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Censorship in libraries is objectionable

In response to Sharon Holck's April 5 letter, I would like to make three points:

I have never seen "children's computers" in our public libraries. The computers are there for everyone to use.

Censorship of any kind is wrong, and parents who use the library as a babysitter rather than supervising their children have no right to complain about what they have been allowed to see. There are certainly books in every public library that contain material at least as objectionable as on the Web. The medium in which material is presented has no bearing on its protection under free speech.

Censorship software simply does not work. Most will block sites such as cnn.com (for its use of words like war, murder, bomb) and sites on subjects such as breast cancer (because they contain the word "breast").

We have agreed as a country that censorship cannot be tolerated, because once we give the government the right to say what we may and may not read, see or say, there will always be a way of rationalizing one more censorship law.

Let's not let emotional rhetoric (attributed to a 9-year-old to enhance the effect) drive us into eroding the First Amendment.

Lisa Morton

War machine should not be named Hawaii

I object to the proposed naming of a Virginia-class submarine as the USS Hawaii. As a kanaka maoli with much aloha for this aina, I protest the decision to emblazon our name on the hull of a war machine.

The name Hawaii has tremendous spiritual and emotional weight for those whose genealogies stretch over centuries to this place, and to the multicultural nation that developed here in the 19th century.

The proposed name "USS Hawaii" is an attempt to Americanize this Hawaii of ours, to solidify the illegal relationship between Hawaii and the U.S., and to obscure and destroy our unique local and kanaka maoli cultures.

This is being done at a time when we citizens who love this land are seeking internal reconciliation for the events of the last 100-plus years, to build a peaceful future for all our peoples.

This proposed naming is a mockery of our important community- and peace-building process.

Ikaika M.L. Hussey

Guns don't harm unless someone pulls trigger

Please look at history to learn that weapons are tools, albeit tools of destruction. Limiting the use of guns by laws that targeting inanimate object gain nothing but false hope for safety that does not exist.

People who wish to cause bodily injury and death will use whatever means available to accomplish these goals. Thus, the gun registration process promised by the Legislature is shibai, and those who think otherwise are lacking in understanding of how ruthless the criminal mind really is.

Knives, sticks, screwdrivers, automobiles and use of gasoline and fire on a woman on Kauai are weapons in the wrong hands. The common part of the equation is the criminal mind; that is where the enforcement belongs -- on the person, not the object.

Richard Moran

Quotables "The professional career politicians representing us in Washington have set us on the wrong track." Russ Francis REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE FOR HAWAII CONGRESSIONAL SEAT Criticizing incumbent Patsy Mink, whom he is seeking to replace "Here's a case where UH starts what could be such a positive program but shoots itself in the foot by being unnecessarily secretive." Jahan Byrne A UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII GRADUATE AND FORMER REPORTER FOR THE CAMPUS NEWSPAPER Who wants to know how much UH would receive if he signed up for a UH Rainbow credit card, but who has been denied that information by MBNA America Bank and the University of Hawaii for the past 15 months

Stop bolstering questionable tofu study

Due to your insistence of publishing yet another article giving undeserved credibility to dubious research on the link between tofu consumption and brain aging (Star-Bulletin, April 3), I feel compelled to respond. While there is no perfect food, tofu and related soy foods offer exceptional potential benefits for a person's health.

Hundreds of studies around the world have touted the potential health benefits of soy and tofu. They lower cholesterol levels, may promote development of increased bone mass thereby reducing the risk of osteoporosis, may help in the prevention of breast and prostate cancers, and alleviate menopausal symptoms.

There are too many unanswered questions regarding Dr. Lon White's research. Other factors not addressed include poor childhood nutrition, the manufacturing process of tofu during that period, high blood pressure, alcohol and tobacco use, and genetics as well as environment.

Where is the Asian epidemic that should have been the result of millennia of tofu consumption? Why did the rates for dementia and Alzheimer's increase when the men came from Japan to Hawaii? What about other studies that indicate soy may actually protect the brain during aging?

Obviously more research by Dr. White, his colleagues and your reporters are needed before even attempting to scare the public with tales of losing one's mind.

Paul H. Uyehara
Aloha Tofu Factory Inc.

What Clinton, Castro have in common

Imagine my surprise when I learned that Bill Clinton and Fidel Castro use the same private attorney -- Greg Craig of Washington, D.C. Craig represented Clinton during his impeachment trial for perjury and won his acquittal in the U.S. Senate.

Craig now represents Castro in the recovery of Cuban state property. In this case, the property is a 6-year-old boy who had the misfortune of coming ashore during the Clinton administration.

What a coincidence that the same high-priced attorney represents two such distinguished leaders. Like they say in Disney's Magic Kingdom, "It's a small world after all."

Michael F. Parry

Double standard on sexual harassment

Why was the Tripler sexual harrassment story front-page news on April 7, while the report on a Costco employee being fired for filing a harassment complaint was buried in a tiny paragraph inside your paper one day earlier?

While both stories warrant serious attention, the employees at Tripler still have their jobs, while the Costco employee no longer does.

Is the Star-Bulletin merely following the national media's tendency to follow such government stories closely and ignoring similar cases in private industry?

Jeremy Morrow
Aiea

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