Letters to the Editor
Show your support on Christmas Day
Like any other University of Hawai'i Warrior football fan, I'm concerned about the attendance for the ConAgra Foods Hawaii Bowl on Christmas Day.
I was at the SDSU game as a season ticket holder and I was astonished to discover that this game had the lowest attendance of the season. When your team is 9-3 and has a bowl game coming up, how and why would you abandon it at a crucial time like this?
The team needs the fan support right where the action is: at Aloha Stadium. The attendance that night was completely unacceptable and we can't have that again.
The team has come such a long way and I ask all fans out there to try their best to make it out on Christmas Day. If you can't make it, but would still like to support the team, Bobby Curran mentioned on the "Call the Coach" show last week at All-Star Hawaii that a man bought 10 tickets to the bowl game and donated them to Big Brothers/Big Sisters.
This is a wonderful idea and a great way to help out the team, as well as someone who may not be fortunate enough to afford to see a live game at the stadium.
Thank you for supporting UH football. See you on Christmas Day!
Kelli Miura
McKinley High School sophomore
Help keep center alive for others to enjoy
In 2001, the Japanese Cultural Center held its first Bunka No Hi. I, along with more than 500 others, attended.
This is my third year studying Japanese. Since I started, my Japanese skills have really improved. Still, in class, most of what we learn comes from textbooks or observing others. I've never really gotten the chance to experience traditional Japanese customs firsthand before Bunka No Hi.
Again this year, I got to experience all sorts of wonderful things. Thus, I am extremely appreciative toward everyone who helped make this event possible, especially those who work at the Japanese Cultural Center.
I would love to go again next year, but I am not sure if I will be able to. The Japanese Cultural Center may not even be around this time next year. Right now, it is deeply indebted. I would just like to ask for your support in keeping the Japanese Cultural Center open, so that for years to come, many other students will be able to experience all that I have.
Joycelyn Chun
'Aiea
Driving is a right, necessary for some
This is in regard to John L. Shupe's Dec. 6 editorial, "Students should not drive to their schools," in which he proclaims that driving is a privilege, not a right. He is sadly mistaken.
Driving is a right, as provided to us by the Hawai'i Revised Statues. It allows for Hawai'i's citizens to obtain a driver's permit at the age of 15 and a full-fledged driver's license by 16. While the use of a car can be considered a privilege, the accessibility to legally possess and use a Hawai'i State Driver's License is a right.
It is upsetting to see that Shupe feels that students are the main cause of Hawai'i's traffic flow, and that the problem can be alleviated by requiring all students to use alternative methods of transportation. Shupe does not seem to realize that the greater majority of these students, ranging from high school to any higher educational level, do not just use their cars as transportation to and from school. Most students also work at least one part-time job and go to work after their classes. Other students participate in a number of various after-school activities such as sports, band, internships, etc., which also require that they arrive in a timely fashion, a luxury that is not always guaranteed with public or alternative methods of transportation.
Finally, many students may have to shuttle around younger siblings to help out with household affairs. During my early years in college, I was the one responsible for dropping off and picking up my brother and sister at their school.
Shupe's ludicrous suggestion indicates some sort of discriminatory feelings that he may have toward drivers who are also students. Rather than attack them, suggesting that they no longer be allowed to drive, he should concentrate on more positive solutions, such as carpooling, more reliable forms of public transportation that could appeal to more people, or even easily accessible and affordable mass transit systems such as the Metro that is used in Washington, D.C. And he should remember, driving is a right — the use of, or access to, a car is often times the privilege.
Tracy H. Okubo
Lingle called on to continue efforts
I hope Gov. Lingle will not forget to acknowledge the efforts of Ryan Ushijima, Amy Iha and their staff at the Business Registration Division in the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs (DCCA).
Over the past few years, they reduced the processing time for business registrations from 20 days to one or two days. In addition, they put in place a fully electronic processing system, from Internet filing through the final steps via return e-mail. It is one of the first in the nation.
I also hope she will follow through on one of the final proposals we sent to Gov. Cayetano, to reduce business registration filing fees by up to 50 percent for those who file over the Internet.
We were not able to finalize this fee reduction, which was aimed at driving more of the business registration activity through the state's Internet portal.
Kathryn Matayoshi
Former director of DCCA
Editorials don't reflect all residents' opinions
Your editorials on Dec. 5 and 12 regarding the cruise ship visits to Moloka'i show a one-dimensional view of the situation on Moloka'i. The action by the Sierra Club was prompted by knee-jerk activists who respond negatively to anything not related to subsistence living off the land by Native Hawaiians.
Their arguments show just how ideologically bankrupt these self-styled leaders are in posing a set of red-herring issues that have no basis in fact.
The fact is that any sort of economic development on Moloka'i must face the same gauntlet of frivolous lawsuits, misinformation, lies and hate rhetoric from the same small group. All they want for Moloka'i is continuing poverty because they know if the people of Moloka'i become prosperous, they will lose their base of power.
While we all want to preserve the quiet Moloka'i lifestyle, these folks are intent on embalming Moloka'i and keeping it in a mummified state. Do not be deceived. They do not speak for all or even most Moloka'i residents.
The Advertiser should spend some time researching the full spectrum of opinion on Moloka'i before it lets its editorial page be kidnapped by the radical fringe.
Paul Mullin
Maunaloa, Moloka'i
Message of season is peace on Earth
L.E. Harris' Dec. 5 letter ("Let's keep Christ in Christmas") expresses an oft-heard Christian sentiment that sadly belies another cliche, "the true meaning of Christmas." Let's think about that for a moment.
What is the true meaning of Christmas? It is a religious holiday that, contrary to popular belief, does not necessarily reflect the historical birth date of Jesus of Nazareth, but rather was timed to supersede a much older set of celebrations occurring at the winter solstice.
Humans have held sacred the longest and shortest days of the year since time immemorial. The dead of winter, a time of dread, was warded off by the most ancient rituals known to mankind. During the early days of the Christian religion, Romans celebrated Saturnalia at the end of December, a riotous time of fun and feasting. Midwinter festivities flourished in all the Celtic and Teutonic tribes as well.
The evolving Christian church eventually posited its rituals in celebration of the birth of Christ, or "Christmas," to overlay these so-called "pagan" rituals, just as it timed "Easter" to coincide with the rites of spring, and built its churches on the foundations of ancient temples and other sacred sites.
But back to "the true meaning of Christmas." In the words of today's Christians, "what would Jesus do" about the various religious celebrations popular at this time of year?
Would Jesus insist upon glorifying his own birthday by suppressing celebrations such as Hanukkah, Ramadan and Kwanzaa? Or would this prophet of peace on Earth gladly embrace all cultures and all people, for the joy and elevation of all mankind?
I think most Christians, regardless of their zealotry, would have to concede that Jesus was not a self-aggrandizing egoist. In these troubled times of religious intolerance all over the world, it would be wise to recall that the true message of the season is "peace on Earth." Let's all try to keep that in mind.
Happy holidays to one and all.
Olive West
Mililani
Nurses are more than just a strike
We are the ones who ...
- Clean your physical wounds and listen to your emotional wounds.
- Never let a patient die alone and will hold your hand when your family is absent.
- Make sure our outer-island families have somewhere to sleep.
- Know how to monitor and interpret the vital signs that will save your life.
We are the ones ...
- Who console a newly paralyzed patient while someone knocks at the door to tell us the lab is on the phone to report an abnormal value, and in the next room, a patient's family has just arrived and wants to know what is going on with their loved one.
We are the ones who ...
- Consider you, your family and our colleagues to be our second family.
- Take care of you like our own family.
- Will be sure you understand what the doctors just told you.
We are the ones asking for your support in our time of need so that we can continue to care for you in your time of need.
We are Hawai'i's nurses.
Katherine G. Johnson
Paid trip by officials needs justification
I just read an article regarding a trip to Denver to be taken, at taxpayers' expense, by seven state officials, including three members of the state Senate and three University of Hawai'i officials, to "visit the new home of the Denver Broncos ... to explore the possibility of building a similar stadium on O'ahu."
Here we go again. Not six weeks have passed since the election in November, prior to which both major political parties in Hawai'i campaigned mightily for "change" and "an end to corruption and wasteful spending."
And yet, seven high-ranking state officials will take a quiet weekend trip to Denver to merely explore a possibility? Let me be the first to call this a boondoggle and to challenge those officials to justify the trip.
Senate President Bunda tries to justify it by asserting "the Denver model is intriguing because it was the product of a public-private partnership. Such an effort, if adopted in Hawai'i, could enable us to upgrade our Aloha Stadium and other facilities without the necessity of taxpayers footing the entire bill."
That's a crock. First of all, the legislative session hasn't even started. There is no pending legislation, that I know of, to engage in any kind of similar venture with respect to Aloha Stadium or any other facility on O'ahu.
Secondly, even if such discussion were under way by our political and business leaders, what about the Denver model could not be explained through long-distance investigation, i.e. conference calls, review of written materials or even pictures or video-conferencing?
Why do these seven officials need to go all the way to Denver just to decide whether or not the Denver model is worth pursuing?
It seems to me that the decision should and can be made without incurring the cost of a trip at the taxpayers' expense. If, after initial investigation, it turns out that further investigation is warranted, then it might make sense to send two or three representatives to gather more information. But until that decision is made, the trip is clearly premature.
Finally, if the trip were truly justifiable, why isn't a representative from the House of Representatives or from Gov. Lingle's office making the trip? Any legislation will surely require the approval of the House and the support of the governor, yet neither is represented on this trip.
It is clear that this trip to Denver is nothing more than a boondoggle and I call upon Gov. Lingle and the rest of our political leaders to own up to what you campaigned on ... and put an end to this sort of nonsense.
The only mystery about this trip is how many of the participants will be packing their skis.
Joel Kam
