Posted on: Monday, July 14, 2003

Letters to the Editor

Bush collecting checks while donors rewarded

Under the tax bill signed by the president in May, families earning as much as $149,000 a year will get a $400 rebate check for each child this month while 6 million families earning between $10,500 and $26,625 will not. Republican House leaders are currently doing a great job of blocking legislation that would correct this unfair policy.

President Bush is making it quite clear where he stands in this mess. He's busy collecting $2,000 campaign checks from the very wealthy people whose capital gains and dividend tax cuts took priority over child tax credits for lower-income families, 200,000 of whom are on active military duty.

I wonder how welcome the president would be if he tried to land on the deck of an aircraft carrier this month.

Why is Conservancy purchasing our lands?

Why is the Nature Conservancy, a charitable organization, purchasing lands in Hawai'i for federal use? If the United States has eminent domain in Hawai'i, the power to take private property for public use, why didn't the United States condemn the recently acquired 116,000 acres on the Big Island for the U.S. National Park Service?

According to its Web site, "The Nature Conservancy pursues non-confrontational, pragmatic, market-based solutions to conservation challenges."

Did the Nature Conservancy need to get involved because the Big Island lands were part of the Samuel Damon Estate, which most likely has breaks in the land title going back to the overthrow of 1893 or annexation in 1898 that encumber the lawful transferring of title to those lands?

The Nature Conservancy earlier also purchased the island of Palmyra for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The transfer of Palmyra from the Territory of Hawai'i to the United States was part of the Hawai'i Statehood Act of 1959, but evidently that title won't hold up in a court of law either. But having the Nature Conservancy step in does seem to keep it all "non-confrontational" — for now.

All residents in Hawai'i need to start asking why? Lawful land titles, jurisdiction and domain in Hawai'i still reside in the Kingdom of Hawai'i.

UH-Manoa chancellor has faculty confidence

We are writing in response to your June 29 article "Chancellor faces mounting criticism," regarding concerns over the leadership style of the new UH-Manoa chancellor, Peter Englert.

As faculty senate chairs of Kapi'olani and Honolulu community colleges, we've had the opportunity to attend various system meetings with Chancellor Englert. In our dealings with him, he has exhibited a style of leadership far from "dictatorial." He has been most sensitive to the inclusion of faculty in policy decisions and understanding of that participation as essential for significant change.

We find Chancellor Englert to be a collaborative leader with a dynamic and positive vision for the University of Hawai'i who has demonstrated a strong commitment to the community colleges and Manoa working closely together to transform higher education to better serve Hawai'i students.

Chancellor Englert has been most affirming of the value of the community colleges, and views the UH system as a functionally interdependent institution. His vision includes community colleges as partners in undergraduate education that will complement Manoa's mission of excelling in upper-division and graduate education and research.

As graduates of UH-Manoa, we look forward to the future of our alma mater under the leadership of Chancellor Englert. As faculty members within the system, we are excited about Chancellor Englert's genuine commitment to building a partnership between Manoa and the community college campuses based on collaboration, trust and respect.

Labeling puts people in 'boxes' to be managed

In your July 6 Letters column, Don McDiarmid Jr. wrote " ... the great difference between a liberal and a conservative is the fact that the conservative will almost always stand up and proudly say, I am a conservative, as I do. A liberal will rarely do so."

I think I know why this might be.

One doesn't have to work through too many psychology courses before learning that labeling, a form of name-calling, is a shortcut method used to put people in "boxes" so they may more easily be "managed." This obviates any need to discuss issues among people with different views — it's "my way or the highway" thinking. One must always be vigilant that this marginalizing process doesn't run away as it did in Germany last century, when metaphorical boxes were exchanged for physical ones containing gas.

Healthy-minded people don't resort to name-calling and labeling — certainly if they are serious about solving society's problems. Healthy-minded people argue issues and not tokens for issues.

Children were pawns of Christian Coalition

Thanks for the excellent column by Lee Cataluna on July 8. She's right: There were many "losers" in the "Family Day" event of July 6 — most especially the children, who became pawns of the Hawai'i Christian Coalition.

While it will be up to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to decide whether or not the City & County of Honolulu was indeed a sponsor of the parade, I would still like to know why roughly 25 percent of the parade had city vehicles and employees and if the city paid for them (the city certainly wouldn't supply free use of city vehicles for the Gay Pride Parade).

Why was the city a co-sponsor of a Christian evangelical rally (which is what the "Family Day" event at the park really was)?

All born into families

Mahalo plenty to Lee Cataluna for her great article on Family Day. The only thing I can add is that all gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people were born into and raised in families. Those facts alone should have qualified them to be part of any Family Day parade and festivities.

Journalists must be held to high standard

The Honolulu Community-Media Council is a 32-year-old volunteer organization whose mission is to broaden public understanding of the role of the media and to encourage quality journalism. The Honolulu Advertiser's coverage of KITV's financial arrangement with HVCB for news coverage in Japan is an example of quality journalism.

Unfortunately, KITV's acceptance of funding from the HVCB to accompany Gov. Lingle on her trip violates both journalistic ethics and the "common-sense" rule — if it looks like a conflict of interest, it probably is.

The public holds journalists to a high standard, expecting them to gather and report the news in an objective, unbiased manner. It's discouraging that it was not immediately apparent to KITV management that its reporter's ability to be objective (and to be perceived as such) would be severely compromised by accepting tax dollars funneled through the HVCB.

Journalists must be free of obligation to any interest other than the public's right to know the truth. Thus, gifts, favors, free travel, special treatment or privileges can compromise the integrity of journalists and their employers. The Society of Professional Journalists' Code of Ethics itself wisely tells its journalists that they should "be wary of sources offering information for favors or money."

Why is any of this important? If journalists abuse the public's trust, the public turns away from the press, hurting both the press and society. KITV's actions only increase the public's widespread distrust of the media.

Despite KITV general manager Mike Rosenberg's denial of any wrongdoing, the HCMC commends KITV for its wise decision to pay its own travel costs.

Let's clean up our act before the invitations

Gov. Lingle's visit to Japan at this time was a total waste.

Before you invite people to your "house," you make it "shine" to show it off. Hawai'i is not (yet) ready to be shown off. There is no aloha spirit in Waikiki or at the airports. Daily we report crimes. In addition, the Japanese travel trend is changing to more natural and exotic destinations. That is not us anymore.

And is Lingle improving the Japanese economy? That's another major reason why travel from Japan is in decline.

Senior citizens can enforce parking law

Regarding the July 6 letter "Enforcement lacking on handicap parking": Just a suggestion from how it's done here in Oceanside. We have trained senior citizens who volunteer their time to police and be the eyes of the police who cannot be there to cite these lawbreakers who have no regard for the handicapped.

Most of their effort is going after the people who park in these stalls. They do a great job, and they do it for free. I think they really enjoy the job because they get to drive around in Oceanside Police Department cars and be the eyes and ears for the real police, who cannot be everywhere at the right time.

Get your senior citizens involved in this terrific program, and you will see a big difference in the handicap parking situation.

Rees' Justice Thomas spin typically distorted

Mixing apples and oranges and jumping all over the place as he's wont to do make it hard to attach much relevance to Bob Rees' writings on any given topic.

However, for those who care, his spin on the warmed-over disagreement of African American board members and other civil rights proponents with the ACLU's invitation to Justice Clarence Thomas is typically distorted (July 6 column).

A primary concern was not the fear of "unpopular speech" or "vehement debate," as Rees alleges. On the contrary, there was a concern that Thomas would only face the same kind of cozy chattiness that had greeted Justice Antonin Scalia at a similar forum with the ACLU national president.

Although our suggestions for a meaningful debate on the serious topic of affirmative action were ignored, we were gratified that, ultimately, Thomas didn't enjoy the all-expense-paid winter junket his pal Scalia had recommended him for. Rees' suggestion that participating in such a "debate" might have changed Thomas' recent anti-affirmative action vote is ludicrous.

Commentary criticism doesn't hold water

Jeff Pace (Letters, July 4) makes a number of radical assumptions on the recent commentary by Los Angeles Times columnist Robert Sheer:

• That "Sheer's views spring from a foundation of dislike for his own country so bitter and virulent as to either seem irrational or driven by a very negative hidden agenda." On the contrary, Sheer cares deeply about this nation and what is currently being done to us and is very candid about it. This is still allowed here.

• No one, including the United Nations, was "certain" that Iraq currently possessed WMD. It is being proven to be false information from the Bush administration, and we still have the right to say so.

• The "media liberal bias" is a part of the big lie currently spread by dominant ultra-conservative radio talk-show hosts and Fox News.

The current administration, with no mandate whatsoever, is wildly out of control here and abroad, and criticism is allowed under the First Amendment and well deserved.

Fine of La Mariana club owner disgusting

Am I the only one who was disgusted and dismayed to read that the Honolulu Liquor Commission fined the 88-year-old owner of the La Mariana Sailing Club near the end of Sand Island Access Road for allowing blind pianists to earn a little money and patrons to enjoy music and singing while these same commissioners ignore the hostess bars that permeate Kaka'ako and the rest of the island?

Perhaps she didn't pay off the inspectors, as we recently learned seems to be the way to have them turn a blind eye from far more egregious infractions.

How much longer will the people allow this shameless commission to rot before it gets amputated from our government?

Polluting of beaches, oceans must stop

We need to stop polluting Hawai'i's beaches and oceans. We live in a paradise while sea creatures live in a dump.

Kahala Beach is terrible. I went with my family and saw many plastic bags on the beach and in the water.

Fish and other sea animals are dying every day from our rubbish. We throw away plastic bags, aluminum cans, plastic bottles and glass. The ocean is not our rubbish can. We have to preserve Hawai'i's beautiful oceans forever.

Let's start picking up rubbish now. I suggest we stop throwing oil and trash out of ships. People should get tickets for pollution. Do you want to keep our oceans and beaches beautiful, or not? Our beaches are hideous, and you can hardly walk without stepping on trash.