Letters for Friday, Nov. 9, 2012

• Curbside recycling will reduce ocean pollution •  A memorable Election Day • Should Hawai‘i legalize marijuana? • Thank you Myles • Supporting the right to choose • Mahalo Kaua‘i and Ni‘ihau

Curbside recycling will reduce ocean pollution

Did you know about the island of trash in the middle of the Pacific Ocean that is three times the size of Hawai‘i? It is called the Great Pacific Gyre. This monstrosity of human creation is 80 percent plastic. Scientists believe that it will take many years and lots of money to clean up this floating trash. We all made this mess, and it is time for us to change our polluting ways. As individuals, we might not be able to sail into the ocean and pluck plastic from the sea, but we can take steps to stop this mess from growing any bigger! Specifically, we must all do a better job recycling.   

On Kaua‘i, people don’t always do a great job recycling because it is a pain in the butt. You have to separate the recyclables yourself, bag them up, put the stinky trash in your car and drive to a recycle station that might not be that close to your house. No wonder people would rather put the recyclables in the trash. After all, the trash man picks up the trash from the end of your driveway once each week.

It is time for the County of Kaua‘i to make a better plan. We need curbside recycling. People would be able to bag recyclables separately, and the trash man would pick them up and deliver them to a recycling station just like he delivers the trash to the dump. Simple. No more smelly recyclables in your car, and no more driving all over the island looking for a recycle bin that isn’t full.  

We just elected some new county officials last week. So, now it is time to make some new choices. Let’s make recycling a top priority for Kaua‘i before the Pacific Gyre Swallows us up.  

Luke Sullivan

9 years old/5th grade

Kalaheo

A memorable Election Day

Voters registered to cast ballots in the Koloa School voting booths number 730. My thanks to the 214 who cast absentee ballots and the nearly 300 who cast ballots in person. Turnout above 60 percent is better than average for Kaua‘i; turnout approaching 70 percent is something to brag about. Hats off to the citizens who participated in representative government.

One such lady walked in using a cane in one hand, with the assistance of a young lady at her other arm. We told her she could sit in a chair at the wheelchair booth and cast a paper ballot, or sit in a chair at the other end of the row and cast an electronic ballot. She replied, “I’ll stand.” When the scanner read her ballot, it posted “222” and I told her, “You’re 222!” She said, “No, I’m 91.” I offered her an application for an absentee ballot, “Would you like to vote from home, next election?” She replied, “No. I like to get out of the house.”

A few minutes later, a kindergartner came in with his mother, and made his own ballot — complete with squares carefully inked inside the lines. He voted for his last name, his middle name and his first name — twice! He fed his mother’s ballot into the reader and watched the flag wave. When he’s 91, he’ll be a practiced voter.

Special thanks to the staff of the Kaua’i County Election Office — and to my coworkers, Ken and Marilyn Curtis, Linda Spade, Thatcher Magoun, Lorna Navarro and Chief Assistant Patricia Chaffin. They scrambled and pulled together at the end of a 12-hour day to find ballots when Koloa Elementary School ran out of ballots with 15 minutes to go before polls closed. Poll workers steered voters to the electronic machine, and county staff rushed paper ballots to us with 10 minutes to spare.

Bob Ray

Koloa

Should Hawai‘i legalize marijuana?

Colorado and Washington State both just did. Massachusetts and Montana are also going that way.

How much tax revenue will they receive?

Hundreds of millions of dollars.

How much would legalizing pot save U.S. taxpayers?

Around $10 billion is wasted every year on trying to stop something that many American’s are going to do no matter what.

I do not smoke pot, I do not drink alcohol.

But if I were to judge which is worse, then I would say that alcohol is far worse than pakalolo.

Drunk drivers, people getting into fights and husbands and fathers abusing wives and children.

Smoking pot seems to mellow people out.

Alcohol is man-made, but pot is a natural plant, so God made pot but God did not make alcohol.

How much tax revenue would Hawai‘i get as a result of legalizing marijuana?

We would have revenue surpluses that would never end.

We could give Hawai‘i’s children the same five-day school week that every other industrialized country has so that they would benefit from a full education instead of what they are currently getting stuck with.

We could use the revenue for infrastructure.

We could create jobs.

We could fix many of our current problems.

Just by legalizing what people are always going to do anyway.

And maybe that would help cut down on harsher drugs because people could get pot cheaply and easily instead of getting easier to find ice or crack. Think about it objectively.

Dennis Chaquette

Kea‘au

Thank you Myles

How do I thank Myles Emura for saving my life? On March 15, 2008, unbeknownst to me, I was less than 2 minutes away from drowning. I pleaded frantically to God to not let me die in the ocean that I loved. Myles Emura was my angel on a Jet Ski that day and he saved my life.

Myles not only supported me immediately after the accident, but was kind, caring and understanding to my parents who came from the Mainland. His reassurance allowed them to return home knowing that I was in good hands. He helped us unconditionally.

As my physical wounds healed, I had many unanswered questions that I needed guidance with. Myles took the time to really listen to me and used the right words to help me try to understand what happened that faithful day. He went above and beyond in helping me through my journey.

I needed help in learning to love and feel safe in the water again. Myles not only knew and understood my fears, but helped me to overcome them with the advice to take “baby steps.” I began by walking the shoreline, progressing to entering shallow water at Po‘ipu Beach only when Myles was on duty as I knew he kept me under his watchful eye. It was through Myles’ guidance, that I was able to conquer my fear to the water that I had 4 years ago. I now love the ocean like I did before. I scuba dive, snorkel, swim and appreciate the beauty of the ocean once again.

I know for a fact that I now have peace in the ocean because I was blessed to have had Myles rescue and continue to this day to have him as supportive and wonderful friend.

Tia Tarselli

Kalaheo

Supporting the right to choose

Today, Nov. 5, I read a letter here that simply infuriated me.

It was a story by some man on the Mainland, Ed Smetana, who had to give his uninformed, useless opinion about women’s rights — i.e. abortion, adoption and the care of their bodies — via a sob story about someone he supposedly met who was the child of a rape that wasn’t aborted.

As the mother of a 34-year-old son who was conceived during a brutal rape, I want to go on record to say while pro-life for myself, which is my own personal decision for my body, I will always vote pro-choice — no one walks in the shoes of a pregnant woman except that woman. Ed should read the stats (http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/fb_induced_abortion.html). I love my son and he is a great man and father, but I had a family who helped me through it.

Women need to unite to support each other regardless of which side they are on with this issue. Make the decision for yourself whether to abort or not, but don’t judge anyone else until you have walked the same road.

My children are grown but I still gladly pay taxes to provide schools for others. And I will support any health care program that provides all women the right to decide for themselves what to do  on this issue. That is what pro-choice means.

Marcia Favaloro

Kapa‘a

Mahalo Kaua‘i and Ni‘ihau

I wish to express my gratitude and most heartfelt mahalo to the people of Kaua‘i and Ni‘ihau, whom I served as trustee of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs for the past 12 years.

It has been a great privilege and honor working for you.

I am proudest of my efforts to work on behalf of the keiki and to support the charter schools that have done so much to educate our Native Hawaiian children, giving them the skills to succeed in an increasingly competitive world, while also deepening their connections to our native culture.

OHA exists to help improve the lives of Native Hawaiians, and I believe the best way to accomplish this is through education.

To Dan Ahuna, who succeeds me as trustee, I offer my best wishes and support.

Thanks to all of you for your aloha and for allowing me to serve you.

Donald B. Cataluna

Koloa