EDUCATION

SUPERINTENDENT LEADS WITH GOOD JUDGMENT

Pat Hamamoto draws upon her 40 years of educational experience in your "Ask the Experts" column. She considers private and home schooling, as well as public schooling, as possibilities. And she stresses that the parents do thorough research before selecting a school.

She also lists common-sense considerations, such as religion-based, special programs, cost, distance, academic achievement and talking with other parents. She emphasizes visiting the schools before making a final decision.

There are some letter writers who regularly trash public schools. At the first whiff of bad news they are quick to spin the news into a disaster. I often wondered if they ever did any research or for that matter even visited a public school?

Pat Hamamoto leads public schools with good judgment. When you combine experience and common sense, that translates into wisdom.

PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR TEACHERS LACKING

In a recent letter to the editor regarding drug testing for teachers, it was mentioned how the advocacy of that testing was an indication of how important we the people consider the teaching position.

I disagree. "We the people" do not consider teaching to be that important. Otherwise, teachers would not be leaving the profession in droves to find jobs that they can support a family with.

Unfortunately, only another teacher can really relate to what it's like to be a teacher, many of whom have to deal with serious crisis and behavior management on a daily basis and still actually teach a subject.

As for drug testing, has anyone ever heard of any student being harmed because of a teacher on drugs? And what drugs are we talking about? Antidepressants? Antibiotics? Alcohol? If any drug is a threat to a profession, it would certainly be alcohol. But "We the people" seem to be OK with that drug.

HAWAIIAN CULTURE

NOELANI MAHOE, HOTEL SET A GOOD EXAMPLE

What a wonderful example the 'Ilima Hotel management and employees are setting with their Friday Hawaiian entertainment for the guests (Lee Cataluna's column Nov. 27). Every hotel should follow suit.

Securing the talents of Noelani Kanoho Mahoe to teach them was a stroke of genius. Many of us know or remember her as the leader of the Leo Nahenahe Singers, one of the best Hawaiian recording and performing groups in the Islands; founder and director of the popular Waimanalo Keikis; producer of the history-making, trend-setting Hawaiian concerts for the Hawaiian Music Foundation; and an educator who helped introduce Hawaiian language, music, and culture into the state Department of Education.

Those are just a few of her many credits and a good reason why the hotel's program is so successful. She also has one of the most beautiful voices in the Islands.

The 'Ilima Hotel and Noe Mahoe are winners. General managers and concierges of other hotels in Waikiki should go to the 'Ilima on Friday to see how it is done and copy it.

INTERISLAND TRAVEL

LOCAL TRAVELERS BEARING THE BRUNT OF COST HIKES

I note in today's paper (Nov. 30) that Aloha Airlines has announced it will raise interisland fares by $10 per one-way ticket. Aloha continues to deeply discount Mainland fares with prices substantially below competing airlines. Why must interisland travelers bear the brunt of so called increased costs?

At least one airline analysis company has estimated that "break even" is $50 per interisland flight when there is a load factor of 70 percent. Both Aloha and Hawaiian have reported load factors of 80 percent and more.

When is enough, enough? I'm hoping the ferry gets a full green light with no more hassles.

COUPON BOOKS GOOD FOR CUSTOMERS, AIRLINES

I read your article (Nov. 30) about the Aloha Airline fare increase due to fuel costs and I can understand that airlines cannot operate at a loss.

My suggestion to Hawaiian Air, Aloha Airlines, and Island Air would be to implement $50 fare coupon books for interisland travel. Aloha Airlines offered these coupon books for $300 for six coupons several years ago and they were very convenient.

The coupons were easy to use and didn't have the restrictions in case you needed to change a reservation to catch an earlier or later flight to meet your schedule demands. This was a fair price to charge for interisland travel and would return our local airlines back to profitability without the threat of losing one of our airlines to bankruptcy.

The current fare war has reduced the airlines' profitability, and with the amount of restrictions applied to these cheap fares, it really only works for a small amount of travelers. People in Hawai'i, (especially business travelers) do have loyalty to the local airlines if they offer them the service and convenience at a fair price.

VISION TEST

LET DMV STAFF KNOW OF ANY TESTING CONCERNS

This is in response to Mr. Alfred Freitas' comments (Nov. 26) regarding his experience with the administration of the vision test and his assertion that the test is flawed and unfair.

I have been the city's licensing administrator for more than 30 years. During my tenure, there have been relatively few complaints regarding the vision tests, particularly given that we administer over 250,000 tests each year.

The majority of complaints regarding the vision tests have been from individuals who were borderline 20/40 in one or both of their eyes, or who incorrectly positioned their foreheads on the Titmus 2n Vision Screener. Rest assured that all complaints of a malfunctioning machine are checked by the driver license staff. If a machine is malfunctioning, the vision test is administered on a functional one.

As Customer Services Director Jeff Coelho had replied to Mr. Lee and Mr. Loomis' comments, the vision test is for driving purposes and is not meant to replace examinations performed by optometrists and ophthalmologists. For anyone with declining vision or vision that is borderline 20/40, we do accept a physician's certification in lieu of our vision test. Moreover, several optometrists have revealed to me that some of their patients were not aware of their vision problems until after failing the driver license vision test.

If anyone fails a vision test and believes the machine is malfunctioning, I recommend they make their concerns known to the driver license staff, who will have the machine checked.

RAIL TRANSIT

MAYOR'S EXPERT PANEL REMAINS A POLITICAL TOOL

Mayor Hannemann's letter to the editor (Nov. 30) commending your Teen Editorial Board contains all the catchphrases and pie-in-the-sky idealism that we have come to associate with the mass transit project.

Unfortunately the mayor still believes the public's primary objections are that people don't support the project because they don't plan to use it or that it will not serve their area. The objections the public has go beyond this shallow type of thinking.

The mayor blithely ignores real objections and real solutions that various members who are knowledgeable about these things have proferred.

Now the mayor wants to shift the decision-making away from duly elected officials to an appointed board that has no accountability to the public. One of the reasons given was to take politics out of the decision-making process, yet he wants to stack said board with his appointees (yes men?). I guess it's to take other people's politics out of the process while his political influence on the project remains intact.

One advantage of this appointed board is that it will offer both the mayor and the City Council a way to shift blame to this nameless board if things go wrong. Maybe it's an exit strategy.

I predict our elected officials will abdicate their responsibilities and take the easy way out.

DOWN SYNDROME

DISCRIMINATION STILL A PART OF DAILY LIFE

The Department of Health's Hawai'i Birth Defects Program last reported that 22 babies were born with Down syndrome in Hawai'i in 2002.

Being a parent of a young child with Down syndrome, I meet other parents who also have a child with Down syndrome and would like to meet more through www.hawaiidownsyndrome.com. Our advocacy strives for children with Down syndrome and their families to be able to be included in regular activities and programs and classes, at any age.

My family faces this issue of discrimination every day.

Our families are rejected from private schools, community programs that meet our children's developmental stages, and regular public classrooms.

Our state's policies and misinterpretation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) are major causes of this unwelcome phenomenon.

Yet I applaud the City and County of Honolulu's Parks and Recreation Department, which has extended developmentally appropriate classes with the required assistance for my child through its Therapeutic Recreation Department.

During this holiday season of hope and giving, we ask for the public's ear and help to demystify our children's abilities, strengths and needs.

COOL CLASSROOMS

USE ALTERNATIVES TO COSTLY AIR CONDITIONING

DOE — wake up! Of course, students need cooler classrooms in order to have a more comfortable learning environment. But, please do your homework before planning extensive increases in electricity use.

This is a perfect opportunity to lead the way in alternative ways of generating electricity and using other cooling techniques. Add fans to all classrooms — cheaper, effective. Use solar, photovoltaic, wind turbine strategies to generate electricity, insulate and tighten windows and doors. Tint windows and use blinds to keep out direct light and heat. Plant trees near buildings.

All of these things should be implemented first before you spend $8 million. Be an example for electricity use for the state. These strategies will help bring costs down for everyone.