Brats are made at home,
not in the classroom

As a former employer, I have observed with dismay the lack of control and respect for authority in the business community as mentioned in your Nov. 7 article, "Isle grads can't hack workplace." However, I do not agree with another subject - social skills - being forced down the throats of public school teachers.

Students bring to a classroom, as well as a job, the social skills that they learn at home. We cannot continue to expect our teachers to have to deal with every social ill that comes along.

The majority of social problems are a direct product of the home environment. It is no wonder our teachers are frustrated. Let teachers teach reading, writing and arithmetic. Stop lessening the responsibilities of the parents. There is no excuse for belligerent, disrespectful brats.

Richard Kebo
Ewa Beach

---

Caliber of advertisements
must be policed, improved

Ethical standards in advertising must be improved! With so many questionable ad campaigns, consumers must take a stand against the lack of advertising ethics.

Because children have not built up defense mechanisms which can help them evaluate persuasive messages in ads, they are often unethically influenced. Another concern is tobacco and alcohol advertising. Questions arise as to whether it is ethical to promote products that are hazardous to health.

Finally, political advertising is a hot topic because of the state and national elections. Political campaigns raise questions about how truthful a candidate is, and if it is ethical to degrade an opponent's character.

Should candidates attack each other on the issues as well as on their personal lives? Is it right for them to promise so many things when we know they probably won't deliver?

I say, NO! It is not ethical for these kinds of ads to continue. Consumers must take a stand against a lack of advertising ethics. Further, advertisers must improve their ethical standards in developing their campaigns.

Shelley Rohlik

---

A primer for legislators
who want to serve well

Here is some advice for newly elected legislators. Incumbents can read this, but I doubt they will take heed:

1) Do not spend more money than the state can bring in.

2) Remember that you work for all of the people of the state of Hawaii, not just family, friends or special interests who helped you get elected.

3) If you work for an industry, you cannot bring up or vote on legislation for that industry.

4) If you make other lawmakers angry, they will do everything in their power to get you.

5) Arrogance will get you un-elected.

6) Do not make the Democratic Party look any worse than it already does. (We can't say much about the Republicans since they are virtually invisible.)

7) Something must be done about crime or your automobiles might get stolen from the Capitol parking lot.

8) Educate our children in the public schools. Just because your own children do not attend them doesn't mean that you should ignore the problems .

9) No, the construction industry is not 90 percent of the population.

10) Unions may have power, but most of the population is non-union.

K.M. Williamson

---

Hawaiians were too patient
about right to sovereignty

The lawsuit by Big Islander Harold Rice attempting to annul the recent election by the Hawaiians on a sovereignty movement, and several letters to the editor, show clearly that some people still believe the overthrow was right and that the victims are wrong to expect to be compensated.

Since the Hawaiians never got a chance to vote on their destiny 100 years ago, this election was a century overdue. The overthrow of the monarchy and the vote in Washington to annex Hawaii were both illegal. All of us immigrants are here illegally and should have nothing to say about it.

Rice is opposed to state money being used for an election limited to Hawaiians only. The people in the state government have been stalling, refusing to meet their obligations and putting the Hawaiians off for almost a century.

All of us voters are just as guilty, because we have not demanded that politicians live up to the laws and promises, and fulfill the obligations that we are all responsible for.

Gordon Banner