DRUG-SNIFFING DOGS DON'T POSE A THREAT

I guess it's OK for the governor and some legislators to spend $40 million in taxpayer money and try to circumvent the law for a project like the Superferry, but when school officials try to find ways to reduce illegal substances on public school campuses — at no cost to the taxpayer — the Department of Education's concern over student privacy prevents it.

I still have a child enrolled at a public high school, and as far as I'm concerned, he has no right to privacy when it comes to his locker (paid for by taxpayers), or anything he chooses to bring on campus (backpack, etc).

Things are tough enough for administrators and teachers these days, without having the DOE and state law prevent proven methods for reducing drugs and alcohol on school campuses. Drug-sniffing dogs pose no threat to those students who go to school to learn.

HAWAII SUPERFERRY

DEEPLY SADDENED BY VESSEL'S DEPARTURE

I was sitting on the deck of the Elks Club Saturday afternoon when I spotted the Superferry headed to the Mainland for possibly its last hoorah to the Hawaiian Islands. I was a supporter of the ferry and was deeply saddened to see it leave due to a minority of people who apparently don't want to see progress in the transportation field.

My family and friends took advantage of the ferry and transported our vehicles as well. Now it's back to car rentals (which have skyrocketed). To the people who supported the ferry, let's be heard; to those who didn't, there's nothing wrong with progress.

PROPERTY TAXES

TRUTH IS, RESIDENTIAL RATES WERE LOWERED

Garry P. Smith's claim that "Our property taxes have gone up every year since 2004, when (Mayor Hannemann) became mayor, either through property value increases, tax rate increases or a combination of the two," was considerably less than truthful (Letters, March 27). Smith made similar unfounded claims during his recent unsuccessful race for City Council.

In fact, residential property tax rates were lowered twice since 2004, and were never raised during that time. The mayor does not control the housing market or the value of individual properties, but he is very sensitive to the impact that increased property values can have on tax bills, and he supported the tax rate decreases accordingly when city finances allowed.

The residential real property tax rate was $3.75 per $1,000 of assessed value when Mayor Hannemann took office in 2005. The rate is $3.29 today — 46 cents lower per $1,000 of value.

CIVIL UNIONS

IT'S TIME WE ADDRESS SEPARATION, BIGOTRY

Isn't it amazing that we would even be voting on an issue of equal rights for a minority of our U.S. citizens? We pride ourselves on a democracy and a nation of equality and yet there are those who would deny a group the same rights because of their sexual orientation. It makes me question these people's intentions and their intolerance.

These are days when we often criticize the actions of Islamic fundamentalists for their acts of terror because of their religious convictions.

Perhaps it is time we address our own actions. When we marginalize and deny any minority their equal rights we are putting out a message that this group is "lesser than." This gives a message that acts of violence toward this group are subtly condoned. It also teaches that this group is separate from our society. This can be quite a hazardous message for children growing up in that minority group, leading to suicide, low self-esteem and self-destructive behavior.

The great message of our new president is a message of unity. In these days of financial crisis and unpredictability, we will need every one of our citizens to work together. We don't have the luxury of separation or bigotry.

IDEAL OF TOLERANCE IN ISLES PROVEN WRONG

When I was a young man, I put my life on the line in the struggle to defeat segregation and bring long overdue equality to blacks. At the time the biggest obstacle were many churches in the South. These churches organized the fears and prejudices of their white congregations against black equality. At the time I thought that their behavior was incredibly un-Christian. I've lived long enough to see history repeat itself. Once again we see churches organizing fears and prejudices. This time their target is another minority fighting to achieve their long overdue rights guaranteed by our founding documents. And this time I'm even more disturbed than I was in the '60s, because this is Hawai'i.

For my 48 years here I have bragged that Hawai'i is the most tolerant place on Earth. Some churches in Hawai'i have proven me wrong. It is a very painful eye-opener. Auwe!

ALL-GIRLS SCHOOLS

SINGLE-SEX EDUCATION NOT NECESSARILY BETTER

I was glad to learn of the new UCLA study on all-girls schools in your March 27 Island Voices commentary ("All-girls' schools incubate winning scholars"). The headline, however, is misleading. The research, which compared girls who attended same-sex independent schools with those who attended coed independent schools, is highly noteworthy, but does not provide strong evidence that single-sex education is better for girls. The investigators themselves point out that the results favoring all-girls schools are quite modest; usually less than 10 percentage points distinguish them from coed schools.

After accounting for the socio-economic backgrounds of the students and other important school characteristics, the slightly greater academic confidence and engagement reported by graduates of all-girls schools is explained in only very small part by the type of school they attended.

As someone who thinks all-girls schools have something special to offer and who is concerned about girls' self-confidence in math and science, I find these findings interesting and worthy of in-depth follow-up. But let's not overstate the findings.