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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Monday, January 14, 2002

Letters to the Editor

Princess didn't specify Hawaiian-only rule

It is now well known that there is nothing in Bernice Bishop's will that limits admission to Kamehameha Schools to persons with Hawaiian blood.

Since the estate now makes such an enormous amount of income, perhaps the trustees will either admit past error and eliminate race as a qualifying admission criterion or explain the logic of applying a racial standard to admissions when the will does not.

It seems that if the princess had so intended, she would certainly have specified that Hawaiian blood was required.

Paul de Silva
Hilo


Visitors being greeted with jarring music

As a former resident and a frequent visitor, I was dismayed to disembark at Honolulu Airport to be greeted, not with the usual medley of Hawaiian tunes, but rap/hip-hop/rock music out of character for an idyllic Island vacation.

Such music is prevalent in American pop culture, but it doesn't seem to me to be an appropriate greeting for visitors. Please return to the sounds of Hawaiian music — there is wonderful new music being created in the Islands if you feel the need to be contemporary. I'm not asking you to stick with Alfred Apaka or Kui Lee, but I do hope you'll return to using the best of local Hawaiian music in the airport and other public places.

We come to Hawai'i for a Hawaiian experience — we can get harsh music on the Mainland. Especially now, when tourist dollars are down, Hawai'i should recognize and celebrate the uniqueness of its culture instead of incorporating jarring Mainland culture.

Pamela Hyland


Forget battle lines, think common cause

The easiest thing to do is to get in a battle over whose statistics are more telling.

The marketplace ultimately answers the letter by an HGEA labor leader rebutting my claim that Hawai'i has one of the most expensive governments in the nation, per capita.

As a legislator who voted against the budgets that exploded the size and cost of government in the 1980s, I offer in evidence the resulting economic malaise Hawai'i has experienced since then. While the rest of the nation prospered, our economic problems started in the 1990s and continue to this day. The high cost of government, combined with government-operated and -sanctioned monopolies, results in making Hawai'i a state with one of the highest costs of living in the nation.

To my organized-labor friends, are you happy with the cost of housing, food, medicine, electricity, gasoline and taxes?

Please join me and the people of Hawai'i in putting aside the traditional battle lines of the political status quo. Let's work together to bring balance back to the government and put the power back into the hands and pocketbooks of labor and business.

Sen. Fred Hemmings
R-25th (Kailua, Waimanalo)


Neighborhood streets would feel the brunt

Before the politicians raise the speed limits on the state highways, remember that speed is relative, and when these drivers come off the highways into more congested and residential areas, there will be an increased inclination for them to go over the speed limit on these other streets.

I find this happening to me. After getting off the freeway or driving over the Pali and going into some of the side streets, where speed limits are lower and traffic is moving slower, I often find myself going well over the speed limit, but at the same time, I feel like I'm going quite slow. This is because I was going so fast when I was previously on the highway.

So if you're going to increase speed on the highways or if you're going to continue to allow people to speed on those highways, then you should expect the people to continue to speed when they drive on neighborhood streets.

And to all you hotdogs out there who like to go faster than everybody else: If traffic as a whole is going slower, don't worry. You can still be the person who is going faster than everybody else and get your jollies by going a few miles per hour faster. Speed is relative.

Mark Lee


How can we be assured of cameras' safety?

KHNL recently broadcast news that the flash units used by the speed-control cameras are now responsible for at least one accident on the Likelike Highway. It was also reported that the HPD has six other driver complaints on file about the blinding hazards caused by these same flash units over the past couple of weeks.

Recently we were told that of over 900 possible citations accumulated the first day, all but 158 were tossed out because of operator error. How are we to be sure that operator error while using these lasers won't eventually lead to innocent driver eye injury or blindness?

Is the CEO of Affiliated Computer Services willing to come down here and stand in front of his own cameras to publicly demonstrate the cameras' laser safety? Until such a demonstration is performed with all the media in attendance, I will have serious concerns about the safety of these lasers and of the safety of my own eyesight while traveling on city and state highways.

We've all read stories about eye injuries caused by laser pointers and we've all read about the horrors of botched LASIK surgeries. What makes the lasers used in conjunction with these cameras any less dangerous? What happens when an expertly aimed speed camera laser is refracted off a chrome bumper or shiny car hood into an unsuspecting driver's eyes? Does anyone really know?

How can the public be assured that these lasers are absolutely safe?

Robert "Rabbett" Abbett
Kailua


A candid moment

Here's a grand bumper sticker: "Smile — you are on the HPD not-so-candid camera."

Ted Gibson


Incident shows how cameras can be abused

When the cameras first came to our shores and everyone cried foul play, I had little sympathy. It's about time, I thought. I ride a motorcycle, and the tranquility of not having an auto come bearing down on me at 15 mph faster than the posted speed limit gave me an increased sense of security on the roads.

On the morning of Jan. 10, I was trying to hold my speed at a constant 45 mph without resorting to constantly keeping my eye on the speedometer. Instead, I focused on the cars and road conditions around me. As I approached the top of the Pali, headed toward Kailua, I came across the notorious camera van for the first time. Suddenly, I found myself staring down the barrel of one of those cameras and was bewildered when a light came on from inside the van and the operator spun around as if to photograph my rear license plate. A feeling of being violated began to rise under my helmet. I looked down nervously again at my speedometer.

It looked like I had crept up to 46 or 46 1/2 mph. I couldn't believe it. Was I the latest victim? Suddenly, I realized these cameras in the wrong hands could easily abuse the law.

To conclude the enlightening trip over the Pali, once the cars that had previously been traveling at less than 45 mph passed the camera and entered the Pali tunnels, they proceeded in pre-camera fashion, barreling past me in wild abandonment and whipping around that notorious Pali hairpin turn.

If they really wanted to be dirty, they could plant a second camera van a mile farther down the road where the posted speed drops to a mind-numbing 35 mph.

Ropati Hebenstreit


Those speeding laws apply to all drivers

OK, everyone's heard by now it's entrapment, it's an invasion of privacy, it's more dangerous to drive the speed limit, the state is only trying to make money, etc., etc.

If violating the speed limit is a violation of the traffic code and we knowingly do it and are caught, there is no one to blame but ourselves. If we don't like it, we should work to get the law changed or quit driving. Driving a vehicle on a public road is a privilege, not a right.

We constantly ask for increased enforcement and protection as long as we are not the ones who are being restricted. It's always the other "bad" person causing the problem. Guess what? That "other person" is saying the same thing about you.

As a child, I was always taught that if you do something wrong, you should stand up and be accountable for it, but I guess the new message that we are passing on is that it's only wrong when it's the other guy.

W. Ozeki


Redundant coverage leaves many numb

I am sad to say that I am not surprised by columnist Jill Porter's feeling, or lack thereof, that she experienced when visiting Ground Zero. I agree with her that this is, more than likely, a common experience.

However, I disagree with her reasoning. Rather than this being an example of our nation recovering, I believe it is a classic consequence of the redundant media coverage that followed the attack.

At the four-month anniversary of the attack, Twin Tower-related stories and pictures can still be seen on any given day in the news, along with the vast array of slideshows being circulated through our e-mail. At least once a week I receive yet another e-mail with more rearranged sets of pictures and patriotic slogans.

The end result is one of two feelings on opposite ends of the spectrum: immense patriotism or downright numbness. These pictures don't have the same effect they did in the first couple of days and weeks following the attack; they have become a terrible normality to some people.

With that said, I wholeheartedly agree with Rudy Giuliani in his push for a sanctified, everlasting memorial — something that will touch our hearts and not let us forget Sept. 11.

Robert Ferriol


Community service record impeccable

I do not care to respond to Elbridge Smith's scandalous innuendoes regarding my "honest" ads, record as a judge or reasons for leaving the bench except to say that these events occurred nearly 20 years ago (Letters, Jan. 7).

My community service record is impeccable and unchallenged. My success as an attorney and as one of the few successful former judges, and the first judge appointed by the Judicial Selection Commission, speaks for itself.

Mr. Smith, so what old-boy network do you belong to? Who's causing you to participate in this smear effort? Suffice to say that I am a victim of the old-boy network.

Today, I do not drink or smoke. My reasons for service for free are honorable. I wish to help our demolished economy. And, I have a plan for rebuilding Hawai'i and Honolulu, which I will debate with you or anyone else. Put up or shut up. What positive actions to help Hawai'i are you taking?

Richard Lee


Council should stay out of negotiations

Unless I'm missing something here, I can't believe the City Council would actually threaten the use of eminent domain to benefit one private landholder over others.

The point of economic freedom in this case is to allow Outrigger to meet its own challenges and negotiate its own deals. Looking at this as an outsider, it appears that council members are interfering in what should be private negotiations. Furthermore, it suggests that taxpayers might be wise to check out council members' campaign spending reports.

Government's role should be limited to ensure fairness for both sides in these negotiations — to allow each to accept the risk to make or lose money. If council members take sides in these very private negotiations, it suggests that they know even less about governing wisely than about economic freedom.

Rep. Guy P. Ontai
R-39th (Wheeler, Mililani)


Airline monopoly isn't in our best interest

I am against the proposed merger of the two airlines because a monopoly of the only viable means of county-to-county transportation for the people in this state is not in our best interest.

Also, it is unfair to the Hawaiian Airline employees who underwent a pay freeze for about 10 years and now are finally starting to catch up the Aloha's employees' pay — and now some will be laid off because their union contract does not have the same merger protection clause as Aloha's employees. What's going on?

Kenneth K. Kaneshige
Waipahu


Norwegian Star great addition to the Islands

Hawai'i should consider itself lucky to have the Norwegian Star home-based in the Islands. I cannot say enough about the hospitality that was shown to the ship's 1,000 passengers aboard for its inaugural voyage and charity gala.

The first-class event benefiting local charities showcased the newest, state-of-the-art luxury liner of the Norwegian Cruise Line. It raised $200,000 of much-needed funds for several of Hawai'i's local charities, including Read To Me International Foundation, Bishop Museum, Hawai'i International Film Festival and Aloha United Way.

Norwegian Cruise Line's president, Colin Veatch, and his capable staff displayed the warmth and spirit of aloha we wish every visitor to Hawai'i could experience.

Liane Kam