I do not understand how Ken Conklin (and some others) feels he should derive some sort of benefit from OHA. It was set up for native Hawaiians. The Hawaiian people have a right to self-determination and lands to build their nation on. Non-native Hawaiians must help this process along as much as possible. We stole, now we have to make things right.

I do not believe that the Hawaiian Kingdom will ever be returned to its rightful owners; however, at a minimum, we need to give back to the Hawaiian people a very large portion of it.

Patrick Egge

OHA hasn't helped 'Native Hawaiians'

OHA trustee Rowena Akana again confuses the distinction between "Native Hawaiians" as defined in the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act (HHCA), 1920, i.e. "not less than one-half" Native Hawaiian, with "Hawaiians," which is defined as anybody with one Hawaiian ancestor out of 500 (Letters, Jan. 29).

Despite what Akana wrote, the state Supreme Court was absolutely correct in cutting OHA off from collecting 20 percent of the ceded-land revenues because these revenues are supposed to be used for the betterment of the conditions of Native Hawaiians as defined in the HHCA, and OHA has not used such revenues for this purpose.

Akana complains that without a steady flow of income to sustain all of their programs, OHA trustees must reassess and downsize to preserve their trust assets. What has OHA done for the betterment of the conditions of Native Hawaiians as defined in the HHCA of 1920?

Aside from very expensive television commercials shamelessly promoting OHA, and a few token programs used as window dressing, OHA has done nothing for the Native Hawaiians as defined in the HHCA of 1920.

Meanwhile, Akana explains that OHA will beg the Legislature this year for an interim revenue amount until Act 304 is resolved. I hope the Legislature doesn't give OHA anything.

Akana stated that OHA does not have enough money for its skimpy programs, yet she failed to mention that OHA is now hoarding more than $300 million of ceded-land revenues in investments.

Regarding the Akaka Bill: I am pleased that we have successfully defeated the bill two years in a row because it would seek to define a Native Hawaiian in a way other than the definition in the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1920.

Emmett E. Lee Loy

Pricetag on a life?

A rebuttal question for Sam Gillie, who wrote in the Jan. 28 Advertiser that driving slower will cost the state of Hawai'i money. We all know that driving slower will reduce fatalities, yet he demonstrates a fancy formula on nonsense that only makes sense to him. How can a person put a pricetag on a human life? How much is saving a person's life worth? Priceless.

Michael Nomura
Kailua

DOT broke promise on traffic cameras

Your Jan. 27 traffic camera headline said that lawmakers were reversing themselves from a vote four years ago. This is not all of the story.

We had the first traffic cameras installed in East Honolulu for the purpose of easing traffic flow during the Kalaniana'ole Highway widening project, and were assured by Marilyn Kali, on behalf of the Department of Transportation, that the department would never, repeat never, use cameras for ticketing purposes on that highway. That promise was made to then-Rep. Stegmaier, then-Sen. Ikeda and myself, and we promised the people of East Honolulu they could trust their government.

It was both shocking and embarrassing to read that Kalaniana'ole Highway was part of the camera ticketing expansion plan, and I'm really proud the Legislature is about to nip this "car-jacking" in the bud. We simply voted for a pilot program, not "Big Brother DOT," which had the use of cameras in mind all along. Shame on the DOT.

Gene Ward
Former state representative, Hawai'i Kai

Ignore the complaints, keep camera program

I have heard and read all of the complaints about the traffic cams (it's a money grab for the state and company, it's bad for the local economy, the traffic cam vans are a distraction for motorists, etc.) and all I can do is shake my head.

The cams merely enforce the current speed-limit law, a law that we supposedly should have been following in the first place. The number of those opposed to the cams as well as the level of anger that some have unfortunately chosen to direct at the camera operators and toward the camera system in general only underscore the pressing need for the continued use of cameras on our roadways. Obviously, speed-limit signs have been largely ignored and inadequately enforced.

As the local media have earlier pointed out, people are slowing down, which is a good thing. I have noticed the change myself on the road every day. It's unfortunate that some lawmakers would want to change this and again allow speeders to dominate our roads.

Speed is not a necessity. Leave earlier. Don't want a ticket? Obey the law.

Les Yanagi

Quarantine program should be abolished

A Jan. 30 editorial regarding rabies in Hawai'i is typical of the ill-informed rhetoric on this issue that pervades the Hawai'i media.

My animals are more well cared for and better inoculated than most people in the world. They would pose absolutely no threat to any person or animal in the Hawaiian Islands. New blood tests exist today to detect rabies, unlike the brain biopsies of the past. Implanted chips assure unique animal identification.

The quarantine is antiquated and unnecessary. It prevents many people from moving to Hawai'i and contributing to the state economy because of their unwillingness to put their family pets through the trauma of quarantine. It causes members of our military and their families who have no choice but to come here additional stress being separated from their pets.

The Hawaiian Humane Society is absolutely correct in its position. You should educate yourselves and emerge into the 21st century.

Patti Mickelsen

Long-term care is important to all of us

I would like to say why a state-sponsored long-term-care program is important to me and others.

Since I am post-polio, I am sure to need some type of long-term care eventually, although for the present I and my wife are OK. All people will need some form of long-term care some day. The scope will vary.

Without some kind of long-term care, the next option is death with dignity or doctor-assisted dying when the money is gone.

Wally Johnston
Kailua

Improve education by eliminating fat

Regarding your Jan. 28 editorial "Make education cuts that are realistic": Cliff Slater has said in one of his columns, "You cannot manage effectively what you cannot measure." So how can Pat Hamamoto even begin to make effective and informed choices when even she can't even account for the $1 billion being spent each year on education in Hawai'i?

Where's the legislative oversight?

Back in the '60s, the number of students in K to 12 numbered about 180,000. Today that number is not much different. What is different is that there are three times as many teachers and more than three times the cost per pupil than in the '60s.

Perhaps we should reverse this trend to increase the quality of education by reducing the number of teachers and the union workers supporting the HSTA, and perhaps the quality of education will come backinto the system as it was in the '60s.

Bruce Wong

Book would help us understand history

After reading John Griffin's commentary "How about a Literary Crossroads of the Pacific?" in the Jan. 27 paper, I would like to suggest a book about Hawai'i's history: "Hawai'i Pono," a social history of this state, by Lawrence H. Fuchs.

After reading many letters to the editor, it is evident that more of us need to read the history of this state in order to have a better understanding of why things are the way they are and also to educate ourselves of certain historical facts.

Ron Varley

Media should question terrorism war effort

Where is the media's questioning of our government's actions, intentions, policies and expenditures in the so-called "war on terrorism"?

The media, both TV and print, have acted like exuberant cheerleaders rather than responsible journalists and commentators. We are all witnessing the marriage of the media with the military, the transformation of government propaganda into "news" and hysterical media exaltations of war.

Virtually all critical media coverage has ceased or been minimized.

In Afghanistan, thousands of innocents have been killed and hundreds of thousands uprooted courtesy of the misguided and ruinous U.S. campaign.

U.S.-held prisoners have been mistreated, bin Laden has not been apprehended and the U.S. is quickly losing support for these destructive rampages. Many now suspect this war is to secure routes for oil pipelines for the oil-linked Bush and his equally oiled cabinet.

And now Bush and company want to attack any of some 40 additional countries and to boost defense spending by over $50 billion per year while vital infrastructure is left unrepaired and social services deteriorate. Our budget surplus is gone and Social Security is threatened and precarious.

Our nation is less secure, we have created more enemies abroad and lost allies, and our freedom and privacy are being threatened by our own government.

John Witeck

'Zoo' has already been relocated downtown

What's all this talk about moving the zoo?

The monkey business downtown suggests that that "zoo" was already moved somewhere between King and Beretania streets on either side of Punchbowl Street, in Honolulu Hale and the state Capitol.

We need to stop feeding the animals there.

Ron Rhetrik
Mililani

Keep to the right lane unless you are passing

Slower traffic should keep to the right-hand lane. That is a basic traffic rule for good reason.

The left-hand lane is the passing lane. Going slower than the flow of traffic in the passing lane forces faster vehicles to pass on the right, which is unsafe.

I drive the Pali Highway every day, and some drivers act if they never heard of this rule. By the old Kailua Drive-In, now the Le Jardin Academy campus, there's a sign telling slower traffic to stay to the right. But some drivers still seem oblivious to this basic traffic rule.

Please kokua and keep to the right unless you are passing. Don't cruise slowly in the passing lane. You are backing up traffic and causing drivers to pass you on the right.

Lunsford Dole Phillips
Kailua

Build new stadium on the golf course

With UH sports excitement at an all-time high with all major sports exceeding expectations, I would like to add a huge addition to coach June Jones' vision and that of President Evan Dobelle and athletic director Hugh Yoshida.

Aloha Stadium has served its purpose over the years, and now with major structural problems, it needs to be replaced with a new, much larger stadium. Looking ahead to not only UH football being a national power, but also the idea of having an NFL franchise in Honolulu, I would suggest thinking out of the box.

Picture a 60,000-seat stadium along with adequate parking on the Ala Wai Golf Course property. Having walkway bridges across the canal would provide direct access to all Waikiki hotels for visitors attending UH or bowl games. A direct right-of-way from the H-1 freeway into the parking facility would handle vehicle traffic. If we ever finally get a fixed-rail transit system, there could be a station in the stadium facility.

Hawai'i is a football state, and the fans here would strongly support an NFL team, especially if several local high school prospects went on to play for UH, graduated and than were playing on the pro team.

UH football will be a national power and bring several of the other major sports along with it. We need the first-class facilities befitting that type of program.