Student song contest deserved more ink

Many parents of students at Kamehameha Schools eagerly look forward to the annual song competition every year. We watch our children go through months of practice with their classes, and if we as parents are lucky enough to have our children chosen as a speaker, then that is more of a highlight and honor bestowed upon us.

Not only do our children go through months of preparation with their class for their two songs performed, they work effortlessly and put in painstaking hours to perfect their individually written speeches, which their speech coaches fine-tune for the night of competition.

In addition, our children not only have to be sure their grades are kept up during competition, they may also be involved in extracurricular sports and activities. And for the seniors, time management is of the utmost importance as they prepare for college admissions.

I eagerly awaited my morning paper to read about the highlights and searched for photos on its coverage of this event. To my dismay, the morning paper only had a small photo entitled "Sophomore success." That's it, no other story. Not even an article listing which class took what?

Congratulations go out to the sophomores, but what happened to the rest of the evening's performances by other classes, the speakers and the ho'ike? Auwe to The Honolulu Advertiser!

Government secrecy over error is scary

Regarding your March 23 article about the U.S. government keeping the "accidental" sale of genetically modified corn a secret: I have some questions roaring in my head.

How do you sell anything "by accident" for four years?

The article mentions that the seed company may be fined. What about the government that kept secret the fact that poorly tested, genetically engineered corn has been part of people's diets without their knowledge or consent — for four years? Will they be fined for keeping the truth from the people?

The article said "The corn seed was probably safe." Is that good enough for you? I hope not; I hope it makes you very uncomfortable, as it did me. All people deserve to know, not think, that their food is safe.

And, if it really was an "accident," we need to remember that as long as there are humans on this Earth, there will be human error. Putting humans in charge of the genetic modification of our seed/food supply is about the scariest thing I can think of.

Wai'anae community grateful to Hannemann

I'd like to publicly thank Mayor Hannemann for giving us bulky-item pickup at last.

I can't tell you how long we've been waiting for regularly scheduled pickups. I can't tell you how frustrated we were about the illegal dumping of old stoves and refrigerators, car batteries, tires and all the other items that littered the Wai'anae Coast.

And I can't tell you how grateful we are that he's coming up with some benefits for our community to compensate us for having the Waimanalo landfill in our backyard.

Mufi is bringing equality and fairness to city services, and I know my neighbors and I are very grateful to him for what he's doing for our community.

Jane Fonda risked all over Vietnam War

It always saddens me when people criticize Jane Fonda for her efforts to end the fighting in Vietnam (Maj. Ricardo A. Finney's letter, March 26). She was a hero because she gave hope to those of us who came to realize that our country was doing the wrong thing. She risked her own life in pursuit of her beliefs. She risked her career, her reputation.

The Pentagon's own top-secret study of the war, partially published by The New York Times and The Washington Post in 1971, showed that our government leaders undermined the 1954 Geneva Accords by handpicking and supporting an unpopular South Vietnamese leader who ensured that no post-Geneva elections were held to unify Vietnam, and that our leaders, both military and civilian, lied to us about the war on numerous occasions. Our American soldiers who served in Vietnam suffered and died because of poor judgment, bad decisions and flawed policies, all described and displayed in the Pentagon Papers.

We should be thankful for the sacrifices made by those who came to oppose the war, just as we appreciate the sacrifices made by those who served in the military.

A marvelous photo

Don't you love it? The photo by Kotaro Ebara/Asahi Shimbun via AP (Honolulu Advertiser, March 19) of two well-known individuals in Japan, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and former sumo wrestler extraordinaire Saleva'a Atisanoe (Konishiki) in a friendly, universal (think global) embrace of greetings. Heartfelt.