All trustees share fault for mismanagement
After reading Rick Daysog's article "Lindsey removed as education 'lead trustee," (Star-Bulletin, Dec. 10), I felt somewhat mollified.But I agreed with members of the faculty group, Na Kumu o Kamehameha, when they "urged Attorney General Margery Bronster to seek the immediate removal of Lokelani Lindsey and the remaining trustees and place the estate into receivership."
The problem isn't just that Lokelani Lindsey was the lead trustee dictating how the schools were to be run from the number of pens to the way teachers taught curriculum, or browbeating students with threats of withdrawing scholarships when they voiced support for Kamehameha Schools President Michael Chun.
The problem is that she is a Bishop Estate trustee to begin with. A self-serving manipulator like Lindsey should never have been allowed on board. Neither should Richard Wong and Henry Peters.
Frankly, I'd feel better if all the existing trustees were held up on charges of mismanagement, fined and/or sent to prison, with the worst offenders given the lengthier stays. Sure, two of the trustees, Jervis and Stender, spoke out -- but notice that they were silent throughout the previous years as this travesty went unabated. In the words of Senior U.S. District Judge Sam King, "The trouble with this is it's too little and too late."
Exactly.
Carol Banks Weber
Trustees must be removed to spare students' pride
It seems to me that removing the Bishop Estate trustees is the only immediate (though temporary) solution for the beleaguered faculty and children at the Kamehameha Schools.The students have suffered outrageously, especially with the stinging criticism of Lokelani Lindsey. They must be given a chance to regain their self-confidence and pride. In all fairness, they should be given that chance. After all, none of this mess is one bit the fault of the once-proud students at Kamehameha.
Larry Kwiatkowski
(Via the Internet)
Lindsey is getting herself into more trouble
I'd like to see Trustee Lokelani Lindsey's report card when she was a child. As far as that goes, let's see all of the trustees' report cards when they were kids in school. I don't believe they would be anything to write "home to mother about."The trustees, minus Oswald Stender, have much to answer to. Their misdeeds are only beginning to surface. I would suggest they be removed, minus Stender, and be replaced with qualified people who have the abilities these trustees don't have.
I frankly cannot see why Lindsey doesn't just sit down and shut up. Her behavior is pathetic.
Marjorie Y. Carter
Bishop Estate Archive
Hawaii's high school coaches display class
Sports, especially in high school, is supposed to build character. When I see college and pro coaches acting like crazy men, is it any wonder we have "heroes" like Dennis Rodman?Now take a look at the coaches we've got in Hawaii. Take Cal Lee -- I've never heard him bad mouth or yell, nor has he thrown chairs at anyone. Talk about sincerity and humility.
The word was invented for him. One thing Hawaii's got to be proud of is its high school coaches -- all of them, past and present.
John Kim
(Via the Internet)
Go after crack dealers, not the pakalolo users
As I was reading your Dec. 2 issue, I came across the article, "Undercover buy busts medical pot club." Well, it has been over one year now that California has passed its medical marijuana law, making it legal to possess it for medical reasons.I'm not pro-drugs, but I don't know anyone who has died from a pakalolo overdose. This undercover investigator could or should be out chasing crack dealers instead of busting someone selling a couple grams of hemp to someone who has a medical problem.
I guess the time might not be right yet for Hawaii to follow California and get the laws passed here, so people can legally benefit from the effects of marijuana to help their pain and suffering.
Let's hope the time is not too far off.
Paul Powers
Inmate
Oahu Community Correctional Center
Global warming skeptics are human dinosaurs
I liken the human dinosaurs who pooh-pooh global warming to the Bible-thumpers who hounded the theory of evolution into court at the Scopes Monkey Trial.An overwhelming consensus among scientists is that global warming is happening and that certain human activities do contribute to it. This is all according to the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a respected U.N.-sponsored body made up of more than 1,500 of the world's leading climate experts from 60 nations.
The only question is what will be the specific effects, i.e. how much will the ocean level rise, which farmland will turn to desert, where disease will spread with increased heat and humidity.
We are a force of nature. Humans already have defined a new geological epoch by causing mass extinctions, which will be recorded in the fossil record similarly to the one that closed the door on the dinosaur era.
Global warming itself is not disputed by anyone except supply-side economists and Gingrinchian politicians. Next time someone tries to tell you differently, refer them to the EPA web site at http://www.epa.gov/globalwarming.
It has links to NASA forecasts for the skeptics -- unless, of course, one also believes that man never really landed on the moon.
David Hill
Director
Citizen Action Project
Bishop Estate Archive
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