Why go through this mess again?
Regarding your
Aug. 7 story "Kamehameha Schools again being sued over admissions bias": Suing the school yet another time is a waste for both the defendants and the school.
The Kamehameha Schools already experienced a similar lawsuit a few years back. Why should they repeat a similar case when the previous had been already settled? The courts will only dig up old and familiar documents. What do these four students and their attorneys think will happen? The Kamehameha Schools are already following the law to an extent.
Suing a school for following a 120-year-old policy should not even be brought up. Students and their parents should already know the admission policies of enrolling. How difficult is that to understand? And if the students do get rejected, there are other private schools in Hawaii that they can attend.
I hope that this lawsuit will be a short and victorious fight for the Kamehameha Schools.
Sheila Gomez
Honolulu
Lawyers care about money, not principle
Boy, these guys don't give up! Bishop Estate is a cash cow and they are riding herd on it. Boo!
Can't these people let the Hawaiians have something of their own without all these buzzards circling overhead. It is sickening ... their transparency is so obvious ... money is at the bottom of it ... makes me sick. This is a school -- it should be concentrating on teaching its children, not constantly defending a princess' will.
Hmmm ... I just thought of something -- you don't see these attorneys trying to break policies at all-black schools/colleges ... hmmmm ... but of course, once they find one with big bucks -- watch out!
Two hundred years ago (or whatever) the Hawaiians should've been very strict on immigration laws ... kept these buggers out. But then there would have been lots of good malihini kept out ... and there are lots of good haoles ... speak up all you who know that these actions are hewa -- so not pono. Shame, shame on you legal vultures ... you don't really care about these kids -- you care only about what's in it for you. Get over yourselves and leave us alone!
Penny Kelii-Vredenburg
Waimea, Hawaii
Oahu has other worthy private schools
The Kamehameha Schools are yet again being sued for their admissions policies. How many times is this going to happen? What I don't understand is why people are suing a school (and a private one at that) for its policies, which have been in place since 1887.
In Bernice Pauahi Bishop's last will and testament, she expressed that admission to the school be determined by proof of Hawaiian ancestry, and that preference be given to those who are able to show it.
On the other side of the coin, rejected applicants are displeased because the school enjoys tax breaks from the federal government. The U.S. annexed Hawaii from its natives; a tax break is a small consolation prize.
I don't understand why, with the regulations so clearly stated, people who don't fit the requirements still apply to Kamehameha Schools. I can understand that parents want their children to attend the finest schools, Kamehameha being one of them. But there are many excellent private schools on the island. Pushy parents need to stop suing schools for their policies. This is just as silly as suing St. Louis (an all boys school) for not admitting girls.
Billy Acosta
Ewa Beach
Market local film talent to Hollywood
Hawaii needs to increase our exposure and marketability to Hollywood. As a part- time actor and member of the Screen Actor's Guild in Hawaii, I can tell you that good paying roles are few and very far between. One of the problems is that when Hollywood productions do come out here, they tend to bring in talent from L.A. for principal or speaking roles and we actors here in Hawaii are lucky if we even get any background or extra work. According to the bylaws and contracts with SAG, productions are required to hire a certain percentage of SAG contracted actors, but they can hire them from anywhere so they tend to only look for actors in L.A. and then pay the extra expense of flying them here, housing them and providing transportation.
However, the crews are represented by the Teamsters and when a production comes to Hawaii they are required to hire local crew to film the production. So basically you have jobs that really should be offered to Hawaii-based actors going to mainland actors without any of us even getting the opportunity to audition for the roles, and there isn't a thing any of us can do about it.
What we need to do is market the diverse talent we have here in Hawaii and show Hollywood that there are actors and actresses of every race and size here in Hawaii. We also need to market the diverse landscape we have here, which I think the television show "Lost" has done beautifully by filming scenes set in places like Australia, London, Iraq, Boston and Korea, but staying right here in Hawaii to film all of them on a budget much lower than most feature films. The money that this state can make from these studios including not only the increased income for performers and crew, but also the restaurant, hotel and other industries could very well make up for the decrease in tourism and raise more interest for tourists to come and see where the films were made.
Shawn Lathrop
Waikoloa, Hawaii
Story didn't fairly portray ILWU
I was disappointed by your
July 22 story "Unions switch dominant positions," as some of my remarks were taken out of context. I want to make clear that at no time during my interview with your reporter did I comment about the political effectiveness of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union. There was no discussion about comparisons between any union. The reporter apparently drew his own conclusions about the "influence" of Hawaii's unions, and inaccurately portrayed the ILWU.
To dismiss the ILWU in that manner is disrespectful to say the least. The ILWU was and remains a vital part of the labor movement and our state. It was instrumental in helping shape the working conditions and benefits we often take for granted.
In the labor sector, our success is not measured in numbers. It's not about which union has more members or is more "powerful." No one union is better than another. Those of us who work for labor unions do so because we care about all of Hawaii's workers. We all strive to ensure our members are treated with fairness and dignity at work, and that all workers -- in both public and private sectors -- are able to have a good quality of life.
Randy Perreira
Executive director
HGEA/AFSCME Local 152, AFL-CIO