KAMEHAMEHA SCHOOLS

GRADUATES FROM ALL SCHOOLS WILL COMPETE

I have always wondered what the big deal is regarding Kamehameha School's Hawaiians-first admission policy. The school only goes up to 12th grade, right? Are we saying that kids in Hawai'i only want to finish high school? The answer is obviously no. Then why does it matter what the Kamehameha School's policy is, especially to those non-Hawaiians?

All of the graduates from every high school in Hawai'i will have to compete equally for the colleges of their choosing. This includes other candidates from the rest of the country. Are the kids from Kamehameha more equipped than those from, say Punahou, to get into Stanford or Harvard?

Without getting into a debate over private schools vs. public schools, if you have the means to send your kids to private school, don't you want to send him or her to one that can help achieve goals beyond high school?

PIG HUNTING

DOGS ARE DOING WHAT THEY ARE TRAINED TO DO

It's unfortunate that a pet goat and pet pig were injured or killed by hunting dogs during the Manoa hunting period. However, these hunting dogs are doing what they are trained to do best, at the very request of the Manoa community: hunt.

They cannot differentiate between a "pet" and a wild animal. Nor do they know not to cross invisible property boundaries in order to hunt. However, if it is decided that hunting dogs are no longer allowed to hunt the Manoa-Tantalus area, hopefully the state will still allow bow-hunters to participate in this special hunt.

STATE SHOULD EXPLORE MORE HUMANE OPTIONS

The story in the June 4 paper about pig-hunting dogs in Tantalus made my skin crawl. We lived in Tantalus for five years and had "feral pigs" visit our property on a regular basis. We really enjoyed them. They never hurt anything and when they saw people, they promptly scooted back into the woods.

I think that it's about time that all people start treating all animals in a humane manner. Maybe offering feeding areas for the pigs to visit would be better than sending vicious dogs and heartless people with knives out to tear them (and other animals) apart.

MEDICAL ADVANCES

LIFE-SAVING EQUIPMENT BEFITS 21ST CENTURY

As your reporter would discover with a simple Google search, Kaiser Permanente did not develop the ECMO (a bypass type of lung ventilation) system as you reported. It has been available in the U.S. since the early 1980s. It is high time that Hawai'i offers this system to critically ill infants needing transportation to better pediatric and neonatal centers on the Mainland.

I believe the article should have noted that Hawai'i now has this life-saving equipment available for its citizens as befits a 21st century medical environment.

COVERAGE

KONA RACE DESERVED ADVERTISER COVERAGE

On June 2, in Kona, close to 1,000 people from all walks of life and from all over the world came together to participate in the Ford Ironman 70.3 Hawai'i Triathalon (formerly the Honu Half-Ironman). Nearly one-third were Hawai'i residents, with a good percentage of them taking part in their first-ever distance triathlon. However, there was no coverage by The Honolulu Advertiser whatsoever, not even a mention of it taking place.

There is mention of sailing, rowing, even body building, but not even a short article about its occurrence or the top performances. It's sad to see that a sport and event that was started here — literally having its roots on the shores of this very island — had no coverage or mention the following day.

IMMIGRATION

GRANTING MIGRANTS AMNESTY NO SOLUTION

We the people will be the ones to lose in this "amnesty" transaction. We will be the ones paying in our everyday lives for this mass migration of people. And if you think that all the folderol that has been included in this amnesty bill will ever be carried out, please think again.

The number of people and the amount of money needed to enforce this bill would be astronomical. The amount of paper-work and fact checking would take an entire industry. And we have no way at all to check out their lives in Mexico.

It did not work in 1986 with millions and millions fewer illegal immigrants; how can it work now with the stampede that will follow, not just from Mexico but from all over the world?

Once these illegal immigrants are granted amnesty — and they get it 24 hours after the bill is signed — they will have the clout to demand more money and then another horde of illegal immigrants will come to take the low-paying jobs that the now-amnestied illegal immigrants won't take.

HATE CRIMES

SENATORS' LEADERSHIP MAKES HAWAI'I PROUD

We should be proud of the strong leadership of Hawai'i's Sens. Daniel Inouye and Daniel Akaka relating to the Matthew Shepherd Act (S. 1105), which seeks to include gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and transgender people on the list of those persons targeted by violent hate crimes so that states can get federal help in prosecuting such heinous crimes.

EDUCATION

KAILUA HS AUDIT A REFLECTION OF LEADERS

Francine Honda, principal of Kailua High School, received a highly critical audit of both financial and academic affairs at her school. It was dismaying to hear her respond on Hawaii Public Radio, "It told our students that Kailua High School is not a very good school, and our students felt hurt by that."

Mrs. Honda is resorting to the DOE's habitual defense of hiding behind its students. Instead, she should not allow her students to think the audit reflects on them. Rather, she should hold an assembly and tell them the truth: Those doing a poor job are the administration, not the students.

AKAKA BILL

LEGISLATION BY ANOTHER NAME IS STILL THE SAME

Attempts to disguise the Akaka Bill by renaming it "Kau Inoa" and spending thousands of dollars advertising for Hawaiians to come together is misleading and unfortunate for those foolish enough to sell their rights for a free T-Shirt.

How many realize that by submitting to the Akaka Bill, Hawaiians will be put with the American Indians under Dirk Kempthorne, head of the Department of Interior. This political appointee will make the decisions involving Hawaiians and their future. Some Hawaiian organizations have knuckled under to Washington and their control of the money. This sad situation has created confusion among many.

If Hawaiians are to be put under the Department of Interior and possibly Mr. Dirk Kempthorne, local Hawaiians should visit American Indian reservations to see whether the conditions under which they live are something they would like for themselves.

GUN RIGHTS

GUNS TAKE TOO MANY LIVES IN AMERICA

In his June 3 letter to the editor, Robert Thurston makes the case for an individual's right to bear arms. I feel compelled to respond.

The thing that troubles me is that this conversation is always about gun rights. It never discusses the price we pay for this right. Last year thousands of Americans, many of them children, were shot to death. These individuals had the great misfortune to be Americans. For had they lived in Great Britain, Japan or Malaysia, where private gun ownership is severely restricted, they'd be alive today.

Nearly three-quarters of a million Americans have been shot to death since JFK's assassination. Their right to live was trumped by individuals' right to own a gun. Thousands of American families pay this awful price each year — a situation that I personally find obscene in the extreme.

BUSH

COUNTING THE DAYS, HOPING FOR THE BEST

Barring impeachment, we have 599 days (and counting) as of June 1 remaining of this Bush administration. Let us hope that we haven't been totally wasted by then.

DEVELOPMENT

DEVELOPERS MUST GIVE BACK TO THE COMMUNITY

I moved to Maui from Hilo about seven years ago and I believed at one time Maui was indeed "no ka oi." However, in the past seven years that I have lived here, I feel as though I've seen our culture and way of life slowly eroding, eroding faster than our shoreline drive.

Please do not allow developers to take away the shoreline drive to Lahaina. This road can quickly, easily and affordably be fixed by elbowing it inland at a few key areas. That way we don't have to make deals with developers that will further limit future generations access to our island's beautiful shoreline — an aspect that resident and visitor alike love.

If developers would like to build a higher road away from the coast for emergency evacuation purposes that is great, but I don't think we the taxpayers should foot the bill. They are the ones looking to get rich off of our finite resources and should give something back to our community, not just take. That way our principal means of transport to the other side would be made even better for those of us who live and work here.

Apparently there are developments happening all over the west side right now, from Olowalu, Ukumehame, Keka'a beach and Kapalua. They are putting the carriage before the horse with all this development and no significant improvements to infrastructure.

Our children face a bleak future and declining quality of life here on Maui. Please help us to at least preserve our shoreline access in this last undeveloped area on the west district. Please do not allow Maui to become another Waikiki.