Letters to the Editor
WELL-STOCKED
KALANI HIGH LIBRARY GRATEFUL FOR GENEROSITY
I usually work behind the scenes and don't like being in the spotlight. However, through the interventions of Pearl Whittaker, Kalani High School Association parent, who called The Honolulu Advertiser and Barnes and Noble, I was taken out of my comfort zone and thrust into the limelight. I am grateful for that opportunity because it inspired so many people to come forward with warm kokua.
The community support has been overwhelming. I cried when Mr. Robert Arakawa presented me with his generous check. A Barnes and Noble customer stepped in to pay for the remaining books on Kalani's wish list. Mutual Publishing delivered two boxes of much-needed brand-new Hawaiian titles. Book lovers, parents, businesses and alumni have been calling around the clock. Myron Wong, Class of 1972, agreed to spearhead a fund-raiser with other alumni to purchase computers.
An army of parents and Kathy Greene, Kalani's Parent Community Network coordinator, are helping me to process the new books and answer all correspondence. We will soon list donor names on the KHS Webs site, http://kalanihs.k12.hi.us, and the KHS Association Web site, http://kalanihigh.com.
Thank you to everyone as we rebuild the Library @ Kalani High School. It means students and teachers will have access to something that we all can be proud of: a well-stocked library.
Anne TorigeKalani High School librarian
FUNDING CUTS
FORGET A TAX REBATE, FIX PUBLIC EDUCATION
It's now or never! For almost a decade, our "empty" state coffers have forced cuts in public education, kindergarten through graduate school. We see the results of these decisions.
Miraculously, Hawai'i's children learn in spite of the conditions caused by year after year of cuts. (Even though we see other priorities — like the empty Convention Center — funded.)
Politicians, please don't congratulate yourselves for what little has been done for public education. We read stories of empty libraries and crumbling UH buildings. Please don't say you've already "given" enough for education. Remember, you cut and cut and cut.
Now that there seems to be some more money in the state coffers, isn't it time to make up for all those cuts? There's a lot to be repaired. Or do the movers and the shakers of this state want to maintain "the plantation" here in Hawai'i by not adequately funding public education. Gov. Jack Burns supported public education in word and deed. His is an example to be followed.
A few dollars returned to the taxpayer as a rebate or tax credit are not going to build our future. Public education is "broke." Please help fix it!
Jean ToyamaHonolulu
HAND-MADE
SURFBOARD INDUSTRY IN DANGER OF COLLAPSE
Hawai'i is known throughout the world for our surfers and the surfing life — supported by thousands of craftsmen and entrepreneurs. But Hawai'i is now in danger of losing this industry, which is unique to the Islands.
The local craftsmen who shape and build surfboards are in danger of being wiped out by discount mass marketers who sell pop-out epoxy boards made in foreign factories.
That's on top of the latest crisis to hit the surfboard industry: the closure last week of a California firm that provides the cores for most of the world's surfboards.
The big boys will find a way to survive, and after a spike in prices, that crisis will pass for them. For us little guys, it's the latest in an increasingly difficult struggle to preserve the art of creating boards the traditional way — by hand, a skill I learned from my father.
It's not just a sport. It's a way of life that connects us with the ocean and generations of surfers who have made Hawai'i the center of the surfing world.
Losing Hawai'i's independent shapers would be a loss for the entire community and a blow to a state that taught the world how to surf. We need your kokua to preserve our surfing tradition. Let us create your surfboards and we will survive.
Tommy TanakaTanaka Surfboards, Honolulu
CONSERVATION
WAIMEA VALLEY HAS LAND-USE DESIGNATION
It is interesting and troublesome that the City Council and the mayor are so focused on the issue of ownership of Waimea Valley. Certainly, if the City & County owned it, we would expect it to be preserved.
However, since the valley is designated in the state conservation district, regardless of ownership, we should also expect that it would be developed consistent with that designation — i.e. one house, or recreation, etc.
It is depressing that our city leaders appear to be indicating that they and other officials will not have the fortitude to simply enforce the existing land-use designation for the property.
Charles A. PrentissPresident, Hawai'i's Thousand Friends, Kailua
CONVENIENCE
LEARN RIGHT LESSONS, AND TRANSIT WILL WORK
Mike Rethman's Dec. 2 commentary begins with a misleading statement: "D.C. is like Honolulu; not that many people live or work within walking distance of the stations." That's nonsense.
A significant proportion of the jobs, residences and tourist attractions in the D.C. region are within blocks of a Metro station. It is widely recognized that the Metro system plays a critical role in keeping one of the nation's most congested cities on the move.
I just moved back to Honolulu after living in the D.C. area, where I rode the Metro every day. I learned two important things during my two years as a Metro rider:
Rethman and others are quick to say "transit won't work here." If we learn the right lessons from other cities, maybe it can.
Nikki Love'Aina Haina
NOT DEC. 7
WORLD WAR II BEGAN IN SEPTEMBER 1939
Listening to Linda Coble on KHON recently saying that the USS Ward had fired the "first shot of World War II," I was reminded of how often we forget that World War II started in September 1939, not Dec. 7, 1941.
While I would in no way denigrate the actions of these men who destroyed the Japanese submarine before the actual air attack commenced, nor the many thousands or service men and women who died subsequently, it should be remembered that there were many hundreds, if not thousands, of brave Americans who were serving in Europe, mostly in the Royal Air Force, for two years prior to Pearl Harbor.
Bryan GeoffreyKane'ohe
PASSENGER CARS
MASS TRANSIT SYSTEMS
CAN VARY THEIR CAPACITY
Regarding your Dec. 4 report "City's rail options narrowed down to 3": It is great that you offer your readers a comparison of the three options, but I did notice some wrong impressions.
On the monorail, the reporter states that trains "often (are) capable of carrying about 100 people in each car," while the light rail statement says cars "usually (can carry) up to 200 passengers at a time." The Las Vegas monorail can carry 224 passengers in one train unit. Las Vegas is only operating nine train units at this time but has the ability to add more. As for the light rail trains, they can carry 200 passengers in one train unit.
Light rail can connect two trains together, but the stations must be made longer. Monorail could also have longer stations, but this is only needed if demand is really high. The Las Vegas monorail trains operate fully automated, thus eliminating the need for operators. The advantage of automation is that the trains can easily be run at far closer intervals.
The article states: "All of the options involve a system built either above or below existing roadways, and none would not take away any existing traffic lanes, officials said." This is a very important issue to compare then. As shown in the picture showing the Las Vegas monorail, it requires a very small profile and structure. Elevated light rail requires a large, wide platform and also requires additional power wires 15 feet above the platform. Monorail and magnetic levitation are virtually non-derailable, while standard rail such as light rail can derail. This is an important issue, especially in areas prone to earthquakes.
The shown monorail trains are 138 feet long. Typical light rail units such as Houston's MetroRail are 95 feet long. Bombardier now has a new version of its trains that has walk-through ability and is only 123 feet long, with the ability to couple trains together. The capacity is for 225 passengers per train, using only a 90-foot platform, or 300 passengers per train on a 130-foot station.
Don GallagherHouston
DROP A SUBJECT
GIVE TUTORING DURING SCHOOL DAY
I read with interest the Dec. 1 article "Bureaucracy blamed for low use of tutors." We adopted seven of our foster kids; six are struggling with special needs. They all took afterschool tutoring. Maybe the bureaucracy isn't all to blame for disadvantaged students taking advantage of tutoring. Maybe the tutoring is in the wrong place and time.
Our kids were paired together; the first set went immediately after school; when they were done, I picked them up an hour later and brought the second group. When they were finished, I picked them up and brought the third group of kids.
It worked out for us — I was a stay-at-home mom — but it doesn't always work for others. Whenever there is a change in a schedule of any kind and it affects the paycheck, the paycheck will always win, especially here in Hawai'i. Parents can't take off from work to "bus" their kids to and from the tutorial. It would mean a drop in the paycheck.
In Hawai'i, both parents usually need to work, which means more latch-key kids and no one to help with the supervision of the homework. That means falling behind and more tutorial needed.
Afterschool tutoring is also hard on the kids; they spend six hours in school. It's not likely that they are very willing to spend another hour in school. My kids didn't like it; it was like twisting two arms and both legs.
If the laws that govern us don't work anymore, for most of the people, for most of the time, then maybe we need to change them. If I sew a dress and outgrow it, well, since I made the dress, I have the ability to take that dress apart and redo it to fit me now. Maybe our school programs need to be taken apart and be redone; maybe they don't fit our kids now. In the No Child Left Behind Act, it's no longer a handful of kids that need tutorial; it's half of the school or more.
Our educators are a bunch of very intelligent people. Ruth Silberstein, principal of Palolo Elementary School, said, "I would prefer something every day or all year." Well, which subject on our school program doesn't fit anymore; how about science? (Just an example.) Replace science with tutorial as an open subject in school, as a regular everyday or all-year subject.
It is quite obvious that tutorial can no longer be offered as an afterschool option. Instead, it should be made available during school hours. It sure would replace a lot of the stumbling blocks that kids and parents now face. The kids who don't need tutorial could still take science.
If we don't do something now, our kids, our schools and the future of our community are going to pay for it, and keep paying.
A. Lee TottenKane'ohe
