Many nurses from elsewhere

I am a registered nurse licensed in Hawaii. One main point overlooked in the article on nurses was the fact that there are few, if any, new graduate programs at hospitals in Hawaii ("Nurses in ample supply," Star-Advertiser, Oct. 3). The hospitals are not willing to train local graduates.

Instead, mainland and local nursing agencies lure experienced nurses from the mainland to work here as contractors.

The hospitals are paying the agencies a fee and the RN is making top dollar.

I guess this saves money for the hospitals, but whatever happened to investing in and hiring local? 

Non-vaccinated also protected

People who forego flu shots because they believe them to be harmful often urge others to do the same.

Yet here we have a politician (Lt. Gov. Duke Aiona) who says, "I am not convinced that vaccines are more beneficial than harmful," and will not be getting the flu shot for himself, who then urges school children and others to get vaccinated.

The hidden issue here is that the non-vaccination crowd gets the benefit of the vaccinated as a shield to protect themselves from the virus. The more people around you who are immune to a disease, the less likely you are to become infected. 

Laws promote public interest

Steven Lombard’s comment on the fireworks ban is totally irresponsible ("Ban won’t stop use of illegal fireworks," Star-Advertiser, Oct. 2).

Should we stop enacting laws because we know people will find ways to disobey them? Laws are intended to improve people’s welfare. Should we get rid of laws like those against illegal drugs because people will disobey them anyway and they promote the black market?

I believe we should be encouraging people to abide by the law instead of fomenting disobedience. 

Broad group opposes hotel

In D.G. "Andy" Anderson’s Name in the News interview ( "D.G. ‘Andy’ Anderson," Star-Advertiser, Oct. 1), he claims that opposition to his proposed hotel is driven by Sunset Beach people.

At the Haleiwa Farmers Market, Haleiwa Beach Park and local stores, a group of us from Waialua and Haleiwa, as well as Sunset Beach, collected more than 1,000 petition signatures protesting the city’s sale of park land to private, commercial owners.

Signatures came from people all over the island who want Haleiwa Regional Park and the mauka land held in reserve to remain public.

You don’t have to be from Haleiwa to care about protecting Hawaii’s park resources. 

Keep religion, politics separate

There seems to be a theistic form of amnesia occurring in America and it has afflicted our culturally and spiritually diverse state.

As a nation of laws, our Constitution requires a clear separation of church and state. This is more than the law — it is a social and ethical imperative, if we are to remain a nation of people free to have or not have spiritual beliefs.

I call upon Hawaii’s gubernatorial candidates and all candidates nationwide to keep the separation of church and state absolute and refrain from politicizing religion.

Race classifications in study were based on self-reporting

Thank you for your coverage of the study released by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs on disproportionate representation of Native Hawaiians in the criminal justice system. Your article on Wednesday provided a fair assessment of what is known and what is not known.

However, the letter ("OHA study not fair to Hawaiians," Star-Advertiser, Letters, Oct. 1) is based on an erroneous premise. As was explained in the report (of which I was one of the analysts), the analysis made no assumption of "a single drop of Hawaiian blood" criteria. Instead, it relied on self-reports of race and ethnicity of accused perpetrators.

In order to elevate the debate on such sensitive issues, it is important that your readers and the general public take the time to hear opposing views rather than use them as opportunities to voice their preconceptions. In public debate we should aspire to what we hope for within the legal system.