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Letters
to the Editor

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Saturday, July 29, 2000

Kanno doesn't deserve public lambasting

It is truly sad and tiresome when voters get together, in an obvious group effort, to slander someone when they know the target is unable to defend himself.

Sen. Brian Kanno has done many wonderful things for the district he represents. The openings of Kapolei High School and the Kapolei Public Library are just two examples

As a former member of his staff, I can attest that not once did I or any of his staffers "refuse" to take a message for him. We never "unplugged the fax machine." Such suggestions are ludicrous.

I respect Senator Kanno for trying to right a past wrong (by apologizing for his vote against the reconfirmation of Attorney General Margery Bronster). It is rare that a politician puts pride aside to admit publicly that he or she made a wrong decision. Asking his constituents for forgiveness was a humble gesture, and he should not be punished for it.

He has fought, tooth and nail, for bills to be passed that would help his district, be it for the undergrounding of power lines or soil testing. I witnessed, first hand, his dedication.

Maybe Paul Oshiro was an outstanding legislator, but I believe in Senator Kanno, and his district should, too.

S. Chong

Fasi should lead city government once again

If you ask me, Frank Fasi should be our mayor. He may be old, but older is wiser. He was our mayor longer than anybody else, so why not let him break a world record.

During his time, he built the bus system, the HPower garbage-to-energy plant, the satellite city halls and affordable housing. He almost got a subway system for Oahu but, unfortunately, the City Council voted against it. He also did much more.

Mr. Fasi, if you're reading this, you'd have my vote if I was old enough to vote. Oahu needs you.

Rosa Morriseau
6th Grade
Mililani

Here's mantra for voters hungry for change

How's this for a great election year bumpersticker:
"WHEN IN DOUBT, VOTE THEM OUT!"

Duke Sturgeon

Not only Hawaiians are affected by legislation

As enthusiastic as I am about the bill introduced in Congress by the Hawaiian delegation to establish native Hawaiian rights, there is one major problem.

When the Kingdom of Hawaii was overthrown in 1893, the citizens of that sovereign nation included more than Hawaiians. Nationals from a variety of states became citizens of Hawaii, too.

These people -- natives of other sovereign nations or descendants of people who were natives of other nations -- lost their queen, government and their rights, just as the kanaka maoli did.

Unfortunately, this bill ignores those people. By limiting participation only to those who can trace their ancestry to people of Hawaiian blood as of Jan. 1, 1893, it disenfranchises all those of Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Portuguese, Russian, British, Samoan, Tongan and other nationalities who had become naturalized citizens of the kingdom prior to the 1893 overthrow.

Hawaiian sovereignty should apply just as equally to the descendants of these citizens of the kingdom as it does to the descendants of pre-contact Hawaii.

Dennis Harris
Lahaina, Maui

Everybody is driving too fast, including police

As a driver who averages 2,500 miles per month -- covering most of Oahu regularly, from Waimanalo lanes to Waikiki boulevards, including a commute from the North Shore -- I must publicly comment on the recent traffic death at Kipapa Gulch. Wake up, people!

The knights in Mark Twain's "Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" were armored horsemen who would casually trample the peasants with nary a regret for their loutish lives. We are a head-in-the-sand herd of egalitarians who whimper every time one of the inevitable deaths occurs, yet happily and universally ignore speed limits.

The average speed in the 35 mph zone at Kipapa is actually closer to 50. Similar bridges, just west of Schofield Barracks and Wahiawa, are marked at 25 but traversed at 45-55. Try going the speed limit for a while on any of our roadways and you'll gain a very close bumper-kissing set of friends. Everyone will pass you, including the cops.

Give the city the traffic fines, enforce speed limits, get real with driver education, limit young drivers, issue a driving test that's not out of the 1950s, mount signs stating how many have died in high hazard areas and do creative some creative PR for road courtesy. The wailing of the bereaved should not be in vain.

Boyd Ready
Haleiwa

Monkeypod trees offer best shade

One of the first things you notice at Diamond Head is a profound lack of protective shade. Monkeypod trees, despite some disadvantages, can help provide such shade and still maintain the grass underneath (instead of dirt, as banyan trees do).

About 20 years ago I planted a monkeypod in the center of Diamond Head, by the edge of the lawn area. It still provides more shade than anything in the center of the crater. Native to tropical America, it is one of the fastest growing trees in the world.

This should be a lesson for us on one possible way to improve the crater. While the larger trees are not accessible to the public, I have seen people walk from the parking lot to stand under the monkeypod I planted, especially in a rainfall.

Such trees would be better in the crater, in many ways, than any man-made shelter.

Edward Arrigoni

There's a drug for every ill, every person

Who is going to save us? The trend in America is toward doping up kids for alleged mental illnesses such as hyperactivity, and behavioral and personality disorders. Reportedly six million kids ages 6-18 are prescribed mind-altering drug, whereas yesterday's kids were allowed the different stages of development without being turned over to a psychiatric unit.

Meanwhile, the media hype says one out of every 10 Americans suffers from a mental illness. Psychiatric drug sales have risen dramatically -- Paxil is even advertised on TV for "social anxiety disorder." Baby boomers, beware!

Barbara Jessee
Kaneohe

Quotables "Every time I come home the pidgin comes back...I like to think I bring my own little aloha where I go." Brooke Alexander FORMER HAWAII RESIDENT AND THE HOST OF CNN'S "WORLD BEAT" Who finally convinced her producers to do a segment on Hawaiian music "The logo really put a stigma on our program (in that) it's part of the gay community, their flags and so forth. Some of the student athletes had some feelings in regards to that." Hugh Yoshida UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII ATHLETIC DIRECTOR Explaining that one of the reasons for changing the nickname of the UH football team from Rainbows to Warriors was the concern that the rainbow had become a symbol of gay pride and acceptance

Mainland school managers should be wooed back

In your July 20 article, "Schools face manager exodus," I found it interesting that while Superintendent of Schools Paul LeMahieu predicts a shortage of principals, the Department of Education won't consider hiring former Hawaii residents who are currently school administrators on the mainland.

I went through the Hawaii public school system and graduated from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. I left for the mainland 13 years ago and, in that time, have moved through the ranks to become an administrator in an inner city school district in Southern California.

Yet every time I visit Hawaii and stop by the DOE, I'm told that I cannot become an administrator in the islands. I am told that I need to start over as a teacher.

Is this the closed political system that keeps Hawaii behind, that drives the best and the brightest away? Was LeMahieu given this response when he applied?

I have the experience, know the culture and would take a major pay cut to move back to a place with a higher cost of living. But if the DOE wants me play the political game of "who do you know," I must regretfully stay where I am, and the children of Hawaii must suffer with nepotism and mediocrity.

Irvin R. Lim
Costa Mesa, Calif.

Tourists don't want gambling in Hawaii

In his July 8 letter, McWarren J. Mehau suggested that Nevada gambling interests are paying off local opponents of legalized gambling. Having spun that seductive notion, he did not provide facts or even hints of evidence.

Mehau ignored the survey in the Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism. It showed that 68.9 percent of Japanese-speaking visitors said they would not favor casino gambling in Hawaii; 52.5 percent thought it would harm tourism.

Robert Fishman, executive director of Hawaii Tourism Authority, said at an Oct. 7, 1999, Kailua Neighborhood Board meeting: "There is a high price to bring gambling into the state, and it would not be a significant attraction since there are many gambling destinations on the mainland," not to mention in Japan, Korea, Hong Kong and other countries.

We are grateful that no governor or member of our congressional delegation has supported state-sponsored or corporate commercial gambling in Hawaii. Both Governor Cayetano and Hawaii GOP Chairwoman Linda Lingle have stated their opposition to legalized gambling.

By the way, our grassroots organization of 40-plus civic, environmental and religious organizations does not accept money from any gambling sources.

If Mehau does have proof that Nevada casinos are "paying off" those opposing legalized gambling in Hawaii, he should inform the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Dorothy Bobilin
President
Robert Bobilin
Research Chairman
Hawaii Coalition Against Legalized Gambling

Homeless problem is being worked on by state

In her July 5 letter, Lynn Maunakea wrote that my "misstated statistics on Hawaii's homeless give the impression that the problem is going away so we can stop working on it or go on to something more important."

I did not intend to imply that Hawaii's homeless problem has been solved. In fact, state data show that the number of homeless persons assisted in the past three years has not decreased, indicating a hard-core homeless problem that is very difficult to abate.

However, a homeless study conducted in 1992 estimated there were nearly 5,400 homeless persons in Hawaii. A 1999 study estimated 3,200 homeless persons at any given time.

While these estimates cannot be directly compared because of the different methodologies, one can deduce from these numbers and additional comparable survey data that the extent of homelessness in the islands has decreased.

Ronald S. Lim
Special Assistant for Housing
Office of the Governor

Setting the record straight on homosexuality

The ravings of people like Mark Lee (Letters, July 6) make it necessary for the Board of Education to find ways to protect our gay and lesbian youth. For the record:

Homosexuality is not a disease, therefore there is nothing from which to "recover."

Homosexuality is neither dangerous, deadly, immoral nor spiritually dead. It doesn't cause AIDS.

Gay men and women generally recognize their sexuality at an early age. The continued drive to demonize this very natural and regular development of sexual identity serves only to punish children for the shortsightedness and bigotry of certain adults.

Minority groups become needful of protection when they are specifically singled out for discriminatory treatment by the ignorant and cruel.

Children are not bigoted by nature; they have to be taught how and whom to hate.

Gay men and women have existed since the very beginning of the human race, the Adam and Eve myth notwithstanding. We are a normal part of the development of this human race and will not cease to exist simply because a small group of zealots refuses to accept or condone us.

Andrew Thomas

Obatake was deserving of photographic spotlight

I was happy to see your July 19 photo and caption on Mark Obatake, who participated in an Americans with Disabilities Act march on the state Capitol.

Mark was a highly intelligent and gifted student. He was modest and popular with his classmates at the orthopedic unit of Pohukaina School and a pillar of the Kapalama Puppeteers, who performed at clubs, schools and the Academy of Arts.

He is a role model, indeed, for Americans with disabilities.

Elma J. Cabral

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Hanauma Bay needs protection

Volunteers strive to educate visitors about coral reef

As the person who has been managing the Hanauma Bay Education Program's (HBEP) volunteer corps for four years, I'd like to respond to Kelly Washino's June 30 letter, "Hanauma Bay coral reef is dead."

Hanauma Bay is Hawaii's first marine life conservation district. This means that all of its marine life is protected by state law. It is HBEP's interpretation that this extends to the ecosystem as a whole.

In order to protect the natural state of the bay's ecosystem, human impact must be kept to a minimum. Therefore, walking on the reef; feeding, capturing and handling its inhabitants; and collecting specimens (live or not) alter this natural state.

Many if not most of visitors to Hanauma are unaware that these activities could have a negative impact on the marine environment. One of our goals is to bring this to light, believing that if visitors know which activities are damaging, they will avoid them. To this end, our volunteers work very hard.

Yet educating the bay's visitors is difficult at best, given current facilities. The exhibit area is too small and poorly illuminated, and we have no classroom at our disposal. Imagine trying to teach a lesson in marine ecology in rainy, windy conditions under the trees (as has been suggested by a few), while thousands of people (some speaking loudly) walk by. This doesn't work but it's what we have now.

The new, modest and well-designed education center will take us a long way toward protecting Hanauma's delicate marine environment. It will provide a better venue to teach Hawaii's children about the ocean that surrounds them.

Jeff Kuwabara
Marine Park Program Specialist
Hanauma Bay Education Program

Hawaiian group backs Hanauma improvements

'Ahahui Malama i ka Lokahi is a well-known Hawaii organization that has taken an active interest in caring for our environment.

This highly respected group identifies itself as "Native Hawaiians for the Preservation of Hawaii's Ecosystems" and is composed of Hawaiians and non-Hawaiians who have devoted themselves to activities that promote the preservation and conservation of Hawaiian ecosystems and cultural sites.

Those earnestly supporting proposed improvements at Hanauma Bay were honored to receive a wonderful letter of endorsement from 'Ahahui Malama, whose conclusion came after an exhaustive review of the plans and site.

In its letter, 'Ahahui Malama's president, Charles "Chuck" Burrows, said, "We urge other community groups, Hawaiian organizations and neighborhood boards such as the (one) in Waimanalo...to visit the proposed site at Hanauma Bay and speak with its staff...to gain a better understanding of the need for a new center."

Hanauma Bay Manager Alan Hong, the Marine Education Program staff and volunteers from the Friends of Hanauma Bay are eager to answer questions and show the architectural model after the planned improvements are completed. To make arrangements, please call me at 527-5558 or Alan Hong at 395-2211.

Cynthia M. Bond

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