• Aloha to you • Give us some peace • Teachers should be valued, not demonized • True ‘ohana Aloha to you In response to “LA more peaceful than Kaua‘i and its roosters” (Letters, March 11): Please feel free to
• Aloha to you • Give us some peace
• Teachers should be valued, not demonized
• True ‘ohana
Aloha to you
In response to “LA more peaceful than Kaua‘i and its roosters” (Letters, March 11):
Please feel free to vacation in a more civilized destination. In fact, I, for one, would encourage it!
We would prefer our visitors on Kaua‘i to appreciate our uniqueness and beauty and not arrive on our island in serious need of an attitude adjustment.
Don’t flatter yourself, our economy will survive without you.
So aloha to you. We look forward to not seeing or hearing from you next year.
Ruth Pekarovch Velte
Princeville
Give us some peace
Mr. Stevens’ reasoned and thoughtful letter re feral chickens contrasts sharply with the petty, semi-literate “rebuttals” published online (“LA and more peaceful thank Kaua‘i and its roosters,” Letters, March 11).
For every letter like his, there are many more like-minded visitors who don’t bother to write. They simply vote with their feet.
The biologists employed at Kaua‘i’s federal wildlife refuges will tell you why these pests are trapped and killed, and it’s not because of their infernal noise pollution. They spread disease and parasites and prey on the eggs and chicks of native ground-nesting birds. They are also subject to “botulism die- off” because of their habit of eating carrion.
I personally observed a pair of koloa ducks try to nest on the stream bordering my yard, only to be driven off by the hordes of this noisy vermin. The only pure strain of koloas is here on Kaua‘i. Elsewhere they have interbred with mallards.
They also destroy crops including mango, bananas, etc., and ruin landscape beds and gardens.
It is simply a fact that feral chickens have a negative impact on tourism and real estate value. No visitor chooses Kaua‘i to commune with chickens but there are many who never return because of them. Just read their comments on the web.
This a serious, out-of-control problem and demands an aggressive response. These measures will be disturbing to some, but those folks are free to keep chickens in coops where it’s allowed. Let the rest of us have some peace and quiet, and the shearwaters, etc., nest and raise their young unmolested.
John Burns
Princeville
Teachers should be valued, not demonized
The demonization of unions, especially teachers’ unions in the press and society today is unfair; it is an attack on teachers whose sole care is for the education of our children.
It is an attack on our public education system that wealthy business people and politicians want to dismantle and privatize for their own benefit. Although one side would have us believe that this about fiscal responsibility and reducing the so-called “outrageous pay and pensions of union workers who are draining our states’ budgets,” this political spin is a smoke screen and a lie. (i.e. Michelle Malkin’s Media Voices column “Teachers Unions 101: “A” is for Agitation,” The Garden Island, March 9, is part of this current propaganda and political spin).
Just look at what has happened in Wisconsin. Taking away the unions’ collective bargaining rights had nothing to do with tackling the state’s budget deficit. It had more to do with paying back the wealthy business community which supported the governor’s and other legislators’ election to office.
Of course, unions need to be improved and will, but before teachers unionized, the difference in pay between men and women was far from equal and the arbitrary power of school boards to dismiss teachers or raise class size without any resistance was endemic. Contrary to what Michelle Malkin states, unions have historically played leading roles in improving public education.
In defense of unions and in particular, teacher unions, if teachers want to have an influence in our own profession in light of the take-over of our public education system by politicians and businesses, yes, we do need to have political influence and money so our voices can be heard in the debate on public education.
We (teacher unions) are the ones who need to have the primary voice in the debate by standing up for what we know is best for our schools and agitating (advocating for our students and schools).
Unions, teachers and ultimately our children and our public education system should not be attacked because of the state of our economy. We didn’t cause the mortgage crisis, the national deficit, and the unemployment of millions in this country.
We don’t deserve to be singled out, attacked, bullied, and punished! We deserve to be esteemed and valued in society and not attacked and demonized. After all, we have the most precious and important job in society of educating our children!
Michael Kline
National Board
Certified Teacher
Kilauea Elementary School
True ‘ohana
My wife and I are so very thankful that our beautiful Kaua‘i was not hit badly by the tsunami. Our dearest friends we have ever had live there.
Our hearts and good wishes go out to all you dear people, our true ‘ohana.
Paul and Linda Bennett
Kingman, Ariz.
