TRANSIT

WILL ONE PASS PAY FOR BOTH BUS, RAIL RIDES?

With all the hubbub about mass transit, I was wondering whether one has to pay twice.

The goal is to alleviate the roads of O'ahu. However, do we have to pay for the bus, and then for rail?

Wouldn't it be wise to have something like the Metro card of New York City, which is similar to our bus pass?

The difference would be that it also allows one to ride the rail. Will there be bike racks?

WHY IS TOLL PROPOSAL FOR THE LEEWARD SIDE?

Do you think that the proposal for a freeway toll would help the state make money?

What happened to all the money that was made from the gas tax? Where did it go?

Why does the state always charge people who live on the leeward side of the island? Why don't they charge people living in Hawai'i Kai traveling to town on the freeway?

I hope that more people write and express their feelings about this proposal because it affects us all.

UTILITIES

USE TAX CREDIT MONEY FOR UNDERGROUND LINES

Two headlines in The Honolulu Advertiser on Feb. 1 read: "Use $75M for Kaka'ako aquarium" and "HECO no match for wind."

I think the people of Hawai'i would be better served under a single headline: "Use $75M to underground utility lines."

BUDGET SURPLUS

TAX REBATE IS, SIMPLY, THE RIGHT THING TO DO

I have an idea for Rep. Kirk Caldwell on what to do with the tax surplus.

I suggest the Legislature approve the tax rebates that Gov. Linda Lingle proposes, and send the money back to the people who labored to earn it.

Those constituents who believe the tax spenders (Legislature) can better decide how to use the taxpayers' money — the ones who told Rep. Caldwell to "Keep the money" — can send it back or tear up the check.

I suspect, however, that won't happen, because the Legislature ignores a fundamental truth — the money isn't its to spend.

Whether $25 is a meaningful rebate for a person making more than $100,000 isn't really the point. If the money isn't yours, you should give it back.

I liken it to when a store clerk mistakenly gives you back too much change. Do you point out the mistake and give back what is not rightfully yours? Or do you keep it, thinking you can make better use of the money?

Rep. Caldwell and his Democratic majority can, of course, choose to do the right thing. But they probably won't.

SAME-SEX

CIVIL UNION LAW WORKS IN STATE OF VERMONT

The Hawai'i Legislature is finally talking about civil unions.

I come from Vermont, where civil unions first came to be after a Vermont Supreme Court ruling. It was a very divisive issue in 2000, with heated and unpleasant debates across the state. What happened then? The sky didn't fall. Heterosexual marriage didn't collapse.

Within a year, civil unions were a nonissue. Gay and lesbian couples received the legal protections afforded to other couples in Vermont.

Is it perfect? No. Some decry it, saying separate but equal is not equal. Some relationships fail, just as some married heterosexual couples divorce. But, it works.

I am reminded of the comment of Robert Stafford, Vermont's long-time U.S. senator, who was a flinty, conservative Yankee Republican. During the debate before the civil union law was passed he said: "I consider that love is one of the great forces in our society and especially in our state of Vermont. It occurs to me that even if a same-sex couple unites in love, what harm does that do anybody or any society? So I felt compelled to come here and say that."

GLOBAL WARMING

HUMANS HAVE CHANGED CHEMISTRY OF EARTH

This is in response to Mark Terry's letter (Jan. 31) that stated the humans don't control the Earth's climate.

Humans have changed the chemistry of the atmosphere. It's not theory, it's scientific fact, but not a fact that the current administration wants us to know.

Changing the chemistry of the atmosphere changes how the climate system works. Short-term weather events Mr. Terry mentions are the easy way out when looking at the bigger picture.

I explain to my students that the scientific facts concerning global warming are like pieces of a puzzle. One piece of the puzzle won't give a very good idea of what that puzzle will look like when completed. The more pieces added, the clearer the picture becomes.

The big picture is clear to most living on the planet who care enough to learn about how our planet works. Global warming forces us to make some tough moral decisions.

That might be difficult for all of us right now, but only for so long. It's time for Mr. Terry and others still in denial to take their heads out of the sand.

DEL MONTE PRODUCE

LAID-OFF WORKER URGES SUPPORT OF BOYCOTT

Please support the boycott of Del Monte produce recently started by the ILWU, the union that represents pineapple workers in Hawai'i.

One year ago, I had the unhappy distinction of being the first employee to be laid off by Del Monte in the closing of Kunia pineapple plantation.

It was a double whammy. I lost my job and was evicted from my company house. It was the beginning of a tumultuous transition.

Del Monte offered no support. Faced with financial hardship and the threat of homelessness, I enrolled in a training program and prepared for a new career. I worry now as I watch 500 of my former co-workers begin the same transition I endured.

Contrary to media reports, no "white knights" have come forward to help the pineapple workers laid off by Del Monte. This is especially true for the 120 families in Kunia Camp, who continue to be confronted by uncertainty and eviction.

The foreign owners of Del Monte have refused to take responsibility for the impact their departure is having on 500 Island families. For this reason, I urge you to join the boycott of Del Monte.

IRAQ WAR

DEMS ARE HYPOCRITES ON TROOP SURGE ISSUE

All I hear from mainstream Democrats is that a troop buildup in Iraq is a huge mistake.

But let us just quote some leading Democrats and what they said just a few months ago.

"If commanders on the ground recommend a surge, then sure I'll go along with it," Sen. Harry Reid said on Dec. 16. How about Sen. John Kerry, who on June 9 said: "We don't have enough troops in Iraq. There aren't enough people on the ground. The way you honor the troops and the way you provide a policy to America is to do everything possible to win."

Once again, the Dems prove themselves to be hypocrites, and I don't trust them with our security. Do you?

TROOP SURGE JUST PART OF SHIFT IN DOCTRINE

No doubt, many Americans agree with Mr. Gordon Green's letter (Jan. 29) that President Bush's Iraqi troop surge is more of a domestic political strategy rather than a military tactic.

The facts do not support this conclusion, however. A surge in troops is but one element of a very significant shift in counterinsurgency doctrine for Iraq.

These facts were very clearly and concisely articulated by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Marine Gen. Peter Pace and Army Gen. David H. Petraeus during their testimony last week before Congress and then confirmed by the testimony before Congress of former secretary of State James Baker and former congressman Lee Hamilton of the Iraqi Study Group.

Unfortunately, these facts were largely unreported by most news sources, including The Advertiser. I would be pleased to provide a summary of the change in strategy to assist The Advertiser in fulfilling its mission statement "to be diligent, truthful, accurate and fair" on such an important matter for the American people.

RURAL CARE

PSYCHOLOGISTS SHOULD BE ABLE TO PRESCRIBE

Recently, you took issue with allowing appropriately trained psychologists to prescribe medications.

While you acknowledge the serious shortage of psychiatrists in the state, you dismiss allowing psychologists to receive the additional training they would need to prescribe because it "may cause more problems in the future than it would solve in the near term."

It is easy to say that any action proposed "may" cause future problems. In this case, it doesn't fit the facts. The evidence is that non-MDs who prescribe medicine, such as dentists, optometrists, nurse practitioners and physician assistants, are just as safe and effective as MDs.

Psychologists who have been appropriately trained within the Department of Defense and in the states of New Mexico and Louisiana have written tens of thousands of prescriptions without a single negative outcome reported.

Due to the lack of psychiatrists, our rural neighbors are going without care.

It is time to pass Senate Bill 1004 and House Bill 1456 allowing psychologists who are working in rural Hawai'i to receive appropriate training and prescribe a limited number of medications needed in mental healthcare.

RIGHT TO PRESCRIBE IS RESPONSIBLE SOLUTION

Your editorial "Psychiatric treatment needs doctor's care" (Jan. 31) is correct on one point — there is no "quick fix" for the crisis in rural mental health-care in Hawai'i.

For two decades, psychologists have been pointing to the lack of care and asking to be allowed to receive appropriate training to fill the void and safely prescribe appropriate medications. And for 20 years, psychiatrists have said, "No need," we're coming, just give us more time and money.

The fact that they have been unable to do so belies the hard reality that there simply are not enough psychiatrists. In the meantime, patients have continued to suffer from lack of appropriate care.

Senate Bill 1004 and House Bill 1456 propose that psychologists be allowed to complete four years of additional training (a year of academic training, followed by another year of practicum, followed by two years of supervised practice) to be allowed to prescribe a limited formulary of psychopharmaceuticals.

This is not a "quick fix." It is a compassionate and responsible way to address a long-standing and growing need for mental healthcare.

It is time to be proactive and get on the forefront of a long-existing healthcare crisis by passing these bills.