DOE administrators need a conscience

Your editorial on the $4.4 million special education settlement by the state Department of Education (“Pricey special-needs settlement for state,” Star-Advertiser, Our View, Aug. 31), and a letter to the editor (“Schools can’t do everything,” Star-Advertiser, Letters, Aug. 31) both missed the point. 
The DOE did not learn a costly lesson, because none of the offending personnel had to pay — we taxpayers are paying.

Nobody asked the schools to do everything — the charge was “deliberate indifference,” not “trying their best but falling short.”

We don’t ask them to do everything, we just wish they had a conscience.

John Mussack
Makiki

Taxpayers can’t do everything either

I agree with Julie Ohara that the schools shouldn’t be expected to do everything, but I would broaden that sentiment by suggesting that neither should the taxpayer (“Schools can’t do everything,” Star-Advertiser, Letters, Aug. 31).

We certainly all should feel a concern for those less advantaged than us and act on those instincts, but when in our history did we forget that a helping hand should be a voluntary act, and if it is mandated by government force, it no longer feels charitable or caring on a personal level to the giver or the receiver?

Add to that the past record of government efforts at socialized education to you-name-it programs to improve the lives of the disadvantaged, and you find yourself a witness to an endless account of corruption, waste, excuses, lawsuits and then more reform.

Why not look to ourselves and private institutions to bear the responsibility, where the results are effective, tangible, accountable and personal?

Guy Monahan
Nuuanu

Barbs at Cachola were right on target

Thanks to David Shapiro for a great flASHback column (“Lawmakers snap on gloves for probe of concert fiasco,” Star-Advertiser, Flashback, Sept. 2), especially the last paragraph, in regards to Romy Cachola reprimanding his fellow City Council members. Ha!

Romy Cachola has been accused of running a corrupt campaign to win his seat this past election against Nicole Velasco. 

Shapiro was so correct in his article about the Cachola reprimand: “Stop making us laugh when we see the words ‘Integrity,’ and ‘Council’ used in the same sentence.”

Very true! Especially when those words are uttered by Romy Cachola!

Susan Eubank
Diamond Head

Hawaii could use a good cleaning

I am a New Zealander who has visited Hawaii every year since 1996, and my wife is from the Big Island. So it’s great to visit the family.

However, each year I come back to Hawaii, I seem to notice more and more that Honolulu, and in particular Waikiki, are slipping down the ranks of cleanliness. The city is starting to look shabby and dirty. Its reputation is on the line here.

A good old-fashioned steam clean might be needed, addressing the homeless situation is a must, and getting locals to take pride in their city are the keys to this success.

Honolulu’s airport reminds me of old-style Russian airports of the 1980s. The dreadfully antiquated, slow and seemingly very bored customs-clearance system is not the welcome one would expect from a city claiming to be a top tourist destination.

Come on, Hawaii. Start getting with the program or otherwise tourists just may start looking elsewhere for more modern holiday destinations.

Glenn Bisdee
Nelson, New Zealand

Circular arguments characterize politics

What comes first, the chicken or the egg?

That question has perplexed us since we were children.

That question encapsulates the principal disagreement between the two parties this political season. One party argues that jobs come first; the other party contends that businesses come first. One party stresses that jobs will hatch greater demand for products and services, and therefore create more businesses; the other party argues that if businesses are more successful they will lay jobs.

Where one comes out on the question will likely depend on what investment one has in the outcome. Why? The question was designed to be unanswerable. So why are we yelling at each other? Let’s do both: Feed the chicken and warm the egg.

Nelson S.W. Chang
Kaneohe

Cardio comparisons are immaterial

Front page news is so wasted on these data studies that bear little value to the general public in comparison to their use by the special interests conducting such studies (“Hula workout on par with sports, study finds,” Star-Advertiser, Aug. 29).  

While you play pickup basketball in order to get in shape, the athlete, instead, gets in shape in order to play basketball. This has nothing to do with patients in cardiac rehabilitation therapy.

There are infinite ways to relate workout activities with each other. But cardio comparisons are immaterial. Any high-intensity activity will equal other high-intensity activities, whether competitive basketball or not.

Cardio comparison between hula and sports is just not news.

While I love, support and practice traditional hula, I think that this article shamefully thumps the use of data that markets the cardiopulmonary benefits of using hula as rehab.

Nalikolau Lam
Kailua