[ OUR OPINION ]
BOE members have
a right to speak outLIKE all legislative bodies, the state Board of Education is most effective when its members act with civility. That should not diminish the robust exchange of views, but Hawaii's school board members are inappropriately ganging up on one of their more outspoken proponents of school reform as envisaged by Governor Lingle.
THE ISSUE
Several school board members have accused board member Laura Thielen of impropriety in her support for education reform.
Board Chairman Breene Harimoto accused board member Laura Thielen of impropriety in her advocacy of Lingle's call for multiple school boards. "Because this member has a private agenda," he said, "facts are being twisted and conclusions are being reached that are totally irresponsible."
In addition to being on the school board, Thielen is among more than 20 members of Citizens Achieving Reform in Education, an advisory committee appointed by Lingle to recommend changes in education policy. If that is what Harimoto means as "a private agenda," he is off the mark. Thielen's participation in that committee is merely an extension of her involvement in education issues, not a conflicting activity.
Harimoto accused Thielen of inappropriately identifying herself as a school board member in letters to the editor and to legislators. That is absurd. She is an elected official and has every right to speak from that podium. If she had neglected to identify herself as a board member in a letter the Star-Bulletin, we would have given her that tag.
He also accuses Thielen of violating the board's code of conduct, a quaint document that says board members "will be guided by the spirit of aloha" -- turning "aloha" into an acronym of Hawaiian words for kindness, unity, agreeability, humility and patience. That should not inhibit any board member from speaking his or her mind on the education issues of the day.
Harimoto and longtime board member Denise Matsumoto -- who suggested Thielen had told "half-lies" in promoting school reform -- may have exploded at a remark over the radio last week that Thielen has admitted was a misstatement. She said she has apologized to Schools Superintendent Patricia Hamamoto.
In the broadcast, Thielen said change is needed in the schools' "central administration ... Pat and the number of layers below her." Thielen said she thought she had said, "Not Pat, the layers below her." Apology accepted. On with the debate.
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‘Bioprospecting’ rules
are necessaryHAWAII'S biodiversity includes more than 9,000 species found nowhere else on Earth. As biotechnical research expands, these species as well as the islands' land components could hold chemicals, microorganisms and other elements for drugs and other products that would reap big money for its discoverers.
THE ISSUE
A House bill proposes to place a hold on biotechnical exploration of the state's resources.
If such products are derived from public resources, the state stands to gain considerably, but those resources must be protected. A bill being considered by the Legislature that would halt transfer or sale of biological resources from public land until consequences are studied and rules are established should be approved, not only for monetary purposes but to shield endemic species.
Bioprospecting -- the search for plant and microbial strains that may contain useful substances for products -- is as old as humans who picked out leaves and roots for medicinal purposes. But advances in biotechnology now allows finer examination of nature's output in search of beneficial ingredients.
The problem is that bioprospecting ventures are rapidly growing, raising issues worldwide as private companies, universities and other research organizations scour the globe, hunting for resources.
The University of Hawaii, which already has a deal with a San Diego biotech company to take sludge from Hawaii volcanoes for study in exchange for an interest in its discoveries, wants an exemption from the prohibition. UH should hold off on any further agreements until the matter is examined.
Hawaiian organizations are troubled and see the selling of biological resources as a potential threat to gathering rights and other cultural practices. They are right, but the threat is to all people in the state, since such resources are a common heritage.
The bill would set up a commission to govern bioprospecting and the ownership and use of whatever commercially valuable genetic and biochemical substances found in Hawaii's environment. Piecemeal contracts for research either through the university or other institutions will lead to confusion and disarray.
