Let parents, graduates
pick Kamehameha's trustees

Thank you so very much for publishing the "Broken Trust" article by Sam King, Msgr. Kekumano, Walter Heen, Gladys Brandt and Randy Roth. What a magnificent job they did in setting the problem into a readily understandable perspective, as well as defining some corrective actions.

The only possible problem with the solutions proposed is that five out of the six entail government interventions into problems actually created and perpetuated by government.

Wouldn't it make more sense to get the state government out of the loop as much as possible and let the beneficiaries do the directing; that is, turn direction over to the parents and graduates of Kamehameha Schools?

Why can't they pick or at least endorse the trustees? After all, they are the customers. In other words, why not use marketplace sovereignty?

Richard O. Rowland
Chairman, Libertarian Party

Profiles in courage
shed light on Bishop Estate

Thank you, Star-Bulletin, for one of the best pieces of journalism in your history. "Broken Trust" was a rare look into the raw politics of money, land and high position in Hawaii. It's doubtful that the National Enquirer or Forbes could have laundered our linen more completely.

Thanks are also due to the five profiles in courage: co-authors Brandt, Kekumano, King, Heen and Roth. People willing to speak up and take risks like these are an encouragement to us all, especially those who have similar insights into what's wrong with Hawaii but are afraid to speak out.

Hawaii and the Bishop Estate will never again be the same, and neither should they be. Thanks again for lifting the "curtain of fear" that has kept the truth of our community out of the newspaper far too long.

Rep. Gene Ward
(Via the Internet)

Sorry economy is due to
success of 'Green Harvest'

The Hawaii economic collapse is the result of cannabis eradication efforts.

In 1989, then-Attorney General Warren Price valued Hawaii's pakalolo crop at $10 billion a year. Growers spending their profits locally generated $416.7 million in state sales tax revenues from that $10 billion crop.

When Governor Waihee took office, there was a $500 million surplus, whose origin went unexplained. When Waihee left office, there was an unexpected $250 million deficit, the cause of which was also a mystery.

What economists have failed to acknowledge is the success of "Green Harvest." It killed the bird that laid the golden egg and propelled Hawaii's fragile economy, which is overly dependent on tourism, into an economic tailspin from which we are yet to recover.

The Rev. Dennis Shields
Captain Cook, Hawaii
(Via the Internet)

Protect innocent victims
from incurable molesters

Regarding your recent headlines, "Dallas church must pay $74 million for abuse" and "Isle child molester pleads guilty," when will we learn that these people have a chronic disease and that most are not curable?

The mental health community, however, will continue to do everything in its power to convince us that they can be returned to society. How many children must suffer the trauma and indignity of sexual abuse?

Robert Zimmer
(Via the Internet)

---

Same-sex archive

---

Want to write a letter to the editor? Let all Star-Bulletin readers know what you think. Please keep your letter to about 200 words. You can send it by e-mail to letters@starbulletin.com or you can fill in the online form for a faster response. Or print it and mail it to: Letters to the Editor, P.O. Box 3080, Honolulu, Hawaii 96802. Or fax it to: 523-8509. Always be sure to include your daytime phone number.