Before raising parking fees, cut pay raises
City Council Budget Chairwoman Ann Kobayashi wants to raise fees for parking at city facilities (Star-Bulletin, May 16). The main justification seems to be that we haven't done it in 10 years or so, so it needs to be done.She goes on to say that cuts will have to happen if this increase doesn't go through. May I suggest that one cut that could take place is the upcoming pay raise for her and her cohorts? That's one cut that needs to be done whether parking fees go up or not.
Bill Nelson
Haleiwa
City should buy Rusti from orangutan group
EnviroWatch, Inc. is opposed to the proposed action to consider the gifting of Rusti the orangutan to the City and County of Honolulu by the Orangutan Foundation International and permanently housing him at the Honolulu Zoo (Star-Bulletin, April 24).We believe that Rusti the orangutan deserves a good home and proper care. However, the expense of caring for and housing him should not be borne by the citizens of Honolulu while OFI retains an interest in the animal. We also believe that the liability should not be borne solely by the people of Honolulu. We urge the City Council to explore full and unconditional ownership of the orangutan. EnviroWatch is willing to participate in and support the process of obtaining ownership of the Orangutan from OFI for his own welfare and for the people of Hawaii.
Documents we have recovered show that Rusti has languished for seven years in a substandard cage at the Honolulu Zoo with minimal enrichment or medical care while under the ownership of OFI. We believe that we are all morally and ethically obligated to bring closure to this saga. We would like to invite the City Council and the public to view documents and other information pertaining to this sad situation at our Web site (www.envirowatch.org).
Carroll E. Cox
President, Envirowatch
Sorry to see Hawaii's Jasmine get cut
My heart goes out to Hawaii's "American Idol" finalist, Jasmine Trias. She is great!
Gerhard C. Hamm
Waialae Iki
Private schools should adopt surfing, too
I urge the private schools in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu to form surf teams, along with Hawaii's public schools. The decision should be easy. The ocean is a free commodity in Hawaii, so it would be ludicrous not to have surf teams. For the amount of money schools spend manicuring football and baseball fields, pampering players, it shouldn't be a question of funds. The only necessities are a jetski and a lifeguard. Imagine the first State Championship of Surfing. I urge Hawaii to rally support and have the state sport become an official one.
Ian Smith
Kailua
Surf's up! Thanks BOE for recognizing sport
To the Board of Education,Thank you, thank you, thank you for making surfing a scholastic sport.
Carol Anne Philips
Haleiwa
Bainum ad misleads about Ewa Villages
I could hardly believe it when I heard Duke Bainum's mayoral campaign ad claiming that he uncovered the Ewa Villages scandal. Isn't there a law about truth in advertising? The records clearly show that the Ewa Villages scandal was uncovered by a brave city Department of Housing and Community Development worker named Michael Shiroma. (Shiroma was one of the Star-Bulletin's "10 Who Made a Difference" in 1999.)Shame on you Duke for trying to take credit where none is due! And shame on you for advertising a lie while having a campaign theme about honesty!
Wendell Faria
Honolulu
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Prosecutor should drop the case
against drug-dependent motherAs physicians, health-care professionals, medical ethicists, midwives, child-welfare advocates, public health advocates and researchers, we are greatly concerned about the indictment for reckless man-slaughter of Tayshea Aiwohi, in the death of her 2-day-old infant, allegedly due to the mother's use of an illegal drug while pregnant. (A hearing on a request to dismiss the case is scheduled tomorrow.)
While we do not in any way condone a person's use of alcohol, cigarettes, or other drugs that might affect pregnancy outcome or a person's ability to parent, our commitment to the care of pregnant women and their children requires us to speak out against dangerous and counterproductive measures such as the arrest of pregnant women and new mothers.
As every leading medical organization to address this issue has concluded, including the American Medical Association, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, The American College of Nurse Midwives, and the American Academy of Pediatrics, the problem of alcohol and drug use during pregnancy is a health issue best addressed through education and community-based treatment, not the criminal justice system.
Drug dependency is a medical condition -- not a crime. Pregnant women do not experience alcoholism and other drug dependencies because they want to harm their fetuses or because they don't care about their children.
Like other medical conditions, drug dependency can be controlled and overcome through medical treatment. Medical knowledge about addiction and dependency treatment demonstrates that patients do not, and cannot, simply stop their drug use as a result of threats of arrest or other negative consequences. In fact, threat-based approaches do not protect children. They have been shown to deter pregnant and parenting women not from using drugs but from seeking prenatal care and drug and alcohol treatment.
Health risks to women, fetuses, and children whether from poverty, inadequate nutrition, exposure to alcohol, drugs, or other factors can be mitigated through prenatal care, counseling, and continued medical supervision. For this to be effective, however, the patient must trust her health care provider to safeguard her confidences and stand by her while she attempts to improve her health (even when those efforts are not always successful). Converting the physician's exam room into an interrogation chamber and turning health care professionals into agents of law enforcement destroys this trust.
Unfortunately, many women in Hawaii find it difficult to obtain the help they need to overcome alcohol and drug dependency problems. There are limited treatment resources to meet the special needs of pregnant women and women with infants. Arresting pregnant and parenting women who are chemically dependent not only deters them from seeking help -- it is likely to deter others from offering compassion and providing the resources necessary to develop and fund the kinds of treatment that we know can help both pregnant women and their children.
We therefore ask the city prosecutor, in the interests of maternal, fetal and child health, to drop this dangerous and counter-productive prosecution.
This letter was signed by
the organizations and
individuals listed below.
Organizations:
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists-Hawaii
American Society of Addiction Medicine
Citizens for Midwifery
Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies Coalition of Hawaii
Institute for Health and Recovery
National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence
Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health
American College of Nurse-Midwives
Association of Women Psychiatrists
Doctors of the World USA
Group for Chronic Addiction Research, Inc.
International Center for Advancement of Addition Treatment
Maternity Center Association
Midwifery Today
Midwives Alliance of Hawaii
MothersCare for Tomorrow's Children
National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women's Health
National Coalition for Child Protection Reform
National Stillbirth Society
Our Bodies Ourselves
Planned Parenthood of Hawaii
S.A.F.E. CouncilIndividuals:
Cheryl O. Ho
Roxanne Estes, Vice President, Midwives Alliance of Hawaii
Rosemary Adam-Terem, Ph.D.
Barbara Lynn, RNC, IBCLC
Beth Kurren Cox, QCSW, LSW
Linda L. Rich DCSW, LSW, CSAC, Substance Abuse Free Environment (SAFE) Council
Leslie Moody
Barry Raff, CEO, Planned Parenthood of Hawaii
Leona Kulese-Graham
Pamela Lichty, MPH
Kat Brady
Eiko Cusick, Mothers Care For Tomorrow's Children
Dona H. Sander, CNM, OB Manager
Arline Harmon, RN
Ward M Mareels, CNM
Amy M.K. Dizon, RNC
D. Christian Derauf, M.D.
Leslie H. Gise, M.D.
Gigliola Baruffi, MD, MPH
Nancy Partika, MPH, Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition of Hawaii
Norma Finkelstein, Ph.D., Executive Director, Institute for Health and Recovery
Diana Romero, Assistant Professor, Department of Population and Family Health, Mailman School of Public Health (as individual)
Holly Catania, Project Director, International Center for Advancement of Addiction Treatment
Corinne F. Gerwe, President, Group for Chronic Addiction Research, Inc.
David C. Lewis, MD, Professor of Community Health, Brown Medical School
Howard Minkoff, MD
Priya Morganstern, Esq.
Dorothy Roberts, Kirkland & Ellis Professor, Northwestern University School of Law Carol Sakala, Director of Programs, Maternity Center Association
Jan Tritten, Editor and Founder, Midwifery Today
Susan Wysocki, RNC, NP, FAANP, President and CEO, National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women's Health
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[ BRAINSTORM! ]
The ponds at the state Capitol are full of icky green stuff. What, besides holding an election, can we do to get rid of all that scum at the Big Square Building? Or should we just replace the ponds with something else?Tell us what you think, whether you know of a way to clean the ponds or if you'd rather see a remodel of the Capitol grounds. Anything would be an improvement.
Send your ideas by June 16 to:
Or by mail:
Brainstorm!
c/o Nancy Christenson
Star-Bulletin
500 Ala Moana
7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210
Honolulu, Hawaii 96813Or by fax:
Brainstorm!
c/o Nancy Christenson
529-4750
