BUDGET SURPLUS

PROPOSED TAX REBATE COULD HELP EVERYBODY

The proposed tax rebate could benefit everybody if it is handled creatively.

For many people, $100 is a huge windfall that will pay bills and buy much-needed items. For some, it is a little extra to splurge with. For others, it is just pocket change.

It would be wonderful if we all were given the option to either accept the rebate or to donate it to a good cause. What would make the idea of donating more attractive would be to have a few choices to pick from, such as homeless shelters, roads or schools.

I hope that our government will give the taxpayers a choice in this matter so that everybody wins.

FIX WRETCHED ROADS WITH REBATE MONEY

Gov. Linda Lingle's politically correct idea to redistribute tax excesses to needy families is perplexing.

A one-time $100 gift per person, needy or not, will not go far. Maybe three gas fill-ups for an average car.

I suggest that rather than a token tax refund, the governor should spend the money on some of the most horrid roads and streets in the nation. This would save individuals far more than $100 since they would not have to buy new tires, CV boots, motor mounts and other parts damaged by the unspeakable roadways.

Space does not permit naming all the bad roads, but most people already know where they are.

REPAVING

REPAIR WORK SHOULDN'T RUIN ROADS' CONDITION

It is nice to see government repaving streets and roads around the island.

The problem occurs once the paving is completed. It is understandable that we need repairs for aging water mains, gas lines or other projects. However, when these projects are completed, they ruin the roadwork that was done previously.

It amazes me that our government transportation departments allow streets to be left in a condition that is detrimental to the health of residents, their vehicles and wallets.

We need to ensure the entity making the repair restores streets to a condition equal to or better than the original.

If this is not being done, then our tax dollars are wasted. If this is currently being done, then some people are not doing their jobs, and our tax dollars are wasted.

TRANSIT

POLITICIANS, DEVELOPERS CAUSING TRAFFIC WOES

Picture this: On the evening news, while watching a piece concerning traffic problems, you see a view of the H-2 during the afternoon rush hour, with crawling, bumper-to-bumper traffic, filling five to six lanes. If you could take out one car in five from that view, the spaces would fill up with the approaching traffic. Eventually, those at the end of the rush hour would pass that point, theoretically sooner.

Now, consider the 2009 groundbreaking and probable 2012-2014 construction period for our rail transit system. In the meantime, development will continue on the west side, increasing the population that is in need of transportation.

Even if 20 percent of these people, one in five cars, use mass transit, we will be viewing the same crawling traffic in 2014 that we saw in 2007, due to the 80 percent automobile usage by the others who arrived on the west side after 2007. Many reports indicate that 20 percent ridership is not unrealistic.

Let's face it, the answer to our continued traffic woes is mass transit tied in with stopping over-development. Stop importing more and more people who will surely add to the traffic woes we are trying to alleviate.

Perhaps if we didn't have such a huge, ever-growing, ever-consuming taxation demand to feed the big, bloated business that we call state government, there wouldn't be as much opposition to curbing future development.

It's time to kick out the professional politicians and certain developers. They are a real additional source of our present and future traffic woes.

WAIKIKI

KALAKAUA STATUE PARK HAS BECOME EYESORE

The Kalakaua Statue Plaza at the entrance to Waikiki may look fine to people driving by, but people walking near or across the park find themselves walking on plain dirt where there once was grass.

Because of the heavy traffic of walkers cutting corners to get to their nearest destination without regard for the walkways, much of the park has literally turned into a dirt area.

Covering most of the plaza with flagstones seems to be the most sensible solution.

The plaza can no longer be considered a park because of the heavy pedestrian traffic, but it can be made more functional and less of an eyesore if it is covered with something other than grass.

It really is too bad. What would the king say to this if he were alive today?

ENVIRONMENT

EARTH CONTROLS CLIMATE CHANGE, NOT HUMANS

Ice paralyzes Texas. Cold destroys citrus crop in California. Kids toss snowballs in Malibu. Does this sound like global warming to you? Not to me.

The global-warming hysteria needs balance and perspective. The Earth alternates between ice ages and warm periods. The Earth causes this — not us. Even now, without knowing it, we could be entering a new ice age. Time will tell.

Whether you like it or not, that's the way it is. Climate change is not something we control.

REALITY TV

'MAUI FEVER' SENDS WRONG IMAGE OF ISLES

As a young Hawaiian living in Los Angeles, I'm concerned about the image being sent to the American public in the MTV reality show "Maui Fever."

Studies say that America's youth worship today's reality TV. The storylines are taken as fact and not D-list (at best) daytime drama.

As consumers of television, we have the power to simply switch the channel when something is offensive or just bad. I'm more concerned about the cultural discourse being generated. Locals are shown as white and wealthy predators of female tourists.

In a perfect world, there would be another show to combat this negative image of Hawai'i, but unfortunately those shows make no profit.

GOOD BOOKS

READING ALOUD, ALONG HELPS IN SCHOOL AND LIFE

The complimentary article by Bev Creamer on Jim Harstad and his Education Laboratory team for their remarkable Golden Triangle English program is well deserved. Its emphasis on read aloud/read along in class has generated remarkable results in tests and life.

I have read the three books on the program published by Curriculum Research Development Group, which were written by Jim and Cheryl Harstad.

The books reveal that there is no magic other than the power of reading great books to engage the reader, although it is unquestionably hard but rewarding work for teachers.

Several graduates of the Lab School to whom I have spoken all had high praise for how well it prepared them for college and their careers.

Those Hawai'i schools that are using mind-numbing and de-motivating worksheets and "teaching to the test" can start educating through great and often fun literature. James Trelease's book, the "Read Aloud Handbook," cites a plethora of research that reveals that this is the path for parents and schools to take to higher student test scores as well.

There isn't a school that regular reading aloud/read along would not improve.

FOOTBALL GAMES

STADIUM SHOULD LOOK AT PARKING INCENTIVES

An idea for the Stadium Authority's parking task force: Take a small section of the parking lot and turn it into a multi-story parking structure where tailgating is not allowed.

This area would have smaller stalls so that you can fit more cars. If they could somehow make a separate entrance for this parking structure and give discounts to people who carpool ($1 off for each person in the car), it would make people happy on many fronts. First, there would be more stalls. Also, non-tailgaters and carpoolers wouldn't have to deal with the mad dash for parking caused by the early bird tailgaters and there would be money-saving incentives to car-pool.

In addition to this, the swap meet should be closed on game days and parking fees should be raised to make up for the lost revenue. I'd pay $15 to be able to get into the stadium earlier. Parking at Mainland stadiums costs a lot more than the $5 we pay here.

COMMANDER IN CHIEF

CITIZENS OF U.S. HOLD THE ULTIMATE AUTHORITY

President Bush is often referred to as "the commander in chief." That gives the incorrect impression that he is the commander in chief not just of the armed forces, but of all civilians as well.

Our military operates on a strict hierarchy. Those of lower rank are accountable to and must obey the orders of their superiors. As the president holds the ultimate authority in our military, he is their commander in chief.

In a representative democracy, however, it is the elected representatives, the members of Congress and the president, who are accountable to those who hold the ultimate authority — the citizens of the country.

If there is a commander-in-chief relationship between the president and civilians, it is the civilians, all of us collectively, who are "the commanders in chief" of the president.

ENVIRONMENT

GREEN WASTE SCHEDULE NEEDS TO BE EXTENDED

Is anybody out there listening to the pleas for help by those of us who recycle?

Can the green-cycling schedule, currently the first and third Tuesday of each month in my area, be extended to the fifth Tuesday, too?

Those three weeks between pickups are far too long.