Parties should listen to voters, not Clinton

When was the last time a U.S. president or former president visited Hawaii? In the past, neither Republicans nor Democrats campaigned here for one simple reason: The islands were Democratic. The Republican Party did not believe it could sway the vote in races for the Senate or House. The Democratic Party was confident in the knowledge that the votes for their candidates were secure.

With the last presidential election and the current races being so close, the parties are beginning to see the window of opportunity opening. The Democrats are finally fearing a change and are sending a token speaker (former President Clinton) to try to sway the vote. The voters should not be swayed by a guest speaker, but instead should bring up important issues to the candidates. In time, Congress, the president and the nation will listen to the heart of Hawaii.

William Matthews
Wahiawa

Why no private school Teacher of the Year?

For years now it has bothered me to see the awarding of Hawaii Teacher of the Year, as once again announced in the Oct. 18 Star-Bulletin.

It bothers me because it really should be Hawaii Public School Teacher of the Year. After all, there are many fine and, I am sure, worthy private school teachers who could easily be Hawaii's Teacher of the Year. And yes, I am a parent of children who have gone through the private school system, so maybe this is just a thorn in my side. The private schools have no award (as far as I know) for a Teacher of the Year, but if they did I would think that they would either say that it would be the Private School Teacher of the Year or perhaps it would even just be by each school and not assume the title of State of Hawaii Teacher of the Year.

Reginald G. DeSilva
Waimanalo

Thomas misses mark on school funding

Cal Thomas is right in questioning the relationship between increased funding to public schools and better school performance ("I can't get me none of that there edjumacation," Oct. 17). However, the evidence he cites is unsound and potentially misleading.

Thomas asserts that increased funding has been simultaneous with no improvement in a range of educational outputs, such as test scores, and he uses this spurious correlation as evidence that spending on education is worthless. The study to which he refers examines only federal expenditures on K-12 education; it assumes no change in the composition of students or the conditions under which that money was spent.

It ignores that the interval the study examines -- 1976 to 2001 -- was a period in which the composition of public schools changed dramatically. Large numbers of lower-income immigrants came to work for the middle class in the United States and their children entered public schools. The period also saw a large-scale flight of middle class -- and presumably higher-scoring -- students out of the public school system. Both of these factors certainly increased the need that federal education money tried to address.

Thus, to claim that educational spending is ill-advised is misleading. Such a claim makes me think that Thomas is relying on an uninformed and uneducated public to make his point -- the very condition he claims to be trying to remedy.

James Spencer
Assistant professor
Department of Urban and Regional Planning
Department of Political Science
University of Hawaii at Manoa

Justice system needs checks and balances

Meda Chesney-Lind's guest column on ballot question No. 3 was a beautifully written, in-depth, irrefutable article that needed to be read by the public ("Innocent get convicted more often than commonly thought," Star-Bulletin, Oct. 14).

Governor Ryan of Illinois was in favor of the death penalty until he learned that so many people on death row were proven innocent later via DNA evidence. He was so impressed with this knowledge that he felt compelled to place a moratorium on capital punishment. We should have more politicians like him; He showed his humanity and wisdom despite potential adverse political consequences.

The problem with those who feel otherwise is that they assume that those charged are guilty because they have faith in the legal system and the police, not realizing that such travesties of justice occur all the time. I hope the article persuades people not to place blind faith in the system and makes them aware that it has to be fine-tuned all the time with checks and balances for justice to prevail.

The cliche that "our system may not be perfect, but it is the best in the world" that the legal profession always spouts off may be nothing more than wishful thinking, I'm afraid.

Clayton Ching
Pasadena, Calif.
Former Hawaii resident

Memminger makes the choice simple

We all have to make choices. In Hawaii we have the option of picking our favorite newspaper between two: The Star Bulletin or the "other." For me, it was an easy choice. Even though each paper has a pretty even supply of news, the writers make the difference.

You have by far the best columnists! They are all top-notch, but the one that keeps me going is Charles Memminger. The humor created by his clever writing makes the wait worth it for your evening paper.

You have a super news team and the greatest humorist alive -- I will continue to make the Star-Bulletin my choice!

Jim Taylor
Pearl Harbor

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