Letters to the Editor for Friday — May 21, 2004

• Sleeping problem?

• Response to visitor

• Hawai‘i legacy

Sleeping problem?

I was suprised to hear of so many people (man and women alike) who say that they have a hard time falling asleep.

A few pointers that work for me— train your mind! Make sleeping a routine part of your life by turning on your side telling yourself “It’s time to sleep” just as you would say “It’s time to eat” — you do not worry about how to eat.

Try not to think of anything — shut your mind to all happenings like what you did yesterday or what you’re gonna do tomorrow while trying to sleep — you’ll only toss and turn.

Another thing, do not open any mail after dinner – do it earlier in the day for you may come across some unexpected bills or problems that will keep you awake all night worrying.

Tell yourself “I’ll see you in the morning” and doze off — that is the way to strenghen and train your mind.

Avoid depending on too much pills — a never-ending weak habit. You can also put on a music tape on your automatic shut-off portable cassette player to help. Find some soft music and I guarentee that you’ll fall asleep in no time. I take about 5 to 8 minutes to hit sumberland after I tell myself to do so. Sometimes I use my automatic cassette player to help or a radio with a timer. I also use a timer on my coffee maker — my coffee is ready when I wake up after a full night’s sleep.

People can do anything if they think positive. I always tell my friends that I have only 20 more years to live so don’t give me a bad time — enjoy! Figure of speech only — I am over 80! Hope all these help— sleep well.

Yasu Nakamatsu

Kapa‘a

Response to visitor

I agree with Mr. Jimmy Jones from Minnesota, we should all slow down and drive safely. We should do it because we can’t lose another family member or friend in a horrible accident.

If there is another place that he would like to vacation at, by all means, go there. What makes him think that we need him here? I know that people mainly think about themselves, The safety and lifestyle of the people that live here is much more important than tourism.

I know there are many people that feel we would be doomed without a steady increase in tourism. So we better be careful not to lose one tourist. This has been the policy in Hawaii for many years, the Hawaii Visitors Bureau is funded by taxpayers to promote one industry in Hawaii.

If you are in that business, you get free advertisement. Hard luck if you are in any other business. I think it is about time we begin to diversify our economy. Lets promote all types of business, not only tourism.

Lets face it, we live here, we have to use the roads. How many rental cars are on the island now?. One less tourist here means one less car on the road. I don’t think our lifestyle here is better now than it was twenty years ago when there were a lot less tourists around.

Also, let’s face the fact that the state is never going to pay for real highway improvements on this island. It’s simple math, we don’t have the tax base to justify the expense. So, fewer tourists means fewer cars on the road. And fewer tourism jobs will allow other business to grow, and the entrepreneurial spirit to flourish. Let’s focus on improving our lifestyle here, and creating a environment that our kids will want to be a part of. If a few tourists want to come and visit, great.

If they want to go slow on the road, that’s great too. But I have a suggestion, pull over and let everybody else go by.

Dane Kirkpatrick

Princeville

Hawai‘i legacy

The historic legacy of Hawai‘i, as a Kingdom, Republic, Territory and State, is one of centralized, powerful and often unresponsive government. Today we see the results of this history in an extremely powerful executive, state control of functions which are local matters in most other states, legislators, bureaucrats, and judges with virtual lifetime positions and citizens’ dependence on state government to meet local needs.

The rise of Populism in the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries was due to similar concentrations of power in political and economic special interests. The most common measures adopted to restore power to the people were the rights of initiative, referendum and recall, along with the term limits for elected officials and the “Missouri Plan” for selection and retention of judges.

Initiative is the right of the electorate to propose a law by petition and vote on the proposal in an election, thus bypassing an unresponsive legislature. Referendum is similar, with an election to approve or disapprove any legislative enactment. Recall is the right of the people to terminate the service of an elected official. Term limits are self-explanatory. The “Missouri Plan” is a system which allows gubernatorial appointment and legislative confirmation of judges, but then requires each judge to stand for a retention election after each term in office.

The people of Hawai‘i do benefit from some of these. We have seen the petition drive to amend the Kaua‘i County Charter to reduce property taxes, some public offices have term limits and the Constitution and Charter require a popular vote for amendments. However, if we are to enjoy the full benefits of democratic, responsive and responsible government I believe we must have all of these measures. We need to eliminate the ìback roomî and ìold boyî style of decision-making that has governed our state for too long and open the political process to direct participation by all citizens.

Our Kaua‘i State Senator defended this status quo during his “Island Talk” broadcast on May 6. In justifying his opposition to a popular vote on the local school board proposal, he stated that “if something is good policy, if I believe in my heart that this would be a good thing, then I think that we should put it out there and let the people vote on it.” In the Senator’s view, the people of Kaua‘i should only be allowed to vote when he approves. Is this the kind of government we want in the 21st Century? Harold Nelson

Kapa‘a