• I feel silenced • Plastic bag ban makes zero sense • Slow down and enjoy • Don’t rush reform I feel silenced In response to Monroe Richman’s letter (“Where’s the uproar?” Letters, Oct. 1), this is why I have
• I feel silenced
• Plastic bag ban makes zero sense
• Slow down and enjoy
• Don’t rush reform
I feel silenced
In response to Monroe Richman’s letter (“Where’s the uproar?” Letters, Oct. 1), this is why I have not written The Garden Island about my disgust regarding the DOE furlough:
1. It will not change the situation.
2. I believe that most people agree with me; everyone I know thinks that kids should be in school.
3. My heart is broken — for the public school teachers, who give their hearts, minds and spirits every day, teaching all of Hawai‘i’s kids (not just those who speak standard English as a first language, and who don’t struggle with learning disabilities, and who can pass private school entrance exams or pay their tuitions). How would it feel to be blamed for years for Hawai‘i’s public school problems, to struggle to meet the standards of No Child Left Behind while undergoing budget cuts, and then to face this? How does it feel to know that you are so expendable, that a chunk of your paycheck can be cut away just like that?
Why haven’t public school teachers written in? What more can they say? Do victims of abuse look up at their attackers and try to reason with them, present a logical argument? Or do they try to piece themselves together as best they can, so they can face another day?
4. I am embarrassed. How, in a democracy, did I let this happen? How can I face the keiki — there they go off to school in their slippers and uniform shirts, holding their backpacks, their dreams as bright as their smiles — how can I tell them that our society is so broke and our lawmakers so callous and desperate that they would cut kids’ education to pay for their own fiscal mistakes, and without so much as an apology?
If I could, I would chant an oli, a lament for what has been taken from Hawai‘i’s children and families. But as it stands, I feel silenced.
Mary Alexander, Wailua
Plastic bag ban makes zero sense
The vote to ban plastic bags on Kauai has again been postponed. Lawmakers would be wise to use this extra time to seriously consider the ramifications of banning plastic bags.
Posed with the paper-or-plastic question, many instinctively pick paper, as it is biodegradable, recyclable, and made from a renewable resource.
Yet, plastic continues to dominate in retail stores worldwide. One reason is primarily economic; a standard plastic grocery bag costs only a penny to produce while its paper counterpart costs four to five times that amount.
As for its environmental impact, the Environmental Protection Agency reports that the production of paper bags generates more air and water pollution in addition to requiring more energy in manufacturing and recycling than plastic bags. In fact, plastic uses 40 percent less energy to produce while paper generates 70 percent more emissions and 50 times more water pollutants than plastic.
Paper also take up more space in landfills while plastic generates 80 percent less solid waste- a consideration not to be taken lightly as Honolulu begins shipping its trash to Washington state this week at a cost of $99.89 per ton.
In the sweeping “green” movement that has overtaken the nation, it is not a time to abandon facts and sound policy.
From both an economic and environmental standpoint, a plastic bag ban makes zero sense.
Pearl Hahn, Policy Analyst
Grassroot Institute of Hawai‘i
Slow down and enjoy
May I applaud the county on the reduction of speed on “Blood Alley.”
I’m quite certain that to some of our drivers, it will go unheeded, but if KPD really monitors the speed and follows through with citations, perhaps our drive will be a safer one. Every time I drive that particular stretch of Kuhio, I feel I am a participant in Joie Chitwood’s “Hell Drivers” show.
Slow down and enjoy.
Paleka Smith, Kapa‘a
Don’t rush reform
Remember this past winter we paid out billions to private enterprises for their past mistakes?
The stimulus bill’s pork attachments were huge and should have been ethically challenged. Pet projects not related to the economic downturn were plentiful such as our very own senior senator’s boost to a business in which he is personally invested. Ethical behavior is for chumps, I guess.
We cannot trust Congress to build a health care bill without an enormous cost addition to our already overwhelming debt. No one person can predict the pork or special interest issues that will be attached to this bill unrelated to health. Worse yet, even more Medicaid unfunded mandates are not out of the question.
I think Will Rogers was on to something when he compared sausage making and Congressional functions.
The 20 million folks without health insurance might be better served if we concentrated on their needs rather than recklessly rushing a bill through. The Democratic controlled Congress should provide thoughtful development, if possible.
Joel Whitley, Lihu‘e
