Letters to the Editor
Is it a governor's duty or an insult to voters?
Kudos to Lee Cataluna for her Aug. 4 column regarding Gov. Cayetano's actions on getting the tax director to analyze Linda Lingle's tax and budget plan, and then blast it by holding a press conference.
It is a pure insult to us voters. Lee hit it right on the money. I agree wholeheartedly with her observations. Cayetano is responsible for putting our state in the "critical" situation he mentions.
Please, Governor, go gracefully. Don't make a bigger fool out of yourself.
Cindy Allen
I beg to differ with columnist Lee Cataluna as to the propriety of Gov. Ben Cayetano's using government time to analyze the measures proposed by Republican contender Linda Lingle.
It's a governor's sworn duty to look ahead and watch for possible dangers that should be the concern of his successors and of all the state's citizens. I hope that our governor will carefully appraise the plans and policies advocated by all of this year's seekers of gubernatorial nominations, including those of minority parties.
Gov. Cayetano, I'm glad to have your input. Thank you for doing your job.
Homer Starr
There's no room for bureaucratic mentality
Secret police? Whistle-blower? Union? Public transparency and accountability? The Honolulu Advertiser is all wet with its bureaucratic mentality.
Homeland security requires a fluid, quick-acting organization.
Think of homeland security as likened to that of the U.S. Armed Forces. Think of the fluid and well-organized structure of the U.S. Armed Forces in the battle of Kuwait against Iraq. That is the kind of fluidity homeland security needs. Everybody is on the same page. Injecting organized labor into the armed conflict in Kuwait would have been disastrous for the United States.
Do we have a "secret police" in our military? Do we have a "union" in our military? Do we have "public transparency and accountability" in the military?
The military is for external defense while homeland security is for internal defense.
There is no room for bureaucratic mentality in homeland security.
Ruben R. Reyes
Waipahu
Experts have offered no improvement plan
Linda Lingle has come up with a tangible, specific plan to improve the Department of Education. Michael Fassiotto of Chaminade, Pat Hamamoto of the Department of Education and Randy Hitz of the University of Hawai'i have critiqued her plan, but none have proposed alternatives.
Most residents seem to believe that something must be done to cure the disease that is Hawai'i's education system; yet, none of the experts in the field of education have offered any comprehensive improvement plan. Anyone can tear a plan apart. It is difficult to suggest a remedy. None of the experts have offered a cure for the "metastasized cancer" that many claim has afflicted our DOE.
Charlene Hosokawa
Teacher, Moanalua High School
Respect organization's right to choose
In the Aug. 2 letters section, Vicky Cayetano acknowledges the honor of receiving an award from the Boy Scouts and further acknowledges the tremendous amount of community service the Boy Scouts provide. However, she cannot resist the opportunity to push her liberal agenda by suggesting the Boy Scouts use "qualified" leaders. Qualified by whose standards?
The Boy Scouts have very qualified scout leaders, morally and physically.
Cayetano obviously has no respect for the sovereignty of the Boy Scouts and is so egotistical to suggest scout leaders are not "qualified" (by her terms).
Look at the Catholic Church and the mess they are in for allowing gay preachers to be in positions of influence. The Boy Scouts are protecting the children they are responsible for and should be applauded for doing so.
Cayetano should practice a little tolerance and let the Boy Scouts maintain their high level of morality. If she is that disappointed that the Boy Scouts did not cave to the gay agenda, she should relinquish her award to someone who respects the Boy Scouts' right to choose. Choose leaders who reflect the morality they wish to instill in the youth of today.
Robert Thurston
Hale'iwa
Racial division in our community is appalling
What is racism? The dictionaries define it as "the belief that one race is of higher intrinsic value than another."
First off, Hawaiians are the most racially diverse ethnic group in the Islands. How many "pure Hawaiians" do you see marrying only their own kind? Yet our Islands are filled with people determined to preserve their own racial purity, even many generations of disconnection from ancestral homelands.
Secondly, in the past, Hawaiians were considered low class by people of other ethnic groups. Just ask anyone who was dismissed by their family for marrying outside their race. Only since the Hawaiian renaissance of the 1970s has it become chic to be Hawaiian. And now that Hawaiian trusts earn billions annually, everybody wants a piece of the pie.
As a person of Hawaiian, Japanese, Chinese, German, Irish and English heritage, I am appalled at the racial division in our community. Something I've realized is that sometimes the ones screaming "racism" are the worst racists of all. My ancestors embraced all people, even marrying some of them, and Kamehameha students reflect that heritage, representing all races.
Hawaiian ancestry is a matter of genealogy, not race. Leave private trust assets alone, or all private estates will lose.
Matthew Kaopio Jr.
Kamehameha Schools Class of 1990
Poinciana missed along Lunalilo Home Road
You are to be commended on devoting space to the plight of our trees. Another glaring example of this senseless practice can be seen along Lunalilo Home Road, where some 10 to 15 years ago, the gorgeous royal poinciana that lined this broad thoroughfare were brutally mutilated.
Many have died, and none have recovered their former glory. Surely something should be done to help these trees recover.
Marion & Giv Cornfield
Hawai'i Kai
Neglect, abuse cases may go undetected
The Honolulu Police Department should not be given the responsibility to investigate animal nuisance complaints because officers are not trained in animal behavior, and may not be able to recognize when an animal nuisance complaint is really a case of animal neglect or abuse.
Often times animal nuisance complaints are the first indicator that an animal needs help. Animal Control Officers have been screened and trained, with taxpayer money, to handle situations involving animals. Investigating animal noise complaints needs to remain with them.
As a zookeeper, trained in animal behavior, I know that animals make noise for a myriad of reasons. Barking continually may be a sign that a dog is in distress.
For instance, when a dog is thirsty and has no access to water it will often bark to draw attention to its plight. Sometimes dogs that are tied in the sun without access to shade will bark.
It is disturbing that the Hawaiian Humane Society, which purports as part of its mission to promote the humane treatment of animals, would so easily give up the responsibility of investigating animal nuisance complaints to the police, knowing that some of these complaints will involve animal neglect and will go undetected. It appears that the Humane Society has put money before the well-being of O'ahu's animals.
Linda Vannatta
Consider economic state as you head to the polls
People of Hawai'i: There are many of you who have not registered to vote in this year's election. Don't you think it is time to do so?
The Democrats have been making overtures to a better Hawai'i, however nothing has been done in this direction.
We are in desperate times and need new blood to lead us out of these times. When you go to vote this year, remember it is the Democrats that have put us into the mess we are in. Are we going to keep the same bunch in office?
Curtis R. Rodrigues
Kane'ohe
'Loss of your money' is at expense of our safety
I am incensed over the careless comments regarding wheelchair access and curb cuts on public streets. For those who have friends or family members who do not need wheelchairs, or are lucky enough themselves not to be wheelchair bound, I have only contempt for your heartlessness.
How dare you complain about the cost of this access. It is obvious that you have never had to go a block out of your way because there is no way to cross the street. Even then, it is often dangerous because the driveways are uneven or too "deep" for a wheelchair to navigate safely. It is obvious that these people have never been thrown out of their chairs into the street, only to have to struggle back into their overturned chair.
I have been in my wheelchair for seven years and I am no novice when it comes to maneuvering my chair, but there are times when I have almost been hit by oncoming traffic because of unsafe sidewalk conditions.
Shame on you for your selfish, uncaring thoughts and words. You had better pray that you never end up in a wheelchair. Count your blessings and quit bemoaning the loss of "your" money.
Melanie Johnson
Wheeler Army Airfield
Priority must be to hire local folks first
Hawai'i jobs should go to Hawai'i people first. Why is it that we are always hiring these outsiders for some of the best jobs at the University of Hawai'i? Don't we have any confidence in our own people here? Instead of "Buy Hawai'i First," we should rename it to "Hire Hawai'i First."
Julia Ching
Math doesn't add up on bloodcount levels
Walter R. Schoettle's July 28 letter describing "Toenail Hawaiians" is based on phenotype (appearance) only rather than genotype (genetic makeup).
Having 1/64th Hawaiian blood means that one out of 64 of your great-great-great-great-grandparents was pure Hawaiian. Add these 64 ancestors to your 32 great-great-great-grandparents, 16 great-great-grandparents, eight great-grandparents, four grandparents and two parents for a total of 126 ancestors.
Schoettle's description of "1/64th Hawaiian blood or one Hawaiian ancestor in 500" does not make any sense. You would need to go back two more generations to bring the total to 510 ancestors.
A 5-year-old child with 1/64th Hawaiian blood would have had the first ancestor born around 1847, nearly 20 years before the Chinese arrived here in large numbers. This child's ancestors of one-fourth Hawaiian blood would have been born around 1890, at which time the population of Hawaiians, both full and part, was 40,622 vs. the 49,368 who were non-Hawaiians.
Given all these figures, it would be nearly impossible to have most of these people complaining about the admission of a non-Hawaiian to be what Schoettle said are "toenail Hawaiians with 1/64th Hawaiian blood or one Hawaiian ancestor in 500."
And if I'm not, in his eyes, a "real Native Hawaiian," then that means I'm not real anything.
Kalani Mondoy
Glendale, Calif.
Controversy only has to do with renaming
In your article on the renaming of the H-3, Mike Liedemann quotes Judge James Burns, son of the late governor, as saying that, "I don't think the H-3 would have been built amid all of the controversy if the old man didn't say go ahead and do it." He is also quoted as saying, "I think he'd be happy and chuckling to know that he got a highway named after him."
I believe it is admirable that Judge Burns feels this way about his father. Most people too, I'm sure, are happy and grateful for the late governor's role in getting the H-3 built. It should be pointed out, however, that the present controversy has only to do with the renaming of the H-3 tunnels from Harano to Burns and came about only with the issuance of Gov. Cayetano's Executive Memo of March 23, 2001.
With regard to the second part of Judge Burns' quote, it should also be stated that the late governor's daughter, Sheenagh, along with others, shares an opinion of her father's possible reaction, which is directly opposite to that which has been depicted by her brother.
Teruo Hasegawa
