Posted on: Saturday, January 18, 2003

Letters to the Editor

Too many bad guys are getting parole

A recent report in The Advertiser's Police Beat section notified the public that the police are asking the public's help in finding yet another criminal who is wanted for a parole violation. This guy has 16 felony convictions, including assault, criminal property damage, theft, auto theft and accidents involving death or serious bodily injury.

Yes, count them, 16 felony convictions. Obviously this is not his first parole violation.

I'm not sure where this person is now, but I know where he should have been forever: in jail. Why does the Paroling Authority keep letting these scumbags out to perpetrate more crimes? Enough already.

Michael J. Lauck

Adoption a good way to confront abortions

I read with great interest the commentary on abortion in the Jan. 14 editorial section. At one time I was listening to a young couple talk about how evil abortion is, and I just asked them why they did not stop having more babies and adopt a child who is considered unacceptable. The husband replied, "I don't want someone else's kid." This seems to be a common feeling today.

A young woman who is pregnant should have options. If her child is coming into a world where nobody will care about it, think of the turmoil she must feel.

I have been very active with a family on the Mainland that has had many foster children and adopted three of those children into their family. Not all babies are born healthy and beautiful, but they have much love and devotion to share with a family. The mother of this family now works full time for a division of the foster care program, and she told me that it has become increasingly difficult in that area to place newborn babies who are not blond and blue-eyed.

Fine, if you do not approve of abortion, just open your hearts and your homes to these children. I guarantee that you will be blessed many times over.

Barbara Vincent

Sizable minorities still open to gambling

Regarding your Jan. 14 editorial on gambling: Upon a close review of the survey of our lawmakers, I see that there are about 20 who had "no comment" about the three questions relating to gambling. Some actually favored some kind of gambling. Ofthese 20 lawmakers, seven out of 12 in the House and five out of eight in the Senate have leadership positions as chairs or are natural leaders.

In summary, 23.5 percent of House members and 32 percent in the Senate seem to be straddling the gambling issue. These individuals may be key lawmakers at the early stages of lobbying.

Though your editorial was optimistic and final in tone, those who oppose legalized gambling in Hawai'i in any form should not be lulled into a sense of a foregone conclusion that gambling lobbyists won't make a heavy and concentrated effort in the Legislature this year. The legislators, the governor and the public-sector unions are hard-pressed to help balance the budget as well as finance pay raises and restore benefits.

I urge grass-roots advocates to stay alert and watch for the nuances in the hearings as they unfold.

Arvid Tadao Youngquist

Drug testing should be instructional

In regard to student drug testing: Constitutional rights, civil rights and privacy are all to be considered with this issue, but the overwhelming concern, it seems, is the fitness of our student population to learn. This doesn't seem clear to young people: It's in the job description of a student to learn.

The message of testing has negative aspects, but the positive points cannot be dismissed. The difference should also be presented between abuse and use; if you can't handle fire, and other dangerous things in life, don't mess with them.

Mature people learn this important lesson in life. Testing should be diagnostic and rehabilitation-oriented and not be to penalize.

Frank Luke

Repatriation with full military honors

Because my maternal grandparents, Keum Whan Chang and Do Yun Hong, had worked tirelessly in the Hawai'i movement to liberate Korea from Japan, the South Korean government asked our family if we would be willing to repatriate my grandparents.

With the family's consent, the South Korean government paid for the exhumation and cremation of my grandparents' bodies, and for the transportation of their ashes to Seoul in 2002. About 20 friends and relatives accompanied the ashes on the flight from Honolulu.

When we arrived at Incheon Airport, dignitaries and a band greeted us. Our family formally transferred the urns to the government. The next day, we rode on a bus to the National Memorial Cemetery, where there was a ceremony and interment of the ashes with full military honors. We took turns shoveling dirt into the grave. Some of us were moved to tears.

After the trip, I composed the following poem in honor of my grandparents:

Oh, Korea,
Far from your shores
Have I wandered,
Always thinking of you,
Loving you.

Now, I return,
My motherland,
Like a joyful bird to
Its unforgettable nest.

Glenda Chung Hinchey