Letters to the Editor

BRT will be well worth it in long run

The initial operating segment of the BRT should be supported.

It is not surprising that the private transportation lobbyists would fight against the BRT. What is dismaying is when professed "transit supporters" object to the in-town BRT because it will "slow down traffic and not relieve congestion."

Equally dismaying is when our neighborhood board members and legislators listen to such a weak argument and nod their heads in agreement.

There are issues to transportation beyond moving an automobile from point A to point B as quickly as we can. Concepts such as accessibility, pedestrian enhancement and automobile alternatives are important to the quality of life in our communities.

Establishing a transit corridor now via a BRT system has value beyond initial ridership numbers and operational efficiencies. It will indeed slow down the sacred automobile along those streets, and it will be messy at first, but let's not be cowards about it.

If we kill the BRT system, then let those who helped to slay it explain to us 10 years from now how we were made better off.

Judge had reason to delay sentencing

Circuit Court Judge Karen Ahn, as pointed out by the legal experts consulted in The Advertiser's report of the sentencing of Shane Mark, was clearly on point with the law. With a pending trial of attempted first-degree murder, the convict's right to due process would be infringed upon if he were sentenced for the crime for which he was convicted.

The angst of Officer Gaspar's surviving family and friends is understandable, but they should keep in mind that the convict does not walk free — he is imprisoned pending his sentencing. As pointed out by legal expert Brook Hart, the prosecution probably did not dismiss the remaining charges so that Mark could be sentenced to life without parole if convicted in the attempted first-degree murder trial.

If not for this pending trial, the severest sentence Judge Ahn would be able to declare is life with the possibility of parole: Shane Mark would possibly walk the streets free again in a couple of decades.

Officer Tenari Maafala, SHOPO president, should have been able to see this legal maneurvering necessary for a severe penalty for a "cop killer."

UH embraces various forms of agriculture

Readers of the May 10 commentary by Bill Freese might conclude that the University of Hawai'i's College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources' leadership favors biotechnology and genetic engineering over other farming approaches. We would be unwise to turn our backs on biotechnology's potential advantages, yet we also continue our work to improve conventional farming, organic farming and integrated pest management.

We are here to help all our clients, and we encourage the coexistence of all forms of agriculture. Our college has produced more than 30 varieties of fruits and vegetables and over 100 flower varieties through classical breeding. We have 25 faculty members working on crop protection methods that do not involve genetic engineering.

At the same time, we have 11 genetic engineering projects ongoing and have helped bring a disease-resistant, genetically engineered papaya to market.

The past two decades have reshaped Hawai'i's agricultural landscape. As plantation-based sugar and pineapple production has declined, diversified agriculture now accounts for 70 percent of farm revenues.

CTAHR supports tropical agriculture systems that foster viable communities, a diversified economy and a healthy environment. We are committed to serving the state's agricultural community, and we believe that we can best accomplish this mission through a broad range of research and outreach projects.

City should raise employee rates first

City Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi and city Budget Director Ivan Lui-Kwan should start the parking-fee increases in their own backyard. It is my information that C&C employees pay only $30 per month for their parking. Right now, the lowest public monthly parking is $100 per month at the Kukui Plaza, which the proposal will raise to $150 per month.

In fairness, especially since some of the increase is to fund the C&C white-collar workers' pay raises, C&C employee parking should see a commensurate raise to, say, $80 per month, or maybe even $100 per month, which is still substantially below what the public is paying downtown.

'La Esmeralda Day' an insult to Chileans

As outrage has grown over abuses committed by troops in Iraq, the governor of Hawai'i honored a Chilean ship that was used to house and torture prisoners after the bloody 1973 military coup led by Augusto Pinochet.

According to Amnesty International, the Organization of American States and an official Chilean truth commission, over 100 political prisoners were tortured aboard the ship La Esmeralda. At least one prisoner, British-Chilean priest Michael Woodward, died as a result. No one has been held accountable for these crimes, and high-ranking Chilean military officers still deny the ship's well-documented, sordid history.

Each year, La Esmeralda travels around the world to train new Chilean naval cadets. For three decades, the ship's arrival has been met with protest at international ports. In 1986, the U.S. Senate passed a resolution condemning the ship's participation in the nation's bicentennial celebrations. Despite this controversial history and recent reminders of the horrors of torture, when the ship docked in Pearl Harbor recently, the governor's office declared May 14 "La Esmeralda Day" in honor of the six ships in Chilean naval history bearing that name.

"La Esmeralda Day" is an insult to those who suffered aboard the ship and to all torture victims around the world. The Hawai'i government must address this terrible mistake.

Equal treatment or give gays a tax break

The Advertiser's May 21 story regarding per capita taxes paid by Hawai'i residents caught my eye and precipitated a couple of thoughts:

• Sexual minorities in this state are treated as second- and third-class citizens yet are billed for services that they disproportionately don't use or enjoy, such as education. Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered citizens should therefore be allotted a lesser tax rate.

Does this sound absurd? Well, so does the notion that in this day and age, the same groups of people do not enjoy equality in employment, housing, public accommodation or relationship privileges guaranteed by the government to the majority of the citizens of this state. Equal taxation should mean equal opportunities and basic rights.

• If churches, most notably the Mormon and Catholic churches, insist on trying to influence government with their faith-based dogma, they should shoulder the same tax burden that private citizens and the business community do. That means taxing church land and buildings, income, collections and the free clothing, education, housing and board given to clergy. The Legislature and the governor then would have the tools to balance the budget.