Brainstorm! Challenge

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At least bad weather slowed the speeders

While driving in the recent inclement weather, I observed the majority of drivers traveling our roadways with patience. Drivers slowed down to the posted limit and below, everyone was watching out for each other. Visual signals were made when drivers made their intended movements, and nearly everyone was driving in a cautious and courteous manner.

Why can't we all drive this way everyday, rain or shine? Could the storms be a reminder from above to take us back to basics? One never knows, but those who do not heed this reminder will soon find out that there will be a driver's ed instructor waiting at the Pearly Gates.

Kregg Luke
Kaneohe

Local boards can help student performance

Senate President Robert Bunda recently said that breaking Hawaii's Department of Education into smaller districts is not connected to improving student achievement. The senator should take a look at the recent audit of 47 schools in Hawaii that have not met basic student achievement for years.

The audit stated that "because of the physical isolation from Oahu, schools located on the neighbor islands receive less frequent and direct support from HIDOE personnel ... schools on islands other than Oahu are forced to use monies from their budgets to hire outside consultants to assist the schools with analyzing data and reviewing reading and math curriculums because the schools do not receive these services from the HIDOE."

Of the 47 low-performing schools:

>> 22 are located on the neighbor islands;
>> 18 are in rural Oahu, far from Honolulu;
>> Only 7 are in central or Honolulu areas.

About half of our schools are in Honolulu or central Oahu. Yet neighbor island and rural Oahu schools represent 85 percent of the low-performing schools. The farther you are from headquarters, the lower the student achievement.

Breaking the DOE into at least seven smaller districts (keeping state equitable funding and standards) will help our neighbor island and rural Oahu schools -- the very schools that need the most help.

Laura H. Thielen
Hawaii State Board of Education
Windward District
CARE Committee member

No one can doubt Jesus' influence

Have you seen the "The Passion of the Christ?" Although there are many who do not believe that he is the son of God, there must be much agreement about this man that we can celebrate. He is a man who walked this Earth like no other man. He brought love, mercy, compassion and goodness. A simple word of denial would have spared him the horrible manner of his death. Because he died as he did, thousands of years after his death and long after great presidents and leaders have come and gone, this simple, sandaled son of a carpenter continues to have an immeasurable impact on the world.

Any honest man should shudder at the thought that he had never existed.

Nelson S.W. Chang
Kahaluu

Gay marriage isn't a destructive force

In the past few weeks I have heard President Bush state that gay marriage is wrong because it threatens heterosexual marriage, the institution of the family and the very fabric of civilization. Does this somehow mean that if gay marriage becomes legal in Hawaii then my great relationship with my wife will sour and that all heterosexual marriages will suddenly end up in divorce? Does this mean that I will no longer love and spend time with my parents, my in-laws, cousins, nephews, nieces, etc. Does this mean that my wife and I will decide, along with all other heterosexual couples, to never have children thereby destroying human civilization?

I hardly think so.

But this is only another way of saying that same-sex marriages in no way harms society because they do not harm any of the individuals -- such as myself, my wife, my relatives, my future-children -- who make up society. So any argument that claims that same-sex marriage should be illegal because it threatens the welfare of our society is, quite frankly, ludicrous.

Erik Gardner
Kaneohe

TSA-Hawaii employees are unprofessional

I am a businessman who has been coming to the islands for 13 years. With all my travels, I find the Transportation Security Administration employees in Hawaii to be the most unprofessional group. Their idea of security is inconvenience.

They checked my boarding pass three times within 20 feet. They made passengers take off their shoes (I don't find that on the mainland unless the shoes contain metal). Out of the last 15 interisland flights, I have been pulled four times for extra security, and I have never set off the metal detector.

The saddest sight is to see an older couple standing in long security lines. I will think twice before bringing my family here on vacation again even though we love to come.

This letter will be going to the newspapers in the San Diego area as well.

Jim Bloodworth
San Diego, Calif.

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[ BRAINSTORM! ] Does Honolulu need a city museum, and what should be in it? Does history matter? If so, whose history? Bishop Museum is one of the leading cultural museums in the United States, but it is not a history center. Honolulu seems to be the only state capital city without a municipal museum. Does Honolulu need a city museum? What should be in it? Where should it be? Should such a museum be a collection of artifacts or a learning center? Would such a museum be geared for Hawaii education or for entertaining tourists? Send your ideas by March 17 to: brainstorm@starbulletin.com Or mail them to: Brainstorm! c/o Nancy Christenson Star-Bulletin 500 Ala Moana 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210 Honolulu, Hawaii 96813 Fax: Brainstorm! c/o Nancy Christenson 529-4750