Letters to the Editor

Golf ball incident brought out aloha

Our daughter, Amy Taniguchi, was injured in a senseless golf ball incident during the softball championship on Feb. 2 at the UH Softball Complex. Although there is more dental work to be done, Amy has recovered nicely, is attending her classes and is presently competing in basketball.

The care and genuine support of the entire ‘Iolani family and the community at large have helped Amy remain positive and upbeat, as she has felt this love throughout the ordeal. She is a trooper and will be just fine.

We would like to thank everyone who has called and written get-well wishes. We would like to especially thank Drs. Wendell Hoshino and Dennis Nagata, who have extended their professional expertise through their busy schedule to correct Amy’s realignment of her teeth and the replacement of her lost tooth. Likewise to Keith Amemiya, executive director of Hawai‘i High School Athletic Association, and Hugh Yoshida, UH athletic director, for their calls of sincere apologies about this unfortunate incident. It certainly shows the kind of class leadership that our state enjoys in the athletic circles.

Special kudos to Detective Rodney Noguchi of the Honolulu Police Department, who pursued this case above and beyond the call of duty. He worked tirelessly to solve this case.

And to all who have shown their care, concern and love for Amy whom we have not been able to reach, we’re hopeful simple a "thank you" would somehow compensate for all your kind thoughts.

Herb and Elsie Yoshimura

Legislature should ask us what we need

Any successful software developer must consider the needs of the end user for which the program is designed. Our legislators are very similar to software developers in the power they wield.

I challenge the governor and any legislator to talk to, but more importantly, to really listen to, the front-line people, the end users of their policies in all the schools, especially in the high schools, and not only those in the most affluent communities.

Come and talk to the teachers, the librarians, the counselors, the students, and ask us all what we really need. We all need more tools and resources and support. Mostly, we need cleaner, better-maintained facilities.

I need more books for the library. I need an improved physical space, including windows, paint and a bathroom. I need not to have to grovel for these improvements.

I need a second librarian position. I need less cumbersome policies that will allow me to actually hold students accountable for their lost books. I need to be paid adequately and fairly for my three advanced degrees and my 18 years of experience as an educator.

I need to feel like a valued and important member of the most important profession in this state.

I am an end user. Before you dictate sweeping and arbitrary legislation that will determine how well or how poorly I can do my job, a job I love and want to do well, ask me, ask all of us, what we need.

Adele Wilson
Librarian, Kailua High School

Strike at UH would take years to repair

What is a university?

This simple question needs to be considered by the Cayetano administration, since it doesn’t seem to know.

Let’s start first with what a university isn’t. It isn’t a plantation. There is a sad irony that in a state with a rich labor heritage, where the union movement contributed so much to people’s lives, Gov. Cayetano sometimes sounds like a luna, or field boss, singling out individuals for not working hard enough. Meanwhile, his negotiating team is acting like the old sugar planters’ association, trying to divide the workers, split the union and prevent the development of solidarity among the unions.

Nor is the university just another state bureaucracy needing no-nonsense, cost-cutting managers to "trim the fat."

The university, second only to the Vatican and Roman Catholic Church, is the oldest institution in Western history (arguably with some archaic traditions and mind-sets).

Hawai‘i’s university is also the most valuable institution in the state, and it must be the "engine" of the state’s efforts to revitalize the economy and diversify our economic base with high-tech industries.

The damage done by a strike — to students, to the community, to the economy — would take years to repair.

Let both sides redouble their efforts to prevent this unnecessary tragedy.

Richard Ziegler

Republicans fight for public’s right to know

Those upset by the recent House Republican effort to raise and discuss new issues miss the point: When the Democratic majority refused to discuss a bill pulled out of committee and onto the floor, the Republicans decided the public’s right to know was being denied and took action.

Since the Republican "extended debate," the legislative process has quickly gotten back on track. There are important topics such as civil service reform, education reform and union pay raises that must be addressed.

The bottom line is this: The public has a right to know where their elected officials stand on the issues.

Lloyd Yonenaka
Ka‘a‘awa

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