Kokua Line June Watanabe

Private video of graduation is allowed

Question: My brother-in-law volunteered to videotape my son's graduation from Kapolei High School last month with his high-resolution, expensive video camera. He does not do this professionally. He was not getting paid and he was not selling it to anyone. He arrived early to set up his camera. The school had contracted with a video company to video the commencement. When he was setting up, a person either from the school or from this company asked him to put the camera away in his car because he was not allowed to use a professional-grade video camera. Later, they threatened to have school security confiscate his camera. During the ceremony, someone followed my brother-in-law to make sure he did not use his camera. More than half the audience had professional-type cameras to take still pictures and all types of camcorders, ranging from simple to high-grade. The video company denied any involvement, saying school staff was enforcing the rule. Are we banned from videotaping with a professional-grade camera during graduation ceremonies on school property? What about our First Amendment rights?

Answer: No, you are not prohibited from using professional-grade or any type of video camera, as long as you are not selling the video, Alvin Nagasako, principal of Kapolei High School, told us last week.

He is investigating the incident to find out what happened and who was involved.

"I know there's some communication problem," he said in response to your complaint. "I'm trying to get to the root of it," including whether school security staff was told professional-grade video cameras were banned and, if so, by whom.

He said many staff involved in the graduation were on vacation so he had yet to talk with them.

But Nagasako's position is, "Just because I paid a lot of money for (video equipment) doesn't mean I can't bring it in ... as long as it's not done for sale purposes."

He said a professional company is selected by students to videotape the event as a service to students.

The school does not receive any proceeds from the sale of the videotapes.

Mahalo

To the nice folks who drove my dad to Kuakini Hospital's emergency room after finding him l ying on the sidewalk at the corner of Kuakini and Sereno streets Sunday morning, June 8. He had fallen and was unable to get up. I was touched by their kindness. Mahalo also to Randy in the automotive department at Sears Ala Moana. On June 7, my car's wipers stopped working and the fuse kept blowing. I took it in to an electrical shop and was told that the battery had been installed improperly. I took the bill to Sears, where I had gotten the battery and where I have been going for 30 years. Randy immediately reimbursed me. My house had gotten ransacked earlier and I was feeling so down about that, but having those two experiences made me fell a whole lot better about people. -- Rickey Murashige