St. Louis blues
Trustees were angered by president's priorities
The recent actions of the St. Louis School's board of trustees were totally unjustified. Father Mario Pariante stated that while the school has been tops in football for 13 years, it has 153 years' reputation as an educational institution. This apparently angered the trustees.It is obvious from the board's reaction that Pariante's dismissal was based on his emphasis on academics rather than football.
I have seen many academic advances under his tenure at St. Louis, and if he were to continue his mission, St. Louis would once again be a great academic institution.
Brian Y. Lee
St. Louis School, Class of 1997
Los Angeles
Via the Internet
Something to celebrate at St. Louis School
I am the proudest mother in the world. My son, Dean McColgan, has been elected as a councilman for the city of Federal Way, Wash. Our St. Louis School boy won with 62 percent of the vote. With all the articles on the problems at the school, this is uplifting news. I know the St. Louis community is very proud, too, as one of their former scholars is doing so well away from home.Lehua McColgan
It's the trustees who should be evaluated
The behavior of the St. Louis trustees is unbelievable. Who is evaluating the trustees?The crime, if there was one, does not fit the punishment. How did Catholics let this bunch of people take over the running of a Catholic school?
It is the trustees who are the poor managers. They should be voted out.
R. Chang
It doesn't look good for St. Louis now
We do not have a son attending St. Louis but, if we did, my wife and I would form our own evaluation committee and immediately remove him from the school.Our decision would be based on the recent egregious, unjustifiable action of the trustees in removing Father Mario Pariante as president of St. Louis. We would look at the remaining six months of this school year and whether the last 21/2 years of the trustees' performance indicated any area of improvement and whether there is a probability of improvement.
Removing our son from the school would be strictly a "business decision."
Richard Griffin
Kaneohe
Via the Internet
St. Louis should be embarrassed by firing
It's sad that, when an educator finally tries to improve a school, he gets fired. St. Louis should be ashamed of itself. I will never send my children there, or recommend any children attend that school.It is a canker on an education system trying to give Hawaii's youth better lives. No one believes the trustees when they say the Rev. Mario Pariante wasn't fired because of conflicts with the football dictator named Cal Lee. Don't insult our intelligence.
Scott Hovey Jr.
Via the Internet
Quotables
"I don't claim to be a
social worker or a psychologist.
I'm just a friend."Laree Wartena
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF RUTH HOUSE
ON SPENCER STREET On the former Makiki crack house that has
been transformed into a shelter for
homeless women and children
"I'll be sleeping in my
lavalava tonight."Nani Ledward
38-YEAR-OLD MAKAHA RESIDENT After joining other Waianae residents at a free
Thanksgiving turkey dinner with all the trimmings -
courtesy of sumo wrestler Musashimaru,
the former Fiamalu Penitani of Waianae
Legislative staffers don't deserve raises
Hawaii continues to have the worst economy in state history, now for nearly 10 years, with record business closures, school playgrounds being forced to close and campuses falling apart due to the Legislature's inaction and political gridlock. It even let major budget bills "fall through the cracks."Yet, with this record of failed economic policies, lack of vision and their crowning "achievement" in voting against confirming Margery Bronster as attorney general, our senators have just approved and accepted a 5 percent raise for their bureaucracy of full-time staffs.
Of course, the most powerful leaders who have the biggest staffs, like Senate President Norman Mizuguchi and Carol Fukunaga, chairwoman of Ways and Means, have gained the most at taxpayer expense.
Nowhere but in an out-of-touch Senate are people rewarded with raises for such an ineffective, unproductive record.
Lori Nakagawa
Why is city wasting so much taxpayer money?
Poor people of Honolulu. They have a mayor and City Council members who cannot find money to pay for the city's basic services, but can borrow millions to redo, bulldoze and rebuild the same spots over and over again.After spending millions to upgrade Kuhio Beach Park a few years ago, the city decides to bulldoze those improvements and to spend another $10 million to redesign the park.
Now the city decides to bulldoze the millions it spent upgrading Hanauma Bay just a few years ago and to redo it to the tune of $10 million.
To completely redo perfectly acceptable beaches at double the cost, plus interest, is extremely wasteful, even in the best of times. To do so when the city cannot pay for its basic needs and services is a crime against Honolulu and its citizens.
Richard Y. Will
Inouye has done much to help Hawaiians
The board of directors and management of Bishop Museum are writing to express their support of U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye and his record of support for native Hawaiians.Without exception, he has been one of the strongest and most effective proponents of native Hawaiian issues. He has been instrumental in securing millions of federal dollars for, among others, native Hawaiian health, education, training and culture.
One of the most important programs at Bishop Museum is the Native Hawaiian Culture and Arts program (NHCAP), initiated two years ago by Senator Inouye. NHCAP has been responsible for the development and rebirth of more than 150 cultural projects that have touched more than 3,000 Hawaiians.
These projects include the rebirth of lua, the ancient Hawaiian fighting art; the voyaging canoe Hawai'iloa; oral histories and videotapes of kupuna and their arts and practices; and the resurgence of the Hawaiian language.
This renaissance of the Hawaiian culture has helped in unifying our community and has had many positive implications for our children and youth.
W. Donald Duckworth
President, Director and CEO
Bishop Museum
Killers keep getting away with murder
When law-abiding citizens do not have the wherewithal to protect themselves (and fellow workers, it seems), the kind of tragedy that occurred at the Xerox office will continue. Why am I not surprised that this has touched our paradise?Nancy Toribio
Hilo, Hawaii
Via the Internet
NRA is enemy of the public good
America must stand up to the National Rifle Association. The gun industry is its puppet master, and it has a stranglehold on the Republican Party.The NRA's masterful ability to manipulate the minds of good ol' boy conservatives is astounding. On the simple notion that all Americans have a right to bear arms, and the concocted notion that liberals want to take those rights away, the NRA has amassed a huge membership of GOP-voting, gun-industry supporters.
People owning assault rifles, pistols and knives should not be allowed to mix in public. America must put an end to the NRA's ridiculous influence on children, politicians and the governing of our great country.
John Rivers
Via the Internet
Return to values is needed, not a gun ban
Gun control or the eradication of the Second Amendment is not the answer to the violence overshadowing America. The amendment protects Americans from the atrocities of tyranny and malevolent leaders.If we sincerely wish to correct the evils in our time, only a return to the core values upon which our civilization is based will restore peace. These values are those of the American Revolution, which are a fundamental belief in God, a fixed system of right and wrong, a government of laws, not of men, individual dignity and decency, and a limited government.
James L. Flynn
Mililani
Get ready for Million Mom March
Please circle May 14, 2000, on your calendar. That is the date for the Million Mom March, scheduled for next Mother's Day.The march will call attention to the need for effective gun control.
Either the march will celebrate the passage by Congress of an effective gun control bill or we will gather to chastise Congress for failing, again, to do so. Like other mass marches, it will take place on the Mall in Washington, D.C.
All moms, future moms, honorary moms, men caring for moms, children of moms and all others are invited to participate.
Beverly Kai
Via the internet
From despair and pain, High-five haiku for
a great coach
Rebirth, a new beginning.
Catch the wave: "June Jones"Matt Nakamura
Pidgin can be tolerated after English is learned
Regarding the pros and cons of pidgin English, why not make it simple and fair? As soon as Hawaii's public schools start producing student scores above the national average, let pidgin become a pet issue for liberal administrators and teachers.In the meantime, let's play catch-up as fast as we can, OK?
Bill Jardine
Kamuela, Hawaii
Via the Internet
Legislature Directory
Hawaii Revised Statutes
Write a Want to write a letter to the editor? Let all Star-Bulletin readers know what you think. Please keep your letter to about 200 words. You can send it by e-mail to letters@starbulletin.com or you can fill in the online form for a faster response. Or print it and mail it to: Letters to the Editor, P.O. Box 3080, Honolulu, Hawaii 96802. Or fax it to: 523-8509. Always be sure to include your daytime phone number.
Letter to the Editor