Posted on: Wednesday, October 13, 2004

Letters to the Editor

City is delinquent in picking up green bins

I live in Mililani, and recently a blue bin was dropped off at my curb for mixed recyclables. Now I have three waste bins, a gray one for general refuse, a blue one for mixed recyclables and an old green one that is left over from the old recycling program that suddenly shut down over a month ago.

When the blue one was dropped off, so was a pamphlet instructing me to leave the old green one on the curb to be picked up the next day. It's been a week now since my old green bin and the bins of all my neighbors up and down the street have been sitting on the curb waiting for pickup. It is becoming an eyesore and a nuisance.

I'm all for the recycling program, but I did not ask to house this green bin indefinitely, which I assume is the property of the city and county of Honolulu. It's ironic that the city's Refuse Division is taking so long to take care of its waste.

Stadium is taking candy from babies

At the UH vs. Nevada game, I was disappointed by the Gate 3 guard's adherence to stadium policy when he took away a tiny bag with eight pieces of gummy bears from the parent of a young child. Sitting through four hours of a football game is challenging enough, but without the treat, it must have been unpleasant.

When it was my daughter's turn, this guard checked my 13-year-old daughter's pockets on both her jacket and fanny pouch, delighting when he found a mostly empty package (four pieces) of ginger candy from Trader Joe's. My daughter carries these for the nausea she sometimes experiences; ginger soothes. The guard wouldn't hear of it and promptly snatched it to add to his collection of "illegal" items (candy, snacks and water).

But what topped off the night was the unmistakable smell of pot as we walked to our car in the lower Halawa parking lot (near the back corner, farthest from the stadium). The stadium should focus more on finding pot smokers to ensure our safety instead of taking candy from babies to make money on their concessions.

Teacher vacancies can be filled locally

I find it ironic that in the Oct. 7 article "Substitute teachers suing state for $25M," the dean of the College of Education says, "The role (of the substitute teacher) is even more critical with the current teacher shortage."

According to the article, there were 357 teacher vacancies at the start of the school year, yet the College of Education is only able to admit a limited number of students. This past year alone, there were well over 500 students applying for admission into the College of Education, yet it was only able to accept 75. The college blames the state for the limited funding, yet the state can dish out moving expenses to bring in recently graduated teachers from the Mainland.

Society can see that the state has a teacher shortage, and the state's answer to this is to pay teachers from other states when the local students are trying their hardest to get their foot in the door. Isn't the state always telling us to "buy Hawai'i first"? Well, where is the state "buying" the local students? They aren't.

There are so many local students who want to become teachers but they end up in another profession because of the competitiveness of getting into the College of Education. UH is also talking about depression among college students due to their grades; did they ever wonder why? If students don't receive an A, or a 4.0 GPA, they aren't able to even become a prospect for the College of Education.

Somewhere something needs to change.

Abercrombie, Case ignored us on vote

Neil Abercrombie and Ed Case are not good for the people of Hawai'i, nor America.

They do not vote in Congress for the will of the people of Hawai'i. They ignored us and voted against the federal marriage amendment bill. They are too liberal.

I know that Mike Gabbard and Dalton Tanonaka are men of principle and God-fearing candidates. They'll not let down Hawai'i people.

Vote for Mike Gabbard and Dalton Tanonaka!

Closed captioning would improve event

I have been living in Waikiki for a little over two years, and Sunset on the Beach is my very favorite local event. There is a lot to enjoy there: the beach, gorgeous sunset, food stands and movies on a huge screen under the stars. The event is open to everybody, and best of all, it's free.

I just think that if all movies were shown with closed captioning, the event would be enjoyable to deaf and hard-of-hearing people as well. Additionally, Waikiki is such a favorite destination for many tourists, closed captioning would be helpful for tourists whose primary language is not English.

Article was absurd

It is absurd that a Bruce Fein wrote an article against the Akaka bill for the Washington Times (Advertiser, Sunday) which is owned by the "Rev." Moon — a Korean citizen who publishes an ultra-conservative newspaper in Washington. What business do Fein and Moon have with Native Hawaiians here? Add them to the haole men who are so obsessed with Hawaiian benefits here and seem to feel so threatened by them.

How soon they forget the Democratic efforts

In his Oct. 10 column, "Hawai'i's politics changing," editorial page editor Jerry Burris accurately describes voters in traditionally Democratic districts now turning Republican as "more concerned about 'us' and 'our group' than were their parents." Sadly, this is also the national trend where Bush supporters seem to be able to subordinate concern for the national welfare to the few dollars (unless they're in the over-$200,000 category) they'll receive from his misguided tax cuts.

And it is a trend in which Americans do not feel the need for, indeed do not want, the "family of nations."

How hollow our constant boasts of "'ohana" and "aloha"! How short are the memories of those newly affluent who forget that it was through the hard-won efforts of their parents and the Democratic Party that they can afford to live in expensive homes and send their children to private schools, leaving those who were not similarly fortunate to substandard housing and ill-equipped schools. It was through the Democratic Party that they can now afford to buy and own property in these Islands. It was through the efforts of Democrats that they can now rest easy, knowing that their parents have the safety net of Social Security.

Where is the sense of community that 'ohana and aloha imply? Where is the living out of the religious impulses called for by Jesus when he said "Unto the least of these ... "? Where is the insight and the wisdom to realize that unless every one of us is given the opportunity to succeed, none of us will prosper? Where is the living out of 'ohana and aloha?

Take government's power on land away

I hadn't heard about the city's leasehold conversion law until I read about it recently in the papers.

I was shocked to hear that on O'ahu it is legal for the government to come in and take land from one private owner and then turn around and sell it to another. I thought this kind of thing only happened in communist countries, like Cuba or North Korea.

I want to thank Councilman Mike Gabbard for introducing Bill 53 to get rid of this undemocratic and anti-capitalistic practice. I urge all the council members to support this bill and get it off the books as soon as possible.

It's time to wake up about Mideast carnage

The Associated Press reported on Oct. 9, "The deaths brought the number of Palestinians killed to 94 since Israel began its offensive in northern Gaza. Nearly half of those killed were civilians; 18 were age 16 and under."

Ninety-four indiscriminate killings in less than 10 days, homes and refugee-camp infrastructure reduced to rubble, untold psychological trauma to children. And the trigger for this wholesale destruction of Palestinian lives and property by official Israeli government action: the murder of two Israeli toddlers by Palestinian resistance fighters who indiscriminately lobbed a rocket over the Gaza Apartheid Wall on Sept. 29. Three other Israelis, among them military troops, have also died; that's 94-to-5, a ratio of 18.8-to-1.

This typical disproportionality contributes to the increased fear and isolation between Israelis and Palestinians, and biased reporting to the rest of the world.

When will U.S. leaders and we the people sicken to the justification of this sustained carnage? It is obvious that neither U.S. party is ready to acknowledge a concern for all Israelis and Palestinians, just a chosen few. The political ignoring of the Palestinian people reminds me of the days in the '50s when the U.S. position on China was one of nonexistence.

When we begin to acknowledge that one Palestinian child is just as precious in God's eyes as one Israeli child, we may be ready to employ substantive and inclusive local and global strategies for peace.

Paring down the tome

I agree wholeheartedly with Joel Kennedy's assessment of Verizon's latest phone directory as being cumbersome (Letters, Sunday). I'm sure a whole lot of other folks feel the same way. But not to worry, just get a knife or scissors and split it near the middle right after the hard cover ending the coupon section and before the start of the yellow-page section. Use masking or clear tape to secure the ends and you have a winner.

Kaneshiro's accusations about Drug Court wrong

Keith Kaneshiro ran a campaign on a platform of bringing integrity to the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney, yet he wrote a letter in The Honolulu Advertiser that contained falsehoods, distortions and a personal attack on my character.

My Sept. 12 letter to the editor was meant to address the incorrect information by one of Kaneshiro's supporters about Drug Court, and the current prosecutor's ability to work with other agencies. I was in a unique position to do that since I was intimately involved in the creation of Drug Court and I am presently assigned in a multi-agency task force. Kaneshiro did not address the issues in his letter, but instead launched a personal attack upon me.

Kaneshiro claimed I was not removed as the Drug Court prosecutor, and he stated that I abruptly and voluntarily quit. In reality, Kaneshiro removed me from the job in December 1995. Court records can easily be checked to show that I was not the deputy prosecutor assigned to Drug Court from January 1996 until I left the office in April 1996. As far as having "abruptly and voluntarily quit," I gave Kaneshiro two weeks notice when I left more than four months after being removed as Drug Court deputy prosecutor.

Kaneshiro claimed that I "abandoned" a murder case; however, it was not possible for me to bring that or any other case to the state attorney general's office. It was, and it still is, common practice that when one leaves the prosecutor's office, one's cases are reassigned. Kaneshiro's pejorative use of the term "abandoned" creates a distortion of the events and a personal attack on my professional integrity.

Kaneshiro said that the only complaints he heard from Drug Court were against me, yet as I have already explained, and as anyone can easily check, I was not assigned to appear in Drug Court while Kaneshiro was in office. I wasn't assigned to Drug Court until July 1997, more than seven months after Kaneshiro was gone. During my three years in Drug Court, I was under the impression that I got along with Judges Aiona, Wong, Lim and Graulty, the Drug Court judges with whom I worked after Kaneshiro was gone. If they never told me I was not doing well, why would they tell Kaneshiro?