Let voters decide if sign-waving is OK

Some of the politicians who are in power want to stay in power by preventing their lesser-known opponents from engaging in sign-waving ("Bill would restrict sign-waving," Star-Bulletin, May 24). City Councilman Gary Okino and some of these other politicians acknowledge that they used sign-waving to get elected, but now that they're in office they want to close the door to others.

If Okino believed in democracy, maybe he'd allow the voters to make that decision. If you abhor sign-waving, then don't vote for people who wave signs. If, however, you have self-control, intelligence and are capable of driving an automobile without being easily distracted, then you won't consider it relevant.

Rich Logan

Kewalo dolphins live in inferior conditions

This is in response to "Protesters decry Kewalo dolphin lab" (Star-Bulletin, June 2).

>> The three prisoner dolphins at the Kewalo facility were not just "brought from the Gulf of Mexico," as the article stated. They were captured from the wild, ripped away from their families.

>> Animal Rights Hawai'i uses the federal Freedom of Information Act to access information about Kewalo. What Lou Herman, the laboratory's director, calls our "made-up stories" are the actual inspection reports by the USDA's veterinary medical officer.

>> The Dolphin Institute (aka Kewalo Basin Marine Mammal Laboratory) charges $4,000 per month for "interns" to come and pretend to be scientists. TDI is located on state land. How much of that money goes into the state coffers?

>> KBMML has been consistently noncompliant with the Animal Welfare Act for deteriorating conditions, and specifically for allowing dolphins to become pregnant without an established breeding program in place. There have been several births, with the most recent a month ago. Not a single baby has survived more than a few days.

>> Kewalo likes to bury bad news. Elele, an adult female, died in December 2000. It was Animal Rights Hawai'i who discovered this -- 6 months after the fact -- and who informed the public.

If indeed Herman considers his captive dolphins to be "family," I am glad not to be related to him.

Cathy Goeggel
Director, Research & Investigations
Animal Rights Hawai'i

Ban on body piercing is unconstitutional

I am an 8th-grade student from Kalakaua Middle School. Recently my school prohibited all body piercing (except on the ears). I would like to express my displeasure with our school's new rule.

I believe that banning all body piercing takes away our rights as citizens. By piercing different parts of our body, it shows our individuality and how we express ourselves, which is protected by our right to free speech and expression. We should be able to decide what to do or what not to do to our bodies.

The school has no right to tell us what to do or what not to do to our bodies, as long as our parents are giving us consent. I strongly believe that body piercing is an appropriate way to express myself.

Kimberly Baloran

Grad did right thing in challenging dress code

Congratulations and a big mahalo to Ivy Kaanana for having the courage to challenge an outdated and unreasonable graduation requirement ("Maui grad caught with her pants on," Star-Bulletin, June 1).

It's really too bad such a simple and reasonable request (to wear pants instead of a dress under her graduation gown) had to turn into such a painful struggle for Ivy and her family.

I can well remember similar frustrations back when Kahului Elementary required all females to wear dresses or skirts to school. It took years of argument before we girls were permitted the freedom and comfort of pants. That particular dress code didn't even make sense, considering that skirts often fail to preserve modesty ("I see London, I see France ...").

Be it in Afghanistan or Hawaii, we need to say goodbye to the notion that all women must wear someone else's idea of proper clothing.

Lucy Martin
Baldwin High School
Class of '77
Kars, Ontario, Canada

Apologists show usual reaction to criticism

Here we go again. In the article "Forbes gave distorted view of Hawaii's economy" (Star-Bulletin, May 27), Seiji Naya, director of the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, writes that a recent Forbes business magazine report did not fairly assess Hawaii's economy. After stating a list of "facts" to support his argument, Naya ends the article with "The point here is that Forbes does not 'get it' where Hawaii is concerned, and they never will 'get it.'" Will Naya please define what he means by "get it"?

He neglects to mention in his litany of "facts" that a component of any economic development plan must include a decent educational system that also contributes to the quality of life. Hawaii consistently has had the poorest education in the nation.

The usual knee-jerk reaction to these negative reports by the state and its apologists is more whining and defensive attitudes instead of taking aggressive positive action to fix the problem. Get it?

Tony Locascio

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