Letters to the Editor
Get involved in fight against cockfighting
The vast majority of Honolulu residents oppose cockfighting — 90 percent view it as animal cruelty and 82 percent agree it should remain illegal, according to a 1993 study conducted by Ward Research.
Now is the time for all community members to make their voices heard. The Police Department is aggressively pursuing cockfighting activities, and the City Council is considering a bill that would increase fines and speed prosecution of cockfighters.
The Hawaiian Humane Society strongly supports these enforcement efforts and the bill, which would increase the fine for possession of gaffs and slashes, and reduce the jail time to allow quicker prosecution of the people bringing this barbaric activity to our neighborhoods.
We encourage all of you to support this measure. Call your City Council member to let him or her know you support the new anti-cockfighting bill. And if you would like more information about testifying in writing or in person, call them or the Humane Society at 946-2187, ext. 222.
If we all work together, we can help eliminate the scourge of cockfighting.
Pamela Burns
President, Hawaiian Humane Society
Punishment should match the crime
A misdemeanor charge and $200 bail is far from punishment for Charles Canady and his girlfriend over child-abuse charges. In fact, the charges against them are minuscule and will never teach them a lesson on endangering the welfare of their children.
The abuse inflicted on his children will have psychological damages on them. As for Canady, who is a deputy sheriff, and his girlfriend, a nurse, their charges don't reflect the crime. Why are we so lenient with child abusers? Is the pain and abuse inflicted on children not taken into consideration?
After making his daughters pick up dog feces with their mouths, Canady and his girlfriend should do the same to teach them a lesson and feel the humiliation and pain their daughters felt.
The punishment given to child abusers falls far short from the actual crime, and the system we have allows them to repeat their dangerous actions over and over again.
Stanley Lee
Abuse of handicap stalls unacceptable
I am very disappointed at the abusers of clearly marked handicapped stalls.
These individuals take advantage of these stalls when they have no apparent handicap. The handicap sign clearly shows that it is for the wheelchair-bound or the like.
I see this abuse daily. I have witnessed a wheelchair-bound person not having the handicap space available to park and having to park in the smaller stall and attempt to get out of his vehicle. I say "attempt" because I didn't wait around to see if he did get out or not.
The users of these stalls by drivers who pull into handicapped spots, place the sign on their mirror or dashboard and get out without any handicap should be fined and ticketed to the full extent of the law. Their lack of consciousness to the individuals who need these spaces is disgraceful in the aloha spirit.
I also often see an elderly individual in the car waiting for the driver to return who is not handicapped, in which case the driver should have parked in a regular stall. The worst is to see a healthy person walk briskly into a store and act as if, because he has a handicap permit, he has the right to park in such a stall when no handicapped person is present.
Tom Aki
Kane'ohe
Waikiki Aquarium gaining in popularity
State legislators made the right decision in denying Gov. Ben Cayetano's request for $50 million to build a huge aquarium in Kaka'ako.
There is too much competition among big aquariums, especially on the Mainland, and interest is waning. In contrast, the popularity of the Waikiki Aquarium is gaining.
These species of different tropical fishes and marine life are unique and are not found in huge aquariums elsewhere. They are kept in a small space to keep them close to the viewer, increasing their attractiveness. The staff is competent and keeps the facility first class.
Giving the aquarium a few million to improve the facility and increase the parking area is deserving and will increase its popularity and profitability.
How Tim Chang
Another passenger terminal is too costly
Do we really need to spend $20 million to build a third passenger terminal in Honolulu Harbor?
Why should the public, either directly as taxpayers or indirectly as consumers, bear the responsibility for paying for a passenger terminal for luxury liners? Usually dedicated-use facilities that serve the needs of primarily one business are paid for by that business. Thus the cruise line should either pay up front for the facility designed, built and dedicated for its use or at the very least serve as loan guarantor for the bonds that are issued to pay for this facility.
Second, we need to prioritize because the amount of money available to improve our capacity to handle passenger ships statewide is limited. It's the destination and to a lesser extent the capacity to berth liners that determine where ships will go. Regardless of the rhetoric, a passenger terminal, while nice, will not increase our visitor count. Let us spend what we have to improve facilities on the Neighbor Islands, which will increase our capacity to berth ships and increase our visitor count.
Third, after adequate berthing facilities are developed on the Neighbor Island, construction of a third passenger terminal for luxury liners should be done in such a way as to not reduce the cargo-carrying capacity of Honolulu Harbor. Hawai'i's lifeline is its harbors, through which pass nearly all that it consumes and all that it exports.
Finally, Hawai'i should be perceived as a place where government treats business fairly and openly but where no particular business receives better treatment than any other.
Gordon M. Trimble
Sand Island Park must be maintained
What is with Sand Island Park? The deteriorated condition is an absolute disgrace.
I have seen better-maintained parks in Third World countries. And Sand Island has such potential.
Our government officials should visit this and other parks instead of attending politically motivated dedications of new parks. Why spend money on new parks if they cannot maintain existing parks?
It appears that much money was spent to develop Sand Island and not one cent has been spent to maintain it. The extensive maintenance facility at the park appeared abandoned, and what is the purpose of the live-in caretaker?
Robert J. Boulette
Sales clerks leave bad taste after good
I am a well-seasoned world traveler and am now on a month's vacation in Honolulu. My observations after a month here are:
• Honolulu is one of the world's most beautiful and tidy tourist destinations. Everywhere I have gone, there have been natural beauty, cleanliness and orderliness.
• The bus system is excellent, especially the bus drivers, who are helpful and kind-hearted. They take time to assist tourists, the elderly and the handicapped. I really admire them.
• The postal workers at the Ala Moana Shopping Center post office are also to be highly commended. They work in a spirited and helpful manner.
My negative comments are reserved for many of the sales personnel in shops wherever I have gone, especially the younger ones. They seem to be lacking in personality and project little interest in or friendliness toward customers. Shop owners should train them in better customer relations, which would result in more sales and bigger profits for the owners and at the same time leave visitors to Hawai'i with happier memories in meeting the people of this beautiful island state.
Visith Srinava
Bangkok, Thailand
Good looks at Waikiki, Palama Settlement
Thank you to the director and the workers at the Center for Oral History at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa for publishing books on Palama Settlement and Waikiki.
The information provided by the interviewees greatly added to my understanding of life in the past and made for interesting and sometimes chuckling moments. Keep up your good work.
Roy E. Shigemura
Here's how to save that precious water
The article on the need for water conservation was long past due. But the water board is unrealistic if it thinks people will conserve without hints on how to do it. Here are several practical tips on how to save water:
• Instead of washing dishes under a running stream of water, use plugs to partially fill double sinks for washing and rinsing, or buy two plastic tubs for the same purpose. A household faucet uses three to five gallons of water a minute.
• Only use automatic dishwashers or washing machines when completely full.
• Turn off water while brushing teeth or shaving.
• Use a small or medium stream of water to wash hands. A full blast is unnecessary.
• If the hot-water heater is far away from the bathrooms, use a bucket to collect the cold water before showering while waiting for the hot water to come in. Use this water in the garden, to rinse dishes, wash the car, etc.
• Wash cars with a bucket and sponge instead of a running hose.
• Do not wash driveways and sidewalks with a running hose.
The Board of Water Supply also needs to turn off the fountain in front of its building to send the right message. Why would the BWS dream of an expensive desalinization process for obtaining fresh water from saltwater when conserving water would go a long way toward saving what we already have?
Susan Salm
Kailua
Creationism lacks empirical support
As the former director of the biology program at UH-Manoa, I was very disturbed to learn that the study of creationism may be added to the science curriculum of our public schools.
Creationism is a religious doctrine without any empirical support and has no place in such a curriculum. Evolution is a well-documented set of ideas of great practical and scientific importance. Unfortunately, Denise Matsumoto of the Board of Education seems to have a very hazy notion of this science.
Like many people, she is unaware of the fact that scientists use "theory" in two very different ways: I may say, "I have a theory that the moon is made of green cheese." In this sense, it means that I have an unproven hypothesis that I'm tossing out for discussion.
The second "theory" is used for the Theory of Relativity or the Theory of Evolution. Theory in these cases means a body of ideas that connects and explains a large number of forces, facts and relationships, and ties them into some meaningful whole. Such a theory is not a "fact" any more than capitalism is a fact — it is not a "thing" that can be boxed up and mailed to Moscow.
But that doesn't mean it hasn't been well-supported by evidence and accepted by the overwhelming majority of biological scientists. To say that "evolution hasn't been validated by any concrete evidence" is simply false. There are hundreds of lines of evidence that confirm the operation of evolutionary processes.
Why are penicillin and tetracyclines no longer effective against many infections that they used to cure? Because the bacteria have evolved resistance against them. Why do we need to use more pesticides and more toxic pesticides to control insect pests that used to be controlled by milder ones? Because the insects have changed — they have evolved to be resistant.
These are just a few of innumerable lines of evidence in which evolution has occurred and continues to occur. To add creationism as an equal to evolution to our science curriculum would be like adding anarchism on an equal par to the study of capitalism.
As biology educators, we have obviously failed to provide an adequate understanding of evolutionary biology for a great many people, including Matsumoto. However, as a person with a great deal of power to influence the teaching of a very important science to our children, she has a grave responsibility to inform herself about this science before she makes decisions about such teaching.
John B. Hall
Professor emeritus of microbiology, UH-Manoa
