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BOE doesn't care about religious harassment

Congratulations to the state Board of Education for choosing to finalize Chapter 19. All children should be protected and safe in our schools.

However, until the BOE does something about the language and behavior within the halls of our public schools, there will always be different forms of harassment.

Schools Superintendent Paul LeMahieu says he wants to turn to "the work of making it real." Well, it's real. Harassment is also being conducted by the BOE against clubs and their advisers because of their religious affiliation.

As a parent, I am in agreement with Chapter 19, because it protects all children from harassment. How unfortunate that it doesn't protect students, their religious clubs and advisers from the BOE.

Leland Cadoy

Kamehameha trustees must clean house

The Kamehameha Schools, under its new trustees, will certainly better its educational programs for Hawaii's children. Less certain is the trustees' promise that "reforms already in place will prevent abuses...from recurring."

Educational programs were so severely abused under the old system that it became evident to everyone. The greater abuse of Pauahi's trust, however, came from huge losses in questionable financial deals.

These were not evident because they remained hidden from the IRS, the masters, the public and even other employees until exposed by Attorney General Margery Bronster.

Yes, the five Bishop Estate trustees are now gone but so is Bronster. Most of the good ol' boys who were instrumental in the financial schemes, however, still hold key trust positions.

Many of the outside companies that masters have said participated in the schemes and cover-ups are apparently still doing big business with the estate.

Will the new trustees be forced to assume their seats in the same old dirty house? That is the $6 billion question.

Bobby N. Harmon

Quotables "I looked into the camera and said, 'Are you nuts? Hawaii is heaven to a Canadian.'" David Black PUBLISHER AND SOON-TO-BE OWNER OF THE STAR-BULLETIN Reacting to a TV reporter's question: Why would a Canadian businessman want to buy a business in Hawaii? "Do you know what kind of sick and unimaginable things go through your head when someone you love is missing for three years?" Krystal Pia DAUGHTER OF STEVEN TOZON Addressing Styran Rivera, the former Hawaii prison guard convicted and sentenced to consecutive life terms with the possibility of parole in the 1997 murders of Tozon and Paris France

OHA shenanigans are hurting Niihau keiki

With a heavy heart I read your Nov. 4 story that the interim Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustees had voted to rescind the previous board's vote to give the Kekaha Armory lease to the Department of Education and to instead award it to Punana Leo.

I commend two trustees, Colette Machado and Nalani Olds, for voting their convictions. They, in the true Hawaiian way, voted not against Punana Leo but for all the Niihau children.

After 18 months of feuding, the dispute seemed resolved. A consortium of Punana Leo, the Niihau School of Kekaha, the DOE and even Kamehameha Schools were going to work together.

The vote was taken by the former OHA board in April of this year and passed -- thus awarding the lease to the Kekaha Armory to the DOE.

Ilei Beniamina, new interim trustee picked by OHA Chairman Clayton Hee and his good friend Governor Cayetano, was the obstacle in this matter. She refused to meet with the DOE.

Hee, who voted against the OHA majority in April, ignored the previous board's actions and waited until he got his new hand-picked trustee on board. Recently, he and other trustees voted to kick the Niihau School of Kekaha off the Kekaha Armory premises!

Maybe this is a blessing in disguise. The new Kamehameha trustees were also chosen on Friday, and your newspaper reported that they plan to reach more children and expand programs. I pray it joins the DOE to help the children and parents of Niihau School of Kekaha.

Edith U. Ellis

Sensitive story on death of hiker appreciated

Thank you for the perspective and accuracy in your Nov. 6 story about the two hikers killed near the Kilauea lava flow.

It was difficult hearing about the death of my cousin, Nancy Everett. But your article was sensitively written, conveyed complete information and succinctly explained where the bodies were found.

Nancy was a jewel in our family -- a brilliant, loving, thoughtful, outgoing, hard-working and dedicated young woman. Our loss is enormous. Your article helped send news to our family members around the country.

Marsha Danielson
Thonotosassa, Fla.

More people should try riding TheBus

I have no car so I am a daily rider of TheBus. I don't clog the freeways or city streets by driving a vehicle. I depend on public transit and the kindness of friends.

Shannon Robinson's comments on the bus system (Star-Bulletin, Nov. 3) were not very gracious: "Traffic is bad enough on Kapiolani Boulevard and the H-1 freeway, which most of us travel to get to and from work, without taking out more lanes just to get a bus rider to his or her destination a few minutes earlier. Imagine how much longer it would take for the rush-hour traffic jams to lighten up if we took more lanes away."

C'mon, Shannon. Have you ever considered taking TheBus? It's really pretty cool and my transportation costs are about $25 a month.

Oh, and the bonus is that I don't have to put up with those who believe it's written somewhere in the Constitution that they are entitled to drive an automobile.

Shannon, try riding TheBus. You just might like it.

Fran Orian

Football commentators are losers, too

Being a huge University of Hawaii football fan, I finally found a way to enjoy watching UH road games on television. By hitting the mute button, I am free of the most annoying football commentary known to man. We need new blood in UH sports commentary.

Michael Chandler

Why do non-veterans get a holiday?

Being a veteran, I'm a little confused about Veteran's Day. It seems to be a special day on which real veterans get to work extra hard to pay the salaries of non-veteran government employees so the latter can have the day off.

Larry Bartley
Kailua

Cayetano shares blame for Democratic losses

Governor Cayetano's said, "(If) Democrats have difficult races, it's primarily because of self-inflicted wounds" (Star-Bulletin, Nov. 7).

If the Hawaii Democratic Party was damaged during the general election, Cayetano should look in the mirror first before blaming other Democrats.

I know of many local Democrats who are disgusted with his autocratic attitude and his petty vindictiveness. On the Big Island, his support of mayoral candidate Fred Holschuh was a kiss of death.

Beverly Byouk
Ocean View, Hawaii

Problems of gay students can't be easily dismissed

Carol Gabbard's new position on the Board of Education marks a sad day for Hawaii's school children. I am seething at her quote from yesterday's paper: "Hopefully, we can move on to issues that are of concern to all of us," when speaking about the anti-harassment policy passed last week granting specific protection to gay and lesbian students.

How dare she imply that this issue was not of concern to all of us. How dare she carelessly dismiss such a serious matter.

Gabbard should be ashamed of herself for her inability to recognize that diversity and individuality among human beings are things to be celebrated, not ridiculed. They are what make the human race interesting and beautiful.

It was wrong to give her personal agenda a seat on the BOE.

Kristin Paulo

Toguchi didn't deserve to lose to Gabbard

Garrett Toguchi spent the past four years working honestly and effectively on the Board of Education to serve the needs of Hawaii's children.

Yet Oahu voters decided to dismiss him in favor of a candidate who brought intolerance and fear -- instead of positive ideas and plans -- to the debate on how to improve our schools.

Where Toguchi outlined a clear direction for our educational system, the other candidate spent an unseemly amount of money on ads encouraging the discrimination of a minority group in our community. No educational ideas, no indication of how we can better support our struggling teachers.

Join me in encouraging Toguchi to stay in public service. Thank him for his contributions to public education in Hawaii by visiting www.toguchi.net. We need more elected officials like him.

Keith Kamisugi

Tuesday was great day to be American citizen

As the electoral drama began on Nov. 7, colleagues and some of my students spent the day working as precinct officials at polling sites around the island. We had the opportunity to see Election Day as the great equalizer of American society.

Whether young or old, rich or poor, naturalized or native born, everyone's vote was equally significant. When all the rhetoric and propaganda were put aside, American democracy came down to the individual voter making an uncoerced choice in the privacy of a voting booth.

As the electoral drama continued to unfold, students and teachers alike were abuzz with comments. Juniors rushed into homeroom, took a quick glance at the TV turned to CNN and asked, "Don't we know who won yet?"

A senior, who actively campaigned for a state House candidate, blamed her own sister for the candidate's narrow defeat. Her sister didn't vote.

A colleague wanted to know how the electoral college worked and, upon hearing a brief explanation, asked, "How can I change that? I want the president to be elected by the popular vote."

Government students reported that they are the experts on the Electoral College and answered their families' questions about the system.

It was a great day to be a teacher of American government. It was a great day to be an American.

Claire McCaffery Griffin
Teacher, Sacred Hearts Academy
Kaneohe

Sign-waving has lost its personal touch

I see an ominous distortion of political sign-waving. In past years, I thought it was part of the law that each sign had to be held by a person. No one was allowed to put unattended signs along the state or county right of way.

Only the constitutional right of free expression allowed a human being to stand there with a sign. Big banners had a person at each end.

This past election on Maui, however, one candidate had block-long rows of signs stuck in the ground, attended by only one or two people. I almost never saw the candidate there. As the season progressed, other candidates started doing the same thing.

The tradition of sign-waving was new to me when I came to Hawaii. Over the years, I became fond of it. Remember Tom Morrow on his horse? I hate to see this turned into just another impersonal money contest.

Sally Raisbeck
Wailuku, Maui

Hawaii suffers under the rule of entrenched powers

I was born and raised in Hawaii. I left for greener pastures in 1984 and have been living in Seattle since 1985.

Yes, Hawaii will always be home to me. Like most expatriates, I plan to retire in the islands. That is what Hawaii has become -- a place for retirees to live out their years and to die.

Annually, I return for a two-week vacation. I hear the same refrain from residents: "The economy sucks and the politicians are all crooks." My answer: "You voted for them, now live with it."

Hawaii politics is mired in the good ol' boy system. Business is in bed with government. Their interest is not the good of the people, but the good of their own pocketbooks. Hawaii, with its present cast of officials and politicians, will be forever at the mercy of external economies and whims.

The ol' boys will do fine but, for the rest of the population, it will be high unemployment, low wages, a high cost of living and weak public schools. Remember, a poorly educated population is the strongest ally to the politically entrenched.

H. Chibana
Seattle, Wash.

Electoral College concept shows its flaws

Al Gore received more popular votes than George W. Bush -- not only in the national election, but maybe in Florida, too.

MSNBC reported that about 3,500 Gore votes in Palm Beach County, Fla., were mistakenly counted for Buchanan. The supposed Bush lead in Florida was only 1,784 at that time.

This means that, due to the Electoral College system, errors in one Florida county may undermine the U.S. popular vote and determine the presidency.

These errors must be investigated carefully in plain view and corrected so the results can be trusted. It won't look good if the next president owes his victory to electoral votes won under suspicion in a state governed by his brother.

The news media can help by probing into this. Once the irregularities are resolved, we also might want to ask whether the Electoral College is really a good idea for a 21st century democracy.

Douglas Pyle

Media are cheerleaders for the Democrats

Your Nov. 2 endorsement of Al Gore for president was just another example of the media jumping on the Democratic bandwagon. You totally ignored that talk is cheap and that he would promise anything to get elected.

You said Gore would reduce the size of government, but later admitted that he "has an enthusiasm for seemingly unlimited new federal programs that is hard to reconcile with his professed determination to reduce the size of government."

You said that "Gore has been given more responsibilities than any of his predecessors" and yet you, like so many others, failed to show examples.

You admitted that "Gore's uncritical defense of Clinton (during) the Monica Lewinsky scandal was shameful" and that he "was tarnished by some of the Democrats' 1996 campaign finance violations." Yet you proclaim that the nation would be "in better hands with Gore than with Bush."

In other words, you, like so many other liberal groups, had blinkers on with regard to this unscrupulous man.

Larry Whitson
Kaneohe

Popular vote says Gore is next president

The American people have placed their faith and vote with Al Gore, the next president of the United States.

Cappy Sin

Inouye was out of line to criticize Bush

Sen. Dan Inouye questioned if Gov. George W. Bush is suited to be commander-in-chief of the armed forces. This comment came from a man who supported Bill Clinton, not once, but twice. And if I remember correctly, President Clinton dodged the draft and protested the Vietnam War on foreign soil.

Ronn Miyashiro
Kaneohe

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