Letters to the Editor

Is 10 percent noticeable?

It’s all about the money to the coffee blenders.

Selling 10 percent Kona at $4 to $5 for a 6-8 ounce bag, with 100 percent Kona at $12, means that they are charging one-third or more while using only one-tenth of Kona beans.

And only the premium beans (fancy, extra fancy and peaberry) are used for 100 percent, while the blenders use the smallest or cracked/deformed beans.

Blends should be labeled (if at all) according to the bean comprising the greatest percent. So if the blenders want to continue with only 10 percent Kona, they can blend it with coffee from nine other regions.

People who drink the 10 percent blend don’t think it is anything special and are surprised when they drink 100 percent for the first time. I doubt anybody can taste that one Kona bean in 10.

Lawrence Miike
Kaneohe

It’s hard to trust city about rail

The change-order fee due Kiewit Infrastructure West Co. makes a devastating statement about the city’s handling of the rail project ("Delay has city paying $15 million for change in rail plan," Star-Advertiser, Jan. 27).

Your article makes clear that this cost arises from the city’s inappropriate haste to issue the contract in question. The haste was designed to fool the public into believing the project was proceeding apace.

The record to date is replete with examples of how ill-managed this project has been. It is also littered with evidence of the city’s deception, intended to create the idea that the project was approved, in a strong financial position and unstoppable. This deception explains the uncomfortable feeling of many that they never got to vote on the originally "light" rail — now "heavy" — project with honest information from the city.

The city and Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation say, "trust us." That is clearly hard to do.

Peter S. Glick
Waialae Nui Ridge

‘Descendants’ insults Hawaii

The film "The Descendants" is a dangerous misportrayal of Hawaii, trivializing the commercial juggernaut that destroys lands bequeathed by the monarchs, calls Hawaii’s political leaders "bums," pretends that only haoles enjoy importance and that all others enjoy their subservience to haoles.

The film may win a "Best Picture" Academy Award unless a Native Hawaiian organization has the courage and good sense to make an official statement condemning the film.

Michael Haas
Professor of political science, University of Hawaii at Manoa (retired)

Humans often lack humanity

An owl flies about 2,000 miles and lands at Honolulu Airport to rest. What does the human race do? It kills it.

A little more than a year ago, two polar bears swam more than 1,000 miles from the Arctic to Iceland. What did the human race do? It killed them.

A monk seal is resting at a beach on one of our islands and what does the human race do? It kills it.

As far as the snake at the airport, it’s just a snake, so let’s kill it.

What we are seeing is the lack of humanity to animals that have every right to live and be protected.

The above humans should be ashamed of themselves.

Paul Nash
Kaneohe

Internet usage bill was a waste

What was state Rep. John Mizuno thinking?

To introduce a bill that obviously violates the Hawaii Constitution regarding privacy, and has again wasted time and paper in the Legislature — House Bill 2288, to track Internet usage by all Hawaii citizens — was something the Legislature junked quickly and properly.

I know Mizuno bragged last election about the number of bills he introduced, but few actually passed. Maybe it’s time legislators be counseled on what their real purpose should be. And yes, I’m disappointed to see the names of some of the others who signed on to this bill.

Lance Bateman
Kalihi

Have educators lead our schools

Like No Child Left Behind, Race to the Top is another federal inducement (really a mandate in effect) to the states that has distorted American education. The shame is that Hawaii bought into it so that the Business Roundtable could take control of public education in the state.

Ask yourself the following: Who are Don Horner and Kathryn Matayoshi and from which institutions did they come? Do either have any educational background beyond the Business Roundtable?

Public education would be much better off without Business Roundtable and the Hawaii State Teachers Association meddling in real education. It is time for bottom-up, rather than top-down, reform. Since only educators can make achievement happen — in the classroom and the school — it is time to give real educators the chance to make it happen.

David Ericson
Nuuanu

Teacher grading long overdue

I must give tremendous kudos to Schools Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi for her commitment to a much-needed teacher evaluation program.

With the state’s education system ranking last or nearly last for decades, this is well overdue.

I can only hope that Gov. Neil Abercrombie will effectively add to Matayoshi’s plans to drastically improve our state’s near-defunct education system.

Han Song
Kaneohe

Good schooling starts at home

More teacher evaluations won’t be that helpful. The root of the matter is that public school teachers nowadays have the dual role of teaching and disciplining.

How can they teach if children don’t listen, can’t focus and don’t respect authority? We need to put responsibility on parents. It starts in the home. Put away those video games, get your kids to listen to you the first time, and show them they should submit to authority.

Submitting is a choice and something that is learned primarily at home.

Julie Ohara
Kapolei

Let’s bring back breakdown lanes

How sad to read yet again of a Honolulu police officer losing his life while rendering aid to a stalled vehicle.

Several years ago the state Department of Transportation made a questionable decision to remove the center breakdown lane from H-1. Since that time there have been a number of unnecessary fatalities due to a lack of room to pull off to the side, resulting in one car rear-ending a stalled vehicle.

Adding to the cause of this most recent fatality was that in this particular area, by the Kaonohi Street overpass, an incline precludes one from seeing very far ahead.

While reinstatement of the breakdown area would result in a more crowded freeway, lives such as HPD Officer Garret Davis’ might have been saved.

John Toillion
Mililani