ISLAND VOICES
Brain drain must be stemmed

Gerald C. Farinas is a student at Loyola University Chicago and a graduate of Moanalua High School.

Hawai'i is literally hemorrhaging some of its brightest residents, losing potential leaders and pioneering thinkers to more flourishing Mainland communities as more high school graduates and college-educated young adults move.

Our politicians and business leaders must do everything they can to stop this bleeding of valuable resources now before Hawai'i

exhausts its prospects for the future. Innovation in thought, public policy and social action is what Hawai'i needs to confront this crisis. Boldness is the answer.

People belittle this brain-drain complaint as a mere trend that, given time, will fade. The U.S. Census Bureau announced recently that nearly 9,000 young, college-educated Islanders moved from home in 2000. Add to that figure the hundreds of local high school graduates who travel to Mainland colleges each year and decide to settle elsewhere permanently. Under these circumstances, it is unconscionable to call this trend anything other than a disaster.

With Hawai'i lacking a diverse wealth of jobs, affordable homes, exceptionally high-quality social services and low costs of living, Chicago seems most suited for my own goals and ambitions. That is, unless Hawai'i is brave enough to act boldly to change my mind and the minds of countless others in the same predicament.

What college students like me need is confidence that Hawai'i will be able to help our dreams become reality: people in government who represent my sense of ideals and ethics, diverse choice of jobs with ample security, low property taxes and affordable homes, superior transportation services, excellent community-based schools with more than proper funding for resources and teachers, as well as a modern, safe and clean environment.

Once stalwarts of social change, our leaders are nothing more than relics that remind us of better days. What we need is leadership, not relics of memories. One of the reasons why people my age have become so reticent and apathetic is that we aren't confident that politicians are doing anything new to shape Hawai'i to become what we need it to become.

Unless Hawai'i finds the courage to accept new leadership, we will not have the means to make some of the following changes my generation of ex-residents would like to see: Hawai'i needs to further advance efforts to finally end its dependence on the tourism industry and create a diversity of industrial sectors (beyond the cliche high-tech and biotech we talk about so much). Courting corporations and international agencies to move to Hawai'i is a key step.

While we do have high-tech and biotech growth, it isn't creating the jobs we need now. Incentives for business growth need to be bulked. Control of community schools belongs in the hands of community members, not a monolithic state bureaucracy. Residents must learn that some taxes are necessary for the good of all citizens to advance education, public transportation initiatives and community development. Taxes and the effective management of tax resources are fundamental to creating quality social services that other cities have that Hawai'i needs.

The bottom line is that Hawai'i can save itself from the devastating effects of brain drain. All it takes is the courage to be open about electing fresh faces so fresh ideas can come to the table for debate. Once Hawai'i has that in place, I am confident our state will be able to win back the confidence of former kama'aina — that home is where they can be to live out their dreams.

I dream that one day soon Mom can call up and I'll be able to finally tell her, "I'm coming home."