Posted on: Friday, October 17, 2003

Letters to the Editor

Don't put the blame on all racers, drifters

I wish people would come to realize that not everyone who drives a car with exhaust, rims and any other exterior modification is a street racer.

Just because my car is louder than yours doesn't mean I drive recklessly. I see more older people in SUVs and cars that are completely stock that drive worse than I do. Keep in mind that the majority of the people who drive modified cars go to the tracks, where they drive in a controlled environment.

It's always sad to hear that we've lost someone from our community. Especially if it's three in one weekend. Granted those three will be missed, but rather than putting blame on all racers and drifters out there, please mourn the loss and think of ways to prevent this from happening again.

And my prayers go out to those three in the other car who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Who sold the drinks to teenager in crash?

Everyone appears to be criticizing the drunk driver. He's only the result of having had too much to drink.

It's the cause that the police and courts must determine. It's the bartender who sold him too many drinks. It's the waiter who served him too many drinks. It's the adults who served him too many drinks. It's the others in his teenage party who encouraged him to have too many drinks.

Someone, for each teenager who speeds when drunk and kills himself as well as others, has earned the privilege of being brought before the judge and charged with murder in the second degree. The police should track down where the driver obtained his excessive liquor and who has earned the privilege of being an accessory to murder.

The money is there for police pay raises

Concerning the 4 percent raise every year for the police officers: When a fact-finding, unbiased federal arbitrator decides that there is money to cover the increase in pay, the money is there.

What the politicians, including the mayor, are most concerned about are the expensive pet projects they are forced to abandon in order to cover the police raises.

When the politicians threaten to raise the taxes, they are not doing that to cover the pay increase, but to keep their pet projects alive.

U.S. courts have no jurisdiction in kingdom

In response to Robert M. Chapman's Oct. 14 letter regarding the "settled matter" of annexation: His well-spun letter continuously refers to the courts. What he fails to mention is, at the very bottom line, the United States illegally occupies the Kingdom of Hawai'i, and that the U.S. courts actually have no jurisdiction in the Kingdom of Hawai'i.

Argue and spin all you like about the United States and its courts. It doesn't change the fact that the U.S. illegally occupies the Kingdom of Hawai'i, and that the United States has a long, documented history of violating treaties and occupying sovereign nations.

Max Roffman was conscience of UPW

Max Roffman of the United Public Workers was "one of a kind." His daughter, Laurie, said it best when she said he worked tirelessly to educate and organize the workers.

Max was hired in 1953 when the parent organization in New York became a victim of the red-baiting prevalent in that period. Max was assigned the job of building the numerical base of the union on O'ahu. Until then, the power base of the union had been on the Neighbor Islands, and the lobbying efforts of the public workers were limited by that fact.

Max Roffman changed that. He led organizing drives by personal involvement. He developed a core of local leaders — Adolf Samuel, Josephine Bucaneg, Bobby Phillips, James Brown among them — and by 1960 the UPW was a powerful voice for the blue-collar workers in Hawai'i. His success in directing the growth of the UPW led to his assumption of the role of director of education. Max wrote and taught classes for the members and became a respected and loved leader.

Max directed his staff well and was proud of the strength of the local leaders, especially in the Board of Water Supply and the Refuse Unit.

"Integrity" is the single word that best describes him. He was the conscience of the union and typified the United Public Workers for the 20 years he was with us.

Cemetery desecrators disgraced themselves

As a member of the O'ahu Island Burial Council, I'd like to see the individuals who vandalized Lihu'e Cemetery be caught and applicable penalties be imposed.

They have disgraced themselves, their families and those who are resting at Lihu'e Cemetery. They have done a great wrong; the whole community deserves an apology.

I wouldn't doubt that those kupuna "visit" them in their dreams. Whatever the outcome, they will be accountable for their actions.

It's easier to teach kids the rules of etiquette

Kids can learn more than "basics."

Your article on teaching kids basic manners (Island Life, Oct. 13) states that learning the rules of etiquette can be "an overwhelming task even for adults." I have taught dining etiquette to kids and adults alike, and am convinced that the kids have an easier time learning than adults do.

Maybe that's because kids lived with bad habits for a shorter length of time. When the lesson is fun, they can easily master more than basic concepts, including passing the salt and pepper together, placing utensils in "resting" and "finished" position, scooping soup properly, and breaking and buttering bread one bite at a time.

Let's give them more credit. Learning can be fun.

Chris Hemmeter gave us lifetime memories

As a former tour and travel director, I enjoyed checking in groups and staying at the old Kaua'i Surf Hotel. Upon the sale and acquisition of the Kaua'i Surf in 1985, in stepped the charm and vision of Chris Hemmeter.

On Sept. 19, 1987, I followed Chris Hemmeter and the former mayor, the late Tony Kunimura, down Kaua'i's first and only escalator. Employees held candles on the deck, and then suddenly the Palace Court lit up with all its grandeur to Emma Veary's "Kamehameha Waltz." Tears of joy — chicken skin to the max. The next five years I met people of all walks of life — fellow employees and visitors alike.

I hope I speak on behalf of the thousands of Hawai'i residents who got an opportunity because of Mr. Hemmeter, many of whom have continued their successful careers within our visitor industry.

This local boy from Wahiawa says "Mahalo nui loa, Patsy and Chris Hemmeter, and my prayers, gratitude and aloha to you and yours." Thanks for lifetime memories.

Burden of education includes parents, kids

I'm a firm believer that it doesn't matter what school a child goes to as long as there is a good set of adults at home to promote education. My friends and I graduated from Farrington High School and we're doing just fine. We work alongside people who graduated from Punahou and Kamehameha.

Public education didn't fail us because our parents never allowed us to ignore the value of education. My mother, who had three jobs, found time to drag me to the library when I was a kid. I understood at a young age what education meant to my future.

What I'm trying to say is that the burden of education shouldn't be shouldered by just the DOE; it should be an effort made by all — parents and students included. Perhaps the DOE could use a makeover, but I believe that the first changes should occur at home.

Parents who struggle to learn English as their second language themselves and juggle numerous jobs to make ends meet can still promote the same values. Maybe employers should consider looking into helping families help their children.

Arab propaganda marks Israel editorial

It is unbelievable that The Advertiser would not hesitate to publish extremist Arab propaganda in the paper as rationale for an editorial to criticize Israel's air strike in Syria.

Why would The Advertiser think its readers would want to sympathize with a suicide bomber by giving inane reasoning for the mission — blood relatives getting killed in an undeclared war against Israel?

C'mon, now. Getting killed by Israeli bullets instead of by an explosion inside an Israeli restaurant or bus is justification for revenge?

Why would The Advertiser think its readers would want to sympathize with al-Qaida and try to understand that our being their target is all the fault of the U.S. — for supporting Israel?

Does The Advertiser want us now to understand that the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. is all our fault?

Beware the dangers of chat rooms

"Blog onto xanga.com for outsider insider look," written by Noelle Chun in the Oct. 12 Honolulu Advertiser, leaves me with serious concerns. This young and articulate student discussed with ease the fun and wonderful outlet that Xanga.com provides for young people to chat and create online journals on their own personalized site to share their feelings and ideas with friends.

Most young users and their parents aren't aware of the possibilities for dangers that are on the Internet, and as Ms. Chun says, "It always seems to start innocently enough." Many parents do not know what a flame war is or what a troll or stalker is capable of doing in the cyber world.

In mainstream cyber language, a flame is a message that addresses another in a derogatory or inflammatory way; flame wars erupt when people on both sides of a chat cease arguing about something and just resort to insults.

In our schools, we would never allow young people to swear at one another without consequences. Yet, I witness it going on all the time in chat rooms and on Xanga sites.

Trolls refer to people who frequent message boards and post provocative messages for the sole purpose of starting flame wars. In our schools, we'd call these trolls troublemakers or bullies. In my experience as an educator, I have witnessed firsthand how flame wars and trolls in the cyber world carry over into conflicts in reality on the school campus.

Site managers of sites like Xanga.com do not protect our youth nor strive to curtail their freedom of speech or expression. Xanga.com lists in its terms of use that being threatening, abusive or vulgar is not allowed. However, they do not prescreen content, nor are they liable for the content. Use of the First Amendment is liberally employed; regulation is minimal at best.

Keeping in mind that a majority of Xangans are school-age children, most sites are laden with cyber lingo, and to a great degree, much of the lingo is foul, abusive and almost unreadable except to young adults ingrained in the subculture of Internet chat. Most parents would find it next to impossible to decipher the lingo. Yet, our youth feel both anonymous and safe and are allowed to write whatever they want. This can be dangerous for them and dangerous for others.

As an educator, I have been challenged to become educated and savvy in the dangers of the cyber world for our students and have witnessed firsthand a growing lack of netiquette and a high prevalence of flame wars and trolls, often creating problems in the cyber world that spill over to our school campuses. This is difficult enough, and yet, I dread the day that I may witness firsthand an incident of a stalker using the Internet to harm one of my students for whom using xanga.com "seemed to start off innocently enough."