A male is a male, no matter what

"He" is not a "she." "He will never be a "she." Keala Chow's personal desire to imitate a female is certainly a choice, but that desire will never in a million years do what Chow wants it to do, which is to make him female ("McKinley lets male-born student graduate in dress," Star-Bulletin, June 8).

No hormones, no surgeries, no psychotherapy, nothing will produce that result.

If Chow wishes to fantasize otherwise, so be it. However, the Star-Bulletin appears to have fallen prey to a disturbing trend in newspaper journalism, and that is coloring the news to give the appearance of social diversity and acceptability.

Gerald Bohnet

Harris's success is what really did him in

Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris was vilified not for raising campaign funds unethically; Hawaii politicians have been doing that for decades. Harris was ostracized for doing what few politicians do; he got things done.

Shelly Brown
Waimanalo

Missionary shows grace in face of pain

Missionary Gracia Burnham's comment, "It's pleasing to God," in response to questions about how she feels about her husband's death at the hands of the Abu Sayyaf in the Philippines is a testament to great faith.

The families' faith is evidently so deep and longstanding that it could not be shaken in the face of the worst news. No evidence of waffling, tears, sadness was evident in the television interviews. Instead we saw truly uplifted people who without intending to be inspiring certainly were. No preaching was necessary.

Although we don't all share the same brand of faith as the Burnhams and their families, many of us are seeking to strengthen what we have. The position taken by Gracia and others in the family could give the rest of us pause to consider how strong our connection is with something other than our daily tribulations and the kaleidoscopic, never-ending scene in which we play out our lives.

What do our opinions really matter on any aspect of our life or the world around us in the face of such surrender as the Burnhams and family are showing now? They are true transcendentalists.

Nandarani Evans

Nebraska says thanks for Hawaii athletes

We Nebraskans thank the 50th state for sending us your young people to study and attend college at the University of Nebraska.

Where would our athletic program be without the likes of baseball pitcher Shane Komine (who is leading the Cornhuskers to the College World Series for the second consecutive year), football stars Toniu Fonoti and Dominic Raiola? And do not forget the volleyball star who led Nebraska to the women's championship, the great setter Fiona Nepo.

Keep 'em coming.

Ricky Fulton
Omaha, Neb.

Council listens only to developer

On May 29, the City Council approved Castle & Cooke's proposal to rezone 104 acres in Mililani Mauka from agricultural to residential use for the construction of about 800 additional residences.

In April 2001, both the Mililani and Mililani Mauka neighborhood boards passed resolutions asking that this proposal not be approved until Castle & Cooke reserved six acres of land for a neighborhood park and the Department of Education provided the boards with a formal statement attesting that the educational needs of Mililani primary and secondary school students would be met without redistricting or converting currently single-track schools to multi-track if the additional units were approved.

The Mililani Neighborhood Board further requested that the proposal not be approved until Castle & Cooke reserved 12 acres for dedication to the state for another elementary school in Mililani Mauka and provided the board results of a study specifying the effect on commuter time resulting from the construction of the additional units.

To the best of my knowledge as the chairman of the Planning & Zoning Committee of the Mililani Neighborhood Board, not a single one of these conditions was met.

Mililani Mauka Elementary soon will have 15 portable classrooms situated on what was supposed to have been a neighborhood park. Mililani Mauka Middle School is multi-tracked and will have more than 2,000 students in a building built for 1,350. Between 2,000 and 3,000 houses are yet to be built, but there are no classrooms for the children they will generate. Mililani High School has more than 2,000 students already. Our "master planned" community will have 100 portable classrooms in our schools.

This type of "master planning" seems to be in keeping with the recent trend of steering more growth to Central Oahu under the Central Oahu Sustainable Communities Plan and not to Kapolei, which is still in theory, if not in reality, supposed to be Oahu's "Second City."

I would like to thank Councilman Steve Holmes for being a dissenting vote against this rezoning proposal. It's nice to know that someone in our downtown government hears a voice other than that of Castle & Cooke coming from Central Oahu.

Doug Thomas

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