Access to tobacco just
part of problemThe issue: The health department
publishes names of merchants
selling tobacco to minors.DESPITE efforts to reduce smoking by children, the deadly habit is most prevalent among teenagers in Hawaii and elsewhere in the country. Cracking down on illegal sales of tobacco products to minors is a vital element in the battle against smoking, but discouraging young people from wanting to start the habit remains a daunting task.
The statistics reveal a frustrating situation: In Hawaii, 27.9 percent of high school students smoke, about the same as the national percentage. Among adults, the percentage of smokers is 18.7 percent in Hawaii and 22.7 percent nationally. About 90 percent of adult smokers began the habit during their teens. Most of them want to quit, but only one in 50 are successful in doing so.
Since 1996, the state Department of Health has worked with the police and the University of Hawaii Cancer Research Center in monthly inspections to test whether merchants agree to sell cigarettes to minors when asked to do so. The sting operations have shown that 20 to 24 percent of the merchants violate the law.
The department has begun publishing the results of those inspections in newspapers statewide in an effort to embarrass the noncompliant merchants. Names of those who broke the law are listed in the ads, along with those who acted responsibly by refusing to sell cigarettes to children.
"Reducing the access of sale of tobacco products to minors is key to deterring tobacco use by children," says Bruce Anderson, the state health director.
Countering tobacco companies' marketing of cigarettes is more difficult. A study published last August in The New England Journal of Medicine showed that three of the four major tobacco companies were continuing to target young people by placing ads in magazines with substantial teenage readership. The industry had promised in its 1998 settlement with states that it would stop advertising in those publications.
A 2000 report by Surgeon General David Satcher suggested that a greater effort could be made in schools to educate children about tobacco's harm. Effective school programs could prevent or postpone smoking onset in up to 40 percent of adolescents, he said. However, fewer than 5 percent of schools have implemented major guidelines recommended by the National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
One bonus settled,
one more left to goThe issue: Eligible teachers will get
one bonus but must negotiate
with the state for a second.The Hawaii Labor Relations Board's ruling on public school teachers' bonuses contains the good and the bad. Let's hope the teachers and the state don't return to the ugly quarreling that marked the dispute last spring.
The labor board has determined that teachers with advanced degrees are entitled to bonuses for only the first year of their two-year contract. The Hawaii State Teachers Association had contended that the agreement, reached after a three-week strike, included bonuses for two years. The state maintained that the union added language that was erroneous. State negotiators conceded that while they failed to catch the mistake indicating the 3 percent bonus would be paid "for each year," its intention was for a one-time bonus. The debate went on for weeks before the matter was placed before the labor board.
For the nearly 6,500 qualifying teachers, the board's decision is good and bad -- good in that they will receive the extra money they thought would be in their pockets last year, bad in that they will get less than they expected.
For the state, the outcome is good because the board essentially agreed with its position. The bad is that the board has required the two sides to resume negotiations on bonuses for the second year. Not relieving state negotiators from their lapse in reviewing the contract, the board cited the "each year" language as a commitment to give teachers a second bonus.
If the rancor of the strike and the acrimony that ensued remain, talks between the union and the state could turn ugly. Although Gov. Cayetano has said he would not contest the board's ruling, the union could appeal in court. It shouldn't. Doing so will only prolong the dispute, something for which the public will have little stomach.
Instead, the state and the union should approach the issue with a clean slate. Joan Husted, HSTA executive director, expressed frustration and anger over the ruling, but for the sake of the teachers she represents, she should set those feelings aside. Meanwhile, the state's negotiators should make sure they pay full attention to what's put on paper; much of this conflict can be traced to their neglect.
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
The Honolulu Star-Bulletin (USPS 249460) is published daily by
John Flanagan, contributing editor 294-3533; jflanagan@starbulletin.com
Oahu Publications at 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 7-500, Honolulu, Hawaii 96813.
Periodicals postage paid at Honolulu, Hawaii. Postmaster: Send address changes to
Star-Bulletin, P.O. Box 3080, Honolulu, Hawaii 96802.
