to the Editor
Parking change makes gridlock on Ala Wai
Whoever made the decision to again allow parking on Ala Wai Boulevard during the commute period appears to be out of touch with reality. The loss of one traffic lane has traffic at a standstill both morning and evening the entire length of Ala Wai Boulevard. This, of course, compacts the traffic on Kuhio Boulevard with standstill traffic and blocked intersections.In addition, several cars have been parked on Ala Wai Boulevard for more than one month without being marked as abandoned or receiving citations. When parking was not allowed during commute hours, all abandoned vehicles were towed away.
Isn't it time to put some intelligent planning people into the city's transportation services?
Roger Van Cleve
Honolulu
Parents should be the agents of change
In response to the letter to the editor "Stop wasting time; decentralize schools" (Star-Bulletin, Jan 25), I must ask the following:>> With the difficulties now being encountered statewide, with parents not being involved in their students' activities and school programs, what makes one believe that they would be interested in serving on a "local" school board or, for that matter, would be the proper candidates for the same?
>> If local school boards are comprised of nonparents, who likely now do not directly involve themselves with day-to-day school matters, what makes one believe that local boards would be more economically and productively effective?
Most of the complaints about the Hawaii public school system are the result of what is read or heard in the media. Many of the "complainers" fail to realize that the source consists of the opinions of others, and sometimes data slanted to meet someone's agenda (i.e., William Ouchi's statistics on amounts of money expended per student).
If we want to see more rapid improvement, the first step should be for parents to become more directly involved with schools; to speak with authority based on experience, not hearsay). That alone will create a force toward improvement and it will afford a unified, authoritative voice to demand improvements. People would no longer be politically hoodwinked. Actions do speak louder than words.
Bernard Judson
Kapolei
[ QUOTABLE ]
"I wasn't scared (about) anything. Hitler didn't know."-- Tau Moe
Isle musician, now 95, who helped scores of Jews escape Nazi Germany and Austria. Moe's family traveled the world playing Hawaiian music; the escapees often posed as their stage hands.Why is Houston team keeping secrets?
So, after weeks of being pilloried as the worst villains in the history of college football, the University of Hawaii athletic department, after careful review of videotapes of the Christmas Day brawl, will suspend five players for one game next year and also reprimand a sixth senior player.Compare this to the University of Houston, our "partners in crime" in this sad affair, who have punished ... nobody. At least nobody that anybody knows about, since their officials, in a rather appalling display of arrogance, have decided to keep all aspects of their disciplinary action "private."
Robert B. Marrone
Honolulu
Pundits make too much of Dean's yell
I found Friday's commentary about Howard Dean (by syndicated columnist Cragg Hines) pretty interesting. I don't watch much TV so I didn't see the infamous scream until Friday night, but I had read a lot of commentary about it already.Frankly, if that's all the pundits have to write about, they must be pretty bored. It was far from the mad shriek that the Beltway boys have been portraying it as; it was a rallying cry at the end of a pep talk to his supporters, and nothing you wouldn't have seen at any other pep talk. This "Dean is out of control" story is this year's version of "Gore says he invented the Internet": It's the easy story for lazy writers who can't be bothered to check their facts or read anything except other lazy writers.
Then there was William Safire's claim that he wants Dean to win the Democratic nomination. Does he think Democrats are stupid? If he wanted Dean to win, he wouldn't breathe a word of it to anyone and he wouldn't do a clumsy hack job on Dean, going so far as to put his former boss Dick Nixon's words in Dean's mouth.
It's obvious that the Washington old boys are deathly afraid of Howard Dean. That's the kind of endorsement that I can appreciate.
James R. Olson
Honolulu
U.S. did play a role in monarchy's overthrow
It seems that Frank Scott overlooked a few historical documents in his letter to the editor ("U.S. did not instigate overthrow of kingdom," Star-Bulletin, Jan. 14). Both the Blount Report and U.S. Public Law 103-150 stated that John L. Stevens had "conspired with a small group of 'non-Hawaiian residents' of the kingdom of Hawaii, including citizens of the United States, to overthrow the indigenous and lawful government of Hawaii."U.S. Public Law 103-150 further states that the conspirator "was able to obscure the role of the United States in the illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy."
I do agree with Scott that Stevens indeed requested troops "to send some troops ashore to protect Americans." However, one needs to consider this: If American troops were sent to protect the "lives and property" of Americans, then why were they positioned near government buildings and Iolani Palace instead of around American property?
Scott states, "Whether this intimidated the queen is open to question." Of course not -- why would anyone get intimidated by staring down a barrel of a howitzer and armed U.S. Marines stationed outside their front door?
Dominic-Pueo Acain
Kekaha, Kauai
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[ BRAINSTORM! ]
Can you design a quarter that represents Hawaii??Some states have issued collectible quarters that commemorate their entry into the union. The front of the coin looks the same but the eagle on the back has been replaced by something that represents that state. For example, Georgia's quarter has a peach on it. If you could design Hawaii's quarter, what would it look like?
Send your ideas and solutions by Feb. 17 to:
Or mail them to:
Brainstorm!
c/o Nancy Christenson
Star-Bulletin
500 Ala Moana
7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210
Honolulu, Hawaii 96813Fax:
Brainstorm!
c/o Nancy Christenson
529-4750
