Our transit experts impede traffic flow

Here's another reason to change the people running our transportation system. This one's aim seems to be to create as many obstacles as possible to traffic flow instead of trying to ease it.

Drive down Kihapai Street in Kailua. It's an obstacle course not even fire engines can negotiate in case of a fire. Another is the exit/entrance to Lanikai. Where before we had smoothly flowing traffic, now there's a four-way stop and the right lane is blocked off exiting Lanikai.

I wonder what else they will think of? At least the camera vans were tossed out, to the tune of $1 million.

Anneliese Chun
Kailua

Fil-Am independent film needs support

"The Debut," now playing in selected theaters in Honolulu, is an impressive, independent Filipino-American film. It is highly entertaining, with high production values and a great soundtrack. The filmmakers should be congratulated for embarking on an ambitious grassroots campaign to distribute the film. It is a lesson all aspiring filmmakers can learn from.

I've have heard that their efforts have been quite successful and even profitable, contrary to what distributors would like people to believe. However, due to the arbitrary methods used by the theaters to measure success (such as only counting weekend totals), "The Debut" is in jeopardy of being pulled early unless it sells more tickets.

Therefore, I encourage people who haven't seen this film to see it this weekend and support independent film.

Minette Lew

State ignores hazard at Hawaii Loa campus

Recently our nation was informed that President Bush and others in government were aware before Sept. 11 of warnings that terrorist attacks could occur. Unfortunately, these attacks were not prevented. There may be a distinct parallel with our own state government.

I am a student at Hawaii Pacific University and a member of the student government. During the past semester my fellow students, faculty and I have been signing petitions to put a stop light at the Hawaii Loa campus.

This effort is a continuation from past years in dealings with the state, but we have yet to see any progress. Anyone who visits the Hawaii Loa campus, the golf course, or even drives on Kamehameha Highway knows exactly what I am writing about.

Our students and faculty are put at risk every day when they leave our campus because of the speeding cars that nearly hit them. Do we really need to wait for a catastrophe? Why doesn't our state government care to prevent deaths by putting in a much-needed traffic light at that location?

I certainly hope that we don't have to draw more parallels in the future.

Stephanie Young

Police perform their job despite obstacles

It is not the Honolulu Police Department that should be ashamed about the low percentages of cases solved/resolved as detailed in Rich Marshall's letter of May 20, but the citizens of our fair city.

The statistics are a direct reflection of the low priority given the police department in adequate funding and staffing by our city government.

It is a reflection of a judicial system tied in knots by attorneys who get cases representing months of hard work by police thrown out of court on minor technicalities. It is a reflection of private citizens and businesses coming up short on funding for legal fees vs. criminals, many of whom have access to legal representation at the taxpayers expense.

Spend some time in court, or with HPD in the field, and see first-hand the level of stress under which officers operate to solve these crimes. Our police are woefully understaffed, underpaid and overworked. Yet, in almost every instance, they continue to act with a level of professionalism and commitment to the community that is really quite awesome.

Yes, Honolulu citizens should be angry, but let's direct that anger where it belongs.

Cindra Minakami
Pearl City

Mililani developer did its part to aid schools

Douglas Thomas's criticism of Castle & Cooke's future development of Mililani Mauka Phase III (Letters, June 11) left the impression that the community's needs and concerns were being ignored. This is certainly not the case.

Contrary to the implied inadequacy of land provided by Castle & Cooke for parks and schools, I offer the following:

>> Castle & Cooke has dedicated 130 acres for public parks in Mililani over the years, 60 acres more than required. Mililani Mauka Phase III is within walking distance of the new 16-acre Mililani Mauka District Park, built and dedicated by Castle & Cooke.

>> In addition, Castle & Cooke has built and dedicated to the Mililani Town Association six recreation centers, with a seventh planned.

>> Castle & Cooke has dedicated 24 acres in Mililani Mauka for schools and is in the process of dedicating another 12 acres. The Department of Education has repeatedly stated that multitracking, temporary classrooms and redistricting are preferable to overbuilding school facilities to accommodate peak enrollments, and that the present and planned schools in Mililani are sufficient to meet projected enrollments.

Castle & Cooke worked with the Mililani Mauka community and the city on revisions to its original plan for Mililani Mauka Phase III to address concerns. Based on the revised plan, the Mililani Mauka/Launani Valley Neighborhood Board No. 35 voted in November 2001 to support the rezoning without any of the conditions stated in Thomas's letter.

Alan K. Arakawa
Vice president, Castle & Cooke Homes Hawaii Inc.

Money is needed to fix existing schools

The 3,600 homes Castle & Cooke plans to build will make money for the company and its shareholders. It is not doing anyone a favor.

Why do I, and other taxpayers, have to pay for a brand new school when money is needed in my district to fix the existing termite-infested, rundown Radford High School?

Everyone who buys a brand new home has a brand new school. What about those of us in established communities? Where is our brand new school?

Lester Forrest

Priesthood needs to recruit better men

This letter is in response to Gordon Chung's solution (Letters, June 13) to the scandal that has rocked the Roman Catholic Church. The solution does not lie with ordaining women or even allowing married priests.

The solution is to have more prayerful, God-fearing men ordained -- men who respect and cherish celibacy and chastity. St. Francis of Assisi would throw himself on a bed of thorns in order to overcome temptations of the flesh. God deserves nothing less than the best.

Esther Gefroh

Killing stray cats isn't the solution

This is in response to your June 5 editorial, "Stray animal problem spreads beyond military." Effective and humane reduction of the stray cat population can be accomplished on military installations and in the civilian community. The compassionate solution requires a multifaceted approach, including the following components:

>> Aggressive and comprehensive spay/neuter education regarding pets and strays, and ongoing availability of low cost and free spay/neuter programs.

>> Better enforcement of current laws regarding abandonment of pets. Abandonment is an act of cruelty. To address this issue, an Animal CrimeStoppers program began in March 2002. It allows anonymous tips and offers rewards of up to $1,000.

>> Commitment by those with opposing concerns regarding stray cats to collaboration to dispel misinformation and develop effective, humane alternatives to killing these cats. A diligent TNRM (Trap, Neuter, Return, Manage) program is one such alternative.

Dedicated volunteers are an integral part of this solution because their TNRM efforts stop the birth of new litters and ultimately save taxpayers' money by decreasing the demand for animal control services.

Compassion and respect for life are vital ingredients in any community. Killing stray cats is a short-term solution that promotes the concept that animals are disposable. Let's choose to promote compassion and respect for life.

Christin Matsushige
President Hawaii Cat Foundation

Kids say marijuana is still easy to get

Your otherwise commendable editorial (Star-Bulletin, June 13) on the dangers to youth of methamphetamine abuse is marred by your reference to Kat Brady's claim that users have turned to meth because of Hawaii's marijuana eradication campaign.

In a recent survey of 25,000 Hawaii students, 71 percent of high school seniors stated that it would be "fairly easy" or "very easy" for them to get marijuana. If Hawaii has a marijuana shortage, Brady is the only one aware of it.

Ray Gagner
Kailua

South Seas colonists deserve recognition

I write regarding the South Seas colonization project sponsored by the federal government from 1935-1942 ("Exhibit recalls Hawaiian colonists' deeds," Star-Bulletin, May 27). My grandfather was one of more than 130 young men who spent months on remote islands in the middle of the equatorial Pacific. Their ability to survive on these islands led directly to President Roosevelt's ability to claim Jarvis, Howland and Baker islands in May 1936.

The project, which began under great secrecy, gradually received increasing local and national attention, but as the novelty wore off the project receded into obscurity.

Attacks on the islands, the death of two Howland colonists, and the subsequent rescue of the surviving colonists caused brief renewed interest. The greatest tragedy of this project is that no formal recognition was ever conferred upon the Hui Panala'au (group of colonists) as a whole, or retribution made to those families whose loved ones were forever lost. Promises made to reinter Richard Whaley and Joe Keliihananui at Punchbowl remain, nearly 50 years later, unfulfilled.

The recent Bishop Museum exhibit "Hui Panala'au: Hawaiian colonists, American citizens" has reinvigorated the men and families of Hui Panala'au. An appeal is thus made to seek clarification regarding the status of hui members -- civilian employees who served in a military capacity for the federal government. Precious few remain to represent the group. Shouldn't they be acknowledged, 60 years after the last were rescued from these remote islands in the opening months of America's participation in WWII, for their contributions and the ultimate sacrifices they made? Justice knows not the passage of time.

Noelle M.K.Y. Kahanu

Call for fuel efficiency is not extremism

The Jay Ambrose column on environmental extremism rampant in the land is right on the money ("Turn down the temperature in debate over environment," Star-Bulletin, June 6). Whether it's global warming, oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, nuclear waste storage or the use of biotechnology to enhance food production, the extremists have cried wolf so loudly and so often that they are losing their credibility with common-sense folks.

However, Ambrose is off the mark with his objection to vehicular fuel-efficiency requirements, fearing that they lead to smaller, less-safe cars. People driving standard-size cars have a right to be fearful of the monster SUVs and pickup trucks now cruising our roads.

But the solution is not to make the smaller vehicles bigger and less fuel-efficient. Instead, the behemoths should be brought down to reasonable size. This would happen if they were not exempt from meaningful fuel-efficiency requirements. This unfortunate situation has been a major contributing factor to their swelling in size and weight to their present grotesque proportions.

Congress should override the auto industry and the Bush administration, which recently agreed to drop fuel-efficiency standards for SUVs and pickups that were to go into effect in the future. Until the standards are higher, these vehicles will continue to balloon in size and gas consumption while constituting a major highway-safety threat to the rest to us.

Dick O'Connell

Mufi would do well as governor

This is the most interesting election year I can remember. Because I live in Honolulu, the now-cancelled race for mayor was a particular concern of mine. Of all the candidates, Mufi Hannemann captured my attention. He has experience at the state, federal and city level. He has worked -- and succeeded -- in the business world and he has made a great effort to reach out to voters. He would have made a great mayor.

I also believe he would be a great candidate for governor or Congress. Hang in there, Mufi -- Hawaii needs you.

Layne Goeas Sr.

Regulating business protects consumers

Hawaii Republicans are positioning themselves as the party that opposes over-regulation of business. Watch out. Business regulation isn't anti-capitalism.

Pro-consumer regulation is designed to protect consumers from being defrauded and to make sure they have enough information to evaluate products that are difficult to evaluate, such as securities, insurance and pharmaceuticals. An informed consumer is essential to the proper working of a supply-and-demand economy because consumer choice determines the allocation of resources.

Pro-worker regulation is designed to make sure that workers keep working hard by giving them a level playing field and by providing insurance in case of sickness or injury.

Another area of regulation is designed to prevent businesses from externalizing certain costs, such as the effects of pollution or defective products, onto helpless third parties. Other regulations are designed to make sure monopolies don't control those markets that must be competitive to keep prices down and quality high.

Do consumers and taxpayers ultimately bear the costs of business regulation? Of course, but normally we are willing to bear those costs because they help correct imperfections in how capitalism functions.

The next time you hear a politician crow about being anti-regulation, ask for specifics.

Lloyd Lim

Total repeal of estate tax would be unwise

Kudos to Senators Akaka and Inouye and to Rep. Patsy Mink. For reasons well stated in Kevin Phillip's new book, "Wealth and Democracy," which everyone who really cares about this country should read, the total repeal of the estate tax would cause irreparable harm to the United States by enlarging the enormous gap that already exists between the rich and the poor.

As everyone knows, wealth equals power. Excessive power in the hands of a self-aggrandizing group of super-rich families is the stuff of which plutocracy and eventually revolution, are made.

It is reasons such as these that have led some of America's wealthiest men, including Warren Buffet, George Soros, Ted Turner and Bill Gates's father, to form an organization called "Responsible Wealth" to fight the repeal of the estate tax.

Of our four congressional representatives, only Rep. Neil Abercrombie voted to end the estate tax. His reason -- that the rich easily evade estate taxes -- is belied by the fact that the tax is expected to bring in more than $740 billion dollars over 10 years.

There is a good reason to increase the size of the exemption from the estate tax to take into account the inflation that might have forced small businesses to be broken up on the deaths of their owners. The opponents of repeal were willing to approve such an increase. But there is every reason not to repeal the estate tax.

Richard S. Miller

Most Hawaiians are proud to be Americans

In his June 10 letter to the Star-Bulletin, How Tim Chang stated that our Democratic congressional delegation supports the Akaka bill, so all Hawaiians should vote another Democrat in for governor. Chang's huge leap of faith is that all Hawaiians support being singled out and separated by race from the rest of Hawaii's citizens.

I maintain that the vast majority of Hawaiians are quite happy and proud to be Americans of Hawaiian ancestry, and don't want to distance themselves from being full-fledged American citizens. Unfortunately, many Hawaiians are afraid to speak out against the sovereignty movement and the Akaka bill because of the prospect of intimidation.

The silence of our congressional delegation on the effect of the Akaka bill on Hawaii's social and fiscal stability has been deafening. Why won't the news media and politicians ask these important questions?

Art Todd

Sell off old AstroTurf piece by piece

It appears that we are taking the plunge and buying Fieldturf for Aloha Stadium. We will obviously need to figure out a way to dispose of the AstroTurf.

There should be some nostalgia value to it. I suggest that the University of Hawaii and any other team that has had memorable events on its surface should get sections of it to cut up and sell as memorabilia.

I imagine that certain parts would be reserved for the highest bidder. Let's say, the spot that Ashley Lelie came down on during the Fresno State game should go for a higher price. Almost any part of the field that Brigham Young lost on should also be auctioned off, especially the punt into the stands.

I am sure that Kahuku families would like a piece of turf for their first Prep Bowl victory over St. Louis. There could be three kinds of turf souvenirs -- unframed, framed and autographed, possibly by June Jones and others.

How about one with our drummer, Fehoko, or one with Coach Cal Lee and Coach Livai? The possibilities are endless, and given the shortage of funds in the UH Athletic Department and the high schools, this could be a bonanza.

Either way, it would save us the problem of having to dispose of a huge amount of synthetic material in our landfills.

Richard Lee-Ching, M.D.

Democrats desperate to hold on to power

The state attorney general's office is conducting a criminal investigation into the awarding of millions of dollars in small construction contracts at Honolulu International Airport.

At the Hawaii Democratic Convention in Honolulu, Senator Inouye said Hawaii's airports have the greatest amount of detection equipment in the nation. Who got the contracts?

Next we hear that state officials are planning to implement a new $4.50 per person airport departure charge that could raise up to $18 million a year for airport improvements. Airport improvements, or more patronage for political cronies?

Something is wrong here: Who is responsible for alleged favoritism in awarding repair and maintenance contracts at the airport? The lowest bidder who is qualified is supposed to get the work. The small repair and maintenance budget at the airport has skyrocketed and is now about $7 million annually.

Yet what did we hear from the Democratic candidates for governor? The message is clear: They want to keep control of Washington Place and all its implied patronage. It's not even a matter of party philosophy anymore, but a more basic concern about honesty and competence.

Carol Seielstad
Princeville, Kauai

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