Letters to the Editor

Chevron deserves everything it will get

After reading the Aug. 8 commentary by Melissa Pavlicek (lawyer for oil companies) on why capping the profits, of her clients, would be bad for consumers, I felt compelled to respond. First, I couldn't help feeling that here's the fox telling us why we shouldn't be guarding the chicken coup.

For years, Chevron has been bleeding Hawai'i by taking huge profits. And when asked how come it makes such a disproportionate amount of money more in Hawai'i than in any other state, we get the same old answer: "Hawai'i is a unique market." Well, no kidding. There is no competition because we have duopolies (Chevron/ Tesoro, Hawaiian/Aloha, Matson/ Horizon, HMSA/Kaiser) that, left unchecked, assure the price gouging that we see at the pump.

Keep in mind, folks, these are the same oil buddies of President Bush that manipulated the oil markets on the West Coast.

Without the gas-cap law, the oil companies will continue to exploit the people of Hawai'i for every cent they can get. The only thing at risk are the huge profits of the local oil refiners.

Sidewalk vendors, dancers a hazard

Under a bill approved unanimously by the City Council, unlicensed vendors will be prohibited at Kekaulike Mall and other parts of Chinatown. One of the reasons cited was that the peddlers were "creating safety concerns for pedestrians by clogging sidewalks and the mall."

Perhaps the City Council and the mayor should direct their attention to a very real safety concern every evening at Kalakaua and Royal Hawaiian avenues. The sidewalk is so clogged by break dancers performing on the corner that dozens of pedestrians are forced to use one traffic lane on Kalakaua to enter or pass the DFS Galleria.

At other sidewalk locations along Kalakaua, vendors create additional hazards by spreading their wares (and their bodies) all over the sidewalks.

If the bill works in Chinatown, why not in Waikiki?

Sixth Economic Summit for Girls was a success

Among those of us who work with girls, there is no mystery: Take them seriously, give them the tools and information they need to make healthy decisions, and they will act responsibly.

That is exactly what the Sixth Annual Economic Summit for Girls, sponsored by Sacred Hearts Academy, accomplished from July 28 to Aug. 1 for 30 girls from 21 public and private schools. The junior high girls saw an exciting glimpse of possible careers in the field of communications and what their future world of work promises with dedicated effort.

Mahalo to approximately 20 communications professionals from our community who sacrificed their office hours to share experiences and possible career paths with the young and eager summit participants. Also, monetary support from the Augustine Educational Foundation, First Hawaiian Bank, the Zonta Club of Honolulu and the Soroptimist International of Waikiki helped provide snapshots of the future world of work for these young women.

Girls must be prepared for a future of economic independence in order to ensure that their work lives will be productive and pleasurable, especially since 80 percent of Hawai'i's women work for wages and make up nearly half of Hawai'i's workforce. A debt of gratitude is indeed owed to these community professionals and businesses for helping to ensure that women can have greater economic security, a better quality of life and more career choices.

Native ground cover is better for erosion

It's odd that Mike Leidemann's item on repairs to the Pali hillside near Castle Junction didn't mention the cause of the unsafe conditions there — loss of native vegetation.

We cannot automatically look to remove mountains of dirt from our island as a solution to dangerous erosion.

I would hope that Rod Haraga has considered the long-term benefit of making efforts to return native ground cover to our eroding hillsides. Haraga says he's trying to avoid a Band-Aid approach, but this looks more like an amputation to me.

Homosexual union is a basic human right

Adults have inherent human rights to voluntarily assume binding obligations for other persons. Adoption is an example. Guardianship is another. And properly, as basic human rights, the civil law recognizes them.

Same-sex couples possess the same human rights to assume binding reciprocal obligations for each other. Of course, all religions are free to adopt their own policies regarding marriage and same-sex relationships. But the law must distinguish between religious prerogatives and human rights.

Religions may govern religious marriage. Anyone may voice their opinions on the morality and wisdom of voluntary same-sex relations between adults. But the U.S. Supreme Court has settled the question of whether homosexuality is against the law of the land. Unlike polygamy and incest, homosexuality is not a crime.

So now the time has come for the law to treat same-sex unions in every instance as completely interchangeable with the legal institution of marriage. Let marriage remain only between a man and a woman, but it should not be the only legal institution that recognizes such a basic civil right.

Lower cost of BRT to solve bus problem

In your Aug. 9 article "Hike in bus fares worries some seniors," Carol Costa, spokeswoman for Mayor Harris, said: "There is nothing else we (the city) could do. We've got to add revenue. There is no other way."

Ms. Costa, there is another way. Lower the $101 million annual cost of the Bus Rapid Transit system. Why is the cost so high? Why are bus drivers paid more than public school teachers? The average salary of a bus driver is about $45,000 a year. The average salary of a public school teacher is about $44,000 a year.

The city is willing to increase bus fares but is hesitant or unwilling to implement proposals for lowering the $101 million cost of the BRT. Mayor Harris and legislators realize lowering the cost of the BRT would result in loss of political or financial support from the Hawai'i Teamsters and Allied Workers union, which is responsible for the high salary cost of BRT employees.

Kobayashi heading council the wrong way

I was very disappointed to read your Aug. 6 article on the possible leadership change at the City Council. I had hoped that the new City Council, which was elected in November 2002, would turn over a new leaf and try to work cooperatively with the mayor and each other.

Unfortunately, Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi, as budget chairwoman, has seen to it that the City Council does everything in its power to oppose the mayor's policies and programs. And she has also tried to punish those council members, like Gary Okino, who had the common sense to correct her when she was wrong.

As long as people like Kobayashi are calling the shots, the council will be up to its old dirty tricks.

Back-up beepers in Waikiki have to go

The issue of noise pollution (especially in Waikiki) has been lamented frequently in The Advertiser's news and opinion pages. As it has been pointed out, one of the culprits that is both annoying and totally unrestricted are those persistent back-up beepers that beep incessantly when anything from a basic passenger van to a construction vehicle goes into reverse.

As I thought about this nuisance, I realized something completely absurd about this "safety" mechanism: The beeping is intended to warn people in the immediate area of the vehicle — let's say 10 to 15 yards — that a large vehicle is moving and the driver may not see someone behind it.

By my estimate, however, the sound from these beepers can carry up to 300 yards across a clear stretch. That means the sound (which in effect becomes noise beyond 15 yards) is often reaching the ears of people within a radius that is 20 to 30 times larger than the limited area it is intended for.

In our technologically advanced modern world, it is hard to imagine that we can't invent a more efficient method than this. Sooner or later those beepers have to go.

Any entrepreneurs out there? Please help — our sanity is at stake.

I wanted to thank John Knox for his excellent satirical response to Joel Kennedy's "Doing more hugging could help heal our world."

It made me laugh so hard I had to hug my wife and my son just to keep from doubling over.

I would have hugged our pets, too, but they're fish. Even I have to draw the line somewhere.

Racist initiatives threaten culture

Cultural preservation, we are told by Ken Conklin (Aug. 10), ranks high among Hawaiians' "priorities" for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs "long-term plan." Conklin fails to mention that there are ongoing threats to the preservation of Hawaiian culture.

These are racist initiatives that have been forwarded at least since the time of Rice v. Cayetano's having become a Supreme Court case. The initiatives include notably the post-Rice law cases against Hawaiian rights and the recent attempt by University of Hawai'i-Leeward administrators to remove coordinator (now director) Lucy Gay from the Wai'anae center.

The law cases have had mixed results. Conklin, in the meantime, seems confident of an anti-Hawaiian outcome for those still to be decided. In Lucy Gay's case, there was a resolution favorable to her and to Wai'anae's predominantly Hawaiian community.

If the Akaka bill, which Conklin vehemently opposes, were wrong for Hawai'i, we would still not be getting from the Conklinites the reasons why it is wrong. (I say Conklinites, not Riceites, because Harold Rice himself said, as did Justice Anthony Kennedy, that the Rice decision was about voting and nothing but voting. It did not give comfort to those who wanted a rollback of all Hawaiian rights and programs. Such an interpretation was falsely built into it by an anti-Hawaiian clique.)

Though he accepts U.S. federal jurisdiction over Hawaiians, Conklin does not accept "a federal trust relationship with Native Hawaiians." Putting this under "wrong," he even equates Hawaiians with a beggar and the federal government with a donor who may or may not choose to donate.

Conklin mentions only six Hawaiians by name, other than Sen. Akaka. Of these, four are current members of OHA. He evidently looks forward to a time when there would be no "danger" of prominent Hawaiians' deciding "personal and business affairs," either in the constitutionally provided OHA, or in a successor body after the Akaka bill. This is somewhat inconsistent with his own candidacy for OHA in 2000, in which he finished some 39,000 votes behind the nearest successful candidate.

The best that can be said for the Rice decision is that it has not produced any rush to elect non-Hawaiians to OHA. It now stands exposed as a racist decision, but one that we may hope will have limited effect on future scenarios.