State was required to grant trade name

In a Aug. 23 letter to the editor, Birendra Singh Huja expresses displeasure with the unidentified "licensing division" that allowed the registration of the name "House of Hong Buddha Bar & Lounge."

The Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs' Business Registration Division is responsible for registering trade names in the state. We do not, however, have discretionary power to disallow trade names.

Section 482-4(a), Hawai'i Revised Statutes, requires that the department register a trade name unless the name can be considered substantially identical to any other name on record. In other words, despite the fact that the name may be considered by some to be offensive or controversial, the department was required to accept the registration.

Trade-name registration is not the equivalent of a license to do business and does not reflect either the state's approval or disapproval.

Registration, in fact, is not required before a trade name can be used in commerce. Registration merely provides registrants with an opportunity to inform the public of a trade name under which they may do business, and provides a legal basis under some circumstances to prevent others from using the same or a substantially identical name.

As was demonstrated very clearly by this incident, the public and not the state is best able to determine public sensibilities and to persuade a business that its choice of name is considered offensive or in bad taste.

Arizona Memorial letter was ill-informed

Regarding John James' Aug. 18 letter ("Arizona Memorial should change hands"): How could he be a member of the Friends of the Arizona and be so ill-informed of what's going on at the memorial?

We are currently having a drive to raise $34 million to rebuild all the buildings on site with a 21st-century museum and visitors center.

I doubt that the Navy is interested in running the whole facility or whether it would be any better than the Park Service. The new facility is to be expanded for all those who fought in the Pacific, in case Mr. James forgot some of those men and women survived the attack. They come out faithfully to tell their stories and shake hands with the visitors.

We are not selling T-shirts or anything else; we offer gifts to those willing to donate to the rebuilding effort. As for the gift shop, people want to take something home to remember their visit.

Pearl Harbor is not Punchbowl. Pearl Harbor is for the living as well as the dead. It is a historical site, not just a cemetery.

Sea Scouting, sadly, is a well-kept secret

On behalf of the members and leaders of Sea Scout Ship Battleship Missouri, mahalo to you for running Chelsea J. Carter's three-part series about the rescue of diver Dan Carlock by Scouts from California.

It is appreciated because of its portrayal of Scouts, including Sea Scouts, and because it shows the relevance of their training in this day and age. The fact that the Scouts were running their own sailing ship under the guidance of adults and were capable of performing this rescue probably comes as a surprise to most people.

Sea Scouting is, sadly, a well-kept secret nowadays, but there are plenty of these teenage boys and girls around the United States and the world, including Hawai'i. Our Web site at www.geocities.com/shipbb63 offers information about Sea Scouting on O'ahu and elsewhere.

'The Scream' cartoon was inappropriate

Tuesday's editorial cartoon showing the Munch fright painting "The Scream" (stolen in Norway), defaced with the scrawled question "KERRY FOR PRESIDENT?" by masked thieves Bush and Cheney, is about as farfetched and off-base as Dick Adair could get.

Would you have published the "cartoon" if the scrawled question were "RE-ELECT BUSH?" and the thieves were Kerry and Edwards? Or Bill and Hillary (or Bill and Monica)? Or — for a local angle — Inouye and Akaka? Or Case and Abercrombie? If not, why not? Exactly the same relevance as "KERRY FOR PRESIDENT?" has to Bush and Cheney.

The paradox is that on Tuesday, you also had an editorial decrying political "attack ads" by independent sources, and in your news section a story about mud-slinging in the mayoral race.

Laws to crack down on ice are making matters worse

In an Aug. 19 letter, state Rep. Bud Stonebraker complained that Hawai'i's law enforcement doesn't have enough powers to go after drug dealers. No one can argue with his affirmation that Hawai'i's residents want to live in safer neighborhoods. The problem is that the very policies he advocates are the root cause of the unsafe neighborhoods many of us now suffer from.

Making neighborhoods safe requires that that goal be made a priority. The question of setting priorities is a simple one. Which is more important to you: keeping drug addicts' hands off drugs or keeping drug addicts' hands off your property?

Since stopping people from using methamphetamines has become a moral crusade, the ability for public officials to think logically about the best interests of the community has become dangerously clouded. Policies advocated by Stonebraker aim to curtail the supply of dangerous drugs entering Hawai'i. Methamphetamines in particular can be manufactured locally.

Restricting the supply entering the state will do two things: It will increase the price, causing an increase in property crimes committed by addicts. And it will increase the number of meth labs with all the associated problems.

Police say up to 90 percent of our property crime is committed by addicts who need to steal to raise the money to purchase expensive street drugs. We don't have a problem with alcoholics stealing us blind, even though a hardcore drunk is no more functional than a meth addict. The reason is that the alcoholic has legal and affordable access to the drug he is addicted to.

Prior to the introduction of criminal laws against drug use, we had only one problem with drugs: addiction. Now we have massive property crime, intrusive law enforcement, millions of people in prison, higher taxes, the destabilization of foreign countries, violence rampant in our cities and no end in sight. Why, Mr. Stonebraker, should the whole community have to suffer because a small minority have made a bad life choice in relation to drug use?

We need to get off the dime and recognize that only through a program that allows addicts to continue using drugs that are inexpensive and available under legal and supervised conditions will we ever solve the problems the rest of us face. To reach this desirable goal, we need to remove the moralizing hysteria from the issue and start looking at it logically.

Natatorium must be preserved

The National Trust for Historic Preservation strongly supports the emergency repairs required to stabilize the pool and deck structure of the War Memorial Natatorium in Waikiki.

Chartered by Congress in 1949 to encourage public participation in the preservation of sites, buildings and objects of significance in American culture, the National Trust for Historic Preservation is an independent, private, nonprofit membership organization dedicated to protecting the irreplaceable. Recipient of the National Humanities Medal, the trust provides leadership, education and advocacy to save America's diverse historic places and revitalize communities.

The Waikiki War Memorial Natatorium is distinguished by its listing in Hawai'i's State Register of Historic Places and its inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places. Dedicated as a memorial to veterans fallen in World War I, the War Memorial Natatorium is both a state and national treasure.

The Natatorium is also a symbol of Hawai'i's swimming tradition: legendary swimmers like Duke Kahanamoku, Buster Crabbe, Johnny Weissmuller, Ann Curtis and others swam in its grand 100-meter saltwater pool to the delight of thousands of fans. The funds designated for repairing the Natatorium have remained unspent for more than six years, allowing deterioration to continue and thereby driving up the costs of repair, ultimately endangering the preservation of this significant landmark.

In 1995, the National Trust listed the Waikiki War Memorial Natatorium among America's Eleven Most Endangered Historic Places, which was accompanied by a one-hour documentary special on The History Channel. In 2001, the Historic Hawaii Foundation and the National Trust provided grant support for the development of a traveling exhibit tracing the history of competitive swimming in Hawai'i, focusing on the construction of the Waikiki War Memorial Natatorium in 1927 and its role in the development of world-class swimming in the Islands.

Only two months ago, the World War II Memorial was opened in Washington, D.C., to substantial fanfare. Are the sacrifices of veterans from World War I any less important or worthy of commemoration?

War memorials serve an important function in our society: They remind us of the high cost of freedom. Demolishing the Waikiki War Memorial Natatorium so that the site could return to use as beachfront would not only be costly but would also destroy a signature landmark that is part of Honolulu's and Hawai'i's identity and heritage. Moreover, cost estimates for beach reclamation do not take into account the public and private funds that have already been raised and expended to preserve the property.

In the midst of a park, the Natatorium's massive arched entryway frames the ocean, making a distinctive and historically important contribution to the beachscape and suggesting the intent of its original builders. In these uncertain times, the Waikiki War Memorial Natatorium continues to serve as a much-needed reminder of the civic responsibilities that accompany the pleasures of life — pleasures that are so abundant on the Islands.

We urge the city of Honolulu to honor the commitment it made several years ago to restore and protect this important historic resource. The Waikiki War Memorial Natatorium is an integral part of Hawai'i's heritage and will continue to be an asset to the beach at Waikiki when restoration is complete.