Letters to the Editor

Look to the past for hula’s future

Regarding the Feb. 18 cover story on "Celebrants of Island Culture" and the description of the planned group of young kumu hula discussing hula’s future at the Maui gathering:

Hula of the future?

What of tradition?

What of a balance?

What of focus on kupuna who are fast disappearing?

I am 77, feeling the ebbing of my life ... wanting to speak more ... to answer more ... to reach more young people now.

Who is listening?

Nona Beamer


Ban on fireworks is discriminatory

Why pick on the Chinese?

I’m a third-generation Chinese. I speak and write a little Chinese. I have an altar at home. When we celebrate New Year’s or ancestors’ month, we use fireworks to announce we are there to place our offering, and when we are done, we use fireworks to send their spirits back. Did you know that our ancestors’ month is before Easter and goes back way before then?

The use of fireworks is also the same at the temples when they celebrate special days of thanks, blessings for the New Year, ascension, birthdays, etc. This tradition is real and alive, and when my 92-year-old father has his birthday, he would like to set off a string of fireworks.

I’ve used fireworks since I was a child and have never been injured; the use was supervised by adults. It is the careless few who misuse fireworks or don’t supervise their children who create a problem.

When the Legislature enacted the law to require a permit to buy fireworks, I protested because there was no loophole for religious purposes. It meant that just to buy a small pack of fireworks would cost me $25 in a permit fee and only good for that one time.

Now the state wants to ban fireworks entirely? Why pick only on the Chinese religion? Shouldn’t we also have a law to require the other religions to have a permit for Lent, for Easter services or Christmas? Where’s the freedom of democracy, the freedom to practice one’s own religion and the right of the minority?

Anthony Au

Hemmeter Building should be museum

I looked out the bus window and gasped when I saw the Hemmeter Building on Hotel Street, wondering if it was an architecturally beautiful museum I didn’t know about or a diplomat’s palace.

When I read that Gov. Ben Cayetano, an enlightened human with a noble idea, wants this awesome structure to be an art museum, I prayed that the angels and legislators would help him accomplish this admirable goal.

Tribes and societies have painted in caves, cathedrals, homes, streets and galleries, while museums have collected and cherished works of art. Art tells us who we are. Our spirits, hopes and souls are nourished and reflected in art to guide us through whatever triumph, malaise, celebration or problem we encounter.

Marie Sokol


Teachers are being forced into a strike

The line in the sand has now turned into a trench between our governor and the educators in our state. Public-school teachers may be forced out of the classroom and onto the picket lines in early April.

As one of those teachers, I love what I do. However, educators can no longer teach for love because love does not feed and house a family. The issue comes down to what is fair and equitable in wages. The salaries of our educators vary from teacher to teacher but remain the lowest in the nation when you factor in the cost of living.

The media have published teaching salaries ranging from $29,000 to $58,000 a year. I have been teaching within the Department of Education for nearly 10 years. Along with a baccalaureate degree in education, I have degrees in electronics and aviation technology. Even with my technological experiences, I make approximately $29,000 as a teacher. So many of us have to supplement our meager incomes with part-time jobs.

All of this comes at the expense of our students. Time and energy are taken away from classroom preparation and curriculum. Opportunities in continuing education to hone and enhance our skills are contingent on our abilities to find the time and money. It should be of no surprise that the number of excellent teachers taken by Mainland school systems, or those leaving the profession altogether, is rising.

There has been enough rhetoric; it is time to promptly and professionally settle this stalemate. I don’t want to strike, but I will if forced to.

D. Perry Alexander


Let’s support Cayetano in his Felix proposal

Your Feb. 19 editorial "State can’t stall Felix responsibility" made a number of good points in terms of needed actions and attitude by legislators to address this issue appropriately. However, your conclusion misses the point.

You allude to Gov. Cayetano needing to address "conflicting responsibilities in state government," and this is his job. As was pointed out in the article "State Felix ‘czar’ urged," by Robbie Dingeman, "While Cayetano has authority over the Department of Health’s role in fulfilling the state’s obligations, the state Department of Education answers to the Board of Education and the state schools superintendent."

This clearly relates to the problem of decentralization and the need for a central authority to make the needed changes that bureaucrats in state government are incapable of making or unable to make. The idea that some state administrators can work together to make needed changes has been documented as problematic on a statewide scale.

Are there administrators bold and dynamic enough to make the needed changes to improve service delivery and decrease costs? The answer is apparent, and the need for a central authority to address the issue head-on and to make changes is critical.

Other states that have failed to act critically have been involved in court-mandated monitoring for decades. The governor has it right and appears to view the total picture of what needs to be done. Let’s support his bold proposal to improve service delivery in special education and decrease costs associated with the consent decree.

Bruce Berger
Maui


Commission won’t fault Rene Mansho

Regarding the Feb. 12 editorial "Campaign dollars must be for da kine": For the sake of nothing else to do, you have again missed the point bigger than one of the Babe’s strikeouts.

Our poor Campaign Spending Commission will (yawn) find nothing improper with Rene Mansho’s motives regarding her use of her meager campaign funds.

If one wants to get anything done at Honolulu Hale, a truly dedicated Council member must work long hours and sometimes make decisions immediately. The author of this editorial should spend a couple weeks in the Council chambers to see the sometimes laughable proceedings and shibai that some of the members kowtow to.

I admire a big smile, mu‘u mu‘u, lots of leis and the unaffected style of future Mayor Mansho.

Michael E. Powers


Cartoon misread Japanese feelings

I was deeply saddened by the Feb. 16 editorial page cartoon. It showed a slanted-eyed ugly Japanese schoolgirl kicking a U.S. soldier in the knees in front of a sign that reads, "U.S. Troops Japan." What a tasteless message this is.

As a Japanese national who lives in Hawai‘i and who loves the American people as friendly partners of Japan, I am not ready to accept this kind of tasteless message.

I would like to quote from the speech of the principal of Uwajima High School, which was given to the weeping students who lost four friends in this accident: "Tsumi o urande hito uramazu," which means, "We can only hate what happened, but let us not hate the people who did it."

I think this is exactly what most Japanese people feel about the submarine accident.

Sage Sugimoto
Hawai‘i Kai


If roles reversed, we would be outraged

What if the Unites States had a vessel similar to the Ehime Maru with students on board learning fishing techniques in Japanese waters and all of a sudden, out of nowhere, a Japanese nuclear-powered submarine, similar to the USS Greeneville, surfaced underneath, killing nine American students? Then to top it off, we find out the Japanese submarine was being piloted by a Japanese civilian out on a fun ride.

The United States would be outraged. However, the Japanese would be on their knees, apologizing in a blink of the eye.

Why is the United States so stubborn that the captain of the Greeneville will not get on his knees per the request of the Japanese government and apologize for an inexcusable act of stupidity on the part of the United States by having a civilian at the helm of a military submarine?

Personally, I am on my knees to the Japanese for the inexcusable act by my country. I love the United States, but let’s be man enough to admit when we are wrong and say, sorry.

Jim Rosen

Will the real Bob Dye please stand up?

To clarify some confusion among some readers, it may be helpful to point out that there are two well-known residents on O‘ahu named Bob Dye.

A Jan. 21 article, "Cayetano’s elitist art project would gloss his legacy," was written by one Bob Dye, a Kailua-based historian and author of books. This article and its author have received criticism in several letters to the editor.

In contrast, Robert R. Dye, also widely known in Hawai‘i as Bob Dye, is a Honolulu-born local, national and international YMCA leader who has been honored in the YMCA Hall of Fame for his lifetime of service as a distinguished professional and volunteer community leader.

Since the letters in the Letters to the Editor section of the paper criticized "Bob Dye" without identification, it seems useful to recognize the presence in Honolulu of the two men with similar names: Bob Dye, a competent writer-historian, and Bob Dye, an outstanding YMCA leader, both of whom make useful, but separate, contributions to our society.

Eleanor C. Nordyke

What will happen to old aquarium site?

In all the brouhaha over how much money to spend on a new aquarium in Kaka‘ako, no one is asking another important question: What is going to happen to the old aquarium site in Waikiki?

This property sits on some of the most valuable real estate in Hawai‘i and is coveted by many commercial interests. However, the only acceptable alternative for this parcel should be a low-impact public park use.

The Cayetano administration has been very quiet about its plans for this site. I hope your reporters will start asking the right people the right questions so we can find out what the real plans are for this site. I would also hope that any politicians running for office will take a firm stand against any commercial development or other high-intensity use at this site.

Ralph Wheelock

Treat girl athletes the same as boys

It was a pleasure reading about all the young men from Kahuku and St. Louis signing "letters of intent" for college. How exciting for them, their families and their schools.

However, I was quite disappointed when I turned to Page D4 and found in microscopic print that Sarah Takekawa from Kailua signed a soccer "letter of intent" with St. Mary’s in California and Jodi Nakashima of Roosevelt made a basketball verbal commitment to Division 1/WAC newcomer Boise State. (All the boys made the news with their verbal commitments.)

Is there any reason these girls are not as important as the boys to The Advertiser? Could this information not have been included, even at the tail end of the article about the boys signing? Was this information any less important to the girls, their families and their schools?

Let’s be proud of all these young men and women.

Doris Sullivan
Kailua

Supporting church/state bar doesn’t help atheism

Regarding Rep. William Stonebraker’s Feb. 19 Island Voices column about "using government resources to arrange a Bible study session for lawmakers": His comment regarding Mitch Kahle’s promoting his religion, which he labels as "atheism," struck me as odd and offensive.

Odd because I know of no definition of religion that would apply to atheism. My Webster’s tells me that atheism is the "disbelief in the existence of deity."

Offensive because there is a suggestion that anyone who upholds the constitutional bar against establishment or promotion of a state-sanctioned religion must therefore be an atheist.

As a committed and practicing member of a recognized religion, I share the concerns Kahle raises. There are many people in this country who likewise share these concerns and are members of churches, temples and mosques. Are we all atheists, Rep. Stonebraker?

Stan Bogart

Republicans should get back to business

Well, here we go again. It seems the local Republicans are emulating the big boys up in D.C. and are trying to shut down the government with their shenanigans. Then they will blame the Democrats as usual.

What's next? Standing on the post office steps shouting a "contract with Hawai‘i"?

Get on with the state's business, please.

Norma J. Nicholl

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