Trustees didn't do much for Bishop Museum

It would appear that the former trustees for the Charles R. Bishop Trust, which benefits the Bishop Museum, were rather less successful in generating income than they were in their other roles as trustees of the Bishop Estate, which benefits the Kamehameha Schools.

Perhaps the commissions are too small to justify exerting themselves on behalf of that world famous but impoverished research and educational institution.

Lloyd J. Soehren
HONOKAA, HAWAII
VIA THE INTERNET

Relief at trustees' ouster is telling

What could be a more telling epitaph to the corruption and moral vacuousness of those ousted KS/BE trustees -- Lindsey, Wong, Peters and Jervis -- than the enormous sense of relief from the majority of Hawaii's people, now that the trustees' pall of greedy contentiousness has been lifted.

Special thanks should go to "Broken Trust" co-author Randall Roth, who showed -- by great personal effort and at no small risk to his reputation -- that not all the people worship crony capitalism.

Hawaiian children are fortunate that at least one Hawaii lawyer like Roth understood the Constitution and spoke out on the true meaning of that word: trust.

M. Colgan

Bishop Estate Archive

Those who have lost power are not forgotten

Three of Hawaii's best public servants -- Attorney General Margery Bronster, Honolulu Council Chairman Mufi Hannemann and Budget Chairman John Henry Felix -- have lost power but have not gone away.

Rather, they only go on to better things, for they are far too outstanding and earnest not to continue their individual quests to make our neighborhoods, Hawaii and the world a better place.

Mufi and John Henry, no worry guys. It took Mayor Harris with his abuse of power and his posse of six to make this unholy alliance. But you're still on the Council, and still have the support of thousands in your districts and throughout Honolulu and the neighbor islands.

L.J. Balberde
HILO, HAWAII

Dueling concerts were a bad mix

Last Friday night at the Shell was almost a magical evening. Michael Feinstein was at his best, Azure McCall delivered a great performance and the Honolulu Symphony was under the direction of Matt Catingub. It should have been a perfect night under the stars; however, there was one performer too many.

Nearby, in the bandstand, another group was playing so loudly that it interfered with the enjoyment of the Shell concert. Both groups had a right to be in their places; however, it was poor booking by whoever is in charge of issuing permits.

Feinstein handled the situation admirably whereas some entertainers might have cut their programs short. In light of this problem, my congratulations to the symphony and their guests for being the pros they are.

Robert Zimmer
VIA THE INTERNET

Quotables "Half of Hawaii was rooting for Akebono, half for Musashimaru -- then there was me screaming, 'Go boy!' at the TV." Nimala Penitani MOTHER OF MUSASHIMARU After her Hawaii-born son beat yokozuna Akebono, who is also from the islands, to win the Summer Grand Sumo Tournament in Tokyo "I've never seen anybody with an 83 percent negative rating in a public office. This is probably as bad as it gets." Brad Coker MANAGING DIRECTOR OF MASON-DIXON POLLING & RESEARCH On ousted Bishop Estate trustee Lokelani Lindsey's 83 percent unfavorable rating in the latest Star-Bulletin/NBC Hawaii News 8 poll

Honolulu looks more like Beverly Hills

As a frequent traveler to the islands, I've noticed the decline of your visitor industry. Here in California, we also depend on tourism for the sustained health of our economy. From that perspective, I offer these observations.

In the past, people from the mainland were lured to Hawaii by images of hula and the sounds of ukulele. Today, visitors to Waikiki are greeted by an increasing number of designer shops like Gucci, Versace and Tiffany. The continuing disappearance of sights and sounds uniquely Hawaiian is diluting the island experience to the point where the tourist's first impression may better resemble Beverly Hills than the tropical paradise they expect to find.

Fortunately, there are those of us who realize that Hawaiian culture is much more than what the tourist sees in Waikiki. Conversely, there are many who opt to save the airfare because it's less expensive to shop Gucci at their hometown mall rather than on Kalakaua Avenue.

I'm afraid that Hawaii's tourist industry will continue its decline if we allow key attractions like Waikiki to lose that which made them unique in the first place. I urge the leadership of your state to prevent this from happening for the sake of Hawaiians and those of us who are Hawaiian at heart.

Brian Yum
PALO ALTO, CALIF.
VIA THE INTERNET

'Kill Haole Day' shows magnitude of problem

Regarding your articles on Hawaii schools, racism and the potential for a Columbine High School tragedy happening in your state: News flash! Has anyone ever heard of "Kill Haole Day" at the public high schools in, say, the last 20 years?

Apparently, if a student shows up at school in a trenchcoat or if the Japanese students don't play nicely with the Samoan students, there is cause for serious concern. But threaten a haole with murder on the last day of school, and no problem. Yes, I'd say there is a chance that a Columbine incident could happen in Hawaii.

Robert Payne
FORMER HAWAII RESIDENT
LOS ANGELES
VIA THE INTERNET

Banning words is ludicrous idea

It's ridiculous to propose a zero-tolerance policy for "racial epithets" in the schools like the word "haole." How pointless it would be to criminalize a word. And who decides which words and in what contexts they are to be forbidden? Do we ban "a nip in the air" or "a chink in the armor?" Words are a scapegoat for ideas, intentions and actions.

It has always amused me when people take offense to a term like haole, which one should find no more offensive than the word Caucasian. Funny how quickly the calls for "racial justice" come forth when they realize they are no longer in the majority.

Kalani Perry
VIA THE INTERNET

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