Anti-land mine group was worthy of funding
I read with interest your Dec. 24 article about the donation by a European organization that wished to remain anonymous of $4 million to the Royal Hawaiian Institute for Land Mine Removal and Reform.No other information on the donor was known, other than that it had been given donations by the public on behalf of its founder, a well-known personality. What a wonderful gesture! What a worthy cause!
Beloved Diana, Princess of Wales, having heard about the Royal Hawaiian Institute, had planned to meet with its co-founders, Dennis Minga and Kalani Long, early this year. They were to have escorted Diana to Cambodia from Hawaii, which, so sorrowfully, wasn't meant to be.
I feel that if Queen Liliuokalani were alive today, she would have wanted her people to help this worldly and worthy endeavor in the name of humanity.
Denise Hahn
Flat tax system would help out more residents
A simplified flat tax system should replace our current complicated tax system.Some critics have maintained that a flat tax system would adversely affect states with high housing costs, such as Hawaii. A study of DRI McGraw-Hill has been cited stating that, without the interest and property tax deduction present in our current tax system, the after-tax cost of housing would "rise substantially unless the market price of homes falls."
The important point here is that the price of homes would indeed fall as a market response to the elimination of the interest and property tax deduction. Although this would not immediately benefit current homeowners, it would most certainly benefit aspiring homeowners looking for something more affordable.
All of Hawaii would benefit from an uncluttered free market to provide cheaper and more plentiful goods and services for all, not just those who currently own homes or those who can take advantage of the current complicated tax system.
Quentin M. McKenna
Waimanalo
GET increase would hurt small business even more
I agree with Tom Mahar's Jan. 10 letter and would like to add to his complaint.I am hoping that our current legislators will listen to the truly "small" business operators who employ fewer than 20 people and who cannot annually make substantial political contributions. Big unions and big businesses would not survive for long without "small" business.
Let me make an analogy. The referee is counting as a boxer is down but the opponent charges and kicks the downed boxer in the head before the count of 10.
The increase in the General Excise Tax proposed by the task force is analogous to the kick in the head as businesses suffer.
A dramatic illustration but, nevertheless, a fact.
Toshio Chinen
Pearl City
HMSA should tighten access to its charts
I agree wholeheartedly with doctors who are speaking up on behalf of their patients' right to confidentiality. As a consumer, I thought that HMSA supported confidentiality between caregiver and patient. I was amazed to discover that is not true.Main priorities for most doctors are assessing, explaining and treating illness. Protecting one's right to privacy was taken for granted as part of the code of ethics.
My chart is extensive, containing facts that only my treating physician is privy to and that's as it should be. Some people working at HMSA are colleagues of mine, who aren't remotely involved in my care. Should they be allowed to examine my chart without my knowledge or permission? For what purpose?
As mistrust increases in the professional community, quality of care will suffer. This will have an impact on the entire medical community. Sick people will see their doctors less frequently because who knows who'll read the information?
I would initiate the following solution on a trial basis: Restrict access to charts only to those directly involved in the care of the patient. Every chart should contain a signed release of information form and/or consent. There should be a sign-out sheet for charts, which should be restricted to all except those who are providing care, consulting or evaluating future needs.
Marilyn J. Moe, R.N.
Kailua
Porteus did not hate members of minorities
I hope it isn't too late to respond to Professor David Stannard's Dec. 12 View Point column on changing the name of Porteus Hall. I'll have to admit that quotes from Porteus' writing, taken out of context like that and put together as Stannard did, sound awful and seem indefensible in this day and age.I'd like to point out, though, that Stannard put in only negative quotes and not a single positive one. I wish I had the time to go through Porteus' books and pick out a similar collection of positive things that he wrote.
Whether Porteus, my father-in-law, was a racist may depend on the definition. If one is a racist because he tries to find the differences between races in a scientific way, makes comparisons that are not always favorable, and publishes these thoughts without concern for political correctness, then Porteus was a racist.
My idea of a racist is someone with such a strong hatred of other races that it permeates his whole life. Porteus wasn't full of hate but rather of friendliness, kindness and consideration shown toward all races.
I might also mention that he was a pro-Hawaiian witness in the Massie case, and that he was for statehood when many were against it for racial reasons.
Elizabeth Porteus
Taking care of 'baby' is more than child's play
In the Jan. 7 article, "Doll sours school girls on babies," high school students in a mainland child-development class learned about the responsibilities of parenthood.Schools in Hawaii offer similar opportunities. Eighth graders in the ethics class at Punahou School have to take care of a "baby," in the form of a fragile Christmas ornament.
The ornament baby must be kept within arm's length of the student and must be kept safe, for three days and nights. If the student is in a situation unsafe for the baby (such as in P.E. class), a babysitter must be found.
After three days of caring for the baby, the students return their babies and discuss what they have learned. From this experience, the students realize how much of a parent's thoughts are focused on their baby, and how great the responsibility is.
Some babies get left in lockers or at home, or even get broken. While some students hate the experience, others enjoy taking care of an ornament baby.
Some even get so attached that they name their babies, and don't want to give them back. My ornament baby's name was Johnathan.
Patricia Engel
Kailua
It was in poor taste to make fun of Sonny Bono
There are many instances or events in the news for which a cartoon helps us to see the funny side of life, and to enjoy a healthy laugh.However, Clay Jones and his Jan. 8 cartoon on the funeral of Sonny Bono was rather distasteful, if not a pretty sad version of humor.
Sonny was one of the few, if ever, honest to goodness men who made the senators laugh at themselves. Perhaps Jones should concentrate on satirizing the Bishop Estate trustees.
John L. Werrill
Jones Act increases costs for every family in Hawaii
The sole intent of my Dec. 5 View Point column was to inform people that if they're buying their groceries from a Jones Act ship, they're paying too much - at least $500 to $1,000 per family too much per year.People who own ships (Robert Pfeiffer, Dec. 31 View Point column), people who interview pro-Jones Act politicians (A.A. Smyser, Jan. 6 column) and other shipping interests (J.J. Arnold, Jan. 6 letter) have had a field day disputing how much Hawaii residents are actually paying to maintain the Jones Act.
As a past merchant seaman who has served on a number of iron and coal ships, my intention in reforming the Jones Act is not to cut jobs but simply to create competition in shipping.
According to the Office of the Consumer Advocate, Matson and Sea-Land are a "duopoly" that charge the same rates for the same service and keep all other foreign and American ships out of our waters.
The position taken by the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs is that freight rates of these two shipping companies should be regulated, or they want to see competition initiated.
In these hard economic times, we cannot afford to have sacred cows. But the established powers-that-be will see to it that I am discredited each time I remind the public of this corporate rip-off.
State Rep. Gene Ward
Life isn't all fun and games in our gambling capital
The fascinating description (Jan. 13) of "high rollers" or "whales" in Las Vegas casinos may have appeal to some who enjoy spending hundreds of dollars for a bottle of wine and have procurers ready to get prostitutes for them. Such wealth and power must be exciting.The "city of lost wages" apparently does have a down side which is not as much fun to write about. Las Vegas has the highest suicide rate in the nation for both visitors and residents. A similar pattern is true of Atlantic City and Reno.
A nationwide study also has discovered that the bankruptcy rate in counties with at least one gambling establishment was 18 percent higher than in those without gambling. Nevada has the fourth highest bankruptcy rate in the nation.
The FBI says, as reported by U.S. News and World Report, the crime rate in gambling communities is nearly double the national average. Are suicide, bankruptcy, and crime part of the gambling industry's notion of entertainment?
Robert T. Bobilin
There's more to school than learning three 'R's'
Keone Kuniyoshi, a health and physical education teacher at Wahiawa Intermediate, strongly believes that knowledge about health and the benefits of exercise can help round out a student's school experience. So in July, a quote in the Star-Bulletin about teaching caught his eye.
According to Darla De Ville, director of the Hawaii Pacific Association for Year Round Education, "Teachers are required to cover so many subject areas that non-essential areas such as art, music, physical education or health are cut back or neglected."
Non-essential? Kuniyoshi was livid.
After reading the quote to his wife, who is also a public school teacher, Kuniyoshi sat at his personal computer to write a letter to the editor, which was the Golden Letter winner last July.
"This statement insults all art, music, P.E. and health teachers," wrote Kuniyoshi, 30.
"We don't discredit other subject areas, so why insult us? We are part of developing the whole child."
Kuniyoshi pointed out that students who excel in these subject areas often go on to successful careers as athletes, coaches, athletic directors, physical therapists, etc.
"Oh yeah, they also become art, music, P.E. and health teachers, who get the same salary as other teachers," he added.
To emphasize his point, Kuniyoshi ended his commentary with rhetorical questions: "Non-essential? Why is there a graduation requirement in health and P.E.? Why is the Pearl City High School marching band recognized internationally? Why is it that, for the past four years, Mike Awai and Susan Chun have won Teacher of the Year honors at Wahiawa Intermediate School? By the way, they teach those 'non-essential' subjects, health and P.E."
Kuniyoshi and his wife, Stephanie, live in Mililani with their two poi dogs, Kuni and Lea.
2.0 rule promotes effort and responsibility
Mark Simunovich attended the University of Arizona on a four-year football scholarship decades ago, so he remembers the challenge of juggling scholastic and athletic pursuits.
That's why last year, when the state Board of Education debated the idea of lowering the requirement that public school students maintain at least a 2.0 grade point average to participate in campus sports and clubs, Simunovich got worried enough to write a letter to the editor. "We seem to be getting away from the work ethic," said the 48-year-old Kailua resident.
Simunovich's pointed observations won a Golden Letter award last August.
"That's it, BOE. Go ahead and further dumb down our island high school students," scolded the owner of Mobile Drapery Cleaners in his commentary. "Your proposal to elimate the 2.0 requirement for participation in sports and clubs is just another attempt of your failed 'feel-good' form of education."
Simunovich said academic standards must be kept high to inspire students to study and strive for good grades. "These kids have to learn that, in the real world, nobody is going to give them something for nothing. If they want to participate badly enough, they can do it. They can get that 2.0 and be proud of it," he wrote.
Simunovich pointed out that representing one's school on a team or in a club is an honor, and must be considered a reward for diligence displayed in the classroom. "By taking away the valuable lesson of accomplishment through hard work and commitment, you take away one of the most important tools these students will need to succeed in life," he wrote.
Simunovich said after his letter was printed, all of his friends basically agreed with his sentiment. He added that his wife, Kim, and their three daughters, Tania, Kristin and Dawn, are excited that he is a Golden Letter winner.
Bishop Estate Archive
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