Letters to the Editor

Don't blame library for lack of resources

I cannot let the comments of reader Buck Joiner in the June 27 issue pass without a rejoinder. Joiner's criticism of the Hawai'i State Library System is entirely unjustified.

The matter is quite simple. At present and indeed for the last several years, the library system has suffered from very severe budgetary restrictions. There has neither been enough money in the library's budget to cover adequate staffing nor for the acquisition of needed library materials.

Progress is all very well, but it comes at a price, and that price is not cheap. Instead of criticizing the library system, let Joiner hammer on the doors of the governor and the Legislature demanding that the library system be adequately funded.

Morton L. Brown

Archery range critics spread misinformation

In Robbie Dingeman's June 11 article about the Kapi'olani Park archery range, there were several inaccuracies that need correcting.

While construction of the kyudojo and safety at the archery range have been discussed thoroughly in public, the city continues to work with both sides to come to a happy medium.

The proposed kyudojo offers many cultural and educational benefits to O'ahu residents, not to mention a means to broaden international relationships with the world. The accusation that kyudo has "religious connotations" is misleading. The primary goal in the practice of kyudo is not devotion but personal introspection. The structure is a training hall, not a shrine. There are no religious prerequisites or requirements to practice kyudo, just a common desire to find oneself.

To say that the range is unsafe due to high-powered bows is untrue. Safety is key for archery. Only someone with intent to harm or who is truly inexperienced would or could abuse the power of any bow. Those who practice this sport understand very well the risks to ourselves and those around us whenever we train.

The Archery Coalition (TAC), with the city's blessing, continues to promote safe archery practices at the Kapi'olani range, and we are modifying the range to address all of the legitimate concerns raised by our membership and the community.

The range's 30-year existence in this corner of the park as an unsupervised venue, without any record of personal injury, illustrates the degree of caution exercised by the public's knowledge of the range location and the self-policing efforts of TAC members.

Van Ohumukini
TAC secretary

Military is there for us, but are we there for it?

Whenever I pick up a paper, I read where the military has helped find someone who is lost, has been involved in helping out a town that is flooded, is on the front lines when there is a hurricane.

However, when the military needs something to help it defend our country, the people of Hawai'i do everything in their power to oppose it.

I am a conservationist, but I believe the welfare and protection of our country comes first. This wouldn't be a free country if we'd lost World War II.

To paraphrase the "Star Spangled Banner," this is the "land of the free" because it is the "home of the brave."

Ruth deRieux

Bicycle lane already exists for long haul

I must take exception to Mark Dougherty's May 23 Island Voices column "Ala Wai must have greenbelt" in which he wrote, "Imagine being able to walk, jog, bike 1 1/2 miles from McCully Bridge to Kapi'olani Park in a car-free zone with stunning views of the Waikiki skyline."

Dougherty did not do his homework. This already exists.

For nearly four years now, I have enjoyed safe, off-street bicycle riding from the Kapahulu end of Waikiki to the McCully Bridge end. The bike lane starts at the Kapahulu-Waikiki Library, proceeds up Kapahulu where it continues on Date Street (around the golf course).

At Date and La'au, it continues in a makai direction and then connects to a beautiful bicycle lane on the mauka bank of the Ala Wai Canal, complete with lighting and benches. It ends at the McCully Avenue Ala Wai Recreational Center (corner of McCully and Kapi'olani).

Linda Hansen

How could lawmakers OK age-of-consent bill?

I don't fully understand Gov. Ben Cayetano's veto of the bill that would have raised the age of consent to 16. It would have been a start. But really suspect are the legislators who passed it.

What could possibly be going through the minds of lawmakers who pass a bill that would make it legal for adults of any age to have sex with children of any age? Yes, 16-year-olds are children.

Are we a Third World country or what?

Keith Haugen