Decide quarantine on science, not emotion

We're now seeing an emotional appeal from pet owners urging compassion for their beloved pets who have to go through quarantine. I know it's not easy; I remember having our family's dog go through the 120-day quarantine.

But there will be a lot more emotion and compassion when the first Hawaii child suffers an unpleasant death from rabies. There will be no going back once the disease is in our islands.

I once had a job tramping around undeveloped building sites, all over the world. I often thought how lucky we are in Hawaii -- we never have to be nervous about every dog or mongoose or any other animal that wanders across our path.

Decisions about quarantine should be made by our best doctors and scientists, not by understandably emotional pet owners or politicians.

Frank McHale

Quarantine exists only because of politics

I have been a physician in the practice of family medicine for more than 30 years -- most of it in Alaska, which has many of the same medical and social concerns as Hawaii. However, despite our huge border with Canada being open to animals of all kinds, we have no "rabies epidemics." In fact, I have never even seen a case of rabies.

Rabies is an easily preventable disease in an urban setting even when it is endemic in wild animal populations. There are modern, easy methods that eclipse the quaint, outmoded method of quarantine. No new science here; tried and tested around the world.

Hawaii would be much better served to trash the quarantine. It would be amazingly good for the state economy to allow people to bring their rabies-free pets to the islands, and it could be easily monitored by the very same people who now run the quarantine station.

This is a political issue. The rabies quarantine exists only because of politics. It could be easily replaced with a far superior system if only science, rather than politics, ruled the day.

R. Matison White, M.D.
Hawaii Kai

Creating 7 districts will take careful planning

In her "Gathering Place" guest column (Star-Bulletin, Feb. 2), Noemi Pendleton indulged in fantasy while promoting Governor Lingle's proposal to create local school boards.

Pendleton's statement, "This would not duplicate or increase government but would instead bring government closer to the people," is wishful thinking. Creating seven school boards may bring their governance closer to the people, but it also will increase the complexity and cost of government.

Lingle's plan calls for at least seven school boards in addition to the state Department of Education and Board of Education. Other state agencies set curriculum standards and enforce regulations, while local districts operate schools, as in the other 49 states. In Hawaii, the DOE both operates and regulates schools. If that sounds like a formula for conflict of interest, it is.

The system we have was designed to save money. Separating operations into seven districts will generate duplication by having, for example, curriculum planning done independently by each district.

Planning the devolution of the current state system into a state and local system will require careful work. Basing the plan on minimizing cost rather than enhancing effectiveness will just make matters worse.

Thomas G. Gans

Bush seems to be in a hurry to attack Iraq

President Bush wants an early end to weapons inspections in Iraq when they have just begun. Inspectors have gained access to sites. Remember, earlier inspections succeeded in disabling Iraq's nuclear program and destroying 95 percent of its chemical and biological weapons. The U.N. Security Council has seen no evidence that Iraq has revived its nuclear weapons program. Hans Blix has said that his inspections of biological and chemical weapons disarmament should take a year.

What's the hurry? What threat does Iraq pose while inspections are under way? Wouldn't it be wiser to give inspectors a chance to find and destroy any weapons than to rush into a war in which Saddam might use them?

War will not disarm Iraq. Bombs cannot find weapons of mass destruction. If bombs could find weapons of mass destruction, inspectors can find weapons of mass destruction.

Yoshie Chihara

Radio station hushes its 'Golden Voice'

Hawaii radio listeners won't be hearing that "Golden Voice" of KUMU any more, Bill Baist. With KUMU's new ownership, Bill was asked to leave, after entertaining KUMU's audiences for almost 15 years. But, as stated in John Ploughman's "Talk" of 1869, "If one door should be shut, God will open another."

Bill's 44-year career included 27 years at KHON-TV. For three years, he was news anchor at 6 and 10 p.m. He was a DJ on KUMU Lite 94.7 for 14 years. Bill's voice has long been identified with radio and TV commercials, and once in a while he shows up in a "Hawaii Five-O" rerun as Detective Nakamura.

My Bill definitely has one of the greatest radio voices in Hawaii. I once received this comment: "You think Bill is great because you're married to him." I responded by saying, "Bill Baist is a great person, not only as a radio announcer but more importantly because he is a passive, understanding, sympathetic and wonderful individual, loved dearly by his radio audience and his family."

Bill will miss you and he sends his mahalo nui loa and love to you all!

Margo Baist
Pearl City

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