Letters to the Editor

Parks supervisor ordered work undone

At Diamond Head tennis courts, an employee of the Parks Department took the initiative to clean up the tool shed and plant greenery around the otherwise eyesore. He appeared to take pride in his work area.

Many of us passed our compliments to the workers but were amazed to see, after a few days, the whole area torn up. We were told that his supervisor ordered him to dig it all up.

In this day when we should encourage initiative and pride in work, why would a supervisor take such action when the results were nothing but positive?

Bette Berry

‘Baywatch Hawai‘i’ yielded dividends

Was Hawai‘i’s $3 million investment in "Baywatch Hawai‘i" worth it? Let’s see...

A total of 52 hours of U.S. television exposure annually. Advertising value: $25 million.

Direct spending by production staff, cast, etc.: $20 million.

Total number of local people employed: more than 150.

On top of that return, there was public relations/media exposure, advertising equivalent value in international exposure and visitors who chose Hawai‘i directly as a result of seeing "Baywatch Hawai‘i." The full value of these items has not yet been determined.

I regret that the show has been canceled. The financial contribution it made to our visitor and entertainment industries will be difficult to replace.

Hawai‘i is in a competitive marketing environment with destinations around the world. The modest investment in "Baywatch Hawai‘i" yielded an outstanding return.

Rep. Jerry Chang
Chair, Committee on Tourism & Culture, State House of Representatives

OHA campaign money could be better spent

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs is proposing to spend upward of $9 million in a national public relations campaign to advance the interest of Hawaiians. Assuming the cost of preschool is $500 a month, then $9 million would cover the tuition for 750 Hawaiian youngsters for two years.

In 20 years, which investment will yield the greatest return for the Hawaiian people?

I hope OHA will give this public relations proposal more thought.

Roy Kamisato

Those lost in tragedy aren’t abandoned

What has been lacking in recent discussions of recovering the bodies of those lost in the Ehime Maru tragedy is the fact that Buddhism has rituals to resolve this problem once the death of the departed is accepted. Spirits of the deceased can be pacified and released from their worldly attachments through Buddhist services.

In Noh plays, there are examples where a traveling monk encounters such a lost spirit, someone who may have died in war or other disaster. The monk released the spirit to enter the afterlife.

It must be remembered that in all societies, from ancient times to the present, individuals have been lost in untold wars and disasters. Their bodies were never recovered. Religious faith and ritual find a way to heal the breach that has been made and renew the solidarity of life.

Our hearts and sympathies go out to the families of the deceased in the hope that they will find comfort in their Buddhist faith as they face the reality of the loss of their dear loved ones. We also hope that the bodies can be recovered so they can be returned home, where they can attain spiritual peace and their memories can be cherished.

Alfred Bloom
Professor Emeritus, Religion, University of Hawai‘i

Submarine crew was acting responsibly

The sinking of the Japanese boat Ehime Maru by the USS Greeneville is heart-wrenching — for both the Americans and the Japanese.

In the aftermath of a jarring and tragic event, the truth is often skewed or delayed. Media and delayed military accounts might have led the Japanese to believe the Greeneville commander and crew were operating under a pleasure-boat mentality.

The same skewed and delayed information might have portrayed the Japanese reaction as being that of a lynch-mob mentality. I can hardly believe that is the case, although I don’t know many Japanese.

I do know people in the military, however, and it is inconceivable that they got up on Feb. 9 and decided to be sloppy and irresponsible and kill someone that day, most of all schoolchildren. No doubt many or most of the ship’s crew have children of their own.

Perhaps when their shock subsides and more of the facts are known, the Japanese will come to understand that the American military as a whole is exceedingly protective of innocent life, and that protectiveness includes our Japanese allies.

Jeanette McDougal
Savage, Minn.

Last public teacher raise was insulting

I read with interest the Feb. 25 column by Jerry Burris with the hope that the facts about the last HSTA contract would finally be revealed. Alas, the article entitled "Governor pushing for union reforms" fell far short of my expectations.

Burris states that Gov. Cayetano’s "first victory along these lines (union reforms) was the agreement to add extra teaching days in the last public school teachers contract in exchange for a raise." In my book, working seven extra days and being paid for them is no "raise"; it is compensation for days worked.

The paltry sum of money I received for working seven extra days was only slightly better than Cayetano’s initial offer: 10 extra days without any additional compensation. This was his only offer for the first two years of the last round of negotiations.

Here are the facts about the seven extra days: I grossed $333 more when the extra days were included. By dividing the $333 by seven, I was paid $47.57 for each day. If I worked seven hours each day, I earned a whopping $6.79 per hour.

With a master’s degree and over 20 years experience as a school counselor, I found this "raise" insulting. Does anyone honestly think a professional in another field, with comparable education and experience, would accept $6.79 an hour?

If Cayetano has more of these types of reform in store for the teachers, I will again vote "no" on the contract. Hopefully, if Burris writes another column, he will get the facts right and not perpetuate the myth that the last HSTA contract included union reforms.

Mary J. Ng

There’s another side to officers’ story

Thank you, Stanley Garcia, for supporting our police officers so eloquently and compassionately in your Feb. 13 letter.

Rarely will the public and the media see "the other side of the story," but your letter, I should hope, will shed some light on the precarious and fragile life of our police officers.

Not only do spouses wait anxiously for the safe return of their partners, but so do parents.

In our imperfect world, the public demands perfection from our officers and yes, they are underpaid and overworked.

Those police officers involved in the Ala Moana Shopping Center incident did an excellent job because not a single civilian was hurt, nor any officers. But where were the headlines, the accolades, the acknowledgments of a "job well done"? None. I suppose "it was their job" and therefore not newsworthy.

It takes a tremendous toll on police officers whenever a shooting occurs. They not only require counseling but simultaneously have to experience the insecurity, anxiety and scrutiny of investigations within their own department.

G.T. Oshiro

Professors help out Hawai‘i in many ways

Like the other 3,000 or so of my colleagues, I am unhappy to hear that our governor believes we professors are lazy and don’t help the community. That is not the case.

For example, in addition to my full-time duties as a teacher and researcher, I also volunteer to serve the state as the state climatologist. That is, I provide climate-related data and information to any and all who request it. In that capacity, in the last year alone, my assistant (a part-time undergraduate) and I answered more than 200 detailed requests for information on weather, rainfall, hurricanes, etc., about Hawai‘i.

All or nearly all of the other states also have state climatologists, but the difference is that in those other states, it’s a full-time paid job with multiple staffing. I did this as part of my community service and without pay from the state.

There are literally thousands of professors providing free (unpaid) services of all kinds to the people of Hawai‘i. We don’t talk about it, we just do it. When the governor, out of his lack of understanding of the duties of professors, says we are lazy, he hurts us, but more importantly, he hurts Hawai‘i.

Pao-Shin Chu
State Climatologist and Professor of Meteorology

It takes just one silly accident

I hurt my toe the other day. It was an unnecessary accident. A stupid little thing on my moped was broken and I didn’t fix it right away. I thought I could remember not to use the front brake for just one "quick" trip to the store.

But I forgot to remember. A car stopped in front of me and I used both brakes. I went flying over the handlebars as if bucked off a horse. Luckily, I was only going 6 miles per hour. I smashed my glasses, cracked my nose and lip, road-rashed my arm and hands, and bonked my head. I rolled into a tight tuck, which flipped me back on my feet like a Hollywood stunt man rather than a plump grandmother. I also wacked the heck out of my big toe.

Yow, my toe hurts. I can feel my heart beat in my toe. My whole attention has been drawn to my toe as if no other part of my body counts. Small children, balls, table legs and even walking dogs are also drawn to my toe. It has been hit, stepped on and bonked by more strangers in the last two days then in my whole life. What strange magic is it that makes any injured part of a body turn into a very strong magnet?

I have also been more aware of people around me limping, including one street person who limped so painfully, I’ll bet if he could walk on his hands, he would be upside-down as we speak. Every step he took was hesitating, swollen, aching and so obviously painful as to make me wince with him.

I stopped the car at the red light and watched as he slowly stumbled by me. I noticed a scar on his forehead. I reached up and touched my still painful head — yep, right at the same location. I wondered if he was in an accident. That could account for the scar and his mental state. All at once I found myself revisiting my silly little moped accident.

I didn’t have a helmet on. I love the wind in my hair. What if I had been going 5 miles per hour faster when I hit the brakes? I could have cracked my skull instead of getting just a small bump. I could have damaged my brain, or my speech center, or my ability to control my emotions, by just going a few miles faster. Wow.

I could have destroyed my ability to work, to write, to dance, to live a full and happy life with just one silly accident. I too could be walking down the street because I could no longer drive a car. I could be living on a very limited income, with major medical and emotional limitations, for the rest of my life.

Somehow, having the wind in my hair seemed a silly reason not to wear a helmet. I started thinking of the impact of my death or disability would have on my friends and family. All of a sudden the potential loss, danger and stupidity of my risk-taking attitude came blasting into my head. "The wind in my hair" — what was I thinking?

The light in front of me turned green. The man struggled up the curb just in time. He lumbered to the bus stop and sat down with a deep sigh of exhaustion. His face curled up with pain and shifted to a look of bewilderment as he looked around him. A life of possibilities lost, a life of success lost, and maybe for something as simple as a helmet. How sad.

As I pulled away in traffic, my toe didn’t seem to hurt as much. I was busy thanking God I didn’t get hurt worse.

A successful life is usually one filled with wise decisions. It really doesn’t matter where the insight or inspiration to make a good decision comes from, in this case, my toe. Suddenly, I was filled with the overpowering wisdom of wearing a helmet when riding my moped. Wow, that was a close call. I have a second chance to make a good decision in my life.

Zabia Dolle

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