Teri Schiavo

I haven't been commenting on Teri Schiavo because I'm one of those people who need to know the facts before making public commentary.

Let's go over some facts

- Teri Schiavo had bulimia. All those years of binging and puking led to a heart attack which led to brain damage

- Schiavo needs a tube to feed her

- Her husband wants to take out the tube

- Her parents disagree

-Schiavo has no written will

- As of now, the courts side with Teri Schiavo's husband and the tube is out.

As of this moment, looking at CNN website, Schiavo hasn't been declared dead yet.This is a hard case.When you are in such pain or if you're in an eternal coma, would you want to continue living? A lot of people wont. Some people would rather take a lethal injection.

Schiavo wasn't able to have a written will to tell others what she would prefer. Because of that, the controversy is here.

It seems to me that giving a lethal injection is illegal, while taking out a feeding tube is legal.If I have a fatal incurable disease, I'd rather be lethally injected instead of being starved & dehydrated over days (which is what's happening to Schiavo right now)

However, if Schiavo's parents want to take care of her, maybe Schiavo's husband should just give the parents custody.

UH Tuition increase


The University of Hawaii is planning to increase tuition.

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2005/Mar/22/ln/ln01p.html

In the late 1990's, when tuition is increase, enrollment went down. Then revenue. So what happened next? More tuition increases, less enrollment and less revenue.The cycle continued until 2001.

After the 9/11 attack, many elite Hawaii families who once preferred mainland colleges started to prefer UH. This was partly due to fear of terrorist attacks in major US cities, partly out of keeping the family together in case of another attack.

However, the fear of terrorism has died down.

And now UH wants to increase tuition. I predict the cycle of the late 1990's will happen again.

Yes, I know, UH is cheaper than many elite mainland colleges. However, many of the local families that send their kids to UH tend to be either 1) middle class or 2) low income who rely on scholarships and financial aid.

Add to that, Hawaii's high cost of living.

Many students have to work part-time to make ends meet.Meanwhile, elitist morons like Dr Foltz (retired UH English prof) and Dr. Lieberman (UH psych prof) expect their students to read all their assigned books. Hey, even if the students are interested in the books, they aint got time to digest the info since 1) they got other classes to study for, 2) they got part time jobs to make ends meet.

UH doesn't have as many trust-fund rich kids like many elite mainland universities do.

Nor do I ever want to hear this crap that students should graduate from college in 4 years. With all the core requirements and daily time constraints, 4 years is too short a time to graduate from UH unless you prefer 2 hours of sleep. I graduated from UH in 5 1/2 years and if you got a problem with that, I got 2 words for you. (1st one starts with an F, 2nd one starts with a Y)

Safe Drinking, Safe Sex, Safe Needles, Safe Sports

 

1) Safe Drinking

With all the controversies over binge drinking at many colleges, Colby College has an innovative approach.

http://news.mainetoday.com/apwire/D88U6VS00-77.shtml

Colby College, a private liberal arts college where students 21 and older get together on Friday nights in a school cafeteria to learn about and drink beer and wine.

The get-togethers are intended to teach students how to imbibe in moderation and how to imbibe well. The emphasis is to savor, not swill.

Colby officials say the program is just one component of the college´s alcohol education efforts.

"We´ve gotten overwhelmingly positive responses," said Janice Kassman, dean of students. "There are some who say the college should take a just-say-no approach, but I don´t think that´s realistic."

It is true that it's unrealistic to expect college students to not drink. While abstaining from alcohol is ideal (which I follow), many young adults will experiment regardless of the rules.

So in the real world, you sometimes got to go with the lesser of 2 evils. Colby College approach of having a moderate-alcohol sipping event is better than putting our heads in the sand while the kids are binge drinking and thumbing their noses at the rules.

However, the Colby College experiment might lead to a hook-up leading to a date rape. Though it would be worse at a "F--- the rules frat party".

2) Safe Sex

The Colby College situation is similar to giving out condoms at public schools.

The ultra-conservatives put their heads in the sand and say that giving out condoms is encouraging sex. In reality, it is going with "lesser of 2 evils" which is 1) kids having sex without condoms or 2) kids having sex with condoms. Kids will have sex regardless of the rules, regardless of all the conservative correctness they heard all their lives from parents, ministers, teachers, pundits, etc. So might as well go with "lesser of 2 evils" and give out condoms.



3) Safe Needles

Another similar issue is giving free clean needles to drug addicts

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2005/03/24/needle_exchange/index.html

No study has ever found that the existence of needle exchange motivates addicts to keep taking drugs -- in fact, most find that syringe-exchange users are more likely than other addicts to seek treatment.

AND

Under the conservative government of Margaret Thatcher, it rapidly implemented clean-needle measures in response to the outbreak of AIDS, starting in 1986. HIV prevalence has rarely reached more than 1 percent among intravenous drug users there, compared with over 50 percent at the epidemic's peak in New York.

Again, while the ideal is not injecting drugs in the 1st place, we must deal with reality as it is - people will experiment with drugs regardless of laws and "just say no" campaigns. In that situation - pick the lesser of 2 evils - 1) watch addicts inject themselves with dirty needles and get infected with AIDS or 2) give them a clean needle to reduce the prevalence of HIV.

Plus, for many addicts, the most humane people they meet up are those giving clean needles. The drug dealers just want to exploit their misery, the cops have to arrest them, others avoid them. Those giving clean needles are likely to hook them up with drug treatment programs.

4) Safe Sports

The alcohol, sex and needle situation can be applied to sports.

We dont tell kids not to play football. We give them shoulder pads, jock straps, mouth guards and helmets.

5) Conclusion

While it's ideal that kids dont try alcohol , premartial sex or drugs, people will try them. So we might as well make those situations safer. If not, the kids will defy the rules and be in a more dangerous situation.

Cultural Adjustment to Hawaii

 2 months ago, I mentioned there wasn't enough coverage in the local media on ethnic conflicts many immigrants face in Hawaii.

Here's an article on Filipino immigrants in Hawaii.

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2005/Mar/21/ln/ln09p.html

Elena Lactaoen Lao, who was born in Hawai'i but spent most of her formative years north of Manila, Philippines, moved back to the Islands and found herself a foreigner in her birthplace.

In high school the girls I hung out with were more local than Filipino, and the freshman year, I was teased a lot. I had an accent, even how I dressed. Academically I felt I had to prove myself, I had to excel," said Lao, 30, who attended Waipahu High School. "It wasn't until my early 20s that I began to think I am part of this culture."

Isle singer Marlene Baldueza said she felt a clearer cultural identity, owing to her parents' involvement with Filipino associations. However, when she visited the large Filipino community in San Francisco, she admired the more overt "Asian pride" the teens there expressed.

State Rep. Michael Magoay, elected by the North Shore community where he was born, remembered the tension between the colorful Filipino demeanor and laid-back local culture.
"Once you go visit the Philippines, you see the culture is very rich," Magoay said. "Locals are more reserved; they say, 'Eh, no make 'A.' But once you go out of your element and find out where they're coming from, you understand why you're a Filipino."

Magoay said some immigrant students he meets on school visits abandon their language a year after their arrival in the rush to fit in.
"They tell me they're 'shame,' and I say, 'Why are you shame?' " he said. "Those barriers are just within your mind."