HOMELESS

TAKE PAGE FROM FASI AND BRING IN TRAILERS

The national news bombards us with pictures of hundreds of trailers sitting vacant in Arkansas that were to be used for the victims of Katrina. We have a huge homeless problem in Hawai'i that has been receiving increased scrutiny after the homeless were evicted from Ala Moana Park.

We have a surplus of cash in the state budget and a governor who has political capital with our current president.

Why don't we get those trailers over here and give the homeless some adequate shelter? I know it is not that simple — every state has a homeless problem, and then there is the matter of electricity, water and sewage. But not every state is awash in cash, and it would be a bold move — almost, dare I say it, Fasi-esque.

PROACTIVE

CHURCHES ARE HELPING WITH HOMELESS CRISIS

J. Matsuoka's April 5 letter suggested that church leaders "have been awfully silent, hoping the homeless problem will just go away." It was suggested that churches shelter homeless families.

Several churches on the Windward side of O'ahu are already doing this through the Family Promise program, where homeless families are given a safe, comfortable place to eat, rest and sleep for a week at each participating church. Other churches provide much-needed support.

This is just one of the many programs begun by church leaders and organizations — the Institute for Human Services and H-5 (Hawai'i Helping the Hungry Have Hope) are two prominent examples.

The perception may be that the churches are silent, but the reality is that churches are speaking loudly with their actions and their hearts.

CHURCH-STATE

THEOCRACY EMERGING IN U.S.? NOT A PRAYER

In his April 4 commentary, Charles C. Haynes bemoans the prospect of "theocracy emerging" in the U.S.A. and attempts to make the Olympian stretch of comparing recent developments in the United States with those of the brutally intolerant regime in Afghanistan. Unfortunately, Haynes' piece is riddled with misinformation and outright falsehoods.

Haynes makes reference to our prevailing belief in the U.S.A. that it is " 'self-evident' that religious freedom is the birthright of every person," but curiously fails to acknowledge the attendant words in our Declaration of Independence wherein our Founding Fathers stated plainly that such freedoms are "endowed by our creator."

It seems that in recent times, if any politician is public about an expression of religion that displays "conviction," it's being confused with "imposition." President Bush, for example, is quite public about his conviction to his beliefs, but I have yet to see him attempt to impose his faith on anyone. Perhaps Mr. Haynes is misunderstanding that distinction.

Haynes protests that some politicians and televangelists "rail against the principle of church-state separation, claiming that it isn't in the Constitution," thus undermining support for a "secular nation." Well, fortunately we have a huge body of historical evidence that the framers of our Constitution did not believe in church-state separation in the way that Haynes does and did not at all believe that we have a "secular nation."

As a matter of fact, and quite ironically, the only religion for which there is current evidence of forced imposition in America is "secular humanism."

WAIKIKI LINK

BUILD SPORTS STADIUM AT ALA WAI COURSE

Several years ago while living in Honolulu, I heard talk of moving the Ala Wai golf course and suggestions of what to do with the huge property. Many cities see the value of having their sports stadiums as close to the city as possible. Picture a world-class stadium at the Ala Wai with enough seating for the Super Bowl.

This stadium would have ample parking, but more important, it would have several pedestrian bridges across the Ala Wai Canal to the Waikiki hotels. A ramp to the parking from a viaduct from the H-1 Freeway would be more than possible.

With the Convention Center nearby, all sorts of possibilities come to mind.

MEDICAL CARE

MALPRACTICE REFORM CRITICAL TO THE ISLANDS

This state is currently facing a major crisis in access to medical care, especially for bone and joint injuries.

There is an acute shortage of orthopedic surgeons in Hawai'i, especially on the Neighbor Islands. Many of the Neighbor Island emergency rooms do not have an orthopedic surgeon available in an emergency.

I believe it is only a matter of time before tourists will consider a trip to the Neighbor Islands to carry the same medical risk as a trip to a Third World country with limited medical resources. How likely will future tourists from the Mainland or Japan reserve a trip to Hawai'i if an accident may leave him or her without access to skilled orthopedic care?

It is nearly impossible to recruit physicians to Hawai'i to help ease the situation due to the increasing malpractice costs and decreasing reimbursement. Furthermore, we continue to lose some of our finest surgeons to the Mainland. Two more orthopedic surgeons have decided to leave Hawai'i this year because of these issues.

We need support for malpractice reform. Please write to your legislators to request a hearing for Senate Bill 3279, SD2, HD1, relating to medical liability.

CAP BAD LAW

GAS RETAILERS AREN'T KEEPING PRICES HIGH

Kane'ohe resident Stephanie S. Araki's March 31 letter suggests that gasoline retailers are intentionally keeping gas prices high so that the gas cap will fail. I am offended by Ms. Araki's remarks.

As an independent gas station owner in Kane'ohe, I can assure you that the gas cap has failed simply because it is a bad law, not because retailers are keeping prices high.

Since the law went into effect, I have worked very hard to ensure my customers receive the greatest value for their fuel purchases, despite the state's horrendous price fixing. In fact, my records indicate gas prices at my service station have tracked the PUC's wholesale prices nearly every week.

I have on occasion even gone as far as lowering my prices when the newspapers and TV stations announce anticipated gas price changes. From a business standpoint, however, this is not an ideal situation.

I encourage Ms. Araki, Sen. Ron Menor and Mr. Frank Young to patronize my station if they want to pay fair prices for quality gasoline.

However, if they are just looking for cheap gasoline sold at the prices dictated by the state, then maybe they should try filling up at the Capitol, the only place where these crazy prices seem to make sense.

PRESCRIPTIVE AUTHORITY

THE BAIT AND SWITCH OF THE PSYCHOLOGISTS' PLEAS

In his April 2 letter, Martin Johnson, a doctor of psychology, stated that, "Psychiatrists have engaged in a campaign of distortions and scare tactics to maintain their monopoly on prescriptive authority." In my view, it is Dr. Johnson and a handful of psychologists who have distorted the facts to our legislators year after year, using a potent tool of deception, the "bait and switch."

Bait: First proclaim that the rural medical community does not have enough time or expertise to treat psychological problems without the help of prescribing psychologists. Switch: Then claim that the same primary-care doctors do have the time and expertise to safely supervise provisional prescribing psychologists.

Bait: Emphasize that the "intensive training" of military psychologists was shown to allow the safe prescription of medications to active-duty military personnel. Switch: Avoid saying that prescribing psychologists would have medical education and training that is dramatically briefer, less intensive and less regulated than the military psychologists.

Bait: Use the term "limited prescriptive authority." Switch: Hide that prescribing psychologists would treat our elderly, our children, pregnant women and those with serious medical illness and would use the most dangerous psychiatric medications. Hide that this would be a much broader authority than for the intensively trained military psychologists who prescribe only the safest medications to healthy adults ages 18-65.

Psychiatric physicians do not strive to maintain a monopoly on prescribing. Most psychiatric medication prescriptions are written by primary-care physicians, advance-practice psychiatric nurses and military psychologists who truly have had appropriate medical education and training.

Let us pray that, in seeking to independently prescribe medications to their clients, Hawai'i psychologists will follow suit and will focus more time and effort in learning medicine and less in lobbying our elected officials.

RECYCLE, RENEW

A BETTER WAY TO HANDLE OUR WASTE

Since we are an island and as such have solid-waste concerns, it seems we could create a more comprehensive program to handle waste better.

We also have chemical wastes in the ocean from World War II chemical weapons that pose a real potential threat. If droplets of mustard gas or any other lethal chemicals were to start washing up on the beaches here, that would be the permanent end to the state's economy, and Hawai'i as an ocean destination.

We generate roughly three major categories of waste in Hawai'i that need disposal: