Posted on: Friday, May 30, 2003
Letters to the Editor
Gas price differential should be constant
There are legitimate reasons why the price of gasoline in Hawai'i is higher here than on the Mainland. However, the differential between our prices and those of the Mainland should be nearly constant.
The main factors that influence price at the pump are crude oil price and profit. If the oil companies maintain a nearly constant profit margin, the only factor to affect the price of gasoline is the price of crude. But this clearly has not been the case. As crude prices have declined, the price of gasoline has not. Thus, to balance the equation, profits to the oil companies must have increased by the amount that crude has decreased.
Our two oil companies readily admit that lack of competition is a key factor for high profitability in Hawai'i, knowing that we are helpless to change that situation. In fact, they seem to gloat over our helplessness.
Our state Legislature has already acted to control the price of gasoline in coming years. This should be a measure of last resort, but the recent actions by the oil companies clearly indicate that price controls in Hawai'i are necessary.
Chevron and Tesoro, you have brought it upon yourselves.
Richard Ubersax
Patriot Act protects us against criminals
Your May 22 editorial concerning the Patriot Act was not well-taken.
You are unhappy that some tools given to law enforcement to fight terrorists are also being used to prosecute major narcotic offenses and other serious crimes. You especially wring your hands if some persons are investigated by leads being followed concerning purchase habits, reading habits, etc.
In my previous life with the U.S. Secret Service, counterfeiters would be in back rooms laboriously engraving plates, mixing inks and printing on old 1250 multilith offset presses following directions from a few tech manuals. We would canvas supply houses, and if there were suspicious circumstances (cash purchase, persons unknown in the trade, addresses outside commercial areas, etc.), we would do a background check, perhaps a surveillance or deliver the materials ordered, wait on the customer, take license numbers at pickup, maybe deliver the materials, read ads for secondhand presses, check the library for the tech manuals, collect the trash, etc.
It was very productive in many cases and a proven investigative technique.
Now sophisticated computers have completely taken over, and thus additional help like the Patriot Act is needed. Be happy that our economy and citizens are being protected by the Patriot Act.
Sometimes it appears your editorial writers have never met a criminal they didn't like.
Frank D. Slocum
EWC shouldn't support Vietnamese theater
I am opposed to the East-West Center's coordination of The Saigon Water Puppet Theatre's performances.
Through this objectionable sponsorship, the EWC and other co-sponsors are sending the message that they support a criminal communist regime that has held an iron-fist rule over Vietnam during the past 28 years. Though Vietnam is a signatory to international treaties that recognize universal human rights, atrocities against humanity, including torture and sterilization of Montagnard Christians and imprisonment of peaceful political dissidents and religious leaders, continue to occur.
We who have had to live under these suffocating circumstances only to leave our homeland to seek freedom treasure our cultural heritage as much as any other ethnic group. This is why I will not tolerate its exploitation in an underhanded means of propaganda by the communist regime to cover up its criminal activities, meanwhile gaining sympathy in order to maintain its uni-party rule.
The EWC is world-renowned for its expertise in the understanding and advancement of Asian history and civilization, and I would expect that such an entity would act responsibly under circumstances such as these.
Quoc Le
Plant native koa tree instead of sugi pine
Not all conservationists agree that the planting of sugi pine by the Department of Hawaiian Homelands is a good decision. ("Pine trees may help contain, kill bush," May 26).
While gorse has been devastating to the cattle industry, the proposed cure will cause long-term negative repercussions on Hawai'i's ecology. The area makai of the proposed planting is home to one of Hawai'i's most beautiful and intact native rainforests. Sugi pines are not native to Hawai'i and are invasive in native rainforest.
A much better alternative is to plant the native koa tree. Koa is fast-growing, an excellent plantation tree. It commands a higher price than sugi and has many cultural benefits.
The land now infested with gorse was once majestic koa forest. Logging, grazing and other extractive industries destroyed the native forest. DHHL has an opportunity to restore this resource for the Hawaiian people, but has instead chosen to ignore the cultural and long-term economic benefits of koa in favor of sugi. This is a travesty against the Hawaiian people and all citizens of Hawai'i.
Wendy Kuntz
Hawai'i needs a good bicycle infrastructure
Encouraging our population to bike and walk is good for Hawai'i's health and environment.
Hawai'i's legislators and citizens should support the implementation of Bike Plan Hawai'i ("State's bike-path plan lacks financial backing," May 27). Improving bicycling helps everyone, including drivers who want less-congested roads.
Despite thousands of Hawai'i bicycle riders and an ideal climate, Hawai'i doesn't have a good infrastructure for bicycling. We need to make riding safe and convenient so that as many of our citizens as possible are encouraged to ride.
I call on the Transportation Department to set aside a regular part of its budget for bicycle programs. A good starting point for the Honolulu community would be establishing a safe crosstown passage from Waikiki or the university to downtown. The Young Street corridor was a good option in this regard.
Joan Holup
Mentors helped girls entering middle school
The Hawai'i State Commission and Hawai'i County Committee on the Status of Women partnered with Macy's and Hokulia in Pre-Teen Professional. In the project, mentors assisted sixth-grade girls as they go through changes.
Macy's provided individual consultations on how to properly cleanse your face when you start to get pimples, and other personal advice.
Byron Moku of Hokulia invited the Konawaena Elementary girls to a private dinner at Hokulia Pavilion. Chef Amy Ferguson Ota gave a lesson on etiquette.
Mentors seated with the students were Dr. Robin Seto, Dr. Leesa Miyasato, engineer Amy Rice, MBA financial adviser Dale Suezaki, psychologist and business owner Kathy Peters, architect Kari Kimura, attorney Shawn Nakoa and real estate manager Mona Wu.
With the help of Macy's, the preteen girls can feel confident as they enter Konawaena Middle School. The mentors provided the inspiration for the students to think about their goals.
Mahalo to Macy's and Hokulia for caring about our future leaders in Hawai'i.
Margaret Masunaga
Arbitrators already must weigh fiscal conditions
On May 1, the state Legislature passed Senate Bill 768 to restore binding arbitration to six HGEA bargaining units.
If it is signed, it will spare Hawai'i's people, businesses and economy from the trauma caused by a statewide strike. Picket lines at airports and harbors, schools and libraries, and every state and county office building will impact all aspects of life in Hawai'i. From education to tourism, from public safety to social welfare, from construction to retail spending — everything and everyone in Hawai'i will be affected.
This important bill sits on Gov. Linda Lingle's desk as she ponders whether to sign or veto it. The health, welfare and prosperity of the entire state rest on her decision.
On April 29, your newspaper reported she is unhappy with the bill because "an arbitrator does not need to take issues such as fiscal condition into consideration."
I want to assure Gov. Lingle that current law already requires that. It is one of 10 factors that the collective bargaining law, enacted in 2001, mandates upon the arbitrator. Allow me to cite three relevant factors that the arbitrator must weigh:
• Factor 3: the interests and welfare of the public.
• Factor 4: the financial ability of the employer to meet these costs, provided that the employer's ability to fund cost items shall not be predicated on the premise that the employer may increase or impose new taxes, fees or charges, or develop other sources of revenues.
• Factor 5: the present and future general economic condition of the counties and the state.
As your March 28 editorial stated, "If the law clearly requires a nuanced and sophisticated review of both management and labor conditions, then arbitration can and should work."
I assure Gov. Lingle, The Honolulu Advertiser and the public that the law already requires arbitration to work for Hawai'i's best interest. HGEA believes Hawai'i's people are best served when government provides important services without disruption. We ask Gov. Lingle to allow Senate Bill 768 to become law.
Darwin J. Hamamoto
Hui Malama ignored advice from kupuna
Regarding the recent developments surrounding the Forbes Cave artifacts and the Bishop Museum's admission of fault for the loan of these sacred objects to Hui Malama: I would like to thank Laakea Suganuma for his great effort to make this pono.
But until these sacred objects are returned, the battle to make this righteous is still being fought. Hui Malama's excuse that these objects were "intended to accompany descendants on their journey in the afterlife" is far-fetched, to say the least. Hui Malama's refusal to return the collection is not surprising. What is important now is how Bishop Museum reacts.
The assumption made by Hui Malama that repatriation has taken place is incorrect. To have repatriation occur, the museum must have control of the collection first, in order for all the claimants to decide the repatriation process. Hui Malama circumvented this, with the help of Bishop Museum staff, took the artifacts and iwi kupuna, and made the decision on behalf of everyone without consent.
The key issue is the definition of "moepu" ("to place artifacts with the dead") and how Hui Malama used this word to manipulate the museum and the system. The objection to the use of the word moepu originally came from Papa Auwae before he passed. Not only did Hui Malama not listen to this renowned kupuna and teacher of Hui Malama's Ed Kanahele, it continued on this path with other collections as well. It is as if they made decisions for all Hawaiians based on their own beliefs and against the beliefs of this knowledgeable kupuna and teacher.
Slowly, all the sacred objects, some the only examples of traditional art and spirituality, are disappearing from museums all over the world. Is this the objective for Hui Malama to not only control but also use only for itself the mana of these sacred objects, which at one time were objects of worship?
We as Hawaiians cannot sit and do nothing while organizations make these decisions on our behalf. What is to prevent the same thing from repeating again, but instead of from the Bishop Museum, a private collector?
When it all comes down to it, Bishop Museum is still responsible. Hui Malama was loaned the collection temporarily. Now who's accountable?
C. Kamuela Harris
Waimanalo
Wai'anae
UH-Manoa graduate student in the Program for Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology
Commissioner
Hawai'i State Commission on the Status of Women
Capt. Cook, Hawai'i
President
HGEA/AFSCME Local 152
