Letters to the Editor

Appalachian State article appreciated

Stephen Tsai, I want to commend you on your article introducing Appalachian State to your readers. You were respectful not only to the football team (and its classification), but to the town and the region.

I know it is easy to belittle those who are of a lower classification or are not considered a place of high society. You should receive positive feedback from all App fans and residents of Boone who read your article.

In case you were wondering, the name of my town is pronounced the same as the school — it is a Southern thing.

Aloha was there at all the Mainland airports

I recently flew from Honolulu to Seattle, then to Norfolk, through Memphis and back through Minneapolis. I had to stand in many a long line, but was saved from dehydration because I had remembered my bottled water.

As a mother of four grown children, I understand how stressful waiting in line anywhere can be. However, strollers are still permitted in those long lines, to be checked at the plane. My advice on how to avoid standing in football-field-length lines: Get to the airport earlier. We can't all get on the plane first.

The airport staff has been trained to keep us safe from terrorism, and this is what they have to do. I did not see any sign of rudeness, but of watchful professionalism. I was pleased to see the staff and the passengers treating each other with aloha.

What surprised me was that it was the same in every airport on my trip. There is a spirit of camaraderie and a unity among the passengers and the staff of the various airports that was not there before Sept. 11. We were all on the same team, and I felt safer than ever before. I was so proud to be an American.

Twigg-Smith left out important information

Regarding Thurston Twigg-Smith's comments on Aug. 21: He failed to say that the so-called citizens of Hawai'i who overthrew the monarchy were white men who conspired together and that his grandfather, L.A. Thurston, was one of them.

Mr. Twigg-Smith has spent a large portion of his life twisting the facts and manipulating the truth to rationalize and justify the wrongdoing that his grandfather did to the Hawaiian people. When he passes from this life and stands face to face with the source of all truth, he will then realize that all of his time, effort and energy on this matter should have been wisely used to correct the wrong that his grandfather did.

When the enemies who dwell among us disturb me, I am always comforted by Psalm 37. It reminds me that I must be steadfast and trust in God, because eventually our enemies do die and then they are no more.

We in Hawai'i are so blessed to be racially diversified. We have learned and shared so much with each other. God bless the good people who have the spirit of aloha and do not try to use it for their own personal gain, and who respect the true host culture of these Islands.

Timmy Chang's reason for going to UH his own

Regarding the letter about Timmy Chang, "Professional student": There are many different reasons people of all ages go to college. Getting a degree is only one them. Many go to learn more about a hobby or an interest, or to find a spouse or affiliation. From teenagers to retirees, many attend because they want to do something different with their time.

So if Timmy Chang wants to attend UH to play football, thus making Hawai'i proud of our football team, then that's just as good a reason as any other. Get off his back!

Violence threat against child was overblown

I found U.S. Attorney Ed Kubo's warning to the public about the perceived threat of violence toward this child at Kamehameha Schools amusing.

From what I have seen on television and read in the papers, I haven't seen someone make a reference to " 'kill haole day' everyday." Maybe he's watching a different news station or reading different papers, but I saw no one make that statement.

It seems that Kubo is trying to demonize the righteous anger that the Native Hawaiian community has a right to feel. But more importantly, why does Kubo single out this incident?

I work at an intermediate school on O'ahu, and where is he when my students are threatened by others? Isn't that a crime, too? I haven't seen him walking onto my campus.

Kubo's comments were out of line, and even though he hopes that "cooler heads will prevail," his comments only helped to fan the flames of this debate. Let Kamehameha Schools and the Hawaiian community make their own decision about this issue — not the American government.