Kamehameha students are hurt by controversy

I agree with your March 12 editorial about Bishop Estate trustee Gerard Jervis. I hope he recovers and, once he does, he must resign immediately.

Jervis doesn't need to gather his thoughts or reflect on whether he should vacate his position. His lawyer's suggestion that Jervis take a "medical leave of absence" from his trustee duties is absurd.

The sole issue is whether Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop would want Jervis to continue serving as a trustee after he has further disgraced the school and the children of Kamehameha. I think the answer to this question is quite clear.

The real tragedy is that the students of Kamehameha must once again be counseled because of a loss of pride in themselves and their school -- not for anything that they have done, but because of the greed and the egotism of the trustees. They seem to want to continue hurting Hawaiian children for their own personal gain.

R. Naiwieha Wurdeman
Kamehameha Schools Class of 1983
Via the Internet

Did hotel overreact to restroom incident?

I once worked as a security guard at the First Insurance Building on Ward Avenue. Once, while I was making my parking lot rounds, I observed a man and a women in a vehicle, doing what it is not proper to do in a parking lot

I gave them a look that said, "That is not the way to act in a public place." They appeared to be embarrassed. On my next round, they were gone and I never saw them again Naturally, if there had been a recurrence, I would have called the police and let them handle the matter.

It is common for people to make bad choices and to use poor judgment. I think it is best to try and respond to that reality in a way that does not make matters worse.

Scott Israel
Via the Internet

All five Bishop trustees should lose their jobs

As a graduate of the Kamehameha Schools, it's time to say, "Enough is enough." All of the current Bishop Estate trustees should step down. If they truly care about the trust and the students it was created to benefit, they would remove themselves immediately.

They are all too blinded by money to see that they are doing irreparable damage to the estate and to the name of Ke Alii Bernice Pauahi Bishop.

Jerelyn Makanui
Keaau, Hawaii
Via the Internet

QUOTABLE "Can you imagine, an Army barracks with a doorbell? It's a far cry from the World War II Quonset huts of Camp Crockett in Georgia when I came into the Army." Nathaniel Washington Army Sergeant Major on a new housing complex for unmarried soldiers at Schofield Barracks that features air-conditioning, wiring for cable TV and individual phone service, and large walk-in closets. "At least we won something." Jimmy Arakaki Hawaii County Council chairman After the Big Island Press Club "honored" the council with its annual Lava Tube Award for holding a closed-door discussion, which violated at least the spirit of the Sunshine Law. "Musically, I'm a free-range chicken, a free-range cellist." Yo-Yo Ma World-Renowned cellist In Hawaii to perform with the Honolulu Symphony, who describes himself as a chicken that isn't injected with hormones to make it grow faster and who is, instead, musically "organic."

Map to suicide victim's home was inappropriate

Why did the Star-Bulletin find it necessary to include a graphic map to the Kitaoka's residence in your March 12 print edition? The Kitaoka family has already suffered a tremendous loss of life. Thanks to your bone-headed decision to include a map in your story, they now suffer the loss of privacy. The map is totally irrelevant. This type of reporting must end. The Kitaoka family deserves an apology and your readers deserve a better newspaper.

Hayden S.C. Hu
Via the Internet

Legislators have right to express religious beliefs

In response to Don Bremer's March 10 letter, Sen. David Matsuura can certainly display a symbol professing his religious beliefs on his office door. The fact that the symbol is there no more forces anyone to accept Christianity than a bunch of statues of Hawaiian gods (also on government land and considerably bigger) forces me to adhere to that religion.

If the good senator were Jewish and displayed a Star of David on his door, or if he were Buddhist and maintained a Buddhist image in his office, complete with incense, would critics still be frothing at the mouth? Probably not.

And don't trot out the fictitious "separation of church and state" either, because this country's Constitution merely prohibits the U.S. government from playing favorites. It does not prohibit religious expression; rather, the First Amendment protects it.

Jim Baker
Via the Internet

'Baywatch' might take over Hawaii beach

The people of Avalon, Australia, population 2,000, protested successfully against their local council's plans to allow "Baywatch" to take over a beach for filming. Why? Because beaches are sacred public places in Australia. No one is allowed to own one or to deny access to anyone else.

I wonder which our Hawaiian beaches the governor is going to allow "Baywatch" to monopolize.

Marion McKay
Via the Internet

McOmber knows what Lanai Hospital needs

Margaret Daub's March 4 letter blasted A.A. Smyser's Feb. 16 column about me. Daub is one of the nurses at Lanai Hospital. In her letter, she said that I am a bully, that I frighten people and that at a meeting about the hospital, I used my usual loud voice to list things that needed to be done.

She is right: I did express my concerns about important issues for our hospital. Because I worked there for eight years, I know too well what should be priority items and a dentist's office is not one of them.

When we went into that meeting, we were asked what the community needed to supply good health care. As did many other people, I gave my best thoughts on what was a high priority. These included:

Upgrading the nurses' call system, installing fire sprinklers in patient rooms, and upgrading electrical and plumbing systems.
Relocating the emergency room.
Implementing drug testing on all hospital staff.

When I asked for the drug testing, Daub stood up, made some comment and left. Not a very good image to those who were there.

Ron McOmber
Lanai

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