Arrogance defeated
Graulty and Pepper

In his Nov. 19 column, A.A. Smyser advocated a return to multi-member legislative districts, pointing to the defeat of "three dedicated, thoughtful, conscientious first-rate state legislators" as justification for such changes.

I reside in the area formerly represented by two of the three mentioned, Rep. Len Pepper and Sen. Rey Graulty. While same-sex marriage was certainly a major reason for their defeat, it was not the only one.

Both were opposed by strong, hard-working candidates: Norman Sakamoto, a Democrat, who defeated Graulty, and Bob McDermott, a Republican, who defeated Pepper.

Neither incumbent stayed in touch with the grass-roots feelings of his constituency concerning issues such as mass transit, Salt Lake Boulevard widening, "high-three" pensions for legislators, crime, etc.

Both displayed the "we know what's best for you" arrogance so prevalent in our legislators. If McDermott or Sakamoto show the same arrogance in the next few years, they too will suffer the same fate as their predecessors.

Janice Pechauer

---

More ‘innovative’ ways
to reduce crime in state

Lawrence S. Grean's Nov. 22 View Point on how to reduce crime was the most sensible article I've seen printed in Hawaii in years. Here are a few more steps to reduce crime:

1) Pro-rate the prosecuting attorney's salary by the percentage of trials he handles that result in convictions. Why not make it more lucrative to be a good prosecutor rather than a sleazy defender?

2) Likewise, pro-rate judges' salaries by the length of sentences laid down. This would end the flap about Hawaii judges' pay being so low!

3) Allow people the right to sue the families of criminals who plague their neighborhoods. The only way to ensure that parents properly account for the actions of their children is to hit them where it hurts: in their pocketbooks.

4) Not only oust the American Civil Liberties Union but also its biggest supporters, such as Neil Abercrombie, Patsy Mink and your newspaper's own editorial page editor, Diane Chang.

Bradford P. Morriseau
Ewa Beach

---

Legalizing pakalolo could
help Hawaii in many ways

Now that voters in California and Arizona have overwhelmingly approved the legalization of medical marijuana, we should consider showing the same compassion here in Hawaii.

This state has many terminally ill and chronically ill citizens who would benefit from medical pakalolo. At the same time, we could all benefit if government funds currently being squandered on pakalolo eradication were redirected to eradicate anti-tourist crime.

For example, tourist police - whose duty it is to assist tourists, such as those found in Mexico and Thailand - would be very useful in our situation. A hopelessly destitute underclass of residents, left behind by the changes of our economy, has resorted to preying on tourists for survival. This threatens the economic survival of our tourist-based economy.

If fighting anti-tourist crime is too practical an idea for our Legislature, perhaps koa toilet seats could be installed in the Capitol to match those famous koa benches. At least then we citizens would know where to go to get a nice warm feeling from government!

William "Pili" McGrath

---

There’s help for those
afflicted with diabetes

Kudos to Helen Altonn for bringing many facts and the human aspect of diabetes to the public (Star-Bulletin, Nov. 15). It takes an incredible amount of education and adjustment to live the very disciplined life necessary to keep blood sugars in good control and thus reduce one's risk of life-threatening complications.

Unfortunately, most people with diabetes are not referred to an education program or to individual counseling by a certified diabetes educator. They are left to their own interpreting of literature and a brief lecture given by their primary health-care provider, who is generally very busy and not trained as an educator to affect lifelong living.

There are several excellent diabetes education programs available, although most insurance programs do not cover this, nor do they cover the independent education counseling by a diabetes educator.

The exception: Kaiser Permanente has an excellent, comprehensive diabetes program, and a few HMOs have limited services. For more information on diabetes programs, call 924-7755.

Jane K. Kadohiro
President, Hawaii Association
of Diabetes Educators