transfer the housing technologies learned from this mass disaster to the victims of personal disasters that occur daily in high-priced Hawai'i.

HAWAIIAN DATA ALL ABOUT HOPE

Lee Cataluna is right: It is painful to recount how Native Hawaiians are still struggling more than 200 years after Captain Cook arrived in our homeland. Unfortunately, Cataluna’s column of Sept. 20 (“Putting our worst foot forward”) may lead to a misunderstanding of the findings and purpose of the recent report published by Kamehameha Schools, Ka Huaka'i.

Ka Huaka'i is the third follow-up to research published in 1983 and 1993. It is not meant, as Cataluna implies, as a tool to bolster our current legal case. As with the two prior reports, its purpose is to assess trends and changes in Hawaiian well-being over time. For Kamehameha Schools, the report will help guide our strategic direction and curriculum development. The report differs from the previous ones because it identifies strengths that reside in our Native Hawaiian families and communities — a major point that appears to have gone unnoticed in the press.

Alongside the negative data that The Advertiser chose to highlight as “news” is an array of positive data that show gains in some areas and and illustrates the strength and resilience of our people:

• Native Hawaiians have strong ties to their neighborhoods and communities. More than half (51.1 percent) of all adults are involved in at least one community activity or organization, and 70.5 percent of these participants assume leadership positions within their respective organizations.

• More than three-quarters (78 percent) of Native Hawaiians believe it is important to live and practice Hawaiian culture on a daily basis, and another three-quarters (73.2 percent) are interested in more fully developing their knowledge of Hawaiian language.

• Fully 82.9 percent of Native Hawaiians report being proud of their ethnic heritage, compared with 73.4 percent of non-Hawaiians.

• Preschool enrollment among Native Hawaiians has increased significantly since 1990 and was only slightly lower than the statewide rate in 2000.

• The Pünana Leo preschools have educated more than 3,000 young children since 1985.

• Students in kula kaiapuni (immersion schools in the public education system) and Native Hawaiian charter schools exhibit high levels of engagement and a strong cultural identity.

Cataluna writes that our report was “held up as a point on the scoreboard for Hawaiians. How twisted is that?” It would be twisted if it were true. The need to restore the Hawaiian people is not a device manufactured to impress a judicial panel. It is the reason that Kamehameha Schools was founded; and the reason that the policy of preference at the heart of the current legal battle is justified and right. Tracking and recording Hawaiian well-being is necessary for us at Kamehameha to fulfill Princess Pauahi’s dream, and we were doing this long before John Doe decided to sue us.

Cataluna is right that these are “painful truths.” In spite of the prosperity experienced by a very small minority of Native Hawaiians, these data show that it is certainly not time to consider the battle won: most Native Hawaiians are not faring well and that fact should not be ignored. But Ka Huakaçi is not a message of defeat in any sense. It is as much about the building blocks of hope and strength that live in our people as it is about the challenges that we continue to face. It is important and well-researched information to help us rebuild our people and culture, just as Pauahi intended.