Letters for Oct. 10, 2015 Kauai students need fair chance at college Every year, in November, Kauai’s juniors and seniors have been bused to a hotel conference room where they can meet face to face with representatives from 70 or
Letters for Oct. 10, 2015
Kauai students need fair chance at college
Every year, in November, Kauai’s juniors and seniors have been bused to a hotel conference room where they can meet face to face with representatives from 70 or more colleges across America. Needless to say, this is an opportunity unavailable to most high school students in Hawaii.
In the past, the college fair was sponsored by College and Career Fair, a locally managed organization with a session during school hours and another in the evening so students can bring their parents.
This year, the sponsor is Hawaii Association for College Admission Counseling (HACAC), an affiliate of National Association for College Counseling, an international counselor organization. Their website, www.nacacnet.org/college.fairs/falincf/pages/default.aspx, shows in school districts across the country, fairs are presented in two sessions on school days or a long session on a weekend day, always totaling five to seven hours. On Kauai, Maui and Big Island, HACAC will provide just one two-hour fair.
On Kauai, it’s 9 to 11 a.m. at Island School’s Wilcox Gymnasium. The opportunity for parents’ participation has been eliminated. Also local nonprofit organizations offering education and career opportunities, including scholarships, are excluded by HACAC.
Students, parents, teachers and counselors should encourage our high school principals to demand of HACAC that our students not be shortchanged by this new fair sponsor, and that they get as much personal contact with college representatives, to include an evening session, as do students who attend all other NACAC college fairs.
Kip Goodwin
Wailua
CARE Act good for families
I’m a strong supporter of proposed legislation that would help family caregivers who make it possible for their family loved ones to live more independently at home.
The CARE Act would notify caregivers when their family members are discharged from the hospital, and require hospitals to instruct them in the tasks — such as wound care, IV treatments, and medications — needed to care safely for them at home. This law would have greatly supported me as caregiver to my son when he was hospitalized with necrotizing faciitis.
When I found him in a coma, he had not designated a caregiver and even as his mother, I was told HIPPA. It is important that everyone make sure their caregiver is designated in their medical folder. He received surgeries six days at Wilcox Memorial Hospital.
Also, the act would require that the caregiver be informed of any transfer of hospital or release to the patient’s home. As in our case, my son was transferred to Oahu’s Straub Hospital, where he received more surgeries and also treatment at Kuakini Hospital’s Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment Center.
At the state legislature this fall, a working group including Rep. Dee Morikawa, has been meeting monthly to examine the role family caregivers play in current discharge practices across the state.
Janice Bond
Lihue
Well done on road work
Mahalo to the County Department of Public Works, Roads Division and contractor, Grace Pacific, for the terrific work on Hauala Road and Mailihuna Road in Kapaa.
We drive on these roads nearly everyday and oh, what a good feeling it is to drive on a smooth, safe road!
Great job to all connected to this project.
Janece and Jack Yatsko
Kapaa
