Local ed boards would empower communities

Public education is not some abstract subject that is someone else's problem. It's every citizen's problem -- every parent, every employer. Two of my children graduated from a Kauai public high school. As a parent, the single most frustrating experience for me was my inability to participate in and communicate with those who make decisions about education.

If our goal is to raise the educational experience of our students, then we must empower local people. Nearly all policy decisions are made in Honolulu. Give us a local school board, and we'll give you members who make decisions based on the local needs and priorities of parents, employers and residents.

The issue of local school boards isn't about whether we have good teachers or not, it's about whether we have policy-makers who are in touch with the educational assets and liabilities of each area of our state. Empower our island areas, empower parents, students, employers and educators where they live, learn, work and teach.

Robin Danner
Anahola, Kauai

Lindsey betrayed judge's trust

Kudos to U.S. District Court Judge David Ezra for ordering Lokelani Lindsey to begin serving her six-month jail sentence ("Jailed: Lokelani Lindsey is ordered to start her sentence after traveling to Vegas instead of caring for her husband," Star-Bulletin, Oct. 4). Judge Ezra has shown compassion by granting her three previous extensions to care for her terminally ill husband. But Lindsey betrayed the judge's trust and was seen in a Las Vegas casino.

Lindsey violated her fiduciary responsibility as a trustee of Bishop Estate. She helped her sister to hide assets from the bankruptcy court. She accused Ezra of tampering with the federal grand jury. Lindsey lacks compassion and gratitude. She gambled in Las Vegas while her husband is seriously ill.

Judge Ezra made the right decision.

How Tim Chang
Honolulu

Pay coach according to Warriors' results

I want a refund! I was like everybody else when University of Hawaii football coach June Jones first came here -- our savior! Jones said it wasn't about the money. Now we know it was all about the money. In his first season, Jones silenced all doubters with a tsunami of victories. We gasped: Whoa, the guy can coach! Pay the man! Sign a long-term deal!

Fast forward to the present, losses to Tulsa and the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, losses where our players showed a shocking lack of discipline (coaching). The Western Athletic Conference is talentless compared to Bowl Championship Series conferences, though Jones gets a check like he's at a BCS school.

I don't care if they were on the road. I want my money back -- or at least a new, public-money-friendly contract, one where Jones can earn his money, such as follows.

>> Base pay, $300,000
>> Victory vs. ranked opponent (or Fresno), $75,000; vs. top 10, $100,000
>> Loss to a patsy like Tulsa, $75,000 refund; to a team in the bottom 25, $100,000 refund
>> Nine wins, $100,000
>> WAC championship, $200,000
>> Bowl game (not WAC title bowl), $100,000; BCS bowl, $400,000
>> Bowl victory (any bowl), $150,000; BCS victory, $400,000
>> National title, $3 million!

If he says this contract is unfair, he can go to the NFL.

Joseph T. Bussen
Kailua

Is someone addicted to addiction?

Gosh, it seems everyone has on opinion about illicit drug use and abuse. Most of it centers around the addictive nature of these drugs and the terrible effect they have on society, not to mention the user.

Somehow, legal drug use is different. Numerous people drink and smoke and hold jobs. But the very idea that someone could use heroin or pakalolo regularly and hold down a job seems preposterous to many people. Yet thousands do so. You and I know several of them without the faintest idea that they are "impaired." For all I know, the same goes for ice, if used "responsibly."

Now comes Rush Limbaugh to prove my point. "Addicted" over a long period, the fellow performed flawlessly in the public spotlight, day after day for perhaps years. Who was hurt or injured? Rush, perhaps, but not you, me or society.

Where is the problem? Why are society, our news media, our lawgivers and our law enforcers so concerned? What might they be drinking, snorting or shooting to produce such irrational, mob-like, addictive behavior? And if you think I am exaggerating, go listen to one of these drug warriors the next chance you get.

Richard O. Rowland
President
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii

Neglect, drugs equally bad in babies' deaths

Collaboration among all agencies is the solution to drugs, crime and whatever problems are in our communities. So often one agency is excluded by another because of the opinion (prejudice and closed-minded thinking) of one person.

The arrest of the woman for using ice while pregnant (her child subsequently died) is definitely a bad choice (Star-Bulletin, Oct. 10). But this happened two years ago and the social worker played a big part in this when she allowed the woman to go home with her child.

Yet the woman who made a bad choice in leaving her child locked in the car for an hour (the child died) was not arrested immediately (Star-Bulletin, Oct. 16). Is this not an arresting offense? It was sheer neglect.

Everyone should be subjected to the same rules when a crime is committed regardless of involvement or noninvolvement with drugs. And neglect of an innocent child is most definitely a crime.

Celeste Cheeseman
Aiea

There's a time to halt the growth and plan

With an afternoon sun glaring in my eyes and trying to keep an eye out for one of the many cars now pulling into and out of our one outlet to society, I drive up Makakilo Drive, dodging the new potholes created by heavy trucks carrying dirt and concrete to new homes. What was once known only as Makakilo has been replaced with a planned city, Kapolei. With this came with unchecked, not planned, growth. The older community on the hill has more homes than the one main artery was ever planned to support. The schools suffer from similar problems. Kapolei's shopping area is in gridlock.

We, the people of Makakilo and Kapolei, ask only for common-sense solutions: a second outlet from Makakilo, expand our schools, expand our water supply and fix the gridlock in our planned shopping area. We do not want to hear about any 25-year plan. These things should have been planned 25 years ago. We look to our leaders for support as they look for our vote.

Earl Howell
Kapolei