Good educators
come in all colorsThe issue: A protest at UH targets
the ratio of Caucasian faculty to
non-Caucasian students.Ethnic diversity among faculty and administrators is certainly a worthy objective for the University of Hawaii. That a wider scope of viewpoints and experiences serves to expand educational discovery is not contentious. But a good teacher cannot be defined by ethnicity or skin color.
A demonstration on the Manoa campus this week -- ostensibly more of a class project than a spontaneous display of discontent -- noted that while almost 80 percent of students across the 10-campus system are non-Caucasian, 56 percent of teachers and administrators are Caucasian. At the Manoa facility, the disparity rises slightly to 60 percent Caucasian faculty and staff and 77 percent non-Caucasian students. These numbers led one student to argue that voices of non-Caucasians "are not being heard or represented."
Nonsense. To presume that a Caucasian professor somehow suppresses the learning of a student of color is as specious as presuming that a female professor inhibits the learning of a student who is male. Further, learning should be an exchange of ideas. What professors present need not be adopted by students. Learning, especially on the college level, should be through examination, dissection and analysis. No doubt there are teachers whose observations and approaches to subject matter may reflect personal bias. However, bigotry is not exclusive to Caucasians.
Affirmative action, particularly at colleges and universities, has become increasingly controversial as administrators struggle with legal challenges to their efforts to diversify student populations. Institutions in Hawaii have had little trouble in this area because of the state's intrinsic racial melange. Ethnic diversity among faculty members has remained somewhat elusive, but ethnicity is hardly the transcendent component of a capable educator.
Moreover, there is a growing sense among ethnic groups that affirmative action, while effective in counteracting racial discrimination, serves to diminish their worth. Getting a job or enrollment in a college through affirmative action sends signals that acceptance was in some way qualified.
The demonstration by 21 students apparently was part of a final examination for an introductory political science course in which the teacher required students to perform some sort of political action. Some chose to demonstrate and while painting their faces and hoisting colorful signs was probably emotionally and physically stimulating, it was not conducive to learning.
A more effective teacher would have considered a forum where the disparity could be discussed and solutions worked out. Confrontational politics seldom leads the way to informed scholarship.
Acquitted defendants
merit quick freedomThe issue: The ACLU is suing
the state for detaining prisoners
for hours after acquittal.DEFENDANTS held in prison while charges against them are pending should be released as promptly as possible upon their acquittal, but that has not been the practice in Hawaii. After winning in court, a person instead routinely is handcuffed, placed in a courthouse holding cell and taken back to prison for "out-processing," which can take hours. The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a class-action lawsuit seeking an end to the denigration along with compensation for past victims.
Brent White, the Hawaii ACLU's legal director, says the lawsuit is similar to suits won by the ACLU in Florida and New York and a suit against Los Angeles County that resulted in a $27 million settlement. Those circumstances call for changes in the treatment of exonerated detainees in Hawaii.
"It's bad enough to have to wait in prison to prove their innocence," White says, "but to be treated like this is truly astounding and unacceptable."
The lawsuit alleges that defendants who were held in prison while awaiting trial and then win acquittal are forced to undergo strip searches, denied food or permission to make phone calls, made to wear prison clothing and subjected to harassment by guards or other prisoners before finally being released. The process must be streamlined to avoid such post-acquittal indignities.
Ted Sakai, the Hawaii director of public safety, explains that the state releases inmates only after receiving "bona fide court orders for release." Sakai adds that a return to prison is needed for officials to return personal property and make sure the inmate is not to be held on other pending charges.
The onus should fall on the state to complete that process as quickly as possible. Judges should issue court orders of acquittal from the bench. Prison officials should be able to check on the inmate's entire status in the criminal justice system in anticipation of an acquittal or dismissal of charges.
A person facing no other charges deserves immediate freedom upon acquittal. That should include the choice of picking up personal belongings from the prison on his or her own time or be free in the courthouse while waiting to catch a ride back to prison in the state's van. There is no reason for a person who has been cleared of criminal charges to be handcuffed or held in a cell.
Published by Oahu Publications Inc., a subsidiary of Black Press.Don Kendall, Publisher
Frank Bridgewater, managing editor 529-4791; fbridgewater@starbulletin.com
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