Garden is a place for sharing wisdom too

For more than 20 years, citizens, most of whom are kupuna (grandparents) in the downtown area, have shared their hearts in the Foster Community Gardens. The garden is more than a garden, it's a place where there's a harmony between our spirits and nature, where our kupuna share their wisdom, where our ohana come together, where we walk to each day to greet and hug.

On June 9, Nathan Wong, the city's Community Gardens coordinator, told us that Foster Gardens was going to be redesigned and our community garden would be closed down in two years. We were shocked, surprised and saddened.

We ask the public to please help save our community garden by attending the Downtown Neighborhood Board No. 13 meeting on at 7 p.m. July 5 at the Pauahi Recreation Center, 171 N. Pauahi St. and writing or calling your City Council representative and Mayor Harris today.

Ronald Vigeant
Foster Community gardener

Don't blame drugs, alcohol for attack

Vanessa Birang is totally missing the point regarding the hate crime attack at Polihale State Park on Kauai (Letters, Star-Bulletin, June 18).

Alcohol and drugs may have contributed to the actions taken by these two young men, but they learned their hatred from someone. They were not born with the words: "The Bible teaches me to kill you sod-omites and faggots!" in their minds.

We are not born with hatred in our hearts. We learn it at home, at church, at school and on the streets.

Mothers would like to believe they know what their children are thinking, but there is not a mother alive who knows everything that goes on in her child's head. When we start teaching love instead of hatred there will be a chance for world peace.

George Gosselin

Racing should take place on a track

In Jerrette Kaye's letter of June 21 on street racing, the author either failed to realize or to include the fact that "on the track" the drivers are certified and experienced racetrack drivers. Drivers who race on the highway are, as the author described, "wannabe racetrack drivers without training or experience; out for a thrill." Their cars do not meet the safety specifications required of track cars. The other drivers on the road are not race drivers and their reactions in a given situation are not as predictable as those of an experienced racetrack driver, and their involvement in a race is certainly not voluntary.

A fatality on a certified racetrack is a tragedy; on the highway it is homicide.

Bernard Judson

Transsexual athletes need special evaluation

The recent decision by the Hawaiian Canoe Racing Association to abandon DNA testing as a means of gender verification is consistent with the policies of many national and international sporting federations, including the International Olympic Committee.

However, abandoning gender verification leaves open the issue of fair competition.

Male-to-female transsexuals may have retained much of their male muscle strength despite sex change operations; does this pose an unfair advantage when competing with normal women? As a physician (endocrinologist) who has treated transsexuals, I can appreciate their uphill struggle for feminine identity and recognition; they should not be placed on the same level as those female athletes who have sought an unfair advantage through deceptive use of male hormones.

The complex decision on whether they should compete against normal women should take into consideration the specific athletic event as well as the individual's medical history and should be made by a panel of experts concerned with integrity of both the athletic contest and the individuals who are competing.

Such decisions should not be made in a climate of ignorance, prejudice or hatred for transsexuals in whom suicide is a leading cause of death. Many transsexuals have made important contributions to society; it is time to accept them and help them find a constructive role in society.

Michael Bornemann

[Quotables] "It was really fun. I got more experience, and I think I'll go even farther next year." Michelle Wie, Eleven-year-old Hawaii golfer, on her first- and second-round wins in the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links Championship in Long Grove, Ill. "Despite the budgetary constraints, the librarian has managed to keep the ship...afloat." Herman Watanabe, Hawaii Board of Education chairman, on this week's "more than satisfactory" evaluation of state librarian Virginia Lowell.

DOH ad has right idea about smoking

I applaud the state Department of Health's advertising campaign that raises awareness about the plight of restaurant workers and secondhand smoke in restaurants. The television ad cited in the editorial does not say anything about new legislation to ban smoking in restaurants. Rather, it launches a voluntary effort to increase non-smoking areas in restaurants by asking consumers to request the non-smoking section when they dine out.

The Star-Bulletin's insistence on questioning the Environmental Protection Agency's and American Cancer Society's science is disappointing. Many articles in scientific journals show the connection between secondhand smoke and health problems. Restaurant workers are unwittingly exposed to secondhand smoke while earning a living.

Finally, the government can mandate smoke-free restaurants, as we have seen in California and New York City. The restaurant industry would have you believe that smoke-free restaurants are bad for business, when a smoking ban has not negatively affected the industry in New York City, California, Utah, Vermont and Maine.

In 1995, the City Council passed a ban on smoking in Oahu restaurants but was unable to override the mayor's veto. The restaurant industry defeated implementation of this legislation and promised a voluntary program. That program has never materialized.

Steve Holmes

Mall wrong site for Hilo court house

Chief Justice Moon has not addressed significant matters such as the displacement of the tenants and their loss of income and standard of living if the Hilo court house is located at the Kaiko'o Mall site.

This location would significantly contribute to traffic congestion. The site would be vulnerable to damages from a tsunami, major flooding, like it was last November, or other natural disasters.

A better site would be at Ponahawai. It has the space to expand and is near the prosecutor's office, the Hilo jail, the police department and fire station. There would be ample parking and evacuation routes are better.

The cost difference between Ponahawai and the Kaiko'o would be tens of millions of dollars. At the mall site, costs would be tremendous with the need to remove and dispose of asbestos and to demolish the buildings.

Drew E. Kosora

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