SURFING

ROTHMAN'S VICTORY MADE HAWAI'I PROUD

Congratulations Makua Rothman, 2007 O'Neill World Cup of Surfing Champion!

Your amazing come-from-behind victory over an international field of the best surfers in the world, including this year's world champion, has made all of Hawai'i proud!

Good luck in the Pipeline Masters.

WARRIORS

ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT FAILED FANS YET AGAIN

The University of Hawai'i athletics department's justification that it was impossible to calculate the demand from season-ticket holders because it had no history with an event like the Sugar Bowl instantly fails the "eh?" test.

Hawai'i brought 20,000 fans to Reno for a game that meant far less than the Sugar Bowl.

Any reasonable person would have immediately known that ticket demand for the Sugar Bowl would be higher, not lower.

Now fans are left to pick up the pieces after athletics department officials have failed us yet again.

FANS' SUPPORT, LOYALTY WAS UNDERESTIMATED

I can't believe the University of Hawai'i gave back 4,000 of the 17,500 allotted tickets to the Sugar Bowl. They didn't think they would be able to sell all of them? You've gotta be kidding!

They underestimated the support and dedication of the Warriors' fans. Wasn't the demand for tickets for the last two games any indication? People would pay hundreds of dollars to watch their team play in the most exciting season in UH football history.

An undefeated season may never come again, so of course die-hard and all fans alike would want to be a part of this remarkable season. Now UH will have 4,000 fewer supporters in the stands on game day.

And to those who bought tickets and now are selling them on the Internet (you know who you are): Sell them to the UH fans who really want to be there at the Superdome cheering the Warriors on. Time and time again, players have said the fans were the 12th member of the team who helped them win. They will need all the fans' support and cheers there in the biggest game in UH history!

UNIVERSITY HAD NO FAITH IN FOOTBALL FANS

The University of Hawai'i Warrior football team and fans believed.

The UH Athletics Department and its director, Herman Frazier, did not.

Thanks again, Mr. Frazier, for your faith in Hawai'i and its fans.

SCHEDULE, BOWL TICKETS NOTHING TO GLOAT OVER

I thought it funny that University of Hawai'i athletics director Herman Frazier should comment that the scheduling problem for UH football this year worked out in the end, and that he wasn't going to gloat about it.

From the very moment the Sugar Bowl was announced, you knew there was going to be a problem with airline tickets to the Big Easy.

Then I read in Wednesday's paper that the decision to bail out on the faithful fans to the tune of 4,000 tickets was made the day before he told everyone he wasn't going to gloat about his scheduling genius.

UH FANS SHOWED ALOHA TO VISITING UW FANS

I want to commend University of Hawai'i fans at the UH-Washington game.

As an UW alumna living on the island, we had friends come in from Seattle and had cautioned them about possible rowdy hecklers. We even thought to bring neutral shirts to wear if Washington won the game. I was wrong on both counts.

Our group was shown aloha the entire weekend, and the Seattlites stated that this away game was the best experience they had this season (except for the losing part).

We were stopped before, during and after the game by die-hard UH fans thanking us and commending the UW football team on a well-played game.

It made a girl proud that she was from Hawai'i. Congratulations to the UH Warriors and their 12th player, the dedicated UH fans.

OVERDEVELOPMENT

O'AHU PAID LIP SERVICE TO MANAGING GROWTH

It's no surprise that O'ahu got a "serious trouble" rating from National Geographic. In a study done in the late 1970s, it was determined that the ideal ratio between the number of people and their resource base (such as parks, beaches, open space, housing, quality of life, etc.) was exceeded in 1970.

Oahuans have been dealing with overdevelopment and politicians' pandering rhetoric for so long that a lot of folks think it is kill fight already.

In my lifetime, I've seen O'ahu grow from a nice town into a congested, overdeveloped big city dominated by the tourist and construction industries' never-ending growth agenda.

The 1978 constitutional convention addressed some growth issues, such as targeting and saving prime ag lands and having better long-range planning, but as we all see now it was just lip service with no muscle to stop land speculation and urban sprawl.

It's funny to see the anti-ferry people demanding an environmental impact statement. Most of them are malihinis who moved here less than 30 years ago — where was the EIS about the impact of them moving here?

In the 1970s, they were the guys crowding up the surf spots and buying up land. Did they move here to work on a plantation or get away from political oppression or did they come because it was groovy?

Uncomfortable fact — 60 percent of our population growth in the last 30 years is from people moving here. I like the bumper sticker from Moloka'i about tourists — Don't move here, just visit.

SEX EDUCATION

ABSTINENCE-ONLY PROGRAMS INEFFECTIVE

The nation's teen birth rate has risen for the first time in 14 years, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention in a just-released report. The birth rate had been dropping since 1991, but it jumped 3 percent from 2005 to 2006.

The U.S. has the highest teen pregnancy rate of any developed nation. Yet federal funding is increasing for dangerous abstinence-only education programs, which every study has shown to be ineffective and do nothing to prevent unintended pregnancy or sexually transmitted infections.

Some $100 million is spent in the U.S. annually ($900,000 in Hawai'i) on these programs that deny teenagers information to prevent pregnancy or protect their health.

Our youth need comprehensive, medically accurate information that will keep them healthy and prevent unintended pregnancy — information about abstinence, contraception, prevention of STIs, communication, and responsible decision-making.

Planned Parenthood of Hawai'i has introduced legislation for many years requiring sexuality education in Hawai'i's public schools to be medically accurate and age appropriate. It has failed to pass.

It's time to put our money toward real solutions. Virginia just became the 14th state to reject federal funding for abstinence-only programs because they don't work. Gov. Linda Lingle should make Hawai'i the 15th state to reject federal funds for the dangerous and ineffective abstinence-only sex education programs.

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS

PROPER ID PAPERS NEEDED TO OBTAIN DRIVER'S LICENSE

This is in response to Mr. Bradley Coates' letter (Nov. 30) regarding Hawai'i as being one of the eight states that issues drivers' licenses to illegal immigrants.

The eight states mentioned in the news article do not have a legal presence requirement for issuance of a driver's license. Not having a legal presence requirement does not mean that the states issue licenses to illegal immigrants.

Hawai'i's laws do not require legal presence as a condition of obtaining a driver's license. However, Hawai'i laws require that an applicant present a valid Social Security card as a condition of licensure. If an applicant cannot provide a Social Security card, the applicant is referred to the Social Security Administration, which will determine whether the applicant is authorized to work in the United States and therefore entitled to a Social Security number.

If the Social Security Administration determines the applicant is not entitled to a Social Security number, we have established procedures for SSA to fax a letter to our licensing facilities indicating that the person is not eligible to obtain a Social Security number for non-work purposes in the United States.

Upon receipt by the driver licensing office of this document, the applicant may proceed with the licensing process. Additionally, all driver's license applicants are required to provide proof of legal name and date of birth. If an applicant was not born in the United States, the only acceptable documentation for proof of legal name and date of birth are: a valid foreign passport with appropriate immigration documents; certificate of citizenship; certificate of naturalization; resident alien card; temporary resident identification card; or employment authorization card.

Based on the documents that are required, it would be difficult for an illegal immigrant to obtain a Hawai'i driver's license.