Students need not dissect real animals

We thank columnist Charles Memminger (Star-Bulletin, April 9) for pointing out that there are many alternatives to dissecting real frogs in classrooms to teach biology. There are, in fact, computer and plastic models that teach just as effectively and don't require the killing of millions of frogs and other animals each year.

Even medical students at Harvard are using plastic models for the early stages of some of their training. It is hard to understand how models are acceptable at Harvard Medical School and yet science teachers and principals in Hawaii support the killing of animals to teach biology to intermediate and high school students.

Dissecting dead frogs, when there are other fine teaching tools available, goes far beyond considerations of being politically correct.

Even if a child is squeamish about the procedure at first, they will likely become insensitive to the fact that an animal died unnecessarily.

Memminger astutely points out that our community's intolerance would be much greater if a "cute" animal was used. I hope that the schools using real animals will re-examine their approach and consider whether it is at all necessary for their students' knowledge, or just outdated and insensitive.

Pamela Burns
Director
Hawaiian Humane Society

Pop culture is corrupting kids

I just saw one of the top 10 most disgusting things I've ever seen. A girl who couldn't have been more than 14 years old was walking home from school wearing a black T-shirt with a large Playboy bunny design.

It's bad enough that young boys grow up watching and imitating music videos in which hip-hop "artists" routinely boast of slapping "bitches" and "hos," but to see young girls buying into that same image of a woman being nothing more than a piece of booty whose sole purpose in life is to dance around a pole for men is simply too much to take.

Somebody's got to call time-out. It's simply unacceptable for Neanderthals like Eminem to rap about smacking "f-ggots" and killing his wife. And it's simply unacceptable for the recording industry to give him a Grammy award.

Enough is enough. We cannot afford to sit around and let our children listen to and watch this insidious, homophobic and misogynistic garbage anymore.

Jonathan R. Peterson

Waikiki prepares for siege on center

A plainclothes police officer came to my door one day this week with a phone number to call if I saw anything unusual during the meeting of the Asian Development Bank.

I live in a cluster of mostly dilapidated walkups at the corner of Ala Wai and Lipeepee. The officer mentioned looking out for squatters in vacant units.

I am also concerned about campers in the Outrigger fenced park, facing the Ala Wai, next door to my building.

The Old Hippie who still lives in my consciousness tells me that the Outrigger property would make a photogenic site for launching an amphibious mission to the rear of the convention center.

Beverly Kai

Older Americans need tax fairness act

Now that the federal Income taxes for last year have been paid, I hope Hawaii's seniors took notice of the increase that you paid on the federal tax on your Social Security benefits.

However, there is hope that the tax on our Social Security benefits might be phased out. Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama introduced in the United States Senate, Bill S.181 the Older Americans Tax Fairness Act.

This Act will phase out the tax on our Social Security benefits. So please, if you can, write or call our Hawaii congressional delegation and ask them to support Senate Bill S.181.

Robert E. Roast

Don't underestimate China's threat

In Hoyt Zia's column (Star-Bulletin, April 22) he suggested that if our situations were reversed with Communist China, the U.S. would act much the same, and we should be more sympathetic toward their national ambitions.

I'm sure as part of those ambitions, he doesn't include the murder of thousands of Tibetans; support of Maoist guerrillas in neighboring democracies; imprisonment of American citizens; repression of religion and dissenting speech; selling arms to Iraq, Iran and North Korea. Zia asks: "How would we like it if China took sides in America's Civil War, and the missile crisis with Cuba?" I would remind him that foreign governments did take sides in both situations, and China does presently support Communist Cuba.

Comparing the Cuba-U.S. missile crisis with the Taiwan-China situation is a big stretch. We never maintained that Cuba was part of the United States, and Taiwan does not have, and never had, nuclear missiles pointed at mainland China. It is China who has assembled hundreds of missiles threatening little Taiwan.

In sympathetically describing Communist China's attitude, Zia's like a blindfolded person who has an octopus by one tentacle, and describes the animal as a snake-like creature. In this dangerous world, we must take off the blindfold and examine the entire animal.

Art Todd

Hirono will fool the pundits

Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono was correct to say that the Democratic primary election for Governor in 2002 will be "very spirited" (Star-Bulletin, April 12).

The conventional political wisdom that Mayor Harris will easily defeat her (current polls show him 18 points ahead) is wrong. It will be a close race, with Hirono winning the Democratic nomination and the general election.

Forget the pundits! Hirono, who is a caring, talented person, will defeat Harris in the Democratic primary and then go on to beat Linda Lingle.

By the time of the 2002 election, President Bush will badly hurt Lingle's chances because his anti-worker, pro-big business and environmentally disastrous policies will remind Hawaii's voters just how sick and callous the Republican party is.

HIrono, by battling against the odds and the predictions of the political pundits, will show us all what a classy and tough competitor she is. She looks like a winner to me.

Bob W. St. Sure

You cleave my heart with use of 'Frisco

About the Star-Bulletin's headline, "'Frisco may pay for sex changes," please don't call it 'Frisco. That's considered an insult to a fine, vibrant city. I should know, I was born and raised there.

Besides, you're being a bit small-townish when you use the outdated term.

San Fran or S.F. are acceptable, however. Get hip!

Gary A. Blackman

"The Legislature is to be congratulated. I have been trying to get the bill through the Legislature for five years." Gov. Ben Cayetano, On conference committee passage of a bill that would end separate state-subsidized health insurance plans that separate unions have run since 1994. "See that girl over there? She hits like a truck." Ben Morn, One of six coaches of the Hawaii Legends, a women's football team, describing one of his players. The Legends played the Sacramento Sirens Friday at Kaiser High School.

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STRIKE AFTERMATH

Please, no more education governors

Ben Cayetano is stubborn and egotistical. No matter how he tries to rationalize his behavior during the teachers' strike it does not fly.

Voting for a Democrat, Republican or whatever party is not even a consideration as far as I am concerned. I will not vote for any candidate who says he will be the "education governor" if elected. I've heard it before and it's just hot air blowing in the wind.

You want my vote? Show me a workable plan to totally revamp our public school system and you can have it. I don't care what party you belong to.

Sharon McCarthy
Hauula

Legislators prolonged the teachers' strike

The legislative majority bears a great deal of responsibility for the prolonged teachers' strike. They hampered the negotiating process early on by their bleating "we have the money, we have the money, we have the money." Wouldn't any striking teacher be encouraged by that and strengthen his or her resolve?

Then the wanna-be governor candidates joined in with their blah-blah-blah. So much support. And an extended 19-day strike.

"It's not about money," I heard a picket say on TV. It's not? My deepest sympathy to the innocent ones in all this -- the school children.

Jean Kim

Teachers' contract still contains flaws

I don't think anyone, from the governor on down, can say it's OK for someone serving in a hard-to-fill area, with a master's in education and two years of public school experience, who is also in good standing in the state's teacher training/certification program, to earn just $19,000 a year after taxes. Especially when, for example in New York City, the exact same scenario yields $36,000 a year after taxes. So, it's OK for public employees to strike in the face of egregious wrongs.

To clarify Governor Cayetano's statement on the subject of accountability, teachers welcome accountability tied to guiding and mentoring. We value peer review: peers know most about what is actually going on in the classroom. I know from experience who is most able to help me, even though my principal is supportive. In contract negotiations we wanted emphasis on peer, along with administrative, review. The value of accountability is not in question.

If most teachers were men, as was pointed out recently by a male writer, starting salaries would be much higher in the teaching profession. The governor would have shown more respect.

Nandarani Evans, M.Ed.
Kalihi-Waena Elementary School

Teachers could make their jobs easier

Teachers get no sympathy from me. They chose the profession they are in. If things are so bad, what have they done to make their jobs easier? What has their union, which is suppose to look out for their interests, done to lobby the state Legislature to eliminate some of these unnecessary regulations?

But all that aside, what have we, the taxpayers, got to show for all of this? Failing schools, that is what we get. And what about the children under their care? They get the shaft of a poor education. That is what they get.

Jerry Okamura
Kula, Maui

Students lost most during strike

Hurrah! The strike is settled, now let's penalize the students and parents. The governor got what he wanted, and the teachers got what they wanted. Now lets kick the kids and parents who suffered throughout this embarrassment. We all know that scholar/athletes or extra curricular students go the extra mile to participate on behalf of their schools. Participating is the reward for all their hard work in class. They can't help it if the grown-ups can't play nice in the sand box.

Now because it doesn't fit in their neat little box high school events are being canceled or could be on the chopping block. Yes, class time needs to be the priority.

To all who were involved in the settlement, your work is not done. Quit beating your chest or licking your wounds and remember the cry, "This is for the children!" Reward our students for their hard work and think outside the box.

John Ornellas
Lanai City, Lanai

It's hard to tell who won the strike

I have a strong suspicion that the teachers are big losers in this whole ordeal and that their union leaders are taking credit for a sham. The real question to me is when, if ever, will the average teacher recoup all the money he or she forfeited during the strike?

Also, I wonder if the average teacher racked up additional credit debts during these three weeks that will have to be repaid later? If they were offered 14 percent without striking and then settled for 16 percent, they gained only 2 percent from the strike. Meanwhile, I doubt the union leaders forfeited any of their pay during the strike and I suspect they will get raises commensurate with the teachers' pay raises. Who won?

Gil Riviere
Waialua

Judge went too far with strike threat

Judge David Ezra's involvement in the recent teachers' strike, under the pretext of the Felix decree, is questionable. First, he had no legal basis to intervene in the teachers' strike. Moreover, it was improper to use the media to suggest otherwise.

Second, Judge Ezra overstepped his authority when he compelled the negotiating parties to meet with him on the last day of the strike. For each side the public-relations battle was an important component to winning a favorable contract. Thus, the strike was as much a political issue as it was a labor dispute.

A judge's role is to judge, not advocate.

Concerning funding for the Felix Consent Decree, the law establishes the parameters for special needs education. Judge Ezra's role is to measure whether those parameters have been met.

Conversely, it is ultimately the Legislature that must account for and appropriate the money spent on all educational needs. The Legislature abdicates its role if it rubber-stamps funding requests from the executive that cannot be reasonably justified.

Judge Ezra's role should be limited to providing reasoned legal analysis; it must not be compromised by a judicial public-relations campaign.

Rep. Joe Gomes
House Judiciary Committee
R-5th District (Waimanalo-Kailua)

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WADDLE'S FUTURE

Navy punishment isn't so bad

Cmdr. Scott Waddle of the USS Greeneville-Ehime Maru incident did OK.

For the accidental deaths of nine Japanese men, his punishment is being forced into an early retirement. He's a young man in his 40s and drawing a pension for the rest of his life. If only I could get such a punishment.

Jim Rosen

Gross negligence couldn't be proved

As a 25-year career military officer, there are a few things about Cmdr. Scott Waddle's punishment that we should keep in mind.

First, is a lesson in negligence. In the military justice and accident investigation systems there is both simple and gross negligence. A finding of gross negligence can result in punishment and pecuniary liability for the military member.

The legal elements for a finding of gross negligence are quite rigorous, and for good reason. The thing that most people don't understand is that no matter how many instances of simple negligence you have, they cannot, by law, be taken in aggregate to assign gross negligence to an incident.

This is obviously why Waddle's punishment was not more severe.

Second, the whole military legal system at Pearl Harbor is made up of prosecutors, save the one lone military attorney who is designated as the Area Defense Council. This is why Waddle had to hire the best defense he could afford.

Personally, I feel he has done what is right for himself and his family, knowing that he would never be able to rescue the Japanese students or his own career. He has honored the dead and their families, but he need not bow to any man or woman among us. Best of luck to a man who deserves to get his life back, starting now.

Steve Lenzi

Waddle got justice American-style

Let's see if I've got the facts close to straight here: Navy Cmdr. Waddle, through his adjudged "dereliction in performance of duties and negligent hazarding of a vessel," was, by his own admission and in what I'm certain was from-the-heart anguish, responsible for sinking the Ehime Maru and the deaths of nine people.

His vessel, the USS Greeneville, incurred at least $2 million taxpayer dollars in damage; negotiations are under way to compensate the Japanese families for their incalculable pain and suffering, the loss of their loved ones and those loved ones' future lives and potential worth to mankind -- say, $10 million; we will have to pay someone (the prefecture?) for the fair cost of the ship -- more millions; we've already paid travel, medical, administrative, et. al. costs for survivors, families, Navy boards, down time for the sub and crew.

That adds up to perhaps $150 million. And Waddle is allowed to hang around for six months, contemplating his reprimand, until he's eligible for the full, standard pension due a person of his rank and 20 years of service. That's, say, $35,000 a year (plus exchange, commissary, and medical benefits) for the next 40 years or so; plus Social Security that'll kick in when he's 62.

Let's not forget the four-year, full-ride-plus-pay at the Naval Academy. He has already been offered job opportunities by, I suppose, those who think he's the "victim" in this tragedy.

Can a book/movie-deal package be far behind?

Somehow, this just doesn't compute. From rags and disgrace to riches without accountability: This must be "The American Way."

Robert H. Stiver
Pearl City

American doesn't need anymore Greenevilles

Now that the Navy has pinned the blame of the tragic sinking of the Ehime Maru on individuals like Capt. Scott Waddle, it is clear the initial touting of the Board of Inquiry's "transparency" was in reality a glass ceiling, one on which any real scrutiny was designed to be deflected away from both the Navy and the U.S. government.

A fundamental question, which was never asked during the Navy inquiry proceedings, is why there should be nuclear attack subs like the USS Greeneville operating on the open seas in the first place. These multibillion-dollar U-boats, designed during the Cold War solely to hunt down Soviet subs, are truly vessels without a cause since there are no longer any Soviet or other credible threats to destroy these days.

If the United States were to adopt a saner foreign policy that relies primarily on diplomacy and mutual co-operation, rather than on firepower, supremacy and nuclear blackmail, there would be no attack subs prowling the seven seas, constantly increasing the chances of naval mishaps.

Danny Li

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