Posted on: Wednesday, March 3, 2004

Letters to the Editor

Most Hawaiians were against statehood

Kenneth R. Conklin (Letters, March 1), thank you for starting my day off well. Your repeated attempts at manipulating facts and lack of compassion for the injustices against Hawaiians really give me a good laugh.

Don't mistake me, racism is not a laughing matter. Your choice of how to hide it in bits and pieces arranged to give the impression that most Hawaiians were for statehood is.

For your information, Mr. Conklin, my mother told me herself no more than a week and a half ago she was fully against statehood. Herself a 100 percent Hawaiian, she told me she did not vote in the 1959 plebiscite because she "and most of the Hawaiians" were against it. She further stated that most Hawaiians were told if they didn't vote for statehood, they wouldn't be able to collect any of their pensions or Social Security retirement money.

You insinuate the majority of Hawaiians were in favor of statehood and you now want to celebrate this fallacy by making it a holiday. The majority of people who did vote, be it 1954 or 1959, were non-Hawaiians. You want a holiday, Mr. Conklin, go fish.

Bring Dobelle back in from the cold shoulder

Evan Dobelle set a vision of a vibrant university integrated into the evolution of Hawai'i's economic, social and intellectual growth. A top-notch medical school, a dynamic film department, a physical environment promoting a campus-style university, a West O'ahu campus, UH becoming a stronger draw for top Asian students — all seem like positive goals for Hawai'i.

Let the Hawai'i stakeholders concentrate on bringing these to fruition.

Dobelle's hands have been held over the hot coals long enough, whether for support of Mazie Hirono, his arrogance or his management style. Let's get on with a new and sustained cooperative effort among the faculty, Board of Regents, the politicians and Dobelle. We might be surprised at the results.

All parties have been disappointing in realizing the goals of the strategic plan. The faculty has played little part in addressing the issues facing Hawai'i today. The education faculty has been silent on the debate. Instead of supplying us with research data on the importance of the role of the principal in bringing about reform, we got an unrealistic 22nd-century plan for change.

Dobelle has not been successful in providing a means for dialogue between his disgruntled faculty and himself. The Board of Regents and Dobelle have created this "dysfunctional relationship." The governor and Legislature seem blind to the enormous strength of integrating Hawai'i's future development with the potential intellectual power of the university.

Now is the time for all parties to renew a positive effort for the benefit of all of Hawai'i.

Calling Lingle a hero demeans real veterans

To call our governor a "brave veteran" and a hero who should be "decorated" for visiting Iraq demeans the millions of American men and women who are real veterans (Island Voices, March 2, by Steve Tataii).

I'm certain that Ms. Lingle would not call herself a veteran or suggest that she should be given a medal.

She should have been at home addressing major problems that face her constituency in Hawai'i instead of trying to help President Bush regain whatever credibility he might have had before launching his personal war in that country.

Governor's visibility is playing well in Asia

I'm sending this letter from Singapore, my latest stop on what is a several-weeks-long business trip to Southeast Asia. I thought everybody back home in Hawai'i ought to know how well Gov. Lingle's recent national and international activities have been playing out here in Asia.

When I woke up and turned on the TV this morning, I was delighted to see our governor on the BBC ringing the bell at the New York Stock Exchange. This follows numerous Lingle sightings not only on CNN, but also in regional newspapers during stops I've made in Thailand, Malaysia and Brunei. It seems as if every time I turn around, there's the governor — with Hawai'i's troops in Iraq, in Washington debriefing the president and at the National Governor's Conference.

This is not just something that makes a Hawai'i resident, far from home, feel pride. The governor's visibility puts our state in a very positive light and lends it a much higher and more serious profile than it usually gets. This is good news for Hawai'i, and it bodes well for our state's economy.

Keep up the good work, Governor.

Gay marriage editorial was an embarrassment

It's beyond belief that The Advertiser is represented by editorials such as "Gay marriages: battles lost, war to be won" (Feb. 21).

Since this paper is partly a compilation of articles written by other newspapers, the editorial section is one of the few insights into the leadership of The Advertiser. Consequently, I would expect to see some standard of ethics when using a forum that reaches out to the entire public in Hawai'i.

Instead, you have used this valued tool to propagandize an obviously personal crusade, and it is an embarrassment to The Advertiser and its readers.

Bush proving he's not uniter, compassionate

President Bush's call for a constitutional amendment to ban equal marriage rights has proven that he is not a "uniter" or "compassionate," as he claimed to be in 2000.

Bush claims he is backing discrimination because "the voice of the people must be heard." Even if this is what the people wanted, at the writing of this, a CNN poll shows that 58 percent don't want the Constitution to be amended to support discrimination; this would be a rare event for this administration.

In 2000, the popular vote didn't go to Bush, so did Bush hear "the voice of the people"? No, he went to the courts to fight "the voice of the people." Prior to the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Americans didn't want to go to war without the support of the United Nations, and did Bush listen then? No. The cost of this hearing impairment is over 500 American soldiers and more than 7,000 Iraqi civilians dead and counting.

Instead of encouraging discrimination, Bush should be fighting for freedom and equality for all Americans. Just like our soldiers are now doing over in Iraq for the Iraqi people, especially since there are no WMD to be found.

Don't blame business climate for gas prices

Several letters to the editor have supported high gasoline prices and no price controls. The letters have come from oil execs or lawyers working for oil companies.

The average profit per gallon of gas in the entire country is 5 cents. The average profit per gallon in Hawai'i is 30 to 35 cents.

Oil companies claim the high cost of gas is "just doing business in Hawai'i." No other company in Hawai'i makes seven times the profit here as elsewhere. That's gouging, not "just doing business in Hawai'i." Hawai'i needs price controls that will permit a fair profit, not seven times the profit the oil companies make elsewhere. They gouge $100 million annually from Hawai'i.

The U.S. average tax including federal, state and local is 42 cents per gallon. Hawai'i's average tax including federal, state and local is $.535 per gallon. That's $.115 per gallon. It costs only a few cents more per gallon of gas for refining and getting the gasoline to the consumer in Hawai'i than it does on the Mainland. Yet the cost of gasoline is 50 cents per gallon higher.

Noncommercial users must get exemptions

Regarding Jan TenBruggencate's Feb. 23 article: State DLNR rules regarding the use of water-sports equipment on or off public beaches must be changed to exempt non-commercial water-sports equipment users.

The rule, when adopted in 1988, was intended to control commercial water-sports equipment from crowding out the public's use of public beaches and shorelines.

It appears that the DLNR omitted the words "non-commercial water sports equipment is exempt from this rule" when it prepared its final wording for adoption. Commercial users should continue to be controlled by this rule.

Laws are created to keep people safe

I have heard it over and over again from both sides of the spectrum. On one side, we have people grumbling about the speeding that occurs on our streets. Where was your support for the van cams that helped slow people down?

On the other side, we have people out there trying to justify their speeding because laws are too outdated. Then we have people who are wondering why we're looking to make driving 30 mph over the speed limit a felony, thus taking away the rights and privileges of law-abiding citizens.

Well, for those who share in this view, please call the families of those who lost brothers, sisters, aunties, uncles, grandparents, grandchildren, moms and dads. Wake up if you are doing something that makes that a reality. Maybe you should take a look in the mirror and make a change.

Also, to those who support the race tracks and drifting tracks out there, these are only small parts of a larger world. Once people get their juices pumped at the track over and over again, they then search for something a little more challenging. This is shown repeatedly in the news, nightclubs and on the Internet by people who film themselves drifting around corners, going well over 100 mph, and doing acrobatics on motorcycles.

Laws are made to keep people safe and provide guidelines to follow within a reasonable manner. Wake up, Hawai'i, and get back to reality.

Aerial hunting another form of animal cruelty

Just when it looked as if it couldn't get any worse for Hawai'i's animals, what with cockfighting and our lack of cruelty laws, the House speaker proposes HB 2495 ("Bill seeks expansion of aerial hunts of animals," Feb. 9).

Animals? Kill them with high-powered repeating rifles fired from airplanes.

Now, it was a year ago that Maui police made multiple arrests in simultaneous cockfight raids. It gave me hope that cruelty laws might actually be enforced.

Even though these cases haven't yet come to court, it was still a nice gesture, and maybe some day we will have a workable, enforceable cruelty law.

Meantime, the only thing that deserves to be killed is this bill.

Plenty of reasons to not fix all those potholes

With the recent bad weather, the topic of potholes is sure to rear its ugly head. Everyone is anxious to fix the cratered texture of our highways, but there are many reasons to keep them as is:

• Potholes act as an ashtray for people who throw cigarette butts out of their car (actually, more potholes are needed for this purpose).
• Tourists feel they're in a Third World country without ever leaving Waikiki. It's two vacations in one.
• Money saved by the city goes to Rod Tam's postage budget.
• Money saved by the state goes to whatever it usually wastes money on.
• Diversification, anyone? Car-repair business will overtake tourism as our No. 1 industry.
• Eventually, no one will want to drive, ridding us of traffic forever.
• Potholes — better than speed bumps at no taxpayer expense.
• Immigrants from war-torn countries feel right at home without all the bombing.
• Avoiding potholes is shown to enhance driving skills.
• Owners of those ridiculous-looking 4-wheel-drive vehicles now have a practical use for them.
• Sales of "I Survived Ke'eaumoku" T-shirts will skyrocket.

Next time: Reasons why we should keep our schools in dilapidated shape.