Letters to the Editor
Maui losing charm as old stores close
Fukushima's Store in Ha'iku, Maui, is something to hang on to; the old building that serves hot dogs and noodles is a throwback to small-kid time.
Years ago, when I was growing up in Lahaina, Front Street boasted the mom and pops big time, and if they were around today instead of those art galleries, the tourists would find that the character of the town unique. Lahaina lost a lot, like Sunset Freeze with its old-fashioned homemade hamburgers.
At Yamamoto's shave ice, Mr. Yamamoto would always say, "Yes, sah, good, good," as he poured the flavored syrup over the ice. Or the shrimp tempura from Yamada's Okazu Ya. Lahaina lost a lot when the Ueyahara store closed down right below the bridge where the Old Lahaina Lu'au is situated.
Kihei still has Suda Store, Wailuku still has Ooka's Supermarket and Happy Valley still has Takamiya's. At least those towns still have the mom and pops, but when those are gone, Maui will be the worst for it.
Shopping at those places has a good vibe to it. Hungry fo one hot dog and you in Ha'iku? Go Fukushima's. You like one saimin and you down Kihei? Go Suda's. You like shop for good kine poke or some good kine beef or pork? Go Ooka's.
As far as future businesses go, I hope more local people will start up their own businesses and keep the revenues on our own island. We can learn from the past. Sometimes the bigwigs who come here will offer jobs, but for how long?
Who knows aloha? We, da locals, do. And that, my friends, will make things more attractive.
Ronald R. Sambrano
And now, for the rest of the dental story
Here is some additional information to Rod Ohira's Aug. 22 story on the 40th anniversary of the Hawai'i Dental Service.
Instituting dental care in Hawai'i's collective bargaining contracts became a reality when the ILWU San Francisco head office, which had gained such a benefit on the West Coast, recommended it to Hawai'i's Local 142 through its regional director, the late Jack Hall.
Thereafter, in collaboration with interested dentists, the union sponsored enabling legislation for prepaid dental care, similar to its efforts in the late 1950s, to allow prepaid group medical practice, which brought the Kaiser Health Plan to Hawai'i.
ILWU Local 142 made a $10,000 loan to a group of dentists, who then organized the HDS, whose first executive director was the now-deceased John Kim, DDS.
That small beginning laid the groundwork for subsequent dental care in almost all union and employer contracts, as well as its provision to unorganized workers by enlightened employers.
The first state dental care plan negotiated between ILWU Local 142 and HDS covered only children of longshore workers at a total annual premium of $30 per child. The details of coverage were worked out by the late Goldie Kranz Kerr, who was then director of the ILWU/PMA (Pacific Maritime Association) Health & Welfare Plan headquartered in San Francisco and assisted by me.
Because the costs of the longshore children ran inordinately higher than collected premiums, the local turned its attention to education of families to matters of prevention and diet.
A.Q. McElrath
Retired ILWU social worker
Federal pursuit of suspects atrocious
The stories may not seem to be related — the charges brought by the feds against developer William Mau and the case of biologist Steven Hatfill. Indeed, Mau may be guilty as charged.
However, the manner in which federal authorities pursue their suspects is both atrocious and abominable.
Biologist Steven Hatfill has made his case in public that he had nothing to do with the anthrax attacks, but the feds continue chasing him, perhaps because they need a conviction to show their success.
Such a blatant denial of respect by Attorney General John Ashcroft and his henchmen and the way they are portrayed as lawmen in the media make me suspect that anyone appearing in the media as a suspect these days is likely the target of the zealous followers of these jackbooted thugs.
David Ashworth
Kapolei
Security processing was simply stupid
The Advertiser reported, in a front-page article on Aug. 29, that the Transportation Security Administration is going to really speed up security processing at U.S. airports. How? They will no longer require airline agents to ask passengers if their belongings have been "out of your immediate control since the time you packed them."
A TSA spokesman said these questions are "simply obsolete." Simply stupid is more accurate. The real reason the TSA is dropping this requirement is that many passengers cannot honestly answer this question in the affirmative.
Why? Because frequently a passenger is being strip-searched in one area while other airport security personnel have removed his belongings from his "immediate control" to hand-search them or run them repeatedly through X-ray machines out of sight of the passenger.
Meanwhile, buried back on page A15 of the same Advertiser issue, you will find a real story of just one of the messes created by the Transportation Security Administration and the Department of Homeland Security. It's about the unworkable and mostly useless "air marshal" program.
Jack M. Schmidt Jr.
Kailua
Principal, vice principal regulation senseless
You asked for examples of senseless regulations. Here's a big one: Only Department of Education employees are allowed to apply for the jobs of principal and vice principal of public schools.
Now, enabling qualified teachers to become administrators without being "bumped" by outsiders made sense when we had a surplus of administrators. However, today our public schools are facing a shortage of about 60 principals and 150 vice principals.
That means about one-third of our public schools are operating without a permanent leader. But if one of the Kamehameha Schools principals applied for a public school position, he or she would not be qualified to even apply.
We can open these jobs to any qualified applicant and still reward DOE employees for their dedication. We can rate applicants on a point system and award extra points to DOE employees based on their years of service.
The shortage of public school principals and vice principals will get worse, as most of them are, or will soon be, eligible for retirement. We need to fill these positions.
By opening the application process, we will bring new people with commitment, energy and new ideas into a system that desperately needs them.
Laura H. Thielen
School Board candidate, Windward District
Walter Tamashiro will truly be missed
Walter Tamashiro, who passed away on Aug. 15, was truly a great man. The word "generous" does not adequately describe Walter. He was a giver who never expected anything in return.
I had visited Walter at Kuakini with his wife, Louise, at his bedside. He had lost a lot of weight, but remained cheerful and upbeat. His voice was strong and his memory sharp.
I was relaying to Mrs. Tamashiro some of the events that Walter had shared with us and also the many things he had done for our 19th Hole Gang. I would start relating to certain events, and Walter would pick it up from there. Little did I know then that it would be the last time I would see and talk to Walter.
I previously wrote to The Advertiser when Coach June Jones was fighting for his life. I mentioned that I was not an active churchgoer and that the last time I prayed was in 1969 when we were under rocket attack in Vietnam. I prayed for Coach Jones then, and I did pray for Walter after my visit.æ
In life, we win some and we lose some. That's life. But I truly believe that, just as the U.S. Marine Corps is always looking for a few good men, the good Lord also needs a few good men up there.æ
Walter, aloha and mahalo for being such a great friend. You will truly be missed.
Stanley Mukai and your 19th Hole Gang
Another Web site has Hawaiian music
Tom Green of Denver is lamenting the possible demise of Internet Radio of Hawai'i. Isn't Tom familiar with the world's most listened-to Hawaiian Internet musical programming, www.alohajoe.com?
Alohajoe.com is self-sustaining financially; listeners do not pay for the privilege of listening. Advertisers pay alohajoe.com to showcase their products.
By the way, www.alohajoe.com broadcasts 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and features live programming on Saturday mornings. The link to alohajoe's CD store is on his home page, as well as links to Hula Records and Cord International.
Leilani Ferguson
American Samoa
Why no bus service?
I read in the Aug. 22 Advertiser about the change of contractors for school bus service on Hawai'i. What have the students of the charter schools there done to exclude them from this service? Are the charter schools not under the DOE? Is there some part of the law regulating charter schools that precludes their access to bus service?
Would someone at the DOE please explain.
Richard Simmers
Traffic-calming device irritating
In response to the Aug. 18 commentary by John Goody, bicyclist and self-appointed Lulani Street Association representative: Which specific aspect of our risky lives is he most intent on saving us from?
Is it hamburgers, the horrible SUV, global warming, fat people? No. His lament is to the opposition he has uncovered in the way he has chosen to deal with, "The simple and moral imperative of slowing speeding cars in residential areas for the safety of fellow residents." Moral imperative?
Recently, on his street (my street), he, the city Department of Transportation Services (DTS) and the neighborhood board dictated that the folks at the "other end of the street from his house" (my end) have a traffic-calming device planted in front of our homes, immediately. Here's how the July neighborhood board meeting went:
A vote was taken on whether or not to place such a device in the street, far from his house. The board voted against it. Thinking it was over, many neighbors went home after their victory.
Once they left, DTS and its operatives, refusing to accept defeat, held another vote. Now the vote was to place a "traffic-calming device" in on a trial basis. (Ask residents of Kihapai Street in Kailua how successful they have been at getting their "trial" devices removed.)
DTS even lost this second vote — that is, until the neighborhood board decided to vote as well, on behalf of their "fellow residents." They threw in with DTS and Mr. Goody to put the number of votes in favor of the device into the majority. Ah, democracy at work.
The citizens (at my end of the street) now have our traffic-calming device, complete with seven new signs. We get to hear the traffic braking to a crawl, then wildly accelerating to make up for the lost time. We get to hear the thumping of tires over the hump. We get to hear the clanging of commercial vehicles and pickup trucks as their beds bang over the safety measure. We get to hear the honking of the irate drivers who blame us for this impediment to their right of smooth passage down this former country lane.
Guess what? Those who choose to speed are still speeding. At 35 miles per hour, they glide over the speed bump, and ironically make the least noise. BMX bikes love the new jump. I don't like the "stink eye" that former well-wishers are now affording me. Lulani Street, in front of my house, looks and sounds like an egress from the airport.
I know this decision has only to do with our safety, so thoughtfully dictated by those few who live far away and are unaffected by the results of their "moral imperative."
Russ Oberther
Kane'ohe
