Ancestors wouldn't want us to speak pidgin

Pidgin English is a way of showing the cultural side of Hawaii, but I also feel that the pidgin English spoken today is not what our great ancestors intended.

My great grandparents are in their late 90s and all they speak is pidgin English. But the way they speak it is totally different from how it is spoken today.

Although times have changed, I feel that pidgin should be spoken but only in good taste. In this day and age, we have to be competitive in the school system if we want to succeed. So if that means not being able to speak pidgin in class, so be it.

Lori Iwamasa
Mililani High School
Mililani

Don't blame pidgin for poor test scores

I disagree that pidgin English is the cause of low test scores. I have friends who speak pidgin English and they do very well in school.

Students who do poorly on tests are simply not applying themselves. I myself don't speak pidgin English and I still don't do well in school because I don't apply myself.

I also feel that some teachers are not taking the time to correct and teach proper English.

Maybe pidgin English is spoken at home, but students need to be taught proper English in school and to know when it is appropriate to use it.

Tatiana Navarez
Mililani High School
Mililani

McCandless home has great history

Thanks for the Oct. 22 thumbnail biography of Lincoln L. McCandless, one of your "100 Who Made A Difference." It reminded me that I am living in the shadows of one of Hawaii's pioneers in the old mansion built by that prestigious family.

The huge frame house, though suffering from the onslaught of time and termites, still retains much of the spirit of the past. It is one of the few old mansions remaining in the Manoa vicinity.

Situated on an acre of hillside overlooking Waikiki, it boasts six bedrooms, six full baths, family rooms and a breathtaking view of the city and Diamond Head. The large house next door, once part of the estate, was the carriage house and servant quarters.

Although your writer did a commendable job, he failed to mention that the McCandless family also endowed the creation of the Shriners Children's Hospital on Punahou Street.

Robert P. Geyer

Quotables "It's like a piece of jade that's not polished." Rose Tseng NEWLY INAUGURATED CHANCELLOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII-HILO On the tremendous potential of UH-Hilo, which has gained national recognition as a public liberal arts college "I'm tired of fighting these battles. You go to the mainland, you can build it in the middle of a desert. Nobody cares and we'll do it cheaper." Gov. Ben Cayetano Fed up with the not-in-my-backyard opposition to building a new prison on the Big Island and resuming talks with Arizona officials about housing Hawaii inmates at a medium-security prison there

Funds must be found for playground gear

Why is the state Department of Education removing playground equipment? Quite simply, to prevent lawsuits. Although there is no state or federal law regarding playground equipment, the American Society for Testing and Material, and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission have established voluntary guidelines.

Therefore, if a student is injured and the school is not complying with voluntary guidelines, it will be sued.

Obviously, playgrounds are a fundamental part of the childhood experience. Therefore, we must act decisively in the next legislative session to fix this situation.

Experts say we need approximately $75,000 per school. According to the DOE, there are about 150 elementary schools in need of this gear. Based on these figures, the total cost should be roughly $11.25 million. These funds would be capital-improvement money -- used for long-term purchases.

If we truly believe that our children's schooling is the most important thing that government does, we must fix this glaring and embarrassing situation. Is there anything more important than the learning environment for elementary school children? I think not. It is time for my colleagues and me to put up or shut up.

Rep. Bob McDermott (R)
32nd District

Nurses are a hospital's most vital assets

The Queen's Medical Center is to be congratulated on its "140 years of caring" and commended for providing our community with a vast array of state-of-the-art health care (QMC Special Edition, Oct. 25).

In the early 1970s, as a ward clerk in Queen's Intensive Care Unit, I worked alongside the most awesome registered nurses. I watched these nurses save the lives of patients on a daily basis and decided I wanted to become just like them.

I look back on my days at Queen's with fond memories but now wonder what will happen to patients if dedicated nurses aren't there to intervene and save lives. Queen's proposal to remove registered nurses from the bedside and replace them with unlicensed technicians is not excellence in patient care.

Queen's special edition stated, "Our nurses are acknowledged as being worth their weight in gold." If these are more than just words then, in addition to building and investing millions in new infrastructure, Queen's should be building up and investing its gold where it counts: in its awesome, dedicated nurses.

Nancy E. McGuckin, R.N.
Executive Director
Hawaii Nurses' Association

Trustees should not be critical of another

It is indeed a sad day at the Office of Hawaiian Affairs to say farewell to Trustee Moses Keale Sr. upon his retirement. He served 19 years on the OHA board of trustees, 13 without compensation.

At a time when Keale should be complimented and congratulated for the progress that he has made on behalf of the Hawaiian people, I am deeply saddened by the negative comments made by Trustees Haunani Apoliona, Colette Machado and A. "Frenchy" DeSoto, who question the process of his retirement. In a clear 6-3 vote, the board passed a retirement package in May 1999.

These negative comments are inappropriate and should be made, if at all, within the confines of the OHA offices and not in the press.

This lack of sensitivity for a peer only demonstrates that, if one cannot have compassion for those who are close to us, it is impossible to conceive that these same people could have compassion and empathy for the people they were elected to serve.

Rowena M.N. Akana
Chairwoman,
Board of Trustees
Office of Hawaiian Affairs

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