midweek

Human (No) Touch – MidWeek, March 25, 2020

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Singers Rick Springfield (1983) and Bruce Springsteen (1992) each wrote and sang great songs called “Human Touch”. Springfield sang, “We all need the human touch.” Springsteen sang, “I just want something to hold on to / And a little of that human touch.” These are sentiments that many, perhaps most, earthlings can relate to, at individual physiological and emotional levels.

Hawai’i leads the league in friendliness via the Aloha spirit, which often includes the human touch. We also top the Center for Disease Control’s annual state list in per-capita flu cases. We hug people we just saw yesterday; we pull/hug bruddahs when we shake hands; people honi, pressing noses and inhaling, as an exchange of ha– the breath of life- and mana– a spiritual mix of energy, humility, and respect. Human touch is an integral part of our very existence, and now it’s really been thrown for a loop. 

We’re separating today not due to political arguments or disagreements about passion issues like the TMT or short-term rentals, not by class stature or by where you went to class. No, we keep our distance nowadays because of the novel coronavirus scourge- COVID-19. Fist or elbow bumps, head nods, small waves, bowing- that’s how we say hello and goodbye (or should) in 2020. A UH-Mānoa Hawaiʻinuiākea professor/kumu has proffered the concept of Kapu Ola Aloha (“a loving restriction that preserves life”). Beautiful. A novel concept for the novel coronavirus.

“Social distancing” is nowadays not only acceptable, but preferable. No human touch today means you really do care. Normal acceptance of being in close proximity to others is exactly what makes this virus so dangerous and why so many events, meetings, and public gatherings have been cancelled… for now.

When this novel coronavirus situation is finally under reasonable control, treatable, and perhaps preventable, let’s keep hygiene standards in the forefront relating to inter-personal and public contact. Let’s refrain from going to work when ill. Over 41,000 Americans died annually from 2014-2019 due to the flu- yes, every year- and that ailment has proven vaccinations readily available, plus treatments, unlike with COVID-19 today.  We normally go about life with little thought to flu facts- and 41,000 Americans die annually (including over 500 people here). We can all cautiously respect individual space and valued customs without completely giving up the human touch, or the vital essence of the Aloha spirit.

Think about it… 

Handling Housing – MidWeek, March 18, 2020

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One of the many items we hear, read, and talk about and yet see minimal long-term resolution is affordable housing. “Affordable housing” is a term based around one’s economic situation, often defined as when one’s housing costs are at or below 30% of one’s total household income. Add in many people’s second biggest cost- transportation- and you start running into even more reasons why so many here struggle to find and maintain a living space and still have funds available for food, clothing, utilities, medical and household emergencies, plus retirement funds.

Builders put up million dollar condos in Kakaako because they can- the financial rewards are obviously greater than building $400,000 units. And oh, yeh, government smiles- the taxes are higher. Where’s the incentive to build units for less when there’s a ready market (even if it’s non-residents) who’ll pay more? Homeowners and apartment owners don’t want cheaper properties built in their neighborhood as those units would undermine their ever-increasing property values, and they make sure that their locally elected representatives know it. “Sure, build ‘em, just not in my back yard (NIMBY).”

Busy builders and construction laborers go from job to job as demand for their services exceeds their available work time. Gotta get it while the going is good. Our overall construction costs are the America’s highest. Our houselessness rate (a real term) is tops in the nation. These are not areas that warrant chanting “we’re #1!”

We need more public/private creativity and action now. We need more unused or under-utilized land to be re-zoned to create affordable units. That’s reality, 2020. We need greater builder tax incentives for affordable units, more pre-fabricated units shipped in to keep costs down, and better oversight and planning for under-utilized, city- or state-held properties that might be retro-fitted or rebuilt into housing properties. Let’s move some city and state entities together into reconfigured city/state buildings to free up the vacated buildings for reconstruction. Yes, city and state working together…

We need to retrofit older schools into vertical, more efficient structures to allow for more housing unit options around them… very carefully. We need to identify best practices used in congested metropolitan and suburban areas (or islands) worldwide to help us mitigate houselessness and our lack of affordable living units.  And we need to do it now, before more 25-45 year olds move out and our population ages ungracefully.

Think about it…

Who’s On First? – MidWeek, March 11, 2020

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You might think by now, after a decade of delays, snafus, mis-statements, cost-overruns, false promises, and personnel shuffles, that the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation (HART) and the City of Honolulu would make sure that vital public pronouncements and updates are released in harmony and in tandem. Not happening…

Six weeks ago came a public pronouncement by a HART official that not only would the first segment of the rail be ready, as planned, by late December, 2020, it would actually be ready to transport fans between Aloha Stadium and Kapolei by mid-October- during UH football season! That very same day came a plea/counter from Honolulu’s mayor, asking those kolohe rail personnel to stop making premature statements about start dates, as it’s the City of Honolulu that has to actually operate this choo choo! 

And then three weeks ago, HART announced plans for upcoming traffic restrictions along Dillingham Boulevard, while the City’s transportation department said, “hold the bus” (or the train), because the City had not yet seen an official traffic control plan. HART responded that it had proffered a Dillingham traffic management plan, and the city transportation department very clearly responded that “…we are waiting for the proper submittals”, according to a Honolulu Star-Advertiser report. This plan should be black and white- like written on paper- but here we have two opposite versions of reality offered by HART and by the City, a comic pair who, far too often, mimic Abbott and Costello as they play out this transit “Who’s On First?” routine. “I Don’t Know… third base!!” (Please, YouTube it- it’s a classic Vaudeville routine)

At the very least, by 2020, following a decade of setbacks, worrisome federal feedback, plan pushbacks, cracked concrete columns, cracked canopies, cracked blue plastic shims, etc., you would expect that a simple phone call, email, or text would occur between the “partners” before public statements are made, as too often those initial missives are quickly contradicted, negated, or questioned by the other party.

Speaking of a party, if this project was a party, we’d all be suffering from a long hangover, as quality hosts or caterers would’ve figured out by now what and how to best serve us; after all we are the paying clients. But that’s not the case as rail bantering and bickering goes on with little relief, agreement, or a firm start date in sight.

Think about it…

School Daze – December 4, 2019 MidWeek

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What if we started the school day later for high schoolers in Hawaii? Perhaps we’d see less traffic, fewer accidents, and more convenient pick up times as school day conclusion and (parental) work days would finish at a time closer together. Less time for latch key kids to “hang around.” Less trouble. And yes, we’d need big adjustments, too.

All of the above would be nice gains if the school day started an hour later. Plus, sharper students, more productivity, a better learning environment, and probably higher test scores. Anyone who has driven a child to school from afar can attest to the daily drudgery of getting a teen out of bed, fed (hopefully) and into the car. Drop off lines look line scenes out of “Zombieland,” as cars pull up, kids wake up, and then stumble into classrooms. Tardiness rules, teachers rue, and first period blues are rampant as many kids show up relatively dazed and confused. Talk about not being “woke!”

Oh, and this concept has been instituted in institutions… successfully. In 2016, Seattle schools moved public high school start times from 7:50am to 8:45am. According to NEA Today, kids were more engaged and alert, tardiness and absentee levels decreased, and final grades rose by about 5%. The opportunity for more shuteye helped to alleviate teenage chronic sleep deprivation (fatigue, depression, memory impairment).

As adolescents mature, internal circadian rhythms change. Melatonin (which helps us to sleep) in teens releases later at night than in adults. That’s why they’re wide-eyed at 9 or 10pm as you crash. It’s why Junior sags after getting just six hours of weeknight sleep. And the aforementioned Seattle project showed that the one-hour school day delay was productive, with needy teenagers getting more AM sleep time.

California just signed into place a law for 2022 that mandates that no public high schools (or charter schools) may start classes before 8:30am. More proof? The New York Times recently mentioned a Minnesota 2017 study which showed that after pushing start times later “…students who had more sleep reported better mental health outcomes and less use of substances like alcohol and cigarettes,” plus “…had improved attendance and enrollment rates, and they were less likely to drive while drowsy.” So maybe it’s time for Hawaii, home to horrible traffic and habitually sleepy kids (and parents) to say, “see you later” when it comes to start times at high schools.

Think about it…

This article was first published in the December 4, 2019 Midweek.