Editorials
Monday, October 19, 1998

Hawaii’s pressing
need for more
prison space

THE latest transfer of prison inmates to mainland institutions -- 302 to Minnesota -- underlines the urgency of increasing Hawaii's prison capacity. The state has spent nearly $450 million since 1995 on the inmate transfer program, money that could have benefited the state economy had it been spent in the islands.

The transfer program serves a purpose, but it should be regarded as only a temporary expedient. Hawaii now has 1,199 inmates on the mainland, in prisons in Texas, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Minnesota. They were sent out of the state because Hawaii's prisons were overflowing.

Some of the inmates have welcomed the move, because conditions were so bad here. But make no mistake, this is not an ideal situation. The mainland inmates are so far away that they can't be visited by family and friends. This can hurt morale and make rehabilitation more difficult. Civil rights attorney Dan Foley, who has several clients in Texas prisons, says, "It makes it very difficult to integrate (the inmates) into society."

In addition, all the money the state is spending to keep the inmates on the mainland is a total loss. Even though it costs much more to maintain inmates in Hawaii -- an average $76 a day, compared with $42-$43 -- at least the money stays in the state and contributes to the state economy.

Even with the latest transfer, the prison population here is still 500 inmates over its capacity of 3,200, but that is far lower than it would otherwise be. The Waiawa Correctional Facility has been expanded by 200 beds and the Oahu Community Correctional Center by 168 beds, but it still isn't enough.

One favorable sign is the likelihood that the federal monitoring program in place at OCCC since 1984 will be ended with the planned move of about 100 inmates to the Halawa facility. But the need for a major new prison is urgent. Planning has begun to build a 2,300-bed medium security prison near Kulani Correctional Facility on the Big Island. That facility is estimated to cost $120 million and won't be completed until 2002.

Until that prison is ready for use, the outlook is for more inmate transfers to the mainland. Corrections officials haven't decided whether to ask for more money for the program when the current funding expires next June, although it doesn't appear that they have any choice. But the sooner that program can be ended the better.

Strategic oil reserve

AFTER the 1973 Arab oil embargo, Congress decided to establish a Strategic Petroleum Reserve of 1 billion barrels of oil, sufficient to replace four months of imports, to guard against any future embargoes. The oil was to be stored in salt caverns along the Gulf Coast in Texas and Louisiana.

But that plan didn't go down very well in Hawaii, which is 7,000 miles away from the Gulf Coast oil docks, too far to get supplies quickly, and more dependent on oil imports for its energy than any other state.

Hawaii's congressional delegation campaigned unsuccessfully to have a reserve established here. When that failed, the members proposed that Hawaii be given priority access to the oil reserve. Tankers delivering to Hawaii would get priority loading rights. Hawaii energy companies could buy oil from the reserve during an emergency at a price equal to the average of all successful bids, assuring that their bids would not be rejected.

After nine years of trying, the bill has now passed both houses -- the Senate last year and the House of Representatives Thursday. President Clinton is expected to sign it.

Rep. Neil Abercrombie, who led the campaign in the House, said the measure "will help stabilize Hawaii's economy if we experience another oil shortage."

Sen. Daniel Akaka, who has lobbied for the measure since 1989, pointed out that "a cutoff in supplies could devastate our economy. Without the bill, Hawaii's energy companies, and the population they serve, face the risk that their bid for emergency supplies of (Strategic Petroleum Reserve) oil would be rejected and that petroleum inventories would run dry."

These days Hawaii is more concerned about the disparity in gasoline prices than another Arab oil embargo. But you never know.

Joe Camel’s effect

IT'S a testimonial to the power of advertising and promotion, but a frightening one. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control report that between 1988 and 1996 millions of teen-agers were lured into smoking through tobacco company promotional campaigns offering giveaways, coupons, jackets and other gear, much of it hawked by Joe Camel.

The centers released data showing that the number of first-time smokers under 18 jumped 73 percent between Joe Camel's debut in 1988 and 1996, when the advertising icon was "retired" in the face of strong criticism.

Before the introduction of Joe Camel, 51 of every 1,000 teen-agers a year were taking up smoking as a daily habit. By 1996 the rate was 77 per 1,000 teens. Dr. Gary Giovino, chief epidemiologist for the CDC's Office on Smoking and Health, attributes the increase to promotional efforts pushed largely through rock radio stations and in magazines aimed at teen-agers.

Now that's a success story! Unfortunately, it's a success in getting kids hooked on smoking -- a disaster in terms of public health policy. Despite the cigarette companies' denials, it's clear that much of their advertising effort was designed to get adolescents hooked.

Why can't the same techniques be used to teach kids that smoking is a very bad deal? How about bringing Joe Camel back to appear in anti-smoking messages?

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Published by Liberty Newspapers Limited Partnership

Rupert E. Phillips, CEO

John M. Flanagan, Editor & Publisher

David Shapiro, Managing Editor

Diane Yukihiro Chang, Senior Editor & Editorial Page Editor

Frank Bridgewater & Michael Rovner, Assistant Managing Editors

A.A. Smyser, Contributing Editor