FOR REAL SHIBAI, LOOK AT PRIVATE INSURERS

The letter of Sept. 16 calling the public option to proposed health care reform a "shibai" and asking us to feel sorry for private health insurance companies is itself a shibai.

The rates charged by private health insurers, as the article on page one of the same paper shows, have outpaced our wages for at least a decade. Yet one of the most common problems faced by people seeking coverage or trying to use it is that the private firms do their best not to cover anyone who has been or might get sick. That might cut into their enormous profits, which finance anti-reform rhetoric.

In California, for example, a fifth of all claims get denied by the state's largest private insurers, leaving those people's emergency room bills to be paid by the taxpayer at very high costs. Or, if those people's incomes leave them ineligible for Medicaid, they face enormous out-of-pocket debts that can ruin an entire family.

As the satirical group Billionaires for Wealthcare puts it, the rich in this country believe "If we aren't broke, don't fix it." But health care reform without a public option for the rest of us is really no reform at all.

David Chappell | Kane'ohe

RAIL TRANSIT

PROJECT TO BE BOON FOR CONSTRUCTION

I live on the Windward side, and I'm one of the thousands of construction workers who would benefit from building rail. Because construction is slow, I was without work and on the bench for many months.

When I was unemployed, I cut back and couldn't spend money at the restaurants and stores I usually do, and they lose business when people like me don't have work.

I'm looking forward to years of employment once rail is under way. Besides helping reduce traffic, rail benefits the economy and our construction industry.

Jasen Akina | Kane'ohe

AT-GRADE LIGHT RAIL NOT THE WAY TO GO

Reading Sunday's front-page article "Kamehameha Schools proposes cheaper Honolulu rail plan" might lead you to think that light rail transit in Honolulu is a new idea and worth revisiting. Far from it.

In 1976 an "Analysis of Transit Alternatives" looked at a light rail alternative that included grade-separated and street-running sections. In 1984 the "Hali 2000 Alternatives Analysis Study" examined at-grade light rail and partially grade-separated light rail alternatives from West Beach to UH-Manoa and Waikiki. Both studies determined that an at-grade light rail line would displace traffic lanes and worsen traffic conditions on several major streets, while providing slower and less reliable transit service than a grade-separated alternative.

The most recent study, "Transit Alternatives Analysis," prepared 10 years ago as part of the Primary Corridor Transportation Project, compared lower-cost transit alternatives including bus rapid transit and two at-grade light rail alternatives from Pearlridge to UH-Manoa. This study also concluded that at-grade light rail would not be effective and would not be cheap.

For over 30 years, the consistent conclusion of separate studies has been that at-grade light rail is not the way to provide a fast, frequent, and reliable transit alternative for O'ahu.

Mark Scheibe | Vice president, Parsons Brinckerhoff

ACORN

EDITORIAL CARTOON ADDED FIRE TO LIES

Regarding the ACORN cartoon in the editorial section (Sept. 17):

While I believe that editorial cartoons are above censorship, doesn't The Advertiser have a responsibility to choose cartoons that do not promulgate a lie? To print a cartoon that shows the White House growing from the ACORN organization is a lie and adds fire to several lies that are disrupting the business of Congress.

Ruth Pratt | Honolulu

ARTS FUNDING

INADEQUACY A VOTE FOR A NEGATIVE FUTURE

The arts offer the earliest and most enduring evidence of human existence on the planet. They are at the root of everything we do. The arts are our means of showing passion for life, which is what drives us in whatever we do.

It is the responsibility of society to educate youth in those disciplines that are of value to us. By cutting funding for the arts, we are in essence saying that the things we enjoy in life — music, visual arts, movies, dance, architecture, actually every aspect of life — are not important.

It is very shortsighted of those in power to veto arts funding. If you do, you will find that these frustrated artistic impulses cannot be denied, and will explode perhaps in ways you might not appreciate — such as tagging. A frustrated person, and a frustrated society, are self-destructive. By refusing to adequately fund the arts, you are voting for a negative future for our students and for our society as a whole.

Linda Umstead | Mililani

HERITAGE MONTH

HISPANICS HAVE RICH CONTRIBUTION IN ISLES

Sept. 15 was the official kickoff of Hispanic Heritage Month. The period of Sept. 15 to Oct. 15 was chosen by the U.S. government to celebrate Hispanic culture since many Latin American countries commemorate their independence days during this period (Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and Nicaragua).

This year, the celebration started early when students from the University of Hawai'i at Manoa and Hawai'i Pacific University were awarded scholarships from the Keiki to Kollege program organized by the Latin Business Hawaii Association. When there seems to be more bad news than good at schools, we should thank and congratulate organizations from our community that are working hard to help our students afford learning and living in Hawai'i.

According to the latest Census Bureau estimates (July 2008), there are approximately 110,000 Hispanics in Hawai'i, 70,000 of which live on O'ahu. Hispanics have made great contributions in our state's 50-year history and they continue to do so.

Aranzazu Ascunce | Honolulu