Posted on: Wednesday, September 3, 2003

Letters to the Editor

Lottery would help improve bus ridership

Is the shortfall in the funds required to maintain TheBus really due to low ridership? If so, here's a way to guarantee more people will ride the bus: Every bus passenger gets a transfer with a detachable coupon number on it, which he tears off and keeps. Every month, the city randomly selects one of these coupon numbers and whoever is holding that number wins $1,000. If this does not increase ridership, I'll eat my transfer.

The reality is that this strike has been coming for some time, and some of those in power were aware it would happen and may have wanted it to happen. Then they could further promote their solution — mass rail transit, which could be largely automated, hence take down the union and promote rail system contractor profits — to the lowest bidder ... or is it the highest campaign contributor?

Fire the bus drivers

If the bus drivers don't go back to work by Monday morning, they should all be fired. And the city should contract out with local bus companies like Roberts Hawaii. That will show that stupid union.

Life is much better without the buses

Four good things about the bus strike:

• Improved traffic. Buses constantly disrupt flow, particularly downtown and on the Pali Highway.
• No running of red lights. I have not had to worry about being clipped by a bus running a light in the downtown area.
• No riff-raff. Congregations of old men leering at women at many bus stops have virtually vanished.
• No PSST. The airbrake sound of buses is gone.

I hope they stay out forever.

Teamsters must give up wage-increase demand

Enough is enough! It is now time for the bus drivers to return to work.

The union won concessions on layoffs and give-backs. The union also needs to make concessions, and it should concede by giving up its demands for increased wages.

The bus drivers are well paid. The people most impacted by the strike are those who depend on the bus because they don't own a car. These people are disadvantaged either because they are elderly or disabled or can't drive, or students or others who can't afford a car. The rich and the powerful are not fazed at all by the strike.

The bus drivers are hurting those who are less fortunate by continuing the strike. The bus drivers succeeded in protecting their benefits and their jobs and should give up further demands, which can be gained only at the expense of the riders.

The only reasonable option open to the drivers is to return to work.

We should have built the monorail system

About 10 years ago, a proposed monorail system was scrapped. The state would've received federal money to assist in building the system. Who would've thought 10 years later we would have the second largest city on the Leeward Coast, high gas prices, overcrowded highways and a monopolized public transportation system that has the power to disable thousands of commuting people by striking?

Hmmm, whoever voted down the monorail system 10 years ago should be kicking themselves in the butt. The monorail system would have eased many problems we have today. Maybe whoever voted down the system should've thought of the future of our transportation system.

Apology bill states Hawai'i was invaded

Thurston Twigg-Smith says (Letters, Aug. 20) the assumption is erroneous "that the United States not only invaded Hawai'i and still occupies it, but broke treaties and contracts with the kingdom in the process."

But these are not just assumptions of sovereignty supporters. According to the U.S. Congress, these are findings of fact. The 1993 apology resolution states that: "In pursuance of the conspiracy to overthrow the Government of Hawai'i, the United States Minister and the naval representatives of the United States caused armed naval forces of the United States to invade the sovereign Hawaiian nation ... "

Yes, Congress used the word invade.

And it goes on to say that the U.S. minister extended diplomatic recognition to the provisional government "in violation of treaties between the two nations ... "

Yes, Congress said it was a violation of treaties.

Congress quite directly contradicts Twigg-Smith's revision of history, and this is just in the first paragraph of his distortion-filled letter. But it appears that in his attempt to justify the crimes of his ancestor and further perpetuate the resulting injustices, the facts don't matter.

Adopted children are real family members

I don't know if young Brayden Mohica-Cummings should be allowed to attend Kamehameha. I do not feel it is a decision that should be based on public opinion. However, I'm saddened by the protests against his admission as they seem to put forth the message that adopted children aren't "real" members of a family.

I clearly seem to have misunderstood the idea of hanai. As I thought I understood things, for a Hawaiian family to hanai someone was a very meaningful thing that created a bond as strong as blood. From that day on, the person was, for all intents and purposes, a member of that 'ohana.

Isn't that the case here? Yes, this boy is not Hawaiian genetically, but isn't he Hawaiian nonetheless, not because his mother or his lawyer say so, but because his grandparents adopted his mother into their family?

I'm not saying that he should be allowed to attend Kamehameha, but I am asking that his mother's adoption, and all adoptions, be respected for the wonderful acts that they are. Adopted children are real members of families, and their heritage is one of love and 'ohana by choice rather than genetics.

Another Kodama owns the sushi bar

We certainly do thank Bob Krauss for the publicity in his Aug. 27 column, but, alas, I don't own the Go Fish in Mystic, Conn. The owner is John Kodama, with his brother Jerry Kodama running the sushi bar.

Although not related by blood, Jerry is, in fact, one of my fraternity brothers. I had the pleasure of going up there when they first opened and helping to train their sushi chefs. And I'm honored that they have some of our signature sushi rolls on their menu.

Burning of Makiki church is shocking

Regarding the burning of First Christian Church in Makiki: I am shocked, saddened and even angered that such a crime of hate and ignorance could happen in our beautiful city of Honolulu.

There is no excuse for a church to be burned. Persons from churches in Hawai'i have traveled thousands of miles to rebuild burned churches in the Southern United States, and now this has happened in our own community.

My prayers and support are with the Rev. Vaughn Beckman and his congregation at First Christian Church. The members of the Christian Church/Disciples of Christ are known for a biblical faith that leads them to take a stand for and with those who are marginalized by society. These sisters and brothers need our support and encouragement in this terrible time.

We must not return violence with violence, but we must stand together in solidarity to say that hate crimes are criminal acts and are not to be condoned in Hawai'i. And we must continue to struggle with inner prejudices that prevent us from seeing that God indeed loves all persons, welcomes and invites all persons, and is able to use all persons to proclaim good news.

Governor's Talk Story session was impressive

I attended a recent Governor's Talk Story in Mililani and was overwhelmed by the number of people who turned out that evening; there must have been 300 people in the cafeteria.

With so many people wanting to ask a question and such a diversity of issues, I couldn't see how Gov. Lingle could possibly address all of these concerns. What really impressed me was the number of state directors who were there and were able to address our community's concerns. The governor cared and the state directors cared enough to come out to Mililani and were right there to answer many of our questions.

The governor stayed an extra half-hour to answer questions. Although I couldn't ask my question that night, I was assured by the governor's staff that my question will definitely be answered. I was impressed with their responsiveness and professionalism.

Bicyclists should also indicate their intentions

C'mon, you cycling enthusiasts. Just as the use of turn signals on a car is vital for communicating one's actions on the roadway, so are verbal communications between cyclists.

As a regular commuter cyclist, it's very unnerving to have another cyclist zoom by without warning. What if I had to swerve to avoid an obstacle, not knowing the cyclist was passing?

A simple phrase such as "passing on your left" is all it takes and may help prevent collisions. Let's all kokua and be safe out there.

Senate in 1993 didn't have facts

In an Aug. 21 letter, Eric Po'ohina, in answer to an Aug. 20 letter by Thurston Twigg-Smith, asked that if what Twigg-Smith said was historically correct, why did Congress confess, in the 1993 Hawaiian Apology Law, to stealing from the Hawaiians?

The answer is that Congress shouldn't have done it. There should have been no such confession. The senators must have been ignorant of Hawaiian history, and so must have been their advisers.

After a commission appointed by the provisional government went to Washington to negotiate an annexation treaty in 1893, President Grover Cleveland appointed James H. Blount to go to Hawai'i as his commissioner to investigate the overthrow of the monarchy and to bring back an unbiased report.

Unfortunately, Blount's report was far from unbiased. He hobnobbed with the royalists, accepted no invitations from the new government officials, and wouldn't even talk to them. When he interviewed people, he asked leading questions and would not let them introduce ideas of their own. He held no open hearings and made no attempt to get the other side of the story.

Not surprisingly, President Cleveland assumed the report was unbiased, and since it held that the success of the overthrow was due to U.S. intervention, he decided that the queen should get back her throne. He appointed Albert S. Willis to be the new U.S. minister to Hawai'i and to go with instructions to President Dole demanding that the provisional government give the throne back to the queen. This it refused to do.

Things were delayed because in Cleveland's request, there was a provision that the leaders of the overthrow be given amnesty. This the queen would not agree to. She thought they should be beheaded and have their belongings confiscated. After many letters back and forth between Willis and Cleveland, she finally did agree, but by that time President Cleveland had sent the matter to Congress.

This time, Sen. John T. Morgan and his Foreign Relations Committee did the investigating. They held many open hearings with lots of witnesses telling both sides of the story. The report of this investigation repudiated Blount's. It said that Blount had not gotten the facts. It concluded that the citizens were justified in the revolution and the establishment of the provisional government. President Cleveland had done what he thought was right, but he had been wrong in trying to restore the queen. Among other things, the report censured those who gave Blount false and misleading statements.

I wonder, if the Senate in 1993 had been told about this second investigation, if it would have given more importance to the report of one biased man who held no open hearings than to the report of a Foreign Relations Committee of the United States Senate, which did hold open hearings with testimony from all sides of the story.