HMSA rates continue to skyrocket

HMSA's proposed rate hike is out of line. I am a small-business person, and HMSA has consistently increased my fees, including a substantial increase in January.

My monthly HMSA fees for the past five years: 1995/$155.50; 1996 and 1997/$169.35; 1998/$172.75; and 1999/$193.50. The 1999 monthly fee increased by 12 percent or by $20.75.

I also found the cost of filling my natural estrogen, which I need every month, suddenly increased dramatically. It went up from $5 to $10 a few years ago, then increased from $10 in 1998 to $17 last January. Now HMSA anticipates an increase of another 10 percent in July!

Due to reduced benefits, I rarely go to the doctor, treating myself with natural supplements unless it is very serious, as typically the first visit is either not covered or only a small portion is covered.

HMSA's benefits decrease, but premiums increase. We are barely surviving in this economic hell. This appears to be another consideration for moving to the mainland.

Helen T. Carroll

Media ignored Catholic school rally

On May 13, a rally at the state Capitol drew over 500 students from Catholic schools on the Leeward side. The theme of the rally, "Keeping the Promise," was a positive showing of what students want us all to focus on -- keeping the promise not to deal with drugs, to do away with violence and, above all, to rely on God when things are going wrong.

Yet no TV news station covered this event. While there was a small photograph of the rally in the newspaper, it did not do justice to the positive message being conveyed.

For the past two years we have been saturated with news about Kamehameha Schools. While this coverage was important, it should not be at the expense of other schools.

More students are taught in Catholic schools in this state than all the students being educated at Kamehameha. Didn't we deserve one day's coverage?

Geri Canubida
Ewa Beach

Quotables "People in the Philippines have written articles saying that I have matured. Anybody who knows me in Hawaii will tell you that's not possible, but after being slapped in the face, living the moment now means a lot to me." Martin Nievera POPULAR SINGER IN THE PHILIPPINES On how his divorce from Filipino recording artist Pops Fernandez has changed him and will be manifested in his concert tonight with the Honolulu Symphony "We're looking at the horizon that lies in front of the canoe, not the wake in the back of the canoe." Michael Chun PRESIDENT OF KAMEHAMEHA SCHOOLS In this first public comments since the ouster of the Bishop Estate trustees

Gun availability did not cause school shootings

Kalima Bowman's May 22 letter perpetuates the myth that firearms are more available now than in the past.

Anyone could order a gun through the mail in the 1960s. All types of guns, even anti-tank cannons, were advertised for sale in gun magazines, men's magazines and even publications like Popular Mechanics. This stopped when the Gun Control Act of 1968 banned the mail-order interstate sale of firearms to unlicensed individuals.

In 1966, I mail-ordered a German military rifle, which I still own today. I picked up the rifle at the local post office, threw it across the handle bars of my bicycle and rode home. My father registered it the very next day.

One acquaintance nearly ordered an anti-tank cannon but his parents stopped him. He went downtown and bought a shotgun instead. Many families had guns of all kinds: hunting rifles and shotguns, war trophy guns, target rifles, handguns of every conceivable type.

The recent tragic shootings by young boys have deeper roots than the simple availability of guns.

Michael W. Sawamoto
Ewa

Media are more menacing than firearms

In our country, newspapers are more harmful in guns. Every time a deranged person goes on a rampage, newspapers blare out the details. They tell who, where, what, how and why, and describe it for all to read and follow vicariously. This encourages copy-cats to imitate.

Like those who learn to make a bomb on the Internet, people read newspapers to get information on how to kill and what caliber to use. Instead of laws to outlaw guns, equal laws should be made to curb the media's insidious freedom of speech.

Ken Chang
Kaneohe

Please watch out for blind pedestrians

We who work at Ho'opono, Services for the Blind, were saddened to learn that yet another friend of ours who is blind was struck and killed while crossing a street in a crosswalk.

Although this incident took place in Nevada, there have been several similar occurrences in Hawaii in recent years. One individual, who is employed at our rehabilitation center on Bachelot Street, has himself been hit three times by moving vehicles while walking to work.

Oct. 15 each year is White Cane Safety Awareness Day. Its purpose is to remind motorists that although those who use white canes or dog guides are trained to cross streets carefully, they still need to rely on motorists to practice safe driving habits.

Please keep in mind that the people you see in the crosswalk may not be able to see you.

Dave Eveland
Administrator, Ho'opono,
Services for the Blind Branch

Government should leave strip bars alone

Bravo to Corky for his recent cartoon on "baby Mirikitani." Why is this city councilman wasting our time and tax dollars bad-mouthing legitimate businesses that pay his salary, while our economy is down in the dumps, with no solution in sight?

I wonder if Mirikitani understands the freedoms protected by the U.S. Constitution.

Chester Lau
Via the Internet

Don't waste money on Natatorium restoration

I agree with Joan C. Kaaua's April 6 letter. We should not spend all that money to restore the Waikiki Natatorium. Instead, let's demolish the pool and its surrounding area, and have a walled memorial for World War I veterans. Maybe we could honor all veterans with the project.

The Natatorium has not been maintained in the past, so why should we believe it will be maintained in the future? Spend that money on a more deserving cause.

Sandie Thompson
Via the Internet

Legislature Directory
Hawaii Revised Statutes

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