Posted on: Thursday, November 6, 2003

Letters to the Editor

Repaving Beretania St. should be during the day

Your Oct. 30 article on the city's proposed repaving project in our downtown Honolulu residential area was the first I had heard about it. The article mentioned a meeting that evening, certainly not enough time to get the word out. Whatever happened to notifying the residents in the area?

The city wants to repave Beretania Street from the tip of 'A'ala Park to Alapa'i Street during a nine-month period sometime between summer 2004 and summer 2005, between 6 p.m. and 7 a.m. Monday through Saturday and anytime on Sundays and holidays to speed up construction. Additional work is also planned.

All of this planning is well and good; however, please plan to do it during daylight hours and, if necessary, up to 10 at night.

Downtown Honolulu condominiums house some 6,000 to 7,000 residents. Has the city, using $5.6 million of federal funds for the project, given any thought to the noise factor affecting the downtown residents who are taxpayers as well?

The city is seeking a variance from the Department of Health to allow the work to be done through the night over a nine-month period. A project such as this needs the attention of all downtown residents, who are encouraged to attend the Downtown Neighborhood Board meeting tonight at the Pauahi Community Center at 7 p.m.

NRA's 'blacklist' wasn't released to the media

Regarding Ellen Goodman's ranting, sarcastic commentary on Nov. 1 on the NRA's "blacklist": All she did was pick up an incorrectly reported story and add some smartie comments to it.

Check the original Oct. 29 story at CNN.com: "The list was found deep in the official NRA Web site by a group of grass-roots anti-gun campaigners and publicized by them two weeks ago to garner support for two pieces of gun-control legislation going through Congress." The so-called blacklist was never released to the press.

Certain Hollywood idiots made a big deal about not being included to get face time with the media. The list is maintained on the NRA Web site as a means for its members to make informed decisions about whom to support or not support; it was never released to any media outlet.

I'm not a member of NRA, but I wish all groups I donated money and time to would inform me who was working counter to our goals so I could make a choice of whether or not to support them by buying certain products or seeing certain movies. It's about making a well-informed choice with your money.

Environmentalists have created nightmares

Big thanks to the environmentalists in California and Hawai'i: California was on fire and Hawai'i's waters are teeming with large sharks attacking residents and tourists alike.

In California, the fanatical environmentalists prevented the Forest Service and private landowners from exercising time-honored forestry practices and thinning out the forests by removing dead trees and trees infected by beetle infestation. They tried to "preserve" the forests and "save" the endangered species by allowing 800,000 acres of forest and all its inhabitants to burn, as well as causing the deaths of 20 human beings.

In Hawai'i, the fanatical environmentalists created protected zones along the shores of all the Hawaiian Islands. We were told that this was meant to "preserve" the fish population. The increased fish population along the shorelines attracts large predators such as sharks. The sharks are venturing closer and closer to the shore in search of the fertile fishing grounds idiotically created, for example, around the Waikiki area. As the sharks encounter humans, increase of attack frequency is inevitable. Native Hawaiians used to fish out the areas that were used for swimming and surfing, but this custom was declared an anachronism by the fanatical left.

When logic and experience are superceded by environmental fanaticism, the price is paid in lives of ordinary people.

Once again: Thank you, Democratic Party, for being a home of the environmental movement.

Killing sharks won't work; it's their home

I am by no means a marine biologist or an expert on sharks, but I think it's ludicrous that Dan Stillman (Letters, Nov. 5) thinks killing off sharks will put an end to shark attacks. Marine Science 101 tells us that sharks are territorial animals; the water is their home; humans are merely visitors to it.

Second, it is highly likely that the shark thought the young surfer to be an animal, such as a turtle or seal. Sharks do not see humans as food; most times, they take a reactionary bite and then swim off.

I'm very sorry that the young lady had to lose a limb, but that's the risk you take while surfing. It's no different from a hiker taking the risk of getting attacked by a wild animal if he's hiking in an area where they are prevalent.

I say, let the sharks be.

Adair missed the target on helicopter cartoon

As a veteran, I feel the Nov. 4 cartoon by Dick Adair was in very poor taste. It equates the loss of life by our fighting men in uniform with our president's approval ratings.

It is a very sober, serious matter for the families of the servicemen who were recently killed or injured in the helicopter crash in Iraq. In my opinion, they were serving their country with honor and pride and were ordered to do so. Their presence in Iraq is not for approval ratings, and to imply the president sends troops in harm's way for his own personal popularity interest is disrespectful to the office of the president.

The troops are doing a magnificent job carrying out the will of Congress and our commander-in-chief. Most of the time, I am in agreement with and amused by the astute and subtle perceptions shown by Mr. Adair, but on this one I am afraid he missed the target.

Adair cartoon insulting in a time of grieving

At a time when Americans remember those men and women who have sacrificed their lives in defense of this country and democratic ideals, Dick Adair's cartoon depiction on Nov. 4 is an insult. When wives and parents on the Mainland are grieving the loss of their loved ones in the CH46 shoot-down, when Americans nationwide grieve for them, Mr. Adair sees fit to demean their valor and commitment.

A free press should provide objective reporting of events as well as editorialize on important issues. A free press should praise or be critical of our elected officials. That's fair. There is no prior restraint on the press, but I submit there should be an assessment of good taste.

Adair's depiction of a crashing CH46 helicopter with a sign on the side depicting President Bush's popularity ratings should have been reviewed by an editorial board. If it was reviewed and passed on, then shame on the entire editorial board.

Good reason to oppose doctor-assisted suicide

Thank you for printing Stephen Drake's Nov. 2 commentary about Terri Schiavo. While Floridians — and now the rest of the nation — debate her ability to live, those of us who live with disabilities here in Hawai'i once more face a similar threat.

Individuals and organizations that wish to impose physician-assisted suicide on all of us should pay close attention to the Schiavo case. It is a litany of examples of why some of us who oppose physician-assisted suicide do so.

No matter how many safeguards people discuss, examples of abuse abound and continue, literally to the present day.

Military must not be allowed to expand here

On Oct. 28, I approached the Honolulu Country Club to present testimony at a public hearing called by the U.S. Army. I came upon a group of about 30 people who were blocked from entering by hired private security guards, backed by the HPD, because they had signs.

Appalled, I asked if anyone had ever been part of a public hearing that did not allow signs. Everyone said no. The contradiction of this was so blatant that I asked to hold a sign. I and three others were arrested for criminal trespass.

This is my testimony, had I been allowed to give it:

I am testifying on behalf of 'Ohana Koa Hawai'i Chapter of Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific. An emphatic 'a'ole to further military expansion.

The military already controls one-fourth of O'ahu, 8,000 acres in Kahuku alone. Beautiful swaths of land, never seen or enjoyed by people in this room. Their names resonate like lost children: Mokapu, Bellows Beach, Kolekole Pass, Fort Shafter, Pearl Harbor, Kahuku, Hale Koa, Makua Valley, Waikane. One-fourth of O'ahu.

Your arrogance surpasses all imagining. That you would come before us greedy for more is an affront, knowing of the illegal overthrow of this tiny but proud nation here, over a hundred years ago. That you would think this place so pacified, people here so ignorant or bought out that you could dare to put forward a plan for expansion.

The Stryker brigade will be used against brothers and sister of Maoana Nui and Asia as they too fight for land, water and justice.

Let the mo'olelo of our children speak of our courage as we stood to resist this thief, destroyer of dreams and the Earth. As we stand, we create the alternative to this military killing machine.

Reader's views don't represent community's

Jack Savage writes an interesting letter ("Serious disconnect: Paper's views don't represent community's," Nov. 4). He claims that The Honolulu Advertiser neglects his voice and that of others who narrow-mindedly think like him, yet his opinion is there in plain black-and-white. He has every right to his own perspectives on world and state issues.

If he has such a problem with living in paradise (the high cost of living, aka taxes), if he can't deal with the aloha of this place (people having the understanding and willingness to live in such a mixed community — race, sexual orientation and culture), then by all means, go back to New York.

And instead of spending money on a newspaper to read the funnies and do two crossword puzzles, use it to buy a kids' coloring activity book — I'm sure you'll find more enjoyment in it.

West O'ahu campus: OK, but not right now

There has been much noise lately about the funding for new facilities at the UH-West O'ahu campus. Students are marching and politicians are politicking.

However, the issue isn't about closing down the campus or cutting off all its funding — the issue is one of timing. Is the present, given the state's financial situation, the right time to commit to a new $350 million campus? I think not. Presently, West O'ahu has a meaningful role to play, and that will continue. Perhaps West O'ahu can expand its role sometime at a later date — but not right now. There are still many uncompleted projects on today's Manoa campus.

Former Gov. Ben Cayetano recently stated that the model for UH-West O'ahu is the University of California at Irvine, which grew in spite of its proximity to the University of California at Los Angeles. Cayetano said that UC-Irvine served as a "catalyst for the development of the beautiful city of Irvine." Such a statement doesn't just confuse apples and oranges. In reality, it mixes up watermelons with blueberries.

Let's look at the facts, specifically the distance between the institutions in question and the size of the populations served. UCLA serves 9.5 million in Los Angeles County. UC-Irvine was built to serve 2.8 million in Orange County. The two institutions are 41 miles apart, the shortest distance between any two UC campuses.

UH-Manoa, on the other hand, serves the island of O'ahu with a population of just 880,000, which includes Leeward O'ahu, with only 124,000 from Makaha around to Waipahu. And UH-Manoa is a mere 21 miles from Kapolei — half the distance that separates Westwood from Irvine.

When determining to which institution the money should go, we should also consider student population size. There are 18,000 students on the Manoa campus and 800 registered at UH-West O'ahu, some of whom are in the distance learning program.

Yes, UH-West O'ahu will play an ever-expanding role as the growth in Leeward O'ahu continues. I just hope that the rhetoric doesn't get out of hand as we try to determine the future resources committed to UH-Manoa and UH-West O'ahu.