Editorials
Wednesday, May 9, 2001
ONLY four months after the most recent increase, postal rates are headed up again, although most Americans may not notice. The price of a first-class stamp will remain at 34 cents, but rates for bulk mailers will rise on July 1 to maintain what Robert F. Rider, chairman of the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors, calls "the financial integrity of the nation's postal system." Those financial realities should not diminish its obligation to provide for public needs, which sets it apart from its private competitors. Neither sleet, nor snow,
nor low revenue yield
should hamper the postThe issue: The U.S. Postal Service
Board of Governors has approved rate
increases to take effect on July 1, but
the price of a first-class stamp
will remain the same.Rates due to take effect on July 1 will increase for each additional ounce of first-class mail from 21 cents to 23 cents, and sending a post card will cost 21 cents instead of 20. The cost of sending an advertising flier in the mail will increase by one-half to three-quarters of a cent, and mailing periodicals also will be pricier. In many cases those costs are likely be passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices for goods and for magazine and newspaper subscriptions. Oahu Publications' Star-Bulletin and Midweek will be affected by the rate changes.
Postal revenues have declined because of competition from private shipping companies, such as Federal Express and United Parcel Service, which have zeroed in on the most profitable aspect of the postal business. Meanwhile, the post office has been cut off from federal tax subsidies but remains subjected to government supervision, which will keep it from cutting mail delivery to five days a week.
The Postal Service's financial woes should not be surprising. It faces losses of $1.6 billion to $2.4 billion this year, reduced because of a hiring freeze, building cutbacks and increased productivity. Any private business faced with such losses would abandon unprofitable aspects. In this case, those include delivery of personal letters and servicing rural areas. Obviously, dropped those services would be intolerable and an abrogation of the post office's responsibility to the American public.
"We are obligated to give universal service and we need to have the funds to do it," Rider says. "We are not making ends meet."
The Postal Service should not be expected to compete head-on with private businesses that are not saddled with similar public responsibilities. The service's terrible financial condition will not improve until it can begin relying on federal subsidies for operations that are needed but destined to lose money.
Two years ago today, eight people died and 34 others were injured in a rock slide at Sacred Falls, and the state is beginning to examine the risks on Hawaii's trails in hopes of avoiding such accidents. But nature is unpredictable and, although government, indeed, has the duty to warn of the possible dangers of outdoor recreation on lands it controls, those engaging in such activities bear ultimate responsibility. Sometimes hiking
isn’t a walk in the parkThe issue: The state is examining
ways to warn about the dangers of
hiking Hawaii trails and
other nature recreation.The state Legislature this session approved an expenditure of $800,000 for the Department of Land and Natural Resources to determine risks and hazards at Hawaii's popular trails and parks, then to work out a way to inform the public about them.
This is a step in the right direction. After a two year wait, it should be done as quickly as possible to avoid other accidents and to present to individual hikers as well as tour operators who use these recreational resources a clear picture of what to expect when communing with nature.
The falls remain closed as lawsuits and liabilities are sorted out and the state reviews other potential slide areas, including nearby Maakua Valley. Meanwhile, the restriction overburdens other natural attractions such as Manoa Falls, where tourists and hikers seek an alternate experience. It also keeps a cultural community from the access it desires.
To make a trail completely safe is impossible. A path could be paved and lined with handrails, and crumbling hillsides could be cemented over, but then it would no longer be a trail but a sidewalk through a shopping mall.
Even when elaborate safety measures are installed, there are those who do not take the proper precautions, as evident on a recent visit to the new Diamond Head lookout: A woman wearing high-heeled shoes to climb the scores of steps to the top complained about a twisted ankle.
The land department is considering detailed signs to warn people of the potential dangers along state trails and in parks. It bears the responsibility to inform and educate. People who choose to walk a trail also must evaluate their physical and mental fitness and proper preparation to buffer the hazards. That is their responsibility.
They also must realize that an accident in nature is just that, and that assigning blame, as more and more people seem wont to do, makes no sense.
Published by Oahu Publications Inc., a subsidiary of Black Press.Don Kendall, President
John Flanagan, publisher and editor in chief 529-4748; jflanagan@starbulletin.com
Frank Bridgewater, managing editor 529-4791; fbridgewater@starbulletin.com
Michael Rovner, assistant managing editor 529-4768; mrovner@starbulletin.com
Lucy Young-Oda, assistant managing editor 529-4762; lyoungoda@starbulletin.com The Honolulu Star-Bulletin (USPS 249460) is published daily by
Oahu Publications at 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 7-500, Honolulu, Hawaii 96813.
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