Editorials
Monday, October 26, 1998

Foreign competition
is hard nut to crack

WOULD Hawaii's candy-makers use macadamias from Australia in their sweet treats, even though the nuts are grown right here in the islands? Sure they would, if the price was right. That explains the concern of Hawaii's macadamia growers, as their Australian counterparts try to invade their turf in the local candy-making market.

The Aussies had a bumper crop last year, driving prices down. Now they're coming to Hawaii in an attempt to displace local growers. James Andrasick, chief executive of Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Corp., warned that if the "predatory pricing" continues, it could result in legal action. In 1990-91, macadamia prices also dropped and there were charges that the Australians were dumping their nuts -- selling them at less than production cost. When Hawaii growers hired an attorney, the Australians backed off. The local growers are hoping that will happen again.

With 4,000 workers, 700 growers and 12 processing plants, the industry has reached substantial proportions here. While sugar and pineapple have been shrinking, in part because of foreign competition, macadamia nuts have become one of Hawaii's biggest crops, with a potential for more growth. It would be unfortunate if the industry was also damaged by foreign competition.

Ewa Villages mess

WORD that the city will take two years longer to pay off loans on the Ewa Villages project -- at an additional cost of $764,000 -- was understandably not well received by the City Council. However, there is no way to avoid the reality that the city -- the Council as well as the administration -- guessed wrong on this project and now must pay.

The intention was good: to build new homes and rehabilitate old plantation homes, subsidizing sales to low-income families through market-price sales. But Hawaii's weak economy left the real estate market glutted with unsold homes.

Nor did it help that a scandal was uncovered involving a phony relocation scheme connected with the project -- a big embarrassment for the Harris administration.

City Budget Director Malcolm Tom, who gave Council members the bad news, was reminded that his previous assurances about Ewa Villages turned out to be overly optimistic. The plan that Tom presented to the Council calls for full repayment by April 2000. The added cost is particularly unwelcome when the city is threatened with a deficit that could amount to $100 million.

Of course, the city wasn't alone in guessing wrong. Private developers who made similar mistakes have been going broke. It's a painful lesson in the need to take more care to ensure that taxpayer money is well spent.

Deaths from AIDS

THE 47 percent drop in the AIDS fatality rate last year is remarkable but by no means is an indication that the war against this dreadful disease has been won. AIDS is no longer one of the top 10 causes of death in the U.S. and ranks far below the three biggest killers: heart disease, cancer and stroke. This dramatic improvement is due mainly to new drugs that prolong the lives of AIDS patients. But the report from the National Center for Health Statistics also points out that new infections continue unabated.

Researchers worry that a longer life for AIDS patients could mean, in some cases, more opportunities to spread the virus. Says one researcher, Helene Gayle, "We have people who, in the past, might have been very ill, in bed, not able to be sexually active, who now are much more active and potentially could continue to pass on HIV."

About 40,000 Americans continue to annually contract the virus that causes AIDS. New drug treatments helped an extra 15,000 AIDS patients to postpone death last year and prevented thousands of others infected with HIV from developing full-blown AIDS. Unfortunately, these successes may foster complacency about AIDS, making it more difficult to prevent new infections through unsafe sex and dirty needles. Researchers report a surge of unsafe sex among gay men. This is an attempt to deny the reality that drug treatments are often painful and ineffective and merely postpone the ravages of the disease.

Further medical advances, combined with acceptance of the need to avoid unsafe behavior, will be needed to conquer AIDS. But the drop in the fatality rate is certainly significant.

Party for Alana

THE fledgling Hawaii Cord Blood Bank threw its first major fund-raising event last Friday, in memory of a little girl named Alana Dung. Two years ago, the toddler had been the godsend of another non-profit, the Hawaii Bone Marrow Donor Registry, when thousands of islanders turned out to donate blood and help the 2-year-old diagnosed with leukemia. Alana beat the odds after a bone marrow transplant, but passed away at age 3 when the cancer returned on Oct. 14, 1997.

A year later, this past weekend, almost 700 people attended "Dreams and Dragonflies," a reception, dinner and tribute to Alana at the Hilton Hawaiian Village to benefit the Hawaii Cord Blood Bank. The unique medical bank, headed by Dr. Randal Wada, helps those diagnosed with serious blood disorders or life-threatening diseases.

The fund-raiser exceeded its organizers' expectation thanks to friends, family and supporters of Alana from the mainland and Hawaii and, of course, thanks to a little girl who keeps on bringing out the best in people, even in death.

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Rupert E. Phillips, CEO

John M. Flanagan, Editor & Publisher

David Shapiro, Managing Editor

Diane Yukihiro Chang, Senior Editor & Editorial Page Editor

Frank Bridgewater & Michael Rovner, Assistant Managing Editors

A.A. Smyser, Contributing Editor