'DIVINE PROGRAM'

PLANTS COULD BE USED TO DISCOURAGE GRAFFITI

After reading Pat Takenishi's letter (March 31) concerning graffiti, it brought to mind an article that we just read where our own divine Bette Midler is fighting graffiti in New York City by introducing the "Divine Program."

Launching this spring, it aims to reclaim neighborhoods in a vertical fashion by planting ivy vines along blank walls to discourage graffiti.

Maybe the state should supply the Anti-Graffiti Task Force with plants instead of paint. It's certainly worth a try.

MOUNTAINS

PIG HUNTERS SHOULDN'T BE ON HIKING TRAILS

I was shocked, but not surprised, to hear of the recent death of the Van Dykes' pet pig, Gonzo Picasso, on Tantalus.

I've been on a hiking path when pig hunters and their dogs passed me and my pet dogs.

Their animals are intent on killing. And if it wasn't for the hunters holding them back with leashes, I feel my dogs would have been ripped apart by these dogs.

Many people use the hiking trails — tourist groups, families with small children, joggers, and others with pet dogs enjoying the beauty of our mountains.

To let hunters on these trails is an accident waiting to happen. If the dogs can go onto private property and invade a pet pig's private space, this tells me the hunters have no control over the dogs once they are unleashed.

And who's held accountable?

Will the next victim be a small child? Or a tourist out on a nature adventure? Or the family pet dog?

DRUG TESTING

DON'T LET GOVERNMENT INTRUDE IN OUR LIVES

What group of individuals does our lieutenant governor want drug-tested now?

At first it was our students, now there is talk of randomly testing our teachers.

Why stop there? If we seriously think this policy will work and really don't care about limiting our civil liberties in the process, there is a rationale for expanding the testing to include, among others, all doctors, all nurses, anyone with access to drugs and all of us who drive automobiles.

Who poses a bigger risk to society at large? A teacher or student who might or might not be smoking marijuana, or a driver of an automobile who is under the influence of drugs?

There is a political saying that those who sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither.

Giving government the power to intrude this much into the lives of basically innocent individuals, in my mind, is not worth any proclaimed supposed benefit of this proposal.

HOUSING PLACEMENT

INNOVATIVE USE OF WELFARE FUND LAUDED

I was glad to see The Advertiser shine a spotlight on a common-sense and highly effective initiative that has dramatically improved the lives of thousands of low-income persons who were homeless or in danger of losing their homes ("Housing program gaining attention," March 19).

Launched as a pilot project on O'ahu in 2004 by Department of Human Services Director Lillian Koller, the program — later expanded to the Neighbor Islands — provides the first month of rent and security deposits to low-income families.

DHS, landlords and community agencies then work together to find long-term housing for these parents and their children.

This successful housing placement program represents another example of Koller's innovative use of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families federal welfare funding to address some of Hawai'i's biggest challenges, including homelessness, substance abuse and unhealthy activities among youth.

As the article mentioned, this program "won't solve the homeless crisis on its own," but it is an important step in the right direction.

SENATE

HEE HAS HELPED KEEP KAHUKU HOSPITAL OPEN

I was born at Kahuku Hospital, raised on the Kahuku Sugar Plantation and now work at Kahuku Hospital while living in Hau'ula.

When the hospital announced it was closing, I called Sen. Clayton Hee. He came out to Kahuku to meet with some of our workers in a hastily organized meeting. At that meeting he promised us he would do all he could to save Kahuku Hospital.

On March 29, the governor signed Senate Bill 1260, making an emergency appropriation of $950,000 to keep our hospital open while the Legislature continues to find a permanent solution.

SB 1260 was authored by Senator Hee. In addition, Senator Hee has been to three of our hospital community evening meetings despite his difficult work as Senate judiciary and labor chairman.

Say what you will about him, what I know is when we needed his help, he met with us and, working with Rep. Mike Magaoay, helped us save our hospital when no one else would.

He means what he says, and he says what he means.

BEATING CASE

'INTERVENING CAUSE' MUST BE CONSIDERED

Virginia Hench's analysis of hate crimes (Focus, April 1) does not address "intervening cause."

The accident was random. The severity of the beating was not. There was an intervening cause motivating the severity of the beating: racial hatred.

We should not accept racial bigotry and violence, a sad part of our reality here in Hawai'i, as Hench suggests.

We will never effectively address violence in Hawai'i if we remain in denial about its underpinnings: racial bigotry, sexism, heterosexism, etc. Each of us must eliminate our prejudices and conform our behavior to the law.

I also want to respond to an earlier letter that whites should not be offended at the term "haole." I take no offense to "haole," it is the "f------" that so often precedes it to which I take exception.

INDIVIDUALS SHOULD BE JUDGED ON CHARACTER

The important issue illustrated by the incident in Waikele is not whether it was a hate crime, but the perception by persons of European descent that they are all a minor incident away from having someone screaming "f------ haole" at them, or worse.

Asian and Polynesian roots are celebrated; European roots are tolerated at best.

Martin Luther King Jr. said that individuals should be judged on their character, and that still seems like a good idea to me.

TECHNOLOGY

ROBOTICS HELPS SUPPORT HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

With the help of Gov. Linda Lingle, Hawai'i will host a FIRST Robotics Regional in Hawai'i in 2008.

As a student on one of the first Hawai'i FIRST teams in 2000, I was fortunate to be involved in a program that brought high school students and volunteer industry mentors together. Experiences such as those are generally available only with college internships.

Students get to use what they learn in the classroom to verify what is happening with their creations. It also develops teamwork, problem-solving and time management.

It would be great to see Hawai'i teams participate in the Hawai'i FIRST Robotics Regional next year.

I'm happy to return to my alma mater, McKinley High School, as a mentor.

We're going to need many more teachers, engineers, machinists and supporters to come out and support new FIRST Hawai'i teams.

Investing in our students will help push Hawai'i in the right direction toward a more technology-driven economy.

RIGHTS OF CHILDREN

HOUSE SHOULDN'T BE DEBATING U.N. ISSUE

On April 2, the House Human Services and Housing Committee voted 4-3 for HR 48, urging the U.S. government to approve the United Nations Convention on the Human Rights of the Child.

Some of the treaty's effects are good, such as stopping the sale of young girls sold as brides. But selling daughters is not part of American culture, and Hawai'i already has an age-of-consent law.

In America, parents have the fundamental right to raise our own children, except for child abusers.

One problem with the U.N. treaty is that the same words granting children a right to appeal being sold into marriage also grant the right to sue parents over conflicts about study habits or dating rules.

The presence of any "conflict" means that Family Court would make the final decision, not parents. Such intrusion of government power would be creepy and expensive, so great wisdom is needed to balance these issues.

The House Human Services and Housing Committee should be solving Hawai'i's homeless crisis instead of debating this topic.

And the House Education Committee vice-chair, who sponsored the resolution, should be fixing the Department of Education instead of dabbling with a treaty that belongs on the desks of Sens. Daniel Inouye and Daniel Akaka.

EDUCATION

ART GETTING SHORT SHRIFT IN ISLE PUBLIC SCHOOLS

I agree so much with your editorial that art is very important and must be a part of education. ("Arts must have role in children's education," March 31).

What most parents probably do not know is that in many schools, such as in my son's Pearl Harbor Kai Elementary, the school will give children a grade in art but does not teach it, although it is part of the core curriculum.

I consider that seriously cheating our children. How do they get away with it?

How many parents really ask for the art that the children did?

Art is more than painting one picture per school year.

We had local artist Cindy Conklin visit our school during a fun night, and she showed her art and explained her techniques to the children.

Maybe the art community should pay closer attention to the schools, not just the few chosen schools but all of them.

Many children are left behind here.