Letters to the Editor

Remember our soldiers who risk lives for us

Cuahutemoc "Tiger" Simpson, 27, of Brownsville, Texas, is a medic with the Second Armored Calvary Regiment of the United States Army, and my favorite nephew. He will soon return to Iraq after spending the last few months recovering from severe wounds he received while on patrol outside Baghdad on Sept. 17.

The Army has told Tiger that because he was wounded in action, he doesn't have to go back into combat. His mother and father don't want him to go. I have begged him not to. But Tiger says it is something he must do. "It's my job. It's my duty. It's what I signed up for. I can't stay here when the rest of my unit is over there," he said.

So, any day now, he will be heading back to the war zone, and may even be there already. I'm worried, frightened about what could happen. I wish he would stay where it is safe. I wish there was no war.

But still, I am so very proud that my nephew has chosen to put duty, honor and service to his country above his own personal safety, comfort and welfare. He certainly doesn't want to die, but he believes with all his heart that America is worth the ultimate sacrifice. It is because of him, and all the others like him, that this country is a great nation, and that freedom and justice will triumph.

Please remember Tiger Simpson in your prayers, and all our young men and women in uniform who daily put their lives on the line so the rest of us don't have to.

Here's how Hawai'i Foodbank was created

I would like to add to the excellent article published in The Advertiser on Dec. 27 concerning the passing of John White and the Hawai'i Foodbank.

In 1982, because of my connection to friends in the Legislature, I was approached by Sister Rose Ann Vienhage, a Maryknoll nun, about the possibility of the "Good Samaritan" bill passing legislative approval. It had failed to get the attention of the 1980-81 Legislature. Sister Rose Ann was the assistant administrator of Catholic Social Services, now known as Catholic Charities.

Sister Rose Ann's persistence finally attracted the attention of then-Sen. Dante Carpenter, chairman of the Judiciary Committee. After her testimony at several committee hearings, Sen. Carpenter "walked" the bill through the Legislature, and within weeks it became law. Forty-nine states and Canada followed our lead and established food banks across North America.

It should be noted that the Coalition of Churches in the Nu'uanu area, including St. Andrews, Harris Methodist Memorial, Soto Mission, Temple Emanu-El and St. Stephen's Catholic Church, helped to author the bill. I apologize to those churches that are not included in this list. The churches were concerned about the homeless who lived on Fort Street Mall and were being fed by Rev. Claude DuTeil, an Episcopalian priest who had started the "Peanut-Butter Ministry" because that was all he could afford, peanut-butter sandwiches.

It should also be noted that the Army was very helpful in the start-up of the Foodbank by its generous donation of warehouse space and military food supplies.

Dangers exist with biotechnology research

There is a deep, ongoing debate on the wisdom of carrying out biotechnology research in Hawai'i. The very one-sided account in The Honolulu Advertiser's Sunday Focus section ("Biotech can help revitalize Hawai'i's agricultural industry," Dec. 21) did not help to illuminate the issues and the fears that biotech might instead kill some aspects of that industry.

The article says Hawai'i is ideal for biotech research because it is possible to produce crops year-round. It did not acknowledge that one reason Hawai'i is used as a testing ground is that it is small and isolated. The corporations feel they can take risks with us that they would not dare take on the Mainland.

The article did not acknowledge the fact that several biotech companies have already been fined in Hawai'i for failing to comply with safety regulations. It did not take notice of the organized efforts to challenge this experimentation with Hawai'i's environment (see, for example, www.higean.org/hawaii and www.kahea.org/gmo).

The critics are saying there are risks that should be plainly acknowledged. If the companies are convinced that their research procedures are safe, they should be prepared to accept civil liability, just in case the outcomes are not what they expect.

Could these companies that are conducting agricultural experiments in Hawai'i live with a law that required them to bear a good share of the risks?

Paper should be fair to Jones, Warriors

Regarding your editorial of Dec. 17: Your attributing "lack of class" to the University of Hawai'i shows your lack of fairness. Both universities (Hawai'i and Houston) have said they will review the "brawl" after the game on Christmas Day and will take appropriate actions, including suspensions of players.

Blaming Coach Jones is ridiculous. He was shown on camera during the third quarter discussing with a sideline official that they need to get the game under control. Your photos show a Houston player stomping on a Hawai'i player. The taunting you mentioned started during the pre-game drills by the Houston players. Houston had twice as many penalties called on them. Let's wait for the reviews to be completed before making brash assumptions.

And why did you mention the coach's salary? Something between the lines? You didn't mention the president's or the athletic director's salary.

Celebration gunshot could have been tragic

New Year's should not be started with a bang. Why is it that people feel the need to shoot guns to "celebrate" the new year?

It just so happened that our families were spared from tragedy this year since we celebrated the new year down at Aloha Tower Marketplace instead of our home in Palolo Valley. Some senseless person shot what police believe was a .44-caliber bullet through the front window of our home, through a wall, and into the closet of our guest bedroom. Fortunately, we and our guests were not there to be hit by either the bullet or the flying glass, which continues to turn up throughout our living room and workroom.

I am not writing to oppose handguns. I am writing in the hope that those in possession of guns not shoot them recklessly and irresponsibly, potentially turning their celebration into loss and grief for someone else's family.

Criticism of Mainland solution unwarranted

Chris Bowling is way off the mark in his Dec. 26 letter to the editor. Of course, it is easy for him to preach about us taking responsibility for our own trash.

But what he fails to take into consideration are the realities that we are faced with on O'ahu and the negative impact that the next landfill will have on the quality of life of surrounding communities. I bet if Mr. Bowling lived in Wai'anae, he wouldn't be so strongly against the idea of shipping our trash to Washington state.

I, for one, am happy that Councilman Mike Gabbard has taken the lead on this issue and is looking at this option. It makes sense that a small island like O'ahu would ship its trash to another state that has more land and unpopulated areas, where landfills can be safely placed.

Bashers' open season

I see all the letters bashing the City Council and mayor. To be fair, you need to credit them for tenacity. First they slap all the voters who ride the bus. Then they slap all the voters who drive cars. That covers about everybody, I think — except maybe the skateboarding voters.

The Grinch Who Isn't

Regarding Carol Seielstad's Dec. 26 letter "Hawai'i may not have many grinches: Greg Knudsen could qualify for nomination":

One day I spoke up about re-
search that wasn't,
on facts that were fancy, and
logic that doesn't.
I questioned conclusions that
seemed linked to pay,
and wondered if that was the
norm in L.A.
— and e-mailed L.A. for
what L.A. might say.

The false indignation and
tears they retorted
changed nothing in how
their report was distorted.
The errors, in fact, they em-
braced with a greed
— and their later report even
said we agreed!
(A careless report that was
carefully wrote
to imply that they care and
condemn them that don't.)

The Grinch was not I,
but a thief who stole cheer,
and spoiled good tidings
for folks who are dear.

And the me who at times
makes a statement as I,
believes in the long run that
truth will hold high
— and when falsehoods un-
ravel for all folks to see,
"The Who Who Saved
Whoville"
is who I will be.

Find your niche on transportation

A prediction for 2004 that surely will come true is that The Advertiser's letters page will carry dozens of contributions on how to "solve" Honolulu's traffic problem.

As a public service, I offer the following method to evaluate the letters. The method relies on the past as a predictor of the future and places the suggestions in three major categories.

Category 1 is called the 20th Century Solution. In essence, it honors the private automobile as the technology king of the 20th century and includes ways to continue the car's reign far into the future. New reversible highways, toll roads and double-decking schemes can be placed here.

The most visible proponent of the 20th Century Solution is Cliff Slater, The Advertiser's frequent Second Opinion columnist. I predict Mr. Slater will produce exactly 7.5 columns in 2004 in which continued reliance on the private automobile will be the essential factor.

Humorist Garrison Keillor inspired Category 2, the Lake Woebegone Solution, named for the idyllic place where "all the men are handsome, all the women are strong and all the children are above average."

In Lake Woebegone, nearly all the men and women cooperate in carpools, walk or ride bicycles to work. Some use water-borne transit involving sailboats, motorboats and water skis to move commuters from one side of the lake to the other.

This is where readers can pigeonhole the "feel good" transit suggestions in these pages, such as reliance on carpools and ferries to move commuters into downtown Honolulu from the leeward end of the island. They work well in Lake Woebegone, but as solutions for a modern, world-class city, they're quaint.

Category 3 is where you'll find the forward-thinking, visionary suggestions for Honolulu's 21st-century transportation system. The Light Rail Solution is the category that supports the proposed light-rail transit system as the only big-impact alternative to the private automobile, the zipper-laned buses and carpools and all other forms of transportation that rely on streets and highways.

Those who draft letters to The Advertiser in 2004 would do well to ask themselves which category their letter will enter — the old car-oriented solution, the feel-good but unrealistic Lake Woebegone solution or the light-rail solution, the only one that will move large numbers of commuters to and from work in a timely manner.