NO SOLUTION

SO MUCH FOR QUIETER, GENTLER ISLAND LIFE

There are simply too many of all things on the island of O'ahu.

There are too many banana poka vines, too many abandoned sofas, too many failed diesel particulate filters, too many stuffed sinuses, too many micro parking spaces, too many ignored red lights, too many unwashed windows, too many wild parakeets, too many bugs that bite, too many plastic grocery bags adrift, too many termite bait traps, too many airplanes landing, too many cars stolen, too many children neglected, too many pigeons kukae-ing, too many acres of developable land, too many miles of roads disintegrating and too many of us.

The only thing there is not enough of is money to sustain the remnants of a quieter, slower, gentler lifestyle. Too late. Get used to it.

LANDFILL

CURBSIDE RECYCLING MUST BE PART OF PLAN

In the Jan. 21 article "Mayor uncertain of landfill close date," the mayor is quoted as saying "Everything is on the table." Then how about curbside recycling? This would divert about 40,000 tons a year from Waimanalo Gulch.

One company even offered to pay the city for the islandwide curbside recycling contract.

An absolute no-brainer: recycle valuable materials, extend the life of the landfill, no or little cost to the city.

Mr. Mayor, implement curbside recycling now. It's a win-win.

STATE DOLLARS

ETHANOL CREDITS NOT YET CLAIMED OR SPENT

Your Jan. 17 article pointed out that the state's E10 Unleaded program, which begins in April, is the first step toward diversifying our energy sources. This has been a state energy objective for many years, and Hawai'i is one of the last states in the nation without ethanol fuel.

For the record, however, we'd like to correct implications from the article:

The article implied that millions of state dollars have been spent. This is not correct. Although millions of dollars are available for ethanol production facilities in Hawai'i, none of these production credits have yet been claimed or spent.

Production credits can only be taken after a facility has been built and is successfully producing ethanol. That will be most likely in 2007 and 2008, after local ethanol production is up-and-running. Also, the ethanol facility credit law was revised so that credits available for a particular project will not exceed the amount invested to build the facility.

Some in the article also expressed concern that moneys would be flowing out of the state to import ethanol before local production commences. Fossil fuel, which is what ethanol is displacing, is imported also. The Hawai'i environment, however, benefits with a cleaner-burning fuel.

Finally, the "extra cost to drivers" quoted from the draft Stillwater report assumes the same price per gallon for gasoline and E10. With E10 Unleaded at 10 cents less per gallon than gasoline, the potential consumer savings with E10 would be more than $21 million per year.

Including something other than fossil fuel in Hawai'i's energy mix makes sense, now more than ever.

U.S. SENATE

ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT MUST BE SAVED

One of our country's most successful and valued environmental laws, the Endangered Species Act, has protected 317 of Hawai'i's species, like the nene and monk seal, for the past thirty two years. Unfortunately, the law that has protected so much of our most valued wildlife from extinction is now itself endangered.

Efforts are currently under way in Congress to weaken and dismantle the much-needed safety net that the Endangered Species Act provides. In September, the House of Representatives passed controversial legislation that significantly weakens protections for species while creating several loopholes that benefit big developers and other big special interests.

Luckily, the last chapter of this history book has yet to be written. It is now up to the U.S. Senate to determine the fate of our country's most endangered wildlife. Sens. Inouye and Akaka should oppose this assault on the Endangered Species Act so that wildlife in Hawai'i can live happily ever after.

EVOLUTION

MORALITY DOESN'T RELY ON INTELLIGENT DESIGN

I am astounded that The Honolulu Advertiser would publish the Jan. 18 letter by James Roller. As someone who accepts the scientific fact of evolution and who has been doing research in the field for 30 years, I find the implication that acknowledging evolution leads to moral bankruptcy to be extremely insulting.

I consider myself of decent, though by no means perfect, moral standing, yet I hold no religious belief. Human morality does not depend on Christian or other religious belief.

Indeed, the words and actions of some of those trying to scientifically un-educate our children by insisting they be taught the myth of intelligent design strike me as seriously lacking in morality and tolerance, as well as reflecting a total misunderstanding and hence total misrepresentation of the evolutionary paradigm.

Evolution is not a chance process. It is guided by natural selection, as well as a number of other mechanisms. Human morality most likely evolved through the process of natural selection. Wakening our children to their own morality is an obligation of both parents and schools, but is not predicated on a belief in intelligent design or any other religious construct.

ORANGUTAN

ZOO — IT'S ABOUT TIME

It's a relief to read in The Advertiser that the Honolulu Zoo, finally, is doing something to update its orangutan exhibit. These highly intelligent primates shouldn't be on display at all. The tiny chain-link cage is one of the most disgraceful examples of animal cruelty I've seen at an American zoo.

STUDENT ABUSE

DARE PROGRAM FAILS TO ACHIEVE RESULTS

I was pleasantly surprised to read in your Jan. 23 front-page story that the DOE is asking: "Is DARE enough?" The question is way overdue.

From 1994 through a 2003 evaluation by the General Accounting Office, the DARE program has been judged ineffective in changing students' attitudes toward drugs and keeping them from using drugs and alcohol. The No Child Left Behind Act recommends only programs approved by the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention. Yet DARE does not appear on that lengthy list of "evidence-based" federally recognized programs.

In recognition of this reality, many school districts, including Los Angeles, New York City, Seattle and even Salt Lake City, have eliminated DARE.

As Beverly Creamer reports, there is a "new" DARE being developed in response to the criticism. This revamp, however, will not address one of the fundamental faults of the DARE program: the use of police officers as instructors. Research shows that students learn more from interactive programs that use a non-authoritarian approach and an instructor with a health background.

DARE's "Just Say No" approach simply doesn't work. With our scarce resources and serious substance-abuse problems, we cannot afford to give ineffective programs a place in our schools. DARE fails.

JOB COMPETITION

HAWAI'I CANNOT RETREAT ON ITS EDUCATIONAL STANDARDS

As a result of globalization, workers have begun to compete for jobs on a worldwide basis. American corporations now hire engineers living in India to design computer chips. The global competition for jobs is increasing rapidly, and our children will grow up to live in a world in which the competition will be fierce. The quality of education provided to our children today will mean either a prosperous future for them or a bleak one.

Sadly, the quality of education delivered by Hawai'i's public education system does not portend a bright future for our children. Hawai'i's public education is inferior to that of most of the other states in the nation.

However, the potential for improvement exists. Hawai'i's test standards are high, indicating high expectations. The standards give us something to aim for. The high standards give us hope.

So it is disconcerting that Gov. Lingle recently proposed to lower the test standards for Hawai'i's public school students (Advertiser, Jan. 15). In her opinion, the standards are currently set at unreasonably high levels. Yet, those standards were developed by educators and experts in the field.

She says that her intent is not to "dumb down" the test. Rather, her intent is to improve the morale of teachers. Whatever the intent, the effects of lowering test standards would be the same. More students would receive better test scores without any improvement in their actual ability.

Although the governor's proposal is misguided, her observations are accurate. The morale of teachers suffers when they see low test scores. The situation is bewildering because Hawai'i's teachers are among the most dedicated and most highly trained in the entire nation. In addition, Hawai'i's children have just as much innate ability as children anywhere else in the world.

In theory, Hawai'i's children should be among the best educated in the nation. The reason for the vast difference between theory and reality lies in the organizational structure of the Department of Education. According to Superintendent of Education Pat Hamamoto, the DOE is "obsolete." That's what she said in a speech to the Legislature two years ago, and the DOE has not changed much since then.

Improving test scores artificially by lowering test standards will not improve the quality of public education in Hawai'i. Real improvement will result only after the public education system is modernized.

HAWAI'I AGRICULTURE

MISSION TO PHILIPPINES FRUITFUL

Gov. Linda Lingle has often said that government should foster an environment that allows business to succeed. Sister state agreements, memorandums of understanding and the recent centennial mission to the Philippines by a 178-member Hawai'i delegation have accomplished just that.

Throughout the seven-day trip led by Gov. Lingle and leaders of Hawai'i's Filipino community, the delegation was continuously met with genuine hospitality.

During the governor's mission, relationships were renewed and new friendships were formed between government leaders, legislators and business people, laying the foundation for continuing collaboration between Hawai'i and the Philippines.

A ceremony to recognize one such collaborative effort was hosted by the Philippine-based Ilocos Hawaiian Agribusiness Corp. to formally inaugurate a mango-processing plant that is currently under construction and set to open this April in Ilocos Sur Province.

The new plant will process dried mangoes, mango puree and concentrate, mango juice and mango candies, and market these products for export to the Mainland, Japan, Hong Kong, China and here in Hawai'i. Mango growers in the provinces of Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur and Pangasinan will be able to generate more revenue by selling their non-export-grade mangoes to the processing plant.

To further expand agricultural partnerships, the University of Hawai'i College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources signed memorandums of understanding with two Philippine universities, the Mariano Marcos State University and the University of the Philippines at Los Banos. These collaborative agreements formalize the relationship between the Philippine and Hawai'i institutions through mutual exchanges of agricultural research and education.

Delegation members also met with Philippine agricultural officials, including the Secretary of Agriculture Domingo Panganiban and various U.S. Department of Agriculture officials, to discuss common challenges in the agricultural industry and to explore partnership opportunities in agricultural technology, pest control, research and trade.

Projects such as the processing plant joint venture, agricultural research exchange and extension services are crucial to the viability of any agriculture industry. By creating new relationships, making face-to-face contacts, forming agreements and participating in economic development missions that also incorporate cultural exchange, Gov. Lingle's mission to the Philippines has served to develop trust and create opportunities for new business to occur.