Going to the library could be fun again

Budget cuts may force state libraries to close on weekends when I and many others use them. We go there to read, do research and borrow the material. Closing on holidays is the norm now and further curtailment is planned.

When I was younger, it was fun to go to the library. But take a look at McCully Library today. There is added security to prevent pilfering. It was wrong to steal then and should be now. No longer does the library feel like a second home.

However, the friendliness and open use can be revived. Let's work together and make a positive change and bring back the good times.

Alfred Akana

Our leaders should take on oil companies

The recent settlement of the state's suit against the oil companies was not a good one for Hawaii consumers. The companies that make Hawaii their most profitable market in the nation must be dealt with beyond this settlement.

We need strong leaders at the local, state and national levels who are willing to take on this powerful and well-connected industry. The upcoming statewide elections will provide voters the opportunity to assess the campaign issues of candidates and their commitment to deal with this industry's major scam against Hawaii consumers.

Larry Hayashida

[Quotables] "The people of Hawaii have spoken. They do not want a monopoly." Richard Port Spokesman for Citizens for Competitive Air Travel, an anti-merger group, on the results of a Star-Bulletin/KITV-4 poll showing that 61 percent of Hawaii residents oppose the merger of Aloha and Hawaiian airlines. "They have found a new way that (death and taxes) are inevitable." Lowell Kalapa Director of the Tax Foundation of Hawaii, on a bill in the Legislature that would impose a state burial fee of $20 and increase the charge for exhumation from $5 to $20.

Jangle of slots is nearly audible now

Thank heaven we have a South African resident of the Bahamas, Howard Kerzner, Sun International president, to tell us how to completely change the face of Hawaii (Star-Bulletin, Feb. 3).

I'm all for legalizing gambling, so bring on those slot machines. Every hotel lobby in Hawaii should have wall-to-wall slots. Let's start with the Sheraton Moana, Halekulani, Royal Hawaiian and Ilikai.

Casinos? Yes, we want them, too. We already have buildings for them. Get the cobwebs out of the Convention Center and move in the gaming tables. Iolani Palace? Terrific spot for a casino. Move out all that funny looking furniture and those old pictures to make room for the roulette wheels and crap tables.

The sweet sounds of Hawaii, the hula and all this aloha stuff should be replaced by the constant jangle of slot machines. Why should tourists spend their money at Hilo Hatties when they can lose it to Detroit investors?

Let's keep this juggernaut rolling and help change the paradise image of Hawaii. Vote for all legislators who favor gambling.

Max H. Watson

Set radio 'posses' on trail of bad drivers

The half-baked traffic camera system is right back where it started. Our best and brightest have the traffic fiasco back in their laps. They gave the green light, but the public gave the red light.

Some more practical solutions from the public are:

1. Get rid of the speed cameras;
2. Raise the archaic speed limits;
3. Target only those who exceed the normal flow of traffic;
4. Ask K-59 radio's morning disc jockeys, Michael W. Perry and Larry Price, to get their "posse" of listeners (who, with the police, already have helped apprehend criminals fleeing in stolen cars) to also help rid the roads of dangerous drivers.

This time our lawmakers need to come up with a well-planned system, hopefully implementing these tried and true suggestions.

Wilfred Nagao

Stop sabotaging the traffic cameras

The new traffic camera system cannot function properly if motorists continue to give one another the heads-up on where the traffic vans are located.

While listening to the radio I heard a person call-in just to inform others of the location of a traffic van. This allowed motorists to slow down when they were approaching the van, and speed up everywhere else.

Traffic deaths continue to occur because of speed and alcohol, and we are all kidding ourselves if we think that we do not need a way to make the roads safer. Maybe this system is not the solution, but people need to stop sabotaging it and give it a chance.

Kevin Fuji
Mililani

Most accidents involve alcohol, not speeding

Everyone talks about speeding, but most of the fatal accidents on Oahu involve alcohol.

Aren't we going to do anything about that? How many more people will have to die?

It's almost election time. Let's see which candidates will address the real problem for a change. We need new leadership because you can't teach the old dogs new tricks.

Lloyd Asato

Hogue should stop whining about ticket

So state Sen. Bob Hogue got caught by the traffic camera -- or rather the mystery driver of his vehicle was clocked going more than 60 in a 45 mph zone.

I'm confused by Hogue's reaction contesting the ticket. Is there a question about the particular camera's accuracy? If it is accurate, does either the driver or Hogue feel any sense of responsibility over speeding? All of the focus seems to be on the outrage of getting caught.

If the cameras are accurate, I think they provide a great benefit in getting most people to drive near the speed limit.

Yes, they should be concentrated on routes with the highest accident rates. Yes, there should be a threshold of 10 percent or 5 mph or so above the posted limit. Yes, there should be allowances for the rare emergency trip to the hospital.

But if appearances are reality, I'm left wondering how childlike whining and a scofflaw attitude serve the public.

John Culliney

Let's not take life or security for granted

Weren't we surprised when Pearl Harbor was attacked on Dec. 7, 1941? And who in their wildest dreams would have thought that the World Trade Center would come under attack on Sept. 11, 2001?

These tragic events prove how vulnerable we are. Yet, we grumble at the rules we have to follow to attend an event at Aloha Stadium. We may think we don't have terrorists in Hawaii, but at the stadium we do have unstable people with problems, that may cause them to explode.

I just hope one of them isn't sitting next to my family. All it takes is one incident and everyone will then be blaming the management at Aloha Stadium for not setting even stricter rules.

The stadium rules may not prevent all incidents from happening, and they many be inconvenient, but I bet those who perished in the WTC and their families would not even think twice about the stadium rules if they had just one more chance to attend an event there.

Randy Au
Waipahu

Oversight will ensure fair insurance rates

The Star-Bulletin's Jan. 30 editorial about a bill that would provide oversight of health-insurance rates was on target.

Hawaii must look critically at the need for regulation of health-insurance plans. Regulation is a dirty word these days, yet the public has the right to ask questions about how health-care dollars are spent.

Hawaii is only one of two states without some form of health-insurance regulation. Hawaii regulates auto, homeowners and workers compensation insurance. Why exempt health insurance?

Rates may be fairly set, but we should be assured of this. At a hearing on the bill, many testified in favor of oversight, yet the legislators present expressed reservations. Maybe campaign support from insurers make them reticent to raise questions, or perhaps they view oversight as an affront to a free-market economy.

It seems clear that the fate of the bill will be decided by a floor vote in the Legislature. If voters want oversight, they must quickly let their views be known to their legislators.

Ruth Ellen Lindenberg

Don't let state dictate health insurance

I am disappointed with the editorial on health-insurance regulation ("Lack of oversight unhealthy for all," Star-Bulletin, Jan. 30). I have been a small-business owner in Kona for more than 30 years. The last thing we need in this state is more government regulation.

The cost of providing health insurance to employees is a significant expense and in the last few years the burden has increased as health care has become more expensive. But to think that giving an appointed government official the authority to establish health-plan premiums will solve the problem doesn't make sense. The legislation that was introduced does not simply give the insurance commissioner power to examine how rates are set, as you stated. If this bill passes, this state official will be setting health-insurance rates.

I don't think we want to give a regulator such power. Maybe it's time to re-evaluate the Prepaid Health Care Act and spread the responsibility for paying for health care a little more evenly.

David Young

Legislators need facts about health insurance

Before legislators pass a bill to regulate the cost of health insurance, I hope that they get all of the facts they need to make an informed decision instead of voting for what's popular.

Do they know what drives the costs of health care? Do they have a plan if a health insurer leaves the Hawaii market because it is forced to reduce rates? Are our legislators certain that the insurance commissioner has the expertise to determine whether health-plan rates are excessive, inadequate or unfairly discriminatory?

If our elected officials don't know the answers to these questions and the many others involved in the complex area of health-insurance rate regulation, I suggest that they do their homework before they pass a law that could severely and negatively affect health-insurance plans.

Lori Shiraishi

HMSA needs to open its books

It will be a cold day in Kahala when the honest oversight of the state insurance commission causes a behemoth money-machine like HMSA to suffer "serious damage."

Cliff Cisco's letter (Star-Bulletin, Feb. 5) leaves the impression that this cash-rich ($500 million in reserves) near-monopoly with little or no accountability to those it serves is going to be seriously damaged if it has to explain how it sets rates and where its policyholders' premiums go.

Small-business owners are bracing themselves for the next round of increases, which could be many times the 8 percent or so that HMSA appears to have negotiated with its most favored customers.

If there is no dirty laundry, what has HMSA to fear from sunshine? For other forms of insurance, oversight in Hawaii has brought welcome relief. Rates in many cases have been significantly reduced. We need to see the same decreases if possible for health-insurance premiums.

We know nothing of how much HMSA executives are paid. At a recent Senate briefing, HMSA refused to reveal what its officers earn, saying the information is proprietary.

We also don't know how its for-profit operations relate to its nonprofit activity. Surely the insurance commission should be able to look at how these operations influence rates.

Small-business owners who want rate relief should call their legislators and get the insurance oversight bill passed into law this session. Or they better be sitting down when they open that letter with the new 2002 premium rates.

Larry Geller
Executive Director
Hawaii Coalition for Health

Abercrombie should vote for reform

The Enron scandal has confirmed that we indeed have the best government that money can buy. The Shays-Meehan bill pending in the U.S. House would do much to reduce the disproportionate control that big-money contributions have over our government.

I urge our congressman, Neil Abercrombie, to support the Shays-Meehan bill, which will ban soft-money donations.

This is a chance for Abercrombie and our state to make a significant difference.

Barry Lienert

Don't weaken law that keeps isles rabies-free

It seems not too long ago that the animal quarantine law was changed to require a shorter quarantine period. Now, someone wants to change the law to eliminate the 30-day quarantine period. Hawaii's law to quarantine dogs is simply to keep rabies from the islands.

Hawaii's laws have been 100 percent effective. It's tried and proven by time. Why change an unproven system? There will always be short-term anguish when you have a pet in quarantine, but it's all for the animal's and the owner's peace of mind.

Think of the privilege of living in an environment free of rabies. A far deeper anguish would be waiting by the bedside of a loved one bitten by a rabid dog.

Richard Char

Governor should study hurricane climatology

Jackie Kido, spokeswoman for the governor, states (Letters, Feb. 6) that the hurricane fund doesn't belong to homeowners. She wrote, "No hurricane hit and homeowners aren't entitled to an after-the-fact refund."

If the state-forced insurance was aimed at random traffic accidents, which are just as probable to happen in the next hour as the next week or year, then at least one could make some sense of it, regardless of how ludicrous that would be.

However, observations from the most recent decades suggest the turnaround time between hurricanes in Hawaii is about 10 to 15 years. So having the state pull out of the fund now is like the governor making North Shore homeowners pay into a high surf-induced flood fund that begins taking payments in May and then terminates and pillages the fund in September.

Pat Caldwell
Kailua

Hawaii's koa unlike other valuable woods

The article about misrepresentation of some wood products as koa ("The knotty problem of faux koa," Star-Bulletin, Feb. 3) did a good job of explaining the problem.

However, some valuable and pertinent information went only partially explained. Binomial taxonomic classification goes long way toward eliminating uncertainties occasioned by the use of common names. Acacia koa (commonly called koa) is endemic to the Hawaiian islands; evolved uniquely here. Acacia melanoxylon (Australian or Tasmanian blackwood) is endemic to Australia. Both are quite variable in tree form and wood quality. There is commonality and there is divergence between the appearance of the woods of the two and as might be expected, top grades of each command a premium.

Blackwood was planted sparingly in Hawaii trials as early as the late 1800s and was established in commercial plantations in New Zealand and elsewhere in the early 20th century. Koa is known to have been planted elsewhere, though in non-commercial trials.

Recent trends to fund koa silviculture research here and to dedicate lands in Hawaii to koa cultivation and restoration promise that Acacia koa will remain a valuable asset ecologically, commercially and cul- turally unique to Hawaii.

Bart Potter

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