Posted on: Wednesday, May 19, 2004

Letters to the Editor

'Hawaiian Kingdom' is a part of America

Regarding Mr. Joseph Aikala's May 17 letter: I cannot believe the blatant prejudices shared in your letter, sir ("Hawai'i enduring 111 years of military occupation").

Military occupation is what the Nazis did in Germany, the North Koreans in their country. Military occupation is when a country is ruled by the military.

I think if you were to ask your lawmakers, and those of significant social status, you would find that the military is welcomed by most in the state of Hawai'i. Yes, sir, believe it or not, Hawai'i is a member of the United States of America.

We may destroy some land, yes; but when the North Koreans, al-Qaida, Taliban, etc., come knocking on the lush beaches of Hawai'i, I'll bet you're the first one wondering where the military is.

Wake up, sir, and realize: The "Hawaiian Kingdom" is indeed part of America.

It would be difficult to categorize Michener

Tom Olson (Letters, May 14) writes that author James Michener and his third wife (nee Mari Yoriko Sabusawa) were discriminated against in the purchase of beachfront property in Kahala some 45 years ago, and that is why they left Hawai'i with some bitterness. The story is based on a reminiscence of the Micheners by Siegfried Ramler, who got it from them in an automobile on the way to a lu'au mourning the coming of statehood by descendants of the Hawaiian royal family.

Michener actively campaigned for John F. Kennedy in his home state of Pennsylvania in 1960; he also ran for Congress from that state in 1962. True, he may be said to have put Hawai'i on the map by his gargantuan novel (I always wanted to use that word in a sentence), but then he also put Texas on the map. The Micheners' $20 million gift to the Honolulu Academy of Art was exceeded by their $30 million gift to the creative writing program at the University of Texas at Austin.

Apocryphal Michener tale aside, I wonder if Olson recognizes the unconscious irony of using Hawai'i real estate to illustrate discrimination against same-sex couples. Voters throughout the state are infuriated by being locked out of affordable housing. Only the junior senator from Massachusetts and his wife could now buy in Kahala.

Jack London, Mark Twain and Robert Louis Stevenson are among many other famous authors who visited Hawai'i. It is dangerous to say that Ko'olau the Leper, Pudd'n'head Wilson and Mr. Hyde would have come down on this or that side of a particular issue.

Jasmine voting calls to mind the 1957 Reds

As Jasmine Trias has ridden the wave of local support into national prominence, some of us creakers have been reminded of the 1957 Major League Baseball season.

The Cincinnati Reds were enormously popular in their hometown. High hopes for a pennant — and even a World Series title — prevailed. When it came time for the fans to vote nationwide for the All Star teams, the fans of Cincinnati rose to the occasion. They voted and voted ... and voted.

Amazingly, their entire team got voted onto the National League All Star team, as starters. Oh, the wailing and gnashing that followed! Commissioner Ford Frick used his prerogative to replace two of the starters, and the following year the vote no longer was in the hands of the fans, but in those of the players, managers and coaches. The fans didn't get the vote back for 13 years.

All the players who were voted in were fine players, but certainly all of them were not the very best at the positions they played. Indeed, the Reds finished fourth that year, barely winning more games than they lost.

Jasmine's phenomenon is very similar.

It will be fun to see if knee-jerk decisions follow the current national outrage and the "American Idol" selection process gets severely altered next time around.

'American Idol' has been rigged from start

I think that this whole "American Idol" thing has been rigged from the beginning by the producers of the show. It's a big business, and they have purposely stirred up American viewers to make this thing so controversial in order to make the ratings skyrocket.

Think of who is profiting by all this. I bet the producers are laughing all the way to the bank as they see how crazy the fans and all Americans have become; I can honestly admit that this includes me, too.

Jasmine is definitely not one of the best singers in this competition, and America knows it. It's a big game that has made every American glued to his or her TV for the ongoing soap opera.

Wai'anae Maritime Academy wonderful

Kudos to the Wai'anae Maritime Academy. It's good to know that people really care and make the effort to better the lives of those unfortunate to not complete high school or higher education.

The best quote during the 'Olelo TV program: "The instructors are to blame, not the students if they fail because they do not understand the question."

Another excellent comment was the fact that women and not just men are making great strides at moving into job positions of great distinction. Everything is earned and not given out on a silver platter.

Much of the success is dedicated to volunteer instructors with the devoted passion to teach. I was very impressed — the future cadets are very fortunate to have these chosen few. Best wishes to the Wai'anae community on a job well done.

Super gasoline is by far better than regular gas

Consider two types of gasoline: regular, which most everyone uses, and super, which gives the engine extra kick (using a Buick Park Avenue).

Here is an experiment I tried on both types of gasoline, from a local Kailua gas station:

• I normally drive with regular, so I filled the tank, reset the small mileage indicator to zero, headed to the nearby H-3, and then drove for several hours at around 55 to 60 mph on both the H-1 and H-2. After about 200 miles or so (i.e., three-plus hours of driving), I returned to the H-3, exited to Kailua, to the same gas station and same pump. I put in the same nozzle with regular and held it until it kicked off. Noted the number of gallons (12.807) and the total miles (195.3 miles). I divided the total miles by the total gallons and obtained 15.25 miles per gallon.

• I took a few days of normal driving to get the tank of regular gas almost empty, then returned to my gas station, and filled up with super, letting the pump kick it off. And reset the mileage indicator to zero. Again, three-plus hours on H-1 and H-2, returned via H-3 to the Kailua station, filled it up, noted the total miles (208.2) and gallons (7.463) and divided 208.2 by 7.463, and obtained 27.9 miles per gallon.

• At Costco, with its CASH card, I did the same, and here are the measured results:

Unleaded: 174.2 miles and 12.022 gallons = 14.49 miles per gallon.

Premium: 169.5 miles and 6.875 gallons = 24.6 miles per gallon.

Note No 1: Regular is ahead of unleaded by 3/4 mile per gallon.

Note No. 2: Super is ahead of premium by 3¡ miles per gallon.

You be the judge.

Deadline won't be set without governance

In his May 12 Volcanic Ash column ("Maybe a deadline is needed"), David Shapiro agrees it makes sense for Congress and the Bush administration to impose a statute of limitations for settling Native Hawaiian claims with the federal and state governments.

Mr. Shapiro writes: "Let's face it, the demographics of the Hawaiian population and opinion within the Hawaiian community are becoming more splintered with each passing year. If we can't achieve consensus to resolve native claims within 20 years, there's little reason to believe it can ever be done."

It's important to note when the proposed statute of limitation begins and therefore ends.

Under the recently approved amendments to the Akaka bill, the 20-year deadline would begin after the formation of a new Hawaiian governing entity. Section 8 of the bill establishes the 20-year limit during which the Native Hawaiian governing entity may bring claims to the U.S. District Court in Hawai'i.

Creating a Hawaiian governing entity is something the Hawaiian community needs to take its time to deliberate. We should not have to worry about an impending statute-of-limitation "clock" ticking as we begin to engage in this process. The April version of the Hawaiian federal recognition legislation would have this "clock" start when the bill is enacted. At the urging of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, the bill was further amended on May 5 to allow the clock to begin ticking after the Hawaiian governing entity is recognized. This is a much more reasonable approach.

Just to be clear: The clock doesn't start ticking now or even when (and if) the Akaka bill passes Congress. It will begin after the new Hawaiian governing entity is formed, an entity that will, by the way, replace the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.

Land purchase is almost there

Thanks are due to the many supporters of the Malama Pupukea-Paumalu project.

The community's hard work and dedication are producing remarkable progress toward mobilizing the total of $12 million expected to be necessary to purchase the property for the public benefit. Some of the key updates:

• HB 1800 provided $1 million of state resources for the project.
• Through various mechanisms, and in close partnership with the state, the federal government has earmarked approximately $7 million for the acquisition and is examining other potential funding sources.
• To date, all of the City Council members have supported the $3 million for the project in the current draft of the city budget.
• Council Chairman Donovan Dela Cruz introduced a council resolution supporting the community effort to protect Pupukea-Paumalu.

With the City Council final approval of the total $3 million at its meetings on May 24 and June 4, the project will have the required local "matching funds," and the Trust for Public Land will be able to place an offer for the property with the owner. The intention will be to complete the purchase of the property for the public benefit before the end of the year.

The community has also established distinguished "community management plan review" and advisory committees to assist with further developing and implementing the community plan for the property. These committees are composed of important leaders in the community from diverse backgrounds. The committee membership includes two former chairs of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, as well as representatives of stakeholders such as Hawaiian cultural organizations, the Boy Scouts and Sunset Beach Elementary School.

The next City Council vote is Monday, and with the community's continued support, the proposed budget for Pupukea-Paumalu will likely be approved.

O'ahu residents and other concerned individuals should consider calling the council members in support of Pupukea-Paumalu immediately. It is important to thank the council members for their support to date and to encourage them to give final approval for the $3 million for Pupukea-Paumalu.

The Pupukea-Paumalu project will provide important benefits to the people of O'ahu as well as to visitors from around the world. Supporters deserve gratitude for their on-going assistance and patience during this complex process. The project is successful because of their work.

Please visit www.northshoreland.org to learn more about how to get involved, how to assist the effort and how to contact the City Council members to urge their continued support.