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Xerox victims' families deserve sympathy

My sincere apologies to Lynn Kataoka (Letters, Sept. 9) and all the other families of the Xerox tragedy. In my Aug. 30 letter to the editor, I didn't mean to slight the gravity of the horrendous deaths of seven good men.

In my attempt to exonerate attorney Jerel Fonseca for his role in defending Byran Uyesugi, I did not consider the perspective of the tragic grief suffered by the victims' families.

I had been too engrossed in trying to point out the unfairness of the verdict in that infamous trial of two brutally slain, defenseless people in Brentwood, Calif., six years ago. Please accept my apologies and sympathies.

T. Ono
Hilo

Column marred meeting with editorial board

I would like to comment on my Sept. 5 meeting with the Star-Bulletin editorial board. I wasted valuable time answering your questions for an hour-and-a-half, not knowing that your Sept. 5 editorial page already contained a powerful endorsement for Mayor Harris in contributing editor A.A. Smyser's column.

You gave me a copy of the issue as I sat down to be interviewed, which I thought was a courtesy. As it turned out, you pulled off a clever, dishonest, unethical trick on me.

If you had been decent enough to show me your endorsement of Harris before asking me to be interviewed by you, I would not have accepted your invitation.

Frank F. Fasi

Editor's note: A.A. Smyser's Sept. 5 column was not the Star-Bulletin's endorsement in the Honolulu mayor's race. That announcement will be made next week.

Hannemann represents a positive change

While Mayor Harris has been spending an outrageous amount of money on pet projects to get re-elected, three Kailua restaurants are suing the city (translation: Hawaii taxpayers) for lost business income due to prolonged construction work on a problem situation that the mayor and city knew about since 1994.

With the added road collapse on Tantalus and flooding in Waikele, who knows how many more of these poor-maintenance disasters lie in wait? Harris is ignoring these things in his blind frenzy for water displays, ponds and $38 million for vision team celebrations.

We need a change of leadership. Six years of Jeremy and 10 years of both Jeremy and Frank Fasi together at City Hall have been more than we deserve.

Honolulu, give a local-born product a chance, especially one as qualified as Mufi Hannemann. He also happens to be hapa-haole, and is married to a beautiful and equally outstanding Japanese-American woman.

Eddie Koga
Pearl City

Question can decide voter's status

It's disturbing that more than 500 Hawaii residents who are not U.S. citizens are currently registered to vote. Why doesn't the Office of Elections get rubber stamps that ask: "Are you a U.S. citizen? Yes or No." This can be stamped in the poll book.

Before voters sign their names and are issued ballots, they must attest that they are U.S. citizens. This would immediately stop all non-U.S. citizens from voting in this current election.

Furthermore:

Posters should be made and posted at each polling site informing the public that aliens who vote may risk deportation.

Efforts should be made to delete names of deceased people and to check for other violations.

Whether a person is a Republican, Democrat or affiliated with another party, this is not a partisan issue and must be investigated further. This matter is critical to everyone running for office.

Linda A. Kato
Waipahu

One local TV station has on-time late news

I must take exception to Bob Zimmer's Sept. 8 letter, "All newscasts should come on exactly at 10." Mr. Zimmer, have you ever tuned in to KITV4?

Some time ago, general manager Mike Rosenberg decided that KITV would be Hawaii's on-time TV station. And that is not a hollow promise.

The entire staff takes pride in ensuring that programs run on time. The sales department doesn't oversell breaks, the traffic department doesn't pad breaks, and the operations and news staffs make certain that programs run on schedule.

There are exceptions, of course. ABC occasionally runs a long movie, awards shows can go on and on, and no one can predict the length of a "Monday Night Football" game.

But as for regularly scheduled programming, KITV's 10 p.m. news will come on at 10, give or take a second. I can personally vouch for that since, as the master control operator, it's my job to make certain we do hit on time.

Kerry A. Krenzke

Howard Stern is not family hour material

Parental alert: At 8 o'clock in the evening, Oceanic Cable broadcasts the Howard Stern show, repeating it at 11 p.m. the same night. When asked why the show is on at the family hour of 8 p.m., Oceanic had no reply.

Mary Souza

Let Bush focus on important issues

The media bias continues to perpetuate furor over ridiculous news items such as the present "rats" issue, concerning a George W. Bush campaign ad.

Why not focus on what is truly vulgar and unethical -- government waste and Al Gore's advocating an even larger government role in the lives of American citizens?

Reject the media bias! Allow Bush to focus on the issues that truly matter: tax relief (it is not a budget surplus; it is a tax surplus that should be returned to you) and education, instead of his getting bombarded constantly with such Mickey Mouse stuff that the media seem to thrive on. It diverts attention from what is truly important.

Donna Rewick
Kaneohe

Quotables "If I didn't come here, the kids would be OK." Evelyn Luab KALIHI VALLEY MOTHER OF TWO GIRLS WHO WERE HIT BY A VAN AS THEY WALKED HOME FROM SCHOOL Who blames herself for moving to Hawaii from the Philippines eight years ago "You could get fat, especially (on) the kangaroo tail soup. It was made like a stew and, oh man, that was awesome." George Onekea FORMER OLYMPIAN FROM HAWAII, WHO BACK IN 1956 WAS A 16-YEAR-OLD SWIMMER FROM IOLANI SCHOOL Reminiscing about the ono food served to athletes in Melbourne's Olympic Village 44 years ago, when the games were last hosted by Australia

Cayetano deserves to be impeached

I am quite amused by the reaction of the governor to the protest held in front of Queen Liliuokalani's home. He said it was "the first time children were exploited in the process, holding signs with profanity."

Those signs were nowhere near any children. Moreover, Cayetano has done so much damage to kanaka maoli that I don't even want to explain what exploitation he has put my people through.

We need a new governor, someone we can trust. I urge everyone to impeach Cayetano.

Adrian K. Kamalii
President
`Ilio`ulaokalani Youth Coalition

What Trask did was an obscenity in itself

I hope Haunani Trask understands if I use the same obscene word that she had on her public protest sign to describe how I feel about what she and her acquaintances are doing. She's got to remember that the right to free speech extends to all other Americans.

Chucky Santiago
Wahiawa

Cayetano has no respect for Hawaiians

I take full responsibility for the demonstration fronting Queen Liliuokalani's house, now occupied by Ben Cayetano. While I do not condone the use of profane language, I will not impose my personal beliefs on an individual's constitutional right to freedom of speech.

Yes, there were signs with profane/obscene language. I did not bring them nor did I support the use of them.

Yes, there were children at the demonstration. They were with their parents. If they were holding signs with obscene language, I was not aware of it. It is the responsibility of the parents to monitor and supervise their own children.

Finally, I have some questions for Governor Cayetano:

When did Hawaiians relinquish our right to elect our own representatives?

When did we give Cayetano the power to threaten our elected officials and force them to resign? These trustees were elected by nearly 100,000 Hawaii residents. Their terms have not expired yet they were threatened with removal and forced out of office.

When did we give Cayetano the right to appoint our elected officials?

Why does he continually scoff at the judicial system? He refuses to accept the Hawaii Supreme Court's interpretations and recommendations. He refuses to trust in the democratic process and the separation of powers.

When did this state become a dictatorship?

Vicky Holt Takamine
Candidate,
Office of Hawaiian Affairs
Aiea

Jerks shouldn't be allowed to cut in line

I have a suggestion that might not cut down on University of Hawaii traffic woes, but it would lessen the road rage that becomes part of waiting in traffic.

How about coning the correct lanes leading to the parking lot far enough from the stadium to keep the inconsiderate jerks from cutting in at the last moment, thus making everybody who has waited in line feel like a sucker?

Also, how about using those nifty electronic message signs to make folks aware earlier in their route that the Aloha Stadium lot is filled, so they can make alternate parking plans earlier than when they arrive at the Salt Lake gate? This is all academic, since the crowds will be back down to 30,000 at the next UH home game based on the debacle Saturday night.

Mike Rosenberg

Parking lot personnel must take control

The parking attendants at Aloha Stadium are completely incompetent. At any other stadium expecting a huge turnout, the parking attendants will point to the stall you will park in -- no exceptions. There are no empty parking spaces between cars after the rows are filled.

How hard is this to convey to the attendants? The way it is now, once you're in the Aloha Stadium lot, it's literally a free-for-all, resulting in complete chaos!

April Lazzaro
Kaimuki

Football is more important than education

I want to thank you for putting our community's priorities so clearly before us. Last Thursday's front page of the Star-Bulletin featured two articles that laid out our priorities about education and the University of Hawaii.

Few could miss it: There was a huge splash about UH Warrior football, and a story about a new research building that just doesn't work and probably never will.

Grant Merritt

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