Clogged highways call for radical cure

Thanks to Cynthia Oi for her Feb. 5 "Under the Sun" column on Oahu's sick traffic.

Here's how to cure the disease: Get most of the cars off the road and replace them with a vastly increased TheBus fleet in dedicated lanes. There would then be no need to construct a ruinously expensive rail system, and no delay in implementing the solution because the existing infrastructure would accommodate the public transportation vehicles once private vehicles are thinned out.

Here's the prescription:

>> Make TheBus free to all.

>> Pay for it with a major hike in Oahu gas tax and a stiff license fee charged to non-business owners of all private passenger vehicles who apply for permits to park in congested destination areas, such as downtown and Waikiki.

>> Ease the pain for those who continue to use their cars instead of TheBus, by providing free no-fault auto insurance paid for with a hike in gas tax.

How to sell the prescription to dubious voters: Compare the cost of any alternative solution, expressed in terms of the tax cost to voters and the opportunity cost of any solution that will take years or decades to implement -- and put a realistic price tag on the literally millions of man-hours that will be lost in traffic as we wait for an alternative solution. This solution could be in place within a year, even within months!

Steve Bartlett

Arts study helps early brain development

The problem with early education is not so much raising the age for entry into Hawaii's public schools ("Kindergarten entry age debated," Star-Bulletin, Jan. 30). The human brain between the ages of 3 and 8 develops at different rates. Some children pick up reading skills at earlier ages than others.

But in our public school system, children are forced to be able to read by a certain grade level or else they are considered candidates for special education. Those who can't read by the Department of Education's guidelines and may excel in other areas such as the arts or physical movement, but aren't recognized as having proper brain development.

Educators need to tailor the learning environment to the needs of the individual student by ability and not by grade level. A student shouldn't be passed into a higher grade if he or she is unable to show those basic skills.

When it comes to development, it is often found that our effective leaders have had some music education as a child. Music helps the brain develop the intricate pathways necessary for healthy brain function and development. The arts should be the primary curriculum at an early age so a child's brain can develop in a non-intimidating atmosphere. Then as the child approaches the second grade the emphasis can be focused more on academic skills. The human brain will only take in what it wants. We filter out everything else.

Craig Watanabe

Hungry hippos should do the trick

The noxious aquatic weed, salvinia molesta, is more than a foot thick in some areas of Lake Wilson. Gamefish are gasping for oxygen.

It is time for the reservoir's owner to sit down with the Army's sewage treatment engineers, delegates from the state Board of Land and Natural Resources, Honolulu County officials and representatives from the local freshwater fishing community to come up with some solutions and seek funding for restoration of the lake.

Fortunately, I have a solution to this dilemma: Get a pair of hippopotamuses in there.

Rick Rogers
Haliewa

Will defeating Iraq make U.S. safer?

Does anyone doubt that President Bush wants to go to war?

"Go!" or "No go!" seems to depend on whether or not Iraq is in further "material breach" of U.N. Resolution 1441.

But shouldn't the question be: Is war absolutely necessary for the safety of our nation?

Our president says we must go to war to keep the peace. (Black is white, and up is down?)

I see our country as cocooned on a vast continent with oceans on either side, where we theorize about other nations -- their plans, their motivations -- and base our foreign policy on these determinations. We went to war in Vietnam based on the fantasized "domino theory."

But the Middle Eastern countries that are Saddam's neighbors, and know him well, foresee frightening, unintended consequences from an attack on Iraq. Even Kuwaiti leaders privately voice fears.

I believe that the quality of our leadership is macho, arrogant and paranoid, and about to lead us into an unprecedented, frightening and immoral war in violation of our Constitution and international law.

Norrie Thompson

U.S. policy will result in barbarism in Iraq

Barbarism is the proper word for invasive war and for the deliberate decision to turn tens of thousands of our sons and daughters into killers when other options abound.

The last war with Iraq featured relentless bombing of civilian power plants, water and sewage treatment facilities, transportation and communications that led directly to a serious national health crisis.

That crisis, combined with ongoing restrictions on imports, resulted in the deaths of half a million children, according to the United Nations. Recent U.N. assessments of a new war estimate that up to 500,000 Iraqis would require medical treatment for serious injuries in the early stages of conflict, and 4.5 to 9.5 million of Iraq's 26.5 million people could quickly need outside food to survive once an attack began.

War would drive some 900,000 Iraqis into neighboring countries, with about 100,000 requiring immediate assistance as soon as they arrived.

Another 2 million could be driven from their homes but remain inside Iraq, where aiding them would be very difficult due to the fighting.

Daniel Grantham
Haiku, Maui

---

How to write us The Star-Bulletin welcomes letters that are crisp and to the point (150 to 200 words). The Star-Bulletin reserves the right to edit letters for clarity and length. Please direct comments to the issues; personal attacks will not be published. Letters must be signed and include a daytime telephone number. Letter form: Online form, click here E-mail: letters@starbulletin.com Fax: (808) 529-4750 Mail: Letters to the Editor, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 7 Waterfront Plaza, 500 Ala Moana, Suite 210, Honolulu, HI 96813