Posted on: Monday, August 23, 2004

Letters to the Editor

Advertiser Staff

State Audubon Society was unaware of culling

The board of directors of the Hawai'i Audubon Society acknowledges and supports the concerns of both our members and the general public regarding the sudden culling of peacocks at the Waimea Valley Audubon Center in July as reported in your July 31 paper. However, we wish to clarify that the Waimea Valley Audubon Center is managed and funded by the National Audubon Society, now known as the Audubon Society, on land leased from the City and County of Honolulu.

The Hawai'i Audubon Society was founded locally in 1939 as an independent, non-profit membership association and became a certified chapter of the National Audubon Society in 1978 but continues to function independently in all fiscal, policy and programmatic matters. Hawai'i Audubon Society board members and employees had no advance knowledge of the culling or further information beyond that printed in the local newspapers at the time of the event.

Mililani is back to Square 1 on trash

Regarding the city's recycled trash program: The city again opened its mouth and made commitments without first engaging its brain.

Kapolei (and other communities) had the benefit of a recycled trash program from Horizon Waste at $60 per year until the city announced its test period for recycled trash in Mililani. Notwithstanding that, it was only a trial balloon. Within two weeks, Horizon Waste notified its customers of its intent to terminate the recycled trash program since it was being replaced by the city. Horizon Waste was also less than up front inasmuch as anyone following the news on the city's recycling program was aware that we were a long way from any comprehensive city program.

Now Mililani gets to join Kapolei (and other communities) that have been without any recycled trash removal for 15 to 18 months. During this time, much recyclable trash has been going into regular trash destined for the already overburdened Waimanalo Gulch from residents unable or unwilling to make the effort to convey recycled trash to the recycled trash containers at schools.

Licensing division acted insensitively

I read the Aug. 14 Expressions of Faith column by Dr. Alfred Bloom on the subject of the Buddha Bar with some interest. His perspective and comments are most generous.

Use of names and signs are an expression of freedom. However, use of any language indicating insensitivity to another group is uncalled for. While we have the freedom to express, we can also choose the language to foster aloha among us.

I am not very upset at the people who opened the Buddha Bar, as we have such people with poor taste in every community, but I am not very happy with the licensing division. They (licensing division) restrict the wording on car license plates, and they can restrict names of business establishments also.

We people of Hawai'i are gentle even when we protest; elsewhere in the world, issuing of such a license could invite the trashing of the bar and the licensing bureau.

It would be sensible on the part of the bar to change its name and the licensing bureau to insist on changing the name. A prompt change of the name and appropriate apologies are overdue from both the owners and the licensing agency.

Common-sense rules

Driving with aloha. All this means is to use all the common sense you learned at your mother's knee. Pay attention to your surroundings, watch out for others and be prepared to stop in an instant. There are others on the road, and if you are traveling in a congested area, you don't have to be first. Remember, if the car in front of you is going to make a right turn, let him; you don't have to pass right now; remember, there might be a speeder in the left lane. Watch out!

Troop redeployment editorial is nonsense

Amazing how editorial writers are experts on everything; the only problem is their views are usually blurred by leftist leanings.

It is legitimate in the Aug. 18 editorial to question troop redeployments, albeit for parochial reasons, not facts, but to stretch this to the president's ability as a world leader is nonsense.

The only conclusion based on most editorials of this paper is to get rid of Bush at any cost — even if the alternative is incompetent.

Rep. Tamayo should support someone else

Rep. Tulsi Tamayo did the right thing when she enlisted in the Army Reserves. Her loyalty and service to our country is commendable. Now she should do the right thing and tell the people in her district to support someone else (since there is no procedure for her to drop out of the primary).

Tamayo should know her legislative job is called a representative, and she cannot represent her constituents from Iraq. She cannot attend committee hearings to listen to people who want to persuade her to vote a certain way, nor can she be in constant touch with people in her district who need legislative assistance.

Tamayo has a job to do and that is to support her Army unit — not to be a part-time warrior and a part-time legislator. I would say leave it up to her district to decide, but last election a dead woman was elected as our U.S. representative, so that doesn't say much for local politics. Tulsi, do the right thing again.

State must provide safety on Farrington

There is definitely a need for something to be done about pedestrian safety around the Kahe Point area.

About two weeks ago as I was driving Wai'anae-bound, I saw a young girl in the middle of the road, and I assume she was trying to get across the road safely. And we all know how dangerous it is to cross a road where cars are averaging 50 mph or more.

Well, now two weeks later, someone has been killed not 100 yards from the spot where I saw that girl. There are no crosswalks on this long stretch of Farrington Highway. The last crosswalk you see is at the Waiomea Street traffic light, and the next one you come to is at Piliokahi Avenue.

That's almost three miles that include a number of bus stops, beaches and, more importantly, homes.

The state has to do something about this problem, and parents need to be more attentive to the dangers of their children crossing the highway.

Rail transit: It's time for Honolulu to get into gear

Many thanks for Mike Leidemann's comprehensive and detailed look at our crowded communities, infrastructure and growth in Hawai'i, particularly Leeward and West O'ahu (July 26).

Our principal chance to address the transit component of any resolution of the issues involved in urban Honolulu was lost in 1992 when the City Council voted to turn down the initial $690 million I had secured for our rail transit project some 30 years in the planning.

The only way arguments about smart growth vs. moratoriums can be addressed (if not settled) regarding development of housing is adding capacity to the H-1 corridor from Kapolei to Kahala. The issue boils down to the question of how do we provide it. It is not a matter of getting cars off the highways but providing the ability to increase utilization of our existing main transportation route in the wake of whatever housing developments come to pass.

There will not and cannot be any more roads paralleling the H-1 Freeway. The H-1 is already a clogged ordeal. People need to be able to have a home. It is less than useless for those who already have a home to lecture those without one to wait for a magical mystery road to appear before they can entertain their dream of home ownership.

Political opportunists denounce paying an excise tax share that would trigger hundreds of millions of federal dollars while ignoring the impact fees that will be passed along to new-home buyers for road "improvements." Rail transit is opposed by wealthy commentators whose solution is toll roads. In both cases, the struggling working middle class pays while the well-off and well-established look away.

After a flurry of talk from the Lingle administration, no action has been forthcoming. Bus transit is a punching bag in the mayoral election. Legislatively, both the state and the Honolulu City Council are running in place.

The justification for rail transit is, if anything, stronger today than in 1992. The gridlock is worse, and the cost of delay greater than ever. I'm ready to act. Our delegation is prepared to team up in Congress to act. We need to know if the state and city are ready to act with us.

A better way of finding logo

The word "brand" can have many meanings, depending on who you are. If you're the owner of a recently manufactured Saturn Vue SUV, a brand is something that makes it easier to recall a product when it fails. If you're wearing a fake Rolex, a brand is something that's more meaningful to you than the quality of the product behind it. If you're a cow, a brand is a searing pain in the butt followed by a permanent scar.

But if you're in the business of branding (a relatively new branch or "brand" of marketing/advertising), as a brand guru or brand consultant or, like letter writer Brook Gramann, a principal in a company called "The Brand Strategy Group," then the definition of "brand" goes way deep.

Gramann writes that a brand "is more than a look, logo or letterhead. ... It's more than colors and themes. ... A brand is a promise."

Obviously, Gramann is passionate about her work, but I think she's getting carried away.

Her letter speaks about the university's values and core capabilities. But these things exist (or should exist) independent of any brand or symbol or logo. Branding merely (if it is well-executed) reflects them, expresses them, communicates them.

Gramann seems to be confusing form and content, package and product, the label on the bottle and the wine inside, the symbol and the thing itself.

She writes about "a good brand" and "a good strategic plan" in the same sentence, but these are completely different things. If your organization doesn't have a strategic plan, a strong sense of self-identity, a clear-cut mission and a staff of managers and employees all buying in, your "brand identity" isn't going to help no matter how much time and money you throw at it.

Evan Dobelle was a visionary who understood the necessity of both of the above processes: strategically reorganizing the university as a unit rather than a scattered collection of campuses and programs, and then graphically communicating a unified image to the public. This was the motivation behind the branding research and the Great Logo Hunt.

There's a place for branding, and there's a reason to have a nice-looking logo. But let's not overemphasize the package to the detriment of the product. Did we really need a "brand committee" of 28 working at this task for 18 months? Did we really need to look far and wide, and spend so much money, for a new logo?

There's a cheaper way to get a logo, and it might be superior to the ones we've been looking at for the last few weeks. UH-Manoa has an art department. Inside are teachers and students of graphic design. Give them a shot at the logo in an open competition. If a teacher wins, he or she gets a bonus. If a student wins, he or she gets a year's free tuition. If nobody wins, it will have cost nothing.

John Wythe White | Hale'iwa