Spanking won't work in today's public schools
Regarding Rep. Calvin Say's proposal to reintroduce spanking in Hawaii's public schools: I went to parochial school on the East Coast in the '50s. The nuns used corporal punishment. It worked and nobody was severely injured.I never resented it as they acted with the permission of our parents.
However, this is 1998 and we are talking about public schools. Teachers need the respect and power to enforce discipline, and we need to get disruptive students into an environment where they can learn without disrupting the learning of others.
Corporal punishment will not work and it will generate a tsunami of lawsuits. It would be nice to wave a magic wand or a clenched fist and bash our troubles away with one blow, but this won't work.
We have created an educational black hole over the decades. We can get out, but it will take a serious, community-based, sustained and intelligent response.
It will also take some money to get more teachers with special training and more facilities for all of our students. Violent and disruptive students probably end up in prison or on skid row. It is very expensive to build prisons and nobody wants one in their area. We need to spend our dollars on our education system if we want to avoid sending people to jail, which wastes our money and our people.
David Webb
Assistant Professor
University of Hawaii
(Via the Internet)
Maili Elementary didn't deserve harsh criticism
Where is Bonnie Kidd (Letters, Nov. 20), getting her information? First, she misspelled the name of our school. It is Maili, not Maile, Elementary.Second, SAT scores are not the only indicator of student progress. Furthermore, Maili's SAT scores show steady improvement. Students are learning and teachers are working hard despite classroom conditions, lack of community support and extreme warm weather.
SAT scores are only a snapshot in a slice of time. Moreover, the SAT is chosen by the Department of Education, which pays for scoring and other data. A school can use another standardized test but it is responsible for scoring and interpretations.
Yes, there is no excuse for hot, dusty conditions, but students who have attended the school since its beginning in 1963 have endured this. All schools in the Waianae area have environmental and human challenges.
How does Kidd know what Maili staffers believe? We know what kind of students we get and do not expect them to be from "perfect" family environments. We also deplore Kidd's caustic comments and negative energy.
Linda M. Victor
Principal, Maili Elementary School
Vegetarians should leave happy meat eaters alone
It's that time of year again. Vegetarians and animal-rights fanatics are trying to demonize carnivores (meat eaters). So let's get this straight: I will be "guilt-free" as I devour "the wretched, sick carcass of an innocent animal on our holiday table" as its bodily fluids (gravy) drip down my chin.I hope herbivores (vegetarians) enjoy their holidays as much as I will mine. It's too bad you don't wish me the same.
Victor Moss
Makakilo
(Via the Internet)
Oil company merger may be bad news for price of gas
The news that crude oil prices are at their lowest in 12 years causes me to hope, but probably in vain, that gasoline prices in Hawaii will drop.But then, another article about possible mergers in the oil industry causes me concern that, with fewer sources, the gasoline industry throughout the contiguous 48 states might imitate those parasitic gasoline sources in Hawaii that have for years gouged Hawaiian islanders with their outrageous and unwarranted high prices.
I await the Clintonesque answers the Hawaiian Oil Bandits will foist on Hawaii consumers.
Dick Skarnes
Kailua-Kona
(Via the Internet)
Premium gasoline is better bet in the long run
In response to recent articles on gas prices and the use of premium fuels:Part of Hawaii's unique market is the fact that we do not commute the way our mainland counterparts do, thus tending to keep our cars longer. Cars averaging only 3,000-10,000 miles per year are not uncommon. Many automotive mechanics agree that using a higher-octane fuel burns cleaner, produces less emission and increases fuel mileage. The result is longer engine life and superior performance.
In the long run, it is more cost effective to use a higher grade of gasoline than to pay for engine repairs. One does not need to own a Ferrari or other high performance car to benefit from this fuel.
As far as the Texaco/Arco issue of lower prices: Yes, Arco will be supplied through the Chevron refinery. But there is a distinct difference in the fuel one would purchase from a Chevron station and Arco. Chevron fuel contains a unique product called "Techron." It is the fuel of choice the three auto manufacturers use for their EPA new-vehicle emission and mileage requirement tests.
Barnaby Robinson
Waialae Chevron
(Via the Internet)
Maui's downhill bikers are traffic hazard
I live on the slopes of Haleakala in upper Kula and dread each passing day as I exit my driveway. I have to contend with scores of commercial downhill bicyclists who test my driving skills daily.There have been many close calls over the years, as wobbly, uncertain and untrained riders attempt to deal with the traffic both behind and beside them, and with the hazardous road conditions -- never ideal in any weather.
To complicate matters, vans utilized to carry bikes and passengers to the mountain top for the long hazardous ride down protect the riders like mother hens, weaving in and out of lanes, often going below the speed limit to prevent cars from passing the slow-moving caravan of bikers.
Frankly, after being patient for so many years, I am very tired of dealing with the hassles, looking at the weekly roadside accidents and having the constant fear that I will hurt someone, or get hurt myself. I hope the Haleakala folks put a stop to the downhill mess.
Vincent Ryan Linares
Kula, Maui
(Via the Internet)
OHA should help homeless Hawaiians
It always saddens me to hear or read about our Hawaiian people having the highest percentage of homelessness in the islands. Why isn't the Office of Hawaiian Affairs stepping in and assisting these people? Why isn't some of that ceded land money from the state being used to support the problems confronting Hawaiians?Don't depend entirely on the federal government to support our needs. OHA trustees need to focus more attention the homeless, instead of spending so much time on heated arguments known to us all.
Lehua McColgan
(Via the Internet)
Gays pay sames taxes, but don't have same rights
Once again the true and deceitful cause behind "vote yes" comes out in the Nov. 20 letter by Noboru and Marti Morishige. They kept saying it wasn't about civil rights, but only about marriage. Yet, one after another, they're coming forward and saying, "No rights, either!"The letter by the Morishiges is particularly insulting with its claim that providing benefits to same-sex couples would "place an additional economic burden on all taxpayers."
Are they not aware that Hawaii's gay and lesbian citizens have been paying taxes to support the special rights of straights all their lives? Aren't they entitled to an equal share of what they're paying the government for?
Nguyen Van Chien
(Via the Internet)
Some 'yes' voters do support benefits for gay couples
We know is how many people voted "yes" on the same-sex ballot issue. But we do not know why many of them voted that way. Mike Gabbard's statement on television Nov. 5 that the voters of Hawaii had clearly stated that they wanted to deprive gays and lesbians of any benefits granted by the government to married couples was completely uninformed and I suspect that it was completely wrong, as well.Many of us who voted "yes" support the right of any two unrelated people, including gays and lesbians, to enter into domestic partnership contracts that provide the civil benefits and obligations of marriage except the name of marriage and the religious bric-a-brac that goes along with that.
Many of us believe that the government should not be in the business of attempting to define or license marriage at all.
Gabbard and I agree that we should not allow the courts to redefine the meaning of the word "marriage," but that is just about the only point of agreement.
James Bousman
(Via the Internet)
Governor is hypocrite about gay marriage
Well, looky here. Our newly re-elected governor has instructed his communications director, Randy Obata (Letters, Nov. 18), to try to convince us that domestic partnership is something different than gay marriage.Obata wrote that "Governor Cayetano is working to provide equal rights for everyone without altering the institution of traditional marriage."
Give me a break! If everyone gets all the benefits and privileges of marriage, then what's the difference except in name? This is a hypocrisy and contradiction. The governor is trying to have it both ways.
Does this mean that we can classify the governor as "bi" on the issue of same-sex marriage?
Anya Anthony
Kailua
UHPA thinks it's special to fight pay-lag idea
I attended the University of Hawaii and had respect for the faculty. But my respect has changed. The faculty union, UHPA, balked at the state's proposal for time-lag payment of its members' salaries, although other labor unions reluctantly agreed to it.Educators seem to be out of touch with the business world. Most workers don't get paid before their work is done. But UHPA ignores that.
Kan Chee Chun
Aiea
Yoshida failed too and should resign
Hugh Yoshida should resign. As athletic director, Yoshida is responsible for the overall sports program that now has very serious troubles -- money, recruiting, new WAC alignment, etc.During the past three years, Yoshida was in control. Now it will cost the UH over $250,000 for his poor decision to extend Fred vonAppen's contract. It will cost even more to replace the coach when we take into consideration recruiting, poor attendance and basically starting all over again.
Yoshida is responsible. He should not be given the grace to fire one person with the impression that it is not his fault. He brought all of us shame. He should do us the honor of resigning and saying to the people of Hawaii, "I have failed, too."
Henry W. Aylward
Aiea
(Via the Internet)
Athletic director shares blame with football coach
Why is Coach vonAppen the only scapegoat for UH's dreadful showing these past three football seasons? Athletic Director Hugh Yoshida should be sent packing, too. After all, Yoshida fired Bob Wagner, the man who took the Rainbows to their only two bowl appearances in team history, and replaced him with his old buddy, Fred.Yoshida gave vonAppen a two-year contract extension in the midst of a 3-9 season. And he's the one who still can't come up with a coherent vision of where the team is headed in the future, two coaches later.
Erik Floyd
(Via the Internet)
Pop Warner deserves more media coverage
Considering UH's disappointing season and St. Louis' win at yet another Prep Bowl, I was very disappointed at the lack of media coverage devoted to Pop Warner football. Hawaii has much to be proud of, as evidenced by Ko'olauloa's performance at the National Pop Warner Championships held in Florida last year.This year offered more great games. Those who weren't present missed the Pop Warner playoffs -- in the rain at Cooke Field by boys and a few girls wearing basketball shoes and cross-trainers as they hit the artificial turf for the first time.
They also missed highly emotional, close wins as well as great performances by the cheer teams (also some of the very best in the nation) at this year's Mele Kalikimaka Bowl held at Aloha Stadium. It was the 50th year of Oahu Pop Warner football.
Next year, I look forward to reading a weekly story on the dramatic, entertaining and downright fun of youth football.
Lanette Barton
Pearl City
(Via the Internet)
Terrible coach, governor receive different 'rewards'
Coach vonAppen did a lousy job for three years and got fired. That's the way it goes in the real world.Governor Cayetano did a lousy job for four years and got re-elected. That's the way it goes in the U.S.S.R. (Union Serving Socialist Republic) of Hawaii.
J.M. Lanin
(Via the Internet)
Hula Bowl is definitely reflective of Hawaii
In response to a Nov. 19 letter, the organizers of the Hooters Hula Bowl Maui All-Star Football Classic would like to reply.We are proud in keeping the tradition of the early years of the Hula Bowl, by continuing for our fifth year to have 350-plus talented, hand-picked high school band. Students statewide officially earn a spot on the Hula Bowl All-Star Band. To become a member, one must be highly recommended by a high school band teacher. The band will showcase its musical and marching talent during the pre-game and half-time shows, and throughout the game.
We will also feature 400-plus well-organized hula halau dancers and their graceful hands in motion as the pre-game show entertainment. Their performance is shown as ESPN joins us and millions view the breath-taking ocean landscapes of Hawaii.
Aside from the pre-game show, we will feature such local talents as Amy Hanaialii-Gilliom and Willie K (both Maui natives), who are scheduled to perform during half-time. And sharing the stage with Grammy-award winning country artist LeAnn Rimes during the post-game concert will be Maui native Kealii Reichel.
After reading the above, how can anyone call the Hula Bowl "just another mainland football game?"
Kathy Hong
Office/Ticket Manager
Bowl Games of Hawaii
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