ABERCROMBIE

COLAS AUTOMATIC FOR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS

The June 14 story on the $3,300 congressional cost of living adjustment (COLA) was inaccurate.

Congressman Neil Abercrombie did not "vote to prevent a direct vote to block the pay raise," as the article reports. The vote was on a second-order procedural motion: calling the previous question on the rule to consider the 2007 Transportation-Treasury-HUD-Judiciary-D.C. appropriations bill. There was nothing in the motion, the rule or the bill itself that granted a COLA or pay raise to members of Congress. Failure of any of these measures would not have blocked a COLA.

Automatic congressional COLAs were instituted by the 1989 Ethics Reform Act, based on a cost-of-living formula. The only difference between COLAs for members of Congress and civil servants is that the percentage of increase is lower for members of Congress.

The 1989 law came about as a result of a bipartisan consensus, and it has succeeded over the years in holding the line against large increases while allowing congressional pay to keep pace with rises in the cost of living.

GOVERNOR'S RACE

THE GOOD OLD BOYS HUNG MAZIE OUT TO DRY

Regarding to David Shapiro's June 21 column: Mazie Hirono did not lose the governor's race because "she spent too much time attending women's conferences on the Mainland and not enough time being visible in Hawai'i preparing to run for governor." Mazie lost because, after serving faithfully as lieutenant governor for eight years, the good old boys in the Democratic Party hung her out to dry.

First, they squeezed her out of the governor's race and into the Honolulu mayor's race to clear the way for their anointed candidate, Jeremy Harris. Those who didn't adore Harris actually turned to a Republican who changed his registration to Democrat for the sole purpose of running for governor.

Then, when the chosen one was beset by scandal and dropped out of the governor's race, Mazie came back. However, by that time, she had lost much of her momentum. Even though Mazie won the primary, Lingle won the governor's race with fewer votes than she received four years earlier when she lost it.

Mazie's mistake, admittedly, was allowing them to push her out of the governor's race in the first place. However, her loss had nothing to do with conferences she attended or her activities on behalf of women.

Whether intended or not, Shapiro's comments come across as very sexist. Perhaps he has been listening too much to those good old boys.

NO NEW PLANT

ALTERNATIVE ENERGY CANNOT BE DELAYED

Regarding the need for a new fossil fuel power plant on O'ahu: You ask in your June 20 editorial "whether we can afford to wait for that day" when clean energy alternatives and conservation satiate growing demand.

We can't afford, economically and environmentally, to wait for that day; we must make it a reality today. With the price of oil skyrocketing and no idea what oil might cost in five years, let alone 20, when ratepayers will still be paying for the new plant, increasing our reliance on imported crude is foolhardy.

And given what we know today about global climate change, any thoughts of another carbon dioxide-spewing fossil fuel plant are unconscionable. It's inconvenient, but true. Future generations will judge us harshly if we forgo a stable climate for the sake of wide-screen televisions and air conditioning (or worse, because we are too lazy to use a clothesline).

The transition away from oil must begin now. Where will the incentive be to conserve and invest in new renewable sources once we sink $250 million into the new fossil fuel plant?

Let's decide where we can safely build the next wind farm. Let's figure out how to control our peak load so we can better accommodate more photovoltaic electricity on the grid. And let's get serious about cutting back on our electricity use — a 10 percent reduction would provide more power than this new plant. We can do it. And we can't afford not to.

BORSCH INTERVIEW

TURNING THE TABLES

Asked once who had been his favorite interview, Advertiser sports writer Ferd Borsch said there were many, but one he enjoyed a lot was Ted Williams, because their conversation went on for a while and got pretty detailed. It probably didn't occur to Ferd that the world's greatest hitter might have been interviewing him.

ADMISSIONS

KAMEHAMEHA COULD GET AROUND PROBLEM

A friend of mine came up with this very easy solution to the legal battle that Kamehameha Schools is fighting to keep its Hawaiians-only policy intact:

The school should open enrollment to everyone based on academics or whatever criteria other schools use, but change the cost of tuition to around $12,000 per year or so — something comparable to other private schools such as Punahou, Iolani or St. Louis.

What the Bishop Estate can then do is issue scholarships to "qualified" Native Hawaiian students for around $10,000 per year, so the cost to each student is around $2,000 per year.

If non-Hawaiians want to get a good education and learn about the Hawaiian culture at Kamehameha Schools, they must be willing to pay prices similar to Iolani or Punahou. If Hawaiians want to get a good education and learn about their own culture at Kamehameha Schools, the estate can help them out.

In addition, if Native Hawaiian students wanted to attend another private high school, the estate could grant a scholarship to them as well.

The will of Bernice Pauahi Bishop is fulfilled.

TARO PATENT

GMO INDUSTRY HASN'T PROVED ITS CONTENTIONS

Bravo to all who raised awareness about bioprospecting and the University of Hawai'i's patents on taro. And thank you, UH, for doing the right thing by withdrawing the patents.

Regarding remarks made by Paul Koehler in the June 21 issue: In his response to the dropping of the taro patents, he spoke of the huge sums of money needed to fund "a new plant variety, confirm its health and safety" in the case of a genetically modified organism and to market it. This is very misleading, as the health and safety of genetically engineered plants have hardly been studied, much less confirmed. The multitude of tests that biotech industry supporters often speak of are for efficacy — to see if their technology has worked — not to see if it's safe for people to eat, breathe, harvest or feed to their children.

Also, Koehler expressed concern that without patent protection, "private industry would have no incentive to move forward." Discouraging private industry from attempting to gain wealth and power by DNA altering and owning of seeds — the very essence of life — at this point in history would be the best thing we could do for our Earth and our future.

CASTLE COMPLEX

QUEST ENDS, CURTAIN FALLS ON PERFORMING ARTS PROGRAM

At times my quest to save the performing arts made me feel like that knight in "Man of La Mancha" who jousts at windmills. I hoped that the outpouring of public support would reverse the Castle Complex decision to cancel my Gifted and Talented Performing Arts Program.

Parents wrote letters and, along with teachers, signed petitions. Numerous articles, editorials and even a cartoon appeared in The Advertiser. I personally attended school meetings, met with the superintendent and principals, and even gave testimony at the Board of Education.

What a great day when the Legislature responded to the public outcry and appropriated supplemental funds to preserve successful school programs. I actually started to believe that saving this 18-year Windward tradition wasn't an "Impossible Dream" after all.

In the end, however, additional money could not or would not be released for me to continue my work. How sad to see the theatrical limelight switched off on the next generation of Castle Complex third- and fourth-graders.

So just as Shakespeare said, "All the world's a stage," I must find a new part to play and retire after 20 years of being a public servant. I will miss my colleagues and the hard-working custodians. I will miss the workmen — my mechanicals — who moved the set from school to school. I will miss the smiling faces of office clerks, and most of all the children, whose energy and joy lit up those decrepit in dire-need-of-repair cafeteria stages.

Now as I pull on my "retiree" costume, I will try to figure out how I can continue to serve the public and promote the arts. With heartfelt thanks, I say, "Goodnight, goodnight. Parting is such sweet sorrow that I will say goodnight till it be morrow."

MAUNA KEA

A BLENDING OF SCIENCE, CULTURE

A global multimedia event is being planned for Hawai'i Island on or near the day of Summer Solstice 2007. This will be the first significant event for the nonprofit charitable organization Team World Corps, whose mission is to activate a global forum and implement sustainable solutions to environmental and social issues of consequence.

The island home to Mauna Kea, both sacred and extreme, is an ideal location for this event because it is the largest mountain in the world (from the ocean floor) and is a perfect platform to dialogue about the crossroads that our society has reached regarding available natural resources for Planet Earth and the "inconvenient truth" of global warming.

Mauna Kea is also the best place on Earth to view the universe. It is recognized by many countries and cultures around the world as the ideal site for astronomical research. The mountain thus symbolizes a reflective mirror to look at the collective consciousness of humanity and shine light on a higher good for all.

The forum being created by Team World Corps will be an attempt to amplify disparate voices and perspectives through the medium of the Internet and gain unity through diversity. The intent is to generate educational programs that honor and preserve sacred sites and bring assistance and aid to the disadvantaged through education, with the potential of bringing to indigenous people deserved resources through community support.

The astronomical institutions currently using Mauna Kea for scientific research give back to their communities through extensive public outreach and educational K-12 activities (for example, Gemini, IfA and Keck) and through generous donations to academic programs at UH-Hilo (for example, Subaru), but there is more that can be done here to provide a direct benefit to those people who most need it.

A good example of this type of community service is how the four Rotary Clubs of East Hawai'i are building Kuhio Kalaniana'ole Park — with volunteer labor and $100,000 in monetary donations — as a recreational facility for the people of Keaukaha. The 2007 solstice event will explore further how to realize local Hawaiian community needs.

Mauna Kea is a space shared by scientific and spiritual explorers with converging commonalities. By merging scientific exploration and cultural preservation through team-building and education, the sum of these components will become greater than each one of them separately.

The culture of Mauna Kea is alive and well, and many of those who regularly work on the mountain, and who participate in culturally sensitive astronomy outreach, have the highest respect for that. They will continue to try to build bridges among the scientific, cultural and spiritual groups within this community.