NEVER FORGET

HONOR SEPT. 11 VICTIMS, TREASURE LOVED ONES

Although we can move on from Sept. 11, I hope we never forget the gravity of that day.

That day, as chief resident of orthopedic surgery at Georgetown University, I was operating at the Virginia Hospital Center at Arlington, five minutes away from the Pentagon.

We were the first-call hospital to receive the Pentagon victims. My first patient was a woman who was thrown to safety from the third story of the Pentagon and fractured her femur.

She is now doing well, ballroom dances with her husband, and her picture sits on my office desk with the rest of my family's pictures as a reminder to me of what is most important in life.

Since that day, I have thanked God daily for all blessings, big and small. As we move on, may we always remember and honor the victims by treasuring those whom we love, being kind to those we don't know and by trying to live each moment as if it were our defining one.

ELECTION 2008

DON'T MALIGN WORK OF COMMUNITY ORGANIZERS

The National Association of Social Workers was outraged to hear Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin malign the work of community organizers.

The social work profession takes great pride in its community-organizing roots and lauds the contributions of its members, and other professionals, who commit their careers to helping residents of different communities organize their resources and take social action to improve life for themselves and their families.

The concepts of community organizing, community building and community development undergird the premise of American democracy.

The profession of social work was founded on the legacy of outstanding women leaders such as Nobel laureate Jane Addams, who practiced community organizing in the settlement houses she created for the poor and working-class immigrants of Chicago. The profession also counts civil rights icons such as Dorothy I. Height among its luminaries. It is fitting that both women are considered two of the most influential people in American history, and are inspirations for many of our country's finest leaders.

During this election year, NASW encourages both parties to stay focused on issues of substance. We hope that instead of denigrating the lives and work of huge segments of the population, candidates will demonstrate how their plans for the country will protect and elevate the quality of life for all Americans.

WANTS A MAYOR WHO WILL RESTORE BUS STOPS

I'm very happy to know we will have a choice in electing our mayor and also that some are interested in improving the bus system.

So many bus stops have been removed that it is getting to be a hardship riding TheBus.

I say, "Give us a mayor that will give us our bus stops back," especially in Waikiki.

SEN. HOOSER'S LETTER WAS VITRIOLIC DIATRIBE

In his Sept. 7 letter, "Lingle speech showed she is out of touch," Senate Majority Leader Gary L. Hooser serves up a vitriolic diatribe against Republicans that I cannot let go unchallenged.

Gary's letter is worthy of a '60s radical, but not that of a supposedly responsible representative of the people. I accept much of what he wrote as just the blustering of a political drudge, for example, complaining that "Gov. Lingle and Lt. Gov. Duke Aiona were working hard to defeat Hawai'i-born Barack Obama." Really, how odd.

But when he parrots, as he did, the liberal-left mantra that "Bush lied, people died," and pronounced this to be the truth, my dander came to the fore.

Apparently Gary's reading range is seriously neglected — he should read Mr. David Kay's (Iraq Survey Group) interim report to a joint session of the House and Senate intelligence committees on Oct. 2, 2003. In this report, Mr. Kay emphasized the breathtaking scope of Saddam Hussein's weapons programs.

SATELLITE CITY HALL

NEW WINDWARD SITE WILL BE OPENING SOON

We agree with Mr. Don Hodge that it is never a good time to close any of our well-utilized and popular satellite city halls (Letters, Sept. 6), but would like to share some background information on the closure of the Windward Mall satellite.

We also welcome everyone to visit the new satellite that will soon open in the Windward City Shopping Center. In addition to traditional mail-in and in-person visits for motor vehicle registration renewals, we encourage use of our online registration renewal system.

The lease for the Windward Mall facility expired at the end of August and we carefully considered what closure date would best serve the Windward community. Since most customers use our services on weekdays, we made it a priority to keep this location open until the last Friday of the month to ensure services would be available to the largest number of our customers.

Saturdays have been the least busy day for this satellite, so Friday evening was deemed the best time to close the facility and minimize overall impact on the public. We scheduled additional staff to accommodate the expected increased demand for services at other satellites that are open on Saturdays.

We're pleased that Mr. Hodge received friendly, courteous and professional service at another satellite location, and we apologize for the inconvenience of this unavoidable closure. Please visit the new location when it opens.

HOMELESS

PARKS AND BEACHES ARE FOR LEISURE ACTIVITY

My letter is in response to Lee Cataluna's Sept. 2 column, "Balancing compassion and order."

Hooray for Lee Cataluna for telling it like it is about homeless people residing at public beaches and parks.

She is absolutely right. I'm a part of the community, and I don't think people should reside in areas that are public property and are designed for leisure activities.

There is help for the homeless, but many choose to live the vagabond lifestyle and act like it doesn't bother or degrade the community at large. Well, it does.

ILLEGAL CAMPERS MUST BE REMOVED FROM PARK

As a resident of Waikiki and before I give my vote to Mufi Hannemann, I want to know what he is going to do about the homeless people camping in Kapi'olani Park.

There are signs everywhere, "No camping allowed." Nothing is being done to remove these illegal campers from the park.

My tax dollars have gone to provide shelters for the homeless and that's where they should be, not in the most-used park — by tourists and locals — on the island.

UH FOOTBALL

GRAUNKE A NICE GUY, TERRIFIC QUARTERBACK

I ran into Tyler Graunke Friday night at the Hilton Waikiki Prince Kuhio Hotel.

He seemed to be running late and had misplaced his room key. The clerk at the front desk asked ask him for ID. Even though he was obviously rushed, he was polite with the clerk and took time to talk with me about not playing because of his summer- school situation. I left that encounter thinking what a humble young man he was. And I felt a little sorry for him that he had missed the season opener.

What a thrill to see what Tyler did do for the team on Saturday, and then to read his comments, still oozing humility.

Maybe academics is not his strong suit, but he definitely gets the nice-guy award in my book, and he is a terrific quarterback.

GOVERNMENT

AGENCIES SHOULD PRACTICE CONSERVATION

I hear news reports about the utility companies asking consumers to conserve water and energy. I hear these constantly. Then while driving around our island, I see just the opposite being practiced by local agencies.

On Kamehameha Highway in Wahiawa, from the end of Whitmore across the bridge, grass seed was sprayed along the hills to prevent erosion and sprinkler lines set up. From 1 to 2 p.m. I see the water going full bore at the hottest time of the day. At the time when we are being advised not to water, they are.

I was at a park in Waialua and at 3 p.m. the park lights were on. Why is this happening?

If consumers are being asked to conserve, why aren't local government agencies conserving?