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Admission Day should be time of mourning

Howard Shiroma's Aug. 26 letter, "Admission Day was ignored," misses two fundamental points.

First, he asks the question, "Have we forgotten all the sacrifices that thousands made to attain statehood?" My response is no. I have not forgotten the hundreds of thousands of kanaka maoli who died or whose land was taken away so that Shiroma and his family can enjoy the "benefits and privileges" of statehood.

He then says that America is a wonderful place because people from all over the world try any means to enter the country. If America is so great, why has it been spending the last 400 years slaughtering indigenous peoples and stealing their lands?

Shiroma encourages us not to forget Admission Day, and I agree. It should be a time for public mourning, with flags flown at half-staff and non-natives showing support for justice for the kanaka maoli -- especially if those non-natives are unable to do so the other 364 days of the year.

Lance Collins
Kahului, Maui

True Hawaiian history is not being taught

Perhaps the Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustees should teach future generations of our keiki the true history of Hawaii.

Somehow, generations have learned of Kamehameha the Great and how he united the islands at the Battle of Nuuanu on April 17, 1795. What seems to have been lost in legend, however, is that if not for his haole advisers and their modern cannon and sharpshooters at that battle, there might have been a different outcome. Without their superior weaponry, the islands might not have been united as one.

It is specifically due to the battle in the boardroom of OHA and the shameful way the trustees have conducted themselves at the expense of their beneficiaries that change must occur. With the huge amount of money amassed by OHA, every keiki should be getting a first-class education. Only then will Hawaiians emerge as the true leaders of these beautiful islands.

Pauline Arellano
Mililani

L.A. convention was triumph for democracy

I was privileged to be one of Hawaii's 32 delegates to the recently concluded Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles.

As an African American, it was particularly gratifying to know that the national Democratic Party made a concerted effort to be as inclusive as possible. As a woman, it also felt good to be a member of a party that looked like America when it came to gender, as well as color.

The Star-Bulletin's Richard Borreca is to be commended for going to L.A. and trying to speak with every Hawaii delegate for the record. Reporter Mike Yuen did a similarly good job covering those of us who were delegates to Chicago four years ago.

Although national conventions seem somewhat anachronistic these days, the dramatic increase in Vice President Gore's poll figures shows that people are still listening, and aren't beguiled by glib personas and superficial, staged diversity.

Faye Kennedy

Quotables "Swordfishing kills less turtle than tuna fishing. Nobody believe me." Kevin Tran HAWAII SWORDFISHERMAN WHOSE LONGLINERS WERE GROUNDED BY U.S. DISTRICT JUDGE DAVID EZRA On why it's wrong for Ezra to single out swordfishermen as a threat to endangered sea turtles "We know how to scrap. We've more than held our own in (our) markets." David Black OWNER OF BRITISH COLUMBIA-BASED BLACK PRESS LTD., ONE OF CANADA'S LARGEST INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER OPERATORS Announcing his intent to be among the parties submitting bids for the 118-year-old Honolulu Star-Bulletin

Cars kill more people than wars

Perhaps Candy Ponimoi, who wrote the Aug. 28 letter headlined, "Police should pursue more serious criminals," needs to pursue more serious thinking on the matter.

In 1998, 41,471 Americans were killed in automobile accidents. To illustrate the magnitude of this sadness, more Americans died in automobile accidents in only two years than gave their lives in the entire Vietnam War.

Meanwhile, in 1998, the number of traffic fatalities in Hawaii numbered only 120, which leads me to believe that the Honolulu Police Department is winning the fight and the battle.

Bruce Hougan

Israel discriminates against non-Jews

Your Aug. 23 editorial, commenting on the Israeli prime minister's desire "to introduce a new constitution that would guarantee greater equality between Jews and non-Jews," unwittingly discloses that the Israeli Christian and Muslim citizens are "less equal" than their Jewish counterparts. This validates a major grievance of the Israeli non-Jews against the Israeli government.

A troubling aspect of this disclosure is that, if this state-sponsored discrimination, enshrined in the Israeli constitution, has been practiced all along, why has it remained unknown to the American public? This validates the other major grievance of the Israeli Arabs: the biased reporting of our media.

Looking ahead, another troubling aspect is that, even if this constitutional reform were to pass (which, as you've predicted, probably won't happen), the fact that this will usher in greater equality unfortunately also underscores that some level of inequality will continue in the Jewish state, even under the best situation.

Saleem Ahmed

June Jones did not 'build' Aloha Stadium

Your Aug. 25 article headlined, "House June built revisited," with the photo of University of Hawaii football Coach June Jones astride the Aloha Stadium's ugly new logo, express a contempt for all the teams who slugged it out there before 1999.

The reality is that Jones abandoned the UH Rainbows in the 1970s. He was not around for all those fine UH teams in the 1980s that led up to winning the WAC championship in 1992.

Jones is a fine coach but he just returned to the islands, so he did not "build" this house. And he certainly did not earn the right to change the UH football team nickname and logo, especially without the consensus of students and alumni.

The summer timing of those announcements was an appalling display of contempt for campus opinion. Now must we endure lapdog sportswriters (and broadcasters) who never went to school at UH, and who see the teams as simple marketing mechanisms?

Does your writer really know sports or is he just June Jones' publicity agent?

Paul Haberstroh
Hilo

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