Schools harmed by top-down culture

Darrel Galera and John Sosa — long known throughout the state as two of our strongest high school principals — deserve the gratitude of Hawaii teachers for their survey of principals that accurately measures the negative impact that the Race to the Top grant has had on our schools ("Principals feel they’re hamstrung, survey finds," Star- Advertiser, May 15).

Galera associates the current turmoil with the "top-down" character of the school system. This year I, like many teachers, have been prompted to seriously question the direction in which our national educational culture has been heading.

One conclusion I have come to is that we need to emulate the world’s strongest educational systems by making a "Copernican turn" away from top-down systems of school administration to a bottom-up configuration in which schools and school systems are "teacher-administered" — not by educational bureaucrats, but by the true experts of the teaching profession, those who work with children in the classroom on a daily basis.

Andy Jones
Language arts teacher
Radford High School
McCully

Lawmaker breaking law is not a surprise

Another lawmaker breaking the law ("Cachola allegedly misused funds," Star-Advertiser, May 15)?

Law-abiding taxpayers are not surprised.

He’ll get a slap on the wrist, win re-election, run for higher office, retire at the end of his political career, collect his full benefits and go on with his life as if nothing happened.

Which lawmaker will get caught next?

Steven M. Nakamura
Kapolei

Shinseki not given resources he needs

The Veterans Administration has been receiving a lot of criticism lately, much of it aimed at Gen. Eric Shinseki, who has been trying to fix a situation he inherited.

Like much of America’s health care system, the VA has problems, particularly with certain resources.

I remember when Shinseki was Army Chief of Staff and in testimony to the Senate told the senators that hundreds of thousands of troops would be needed to handle postwar Iraq. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and others who publicly ridiculed the number and we ended up with Iraq torn apart by sectarian violence.

I suspect that had the good general been given adequate resources then, a lot fewer Iraqi veterans would be in the VA system now.The $2 trillion wasted in Iraq could have been used to fix a number of ailing American institutions, including the VA.

Jim Quimby
Kalihi

Why so many waivers for UH candidate?

Much of the reaction in commentts and letters in the Star-Advertiser lamenting the opposition to retired Lt.. Gen. Francis Wiercinski for the position of University of Hawaii president misses the point.

It is not his military experience that disqualifies him, though it is sufficient grounds to disquiet many. Rather it is his utter lack of experience in higher education in a normal university setting that disqualifies him for this position.

He has only an undergraduate degree in engineering from West Point Military Academy (not a conventional university experience). He lacks the number of years of experience in higher education and the higher-level university degrees that were posted as minimum requirements for the job.

It is difficult in the extreme to understand how he could ever have been nominated in the first place.

A private would not be accepted to run an army; just so, Wiercinski, because he lacks the qualifications and relevant experience, cannot and should not be invited to run UH.

Lyle Campbell
Kailua

Actions, not words, are what matter

I enjoyed Kathleen Parker’s column on censorship ("Being discreet with words not same as censorship," Star-Advertiser, May 14).

While the First Amendment gives Americans legally protected freedom of speech, we see more and more cases where the civil consequences of speech, including private speech, have been dire.

The proliferation of 24-hour cable TV,Internet social networksand new recording devices have dramatically increased the risks of politically incorrect speech.

Donald Sterling, owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, was ruined by the release of a recorded private conversation.

While outrage has focused on the speaker, perhaps we should consider the listener as well. Christ observed, "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone." Who of us can say he has never uttered a comment in private that he would regret in public?

Maybe we could be more tolerant and forgiving; focus more on works and less on speech.

Rhoads Stevens
Hawaii Kai

Mayor should visit Waikiki more often

The mayor is offended that a down-and-out man in Waikiki blew his nose in a napkin pulled from the trash ("New eatery helps city reclaim beach spot," Star-Advertiser, May 12).

Caldwell is living a sheltered life, if that action offends him.Those of us who live and work in Waikiki must deal with being spat at by panhandlers, witness transients washing themselves in a drinking water fountain on Kalakaua and watch a man empty his colostomy bag filled with urine behind a bus bench on Kuhio.

All this as we navigate around individuals sleeping on the sidewalk.

If this is too graphic for Caldwell, maybe he should spend a week experiencing what we live with on a daily basis. Then he will appreciate it when a down-and-out blows his nose in a napkin out of the trash.

Melody Young
Waikiki

Trim of Housing First a lamentable decision

I find it hard to believe how short-sighted our City Council members are in their decision to refuse to extend Housing First funding to the people who seem to be the most chronically homeless — individuals.

Families are the ones working the hardest to get off the streets as it is. We really need to get individuals off the streets.

I was hoping that the concept of micro-housing would take off and that maybe tougher anti-vagrancy laws would be enacted.

We hard-working, taxpaying citizens should not have to put up with people taking over beaches, parks and bus stops while refusing to go to a shelter because of "rules."

The rest of us have plenty of rules to follow. No one is exempt.

Michel Grotstein
Kaneohe

Crabbe did what he was supposed to do

I commend Kamana’opono Crabbe for doing his fiduciary duty and due diligence in the questions raised to Secretary of State John Kerry — questions about the legal status of our kanakamaoli under international law that should have been raised long ago by Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustees.

Last November, OHA unanimously passed a policy to "facilitate" an exploration of nation- building, including the independence model. OHA has not addressed concerns, raised at Native Hawaiian community town hall and OHA governance meetings, that an election for delegates to a Native Hawaiian Constitutional Convention would be premature if held before the community is educated to the issues.

It is not pono for the facilitatorto attempt to steer the canoe. OHA trustees should not have rescinded Crabbe’s request. He was following policy the trustees correctly voted into effect last November. Crabbe’s letter can only clarify this complex issue.

Moanike’ala Akaka
Hilo

FROM THE FORUM

Readers of the Star-Advertiser’s online edition can respond to stories posted there. The following are some of those. Instead of names, pseudonyms are generally used online. They have been removed.

"New eatery helps city reclaim beach spot," Star-Advertiser, May 12:

>> Sounds wonderful and I will patronize the restaurant. Kuhio Beach is one of my favorite beaches and I hope this effort succeeds.

>> There should be consistent negative consequences for those exhibiting aggressive, anti-social behavior. We all want the homeless to get a chance to improve their lives. But the local governments have been remiss in diligently protecting the rights and welfare of the average citizen and/or visitor.

——

"Hawaii farmland swelled recently, feds say," Star-Advertiser, May 12:

>> A growth of 0.7 percent doesn’t deserve to be called "swelled."

>> The headline is misleading: The amount of land that is "farmed" (i.e., used for growing crops) did not "swell." Instead, it decreased by about 3,000 acres. However, land used for grazing cattle increased by about 11,000 acres, for a net increase of about 8,000 acres used for grazing farming.

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"Hit-run driver seeks Veterans Court," Star-Advertiser, May 13:

>>  I truly hope the prosecutor vetoes this process, which is absolutely ridiculous given the severity of the crime. It’s an attempt by the defendant to avoid responsibility and instead portray himself as the actual "victim" in this case.

>> Any normal person (who gives a darn) who kills another person is going to go through PTSD.

>> PTSD from a traffic fatality he caused is nonsense. His stress is coming from the sentence he might receive and not from the accident itself.

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"Molokai Ranch to bring grass-fed local beef to market under own brand," Star-Advertiser, May 13:

>> I don’t usually eat beef, but I had to try when offered Molokai Ranch beef as a guest of the ranch back in 2006. So ono! I’m happy to hear they will start marketing this. Even if it’s expensive, at least it continues the ranching tradition on Molokai.

>> If it is simply supply and demand, then there is a great demand and more should be getting into the business. There is lots of good grazing land on the Big Island just lying fallow.

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"Schofield troops to depart for mission in Afghanistan," Star-Advertiser, May 14:

>> Here’s hoping they all return safely and soon.

>> Hopefully we won’t go into Nigeria.

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"More same-sex couples choosing Hawaii for weddings," Star-Advertiser, May 14:

>> That is a beautiful photo of the two beautiful spouses-to-be. Congratulations!

>> It is about money. Morals do not matter anymore. The tourism industry will sell its soul to the devil to fill one more hotel room, one more airline seat, one more ticket for an Hawaiian luau or one more ticket for whatever.

>>  It’s not about the money. It’s about civil rights and freedom.

>> Such a shame that so many were so afraid. Let this be a lesson. Freedom will not end the world.

>> If we legalized polygamy — which would really increase tourism because multiple families would be invited to the wedding — I supposed that would be a "lesson" for us as well?

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"Ex-principal in dark on investigation," Star-Advertiser, May 15:

>> This is symptomatic of what plagues Hawaii. Nothing ever gets done in a timely manner. It’s been almost nine months since Principal John Sosa was placed on leave. I suspect it illustrates the incompetence of the Hawaii Department of Education in doing this type of investigation.

>> Surely there had to be a reason for this man being put on leave. Perhaps he was not toeing the DOE line.

>> We don’t know if the charges are valid or unfounded (because the charges have not been made public), but the man should at least be informed of what he is being investigated for.

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"Kentucky’s hemp seed battle raises alarms in isles," Star-Advertiser, May 15:

>>  I really hope Hawaii doesn’t get stymied on this really important import. Hemp production could be a real boon for Hawaii’s economy, and it’s not just the growers who can benefit, but everyone — the craftsmen, the entrepreneurs and the consumers.

>> How could hemp production be a real "boon" for Hawaii when there are far many places in this world that can grow it for cheaper — without labor costs, shipping costs, etc. Same thing happened to sugar.