Letters to the Editor

Baby should never have been left alone

As the father of a 7-month-old, it pains me to hear about another infant left in an unattended car that gets stolen. I simply cannot fathom how this happens.

You would never leave your car running unattended, yet why is it different when a child is in the vehicle? No child should ever be left unattended for a second.

Don't get me wrong, I feel for the parents. My son is the world to me, and I don't know what mental state I would end up in if he turned up missing, but come on, people. It's common sense.

Ads in public schools is a terrible proposal

The Outdoor Circle believes school advertising is a bad idea for numerous reasons relating to the education of our kids, and we believe it's bad in ways that are extremely important to the people of Hawai'i.

School advertising could violate state or county sign laws. Schools might find ways to get around the law, but they need to know that The Outdoor Circle is watching. We will monitor campuses, report each and every violation and push for enforcement. Besides, educators should not be teaching kids it's OK to find ways to dodge the law.

School advertising is also a threat to Hawai'i tradition and culture. For more than 80 years, Hawai'i residents have been imprinted with the belief that inappropriate outdoor advertising is an assault on our visual environment. That's one of the main reasons we've been able to fend off relentless pressure from advertisers to bring the blight of billboards to paradise. School advertising will begin to unravel that tradition.

Finally, The Honolulu Advertiser's support for this insidious proposal in its June 22 editorial is, at best, misguided. Its logic that school advertising is acceptable because "students are already subjected to a barrage of advertising day and night" is surprising. We believe our schools should be a sanctuary, free from the influences and pressures of the advertising industry, not a place to sell products to a captive audience.

The absence of ugly, inappropriate and illegal advertising is one of the things that most distinguishes Hawai'i from the rest of the nation and world. We should do everything in our power to keep it that way. School advertising is a step in the wrong direction.

Gaming on Kaho'olawe could pay for clean-up

Although I am not a resident of Hawai'i, I enjoy visiting the Islands every few years. Whenever we are on Maui, I can't help thinking what a waste it is to have the island of Kaho'olawe uninhabited and unused.

I know there are plans to clear the remaining dangerous ordnance from that area in the somewhat distant future, but I wonder if there isn't an opportunity to significantly accelerate this.

I suspect that if Hawai'i were to authorize casino gambling on that island only, with the stipulation that interested operators will be responsible for financing the clean-up of the area as part of their licensing agreement, it might create genuine interest.

Think of the possibilities that people from Japan and Pacific Rim countries would vacation in the "Las Vegas of the Pacific" and enjoy a Hawai'i vacation on the other islands also. The increase in jobs and gambling revenue could have a significant impact on the Hawai'i economy while limiting the gaming influence to a currently unused locale.

Convert ag lands to conservation lands

With talk about overrunning our state's ag lands, it's as if we're assuming these are conservation lands.

Our agricultural industry has been waning for the last few decades now, and unless we suddenly see an agricultural boom, these lands will remain underused, forcing growing local families out of this state so they can afford a home.

I do see the virtue if these lands were conservation lands where we need to protect the 'aina, but these are lands that were used for farming, not for some protected species or religious ceremonies.

If we are to protect our vast undeveloped lands from overpopulation, I think we need to convert ag lands to conservation lands just for that purpose. Otherwise, let them build homes for our children to live in so we don't have to go to the Mainland to see them. Just don't build another, ahem, second city with no foresight on infrastructure.

Slade Cutter also was distinguished graduate

The Advertiser staff prepared a fine tribute to Capt. Slade Cutter, U.S. Navy retired, on the occasion of his passing on June 10.

Capt. Cutter was a genuine American hero and patriot as well as a star athlete. His exploits in World War II as a submarine skipper were legendary. He was awarded four Navy Crosses for his heroism.

It is regrettable that Capt. Cutter's obituary did not include his most recent recognition. On April 15, Capt. Cutter was honored at the U.S. Naval Academy as a distinguished graduate of his class of 1935. This academy award is made more prestigious by the fact that the recipients are nominated by their peers.

Capt. Cutter's passing is a loss to America.

Artistic merits take back seat at exhibit

Congratulations to David C. Farmer for his article on Artists of Hawai'i 2005 (Island Life, June 19).

I am one of the Neighbor Island artists who opted not to enter the show this year, after having read about the juror and her ideas on jurying the most prestigious art exhibit we have in the state. As mentioned in the article, we, in the middle of this huge ocean, have few possibilities to show our work and be recognized as serious artists, and therefore it is a real pity to have jurors dictate our "in" or "out" according to their personal taste and not to artistic merits.

On top of that, especially for us on the Neighbor Islands, entering the show is costly and complicated. After perceiving her particular agenda, I simply decided to skip the whole process and headaches — and now, after reading about the results of this year's juror "with an agenda," I am really glad I followed my gut feelings.

What about the fallout?

I have been concerned, for a long time, that no one in our congressional delegation or Gov. Lingle, while throwing their wholehearted support to the Akaka bill, has been willing to acknowledge, much less explain, how they intend to deal with the highly probable social and economic repercussions of the bill's passage. The "silence is deafening."

Public policy already exists against residential B&B

Contrary to what "unlicensed" B&B operator Kerry Gellert says, we already have a sound public policy: It is the prohibition of anything that corrupts the residential nature of our communities.

There should be no compromise about letting in business, big or small, tourist or otherwise, well-intended or not. Resolution 05-187 should have been about tighter and tougher enforcement of the underground B&B trade.

It's a crazy kind of logic when the Zoning Committee says, in effect, "Hey, we've been so unsuccessful in reining in these illegal B&B, why don't we just legalize them!?" In fact, the three informational hearings of the Zoning Committee were essentially City Council-sponsored pity parties. Potential door-prize? A Get-Out-Of-Jail-Free card. That lawbreakers would so brazenly flout the law and then publicly petition the lawmakers to legalize their offenses, thereby granting them amnesty, is appalling.

As for the B&B proponents who cite the aloha spirit in introducing visitors to the 50th State, could they extend it instead to full-time boarders such as students, seniors and the military? Times are tight in the rental market, after all. Of course, they could not get as much as they do now with daily rates, but aloha should start at home. That goes for some aloha toward their law-abiding neighbors who, incidentally, must pay the same property tax rate.

As for the fact that some visitors don't want to stay in Waikiki, well, we don't want to live in Waikiki. That's why residents buy in residential districts. The "R" in the zoning code doesn't stand for Resort. We would hope that visitors would understand and respect our desire for full residential communities.

Our government officials have long known that they should look at alternatives to tourism, yet Resolution 05-187 does the exact opposite by allowing the industry to wend its way through almost every spare inch of real-estate.

Yes, B&B are in other parts of the world. So are snakes and coqui frogs. That doesn't make them right for our neighborhoods or ecosystem.

By the way, Big Island folks say one or two coqui frogs are kind of charming at first. But then there are 50 and then 500 and after that it's too late. The parallels are unmistakable. Wake up, O'ahu. This is your call to action. With Resolution 05-187 giving every corner of O'ahu the potential to be a tourist attraction, a destination or a lodging hub, your right to the quiet enjoyment of your home is under siege. Ribbit.

Opossum killed by fear, ignorance

It was with sadness that I read the story by Curtis Lum in last Wednesday's paper about the stowaway Virginia opossum being killed by fear and ignorance. The reason given for killing it was that it might have carried rabies. In fact, the opossum is the mammal least likely to carry rabies or any communicable disease.

Cuddly Fuzzbucket is getting first-class care on the Mainland. Ambard family photo

It is also extremely peaceful in its nature; it has only three defenses. If you frighten an opossum, it will respond by opening its mouth, as seen in the picture in The Advertiser. If you startle it further, it will begin to drool and stagger, imitating a sick animal. If you continue to harass it, it will fall into a coma (the so-called "playing possum"), which can last up to four days. Unlike other wild animals, an opossum will not bite unless you put your hand in its mouth; they are extremely non-aggressive.

It would have taken virtually no effort to capture this animal and place it in quarantine, then send it back to a safe release on the Mainland, or, even better, keep it for our zoo for further understanding of this marvelous animal, our only native marsupial.

For more information on this animal please go to http://www.opossumsocietyus.org/ opossum.html, the link to the Opossum Society of the United States. I am enclosing a picture of an orphaned opossum currently being rehabilitated by my daughter on the Mainland. Fuzzbucket is a most endearing creature, as I'm sure you'll agree.