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Xenophobic hiring
should be stopped

THE ISSUE A newcomer to Oahu is suing the city for refusing to hire him because he is not yet a legal resident of Hawaii.

HAWAII'S booming economy has led to a worker shortage, and employers are scrambling to offer incentives to fill vacant positions. Oblivious to the situation, the state and counties are clinging to legal roadblocks for mainlanders interested in making the move to work in government jobs. The barriers need to be removed before they cause any more damage.

Blane M. Wilson of Pensacola, Fla., moved to Oahu three months ago with his wife, a military service woman who was assigned here. He says he applied to be a police evidence specialist with the city Department of Human Resources but was rejected because he is not a legal resident of Hawaii.

The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit on behalf of Wilson and Florida resident Kevin R. Walsh, who also has sought city jobs, claiming that the city's residency requirement is unconstitutional. State Attorney General Mark Bennett maintains the state law that has formed the basis for the county policies is perfectly legal.

Bennett may be right, even though the courts have not ruled on the issue; the state Supreme Court dismissed a similar case in 1986 because the plaintiff had met residency requirements by the time his lawsuit reached the high court.

The issue arises at a time when private companies are desperate to find workers; Oahu enjoys a record-low 2.7 percent unemployment rate -- far beneath what is regarded as full employment. In a recent Star-Bulletin series on trouble hiring in Hawaii, company officials told of offering benefits such as better health care and retirement plans, recruitment bonuses, paid college tuition, store discounts and flexible hours to attract workers.

Meanwhile, the state and counties are letting it be known that nonresidents need not apply. If the policy is executed uniformly throughout the state and county governments, it might stand in the way of dealing with the state's teacher shortage and problems filling other jobs. Regardless of uniformity, it is both unfair and idiotic.

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Wie should try
again on PGA tour

THE ISSUE Michelle Wie came near to being the first female in 60 years to make the weekend cut at a PGA Tour event.

HAWAII golf prodigy Michelle Wie was cruising toward weekend play at the PGA Tour's John Deere Classic and into the record book when her dazzling play came crashing down. Through most of her 36 holes on Thursday and yesterday, Wie proved beyond all doubt that she can play with the big boys, and the grumbling among tour professionals should come to an end.

As the Silvis, Ill., tournament approached, some male touring pros groused -- most of them off the record -- about Wie being allowed to enter the tournament without qualifying. Instead, she was given an exemption by the sponsor to compete, just as she had at the last two Sony Opens at Waialae Country Club.

"It needs to end, and it needs to end now," said touring pro John Cook, a regular at the Sony Open and past member of the PGA Tour policy board. He said the LPGA tour and the male circuit "are apples and oranges," and the sexes should continue to go their separate ways.

Wie wants eventually to play both tours with a degree of regularity, and she has proved at age 15 that she already is up to the task. She has been a runner-up in two LPGA tournaments, including a major, already this year, and she qualified for next week's men's U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship in Ohio, where she again will be the center of attention.

Despite the complaints, Wie will continue to be offered exemptions for tournaments on both men's and women's tours. Her naysayers complain that the motive for the invitations are ticket sales.

"They can say they're doing it for tickets sales," tour player Zach Johnson, also a John Deere Classic board member, told the Star-Bulletin's Dave Reardon. "People don't realize that tickets sales go to charity. That's part of what our tour is all about."

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