Medical history center is another gift from Mamiya

It is deserving that Dr. Richard T. Mamiya was featured in your Oct. 18 issue as one of the "100 Who Made a Difference" series. On Oct. 12, the Mamiya Medical Heritage Center was dedicated at the Hawaii Medical Library. Dr. Mamiya established the center in July of this year and dedicated it to collecting, organizing, preserving and providing access to resources documenting the history of medicine in Hawaii.

The center houses the archives, medical museum and special collections of the library. It consists of over 4,000 volumes of rare and special collections books, 10,000 photographs, 200 medical instruments and about 200 linear feet of records and personal papers.

In addition to the physical collection, this latest contribution by the Dr. Mamiya can also be seen online at http://hml.org/mmhc/index.html. Our thanks to him and his interest in Hawaii's medical history.

John Breinich
Executive Director, Hawaii Medical Library
Via the Internet

Kamehameha united islands -- illegally

In all the furor over Hawaiian sovereignty, I keep hearing that the overthrow was illegal. Well, duh! When is an overthrow ever legal?

I wonder, though, if the outspoken sovereignty advocates ever bother to consider that Kamehameha I united the islands under a single kingdom -- illegally. Did the warriors sent to their deaths over the Pali offer their consent? Of course not; that's why they were fighting.

So, if the sovereignty advocates really want to turn back the clock, why not go past 1898 to when each island was a kingdom unto itself? This way, the various Hawaiian groups, which never seem to agree on even a convention, can each have an island.

James Ko
Via the Internet

Quotables "Being here in the Legislature was something I wanted to do that I dreamed about at Campbell High School as student body president." Paul Oshiro Longtime Democratic state representative and chairman of the Judiciary Committee Resigning his legislative seat to become a lobbyist for GTE Hawaiian Tel "Just like turning 40 or 50 or 60, the year 2000 is sort of our built-in system in humanity to get us to stop and think about the profound questions like living and dying and the meaning of life. Let's really use it as a time of reflection." Reynold Feldman Kaneohe resident and founder of the World Wisdom Project On how the end of the millennium will be a fertile time for tapping the wisdom of all cultures, ethnicities and generations

Hanauma Bay plan should be defeated

The people of Hawaii are about to be subjected to a giant flim-flam known as the "Hanauma Bay improvement plan," perpetrated against them by the City and County of Honolulu. The ultimate cost will be the end of Hanauma Bay as we know it, increased taxes and admittance fees without any benefit for the local population.

In the disguise of building an "education center" to teach visitors to the bay how to preserve it, the city is building an unnecessary office building at the top of the bay, mostly to house staff in a comfortable environment. Less than one half of this almost 11,000-square-foot structure will be used for "education" in the form of a five-minute video.

The cost, including debt service, is $30 million. That boils down to about $300,000 per minute for education, which could be addressed by cheaper methods such as signs or multi-language fact sheets, saving millions of dollars.

Is this what you want for Hanauma Bay? Picture yourself standing in a long line holding a picnic cooler, waiting to get a ticket for admittance to the "education center" before you can get into Hanauma.

It is imperative that every citizen calls his/her Council member and Mayor Harris now, or Hanauma Bay will be lost to us forever.

David E. Matthews

East Honolulu Community Coalition

'Broken Trust' follow-up was fascinating

Bravo to the Star-Bulletin for publishing "Renewed Trust" on Oct. 23. The follow-up by the authors of "Broken Trust" is a superb in-depth article on the history of the Bishop Estate and the current controversy.

It details the lawsuits between the former trustees and the state. It explains their involvement and the issues, the role played by the judges and the courts, the master of the estate, the IRS, the inter- im trustees, the Kamehameha Schools, the faculty and students.

The interim trustees are doing an excellent job. They are cleaning up the mess left by the former trustees and building confidence, trust and enthusiasm among the Kamehameha Schools faculty, students and alumni.

The Star-Bulletin and authors of the two trust essays have performed a praiseworthy service.

How Tim Chang

Ferry system is only demonstration project

Richard Okita (Letters, Oct. 14) is correct: We need a ferry system that can accommodate the transport of vehicles, too.

Unfortunately, that will not happen overnight. It must evolve. The ferry service that has been in the news is a limited-term demonstration project aimed at collecting the data necessary to determine the parameters for a viable permanent ferry system.

It is our hope that this demonstration will allow residents to experience the ferry service and realize its potential. If there is support for a permanent service, we will pursue the required legislation, funding and other actions to make it happen.

Kazu Hayashida
Director, State Department of Transportation

America keeps electing unqualified presidents

I suppose we can attribute it all to media obsession with celebrities, or maybe just a shallowness on the part of those who report the news. But it looks to me like America's election system is coming apart at the seams.

Vote for someone just because he is a millionaire? Or just because he owns a string of casinos? Or just because he was a good basketball player? Or just because he was a POW? I think not!

Pretty slim pickings, we all agree. But then look at whom we have elected in recent years: a couple of unknown governors (Carter and Clinton), an actor turned governor (Reagan), a millionaire oilman turned senator (Bush). And look where it got us.

When will we ever learn? The candidates must exhibit more than just some singular claim to fame and celebrity status. They must demonstrate some substance to get my vote.

Keith Haugen
Via the Internet

Legislature Directory
Hawaii Revised Statutes
Ka Leo O Hawaii - UH student news

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