Letters to the Editor

Hawai'i grieves Thompson's death

The Hawaiian community and Hawai'i grieve the loss of Myron "Pinky" Thompson, a social worker by training, a Hawaiian of spirit, a compassionate, courageous and visionary human being.

By his passing, Pinky's lifetime pursuit to better conditions for Hawaiians and Hawai'i must now be the kuleana of us who celebrate his life. He rests in the realm of our ancestors, and like our ancestors, is but a moment away.

Aloha nui to the Thompson 'ohana and mahalo for sharing Pinky with us.

Haunani Apoliona, Trustee, Office of Hawaiian Affairs

Arctic refuge debate hits close to home

Masako Cordray's commentary of Jan. 3, referencing the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and Sen. Akaka's insistence on contributing to the destruction of the Gwich'in tradition and lifestyle through allowing oil drilling in the refuge, really hit home.

I wonder if the senator sees any connection with Hawaiians struggling to maintain Hawaiian culture and tradition in our own homeland and the Gwich'in trying to do the same in theirs.

Hawai'i, by virtue of its location, has been blessed with a warm climate and plenty of water, and over the centuries has become the center of diversity for plants and animals and people. But one by one our natural resources and diversity are being extinguished by bad planning, greed and too many people.

Not so with the Gwich'in, whose environment is much more fragile. The Gwich'in represent one of just a few traditional lifestyles left, reminders of how man and nature have interacted in a balanced way over eons. We have a lesson to learn about maintaining that balance, about being pono with the 'aina, and no way of really articulating what it should look like in practice unless we have something to look at.

If the Gwich'in, with help and support from caring people, including Sens. Akaka and Inouye, are encouraged to evolve naturally toward greater interaction with those outside their own culture, they might just be able to keep themselves intact. That would help us understand what we have lost and what we want to get back.

Lynette Cruz
Ahupua'a Action Alliance, Palolo Valley

Germany provides lesson on cameras

While I agree that speeding in Hawai'i is a major problem, I feel the way the state is handling the implementation of the traffic camera program is poor at best.

Why not publish at what speed the camera will take the photo and issue a ticket? Why haven't they resolved the question of state workers speeding and refusing to pay the ticket?

I am a federal employee in the military, and I would fully expect to be ticketed and have it reflect on my driving record if I were driving a government vehicle. Will private citizens driving company vehicles be exempt?

I think the state should follow Germany's lead on using cameras to catch speeders. They publish in their papers where cameras will be placed (usually in problem areas with speeding). If people have access to this information and are still dumb enough to speed, I say "let em' pay!"

Keith Taylor
Waipahu

Would the victims oppose cameras?

To all those who oppose the traffic cameras, try to convince the 52-year-old man and his 11-year-old passenger about the surveillance cameras imposing on individual rights.

According to the news, the other driver, a 22-year-old, ignored the traffic signal. One has to wonder whether the camera may have prevented this accident.

Alvin Noguchi
Mililani

Screeners must take security seriously

How ironic that just a few days after the publication of Lee Cataluna's column on people who take their jobs for granted — including airport security personnel — a screener's misjudgment shut down an entire major international airport for two hours.

I wonder, had these security people read Cataluna's column or the news instead of simply dozing off on the job, if this costly and embarrassing shutdown could have been avoided? Or am I incorrectly assuming that all these personnel, including the non-high school graduates, can read at that high a level?

But reading habits aside, let's just hope that every one of our airport workers is aware, or will be made aware, that we are living in a time when airport security must be taken very, very seriously.

Jackie Juan