Citizens, students can make a difference

As reported by Crystal Kua ("Students' effort helps preserve crosswalk at downtown spot," Star-Bulletin, April 20), we can make a difference. All it takes is one person (in this case Downtown Neighborhood Board member Dolores Mollring) with perseverance to get government to do the right thing. Almost singlehandedly she gathered 1,360 signatures in six days to save the crosswalk linking Tamarind Park and First Hawaiian Bank.

Learning of her crusade, the 10th-grade social studies class at Honolulu Waldorf School joined her on Monday. Two of the students, Julia Stokes and Morganne Aaberg, joined me and Mollring to present the petitions to Mayor Mufi Hannemann, who, true to his word, did not make a decision about the crosswalk's future until he heard from the community.

The students got a great civics lesson. They learned they can affect government, even if they are too young to vote. They met the mayor and were present when he said he saw them on TV the night before and the crosswalk will remain. All of us learned that the mayor does listen to the community.

Thank you, Mufi.

Start with car alarms, move on to stereos

I saw that there might be an effort on the part of some lawmakers to ban car alarms. Hooray! Someone has actually taken a rational step in the name of sane government. Now don't stop there: Let's pass a law that prevents car stereos from ramping up the bass to force everyone to listen to the latest vapid rap group.

After recently returning from a really docile corner of Austria, where no such sounds were heard for the two weeks I was there, it's now even more disturbing to encounter the all-too-frequently oncoming thump of a distant car stereo, so loud that it sounds like artillery being walked in on top of you. Enough is enough. It's time to tell the children, "No, you're not allowed to arbitrarily disturb others while playing." Know what I mean?

Lingle was unfair to public workers

Governor Lingle's remarks in reaction to the HGEA binding arbitration (Star-Bulletin, April 16) were quite misleading in terms of the impact of the award.

The governor accused the award of taking "almost every single penny of the state's revenue increases and using it for collective bargaining increases." With all due respect, that is absurd logic. Collective bargaining is a fixed cost that should be anticipated and budgeted for in any financial plan. The administration anticipated but did not budget for any collective bargaining increases in its original submittal. The state's revenue increases and the collective bargaining increases are both part of the state's overall $9 billion budget, and to say that one specifically eradicates the other is not true.

At the beginning of the legislative session, Lingle made brownie points by promising tax cuts. We felt that it was too early to determine whether tax relief was possible until we saw the March projections by the Council on Revenues as well as the results of the collective bargaining agreements.

We should know within the next two weeks whether tax relief is possible. As we go into the last few weeks of the legislative session, I believe we will be able to afford the needed services for our citizens, including restoring funding that the governor took out of her budget for education and "ice" programs.

My biggest objection, however, is that I felt very bad for state employees when the governor said that "we won't have the money we should to help those of our citizens who do not work for the state of Hawaii." To place guilt on state employees for this fiscal situation is inappropriate and divisive.

Speak English properly to get ahead

In view of the problem with Hawaiian-born and -educated people being able to afford homes and living wages, I have a suggestion.

If a person is going to get a good-paying job, it is almost imperative that the person be able to speak correct English. Therefore, I would recommend that every class in the school system have teachers who would use correct English in the classroom and demand that every student use correct English. Part of the hiring of teachers would be an oral exam to be sure that the teacher knew how to use and pronounce correct English. No teacher should be hired who could not carry on a conversation using correct English.

To maintain a person's native language, that should be taught at home, but a thinking parent would insist that their children use correct English outside of the home.

Do we really want our kids to be relegated to low-level jobs simply because they can't be understood by the rest of the country? I would hope not.

If you have children in school, please think about what I have suggested. It makes sense to me, but I'm old and my wife is a blonde, so we might not have all the answers.

Let's all pitch in to save the rich money

Your president needs your help! His budget proposal is facing stiff opposition from starry-eyed liberals.

President Bush is doing his best to reduce the national debt by cutting veterans' drug benefits, slashing funds for medical research, making cuts in Medicaid grants, decreasing money for low-rent housing and chopping off many other such wasteful programs.

Act now! Tell your representative in Washington to tighten our belts so that the Bush administration can continue to reduce the heavy burden of taxes now being carried by the rich.

1 percent GET hike is affordable

I can't believe we are still waffling on the rail issue. It has been a recognized need by local and federal transportation planners and engineers since the 1970s. Now it is 2005, the need is greater, and we're still waffling on funding the "local" share.

A 1 percent tax increase is not going to kill us. For a family spending $40,000 a year, a 1 percent increase amounts to only $1.19 a day, or $436 a year. For a family spending $80,000 a year, it's only $2.39 more per day.

Rail transit is about mobility, economic vitality and quality of life. It's about having an efficient alternative for residents and visitors to move about Oahu. It's about improving access to job opportunities for people who don't drive or own cars, and serving the travel needs of our growing senior population.

Our congressional delegates are ready to secure federal funds for us, but they need our approval of the tax increase, and time is running out. Remember, the Legislature must first authorize the counties to charge the 1 percent. Then the City Council must approve charging the tax for rail transit. Let your support be known.

Closing the borders is the only answer

All the letters to the editor about traffic miss the boat, train, rail, ferry or whatever other mode of transportation they erroneously think will help traffic congestion. Do people really think that a rail system, more roadways or a causeway will improve traffic for very long?

The answer is the same answer to the problems that plague our sewers, education, parking and general quality of life. Limit population growth!

Limit immigration and the number of people who can move here. It is our state, and it can be done if our lawmakers have the will or their constituents let them know what they want and expect out of them.

We need a better way to choose UH regents

The Star-Bulletin's April 17 editorial, "Dems' move on UH board a brazen power grab," completely misses the intent of the legislation. The University of Hawaii board of regents has always been a political board, and as long as the members are appointees of the governor, it will remain a political board. The issue is about getting the best-qualified candidates for consideration as nominees.

We select our judges based on a Judicial Selection Commission. Why not do the same for university regents?

UH has developed into the state's largest and most complex system of higher education. The responsibilities of the regents require that they possess a high level of fiscal and administrative knowledge and abilities. As the regents are also ambassadors for the university, they must also be great communicators.

Acquiring a deep understanding of the university's programs, funding, facilities and operations cannot be mastered quickly. In 2000, the voters approved providing tremendous fiscal flexibility to UH. Because of this voter mandate, the quality and diversity of regent oversight are crucial.

Finally, it is ironic that your editorial would point to the firing of former President Evan Dobelle as one of our "political concerns." In this case, the dismissal was indeed warranted. The effort to create a regent selection committee has nothing to do with my politics or the politics of the governor. In fact, as early as 2000, during the Cayetano administration, I first introduced a bill proposing the creation of a regent selection commission.

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