Letters to the Editor

Night out in Waikiki ruined by smokers

My family recently spent a weekend in Waikiki to enjoy ourselves and to do our part to help the economy. Unfortunately, we were treated to a lack of aloha at a well-known restaurant simply because we are nonsmokers.

We wanted only dessert and were shown to the bar section of the restaurant. The air in the bar was thick with cigarette smoke. My children both suffer from asthma, and my husband and I are nonsmokers. When I asked to sit in the dining room, I was told that the dining room was for patrons eating dinner. We left the restaurant without our dessert.

A proposed ban on smoking in dining establishments in Honolulu was recently defeated. California initiated a ban on smoking, and the financial losses the doomsayers predicted never happened.

Honolulu needs to realize the health concerns of the many outweigh the needs of the few. This restaurant lost revenue because a nonsmoking family wasn't able to dine in a comfortable, healthy atmosphere.

I believe it is simply a matter of time before smoking will be banned completely from all public places, if Honolulu can be as bold and forward-thinking as California. The city must not continue to court smokers in its quest for the almighty dollar. Our No. 1 priority should be our community's health, especially the long-term health of our children.

Gina Karas
Hau'ula

Friends came through after burglars struck

Finally I was going to realize my dream — opening a small antique and collectibles store.

For months I have been buying all kinds of beautiful things for the store. I took my son's computer and printer to the store so I could keep up with my husband's accounting. I kept my job part-time and would do the work at the store in the evenings and weekends. Buying store fixtures and inventory was not easy as I have no savings and no line of credit. Even for the store deposit, I had to take a cash advance on my credit card.

Last week, when I brought some more inventory to the store, I noticed that somebody had broken through the back door. They stole all my inventory, the computer and printer. I was devastated. I called the police and filed a report and then went home.

That's when the wonder happened.

Both of my friends from across the street gave me money to buy new inventory and said they did not expect it back until I was ready. I cried.

This morning, when I called my landlady, she waived two weeks rent. I cried again.

What I am trying to say is, I will make my dream come true. I will open the store in early December. I have a lot of anger for the person(s) who did this, but I found out what good friends I have.

Carolina Newman
Kailua

Aloha Harvest puts leftover food to good use

Aloha Harvest is the solution to reduce the waste of good, perishable food in Hawai'i. In nearly two years of operation, Aloha Harvest has delivered enough food for 629,924 meals at an operating cost of 33 cents per meal.

A new nonprofit in town, Aloha Harvest's specialty is the proper handling of hot, cold and frozen perishable food. Our uniqueness is our upbeat professionalism.

Aloha Harvest picks up donations of good leftover food from restaurants, catered affairs or community events and delivers them immediately to 76 social service agencies feeding the hungry on O'ahu at no cost.

Designed with concerned members of the food industries and the state Department of Health, Aloha Harvest operates in partnership with the Hawai'i Restaurant Association, Hawai'i Hotel Association and the City & County's Recycling Office. There are federal and state "Good Samaritan" laws that protect those who donate food in good faith from liability.

If a company or organization would like to have food from their catered event donated, please call Aloha Harvest at 537-6945 for more information. Advance notice of at least 24 hours is requested for pick-ups. Aloha Harvest's professional driver will arrive, anywhere on O'ahu, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with all containers necessary to pack up and deliver food donations safely and efficiently.

Helen Palit
President and Founder, Aloha Harvest

Ehime Maru memorial belongs in Pearl Harbor

I agree with those who are saying that Kaka'ako Park is not the place for a memorial to the victims of the unfortunate sinking of the Ehime Maru.

I also think City Hall is also the wrong place for a memorial to the victims of the World Trade Center disaster, but that is another story.

As for the Ehime Maru, somewhere at Pearl Harbor strikes me as the appropriate place. Why? The Navy has the Arizona Memorial to remind us of the terrible enemy attack in 1941. It has the battleship Missouri to remind us of better days, when World War II was finally brought to an end. Since the sinking of the Ehime Maru was caused by the Navy, specifically by one of its officers, and since the Navy has accepted that responsibility and performed an expensive and heroic effort to retrieve the bodies of the victims, this is entirely a Navy matter, is it not?

Thus the proposal: Put the memorial in the public area of Pearl Harbor, accessible to whoever wants to visit it and forever a reminder of the Navy's role in this "accident."

Darrell Schuetz
Kane'ohe

Gay parenting letter marked by ignorance

Mary Papish, in her Nov. 27 letter ("Children of homosexual parents do experiment") takes umbrage with The Advertiser's failure to include the opinions of the anti-gay minority in the article on gay parenting. I suspect that these views were excluded for the same reason the opinions of the KKK are no longer included in articles dealing with blacks, Jews or Catholics.

The majority of society has matured and moved on to more important concerns than private and personal sexuality. Sadly, there will always be those like Papish who demand that their mythic opinions be voiced in every debate, no matter how insupportable.

Since homosexuality is neither chosen, selected nor caused by exposure to other homosexuals, the common sense to which Papish alludes would tell us instead that the sexuality of the parents is inconsequential to the sexuality of the children.

In her most absurd contention, she states that a majority of the people in Hawai'i are opposed to gay parenting. Where does she get that idea? Did I miss a vote? I can understand her need to believe that her homophobia is shared by the rest of society. Fortunately, as every recent poll has demonstrated, this is not the case. Happily, her believing it so will not make it so.

Andrew Thomas

So that's the problem: Gas firms can't count

Webster's Ninth Collegiate Dictionary defines "competition" as: "The effort of two or more parties acting independently to secure the business of a third party by offering the most favorable terms."

A recent article in The Advertiser indicates that the gas companies involved in the lawsuit brought by the state of Hawai'i attempt to explain to the court and the people of Hawai'i that the high prices we pay (highest in the nation) are a result of a lack of competition.

If your article is correct, there are or were seven gas company defendants in the lawsuit: Chevron, Shell, Texaco, Unocal, Tosco Corp., BHP and Tesoro.

How much competition is necessary for lower prices?

Peter Liholiho Trask

It's time to remember our local merchants

I am going to the Mainland for Christmas. However, I am spending my Christmas money here at local businesses that have always been good to me.

Take your gifts with you, but leave your money here. Our local merchants have been good to us. Return the favor.

Barbara Vincent