OAHU'S BEAUTY IS WHAT DRAWS VISITORS

My wife and I recently spent time on Oahu, staying in Waikíkí, but riding TheBus many times to the beautiful North Shore. We appreciated being able to snorkel the cove near Turtle Bay Resort, as well as see green sea turtles in their delicate environment at yet another cove. We also spent a great afternoon in Haleiwa.

We are dismayed that some of the pristine areas in the north, and also on the Windward side, are being considered for development, potentially destroying the charm of the area and possibly to the detriment of local businesses.

We hope that everyone on Oahu realizes that once the bulldozers begin their work, nothing can bring back the picturesque pastures, canyons or bay areas. Though many visitors like ourselves stay in Waikíkí, one of the reasons we visit the Islands is to see the Hawaii of yesterday still present in those areas.

We hope that those people of the state who are making the decisions and are responsible for the future of Oahu realize the treasures that they have in the North Shore and windward regions of their island.

William and Janet Davis | Kalispell, Mont.

CHILD ABUSE

REPORT CONTAINS QUESTIONABLE DATA

The article on the report "We Can Do Better: Child Abuse and Neglect Deaths in America" (Oct. 21, "Child-abuse deaths rise in U.S., but not in Isles") fails to acknowledge the work states have undertaken to improve child welfare programs and court systems.

The Every Child Matters Foundation Fund report is filled with questionable data and inaccurate comparisons, and is therefore incomplete and misleading to the public and legislators. As such, it has failed to acknowledge the effective efforts of the states, child welfare administrators and frontline workers to address the issue. The report itself says that states vary enormously in how they count child abuse deaths, so an honest comparison of child abuse death rates is impossible, and simply using the raw number without proper context is not meaningful.

Focusing solely on child deaths sensationalizes the issue and tends to direct resources away from prevention programs and other opportunities to keep children safe.

Child welfare administrators and frontline workers work diligently to prevent child neglect and abuse. Thousands of children are helped and protected each day; these cases do not make the front page of newspapers. The report fails to mention any of these.

Jerry W. Friedman | Executive director, American Public Human Services Association

FURLOUGHS

AN OPPORTUNITY FOR PARENTS, STUDENTS

Many years ago a sage observed: "When the world hands you a lemon, make a lemonade." Amid all the furor over our school Furlough Fridays, there has to be a lemonade somewhere.

Let's look on school Furlough Fridays as an opportunity for teachers and parents (or caregivers of students) to cooperate in providing homework for students on Furlough Fridays.

How could this be accomplished? On the Thursday before each Furlough Friday, teachers give each student a written homework assignment, to be completed at home on Friday. Each student completes the assignment at home, with assistance and supervision by the parent or caregiver.

In homes where there is no adult present during the day, the parent supervises the homework on Friday evening. This means there is no evening TV or games until the homework is pau.

Teachers already are familiar with this procedure. When a student cannot attend school due to illness or injury, teachers give written assignments to the student's parents, to keep the student up with his/her classmates.

While this procedure would not work for all students, let's give the thousands of parents statewide, the opportunity to facilitate their children's learning.

John "Jack" A. Sullivan | Honolulu

SCHOOLS

VOUCHERS BEST WAY TO BYPASS UNIONS

I am becoming more and more frustrated with excessive poor decisions from our elected officials since they are influenced by the outdated labor unions. I am confident it is time to revive the school voucher option.

As a parent of two young children enrolled in the public schools, I have to deal with the current furlough days, excessive holidays (both Hawaiian and general outdated ones), teacher planning days, shortened Wednesdays, and inconsistent annual schedules. In addition to the days off, I have to tailor my schedule to have my kids picked up, dropped off, and watched when all these days off are in place.

It is a perfect time to implement the school voucher system. Leave the unions out of the meetings and consider what could be done. We could select the schools that are best suited for our children, since it is becoming more and more obvious to me that the public school system does not value education.

Al Zalopany | Kailua

RAIL TRANSIT

SAVINGS SHOWS THE TIME TO BUILD IS NOW

Reading about the $90 million savings on the new rail construction contract brought a smile to my face. It shows that the time to build rail is now. We can reap major savings on rail construction while taking a giant step forward in improving our traffic congestion.

If this is any indication, we will see similar savings with the construction contract from Pearl Highlands to Aloha Stadium. I hope the savings from these two contracts will be enough to start building the UH-Mänoa extension earlier.

Daniel K. Aanderson | Kailua