Letters to the Editor
Kamehameha has done great disservice
As a Kamehameha Schools graduate, I read with great anger your July 12 story on the first non-Hawaiian student accepted for admission to the Kamehameha Schools Maui campus for the 2002-2003 school year.
I wish someone on the admissions committee would explain to my 12-year-old niece — who is and has always been a straight-"A" student at a local public school, who has applied for admission every open year but has not been accepted to the Kapalama campus since she was 5 years old, who has a quantum percentage of 62 Hawaiian blood, who wants with all her heart to be a Kamehameha student and whose dream it is to meet a challenge set by her cousin (a 2001 Kamehameha graduate) and beat his standing in the class — why she has not been accepted.
Why is someone who does not meet the wishes of the princess' will accepted for admission over her?
It would seem that the schools have done the native Hawaiian children a great wrong and disservice. Something must be terribly wrong if the Kamehameha Schools Maui campus admissions committee could not, on the entire island of Maui, find another child of Hawaiian ancestry deserving of admittance to the school. Auwe!
Gloria J. Wong
Arlington, Va.
Unions' demands are hurting businesses
A certain local radio station ad is constantly insisting that "without labor and its unions, there would be no business." Economics 101: This state is in dire economic straits.
Without new businesses and old businesses, some of which are going bankrupt because of the unions' demand for higher wages and benefits, there would be no need for labor or unions.
We need legislators who will remedy this dilemma and start supporting small businesses, which will ultimately create a demand for hiring more labor. We need to remind ourselves that this country is founded on free enterprise and not on the ideals of socialism.
Toshio Chinen
Pearl City
Dredging inconvenience is comparatively minor
All the inconvenience that the dredging of the Ala Wai Canal will bring is minor compared to the road expansion of Kalaniana'ole Highway. Just remember that the noise, modified bumpy roads, fewer lanes, etc., lasted for several years. In addition, some homeowners' property lost value.
In the long run, everybody benefits.
Max Miura
Criticism of Dods was undeserved
To the writer who unfairly criticized Walter Dods in the July 10 Letters to the Editor: Find out more about him before making such snide and unwarranted remarks, publicly or privately.
It is clearly evident that you have no clue as to Mr. Dods' participation in, or contributions to, the state of Hawai'i. How do you think it feels for him to read something like that in a daily newspaper after devoting so much of his life to serving his community?
In my humble opinion, Mr. Dods' leadership skills are second to none. He is not only highly respected for his leadership and wisdom, but is also very well liked as a good-hearted person who genuinely treats others respectfully no matter their station in life. That is what makes him an especially effective leader.
And who do you think initiates and has to approve of all the financial and manpower support that First Hawaiian Bank contributes to so many needy organizations in Hawai'i? And where did you get that "his vision of leadership is lecturing others on how they should do it" thing from? Sheeez.
Are you an unsanctioned volunteer for political opposition dirty tricks, or what?
I think Walter is a true local boy in spirit as well as in his actions. He has a heart of aloha that wants to serve others in Hawai'i. That's what I think motivates him to work those long hours, and although I wish he would have run for governor this time, there's always the next election.
And no — I don't work for the bank.
Danny Black
Fatal traffic accident didn't have to happen
I read with sadness and anger about the recent accident on Fort Weaver Road where an innocent 16-year-old girl's life was taken away.
My sadness is the huge loss to her family and the community. She was a model student and a person with unlimited potential. The anger I have is for the planners and inspectors for that road or any other road who did not apply all safety requirements and standards, especially for crosswalks on a four-lane highway.
The manner in which this crosswalk was constructed is absolutely dangerous. How can any inspector approve such construction?
Does someone else have to die before the situation is corrected? At the very minimum, a traffic light should have been there from the beginning for safe pedestrian crossing.
Someone needs to pay for this gross error of judgment.
Alexander Gomes
Mililani
New York City learned folly of the bottle bill
Do you good people find it a little ironic that as we read how Hawai'i's citizens are going to be forced (or taxed) into mandatory recycling of plastic and glass containers via the newly passed bottle bill, we now hear how the largest city in the nation — New York City — has abandoned it and stopped recycling of plastic and glass altogether?
Here's the scoop. Read the words of experience by NYC's mayor just a few days ago and weep: "In the case of plastic and glass, the fact of the matter was that it was phenomenally expensive and most of it ended up being dumped in a landfill anyway."
Well, there you go. I guess we in Hawai'i will ignore this huge historical test case and just have to learn the folly of the bottle bill the hard and expensive way — at 6 cents a pop.
Jerry Neil III
Pahoa
We should be pledging to the U.S. Constitution
The June 28 editorial "Pledge ruling adds up to a big distraction" and accompanying letters to the editor all missed the central issue: The pledge itself is a major problem.
Each of us should be pledging a personal commitment to the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States, rather than to a flag. And, the Declaration of Independence, which outlines the essential vision for the creation of our nation, has on its foundation a belief in a supreme being to which all persons are accountable (nobility, presidents, supreme court justices, you and me).
That concept, called "Nature's God," "Divine Providence" or "Laws of Nature," was conceived by the Jews and absorbed by Christianity. John Locke, whose philosophy undergirds our entire system, relied upon a supreme being as central to his thinking.
Thus, our entire system of government is dependent upon recognition of the fact that we all function under cognizance of a supreme being, for convenience called "God." To call such into question is to undermine our entire government structure.
That's the central issue — an attack on the concept of God is an attack on the essence of the United States of America, the impetus for our individual creativity, liberty and prosperity.
Richard O. Rowland
President, Grassroot Institute of Hawai'i
Alternate site better for West O'ahu campus
University of Hawai'i President Evan Dobelle has done the right thing in considering alternative sites for the West O'ahu campus of the University of Hawai'i. The site across the freeway was an unfortunate mistake driven by a land trade and political decision.
The opportunity for a campus on the Kapolei side would improve both campus and town — a site large enough that three-story buildings would be built relating to the Kapolei Plan, within walking distance of the town center.
There is room for a well-planned campus, sports fields, parking and open space. This relationship would encourage some form of rapid transit. Let's encourage a new plan.
Charles R. Sutton
Sakes are judged differently from wine
The May 22 issue carried an article by Randy Caparoso on a sake event held in New York. While Randy's enthusiasm for his new sake interest is laudable, the article displayed a somewhat misguided understanding of how sakes are judged and appreciated.
By its very nature, sake, which is made from grain, has a more limited range of flavors and aromas than does wine, which is made from fruit. As a result, judges in Japan place more emphasis on structure, balance and finish than on aroma and flavor, which in some circles are even regarded as "distractions."
On the judging forms used for the U.S. National Sake Competition, which will be held in Honolulu this September under the auspices of the Japan National Institute of Brewing, aroma and flavor account for 35 percent of the score. Balance, finish and overall impression make up 65 percent, quite different from wine judgings.
When technicolor descriptions like "lush, tropical banana-nut aromatics" or "pineapple-coconut scent with licorice nuances" are lavished on sakes, they set up false expectations for the people who buy them. When they don't detect these highly subjective nuances, they think they either lack the sensitivity to appreciate fine sakes or conclude that the whole sake adventure is nothing but hype.
The truth is that sakes are subtle creations and people shouldn't expect to get bowled over as they would with a richly flavored Cabernet Sauvignon. As one enthusiast remarked, "A fine sake doesn't just have a flavor; it has a philosophy!"
Chris Pearce
Joy of Sake, Honolulu
Movie tickets costly
I'm 13 years old and I feel ripped off every time I go to a movie theater. As a teenager, I think that $8 for a movie ticket is just too much. Renting a video for a lower price is better. You can watch the video more than once and won't have to pay the double price at the movie theater.
Wai Mei Nham
America pays a dear price for that gasoline
I am not a frequent letter writer; however, I feel compelled to correct Ted Chernin's July 5 letter and his assertion that "gasoline is cheap." Inexpensive, maybe; fiscally affordable, OK. But cheap?
Until we break our reliance (addiction is a better term) on foreign oil, the U.S. will never reach its full potential. Taxes notwithstanding, the "patriots" who fill the Lincoln Navigator two or three times a week are financing states and regimes that are, in the understatement of the week, not compliant with what we consider to be free, democratic societies.
Take Saudi Arabia. Here's a monarchy with an abysmal human rights record, particularly toward women, that produced 15 of the Sept. 11 hijackers. Sure, we live in a free country, and some Americans will arrogantly, and correctly, insist it is their choice to use as much gas as they please. Prince Saud al-Faisal bin Abdul Aziz appreciates that attitude; how else can the Saudis afford to pay off families of Palestinian suicide bombers?
And these are our "friends." What about those oil-rich nations deemed terrorist states, such as Iraq, Libya and Syria?
Embargoes don't work. There is only one way to put OPEC & Co. in its place: Stop using so much oil. Anyone who says the technology for alternative fuel sources doesn't already exist is either ignorant or a liar.
But when we elect (barely) an oilman to run the show, I think it's safe to say reforms are not forthcoming. I thought it strange that President Bush never asked us to do anything to help the war effort except spend money to stimulate the economy and to "be vigilant," whatever that means. God forbid he'd advocate a policy detrimental to his precious industry.
As Americans, we are free to do pretty much whatever we want. I'm going to carpool, ride a motorcycle, take the bus and remind the officials in my district, both elected and appointed, that I'm sick of being the Middle East's junkie.
No, Mr. Chernin, gasoline most certainly is not cheap.
Dave Dutka
