Advertisement - Click to support our sponsors.
Hirono deserves credit for speaking up
Mazie Hirono for governor! Finally, someone in the current administration is willing to stand up for what is right and speak for the union workers represented by the Hawaii Government Employees Association.The lieutenant governor is a courageous leader. She could have taken the politically safe position of "no comment." She could have compromised her values and integrity by agreeing with the governor. But she did not because Hirono is a true leader and not a Cayetano clone.
The HGEA did not make the rules. The union bargained in good faith and resolved the issue in arbitration. But because Cayetano does not agree with the decision, he alleges the decision is unfair.
It's typical Cayetano. Displaying the arrogance of a lame duck, he's alienated not only public workers but Hawaiians, hotel owners, Ala Wai golfers and the public in general. The only segment Cayetano has not alienated is probably the Republican Party.
E.A. Baratti
Ewa Beach
Quotables
"It's only natural for you to want to play hard for a fallen teammate. We expect to see them play their best game Saturday night." June Jones
UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII HEAD FOOTBALL COACH
On tonight's match-up at Aloha Stadium between the UH Warriors and San Jose State Spartans. A SJSU player had part of his leg amputated this week after an injury suffered in an earlier game.
"Common sense dictates we do what is relevant to the safety of the community." Governor Cayetano
Worried that the state is overreacting to privacy concerns after the Department of Health was slow in releasing information to the public about the Monday escape of a patient at the Hawaii State Hospital
Kanno is running scared of challenger
As we approach the general election, voters in the Senate's 20th District must be reminded that Sen. Brian Kanno voted against confirmation of then Attorney General Margery Bronster.Kanno has written an apology to voters and stated that he made a mistake. He only wrote that letter because he knows there is a capable and exciting challenger.
Elect Dr. Hank Makini, and bring honesty and integrity to the district.
Steve Loring
Kapolei
Is Smith embarrassed to be a Republican?
Joan Gumm's Oct. 21 letter, stipulating "teams" of state senators and representatives in Ewa Beach, didn't sway this voter.I have received five mailings from Pam Smith. Not once did she mention she is a Republican. The sign-waving, door-to-door campaigning, and giving out of handouts and stickers also avoid mention of her party affiliation.
Smith is apparently ashamed to reveal her party alignment. She would rather ride the coattails of Sen. Brian Kanno's challenger than stand up on her own. In one of her mailouts, more information was provided on the Senate race than of her own race against Rep. Willie Espero.
Gumm's statement is false that Kanno and Espero are running for office as a team. The "team" is the community, and not made up of just two individuals.
Edlynn Taira
Ewa Beach
BOE candidate made Moanalua better school
Jacqueline Heupel recently retired as principal from Moanalua High School. She always wanted what was best for students. She often talked about the importance of a good education as the foundation for our bright futures but also stressed being a good student, citizen and person.During her tenure as principal, she helped build our beautiful new student center, which has a computer lab, a conference room, drama/performing arts center, student activities center and college/career center. She also started the STAR Council, which gives students from every area, club and organization a voice in how to improve our school.
We appreciated her leadership, class and presence at Moanalua. She is an inspiration to us and we are proud of her. She is running for the Board of Education and deserves everyone's support, because she definitely has ours!
Members, Girls' Varsity Basketball Team
Moanalua High School
Bush will bring fresh start to presidency
No more scandals and questionable conduct. That is what I am hoping and praying that voters will not have to worry about with the next president.Al Gore has clearly engaged in a number of questionable campaign and fund-raising activities. He has given statements to the FBI that continue to raise the issue of his credibility.
The best way to put all of these scandals and investigations behind us is to elect someone new.
I plan to vote for George W. Bush. He will uphold the honor and dignity of the White House and will be someone we can look up to and respect.
Barb Bowditch
Bush might deny weird statements
Is a clever "cyberspace sting operation" or a deceptive practice to cause defamation being perpetrated on prestigious news organizations via the Internet?George W. Bush has said numerous weird things. Dozens of buffoonish statements attributed to him have been posted on the Internet as quotes from major news sources, particularly on the Web site for Slate.
Just before election day, Bush supporters reveal that these "Bushisms" are fictitious. How opportunistic. This would cast suspicion on news organizations and their reporting of real weirdisms by Bush.
You can search the Internet to locate "Bushisms." Further details can be found on the Web site, www.lava.net/emergencylesson.
Edward Arrigoni
Hawaii is doing worse than Texas
Mainland Democrats seeking to prop up Al Gore are now trying to portray Texas as some Third-World country.In reality, Texas is the second largest state in the union with the 12th largest economy in the world. A recent study by the non-profit RAND Corp. on student improvements in mathematics ranked Texas No.1 in the nation.
In addition to being successful, Texas Gov. George W. Bush must also be popular with those who know him best. Unlike Ben Cayetano, Bush was re-elected as governor by 70 percent of the vote.
If mainland Democrats want to see a real Third-World country, they should come to Hawaii and bring lots of spending money to support our economy, which is based on tourism and government.
Michael Parry
Delaying sports events is disservice to fans
It's ironic that Hawaii's two "on-time" television stations are the only local network affiliates that delayed major mainland sports events: KHON, the World Series; KITV, Monday Night Football.In contrast, the two not "on-time" stations, KGMB and KHNL, bring us live coverage of the NCAA basketball tournament and the NBA playoffs, respectively.
Sports are meant to be watched live. West Coast stations aired the World Series live beginning at 4:30 p.m., forcing the preemption of their profitable local news.
Considering KHON delayed the World Series until 7 p.m., money had to be the main factor and not the public relations ploy of making the games available for a wider audience.
Kelly D. Corns
Cayetano is bully of the UH campus
The governor says he wonders where the University of Hawaii faculty members' brains are because we won't allow him to bully us into accepting his payroll lag. I know where their brains are, but I wonder where's his heart.Cayetano has been told by high-tech companies that what they need in order to relocate here are a well-educated workforce and a high-quality university. Yet he has done nothing for lower education in the past six years while cutting UH's budget and driving its national rating from the first tier to the third.
Local newspapers have done stories about the amount of money that our "brainless" faculty members contribute to the state's economy and about the remarkably high number of UH personnel who have left in the past year. Still, Cayetano continues his childish vendetta against the faculty.
I'd be interested to hear the governor explain to the people of Hawaii how tearing down the UH is in their best interests.
Gregory Moore
Public sports events should be alcohol-free
The last time I went to a University of Hawaii baseball game, I took my boys because they love the sport.A couple of drunk spectators puked their guts right behind us while trying to belch out the f-word --- you know, the one Haunani Trask wrote on a sign in plain view of passersby. What an impression that made on my then 9- and 7-year-old boys.
When I go to a baseball game with my family, I shouldn't have to deal with these kinds of insensitive jerks who spoil it for everyone. We had to move to get away from the stench of the vomit.
All this, because UH allows alcohol to be sold at its sporting events. It talks about ethics in its curriculum but that goes right out the door when it comes to advertising dollars and sponsors. Talk about selling one's soul to the devil.
Craig Watanabe
Tail-gating beer drinkers spoil the fun for all
When it comes to football games at the Aloha Stadium, I'm a two-beer fan, one for the first half and one for the second. Guess I'll only be a one-beer fan from now on, and I don't mind.From our seats at the last University of Hawaii game, we witnessed at least three fan ejections in the south end zone, which is about par for the course.
Unfortunately, the Aloha Stadium Authority is only attacking the majority who follow the rules and not the beer-guzzling tailgaters who start the happy hour at 2:30 or 3. Maybe we need Breathalyzer checks at each turnstile rather than penalizing the many for the actions of a few.
Don Neill
Bill would make Indians out of Hawaiians
People who read the Akaka bill as trying to invent a "Hawaiian tribe" are right. Either it will convert ethnic Hawaiians into an Indian tribe, or it will create an unconstitutional federal agency.
In Rice v. Cayetano, the U.S. Supreme Court held that an agency that limits voting to Hawaiians unconstitutionally discriminates based on race. The Akaka bill would impose the same racial discrimination.
The Constitution bars discrimination by Congress, as well as by the states. If the Akaka bill merely creates a federal agency, it is unconstitutional.
The bill tries to evade the constitutional principle of equality by invoking Congress' power to "regulate commerce" with "Indian tribes." This is dubious at best, but it certainly won't work if Congress doesn't even try to create a Hawaiian "Indian tribe."
If Congress tries and succeeds, then the members of the "Hawaiian tribe" will be entitled to benefits now extended to Indian tribes. Congressmen who fear that the new tribe would dip into the pork barrels labeled for Indians are right.
If Congress can make Hawaiians an exception to the rule of constitutional equality, then it could treat them worse than their fellow citizens instead of better. How much would you sell your constitutional rights for?
A better, fairer reading of the Constitution is that Congress cannot make Hawaiians a tribe any more than it can make Mexicans a tribe. Congress shouldn't duplicate Office of Hawaian Affairs' discrimination. Government should remain open to everyone, regardless of ancestry.
Patrick Hanifin
OHA election is the business of Hawaiians
The Office of Hawaiian Affairs was established by legal ballot approval by a majority of voters, who were of all races. Congressional candidate John Carroll's lawsuit is an atrocity.As a haole, I will not be voting in any Hawaiian affairs -- including the one for OHA trustees -- simply because it is none of my business. I do not pretend to speak for Hawaiians.
Pat Cabalse
Kaneohe
OHA Special
Rice vs. Cayetano arguments
Rice vs. Cayetano decision
Holo I Mua: Sovereignty Roundtable
Peter, Paul and Mary song is 137 years old
David Shapiro's Oct. 21 column shows ignorance of his country's history. The Peter, Paul and Mary song he quotes is not 37 years old, but 137 years old. The original words were, "Take off your overcoat and roll up your sleeves, Richmond is a hard road to travel, I believe."None of the men who sang that song were "conscientious objectors." They were the men who saved the Union. There were, however, plenty of conscientious objectors in the North, mostly in Southern Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. They sympathized with slavery and the South, and were called Copperheads.
There were also "conscientious objectors" in New York City, who rioted and murdered blacks to show their opposition to the war. Not unlike the Jane Fondas of the modern world, they probably cost a lot of good men their lives by offering great encouragement to the enemy.
William B. Thompson
Kailua
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