• Rethink educational goals, means • Beware of God-wannabes’ solutions to population • Bike paths still there, but never used or maintained Rethink educational goals, means “Education was once a pathway for the privileged which has now become a highway
• Rethink educational goals, means • Beware of God-wannabes’ solutions to population • Bike paths still there, but never used or maintained
Rethink educational goals, means
“Education was once a pathway for the privileged which has now become a highway for the masses.”
Long ago, that statement served as the premise for a paper I had written in a plea for major paradigm shifts in the education system. In my teaching career, I had seen too many students bored, unhappy and frustrated with the “chore” of going to school.
Purely and simply, much of the methods in teaching are antiquated. In so many instances, the students are “plugged in” to what’s going on in the classroom.
Perhaps, then, it is time to focus on ways in which learning should be a combination of experiences which stimulate curiosity, a sense of accomplishment, a desire to be creative and productive, and opportunities to be compassionate towards others as well as becoming self-reliant in the process.
In other words, there should be emphasis on nurturing the students to be productive with these end goals far beyond acquiring test scores that indicate the possibility of being “college material.” How much more beneficial might it be with emphasis on encouraging the children to learn how to take care of themselves, each other and the environment?
In the process, those who will “make it to college” will do so. Those who will find success in life through other means, will be able to do so, as well.
Isn’t this worth a try?
Jose Bulatao Jr., Kekaha
Beware of God-wannabes’ solutions to population
I can only wonder at the overweening attitude of those who steadfastly refuse to note the spectacle of man’s arrogance throughout history.
Though there may be a bit of the divine in all of us, still, we’re no angels — er, with the apparent exception of one J. Nichols Esquire!
By replacing the God of all creation with his so-called inner ‘God-self’, Mr. Nichols — with dazzling self-assuredness — has blithely proclaimed his own will be done on Earth when addressing population concerns.
That puts those of us who regard ourselves as mere mortals at a considerable disadvantage. Must we then bow to his will, or commit the heresy of not recognizing his divine authority?
Well now, (aside from snapping his fingers) what practical steps would this righteous problem-solver take to control a burgeoning population? The more mundane methods — quotas, routine contraception/sterilization, and (alas) abortion — employed by China’s one-child policy has had the destabilizing result of far fewer women to men. Should those without the prospect of a mate just eat cake, or will frustration and anger lead to aggression in the form of armies on the move?
And, what of the uncooperative, who’ll heedlessly procreate unchecked? Naturally, force would be the “inspired” method to keep pesky multipliers in line. When push comes to shove, eugenics, euthanasia and finally genocide have been the tried and true tools of self-appointed utopians for weeding out the weak and undesirable “surplus.”
Conveniently, for the God-wannabes among us, no greater authority exists but that which they’ve granted unto themselves for passing final judgment.
Steven Souza, Koloa
Bike paths still there, but never used or maintained
Since I worked for the Department of Transportation (Highways Division) for 38 years and helped build the “bike route” that parallels the highway around most of the island, I am outraged to see the amount of time and money we are spending and prepared to spend on this multi-use path.
This “route” is still there, but for lack of use, our highway was widened and the bike lane became more narrow.
The reason for my frustration is that this administration and council are willing to spend $120 million or $5.2 million per mile to duplicate a project that was built but never used enough to even get maintained.
When true bicyclists come to Kaua‘i, they never use the multi-use path for fear of hurting other non-bicyclists on the path — they use the route that I helped build. Mr. Noyse, who is one of the proponents of the multi-use path, leads the off-island bikers on the route by the highway.
If this path were of such major importance to spend millions of dollars on it, (which usage has proven it isn’t) then a fraction of that money could have been used spent expanding the lanes and had safety railings built blocking it from traffic.
In 1977 we also built a path from Pono Kai to Otsukas and along with the cane haul road that served equestrians, bikers, motorcyclist and joggers all the way to Donkey Beach, it too was never used enough to be maintained but is still there, buried under sand and weeds.
So why are those in authority pushing a low-priority project like this that was a failure when we built it 35 years ago?
My testimonies before the council have been consistent. We need alternate routes on Kaua‘i to alleviate traffic, not multi-use paths that maybe 1 percent of the population will ever use — and to never be used for real transportation. The automobile will be a major means of transportation so let’s make our roadways safe and convenient for them to use.
Joe Rosa, Lihu‘e
