Posted on: Friday, August 22, 2003

Letters to the Editor

One issue does not make Case a moderate

In Jerry Burris' paean to Rep. Ed Case, offer of proof consists of a single moderate position on the Jones Act. One position! I guess Burris is trying to invert the normal rules of logic by exchanging an exception with a rule. By my definition, a single position out the hundreds is an exception rather then a rule.

Rep. Case is solidly on the far left when it comes to foreign policy (like the vast majority of the congressional Democrats, he opposes the war in Iraq, for example), environmental policy (supports Kyoto, opposes domestic energy production, etc.), Social Security (no reform allowed), racial politics (supported discrimination enshrined in the "racial quotas," supports the Hawaiian Bantustan bill of Sen. Akaka, etc.). Need I say more?

Only in a warped world of a left-wing reactionary would Rep. Case seem moderate by comparison. How one positions political figures on the left/right scale is a litmus test of one's political beliefs.

Who led segregation?

Regarding Robert Rees' Aug. 17 commentary "Elections chief new scapegoat": Mr. Rees mentions the Riverside Elementary School as the "English standard school," a euphemism for segregated.

I attended that school and am curious to learn who directed the segregation. We will then better understand why the euphemism was necessary. I pray that former students of the school don't end up following UH President Evan Dobelle on the scapegoat list.

Dog feces mar walk along Kawainui Marsh

My girlfriend and I have our children enrolled in soccer. Their practices are at Kaha Field along Kawainui Marsh. We decided to walk the marsh while the children were at practice.

While walking along the footpath to get to the marsh, we found the grass and walkway littered with dog feces, making it hard to walk a straight path.

The path along the marsh is beautiful, yet my eyes were focused on the ground because of the amount of feces that were left behind from dogs.

Please, dog owners, if you're responsible enough to own a dog and take them for a walk, then please be responsible enough to carry plastic bags to pick up their mess and dispose of it properly.

Akaka bill wouldn't grant 'sovereignty'

Advertiser Washington Bureau reporter Derrick DePledge wrote in the story "Akaka bill finds support among Hawaiians on Mainland": "The federal recognition bill, which would create a process for Hawaiians to form their own sovereign government ... "

Nothing in the Akaka bill can offer "sovereignty" for Hawai'i. According to Black's Law Dictionary (Sixth Edition), sovereignty means independence; see http://alohaquest.com/archive/sovereignty.htm.

Please do not confuse the Akaka bill with sovereignty. The Congress of the United States cannot grant sovereignty to Hawai'i or any other nation. Instead, the Akaka bill offers wardship for Hawaiians similar to that accorded American Indians. The sad story of American Indians is the most successful genocide in history.

Surely Hawaiians would not want that.

Bus strike would hurt the working poor most

A citywide bus strike will most impact the people who have had no voice in the decision-making process.

Hawai'i has the best bus routes and one of the lowest fare schedules in the nation — why all the fuss about raising monthly passes by $7 or $8? A fare increase would ensure that most people are served at a reasonable price. Thousands of working poor in Hawai'i depend on the bus to get to work daily. If there is a strike, they may lose health insurance benefits and will lose earnings.

Shame on the City Council if it allows a bus strike to happen, and bigger shame on the bus union for going out on strike. Strong-arming the bus operator and using Hawai'i's poor to further an agenda should be illegal.

Bus drivers make more then city police. Shame on us all for that.

Small-business loans by bank have grown

By comparing statistical apples and oranges, your Aug. 13 article on small-business loans ("Startups struggle to find cash") left the erroneous impression that small-business lending by First Hawaiian Bank has declined in recent years. That's not true.

• In 2000, we made 3,090 loans to small businesses totaling more than $147 million. Last year, we made 3,279 such loans for a total of $241 million. The number of loans rose 6 percent; the amount loaned was up 63 percent. The average loan is about $60,000, just the size of lending discussed in your story.

• More than half of these loans have gone to the smallest businesses — those with annual revenues below $250,000.

• For the last three years in a row, First Hawaiian Bank was been chosen by the U.S. Small Business Administration as Lender of the Year for Hawai'i — and we're well on our way to a fourth year as No. 1.

Small businesses are the backbone of our Island economy, and we're proud of what we have done to help thousands of them grow, expand and create jobs.

More warning signs should be posted

Regarding the Aug. 19 article "Maui visitor dies after saving son from 'Ohe'o pools": Something has to be done now. Tourists and others should not be allowed into the Pools of 'Ohe'o and Palikea Stream. More warning signs should be posted, or other measures should be taken besides exploring the possibility of a warning system, which is long overdue.

In four months, three people have lost their lives, plus last year a lady lost her life there.

The park service and the state could be held liable for these deaths.

No WMD, just fake bags

Regarding Cliff Slater's recent Jones Act column: I've been in Hong Kong for three months on the U.S. Customs Container Security Initiative reviewing manifests with a team of U.S. Customs inspectors to ensure that no WMD comes into the United States in a seagoing container. No bombs so far, only container loads of fake Louis Vuitton bags.

Kamehameha student controversy

Being hanai doesn't justify deception

I am irate about the decision to allow a non-Hawaiian boy to attend Kamehameha. I cannot see how Kalena Santos' being hanai justifies taking Kamehameha Schools to court and trying to change the will of our beloved Princess Pauahi Bishop.

How can this woman, who claims to be Hawaiian, even attempt to change a policy that has been in effect for years? How is this winning? In the short run, it will be her son who loses out by having to go through this unnecessary burden that could and should have been avoided. But, in the long run, it is the Hawaiians who will suffer.

What do we as Hawaiians have to do to make people understand that we are not discriminating toward Westerners. Instead, we are trying to better ourselves as Hawaiians. When will the social injustice stop?

Lawsuit abuses law, frays social fabric

Judge Ezra's ruling to allow a non-Hawaiian to attend Kamehameha Schools signals a new low in honor.

I am a non-Hawaiian born and raised on the Mainland. I moved here without much political awareness but a basic sense of fairness. To me, these California and Texas lawyers coming over to file cases to take the little that native Hawaiians have left after 150 years of thievery have no sense of morality or history. They are abusing the law and fraying Hawai'i's social fabric.

We live here together and know what is right.

Just over 20 years ago, Hawai'i's citizens came together and voted to support native Hawaiian rights and enshrine them in our state Constitution. It is time now for all of us again to defend the native culture that gives these Islands life.

Don't blame Brayden for facts of others

Let Brayden attend classes without the protests. Don't blame him.

Brayden, 12 years old, should be provided guidance and protection. What kind of example are they providing him? They are using him as a pawn against a system (Kamehameha for Hawaiians).

I want the best for him. To have him go through this, having pictures of him plastered all over the place, I feel for him, knowing that this experience will always be with him.

This protest against my grandson reminds me of an incident in the '50s when a black girl was protested against when she tried to attend a whites-only school.

School should have done a better job

In her wisdom, Bernice Pauahi Bishop created a trust that would give Hawaiian children a chance in a society that, at that time, gave educational opportunity and preference to non-Hawaiians.

This snafu should never have reached the courts. Kamehameha's administration should have done a better job of researching the application and avoid the resulting public bruhaha.

The ratio of Hawaiian children accepted to Kamehameha versus those who apply is still sadly low. This is what frustrates Hawaiians, who year after year see their children turned away for one reason or another.

Seeing a federal judge bend to political pressure and reward deceptive manipulation only fans the flame.

Trustees once thought of changing eligibility

In 1931, the then-Bishop Estate trustees on their own accord proposed to change the Kamehameha Schools' policy and admit a small percentage of non-Hawaiians. A threat of a lawsuit by various native Hawaiian organizations and the Kamehameha Alumni Association challenging a non-exclusionary admission policy resulted in the trustees' revocation of the proposed policy change.

The most significant difference between 1931 and the present controversy over a non-exclusionary admission policy is that the Kamehameha Schools (now that the Bishop Estate is defunct) trustees' proposed change in policy was in response to lawsuits by non-Hawaiians challenging an exclusionary admission policy.

It's doubtful that a decision by the courts (federal or state) will definitively and permanently settle the matter, as values and beliefs change over time, but it should be productive to society that the courts act and permit structured public dialogues on this policy issue.

Only native Hawaiians should attend schools

I am deeply disappointed with Wednesday's ruling on the Mohica-Cummings case.

In her will, Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop made provisions to begin a formal educational establishment and suggested that preference go to "Hawaiians of pure or part aboriginal blood." The word "preference" can be interpreted in two ways:

• Princess Pauahi wanted Kamehameha Schools established for the exclusive benefit of native Hawaiians.

• All native Hawaiians should receive the benefit of an education from Kamehameha Schools, before those of non-Hawaiian ancestry.

In the state of Hawai'i as well as on the Mainland, there are thousands of qualified Hawaiians who are of "pure or part aboriginal blood" who have not received the benefit of an education from Kamehameha Schools.

Enough of segregation

Is the image of Hawai'i to be that of Martin Luther King or of George Wallace? People died to rid our country of segregation. Fortunately, we are a country of laws; we should honor the law.

Leave schools alone

Kamehameha Schools is a private institution established to ensure a quality education for Hawaiian children. The operative word is "private" — not public-funded. It doesn't have to admit haole; it has a responsibility to give preference to kanaka maoli applicants. Leave it alone and let it do what it is supposed to do.