Letters to the Editor
Proposed zoo move leaves many questions
Regarding the proposed new location for the Honolulu Zoo: Here are some thoughts that might be relevant if you were held captive there, or even if you were not:
• Will the proposed location provide a better climate and better topography for the inhabitants?
• Are there sizable and plentiful trees?
• Is there promise of sufficient water?
• Will there be more of a fire hazard?
• Who will profit and how?
• Will numerous daily commuters to a newly located zoo add to present traffic jams?
Two separate facilities could exist: an improved city facility for briefer visits and a remote, sun-baked "African" facility for the animals that tolerate such conditions well and for tourists with more time to spare.
Citizens should beware of a totally privatized zoo. Has anyone visited the privately owned animal attractions in Florida? A municipal facility operated cooperatively by an informed and concerned Zoological Society offers the humane alternative for zoo captives.
Lee Farris
Hawai'i wouldn't miss Army economically
I was disappointed with Sen. Inouye's recent remark that either the Army must be allowed to train in Makua or it will pack up and leave Hawai'i in economic ruins. Statements like this stir up misinformation and fear.
The people of Hawai'i should not have to accept environmental health hazards or the destruction of our land and cultural resources in order to save a few jobs.
The economic benefits of military spending are overstated. Studies have shown that money spent on non-military government programs, dollar for dollar, generate more jobs than money spent by the Pentagon. Much of the military's supposed economic benefit to Hawai'i is either trapped within the military system, negated by "hidden" environmental and social costs or siphoned away from Hawai'i by outside contractors.
Military spending is unpredictable and beyond local control. While Inouye presently has influence in defense appropriations, he will not be in office forever.
Kyle Kajihiro
American Friends Service Committee Hawai'i
State must protect our young people
I have two friends who have teenage daughters, and when they turned 14 years old, each had sex with older men. One was in his 20s and the other was in his 30s. And when the girls got pregnant, the men left them to care for the children alone.
Now both of my friends' families are devastated and changed forever just because of the men who manipulated the girls into having sex with them. And it's behavior like this from which we need to protect our young people.
We need to raise the age of consent to 18 years. Children are our future, and if we don't protect them now, a bigger price will be paid down the road with the rise of welfare and abortions.
So I hope that next year we will change the age of consent to 18. In an election year, we can hold our officials accountable for not protecting our young people. They need us grown-ups to watch over them.
Alan Kim
'Aiea
We should remember Pearl Harbor lessons
I attended the "Beyond Pearl Harbor" forum at the Hawai'i Japanese Cultural Center on June 2 and watched the "Pearl Harbor" movie. Both moved me deeply.
Long ago, my uncle in California took me to a deli. When we entered, the owner yelled, "Como 'sta, paisano!" and they spoke in Italian. The Bay Area Italians honored Uncle for liberating Italy, but that was then, and this is now.
Today Hawai'i teachers don't mention the 442nd Regiment until the 11th grade, and the Hawai'i Japanese community ignores its Korean, Vietnam and Gulf War Japanese American veterans. This Japanese American backlash against Japanese American veterans is 50 years old.
The forum moderator warned that the movie glorifies nationalism and war. What about the Arizona Memorial and Museum?
The "cranes in barbed wire" statue at the new National Japanese American Memorial in Washington, D.C., clearly reveals a backlash. To hurt cranes like that, they have to be too silly to escape and too weak to fight. Are Japanese Americans really like that?
Another problem for backlash is that the movie heroes and heroines are nice people who stand up to huge odds and arouse our sympathy. What if they become role models?
At the theater, I told the children that a Pearl Harbor happens whenever America lets its guard down. It happened in Grandpa's time and in mine. I hope that they understand because they'll be up to bat soon.
Gordon Kitsuwa
Poetic meanderings pose quite a puzzler
Wade Shirkey's June 29 column was fun and lighthearted as he quoted some of Art Freedman's poetic meanderings, one of which stated:
"Stupid stories waste time and that makes me mad;
I'd prefer that you'd print, a blank space or an ad."
That article left me at ease and amused,
although I admit, a little confused.
This question, I hope, is not out of place,
but how can you possibly "print a blank space"?
Chuck Lebrecht
Lahaina
Charles Ota should resign from OHA
I have tried my best to stay out of this controversy and have never written anything about the Office of Hawaiian Affairs because to attack OHA is actually attacking myself. The not-so-smart U.S. Supreme Court ruling changed all that.
Trustee Charles Ota's profanity, on television no less, now becomes a different situation.
I was happy Ota won the Maui seat because I knew he was a smart businessman. As a reporter for Akaku Television covering the OHA elections, I had mentioned how he might be like Matsy Takabuki, the former Bishop Estate trustee who helped make wise investments for the trust. I had mentioned that trustee Ota might be exactly what OHA needed. Wrong, wrong, wrong.
I had requested financial help from Ota for funding a group of dancers, crafters and artisans from Hawai'i and the Mainland to travel to Australia on a cultural exchange, where I am being recognized along with five other indigenous people. Trustee Ota said this is the kind of thing OHA should fund and that I should submit a proposal. I did, and after five months, trustees told me Ota had not pursued funding for our trip. I was told also that he did not go to board meetings.
My question is why, Charlie, after spending $50,000 to "buy" the election and deny other qualified people from holding this important office, you don't participate and you use language that is unbecoming to the office you hold?
You should do the right thing, as your culture dictates: Resign to save face and let someone else with class represent Maui. Please do it now.
Charles Kauluwehi Maxwell
We need some answers on Fourth of July event
Why doesn't Mayor Harris and his administration know what the Kapi'olani Park Fourth of July event cost the taxpayers?
Why would you engage in something if you didn't know what it was going to cost you? Is this the way his administration approaches all of its projects?
Also, why was it that only certain people were invited? An explanation to the public is needed on who was invited and how that conclusion was reached. Was it only people who gave to the Harris campaign?
Randy L. Prothero
Mililani
Seniors aren't alone in need of treatment
Bruce Berger's July 1 commentary is an important step in educating the public on the all-too-easily misunderstood and misdiagnosed disease of alcoholism.
Only those who have tried to cope with a lethal addiction can understand the insidious nature of this disease. Furthermore, it is very much a totally unbiased disease, a disease that plays no favorites. Pick up the paper any day and you'll see that teenagers, adults, policemen, to name a few, not just seniors, are regularly involved in "alcohol-related traffic crashes."
Perhaps the best way to approach the fact that "it is estimated that only 10 percent of our senior alcoholics are treated" is to become the leader nationally in providing treatment options for everyone as well. In this way, everyone with the disease, not to mention those they might kill in accidents along the way, will have a better chance of living to become productive seniors.
Irv Rubin
Kailua did itself proud in Fourth of July parade
As we do every year, members of the Pearl City Elks Lodge 2669 boarded a bus and rode over the beautiful H-3 to Kailua to march in the annual Fourth of July parade, celebrating the 225th birthday of the greatest country in the world.
Accompanied by the lodge's Boy Scout and Cub Scout troops, along with a couple of Girl Scouts and members of a Vietnam veterans organization, we began the two-mile trek. I felt honored to be carrying the American Flag, with the POW/MIA flag right by my side. The Scouts, Vietnam vets and other Elks carried each state flag — what a privilege to participate in such a great event.
Now for the best part: As we marched along, with the Hawai'i Pacific University band preceding us and playing beautiful patriotic music, I saw the residents of this fine town rising from their chairs as we passed, removing their hats and placing them or their hands over their hearts, saluting our great Flag. It was patriotism at its finest — almost every yard was filled with red, white and blue — a tribute itself to a superb community, true believers in the American spirit.
Jim Taylor
Makakilo
Henry Peters answers his critic
A July 2 letter by Hugh Jones may have left your readers believing he is a common layman, when in fact he is the deputy attorney general who failed to convict me in the courtroom but is now continuing to lynch me in the "court of public opinion." Jones' allegations are that I:
• " ... took thousands of dollars of compensation ... in violation of court orders." My answer: No court order was violated. In fact, I sued the IRS for the same charges and prevailed. The court found that "the trustees were compensated less than they were entitled to under the law."
• " ... imprudently invested $20 million." My answer: The Federal Farm Bank had a $130 million note on 30,000 acres of Hamakua property. We paid $21 million and later rejected a $30 million offer for the same property. Expert witnesses called the transaction the "deal of the century."
3) " ... imperiled the tax-exempt status." My answer: Princess Pauahi's wishes are far more important than any tax status. The IRS imperiled Pauahi's wishes by demanding that we change our admissions policy, which gives preference to Hawaiian children. We refused. The IRS demanded our removal. The rest is history.
• "... reneged on his promise ... to implement a CEO form of governance." My answer: Pauahi's will does not call for a CEO but, instead, five trustees with broad discretion in determining staffing and other requirements for the operation of the Kamehameha Schools/Bishop Estate. In spite of this, we were forced to make a recommendation, and Judge Kevin Chang rejected it. The CEO structure failed in the loss of Ka Iwi (Queen's Beach) to the state.
• " ... accumulated, rather than expended, $335 million." My answer: All businesses strive for "accumulation of income or retained earnings." In this state, it has become a crime. William Holder, a professor of accounting and finance, testified that the "accumulation of income" was very prudent and reflected proper planning. The $335 million was earmarked, in out Strategic Plan, for the construction of four new schools (two in Hilo, one on Maui and one on the Wai'anae Coast), numerous preschools and the athletic complex at Kapalama. The $335 million is "corpus" or "principle" and not income, as used by the attorney general. Hence, it must be re-invested or used for capital improvements.
During my tenure, we made billions for KSBE and never had a losing year financially, as the 990 tax forms reflect. I am proud of my service as a trustee of Kamehameha Schools/Bishop Estate.
Henry Haalilio Peters
Wai'anae
