Letters to the Editor
Communities make all the difference
In an Aug. 29 editorial ("Good luck to 'Ewa's Weed & Seed program"), The Honolulu Advertiser correctly focuses on the importance of community involvement in making Weed & Seed a success in Kalihi-Palama/Chinatown and Waipahu.
Not only is our success based on the generous support of volunteers and partners such as the Aloha United Way, YMCA, the state and federal judiciaries, and countless others, but in the unselfish, team spirit approach of working together toward a common goal. Through the Weed & Seed strategy, these organizations and volunteers have proven that by working together, we can accomplish anything.
Mahalo to all of our partners for their ongoing support. Their vision for stronger communities has played a critical role in the success of Weed & Seed. By helping to make some of Hawai'i's toughest, most troubled neighborhoods into positive, healthy and thriving communities for the families who live there, they are making Hawai'i a better place for all of us.
I'm proud to be part of this team to ensure the continued success of Hawai'i's Weed & Seed program, and I would like to thank The Honolulu Advertiser for its words of encouragement.
Edward H. Kubo Jr.
United States Attorney, Department of Justice
Pidgin English can be used world over
In 1980, I was an 18 year-old GI who was newly assigned to Germany. A group of guys got together to explore an off-base locale during our liberty period.
In Trier, three of us tried to ask a salesclerk to show us a Bierstein in blue. The two other guys happened to be from Pennsylvania with German surnames. One had no inkling of the language, the other had a rudimentary knowledge.
The salesclerk told us "Wir haben kein im Blau." No one understood her. When I asked, "You get or no mo?" She responded "No mo."
The other two could not understand why they could understand me and she could understand me but the salesclerk and they could not understand each other.
From then on I was the official "translator."
It may not be refined and may grate at the ears of some, but Pidgin English has practical uses.
Damon Senaha
Lieutenant commander, U.S. Navy
San Diego
Media are distorting genetic engineering
In a Sept. 1 Focus commentary on Asian stereotypes, UCLA Professor Tom Plate writes that "the media's role in creating poisonous public opinion is disturbing."
Front-page headlines of the same issue — "Seed research fears growing" and "Genetic engineering debate threatens Hawai'i's industry" — fit Professor Plate's concerns. Both are alarmist and inaccurate.
In this and another recent article, Advertiser staffer John Duchemin and headline writers basically display their bias and naiveté. And they could create "poisonous public opinion" about Hawai'i's $40 million seed research industry.
Many technical errors characterize these articles. No mention is made of the genetically engineered papayas eaten safely in our state. No mention is made of the genetically engineered (GMO or "transgenic") cotton, soybeans, corn and other crops now dominating U.S. production, greatly reducing pesticide use and saving consumers and growers big-time. No care is taken to place in context the current EPA inquiries into two possible infractions in Hawai'i, occurring as they did among over a thousand other approved trials.
Transgenics offer to revolutionize human, plant and animal biology, in the way that computers have industry. Duchemin writes of "brewing battles" between Hawai'i's activists and seedsmen. The only battle may be to educate activists about modern biotechnology.
The Hawai'i Crop Improvement Association and Syngenta Corp. have assumed leadership in educating Hawai'i's public about GMOs. There are many superb Web sites on the subject, such as those of Penn State, Colorado State and Ohio State universities. This education is essential if only to tame activist emotions.
It would be most disturbing, a la Plate, if Honolulu's news media choose not to educate but to encourage activism by articles such as those referred to.
Jim Brewbaker
Kailua
Thanks, neighbors, for help with lost cat
Last weekend we lost our beloved cat, Punkin, when we were displaced from our home due to termite fumigation. He escaped from the house where we were staying and remained missing for two days.
We just want to express our gratitude to the people along Mahealani Place, Kakahiaka Street, Wanaao Road and Triangle Park area for their compassion and kindness. We are also grateful to all the local businesses that were willing to post a flyer about our lost kitty. Everyone we talked with extended a message of hope and support.
We just wanted these wonderful Kailua neighbors to know our beloved Punkin has been found and that we are grateful and proud to know aloha is alive in our town.
Bob and Karen Bowman
Volunteers needed to clean our beaches
I am writing to you because of my concern about the beaches. I think we should have more volunteers to clean the beaches.
I like to surf, and a lot of beaches in Wai'anae where I live have trash in the water and around the beaches.
I don't know why people want to destroy the beaches. They are one of our best things known to tourists.
I'm now writing to you from the Hawai'i Youth Challenge Program. When I graduate from here, I would like to surf clean and beautiful waters.
Coby Kaio Jr.
Candidate Duke Aiona a positive role model
Duke Aiona is my choice for lieutenant governor.
When I was in high school and searching for my path in life, someone introduced me to Duke Aiona and explained that he was a lawyer and a judge. I remember being so impressed by Duke that I vowed to study hard and go to law school. Because of Duke's example, I am now a practicing attorney in Honolulu specializing in public-interest law.
Thank you, Duke, for being a positive role model to a generation of young Hawaiians like myself. You are the person Hawai'i needs as its next lieutenant governor.
Kevin Souza
Democrats didn't offer real change
After watching the Democratic debate for governor, I for one won't be voting for any of those three candidates.
Mazie Hirono wants to put together another economic group, "Thumbs down, Hawai'i."
Ed Case wants to be a leader in change when he has been part of the mess for the last eight years.
Shoots, I could only agree with Andy Anderson on the pineapple lottery and to fire the bums we now have in our government, but he, too, didn't have any new ideas on change.
So I just say "See, ya" to these three has-beens.
Robert Martin
Hawai'i Kai
Governor candidates should debate again
The first televised debate involving the Democratic candidates for governor did show the differences that separate each candidate. And more debates would surely help voters make clear decisions in the voting booth.
But your editorial call to "bring on the debates" is puzzling. There aren't any more televised debates planned, now that Mazie Hirono lost the KHON-TV debate. According to the station's telephone survey, Ed Case was the clear winner of the debate. Hirono has declined to appear in a second televised debate KITV was planning for Sept. 13.
KITV should go on with the debate with an empty chair for Mazie. But KITV is allowing itself to be manipulated by Mazie. She won't go, so KITV won't show.
So it's time for you, The Advertiser, to not only talk the talk, but how about walking the walk? Join your television partner, KHNL, to televise a debate. You owe it to yourselves as protectors of free speech and an informed electorate.
Gil Kahele
Hilo
Do something about political mess we're in
Hawai'i has one of the lowest voting percentages in the nation. What does that say about our state?
Here we are, talking about government corruption and complaining about the way things are run, but whose fault is it? Ours. By not voting, we are basically saying we don't care about who gets elected. We let unwanted candidates win and then moan and groan about it later.
If we want our government to be the way we want, we have to do something about it. The effort of having to scribble on paper with names on it surely outweighs the consequences of having another good-for-nothing politician in office.
I'm only 15, but I would give anything to be able to vote. Why? So that when I get older, I'll be able to enjoy a government that meets the needs of the people. For now, though, I'll settle for yelling at those of you who only stay home watching the television for voting results.
Assert your right to vote. If you can't this year, then the next election. Politicians are right about at least one thing: We need change. However, this change won't come by just sitting around and praying.
Neal Akatsuka
Kane'ohe
Student support job requires hard work
In a Sept. 6 article in the Hawai'i Tribune Herald, Associated Press reporter Bruce Dunford addressed the Student Support Services program. It sounded as if the state auditor, Marion Higa, was slamming the position of student services coordinator.
It is easy to mix up the acronyms in DOE. CSSS is the Comprehensive Student Support System that Higa was speaking about. I am an SSC, student services coordinator. The article sounded as if SSCs don't have enough to do and that they do clerical jobs to fill their time.
That is a gross injustice to all SSCs in this state who do an incredible amount of work in any single day, usually working overtime, to keep their school compliant with the Felix Consent Decree. Higa would not find any misspent money there.
I think Dunford should write another article to explain how very important the job of a student services coordinator is and how extremely important he or she is to the education of students with disabilities.
Petie Brown
Papa'ikou, Big Island
Politicians should focus on truancy
Every year we hear the same old promises from our political candidates about how they are going to improve public education by raising teacher salaries and upgrading our school facilities with more computers and new textbooks. They rattle off these old pat promises like clockwork trying to appeal to potential voters with their same old trite solutions.
While these approaches have some merit, I have never heard anyone promise to try to raise the level of our children's education by making more of an effort to ensure that they attend the classes they are supposed to.
Hawai'i has one of the nation's highest truancy rates, and yet no candidate seems to recognize this as a problem. It seems pretty basic to me. We cannot expect our children to receive a good education if they do not attend their classes, no matter how good our teachers and facilities are.
All one has to do is to go to the beaches or the shopping malls on any school day to see where many of our local students spend their time. These are the same ones who wind up keeping our national SAT averages down.
The first candidate who promises to improve public education by enforcing and improving truancy laws will get my vote.
Gerald S. Bluedorn
The two gentlemen of Castle Junction
I am sure many people have encountered the two rather comical gentlemen who sell newspapers at Castle Junction in Kailua. They use the power of laughter to entice customers.
I would also like to commend them for an act of kindness I witnessed recently. I watched as they came to the rescue of an older woman whose car stalled. These two kind men opened up her hood and worked on the engine. I assume they temporarily fixed the problem, directed her to the nearest gas station, stopped traffic, let her merge back onto the highway, and went on with their merry ways.
Mahalo, gentlemen! You were truly kind.
Amelia Woods
Kailua
