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Hawaiians deserve compensation

Sen. Daniel K. Akaka has written the "Akaka bill," or Hawaiian recognition bill, which has been endorsed by President William Jefferson Clinton and assured passage by Congress.

It is a miracle. As a Hawaiian nation like the 559 American Indian nations, we can do what we want.

The first thing Hawaiians should do is collect rent due to Hawaiians over the past 107 years, just like how Sen. Daniel K. Inouye collected $1.25 billion for his Japanese-American constituents who were jailed in internment camps for three years.

Meanwhile, for six generations, Hawaiians have suffered from dethronement, poverty, crime and disease. Hawaiians should start collecting, like our Japanese neighbors, starting with the same figure of $1.25 billion for sacred American honor.

Arthur K. Trask Sr.
Anahola, Kauai

Quotables "He gave everything he had for justice for Dana, and then he let go and died. He went peaceably." Sandy Ireland Ingham SISTER OF BIG ISLAND MURDER VICTIM DANA IRELAND On the passing of her 76-year-old father, John Ireland of Virginia. He devoted his life to justice for murder victims after the 1991 death of Dana in Puna. "I've lived in Hawaii most of my life, but I never understood...aloha as much as I understand it now." Glenn Sexton XEROX HAWAII VICE PRESIDENT AND GENERAL MANAGER On the community's supportiveness on the anniversary of the fatal shooting of seven workers at the company's office on Nimitz Highway

Moses has best record despite sign-waving

This is in reference to the Oct. 30 letter by Shane Kincaid. He should be reminded of Rep. Mark Moses' record and not nitpick and grumble about a small sign-waving incident.

Moses is the right person to represent our district. He is the best qualified and has the best record. This is just typical political rhetoric to take away attention from actual issues and values.

Samuel Hesch
Waipahu

Numerous Gabbard signs are a blight

The Outdoor Circle recently thanked all those who ran for office who didn't blight our beautiful islands with small political billboards. Conversely, I'd like to comment on one family candidate who is a real turn-off due to all her signs: Carol Gabbard.

In a two-square-mile block around the Kailua police station alone, there are four signs at one home, a sign posted on the public strip along Kailua Road, two signs on a vacation rental going into Lanikai, and triple billboard signs atop a Budget rental van in Kailua town.

If we are subject to this in one small area, what is the rest of the island coping with?

Peggy White
Kailua

Not all Yale graduates are created equal

The Oct. 30 article, "There's Something About Politics and Yale," suggests that both Bill and Hillary Clinton are Yale graduates. They are not. They attended Yale Law School, one of Yale's many graduate schools, not Yale College, the undergraduate school. George Bush, Joe Lieberman and Dick Cheney all attended Yale College, the undergraduate school. The term "Yale graduate" is normally associated with the undergraduate degree from Yale College, not a graduate degree from one of the many schools.

I sincerely regret that I have no such disclaimer to offer in the case of Sen. Brian Kanno.

He is, much to our embarrassment, a Yale College graduate.

Clinton S. McIntosh

Republicans shouldn't apologize to Clinton

In the December issue of Esquire magazine, President Clinton says he apologized to the American people for what he did wrong in the Monica episode, so the Republicans in Congress should apologize to the American people for impeaching him.

Is this guy nuts or just pathologically impaired? Has America sunk so low that an apology by the president (or a criminal) is supposed to clean the slate? Is perjury under oath meaningless?

We must elect a president who will take us back to a moral, ethical and legal society.

Jay Bauckham

George W. Bush will ruin the environment

If we go all out now to reduce fossil fuel consumption, we may be able to save the planet. If not, ozone layer depletion and global warming will make the planet uninhabitable in the lifetimes of our children and grandchildren.

The question is: Do we have time to save the planet or is it already too late?

Al Gore will support energy alternatives and efficiencies. George W. Bush will speed up the process of turning fossil fuel into permanent air pollution.

Bush makes fun of Gore's concern about the internal combustion engine. He ridicules the vice president's proposal for a tax credit for hybrid cars just now coming to market -- cars that get 70 or more miles per gallon.

Gore is a visionary. Bush is an idiot, whose stupidity will likely kill his grandchildren if he's elected. For God's sake, vote Earth.

Rick Lloyd

Pay raise would hike teacher morale

In your Oct. 27 article, Governor Cayetano defended his offer of a 9 percent raise over a four-year contract for teachers. He offers teachers not only the percentage raise but an opportunity to "improve themselves" as they move up the salary scale.

As a teacher with 25 years of service in the Hawaii school system, I have seen three governors promise to fix the Hawaii public school system more times than I want to remember. What's wrong with this broken system is not the need for teachers to "improve themselves."

What's wrong with the system is the failure of the state to:

Support teachers in the classroom with effective curriculum, materials, textbooks and reasonable class size.

Correct the current stressful situation over special education due to the state's previous failure to provide special-needs students with appropriate services.

Deal with the power struggles, from top to bottom, in the Department of Education, which takes so much energy away from educating children.

Raise the low beginning salary for teachers, and the ability of "already improved" teachers to move up the salary schedule.

If you want to attract and maintain a quality teaching force, whether in lower or higher education, "It's the salary, Governor!"

Patricia A. Hera

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