PREVENTION

THREE-STRIKES LAW IS NOT ANSWER FOR ISLES

I was born and raised on O'ahu and moved to California about six years ago. I currently work on social histories for three-strikers through the Public Defender's Office and worked in the jail system with inmates when I lived in Hawai'i. There is too much leeway when it comes to considering a felony as a strike, and people are routinely charged unfairly.

The "25" in "25 to life" is unrealistic; nobody ever gets paroled. As you stated in your recent article, defendants do go to prison for life on a simple property crime. I've worked on those cases.

A better approach is to get to the root of the problem, which is usually dysfunctional families or drugs. Anticipatory prevention is the key, not continuous punishment.

Imprisonment for life is more costly to the families, the state and the communities. Spend the money on education, building families, job training and social services. It will pay off in the long run.

POPULATION

ISLE CARRYING CAPACITY MUST BE DETERMINED

Please consider this heartfelt response to Leonard Pepper's Jan. 12 letter in which he asks the critically important, compelling question, "How much can we continue to build, grow and consume without destroying the essence of Hawai'i?"

In addressing this question, Hawai'i could be a world leader by addressing, in a public forum, the idea of what constitutes a sustainable, energy-efficient carrying capacity for the Islands, as subjective and politically loaded as that would certainly be.

Development and growth do have positive benefits, but aren't we in great denial about our exploding human numbers? Yes, money is important, but we can't survive on a diet of greenbacks. Ironically, our national and statewide political debate on population growth is virtually non-existent, and yet growth, development and consumption have become the mantras of our daily lives.

Hawai'i has a unique opportunity to step out as a world leader in confronting this issue. There exist no easy answers, yet honest efforts to define carrying capacity would be an important step. I agree with Mr. Pepper that the Legislature and counties should take on the challenge and show evidence of true, visionary leadership, rather than remain the puppets of seemingly never-ending sprawl, development and consumption, as is the case with most elected "representatives" today.

The cornerstone of such a process should be the role of human population growth. It's been said that "too many people in the world don't realize that there are too many people in the world," a witty quote that, sadly, becomes more prophetic with each passing year.

EROSION

PIGS CAUSE SLIDES

Thank you for the article on feral pigs. I would add that the erosion of mountainsides leads to falling boulders. Pigs are able to climb very steep hillsides. They root out all vegetation and churn up the earth so that when it rains, everything goes downhill.

UARC

FUJIO MATSUDA WRONG ON MILITARY RESEARCH

Permit me to comment on Fujio Matsuda's Feb. 12 column "Military research could enhance the reputation of UH."

First, most of the most prestigious universities in the continental United States are not rushing to get a UARC.

Perhaps testimony to the Board of Regents about problems with UARC at Johns Hopkins University helps us to understand why. And testimony from perhaps the only UH faculty member with personal experience working at a UARC (Peter Britos) makes it even easier to understand why.

Indeed, almost 40 years ago, the University of Chicago and nine or 10 Ivy League institutions withdrew from the Institute for Defense Analyses. As a Chicago alum who makes an effort to stay in touch with developments on the Midway, I'm reasonably sure that it is not yet angling for a UARC.

Second, at the time when President Matsuda was leading UH, the university had not yet made the explicit commitments to Hawaiian values that emerged from the open-space planning exercises and Board of Regents decisions of 2002 and later. This represents a significant change.

UH SUPPORT

Way to go, President McClain! Many of your colleagues support your decision — we just are not as verbal as the opponents of a University Affiliated Research Center.

The Board of Regents should look a little deeper at the true motivation and political ideology of the anti-UARC movement, starting with an FBI background check on its leaders. Seriously. Many of our colleagues are pawns in the very effective psyops tactics of our national enemies in the war on terror.

SMALL BUSINESS

WHERE'S THE BEEF, PRESIDENT BUSH?

Thanks for the Feb. 15 story on "Kammie's closing at Sunset." It's a common story these days, and it makes me sad.

How is it that a business that was successful for 40 years finds itself struggling in the 21st century? President Bush says tax cuts and less government have strengthened our country's economy. Yet, in every small town and big city across our nation, small businesses like Kammie's have died. Where's the beef?

I wish we had a president who understood what it means to be poor and to work hard all your life. I wish we had a president who understood that our families and our lives are held together by the glue of friendly neighborhoods with friendly local stores.

Next year the president will be selling us burgers made of beef-flavored buns. We old folks will still be wishing for a real burger with meat inside like we used to get at Frankie's Drive-Inn in Waimanalo.

DOE POLICY

'SHUFFLING' TEACHERS, PRINCIPALS BAD IDEA

I am distressed and alarmed over DOE's policy of "shuffling" teachers and principals in the middle of a school year.

As a parent of a special-education student, I have seen throughout the years my son's special-education teachers change quite frequently. And now my son's elementary school is without a principal (or vice principal) in the middle of the school year. How can a school operate with no leadership authority? Consistency is definitely not a concern for the DOE.

In the past, I've been told the burden of proof is on me to prove my son requires extra assistance/tutoring; I've been told I should send my son to a school in Kalihi so he can benefit from federal funding since he is attending a "passing" school; I've been told my son is lazy; I've been told my son will be a "bad speller" for the rest of his life; and now I've been told his school will be without a principal and I will have to make do.

The DOE needs to re-examine its hiring policies and start thinking about the children and their needs or more children like my son will be left behind.

MAKUA

ONUS ON PROTESTERS

Let it be on the minds of the people at Earthjustice and Malama Makua for any troops of the 25th who don't return.

OCEAN RESOURCES

FISHERIES BILLS MUST BE DEFEATED

The Department of Land and Natural Resources is committed to working with fishermen and others to protect marine resources, and we must retain all management tools in order to be successful.
However, three bills introduced in the Legislature, House Bill 2881, House Bill 2587 and Senate Bill 3047, would redirect the DLNR's responsibility from protecting the resources to simply promoting fishing, no matter what the consequences are to our ocean resources. These bills should be killed — if they pass, the measures would result in ultimately killing marine resources instead of protecting them.
A recent audit of DLNR's Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement clearly underscored the need for all of us to take a more proactive role in natural resource management.
These bills send DLNR in exactly the opposite direction. Closing designated ocean areas to fishing year-round has proven to be far superior to seasonal closures in regard to the management of many fishery stocks. Yet, these bills call for area closures only as a measure of last resort.
This is all the more ironic in light of the fact that the Legislature itself previously acknowledged the effectiveness of this approach by passing legislation in 1998 that established a network of closed areas for the aquarium fishery in West Hawai'i.
As noted in DLNR's 2004 report to the Legislature, these closed areas have increased the populations of aquarium fish both inside and outside the closed areas, while the overall take and dollar value of this fishery have increased. This clearly demonstrates that area closures can be mutually beneficial for both fish and fishermen.
We completely agree that management actions should be based on solid scientific analysis and that they be followed up with sound and statistically defensible monitoring plans. DLNR has already implemented this as a matter of standard operating practice.
These bills would drastically curtail and irrevocably harm DLNR's ability to manage marine resources and would favor a single special-interest group of ocean users, the fishermen, over all others and at the long-term expense of the resources.
DLNR supports fishermen and the many other ocean users; but DLNR cannot cater to any single group, as the bills suggest. All of us share the responsibility of protecting our ocean resources.
We also share a common goal — we all want fish for the future. However, handcuffing DLNR's ability to responsibly manage aquatic resources and subverting those responsibilities to the desires of a single faction is a betrayal of the public trust for the citizens of Hawai'i.