Money should be spent on prevention, protection
Every dollar invested in prevention and protection returns six dollars in the reduced costs of remedial education, welfare, crime and social services.In a time of tremendous reductions in family services, we need to remember the many benefits of a vibrant and healthy human service system.
April is Child Abuse Prevention Month. It is an especially important time to review the benefits of human services to the entire community.
Vicki Wallach
Director of Prevention Services
Child & Family Service
Hawaii should wake up to need for military
Predictably, critics of the military are back in the news, on this occasion seeking to encourage the state Legislature to pass a resolution calling for the prohibition of testing or use of anti-submarine low-frequency sonar in Hawaiian waters.In addition, hearings scheduled later this month in Honolulu and on Kauai concerning the Navy's plans to expand the capabilities of the Pacific Missile Range Facility at Barking Sands are certain to attract hard-core activists, who confront the military at every opportunity.
Good citizens of Hawaii, it's time to wake up.
We should begin with the realization that over $4 billion in federal funds are expended in Hawaii annually, most of that by the military. More than 10,000 civilian residents are employed in defense-related jobs.
Thousands of local businesses -- big and small -- provide goods and services of every imaginable variety to the armed services. Suffice to say that the importance of the military to Hawaii's economy cannot be overstated.
Robert T. Guard
President, Honolulu Council
Navy League of the U.S.
Prison would desecrate the serenity of temple
Wood Valley Temple and Retreat Center is five miles above Pahala in Kau. It attracts people from Hawaii and all over the world. Locals and visitors alike feel comfortable there because it is unique, safe and secluded.If the prison is built in Kapapala, one of the two proposed sites, it will be right next door to Wood Valley. The charm and sacredness of the temple and district will be destroyed.
In 1994, the Dalai Lama, a world-renowned Buddhist leader, came and spoke at the temple. It was one of the largest gatherings of people assembled for a cultural event on the Big Island. The historical significance and the peaceful ambience has established the temple as one of the choice places to visit in Kau.
Putting a large prison complex in the middle of a quiet rural area in plain view of every island visitor and resident is shameful and not the way to solve social problems. It creates them.
Michael and Mayra Schwabe
Wood Valley Temple
Pahala, Hawaii
Ceded lands do not 'belong' to OHA
Now pending before the courts is the OHA-ceded land issue. The Office of Hawaiian Affairs is demanding as much as 20 percent of the revenues derived from these lands, claiming that they rightfully belong to OHA and Hawaiians with 50 percent or more of Hawaiian blood quantum.These lands were the property of the Hawaiian monarchy, the existing state authority at that time, never the personal property of the ancestors of OHA or their supporters. These lands are now held in trust by the present democratic state authority, and used for the benefit of all the people, including OHA and their beneficiaries. No conversion here.
The scurrilous and specious claims that these lands were stolen is preposterous. Stolen from whom? The state monarchy owned and controlled them then, and the State of Hawaii controls them now for all our benefit.
To buy into the claim that ceded lands belong to OHA and its beneficiaries is to accept the notion that OHA is really the legitimate representative of the Hawaiian monarchial government in exile.
Art Todd
Kaneohe
Robinsons deserve thanks for all they have done
Accolades to the Robinson family, owner of the island of Niihau, for its unselfish and dedicated assistance to a group of Hawaiians living there to preserve their native lifestyle.Shame on those Hawaiians who, on the one hand, accuse the U.S. of "stealing" land in Hawaii and, on the other hand, enjoy all the benefits and privileges of U.S. citizenship. They want it both ways!
These Hawaiians have remained passive and silent on the breach of fiduciary duty by the trustees of the Kamehameha Schools/Bishop Estate, and on the years of poor management by the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.
Those critical activists should appreciate what the Robinsons are doing. Would the Office of Hawaiian Affairs consider taking over Niihau?
How Tim Chang
Closer watch is needed on Bishop Estate trustees
People involved in the Hawaiian sovereignty movement should be more watchful over the affairs of the Bishop Estate. The trustees have allegedly misused power and money, and have been accused of trying to micromanage the Kamehameha Schools.All of these alleged actions, if true, result in missed opportunities for the Hawaiian people.
Lauren Endo
Mililani High School
School has more privacy than patients of HMSA
To look at the admissions records of Kamehameha Schools, one needs a court order. Yet, if one has ever been a member of the Hawaii Medical Service Association, employees at HMSA may look at your medical records -- which are more likely to contain private information -- at their whim, at any time without your knowledge.Yes, Hawaii is an interesting place to live.
Dr. Walter Young
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