Machines are needed
for bomb detectionThe issue: Airports have begun subjecting
all baggage to screening for explosives,
through various methods.INCREASED baggage-screening measures have been initiated at the nation's airports without major disruptions, but holes remain in the aviation security shield. Vigilance by airport and airline personnel, along with passengers, will continue to be vital during the transition to a fully mechanized method of checking for explosives. The government should step up its development of that mechanized system.
The aviation security bill enacted by Congress set a 60-day deadline, which arrived Friday, for all luggage to be checked for explosives. The task is achieved with bomb-screening equipment, manual searches, bomb-sniffing dogs and the matching of bags to passengers. By the end of this year, the law requires all baggage to be subjected to the sophisticated explosive-detection machines, which are similar to CT-scan medical devices.
About 2,000 bomb-detection machines, costing $1 million each, will be needed nationwide to achieve the year-end goal, and fewer than 170 are deployed now. Some airports will need to be renovated to accommodate the bulky machines.
Aviation officials decline -- for security reasons -- to say how many machines are in operation in Hawaii, but Honolulu Airport is considered to be better equipped than most. The Federal Aviation Administration has consistently ranked Honolulu among the top five in the country, partly because of its explosive-detection technology, says Allen Agor, the FAA federal security manager.
Alternate ways of checking for bombs are flawed. Dogs tire of sniffing for explosives, and searching by hand fails to keep pace with the flow of baggage. Bags belonging to passengers who fail to board a flight will be removed, but only before the departure of a passenger's first flight of a multi-leg trip. A terrorist could board the initial leg of a trip requiring a plane change and not get aboard the second leg, where his baggage containing a bomb is transferred.
Bag matching will not deter suicide bombers. Airlines can rely only on profiling to stop such terrorists seeking martyrdom. To avoid controversy, security personnel have to focus on cash payments and purchase of a one-way ticket, rather than appearance, to scrutinize suspicious passengers.
Those problems make it mandatory for the administration to place orders promptly for enough bomb-detection machines to handle all screening for explosives. Since Sept. 11, the FAA has placed a $16 million order for only a small fraction of the number of machines needed.
Building, repairing
schools comes firstThe issue: Hawaii's public school system
needs more facilities while older
structures need repair.There appears to be no paucity of funding problems for Hawaii's public school system. During the last session of the Legislature, salaries took center stage with lawmakers and the administration scrambling to find the money for raises as teachers walked the picket lines.
This session, education officials are seeking $90 million for new classrooms and other buildings. With the state still facing a $640 million backlog of repairs and maintenance on present school structures and a projected shortfall in tax revenue, the financial demands seem overwhelming. However, if education is the priority, as politicians and school officials say, providing the needed funds is essential. It won't be easy, but Hawaii's children cannot be abandoned to a poor learning environment.
Alfred Suga, an assistant school superintendent, last week told legislators that in three to five years, the shortage of classroom space will be a "crisis." He predicted that if action isn't taken now, the Department of Education will face a $1.2 billion backlog in capital improvement projects in the next decade.
When going hat in hand to lawmakers, officials of the executive branch paint bleak pictures and ask for more money than they need, knowing that budget requests are seldom left untrimmed. Suga's numbers may be inflated but with the system short 200 classrooms at present, the deficit clearly will grow as school enrollment increases.
Shortages of classrooms become more acute as the population of school-age children shifts from older neighborhoods to newer ones, particularly in Central Oahu and on the neighbor islands. Further exacerbation comes from requirements of the Felix consent decree, with more employees having to provide services in appropriate facilities.
During the last 10 years, the state has had to choose between building new schools or maintaining and repairing the old, thus having to play catch up with one or the other. Now, when economic conditions are poor, both problems appear to be coming to a head at the same time.
So lawmakers are caught between a rock and a hard place, but further deferral of funds for public education should not be the solution. That is what has brought the school system to where it is today. Legislators should dig deep and ferret out every dollar they can. Hawaii's children are depending on them.
Published by Oahu Publications Inc., a subsidiary of Black Press.Don Kendall, Publisher
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.comRichard Halloran, editorial page director, 529-4790; rhalloran@starbulletin.com
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