[ OUR OPINION ]
Let’s not wait until a
school burns downWHETHER large or small, the 234 fire code violations found at Hawaii's public schools should be of grave concern for the Department of Education, its staff, parents and students and should be corrected before someone is seriously injured or killed.
THE ISSUE Sixty-seven public schools get failing grades in their annual fire inspections.
The department's explanations that the sharp increase in the number of violations is due to incomplete reports last year and because some schools were not allowed to fix problems before the violations were tallied are irrelevant. They do not negate the dangers present.
Federal and county fire departments conduct an annual inspection of public schools to determine compliance with fire codes. The alarming report showed that violations have more than tripled from the 63 last year, and that 67 of the state's 257 facilities failed inspection. The problems involve fire exits, alarm systems, fire protection devices and electrical and hazardous materials.
The DOE says the reason for the big jump is that in previous years, fire officials gave schools a chance to correct violations before they were counted. This time, Honolulu and Big Island fire departments enforced "zero tolerance," which actually provides a more accurate assessment of fire risks. They should be commended for doing so. Schools in rural areas, such as Leeward Oahu and the Big Island, appear to have more problems: Honokaa High & Intermediate had 17 violations and Nanakuli High & Intermediate was cited for nine. They are often last in line for attention.
Meanwhile, school officials are misdirecting their concerns toward numbers when they should be worried about endangering children and staff. Shuffling off the year-to-year comparisons as apples and oranges doesn't mean the problem isn't serious; every violation bears witness to a fire risk.
It may be that tight budgets and bureaucratic hurdles impede corrections. It may be that some of the infractions are minor and easily remedied. Nevertheless, the dangers are there and they are real. The safety of children in schools must be a priority.
Said Al Suga, assistant schools superintendent, "We gotta think about our kids, right?"
Absolutely. He and other school officials ought to take those words to heart.
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Ruling gives hope
to end executionsTHE movement to end the barbaric practice of capital punishment in the United States has gained momentum with the U.S. Supreme Court's abolition of the execution of the mentally retarded. The high court cited "evolving standards of decency" in reaching its decision. Further shift in public opinion toward civilized conduct should bring an end to the death penalty in all cases.
THE ISSUE The Supreme Court has ruled that the death penalty cannot be used on the retarded.
In 1989, the court decided there was "insufficient evidence of a national consensus" to outlaw executions of the mentally retarded, generally regarded as having an IQ of 70 or lower. At that time, only two states outlawed execution of the retarded. Eighteen now prohibit the practice. "It is not so much the number of these states that is significant, but the consistency of the direction of the change," Justice John Paul Stevens wrote for the 6-3 majority.
The public's opinion of the death penalty in general also is changing. The Gallup Poll shows that its support dropped from an all-time high of 80 percent in 1994 to 64 percent last year. Executions in the nation declined from 85 in 2000 to 66 last year.
The death penalty is outlawed throughout Europe and is an increasing source of friction in America's international relations. The United States withstood pressure during last month's United Nations Children's Summit in New York to end the death penalty for children. That pressure will not abate, nor should it.
The next goal should be enactment of the Innocence Protection Act, a bipartisan measure in Congress that would assure access to DNA testing, minimum standards for defense attorneys assigned to capital cases, and other reforms aimed at protecting the innocent. Hawaii's congressional delegation should actively support this bill.
Hawaii is among 12 states that ban capital punishment, but execution is allowed in federal courts here. Timothy McVeigh last year became the first federal prisoner to be executed since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976. The U.S. Justice Department had avoided seeking the death penalty in states where it is outlawed until last year, when it unsuccessfully tried to persuade a Massachusetts jury to execute a nurse convicted of giving lethal injections to four patients.
Attorney General John Ashcroft has yet to decide whether to seek the execution of Shi Lei, a Chinese cook charged in Hawaii with murdering two fellow crewmen aboard a Taiwanese fishing boat in March. U.S. Attorney Ed Kubo should inform Ashcroft emphatically that asking for the death penalty in this case would flout Hawaii's standards of decency.
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Published by Oahu Publications Inc., a subsidiary of Black Press.Don Kendall, Publisher
Frank Bridgewater, Editor 529-4791; fbridgewater@starbulletin.com
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Lucy Young-Oda, Assistant Editor 529-4762; lyoungoda@starbulletin.comMary Poole, Editorial Page Editor, 529-4790; mpoole@starbulletin.com
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