He combined compassion, principle

Wayne Matsuo's work must continue

I have just read your Oct. 19 obituary of Wayne Matsuo, a truly great man whose progressive approach to human services set an example for the entire country. I had the privilege of serving as a consultant to the Hawaii Office of Youth Services while Wayne was its director, and having him as a guest lecturer in my sociology classes when I was a visiting professor at the University of Hawaii-Manoa in 1995.

His principle-centered leadership was exemplary. His believed there can be no criminal "justice" without social justice.

He provided critical leadership in helping Hawaii resist the prison-building mania that has swept much of the mainland, devouring huge sums of public money that might have been spent instead for progressive initiatives that would have helped reduce the need to lock up and "write off" so many of our fellow citizens who so badly need education, job training and a chance in life.

While we are diminished by the loss of Wayne Matsuo, we must honor his memory by resolving even more firmly to resist the seductive and simplistic over-reliance on prison development and to invest instead in human development and social and economic justice for all our citizens. Wayne's life was a monument to that cause.

C. Ronald Huff
Dean, School of Social Ecology and
Professor of Criminology
University of California, Irvine

Via the Internet

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It is with deep regret that I read of Wayne Matsuo's passing via your online newspaper.

I was a Kailua resident for the 20 years between 1973-1993. I met Wayne when he was working for a shining but too brief time at the Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility and I was president of the Olomana Community Association. We then reconnected when he served as director of the Office of Youth Services many years later.

Wayne Matsuo was a man who made an indelible impression on me. I weep to think that I was talking about him with someone just the other day. Losing him is a tremendous blow. He had such vision! His compassion and integrity were stunning.

My deepest sympathy to his family and for Hawaii's loss of this great man.

Mary Rush
Shalimar, Fla.
Via the Internet

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Quotables "I really don't like being famous for this. It feels kind of weird. Plenty people look at me double thinking, 'There's shark boy'." Jesse Spencer 16-YEAR-OLD BIG ISLAND SURFER Who survived a bite in the arm, causing massive injuries, by a 10-foot-long shark on Oct. 1 "I call this my NPH job— No Panty Hose." Pat Katepoo SELF-PUBLISHED AUTHOR OF "FLEX SUCCESS: A PROPOSAL BLUEPRINT FOR GETTING A FAMILY- FRIENDLY WORK SCHEDULE" Who works out of her home office in Kaneohe and sells her guide from her Web site, WorkOptions.com

Public will pay dockworkers' raises

Hawaii dockworkers have prevailed in their demand for a raise from the shipping companies.

But who will ultimately pay for these raises? Does anyone really expect the shipping companies to absorb the added payroll costs?

No, the cost of the pay raises will be passed down to consumers, who have no choice but to pay .

Give any business a justifiable reason to increase prices and guess what: Prices will increase. In fact, they can add more profit margin to their goods and services across the board and still blame it all on higher freight costs.

If the news reports are true and dockworkers make an average of about $90,000 a year or more, there won't be many sympathetic consumers out there.

Mike Bonifacio
Ewa Beach
Via the Internet

Super Prix didn't understand racing fans

What happened to the Hawaiian Super Prix? This is a classic case of hardcore race types not understanding real marketing.

The organizers must be full-tilt open wheel (CART/INDY car) race junkies. Since these two sanctioning bodies split a few years ago, the interest -- already a weak third place to NASCAR and NHRA -- fell off even more with American race fans.

All the promoters of the Super Prix had to do was check TV ratings. Check the newsstands and see how many magazines there are for stock car racing and drag racing vs. CART/INDY. It's about 30 to zero.

Check where the fans and sponsors of racing in Hawaii are -- at the drag races that have been going on for more than 35 years at Hawaii Raceway Park. Maybe not as glamorous to the CART/INDY car crowd, but a fact of life in the state and across the country.

Bring the top 12 drivers from NASCAR or NHRA to town and you'll sell those 40,000 tickets. And TV rights. But not with a CART race. Sorry.

Paul Maddox
Kona, Hawaii
Via the Internet

Rice is inadvertently helping Hawaiians

Mahalo to Harold "Freddy" Rice. Thanks to him demanding that he be given the right to vote in Office of Hawaiian Affairs elections, the United States of America will be forced to accept the right of Hawaiians to be recognized as Native Americans. This will result in new and more opportunities for Hawaiians.

Seriously, Rice should NOT be given the privilege to vote in OHA and, yes, we do need better leadership in OHA. All Hawaiians, stand up and vote!

John W.K. Luuwai
Huntington Beach, Calif.
Via the Internet

Rice is taking stand for all Caucasians

Congratulations to U.S. citizen Harold "Freddy" Rice, who has the guts not to be intimidated into being just another haole who has to sit at the back of TheBus. The U.S. Supreme Court will rule in favor of him.

Bob Cravens
Via the Internet

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Rice vs. Cayetano

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