Letters to the Editor
There's nothing wrong with nonresident fee
Charging non-Hawaii residents a small fee ($3) to enter Hanauma Bay is perfectly acceptable.
Nonresidents use for free numerous services in Hawai'i that are paid for by resident taxes. When I go to the Mainland, parking at state and county beaches often costs $8 to $10, and local residents get a discount. I encounter many toll roads where I pay more than local commuters.
The lawsuit against the city seems like a greedy ploy to extract more money out of residents. The suit complains that the beach should be free, like public roads. But who pays for the public roads (and water at beach showers) that she uses in Hawai'i?
David Christopher
Hawai'i Kai
Let's have real debate with Justice Thomas
It is amusing to see The Advertiser, on July 1, join most of the right-wing media in the country in attempting to get Justice Clarence Thomas a free Hawaiian vacation.
If you succeed in convincing the ACLU board to reverse its 12-to-3 vote against inviting him to its 2003 First Amendment Conference, it would well be a moot victory.
Why? If the board had the backbone, it would arrange for a real debate with, say, Anita Hill, Rep. Maxine Waters or Kweisi Mfume and an ungagged media. Can anyone believe he'd come if he had to face someone other than the ACLU national president, whose debating style is more of a witty tete-a-tete. I, for one, would pay a lot to be there.
Patrick Daly
Mahalo to all those who helped us rebuild
Child and Family Service (CFS) would like to thank 55 service-minded individuals and four community-based organizations that contributed two weekends of their time and hundreds of dollars in materials to renovate Hale Holopono, one of our homes for adolescents.
Hale Holopono, which means "House of Success," is a residential treatment facility that provides clinical behavioral health counseling to male teens. It is one of seven homes and shelters statewide managed by CFS that offer a variety of services to more that 1,000 children, adolescents and families every year.
The individuals and organizations that generously gave their time and support to this effort include: Mason Williams, Brad Oliver and volunteers from March USA; Jack DeTour and volunteers from the Air Force Association, Chapter 138; Trudy Williams and volunteers from the CFS Guild; City Mill, and CFS staff.
Hale Holopono needed new kitchen cabinets, exterior power-washing, painting inside and out, and repairs. These volunteers scrubbed, brushed and built a more cheerful environment for our youth in which they can receive much-needed counseling, life-skills guidance and other services. Work is being planned now to address future needs, including roof repairs, gutters, interior lighting and blinds.
CFS thanks these dedicated individuals and organizations for their contributions in supporting our youth to eventually return to their families and communities, stronger and healthier. We truly appreciate their efforts.
Geri Marullo
President and CEO, Child and Family Service
'Democratic bagman' label doesn't apply
William Kester in a July 11 letter took pains to try to label the new University of Hawai'i president a "Democratic bagman." However, Evan Dobelle has stated that he was elected mayor of his city as a Republican and that he has also been an Independent.
Dobelle seems to switch parties quite often and is not a registered Democrat here. So his lucrative deal at UH cannot fairly be traced to his past Democratic ties.
Perhaps he was just the best candidate.
Nancy Bey Little
Hawaiian Electric Co. wants its cake, eat it too
Former Hawaiian Electric engineer Dick O'Connell's July 5 letter warns of legislative interference in the electric utility industry.
Back in 1913, when HECO faced the threat of competition, it encouraged the Legislature to create the Public Utilities Commission. HECO felt that being a regulated monopoly was superior to competition.
HECO does not only oppose legislative oversight, recently HECO advocated performance-based rate-making whereby the pesky PUC would decrease its oversight of the utility and the company would earn higher profits on the same revenue base.
HECO also ignores DBEDT's economic multiplier analysis. Money circulating in Hawai'i is reused in Hawai'i, creating secondary growth. A foreign investment of $100 million in Hawai'i businesses increases the state economic output by $200 million. Similarly, giving a Mainland firm $50 million to house prisoners decreases the state's economy by $100 million. HECO chooses not to use this analysis. For HECO, purchasing local renewable energy is equivalent to exporting cash for oil. The state economy may suffer, but its bottom line will prosper.
HECO also ignores risk. Companies that engage in riskier enterprises must pay higher interest premiums for the money they borrow. Not HECO. All risk (primarily the outrageous increases in the price of oil) is passed directly to the consumer, through higher electric bills.
In summary, HECO wants less legislative oversight, less regulatory oversight, higher profits and to continue to ignore basic business economics. Then it wonders why we're upset.
Henry Curtis
Life of the Land
Alternative energy is indeed viable today
On July 6 you published a letter by Frank McHale in which again I heard the same old arguments against alternative energy: "It costs too much," "it's not ready yet," "it's not workable on a big scale" and "it's too controversial."
Unfortunately, this type of thinking blocks our ability to progress beyond the state of the technology of the 1970s and is just plain wrong — especially where the writer stated that decentralized generation requires a fleet of "oil or propane gas trucks" to fuel "small" and "inefficient" plants.
The technology available today to provide decentralized power does include turbines that run on propane or petroleum fuels, but also includes turbines that run on natural gas, microturbines that can run on a wide variety of fuels, including biogas and landfill gas, and fuel cells that run on a number of different hydrogen-based fuels. All of these technologies can provide efficiencies comparable to or better than a centralized power plant, without requiring a fleet of fuel trucks.
Distributed generation using alternative energy resources is beginning to occur in Hawai'i — Kahanu Garden outside Hana on Maui, the Mauna Lani Hotel and Parker Ranch on the Big Island, and Pohai Nani on O'ahu are just a few examples of businesses using alternative energy resources to save money while supplying all or part of their energy needs.
We need more businesses, including the proposed Outrigger Waikiki Beach Walk project, to evaluate the energy options available to them today — because using alternative energy can be economical and workable.
Christen Mitchell
Hypocritical politicians ignored common sense
Our politicians, more desperate to keep their jobs than to do what's right, have crumpled under the weight of public hysteria and overridden the governor's veto of the flawed age-of-consent bill.
With their vote, they have created a whole new class of criminals simply because they're upset that teenagers are daring to ignore the arbitrary rules of sexual morality that they themselves ignored when they were that age.
It is sad that they have forgotten one of the basic rules of representative government, for which I paraphrase Edmund Burke: An elected representative owes the people not just his industry but his common sense, and he betrays them if he sacrifices it to their opinion.
Well, we have been betrayed.
Andrew Thomas
Voters would have made it easy decision
Jerry Burris' July 8 column on the age of consent was irresponsible. Burris attempted to trivialize the legitimate argument that the age of consent should be raised to 16 by telling people they are only being emotional if they want it raised.
I know you liberals at The Advertiser believe in free sex and the Clinton morality, but surely not even you guys can really believe that a 14-year-old has the intelligence and experience to consent to sex.
No, it's not a complex issue (the reason typically used to tell everyone else they are too stupid to understand and that you know best).
Why don't you take a poll of voters and ask them how they would vote, had the Legislature not overridden the governor's veto, on this if we had an initiative or referendum process? Of course, you don't believe in that because then the people would only vote on emotion, not on intelligence.
Wow, you guys so smart.
Patty Smith
O'ahu already has smaller watermelon
We saw the photo on the front of the June 15 Business page with the farmers from Zentsuji, Japan, and their square watermelon — specially grown to fit in the refrigerator. Luckily, O'ahu folks don't have to go to Japan or pay $83 each to find a great-tasting watermelon that will fit in the refrigerator.
Our Kahuku brand "Icebox" melons are smaller than the picnic-style watermelon most are familiar with — and they have a beautiful, delicious, sweet yellow fruit.
You can find them at Times Supermarkets, Daiei, Marukai, Ken's Produce in Kaimuki and Manoa, Tamura's-Wai'anae, Wai'anae Store and other fine stores throughout O'ahu.
Otherwise, you can drive out to our fruit stand on the North Shore in Kahuku.
Melvin Matsuda
Clyde Fukuyama
Matsuda-Fukuyama Farms
Hey, what about gas?
While the price of gasoline is dropping on the Mainland, it is still rising here. Is there anyone in the government looking at the problem?
Charles Dique
‘Good Samaritans’ came to rescue
I am belatedly taking this means in recognizing several “good Samaritans” who, in two separate incidents, warm-heartedly came to my aid within the last few months when I needed assistance in walking.
I’ve been afflicted with Parkinson’s disease since 1986. I encountered the “freezing” problem while finishing my early dinner on a late Sunday afternoon with a friend, Aileen. With her support on my left side, we slowly inched our way toward the entrance (during which time Joyce readily offered support for my right side).
There also were some tourists standing in line at the entrance, and one of the group unhesitatingly offered his hand until I managed to sit on a chair provided by the restaurant, The Big Island Steak house at Aloha Tower Market Place. A wheelchair was provided after a while. To the wheelchair attendant, the mystery tourist, Joyce, Aileen and restaurant staff, thank you for your caring and thoughtful concern.
In the other incident, I lost my balance when I set foot on the sidewalk shortly after stepping off a bus on Kapi‘olani Boulevard across from the McCully Shopping Center on an early evening last month. Before I could brace myself, I fell to the pavement hard on my left cheek, twisting my left thumb; I also felt a “strawberry” on my knee. I managed to sit up, but couldn’t get on my feet.
I looked around, feeling panicky and wondering if anyone would come to my rescue. I am ashamed to say there were two young people (male and female) I caught sight of (at different times) who didn’t want to get involved.
Then I heard a woman’s voice from the busy boulevard shouting if I needed help. I motioned that I couldn’t get up. Before I knew it, I felt two arms around my back, slowly helping me up; and then we walked to her van. She, along with her daughter, drove me home nearby.
Although she mentioned her first name, my memory bank fails to remember it (I think it’s time for an overhaul); I do recall that she worked at Liberty House. My sincere gratitude to this beautiful lady for being so kind.
Faith T. Irving
