• Opposing viewpoints
• Adopt a highway program
• More to do for teens
• Ice problem
Opposing viewpoints
True to form, The Garden Island kicked off the new year with a cartoon picturing Howard Dean as an angry, vulgarity-spouting person with “mad jackass disease,” directly above a long, syndicated Republican opinion piece with a large pro-Bush headline.
My favorite part of any paper is the editorial page, and I do realize that the publisher has free reign to put whatever she chooses on that page. However, it would be nice if young and/or undecided voters could be exposed to varied viewpoints – especially since The Garden Island is the only Kauai paper with wide circulation on the island.
I acknowledge that you do sometimes print a Democratic-leaning opinion page (even though it is usually at the bottom of the page, not in the “prime” spot reserved for Morton Kondracke, et al).
The best model for a truly fair, bipartisan editorial page is USA Today, which ALWAYS presents two opposing views on the topic of the day.
The other shining light in political commentary is C-SPAN, which has separate call-in lines for Democrats, Republicans and “Others.” C-SPAN is the only TV channel that tries mightily to balance its guests and its commercial channels which ran non-stop Arnold Schwarzenegger moves in the weeks leading up to the recent California election. (Fox claims to be fair and balanced but their idea of a Democrat is Zell Miller, and their Republican hosts simply shout down anyone who disagrees with the FOX line.)
People who are truly fair and open-minded do like to read and hear all sides of an issue. In fact, those who read or listen to only one side have stopped learning.
Could we have more “equal time,” please?
Barbara Elmore
Lihu’e
Adopt a highway program
As a member of the Kauai Detachment of the Marine Corps League I signed an agreement to become active in the subject program. Part of the agreement reads “the Group shall pick-up litter a minimum of 4 times a year”.
If an organization is given the privilege of “advertising” their name on the highway, I am of the opinion that the directive should read “a minimum of at least one a month”.
I posted a letter to the State Highway Administrator requesting a response to my recommendation. It took two months for the response as quoted below to be received.
“Thank you for your letter of Sep 25, 2003 regarding the Adopt a Highway Program.
Adopt a Highway is a statewide program and affects a multitude of businesses. The work performed by these groups is very important and greatly appreciated by the Department of Transportation. We would not want to lose the Volunteers currently in the program by increasing the minimum number of clean ups. The assistance we receive from the citizenry of each island allows the Department to focus our maintenance staff on other pressing matters.
Should you have any questions, please call Martin P. Okabe at 587-2185.
Very truly your, /s/ Rodney K. Haraga Director of Transportation.”
Citizens, what do you think? Is once a month an unreasonable number for two years of free advertising?
Bud White
Kilauea
More to do for teens
Hi, my name is Tom Hashimoto. I am currently a junior at Waimea High School. I am writing to you my opinion of why Kaua’i needs more places to go to keep teenagers from doing illegal activities. So I hope you can take what I have to say to heart and help make more places possible on Kaua’i.
As you know most teenagers are in sports or clubs. But the sports or clubs usually start after school and end by sundown. So most teenagers usually go out and cruise during the night but there isn’t much choice because many places are closing. Which leaves teenagers nowhere to go. So most of the teenagers are going to certain spots and doing all kinds of illegal activities.
What I mean by illegal activities are things like street racing, vandalism, or even drugs. The main thing that teenagers are doing is drugs. Even though there are a lot of ads about drugs the past months teenagers still do it because there isn’t much to do on the island.
So new activities or places to go are always good options for getting teenagers to stop doing illegal activities. So I hope that there is a way to make more places so teenagers can go to keep away from doing illegal activities.
Tom Hashimoto
Waimea High School
Ice problem
Hawai’i’s ice problem is becoming worse. Too many people are dying because they are addicted to ice or because a person they knew did ice. Something needs to be done to make people realize what ice can do someone. It shouldn’t take death to make them open their eyes.
People who are addicted to ice should go someplace to get help. Those who aren’t addicted or using ice should be talked to about ice and what it can do to persons mental and physical health.
People should also be taught what kinds of behavior mannerisms people with ice have. If they could identify ice users, they could get them help.
The ice problem in Hawai’i will not go away entirely but could be reduced as best as possible.
Hopefully the number of ice related deaths will go down and people will see that ice is not nearly as important as someone’s life.
Ashley Shimomura
Waimea High School
