Autonomy bill is needed to help Hawaiians
I agree 110 percent with state Rep. Ed Case's autonomy bill. With a Native Hawaiian Trust Corp. in place, it would bring the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs under one entity, run by 13 elected trustees.With the DHHL and Kali Watson standing around while Kahale Smith dies a fiery death on Kauai, and thousands of Hawaiians try to get on homestead land, DHHL has wasted time, money and energy.
Of course, we can't forget OHA with all of its bickering, finger-pointing, missing files, unseating and firing of prominent personnel. Here is another prime example of wasted resources.
Drastic changes should be implemented for the future of the Hawaiian people if they are to propel into the 21st century.
The state should step in and take complete control of the destiny of the Hawaiian people. DHHL and OHA have gone amok.
Robert P. Kanealii
Kaneohe
Taking family to beach is harder with new law
My kids asked about going to the beach this weekend. My normal response was to check with mom about any plans or obligations first.None? Great, let's go! Wait a minute, we can't go. Why not? Because you kids can't ride in the truck bed because of the new law.
How are we going to the beach anymore, Dad? I don't know, kids; I guess we'll have to wait until we can afford a larger vehicle with more seats.
Great, Dad, let's get one. Sorry, kids, can't do it right now.
I have a feeling this will be a regular scenario in our house for a while. I also think we will move to a state where we can ride in the back of a truck, if we choose. I'll be checking the laws via the Internet right after I finish this letter.
Guess we'll take up winter sports. We've heard how much fun snowboarding is.
Ken Proctor
(Via the Internet)
Riding carts doesn't hurt 'integrity' of pro golfers
Star-Bulletin wag Bill Kwon needs to take a mulligan, following his uninformed comments about the Casey Martin vs. PGA Tour brouhaha (Star-Bulletin, Jan. 17). Martin is suing the PGA for the right to ride a golf cart because of a congenital leg problem which makes walking the course a medical impossibility.When Kwon worries that cart-riding hurts the "integrity of the sport," he is echoing PGA propaganda. Golf is about ball-striking, patience and calmness in a face of a difficult round, and socializing with people you care about.
The "integrity of the game" is not impacted one iota by players who ride carts routinely. The real culprit (besides its media mouthpieces) is the PGA Tour itself, which continues to insist on policies and practices that are foreign to the average Joe.
My father, who taught me the game, can no longer walk the course because of a painful knee condition. Yet he continues to hit balls into the backyard net, tinker with his swing, and gratefully play a few rounds when he can, riding a cart.
It is he, and legions of weekend players who love the game, who preserve golf's integrity from the exclusionist policies of the country club elite.
Lyle S. Ishida
Mililani
(Via the Internet)
Planned Parenthood isn't reducing pregnancies
With Hawaii having the third highest rate of teen pregnancies and the highest rate of teen abortions in the nation, our state Health Department's family planning services and Planned Parenthood are obviously failing to reduce teen pregnancies.It is time to admit that giving teens contraceptives and providing them abortions are not the answer to these woeful statistics.
The apparent demise of Planned Parenthood in Hawaii cannot happen quickly enough.
John Pechauer
Prison space must be top legislative priority
Hawaii has exported 600 inmates to Texas, providing that state with millions of our dollars for jobs and services while the Hawaii economy is faltering.Whatever your individual feeling about incarceration, we all know that the lack of prison space removes the threat presented by police departments and courts.
We urge everyone to contact their legislators. The bottom line is that Hawaii needs more prison beds, and we need them now.
The Legislature needs to give prison overcrowding a priority status. This issue doesn't need study or consultants. It needs action.
We in the business community recognize the need for prison space. Please help the law-enforcement community provide the protection you want and need.
Ronald E. Jones
Chairman, Legislative Committee
Kalihi Business Association
Hawaii's students aren't worse than mainlanders
I've just finished reading the Star-Bulletin's Jan. 8 article, "Poor grades plague isle school system." When will the papers ever give the teachers and students in Hawaii a break?I went to island schools and did very well in my college years on the mainland, even though I wasn't the world's best student back home. I now live in Tennessee, and most of the children here can't speak let alone read English. Their math scores are shameful.
At least in Hawaii, most children understand more than one culture and customs. Parental participation is terrible all over the nation - just check with teachers in California or Maryland. I believe this is mostly due to parents doing their best to provide in these troubled economic times.
So lighten up. The constant nagging is giving Hawaii kids an inferiority complex they don't deserve and follows them around for life. Our children deserve better.
Send a mahalo to all my teachers back there.
Taryn Grant-Bazzano
Germantown, Tenn.
(Via the Internet)
Bishop Estate Archive
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