Letters for Sept. 12, 2015

Letters for Sept. 12, 2015

Thanks to Hank for history column

I have been intending to write this letter for a long time to thank Hank Soboleski and TGI for Hank’s weekly column, Island History, in the Sunday edition TGIlifestyle section. I look forward to reading it every week for information that might be hard to come by otherwise. It is valuable not just for knowledge of past events and persons of interest on our island, although that might be reason enough to enjoy it. History also helps me to put current events into perspective. Keep up the good work, Hank.

Al Albergate

Princeville

Our ‘reasons’ for actions ring hollow

Watching our little community still churning through the seemingly eternal process of imprisoning our own brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, wives and husbands, and sons and daughters for “drug” crimes, a community punishing itself as of penitents literally whipping themselves through the desert.

It is beyond belief that, after half a century of false information, propaganda, lies and outright communal frothing-at-the-mouth insanity about marijuana has failed to stop its progressive legalization, we’re going to what, march on with the same utterly mad, vastly destructive and totally false “war,” but on coke, ice and heroin now?

Martin King used to say that all the intellectual “reasons” we come up with to explain why we do what we do are no more than self justifications for what we hold in our hearts. And, as Falstaff said, “Reasons are plenty as blackberries.”

Those who punish others will always find “good” reasons to do so. The Jefferson Memorial is in-scripted with a quote from him suggesting that progress is at least partially the overcoming of “the barbarism of our ancestors.”

I’ll say. Peace and love, my fellow future ancestors.

Marty Mills

Kapaa

Students need after-school programs

With school back in swing, after-school programs got into gear, too.

High quality after-school programs keep kids safe, inspire them to learn and help working families. They give our keiki a chance to engage in hands-on learning, expose them to career opportunities in the sciences, teach them the value of service to the community, and provide them with mentors, healthy meals, physical activity and more.

But not all young people are able to participate. A study commissioned by the National Afterschool Alliance found that for every child enrolled in an after-school program, two more would participate if a program were available. In Hawaii 59,057 kids would be likely to participate.

To a great extent, the problem is funding. Members of Congress are also getting back to work after their summer break, and one of their assignments will be to consider legislation to support a host of education programs. When they do, they’ll choose between a bill that removes federal support for after-school programs and another that wisely preserves it. I hope you’ll join me in urging our elected officials to preserve or — better yet — increase our investment in after-school. Our families, communities and country will be better off if we make after-school programs available to every child who needs one!

Paula Adams

Executive Director

Hawaii Afterschool Alliance